Somewhere down in the engineering decks of the Enterprise, a small animal made it's way through the maze of pipes and wires.
It swung it's tail as it walked, occasionally stopping to like it's orange paw. No one saw the orange tabby cat, and no one would have known where it came from. The cat made his way up one of the Jeffries tubes.
The day was going average for everyone on the bridge. Sulu and Chekov were at their stations, and Spock and Bones were having their daily argument.
Pavel leaned back in his chair, popping his back as he did so. He'd finally managed to solve the equation he'd given himself, and was glad to have accomplished it, even if it was kind of easy.
The entrance to the bridge suddenly swooshed open, and a few people turned to see who had set off the sensor. When nobody spoke up to ask for permission to enter, even more turned their heads.
Instead of finding a nervous ensign, everyone was shocked to see an orange tabby cat. It was sitting in the middle of the doorway, licking it's paw and every now and then rubbing it's head.
Suddenly, as if just now noticing the stares, the cat stopped and looked up. Giving out a loud meow! It walking around, sniffing things here and there. Everyone silently watched, their confusion and curiosity getting the better of them.
Finally, the cat walked up to Pavel, it's nose twitching. After staring at him for a solid thirty seconds, the cat let out another meow, then jumped to his lap. He hesitantly petted it's fur.
"Is that your cat, Pavel?" Jim asked, eyeing it like it was going to kill him.
Chekov glanced back down at the purring animal in his arms. "No, sir. I do not own a cat." He replied, and the cat in his arms curled up in his hold, falling asleep.
"Well, it sure likes you..." Sulu said.
"I'm not sure vwhy... I never had a cat growing up." He replied. Everyone watched the cat, and eventually they just forgot about it, getting back into their work.
At the end of his shift, the orange tabby jumped from his lap and ran off. Pavel watched it go. "Surely someone will be looking for it." He said, as he walked to his quarters.
After that day, the cat appeared before each of his shifts, and disappeared at the end. By now the orange cat had been given a name, and was known throughout the ship for vanishing after each of Pavel's shifts.
There was still much confusion over just where the cat had come from, but Marlo the cat had just become too much of member of the crew for them to question it.
The day that Pavel was injured in a shuttle accident, and left to recover in the med bay, Marlo had broken the hearts of many on the bridge crew.
It was a serious accident, and there was still the worry that young Pavel wouldn't make it. The navigation console was currently empty, awaiting the arrival of the fill in.
Marlo walked right up to the chair, his nose twitching as he searched for Pavel. When he found his favorite person not there, he let out a sad meow, and began searching around the bridge.
Kirk and Sulu watched him circle around three times before they finally did something about it. Hikaru stood up and made his way to the small tabby cat. Marlo eyes him suspiciously, but came up to him nonetheless.
He scooped the cat into his arms, and he left, leaving his own seat open long enough for a replacement to walk over. He left the bridge, petting the worried cat, who meowed far more than he'd ever heard.
The Med bay was unusually quiet, and Sulu was able to find his friend pretty quickly. He frowned at the sight of him. He was very pale, and half his face was covered in white gauze. His entire arm was covered as well, and he could little lines of red soaking through the sterile white bandages.
He set Marlo down on the foot of the bed, and watched as the weary cat slowly walked closer this friends face. Marlo sniffed his nose, and let out another mournful meow before curling up on his uninjured side, his head on the unconscious teens chest, as if he was listening to his breathing.
Marlo the cat became famous among the crew for loving Pavel Chekov. He was the most dedicated pet anyone had seen, and he would not hesitate to be there for his person no matter what.
So when Chekov finally woke to find his cat sleeping with him in the med bay, he knew it was connection that went both ways.