[snip]

Isaac was reading a pad on his way to the mess hall for a light snack before bed. Thinking about what to eat then he Heard the Commotion from the cargo bay. He opened the door and called out “ who is in here come out now”

Lt. Isaac Black (AC)

Hearing Black’s command back into the cargo bay the dog turned in his direction as if a command was given or recognizing a possible situation, lowering its belly to the ground nearer back to the door it sniffed, then gave a clipped short soft pair of barks looking up at Black as if expecting him to know what to do or say next. The dog was clearly well trained and quite intelligent.

“Changing allegiances already, are you girl? Remember who fed you his precious treats,” Rick muttered. She looked smart and probably had a lot of training of some kind under her collar, but just what that was, well, remained to be seen.

Sasha watched Black walk past him. Were they making that much noise that they woke someone? Or was it Booster screaming down the corridor that did it? Probably Booster. Sasha glanced at Black then at the comms. Was it working? Was there nobody on the bridge? Were they vacuuming there and nobody heard the comms over the sound of the vacuum? Wouldn’t ‘that’ be the irony?

“Whoa, watch your step Lieutenant,” PO Rick Walters said from his place down on one knee with the dog not far. “We’re down here.” He had been looking in the direction of the dimmed Cargo Bay where the lighting was poor - well, for now - and the sounds of the screeching and tearing of metal and had missed Black until he was very close. This little girl dug her self out of a crate? He looked at her paws and muzzle .. was she hurt at all from that? While he did that he replied to Black, “I don’t think there’s anyone in there. There was just crewman Booster who got .. spooked when the Sergeant here hit the door control.” Was Nessa some kind of guide dog that could open doors and stuff? She didn’t look like a wolf or anything .. formidable. Not hunky like a Doberman or German shepherd or other traditional ‘guard’ dogs.

Based on how the dog walked and looked, it seemed in fine shape. No injuries were present other then that the dog looked hungry and recently awoken.

Meanwhile Sasha tapped at the comms. Brand new ship. Did this not work?

• Sasha and Rick

[O]On my way.[C] Renault’s voice came through the comm Sasha was tapping at. Several moments later, Renault stepped off the lift and looked between all of them. “There is a MACO service animal in the cargo?” He asked, as if confirming what had been said over the comms. And then he spotted the dog. “Elle est adorable!” (She is adorable) he said in French, grinning at the little dog. “She is behaved? Aggressive or friendly?”

~ Captain Renault

The dog hearing the new arrival turned, seeming briefly confused by the sudden activity. But then as if sensing there were no threats or duties assigned to it, upon seeing the Captain it sat on its hunches again as it awaiting further orders.

“Attentive girl,” Rick said. “Wish I’d have had a girl friend half as attentive.”

Sasha had a momentary twinge of panic right after the Captain had answered. “Is everyone a vam..”, but at a look from Rick he didn’t finish that statement. However, he did continue to wonder about the rest of the officers on the ship seemingly up at all hours. Did that mean that as an Ensign that he should be up and about during the day shift too rather than sleeping? The cross training from Moscow and the Americas meant little sleep between studies. Did he miss some unspoken expectation? He looked at the armory person who was so late on the call. It didn’t even look like he had gotten any call that Booster had made. By the look in his eyes, Rick was just full of curiosity about this dog that Sasha still wasn’t sure about. The dog looked benign, but so did communism.

Meanwhile, Rick looked up as the Captain approached. “She definitely is, Captain,” and by association showing that he had some French understanding. He hadn’t met the Captain yet and had only at the last moment spotted the pips at his breast. The Captain could see that there was some smile on his face that he was trying to control. “That last question is one for interpretation. Crewman Booster was spooked by her escaping her kennel and coming at him in the dim cargo bay. But she’s been like this since. Her tag says ‘Sgt Nessa’.”

Sasha and Rick

If anyone deemed to check Nessa’s cargo container, they would find not only the open pen inside, which had been opened by likely some kind of emergency latch on the interior for the dog to use if it needed to get out by itself. Also inside the container was an array of boxes each holding some various shipments of dog related food stuffs, medical equipment, equipment harness for different duties, and a pair of PADDs currently turned off.

Rick stood and hit the lights for the cargo bay. They flickered on. ‘What a mess,’ Rick thought. And they were supposed to navigate around all that? He looked at Sasha. “Sir, we may as well continue our job and maybe find the container that this girl escaped from. The way Booster described it and how it sounded she tore the thing to shreds.” For whatever reason that made Sasha look a bit green, but it may have been the lighting.

“With your leave, Captain,” Ensign Gagarin said. Between the Captain and the Armory chief they probably had things more in hand and experience than they did.

Rick moved first, winding his way through the stacks. “I think this is it,” he said to Sasha. He found the manifest attached to the crate, and whistled. “Whoa boy,” he said, after reading it quickly. “Wonder if Booster knows what is missing from our inventory. Knowing our luck it’s toilet paper.”
“They would not make such a mistake in Russia. Toilet paper is highly regarded,” Sasha said, reading over Rick’s shoulder.
“Because most of the last couple centuries your politicians were full of crap?” Rick replied.
“No worse than any, but Russians are very principled,” Sasha said.

Looking at the shipping manifest for the container, it seems someone had made a mistake at Earth a big one in fact! This dog had been put to sleep for a trip to Mars where it was expected to undergo final training as a MACO Search/Rescue/Contraband service animal. Instead of going there she got shipped here, it would seem someone for MACO Command on Mars would be winding up with a shipping crate meant for the Sojourner that would have contained two months worth of toilet paper.

“Captain!” Sasha called out, knowing the distance was not that far, “we have found the .. Sergeant’s crate. She was bound for Mars for use for Search and Rescue and Contraband search.”

If anyone deemed to look at the turned off PADDs this would be confirmed. The Nessa had completed training as a service dog for the MACOs as a therapy dog for morale purposes when not on duty. She had also finished much of her current search/rescue training but had not started or completed the Contraband and such training.

GM CockRoach

Rifling about Rick found the PaDD’s. Curiosity took over and he turned one on. Their grav plating checks were going to have to wait. This was just a make work project anyway to get them more familiar with the new ship. This was more fun, well, unless Green suddenly rolled around the corner to join the late night party of beta shift and insomniacs. “Wonder if she could sniff plasma leaks.”
- Rick and Sasha

OOC: Snip!

GM CockRoach