[snip]

D’Nesh had spend most of the day checking every nook and corner of the Merrimack. She then made her way to the bar ‘’Look Joe..look what I found ‘’ she was holding........ a cat .

Joe was under the bar searching for some bitters. When he heard D’Nesh he started to rise quickly but only wound up bumping his head when he did. ” Arrrgh! Curses and just universal poxes of all sorts and manner on that thing!” Joe came up rubbing the back of his head and congratulating himself at his very limited cursing. He looked in the direction of D’Nesh’s voice and he jumped as his flew open. ” What?” he asked in a dumb sounding voice. ” What in the name of that witch Cassiopia is that wretched thing doing here?”

The Orion young woman could count how many times he had hit his head ‘’ I heard a meowwww and found this ..can we cook it?’’ she asked in a child like manner.

Ginger tried to scratch and bite the poor little greenie.

She was not about to let it go ,a few scratches here and there were noting to D’Nesh.

Joe started at the cat for a moment considering. ” No not enough meat. Cats are built for speed. Wouldn’t be worth the time involved to turn them into a decent bit of food. That and they are cursed little creatures. They cavort with spirits, they’re unwashed and carry diseases. Best thing you can do for any poor creature who is reincarnated as a cat is to put them into an empty torpedo tube and send them flying off into the void.”

Now with widened eyes the Orion exclaimed ‘’Oh they are ‘’ she looked suspiciously at the creature ‘’Okay I’ll do that ‘’ and turned around to leave, hoping she’ll find a crew member to get rid of it.

Ginger hissed at Joe. Just wait until Cara and M’Mera get back, he thought.

Joe hissed back at the cat and then as D’Nesh turned to leave Joe shook his head and cursed. ” Now at this point in my life women start actually listening to me? I don’t know quite what to do actually. ” No D’nesh stop. One simply can’t go about throwing creatures out of torpedo tubes unfortunately. Those things are frowned upon. If you must, then take the furry , fuzzy demon to your quarters. They do make a comforting sound that can make people feel good . You might enjoy it’s company. Just keep it out of the bar and away from my.. ” Joe frowned as he had begun to say something about Cross but wasn’t sure exactly what to call her. ” Just keep the cat away from Dr. Cross and her quarters. For cats are known to take a babies breath away you know. ” After this bit of ancient folk logic Joe waved his hand at D’nesh and said simply,” Go take it. Find a n old container of some dort for they don’t care where they live as long as it’s somewhere odd.”

At this, Ginger dug his claws as deep into D’Nesh’s flesh as he could. She might be thinking that she was the cat’s pyjamas, but no little green, pet-eating, gremlin was going to stick Ginger in a container somewhere odd, or fire him from a torpedo tube either! At the very same time he vocalised a blood-curdling, screaming yowl that could be heard all around the deck, if not the entire ship!

Joe scowled and looked at D’ Nesh. ” Don’t drop that cursed thing! It’s wild you know. Those things are never tamed! If it gets loose, we may have to call security and they may have to shoot the poor little demon!”

Kate had just entered the dragon bar and on hearing what Joe had just said ‘’Really little demon!’’ .So taking the cat in her arms and with a sweet-sounding soothing tone ‘’Ooo..you poor boy what did they do to you eh?’’ the N.O asked as if the cat would respond,then she looked at D’Nesh ‘’This is Ginger the captain’s cat and he would get really angry if something happened to him, Faith is suppose to take care of it but she’s studying and has to do her practice in sickbay ....someone has to take care of the cat’‘.

D’Nesh had heard of a man called the Captain but she had never seen him just knew he was someone very important ‘’ I’ll take care of the c…c..cat ‘’ and so Kate explained how to handle it in a manner that would have a calming effect and feed it ‘’Ginger can stay here and he likes to cuddle up with you when you go to your cabin’’ .

Kate then turned to Joe ‘’Please some sandwiches to take with me to sickbay,with Cross and Hunter gone, doctor Kim and I are too busy to have breaks ‘’

Joe smiled blessing his lucky stars at the intervention of Kate. Now he would not only get rid of that pesky cat and whatever evil it brought, but he could also get back to looking for the lost bitters. He went to work with a glee at the thought of getting things done. About thirty minutes later he came back with two platters stacked high with small sandwiches. ” There you go Ms Kate, Turkey, Ham and chicken club sandwiches. And give my compliments to everyone in sickbay.”

‘’Thanks Joe I will ‘’ Kate responded while taking the sandwiches ,she saw D’Nesh with the cat behind the bar putting some left over chicken’’ There you go Ginger ‘’ she said patting his head ..then gazed at the pile of dirty dishes and sighed ‘’Guess with that lot by the time I finish it would be time for bed ‘’ .
As an ex Orion slave D’Nesh had learned a long time ago to do what was expected of her and got to work singing a tune in her native language .

Ginger demolished the chicken and began to purr even more loudly. He was happy to stay here will they gave him chicken, but even so, he checked the entrances for a quick exit if necessary.

D’Nesh finished her chores ,she picked Ginger up to take him to her cabin for a good night sleep ‘’Can I leave ? ‘’ she asked ‘’ Joe why haven’t we been to the station ,I now have some money and would like to visit some shops ‘’.

It was clear that the Orion young woman had no idea she was on a ship....perhaps a question that would baffle Joe.

Joe could only scratch his head and wonder what in world was wrong with the girl. Was it every female’s sworn duty to vex men? Scowling he finally told D’Nesh .” We aren’t going to the station because we’re currently on a mission of some type. Why were you wanting to do some sort of shopping?”

Max just completed a longer than normal shift in engineering. He was doing some maintenance and lost track of time and worked an extra 2 hours. He was tired but needed to decompress a little. He decided he would go down to the Dragon bar and see what was going on. He walked in and looked around. He did not see a whole log going on so he went over to the bar and sat down. He thought about drinking but did not know. He waited till someone came over to him.

Joe was in quite the good mood after having had that cause of all hexes and vexations removed from his bar. In his mind the only good pet was a hound. Dachshund or Beagle was his preference. Loyal friends to the end and depending on who it was they might sometimes be drinking companions. For he’d once owned a Dachshund who when Joe drank beer always demanded that he pour some into his water bowl. The dog would often take to silly hiccups. howls and gas that could be considered weapons grade but, in the end, fun was had by all.

Seeing Mullins come in through made Joe’s Day even better. He walked over toward Mullins with a bar towel across his shoulder for effect. He really hadn’t been doing much beside complaining about the cat. But all in all, with the towel across his shoulder he looked rather professional. ” Ah, Chief Mullins the man who keeps us all from becoming so much scrap adrift in space! How may I be of service to you today sir?”

The Orion young woman looked at the man who had just entered , Joe seemed happy and delighted to see him though what ever was said eluded her . Still holding the cat D’Nesh asked again ‘’From where do I leave to go back to the station ? ‘’

Ginger continued to purr as he was held by D’Nesh. She didn’t seem too bad at all now, as opposed to Joe who had wanted to send him out of the airlock.

Joe looked dumbly at D’Nesh and just couldn’t think of an answer for the poor thing. ” Well that depends. ” Joe began. ” First it depends on the
mission.
Then of course the fleet may just assign us to a completely different area not even going anywhere near the station. There’s just isn’t really anyway to tell when we get back to the station .Why the Captain himself probably couldn’t tell you that.”

D’Nesh tried to make sense of what Joe said ,did he mean they where not at the station anymore? Did the entrance she was shown to enter was not part of the station after all ? ‘’ Come on sweety ‘’ she told Ginger ‘’ Lets go and have a good night sleep ‘’ and with that she headed to her cabin.

Before D’Nesh could leave the Dragon Bar, there was some kind of disturbance over at the Blackjack tables. NE Gamer was shouting that the Dentist was cheating.

“This is outrageous! It’s not fair letting him deal cards like that,” shouted NE Gamer. “The way he influences the pack with that amount of weird shuffling and stuff! He should only deal one card at a time from one hand! Every player knows that one card at a time creates a more random distribution of cards; a much cleaner deal. That’s how it’s always done on other ships! He’s making patterns when he does that shit there… he’s ordering the deck somehow! He shouldn’t be allowed to use it… Just keep it out of the way inside his pocket, or under the table, or something. Just not so it can be seen! It’s not natural! He’s a mutant freak! … By Fingale, he’s an abomination! An atrocity! That’s right… He should be arrested and expelled from Starfleet!”

“I’ve been playing Blackjack here in the Dragon Bar on the Merrimack for over two years now, and for maybe another thirty years before that in different Space Station bars, all around the two Quadrants, and in all that time, do you know what? Not one single person has ever complained before. I was born like this. I can’t help it, I cannot help the way I was born… and I can’t help how I am any more that you can help being a prick! …and what’s more, Starfleet have it registered as a disability rather than any kind of advantage. It’s not an augmentation, it’s a disability you thick lump! So, I can have you up before the XO for disability discrimination! …In fact, I should do that just for those derogatory comments alone!” Ade replied.

Someone should call the XO and for some Security before it got out of hand.

• Ade, Ship’s Dentist

Joe was ticked off. His first instinct was to start fighting the both of them. It would give Ade some business. He remembered then Miriam and thought of all the trouble he could get into solving things himself. A large grin broke across his face at the thought of a good fight. It had been SO long! He balled up his fists and took a step forward.

He was sorely disappointed in himself though when he turned and walked to the bar where he tapped the comm unit on the bar. < ” Security to the Dragon Bar! I have two fools fighting down here!”>

=^=Ssecurrity here, on my way. Tell them if they arre not done fighting by the time I get therre, they arre going to feel my clawss!” M’Mera growled as she was suddenly woken out of her catnap. As if she didn’t have enough to keep her busy…some morons start a bar fight! What was this?? An OK Corral?

Within a few minutes an irate Caitian COS stomped into the Dragon Bar. How a Caitian could stomp with no boots on was a mystery.

Joe was by this time standing behind the bar with his hand on his shillelagh ready to bean the first of the gamblers which looked as if he would cause any damage to anything besides one another. As soon as he saw the Caition Joe frowned and muttered. ” Save us all, it’s Cat Sidh as a chief of security!”

Joe was though trying not to be superstitious. So, he just pointed to the two and told the Lieutenant. ” There they be Lieutenant. Put them somewhere besides here if you please. For I’ve had enough silliness for one day!”

“Gladly,” M’Mera growled back at him as she bounded more than walked across the bar to the two arguing gamblers. “Eitherr fold up forr the night and go back to your quarters or I am banging your heads together and locking you two up in the brig together! Your choice!” She finished growling while she folded her arms under her bosom and waited for their answer. Unbeknownst to the two combatants she had her phaser under her arm set to stun either of the two miscreants if they decided to start brawling with her.

Ade was saddened but not surprised at the attitude of the COS; although unfortunately such ableist attitudes were part of a wider systemic issue and still not uncommon in the early 24th Century. “I don’t understand what you would charge me with? I am not fighting with this man, I haven’t even got up out of my seat. I am sober and have done nothing wrong. I just want to play cards just as I have done here almost every other night without any problem. He has made derogatory and demeaning comments about me which you completely ignore, and made some accusations that he will be unable to substantiate. However, once again it appears that it is instead the disabled person who is marginalised, and is to blame for simply being disabled, and that it is myself who must fold up for the night and go back to my room, is that it?”

NE Gamer was equally upset with the attitude of the COS. “I’m not fighting with anyone either! Don’t worry, I’m leaving! But if I want to play cards then I shouldn’t have to play against a card sharp, and you can clearly see what his obvious advantage is, so why is he allowed to do that stuff? He needs to be banned from playing here. That’s not a disability if it gives him a competitive advantage, whatever the ‘poor thing’ story he is trying to spin to you now… And secondly, I also don’t know why he is even allowed to be in Star Fleet, or why you haven’t arrested him and shipped him off to a penal colony. I know Star Fleet Law! I know my rights! …and I know that he is unnatural.”

• Ade, Ship’s Dentist