Taking the dog for a walk...

Posted on 22 Mar 2016 @ 5:23am by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Ensign Miraj Derani

1,021 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - Corridors
Timeline: MD94 - 1900 hours

[ON]

"Snuffles, stay!"

Tuula's voice echoed through the corridors of the USS Galileo, but they had no effect on the targ who was bounding down the hallway, his leash dragging behind. He had picked up a new scent, one different from anything he had smelled before, and had broken free of his master to investigate.

Rounding a corner, his target came into view. She was about the same size as her new temporary master, with the same brightly coloured hair. Except this one walked upright, rather than rolling around on her contraption made of metal and chew toys.

A few steps away from the target, Snuffles pounced and lept into the air, tackling the strange creature to the ground. Curious, he began his investigation of the creature, sniffing it and licking its face to determine its origin.

But after a few seconds he felt a sharp tug on his collar. The woman seated on the chew toy had caught up to him and grabbed him by the collar.

"Down!" shouted Tuula, pulling Snuffles away from Miraj. "I'm sorry, Snuffles here kind of got away from me," she explained apologetically as she engaged the brakes on her chair and with both hands, forcefully dragged the targ away from Miraj. "Stay!"

When the animal had jumped on her, Miraj had given a shreik of shock and stumbled back, whereupon the klingon equivalent of doggy breath assaulted her senses and then a rough tongue grated over her face as the creature analysed her throughly the only way it could. She struggled to push him away. He was almost as heavy as she was. "Get off me!" she squealed. "Today is not a good day to lick! Off me."

With a sharp tug on the leash, Tuula managed to draw Snuffles' attention back towards her, and draw the targ off of Miraj and back towards her side. "Stay," she said in a firm tone, staring down at Snuffles.

The targ, meanwhile, had learned over the past few days when her new master was serious. Sitting down next to Tuula's mobile chew toy, he looked up at her with Klingon puppy-dog eyes.

"Awwwwww, I can't stay mad at you," replied Tuula, giving him a scratch around the collar as a reward for staying put. "I'm sorry," she said, looking up at Miraj as she got up. "He's very curious, especially around new people. But he won't bite or anything like that."

Miraj wiped the targ slobber from her face with her sleeve. "Thats okay. I just wasn't expecting a wild animal on a space ship."

"He's actually quite tame," explained Tuula as she continued scratching Snuffles under the collar. "Aren't you Snuffles? Who's a cute little targ? You are! Yes, you are!" Looking back up at Miraj, she continued. "I've been drafted by the Admiral for targ-sitting duty. I'm Dr. Voutilainen, or Tuula for short." She offered Miraj a smile as she looked up at her hair. It was the same colour as hers at the moment, albeit without the black highlights. "I like your hair," she added.

"Miraj, conn" Miraj said, and tightened her bunches automatically. "Thanks. Nice dreads." she offered in return. She eyed the targ dubiously. The puppy? piglet? seemed content to chew on the wheel of Tuula's chair, and ignore her.

"Oh thanks," replied Tuula in an excited tone. "You can pet him you know; I think he likes you."

Miraj got on her knees so she was closer to the baby targ's level and held out a hand. He thrust his snout into it, rocking her back with the force of it, and had a good sniff. He kept sniffing whilst she rubbed at the ruff of fur behind his head. "Hey boy, how are you? do you like that?" she scritched with both hands while he panted happily. "Yes you do. you do." she babbled at him for a moment. "He's very friendly. How old is he?"

"About three, I would guess," replied Tuula, moving in closer with her chair as she looked up at Miraj. "You are... part Boslic, aren't you?" she asked, studying Miraj's face carefully.

"My mother." Miraj confirmed, pleased that someone recognised her. Boslic weren't common on the.beta quadrant side of the Federation. She was used to having to explain. "Most people don't recognise it."

"That's so awesome!" exclaimed Tuula, excitedly. "I have so many questions for you... how many kidneys do you have? Do you have two lungs or four? And your heart..." Tuula paused for a moment, seeing the look on Miraj's face. "Sorry. Xeno-anatomy was my favourite class at the academy. And hybrids are just so fascinating, from a medical perspective..."

Miraj had certianly never contemplated her insides in any details, but was used to being a curiosity. "Two lungs. One heart, four chambers, very boring. I have a vestigial third kidney though." She offered, so not to disappoint with her otherwise fairly standard humanoid biology.

"Wow, three kidneys," replied Tuula, excitedly. "That's just so cool! If you're ever in sickbay, I would love to do a full bioscan!"

"Er, okay." Miraj wasn't really keen. She had never been comfortable being poked and prodded for her anomalous anatomy. But this Tuula seemed nice enough, and it was understandable, if it was her hobby. "Next time i'm there. Sure. No problem."

"Yay!" exclaimed Tuula, waving her fists in excitement. Snuffles let out a bark; he was beginning to get antsy and starting to tug on Tuula's leash. "It was so nice to meet you. But I better head off; Snuffles really needs to burn some calories after that raw steak I replicated for him."

With one hand wrapped tightly around the leash, Tuula released the brakes on her chair. The moment she did so, Snuffles began pulling her down the corridor, and within a few seconds, he was bounding through the corridors of the ship again, Tuula in tow. "See you around!" shouted Tuula over her shoulder before disappearing around a corner.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

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