On the Hunt - Part V
Posted on Tue Oct 21, 2025 @ 11:04am by Commodore T'mpest Michaels & Colonel Nicholas Means III & Commander Cara Letsul & Lieutenant Commander Jason Haines & Lieutenant Commander Karzen Son of Arjune, Son of Ragan MD, MPH & Lieutenant Bronwyn P’ril & Lieutenant JG Anson Lee & Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexander Rylan
2,159 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Chicken Run
Location: Deep Space 5
Timeline: MD01
Cara barely managed to keep out of the reach of the ducks and goose that were trying to nip at her, their wings flapping and making a huge tumult. She caught sight from the corner of her eye, a rather tall man, moving towards her and the water fowl; in his hands was a net.
He was keeping pace then uttered a sharp command, "Sharp 180 now! Double time!"
Cara did as what he said, her sharp turn confusing the ducks and goose.
The net flew out of his hands with accuracy, capturing the ducks and goose, the weights upon the net pulling them to the floor.
Cara skidded to a stop, turning around to trot up to the man. "Thank you, and you are?"
He held his hand up to stop her questioning giving her a wink, as he moved to where the birds were. He knelt by the fowl, took something out of his pocket and pressed it against the ducks and the goose, who slumped to the floor, unconscious.
"What did you do?" Cara walking closer.
"I tranquilized them, it will make it easier to get them penned up." He bundled them up in the net, carefully putting them over his shoulder. "Ma'am. My name is Sergeant Trent Busby just got transferred to this area."
"I'm Commander Cara Letsul, Executive Officer of the station. Do you always keep tranquilizer darts with you?" walking alongside Trent.
"No Ma'am, I saw the situation, used the replicator to make some plus a net, and there you go. Just wanted to give you a hand there. " fixing his piercing blue eyes on the attractive woman walking with him. She was a looker and he didn't mind having her next to him. If she weren't the XO he'd be quite willing to ask her out. She was way out of his reach, still, maybe she would be willing to get a coffee with him?
"Where did you learn that skill and where are you from?" Cara having a bit of a smile, catching his interest in her.
"I'm from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, raised on a ranch out there. That's where I got my skills." Trent looked around, "Where do I deposit these waterfowl? "
"Follow me, I can take you there. Cargo Bay 51." Cara taking lead.
Trent didn't mind letting her walk in front of him, the view was really lovely to see. She moved with grace, had a nice swing to her walk. Oh yes, don't mind the view at all. His lips pursing in a silent wolf whistle.
The two arrived at the holding area, Trent handing off the birds to the security officers that were at hand. He retrieved his net, the turned to Cara.
"Commander, may I escort you to safety amongst the wildlife?" Trent hoped she would accept his suggestion, "And then I'll continue on my hunt."
Cara hesitated at first but there was some sense in what he suggested, she was way out of her depth on this. "If you'd escort me to my office, that would be lovely. Thank you, Sergeant."
With Trent's help, she was able to get to her office, the sergeant checking to make certain that there wasn't any sort of surprise there.
"I'll take my leave." Trent flashing a charming smile. "See you around Commander." turned on his heel and left.
Cara gave a nod and locked her office door and have a moment of peace. She needed some tea.
The cat had been fine with being picked up inside of Security, but the moment Anson stepped out into the crowds of the station, it had gripped his arm tight. The uniform took most of the claws, but he could feel pin pick points against his skin, reminding him that if tried to escape his hold, it was going to hurt. For him, at least. The cat would probably be find, just loose and probably end up back on a high shelf to hiss and spit at the next person who found him. Her. It.
"You need a name, kitty. Nothing cutesy. You're a fighter, saw that already. Shredder? You certainly tried on my hand. Except that makes me think about cheese. If you were orange, I could call you Cheddar, but you're not, so that won't work. Maybe Scamp? You are one, but it seems to lack the proper dignity. A Klingon name would suit you, but the only Klingon word I can remember is for fish. I learned that one because a girl at the Academy wanted to go to a Klingon restaurant on a date once...."
He had to cut across the Promenade to reach Cargo Bay 51, which was apparently where they were going to hold everything. He reached the end of the hall and stopped, staring at the general chaos. He's know Fish was the tip of the iceberg, but it was a really big iceberg. "We're gonna need a bigger cargo bay."
"This sucks!"
Several crewmen from Security pushed anti-grav carts as a mixed group of Security and Marines fanned out down the side corridors while they moved through the residential quarters. As someone caught a cat, dog, rabbit, duck, baby goats or other smaller animal they brought them to the cart. After depositing it in the appropriate bin the went back out looking for more. Larger animals like goats were tied to the cart and trailed behind as they moved along.
"What did you expect? Did you think you'd be catching bad guys or repelling boards all the time? Better to just do it and get it over with."
"No, but I left Gault to get away from all this and here I am playing farm hand again rounding up animals as if my little brother left the gate open again."
A Marine Corporal carrying a goat approach. "Ahhh...poor baby." Grabbing a length of cord, he tied off the latest stray. "The sooner we get all these things rounded up the soon you can hide from your past. Unit then...Suck it up buttercup." The Corporal turned and returned to the search.
"Told you..."
When Philips and Jason rematerialized in sickbay.
"I need some help here he called out."
Karzen had made his way from Secondary Sickbay to Main Sickbay via the through deck staircase to see if anyone up there needed his help, leaving the charge nurse to supervise the rest of the cleanup. He was there and available when Phillips and Haines materialized. He ran over to the men, pulling out his tricorder as he went. Chief Hospital Corpsman Babatunde Oladele, who had joined his boss a moment before, followed, also pulling out his tricorder. The men correctly assumed their patient was the one passed out on the deck.
Without saying a word, Karzen and the man and then visible winced. He looked and saw that Babatunde was grimacing. "Testicular torsion?"
"That's what I see," Babatunde said.
"I concur," Karzen said. "Baba, please grab a few Corpsmen, get Commander Haines on a gurney, get him trauma naked, and prep him for surgery."
"Aye, aye, Commander," Babatunde said.
Karzen turned to Phillips. "So, we know what's wrong with the Commander, Chief," the old Klingon said. "But just to cover all our bases, what happened?"
"Well, doctor", Philips began. "We were heading to Commodore Michaels' location when we encountered a Ferengi that somehow gained possession of one of the colony's goats. After obtaining the goat, the Commander contacted the Commodore about her position. After she replied, the goat stared at the Commander, the Commander stared back. The goat bleated and for some reason the Commander's eyes grew quite wide almost as if he were surprised by something. The goat then kicked him with its back legs knocking him back quite a bit and then trotted off into the crowed. The Commodore came to our position. The Commander tried to talk, but all he got out before passing out was, 'F..., Fa'. I'm not sure if he was just trying to curse the pain away as they say in NCO school or if he really had something to say."
"I presumed it was something like that," Karzen said. "I treated similar injuries on frontier worlds with the Frontier Health Service. But that's history and you're here for medicine. So, the commander has what's called testicular torsion. I'll spare you the details, other than to say it's good you got him here so quickly." By then Babatunde had returned with some help. He and his corpsmen got Haines onto a gurney. "So," Karzen said. "We're going to take Commander Haines in for a quick surgery. In the old days it would have taken a bit for him to recover. In this enlightened era of medical science, he should be back on his feet very soon. Now, if you'll excuse me," Karzen's face took on a serious tone. "I must scrub in and conquer this enemy to your comrade's hope for successful reproduction, in the name of Kahless the Unforgettable and your commander's yet to be born offspring!" Karzen winked at Phillips and then let forth a loud, deep laugh. "Relax Chief. I mock myself only. I promise you that your Commander Haines, and his reproductive hopes and dreams, are safe in my hands. Quite literally, in a few moments. Qapla'!"
Karzen left the Chief as quickly as he'd arrived, heading off to save a fellow officer's family jewels from developing gangrene.
"Thanks Doc", Philips replied with a nod. He left to go find the Commodore, leaving the Commander in the skilled hands of the medical staff.
Anson spotted a familiar face watching a furry crowd be lead away. "P'ril!"
He tried to wave, but with his hands full of cat, the best he could manage was a wag of his elbow. "You found... What are those? Llamas?"
"Alpacas, actually, Lieutenant," Alex said. "Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Alex Rylan, Lieutenant. Nice to meet you."
"I'll take your word that those are different things. Lt. Lee, Assistant Chief of Security." He turned to P'ril. He lifted his bundle a little higher. "I found a cat! I'm calling him Fish."
P’ril gave the cat a slow blink and held out a hand for him to sniff. “He is adorable,” she said, scratching Fish behind the ears. “But he may belong to someone. You may have to relinquish him.”
"True facts, Ma'am," Alex said, going back to protocol for official business. Still, he couldn't help poking a little fun at Lieutenant Lee. "By the way, who is Himfish and what about finding a cat necessitates calling them?"
Anson lifted the cat a big higher in his arms. "Him. Fish. And, yeah, pretty sure he's part of the current furry and feathered chaos. But maybe they won't want him back. Or her. I don't actually know if Fish is a boy or a girl. Either way, kinda cranky when forced to come down from the equipment rack in the Security Office."
P’ril lifted the cat’s tail and had a look. “Him,” she said. “And he has been neutered. Stop complaining,” she told the cat gently. “It is the only way to tell since you cannot speak our language and we cannot speak yours.”
"It's okay, Fish," Alex said, chuckling and purposefully ignoring that Anson had ignored him. "I don't blame you. Complain all you want. That's right. I know, I know. The indignity of it all. Being a cat is a hard life."
“Yes,” said P’ril dryly, no hint of emotion in her voice, though her eyes danced with mirth. “Cats have it so hard.”
"Well, this one will once I get him to the cargo bay." Anson sighed. "I guess he's been hired for the very important job of vermin control on a new colony. Not even cats can escape the daily grind."
Once Commander Haines and CPO Phillips dematerialized, T'mpest continued on her way through the promenade and to the turbolift. Several cargo bays had been set aside for the animals and she wanted to make sure there was plenty of hay and feed available. She wanted to be sure they were comfortable and well-fed before returning them to the Minnow. Only then would she start an investigation into what happened to set them loose in the first place.
At least once they recovered the animals, everything would get back to normal. After all, what else could go wrong?
A post by
Commander Cara Letsul
Executive Officer
Deep Space 5
Sergeant Trent Busby
Marine
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant JG Anson Lee
Assistant Chief SecurityOfficer
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Commander Jason Haines
Commodore's Bodyguard
Deep Space 5
Chief Petty Officer Phillips
Security
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Commander Karzen Son of Arjune, Son of ragan
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
Babatunde
Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Alexander Davith Rylan
Independent Duty Corpsman
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Bronwyn P'ril
Chief Engineer
Deep Space 5
Commodore T'mpest Michaels
Commander
Deep Space 5
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