Care to Pet My Krampus?

Posted on 19 Apr 2016 @ 9:00am by Lieutenant Parisa Rykov DCS & Commander Jayla Kij

1,678 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: USS Black Hawk - Sickbay
Timeline: MD 4

Chief Engineer Parisa Rykov had been noticing something peculiar with her best friend...her only friend albeit she was slowly warming up to Lieutenant Camila Di Pasquale. If the lieutenant did eventually become Parisa's friend, it would be one of the few times in Parisa's life that she made a friend in one of her shipmates. Being known as 'Chief Engineer Bitch' by those who worked closely with her, the little 'nickname' had escaped Engineering and was circling around the starship. No doubt there were some gossip cows aboard who enjoyed some scuttlebutt in the mess hall.

Rykov, however, didn't care about what people thought of her, and in a way, she rather enjoyed the name and nasty reputation that came along with it. She wasn't paying it any attention. Right now, she had more pressing matters to think about as she watched her friend become different over the course of the past couple days. Hacking up wads and balls of fur, leaving them for Parisa to have the pleasure of stepping in them with her bare feet during the night was a usual thing. However, watching Krampus vomit was uncommon.

Initially, she thought her friend was just feeling under the weather. However, Krampus had only been picking at the feline food that Rkov had been leaving out for her cat. Krampus would mostly ignore it rather than engulf it like usual. Krampus never turns up food thought Rykov as she picked her friend up and carried her cat out of her quarters and down the corridor. "This isn't the grand tour I promised you, but it is going to have to do for the time being" she said to the cat as she carried Krampus and entered the turbo lift.

Several minutes later, Doctor Parisa Rykov was walking into Sickbay with a look of concern and and edginess in her tone and a peculiar sense of panic in her physical posture. She saw a nurse on duty who was approaching her, but Rykov wasn't having any of it. Rykov glared at the nurse and sent the nurse away "I am not waiting and I am not dealing with this bureaucratic medical bull shit. I want the Chief Medical Officer and I want her now. Don't send me a nurse, and don't send me any other physician" added Parisa in a very firm tone.

"Let me see if she's available," said Hurley, turning to find Jayla.

But, Jayla had heard the commotion and come out of her office. "What is it now?" she asked. "Oh, please tell me it's not another kid with a broken arm. Oh!" she said, spotting the Romulan holding a cat. "Hi, sweetie," she said to the cat, giving him a slow blink and then immediately looking away. "I'm Doctor Jayla Kij," she introduced herself to the woman. "What's the problem?"

"I'm aware of who you are Doctor" said Rykov a bit coldly, though it was mostly out of concern for Krampus rather than her general icy bitchiness that most people aboard experienced first hand. "I'm Doctor Rykov, the Chief Engineer" she said in the event the woman was not as familiar with her as Parisa was with the Chief Medical Officer. "This is Krampus" she said, indicating the cat's name.

Rykov proceeded to place the cat atop one of the medical beds. "This starship was is ill equipped. There is not a Veterinarian aboard that I am aware of. I felt as Chief Medical Officer you were the safest alternative" said Parisa sharply. "Your patient is a a cross bred Himalayan-Persian, approximately eight Earth years of age and has otherwise been in good health. The patient has not been eating properly despite my attempts at feeding several different varieties of food. I have also noticed a disturbance in the patient's sleeping habits, and a general apathy towards physical activity in recent days" stated Rykov.

As it just so happened, Jayla knew quite a lot about cats. She didn't know a lot about cat medicine, but the tricorders all had settings for multiple animals and the computer could giver her hints on what to do, so she figured it shouldn't be that difficult. Normally, she wouldn't have bothered with a cat when she had so many people sick, but other people had reported odd behavior from their animals and she had started testing them, too. "All right, let me take a look," she said, pulling out her tricorder and setting it for cats. A quick scan showed nothing amiss. "I'm going to have to take a blood sample to see what I can find. He's probably not going to like this," she added, taking out a syringe and vacuum tube. "Do you want to hold him or shall I have one of my nurses do it?" she asked.

Rykov looked at the Doctor "I'll hold him" she said shaking her head. "If one of your nurses so much as comes near him...he'll likely claw their faces off or bit clean through their hand" she said cautioning the doctor and the nurses. "Just tell me what equipment you need or what tests you need to run and I'll assist you" said the Chief Engineer. "I'll scrub up if need be" she offered openly.

"Not right now," said Jayla. "I just need you to hold him while I take the blood sample so I can test for pathogens or abnormal blood chemistry."

Rykov did as she was instructed and held her cat. "Proceed, Doctor" said Rykov, hoping that the tests would show something that could help Krampus. "Have any other animals aboard been acting abnormally?" asked the Chief Engineer.

Moving as quickly as possible, Jayla pushed the fur away from the cat's back and quickly took the blood sample. "He's the first," she said, taking the tiny sample and plugging it directly into the computer. "Well, lately, anyway. I've had animals in here before."

Krampus let out a hiss after the Doctor took the blood sample, but Rykov kept a tight hold of her cat. "Krampus, don't be a sour puss right now" said the Chief Engineer as she bowed her head, kissing the cat on his fur covered skull. She watched as the Chief Medical Officer plugged the sample into a computer in Sickbay. "Despite that hiss...he seems to have taken to you" noted Lieutenant Rykov.

The Chief Engineer walked towards the computer and the Chief Medical Officer while still holding onto Krampus. "Hopefully, this blood sample will provide us with some answers" said Rykov aloud. Then, she felt strange movement within her arms. Krampus was heaving and trying to spring from her arms, but he could not break loose.

The next thing Rykov knew, she was holding her cat and facing the Chief Medical Officer. The poor Trill was soon the victim of Krampus' sickly vomit as the milky yellow fluid shot all over the center of her uniform. The Chief Engineer froze in horror. Damn Krampus she thought as she stroked her cat. "Doctor, I'm so sorry. He has been vomiting off and on" explained Rykov, excusing her cat for the incident.

"It's okay," said Jayla good-naturedly. "I've had far worse on me. Plus, the uniform is washable. I'll get a new one in a bit. "Poor Krampus," she added, scratching him behind the ears. "Hopefully we can figure out what this is."

Rykov nodded "Hopefully" she said with a heavy sigh. "I usually enjoy a good mystery, but it is entirely different when the mystery involves Krampus' health and general well being" she added with a slight expression of sadness in the tone of her voice.

"Well, he's in good hands," Jayla assured her.

On his was into Sickbay to grab some samples for scheduled testing, Kif Kevnar's Yridian knack for hearing troublesome details drew his attraction as he detoured the direct route to the samples in order to eavesdrop just a bit as the Chief Engineer and Chief Medical Officer discussed a patient. Kif caught a glimpse of the Sickbay computer analyzing the patient's blood. A feline patient? thought the male Yridian. Peculiar he thought as he observed the sickly cat.

"May I be of some assistance, Doctor Kij?" asked the warrant officer. "Is there anything you'd like me to personally analyze? I was just on my way back to the labs in order to examine some samples under a micro scope?"asked Kif.

"Actually, if you know anything about feline medicine, I'd appreciate a second opinion," Jayla responded.

The Yridian looked at the Chief Medical Officer sympathetically and shook his head. "No, I'm afraid that I don't, Doctor. My area of expertise lies more with research and more specifically botanical studies and horticulture" replied Kif.

Rykov coldly glared at the Yridian. Good she thought privately. You can keep your dirty claws away from Krampus and go back to whatever scheming you were doing. Yridians...they don't deserve to wear Starfleet unifroms thought the Chief Engineer and she held her tongue.

The very presence of Kif Kevnar disgusted her and placed Rykov on edge. Were she a cat, her hair would have been frazzled and she would have placed herself in a defensive posture. Rykov looked at the Chief Medical Officer. "Doctor, seeing as Krampus is in good care with you... can he stay here with you until the end of my next shift? I'd prefer someone like you were looking after him" asked the Chief Engineer.

"Absolutely," answered Jayla. "I'll keep him in my office and I can keep an eye on his condition. Does that sound like a plan?" she asked the cat.

Krampus let out a soft meowing and pur which was enough to satisfy Rykov. "I think he agrees with this plan" said Rykov as she handed Krampus over to the Chief Medical Officer. "I'll be back after my shift to check in on him. If you feel he needs to stay over night, I'll agree to it" she added before leaving Sickbay.

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