Hopping Mad

Posted on Sat Dec 30th, 2017 @ 3:54am by Captain Remas McDonald

1,115 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S1:2: Rubicon
Location: Deck 9, Security Office
Timeline: MD 6, 9.30am

The sounds coming from the security office sounded fearsome, Loud thumping, the rattle of lockers being struck hard with objects, and the sounds of people fighting. The interior did little to change that, as a pair of Expedition Security officer's failed to keep the peace.

"You think this is funny, human? You think I'm here for your amusement!" screamed the Leporidite whose tiny 3-foot tall body was being held back in the arms of one of the ExpSec officers. Their white fur bristled, sticking out in a dozen different directions so that the science uniform seemed to puff up.

The 'human' in question sat against a wall of lockers on the other side of the room, face bloodied and bruised as the other officer used a med kit on him. He was a civilian, but in his hand was the crushed remains some sort of waffle.

"Morning boss," the medically minded officer said without turning away from her work.

"What in the hell is going on in here?!" Vic exclaimed angrily.

"RACIAL PROFILING!!" screamed the Leporidite, its ears shooting straight up and its face scrunched up in anger. In all respect to Fal'twip Jul'hiy Ru'fiz, he looked cute whether in a blood-fueled rage or debating the nature of cellular growth. And right now he was kicking those big hoppers of his trying to get free.

"Mr Holden here works at the Presidium, the big bar/restaurant on the Rec Deck?" Ensign Lodis said, using the dermal regenerator from the med pack to set the fellows nose. "Apparently when he offered Fal'twip here a glass of carrot juice for breakfast he flipped out."

"HUMAN RACIAL PROFILING!!" came a cutesy scream again.

"Everyone calm down!" Vic ordered everyone, "Did you intentionally give Fal'twip carrot juice as a joke?" He asked Mr. Holden, he couldn't believe he was having this conversation.

"Haw wan, ai gost wark d'ere-OW!" Holden tried to say past the broken nose before Officer Lodis snapped it back into place for the dermal mender to fix. "Aw...aw yeah that's better. It was part of the breakfast menu, I just work there man. I just handed him what was on the platter-"

"How dare YOU tell me to calm down! And how dare you coddle this overgrown arboreal primate! Do you know how hard it is to be taken seriously in a human-dominated scientific field? Everything is built to your scale, your specification! When I signed onto the Traveller, Captain McDonald told me things would be different! DIFFERENT!" Fal'twip squeaked again. If he got any more worked up there was a real danger his little rabbit-like body was going to produce a few kilovolts of static electricity.

"I'm the Chief of Security on this tug, that's who I am," Vic replied to the angry little rabbit like person. Vic whipped out a PADD and quickly pulled up the galley's menu for the day, Carrot juice was indeed listed, "It's listed right here if you don't believe him." he added tossing the PADD to the fuzzball.

The officer holding onto Fal'twip let him go, but a hand did fall to rest on the hilt of his phaser: just in case. With a thump, the angriest marshmallow in this or any other galaxy picked up the padd, which within his hands looked comical. In this light there was a glimmer of compassion: how often had he been called cute, or asked what was up doc?

The ears, so stiff and angry, slowly began to drop back down to simple perked up awareness.

"I...I..um..." one foot tapped the deck plate rhythmically. "I might have...overreacted?"

"Ya think?" snorted Holden, who winced as a fresh dribble of blood came out of his nose.

"Give me a good reason I shouldn't slap you with an assault charge on a Starfleet officer!" Vic said, angry at the naive and quick to anger yet cute bunny looking one.

"I said I overreacted!" Fal'twip squeaked, looking at Holden and taking a firm step towards him. To Holden's credit, the man didn't flinch away, though that might have had something to do with the morphax patch applied to his neck for the pain. "I...I'm sorry. It's just for so long working with humans, or anyone whose species had grown up alongside cutesy little prey animals with big ears: you have no idea what that's like! Constantly being petted, or given snide comments."

"Or carrots," the watchful officer said.

"Yes! And then to be offered this role, this golden opportunity on the merit of my own intellect and drive...to be told it would all be different?" Fal'twip's voice drifted away. "I allowed anger to cloud my mind, and do something regrettable and wrong."

He held up his hands, which really did look like paw.

"Throw me in the brig," his ears drooped even lower. "Do what you must. It is the least of what I deserve."

Vic sighed and turned to Holden, "Do you want to press charges Holden, or you want me to let him go with a warning and mention of this situation on his record?"

For a moment, maybe fate-

"Lock his fuzzy ass up before he flips out and comes at me again!"

"You heard the man. To the brig." Vic said gesturing to his officers. He really didn't expect that to go any differently than it did. "They'll read you your rights once you're in the brig."

Fal'twip's ears drooped further, this time almost lying over his shoulders like a sad little scarf. But he followed the officer who'd been restraining him back towards the closed off cells. Ensign Lodis stood up, closing the medical kit and shook her head, tight ginger curls bobbing.

"Had an uncle who ran security on a startup colony on the edge of Federation space, sort of the bad influence that got me here don'tcha know?" she said, her accent a thick Upper Peninsula accent right at home in the North Americas. "Use to tell me all sort of stories about folks going a smidge lose in the brain. We're barely a week out and we've got our first."

She shrugged.

"Want me to take carrots and sharp knives off the menu for the Rec Deck?"

"Uh no, I happen to like both." Vic said with a smile as he nodded to his officers and began to head for the door, "Let me know if anymore fights over juice break out so I can talk to the Captain about opening up a fight club in the cargo bay for it." he said with a chuckle as he strolled out of the security office on to his next fiasco.

END

 

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