Scotty looked on in dismay as the tiny creature in Uhura's arms filled the deck with flying fur. He began muttering under his breath about having to clean every air filter on the ship every day from here to kingdom come. He stopped the moment Uhura turned her deep brown eyes to him and asked, "Don't you just love him, Scotty?"
"Ay," Scotty nodded unconvincingly. Uhura getting a new pet never turned out well.
She began to rave about what a deal the meerka merchant had given her. "And I asked around to make sure this adorable little guy wasn't going to reproduce exponentially and take over a whole planet, yes, I did," she said to Scotty while snuggling the meerka.
At a ridiculously early hour the next morning, Uhura was frantically buzzing Scotty's door. Groggily, Scotty summoned her inside and tried to look concerned as Uhura told him about her little pet's mysterious disappearance. He gallantly proposed that he get up immediately and begin scanning the ship for meerka life-signs. Uhura smiled gratefully. "I knew I could count on you, Scotty." She left him to get ready and headed to the security sector to wait for him.
Scotty couldn't help but feel a little guilty as he headed out, knowing exactly what the life-signs detector would show. Captain Kirk had told him in no uncertain terms that small furry creatures brought on board by Lieutenant Uhura were to be immediately, but humanely, disposed of, so Scotty had sent the unfortunate furball on a little space adventure as a gift to Miri and the Onlies. He and the captain had sworn to secrecy on the subject, however, and the pet's loss was to remain a mystery forever unsolved.
A/N: Found this idea in the Star Trek forums. (Live Long and Prosper: The Star Trek ChallengeThis is a medical bay, not a veterinarian's office!/Writing challenge)