Originally posted on fanfiction.net - Link.
Note: This story takes place after the opening of the episode "Much Ado About Boimler".
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A Dog by Any Other Name
“Guys, this is seriously creeping me out,” Boimler gulped as he watched the dark, morphed form of The Dog scamper across the ceiling. “Oh man, what the heck did Tendi do to that thing?”
“More like what didn’t she do?” Rutherford blanched as The Dog dangled above him before growing another pair of glowing eyes. “Ahhhhhh!”
“I’m back!” Tendi chirped happily carrying a pair of padds. The Dog quickly dropped to the floor and resumed her usual appearance half a second before Tendi returned. “Glad to see you guys are all getting along. Here are my notes about how I reorganized her mitochondria. You’re gonna love it! See, first I started by reworking the protein folding of the inner and outer membranes, but then instead of utilizing the typical association between the mitochondria and her eukaryotes’ cytoskeletons, I…”
“Tendi, as fascinating and intriguing as that is,” Boimler interrupted. “We’re really not in any condition to hear about it right now.”
“Yeah, our repair assignment over on the station really wiped us out,” Rutherford yawned. “We’re all sore, tired and in desperate need of sleep, right Mariner? Mariner?”
“Zzzzzzz,” Mariner droned having already drifted off.
“See, she agrees with us,” Boimler said. “Plus, I really think you need to go over your notes and reevaluate your DNA work. Your dog is weird!”
“What are you talking about?” Tendi asked scratching The Dog behind her ear. “She’s just a normal Earth dog. Okay, I may have made her a bit cuter than average…”
“That’s not all you did,” Rutherford gulped as The Dog’s wagging tail turned into some kind of sharp, jagged crystal behind Tendi’s back. “You didn’t make a dog, you created some kind of bizarre, shape-shifting mutant!”
“Shhh, don’t say that! You’ll hurt her feelings,” Tendi protested cupping her hands over The Dog’s ears. The Dog’s tail had swiftly returned to normal. “Don’t worry, girl. You’re cute and perfect and beautiful in every way! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”
“Fine, whatever,” Boimler yawned plopping his head onto his pillow. “We can talk about this later. After we finish getting some sleep. Maybe in a few days…”
“You said it, man,” Rutherford agreed lying down. “Night, Tendi.”
“Goodnight,” Tendi whispered before quietly leading The Dog away from her friends’ bunks. “Hope those guys have a nice rest. I’m way too excited to sleep. How about you, The Dog?” She glanced down at her companion. “What would you like to do? Ooo, I know! How about I take you for a walkie and show you more of the Cerritos? Would you like that, girl? Huh, would you?” The Dog barked twice in approval. “Great! Let’s go!”
Tendi cheerfully led The Dog into a nearby turbolift and rode it to another deck. “So, let’s see. We have a processing hub over there and a choir room over there.” The Dog paused and sniffed at one door. “Sorry, girl. That’s the Rubber Ducky Room. We’re not allowed in there. It’s off-limits,” Tendi explained moving on. “Don’t worry, I’ll replicate you some balls, sticks, chess sets, computer processors and other toys later. And I’ll talk to Commander Ransom about getting you a job aboard the ship. Ooo, I got it! You can be our mascot! How does that sound, girl? Sound like fun?” The Dog barked happily. “Yeah, I thought so. You’ll be the official Lower Decks mascot! Or at least the mascot for Beta shift. That would be so cool! I bet none of the other shifts have a mascot…”
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Ensign Aisf warned as Tendi nearly collided with him. “You almost made me mess up my hair!”
“Speaking of which,” Tendi blinked realizing they had wandered into the bunk hallway of Delta shift.
“Oh great, a Beta shifter,” Ensign Karavitus turned from where she and her fellow Delta shift companions were preparing themselves for their shift. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
“Sorry,” Tendi said stepping aside. “I’m just taking my dog The Dog for a walk.”
“Your what the what?” A gold-uniformed ensign with an eyepatch glanced at her. “Ugh, get that mangy mutt away from me! I’m allergic to dogs!”
“She’s not mangy!” Tendi protested. “And I designed her to be completely hypoallergenic so you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“You designed it?” Karavitus frowned staring at The Dog. “Doesn’t that violate the Federation’s ban on genetic engineering?”
“Technically no,” Tendi thought for a moment. “I know there’s a strict law forbidding the genetic engineering and resequencing of Humans, but its past enforcement has involved several blatant exceptions and inconsistencies…”
“Who cares? Just get that thing outta here!” The eyepatch-wearing ensign snapped. “Lock it in a kennel or something.”
“I can’t do that. She’s my friend!” Tendi gasped giving The Dog a hug. “And my Medical side project.”
“You call that a side project?” Ensign Moxy scoffed haughtily. “Sheesh, talk about lame.”
“She’s not lame! She’s an amazing, wonderful dog,” Tendi glared. “It’s not like you could do better.”
“Oh yeah? Check this out,” Moxy smirked holding up a transparent cylinder containing an intricate, suspended network of fluidics and neural tissue. “A fully functional, artificially grown, all-organic humanoid brain stem created using a genetronic replicator.”
“Wow,” Tendi blinked, stunned. “That’s…actually really impressive.”
“Of course it is,” Moxy preened. “It’s based off the brilliant pioneering work of Doctor Toby Russell. I designed the brain stem to be compatible with the cerebral cortex of most humanoids once it’s integrated with the rest of a subject’s central nervous system. Just look at those ganglia!”
“Ooo,” Tendi marveled. “Such well-defined plexuses…”
“See? That’s the kind of high-quality work one can expect of Delta shift,” Karavitus said as she finished fastening her uniform. “C’mon, guys. Time to head out. We don’t want to be late for duty…ahhh!” She yelped as The Dog playfully tugged at her boot. “Hey, you stupid dog! Let go of my uniform!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the mutt,” Asif moved to grab The Dog only for his hands to pass right through her. “What the…?”
“Huh?” Karavitus blinked in shock. “Did that dog just turn itself into some kind of gas?”
“Did it just grow bigger?” Asif gulped as The Dog loomed over him. “Uh oh…”
“Holy *bleep*!” Karavitus yelled as a now polar bear-sized The Dog began to chase a terrified Asif around the corridor. “What kind of crazy dog is that?!”
“So wait, you’re saying the cranial nerves remain stable without any cellular degradation?” An absorbed Tendi asked ignoring the plight of the other ensigns.
“Yep. As I anticipated they would,” Moxy grinned. “I can’t wait to reveal my side project to Doctor T’Ana. She’ll be far more impressed with a working example of cutting edge Medical research instead of playing around with some silly old dog.”
“AAAHHHHHH! SOMEBODY HELP ME!” Asif shrieked as The Dog bounced him up and down on her nose like a seal with a ball. “I’M GONNA BE SICK!”
“Quick! Help me grab that thing!” Karavitus yelled.
“But my allergies,” The eyepatch-wearing ensign protested.
“Forget your allergies and take one for the team!” Karavitus snapped. “This is an emergency!”
“Right,” The eyepatch-wearing ensign reluctantly reached for The Dog only for her to suddenly turn into electricity. “AAAIIIEEEEEE!”
“Huh?” Asif yelped crashing to the deck while a shocked eyepatch-wearing ensign flew back into a nearby bunk twitching, unconscious and with his now-frizzled hair sticking out in all directions. “WHAT THE HECK?!”
“Are you kidding me…AAAGGGHHH!” Karavitus cried as The Dog abruptly returned to normal size before sneezing and covering Karavitus with ice. “YEEEOOOWWW! THAT’S COLD!”
“The Dog is not silly or old!” Tendi defended glaring at Moxy. “She’s smart and talented and only a few hours young!”
“That explains her breeding and sense of style, or lack of them,” Moxy snapped getting in Tendi’s face. “Just like her creator!”
“YAAAHHHHHH! HELP! GET AWAY FROM ME!” Asif screamed running about as The Dog hovered after him while spitting lightning bolts. “OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!”
“S-S-Somebody get a phaser and unmelt me!” Karavitus shivered while frozen to a bulkhead. “I can’t f-f-feel my fingers!”
“Look who’s talking about style problems, sister!” Tendi snapped still oblivious to the surrounding chaos. “I’ve seen better uniforms worn and cared for by personnel from Starbase 80!”
“At least my uniform isn’t full of wrinkles and stray dog hair like yours!” Moxy shot back. “Not to mention the growing mass of wrinkles and hair quickly growing around every square millimeter of your face!”
“Look out! That stupid dog ate my combadge and is drooling all over the place!” Asif wailed. “Yuck, how much drool can one dog make? There must be gallons of the stuff…IS THE DROOL MELTING THROUGH THE DURANIUM? WAAAGGGHHHHHH!”
“D-D-Did that dog just break into a dance?” A half-frozen Karavitus goggled.
“Did it just burst into flames?!” Asif blanched. “GAAAHHHHHH!”
“Your eyesight and sense of reality are in question if you think a young female Orion would ever appear with wrinkles!” Tendi declared. “Besides, one’s outer appearance isn’t everything in Starfleet. It doesn’t even count as anything! What counts is one’s drive, passion and dedication to one’s work.”
“You bet it does,” Moxy smirked patting her project. “Which is why I’m going to be praised, hailed and put on the fast track to promotion once Doctor T’Ana takes a look at this medical marvel…”
CHOMP!
CRUNCH!
“Bark!”
“You were saying?” Tendi asked sweetly as The Dog suddenly appeared next to her and woofed down the replicated brain stem in one bite, cylinder and all.
“WHAT THE HECK?!” Moxy shrieked staggering back. “THAT CRAZY DOG JUST ATE MY MEDICAL PROJECT!”
“And she did a very thorough job of it too,” Tendi remarked patting The Dog on the head. “She must’ve been really hungry. Did you like that, girl? Was it tasty?”
“THAT THING’S A MENACE! A MENACE I TELL YOU!” Moxy screamed pointing a finger at The Dog. The Dog playfully nipped at it. “OW! IT BIT ME!”
“No, bad girl!” Tendi scolded The Dog. “Don’t bite members of Delta shift. You’ll get rabies.”
“THAT STUPID DOG IS GONNA BE SKINNED ALIVE!” Moxy howled lunging at The Dog only for The Dog to sneeze and cover her with some kind of slime. “WHAT THE?! EWWWWWW!”
“Y-Y-Yuck,” Karavitus winced still frozen in place while slowly turning bluer than a Bolian. “And I t-t-thought I had it b-b-bad.”
“No kidding,” A frazzled-looking Asif moaned stuck to the ceiling. “That crazy canine blasted me up here coated with some kind of sticky bodily fluid or something. And instead of its nose, it shot the sticky stuff right out its…”
“Arf! Arf!” The Dog emitted a blast of sonic waves at the beleaguered ensigns of Delta shift.
“AAACCCKKKKKK!” Moxy and the rest of her restrained companions wailed. “WHAT KIND OF CRAZY DOG IS THAT?!”
“The best kind,” Tendi smiled kneeling down and giving The Dog a big hug. “I don’t know why you all are acting so surprised. She’s just a normal Earth dog after all.”
“ARE YOU INSANE?!” Moxy screamed while completely covered in slime. “EARTH DOGS DON’T…WAAAUUUGGGHHH!”
“Well, it’s been nice chatting with you guys,” Tendi said as Moxy slipped in the slime and fell on her behind. “But we really must be going. Come on, The Dog.”
“Right, Tendi!” The Dog woofed happily as she and Tendi casually took off. “Onward to treats and adventure!”
“Huh?” The conscious members of Delta shift did a double-take. “Did that dog just speak?!”
“Hey, what’s going on down here?” Lieutenant Commander Stevens sauntered around a corner carrying a padd. “Why are you ensigns lounging about? You all are late for your duty shifts.”
“WHAT?!” Karavitus yelped. “B-B-But it’s not our fault! A stupid m-m-member of Beta shift did this to us!”
“Yeah right. I’ve heard that excuse before,” Stevens rolled his eyes while gazing at the sticky, frozen, slimy and heavily melted sections of the hallway. “You all have to quit playing around and pulling pranks amongst yourselves or you’ll never make it in Starfleet. And stop causing damage to Starfleet property.” Stevens tapped on his padd. “You’re all on report and reassigned to waste extraction cleaning detail for the rest of the month.”
“WHAT?!” Karavitus and Asif screamed. “AAARRRGGGHHHHHH! CURSE YOU, BETA SHIFT!”
“I’M GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS, TENDI!” Moxy howled as she futilely struggled to escape the pool of slippery slime. “YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS! YOU AND YOUR CRAZY LITTLE DOG TOO!”
“You know, I’m usually really bothered and upset when someone doesn’t like me,” Tendi commented as she strode down the corridor. “But not in this case.”
“Woof! Woof!” The Dog barked cheerfully while glowing and hovering along beside her.
“Gee, all my project research was right. Dogs are great!” Tendi smiled petting The Dog. “It’s a wonder why there aren’t more dogs aboard starships. Ah, dogs and Starfleet. If that isn’t a winning combination for happiness, I don’t know what is!”
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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Note: This story takes place after the opening of the episode "Much Ado About Boimler".
--------------------------------------
A Dog by Any Other Name
“Guys, this is seriously creeping me out,” Boimler gulped as he watched the dark, morphed form of The Dog scamper across the ceiling. “Oh man, what the heck did Tendi do to that thing?”
“More like what didn’t she do?” Rutherford blanched as The Dog dangled above him before growing another pair of glowing eyes. “Ahhhhhh!”
“I’m back!” Tendi chirped happily carrying a pair of padds. The Dog quickly dropped to the floor and resumed her usual appearance half a second before Tendi returned. “Glad to see you guys are all getting along. Here are my notes about how I reorganized her mitochondria. You’re gonna love it! See, first I started by reworking the protein folding of the inner and outer membranes, but then instead of utilizing the typical association between the mitochondria and her eukaryotes’ cytoskeletons, I…”
“Tendi, as fascinating and intriguing as that is,” Boimler interrupted. “We’re really not in any condition to hear about it right now.”
“Yeah, our repair assignment over on the station really wiped us out,” Rutherford yawned. “We’re all sore, tired and in desperate need of sleep, right Mariner? Mariner?”
“Zzzzzzz,” Mariner droned having already drifted off.
“See, she agrees with us,” Boimler said. “Plus, I really think you need to go over your notes and reevaluate your DNA work. Your dog is weird!”
“What are you talking about?” Tendi asked scratching The Dog behind her ear. “She’s just a normal Earth dog. Okay, I may have made her a bit cuter than average…”
“That’s not all you did,” Rutherford gulped as The Dog’s wagging tail turned into some kind of sharp, jagged crystal behind Tendi’s back. “You didn’t make a dog, you created some kind of bizarre, shape-shifting mutant!”
“Shhh, don’t say that! You’ll hurt her feelings,” Tendi protested cupping her hands over The Dog’s ears. The Dog’s tail had swiftly returned to normal. “Don’t worry, girl. You’re cute and perfect and beautiful in every way! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”
“Fine, whatever,” Boimler yawned plopping his head onto his pillow. “We can talk about this later. After we finish getting some sleep. Maybe in a few days…”
“You said it, man,” Rutherford agreed lying down. “Night, Tendi.”
“Goodnight,” Tendi whispered before quietly leading The Dog away from her friends’ bunks. “Hope those guys have a nice rest. I’m way too excited to sleep. How about you, The Dog?” She glanced down at her companion. “What would you like to do? Ooo, I know! How about I take you for a walkie and show you more of the Cerritos? Would you like that, girl? Huh, would you?” The Dog barked twice in approval. “Great! Let’s go!”
Tendi cheerfully led The Dog into a nearby turbolift and rode it to another deck. “So, let’s see. We have a processing hub over there and a choir room over there.” The Dog paused and sniffed at one door. “Sorry, girl. That’s the Rubber Ducky Room. We’re not allowed in there. It’s off-limits,” Tendi explained moving on. “Don’t worry, I’ll replicate you some balls, sticks, chess sets, computer processors and other toys later. And I’ll talk to Commander Ransom about getting you a job aboard the ship. Ooo, I got it! You can be our mascot! How does that sound, girl? Sound like fun?” The Dog barked happily. “Yeah, I thought so. You’ll be the official Lower Decks mascot! Or at least the mascot for Beta shift. That would be so cool! I bet none of the other shifts have a mascot…”
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Ensign Aisf warned as Tendi nearly collided with him. “You almost made me mess up my hair!”
“Speaking of which,” Tendi blinked realizing they had wandered into the bunk hallway of Delta shift.
“Oh great, a Beta shifter,” Ensign Karavitus turned from where she and her fellow Delta shift companions were preparing themselves for their shift. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
“Sorry,” Tendi said stepping aside. “I’m just taking my dog The Dog for a walk.”
“Your what the what?” A gold-uniformed ensign with an eyepatch glanced at her. “Ugh, get that mangy mutt away from me! I’m allergic to dogs!”
“She’s not mangy!” Tendi protested. “And I designed her to be completely hypoallergenic so you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“You designed it?” Karavitus frowned staring at The Dog. “Doesn’t that violate the Federation’s ban on genetic engineering?”
“Technically no,” Tendi thought for a moment. “I know there’s a strict law forbidding the genetic engineering and resequencing of Humans, but its past enforcement has involved several blatant exceptions and inconsistencies…”
“Who cares? Just get that thing outta here!” The eyepatch-wearing ensign snapped. “Lock it in a kennel or something.”
“I can’t do that. She’s my friend!” Tendi gasped giving The Dog a hug. “And my Medical side project.”
“You call that a side project?” Ensign Moxy scoffed haughtily. “Sheesh, talk about lame.”
“She’s not lame! She’s an amazing, wonderful dog,” Tendi glared. “It’s not like you could do better.”
“Oh yeah? Check this out,” Moxy smirked holding up a transparent cylinder containing an intricate, suspended network of fluidics and neural tissue. “A fully functional, artificially grown, all-organic humanoid brain stem created using a genetronic replicator.”
“Wow,” Tendi blinked, stunned. “That’s…actually really impressive.”
“Of course it is,” Moxy preened. “It’s based off the brilliant pioneering work of Doctor Toby Russell. I designed the brain stem to be compatible with the cerebral cortex of most humanoids once it’s integrated with the rest of a subject’s central nervous system. Just look at those ganglia!”
“Ooo,” Tendi marveled. “Such well-defined plexuses…”
“See? That’s the kind of high-quality work one can expect of Delta shift,” Karavitus said as she finished fastening her uniform. “C’mon, guys. Time to head out. We don’t want to be late for duty…ahhh!” She yelped as The Dog playfully tugged at her boot. “Hey, you stupid dog! Let go of my uniform!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the mutt,” Asif moved to grab The Dog only for his hands to pass right through her. “What the…?”
“Huh?” Karavitus blinked in shock. “Did that dog just turn itself into some kind of gas?”
“Did it just grow bigger?” Asif gulped as The Dog loomed over him. “Uh oh…”
“Holy *bleep*!” Karavitus yelled as a now polar bear-sized The Dog began to chase a terrified Asif around the corridor. “What kind of crazy dog is that?!”
“So wait, you’re saying the cranial nerves remain stable without any cellular degradation?” An absorbed Tendi asked ignoring the plight of the other ensigns.
“Yep. As I anticipated they would,” Moxy grinned. “I can’t wait to reveal my side project to Doctor T’Ana. She’ll be far more impressed with a working example of cutting edge Medical research instead of playing around with some silly old dog.”
“AAAHHHHHH! SOMEBODY HELP ME!” Asif shrieked as The Dog bounced him up and down on her nose like a seal with a ball. “I’M GONNA BE SICK!”
“Quick! Help me grab that thing!” Karavitus yelled.
“But my allergies,” The eyepatch-wearing ensign protested.
“Forget your allergies and take one for the team!” Karavitus snapped. “This is an emergency!”
“Right,” The eyepatch-wearing ensign reluctantly reached for The Dog only for her to suddenly turn into electricity. “AAAIIIEEEEEE!”
“Huh?” Asif yelped crashing to the deck while a shocked eyepatch-wearing ensign flew back into a nearby bunk twitching, unconscious and with his now-frizzled hair sticking out in all directions. “WHAT THE HECK?!”
“Are you kidding me…AAAGGGHHH!” Karavitus cried as The Dog abruptly returned to normal size before sneezing and covering Karavitus with ice. “YEEEOOOWWW! THAT’S COLD!”
“The Dog is not silly or old!” Tendi defended glaring at Moxy. “She’s smart and talented and only a few hours young!”
“That explains her breeding and sense of style, or lack of them,” Moxy snapped getting in Tendi’s face. “Just like her creator!”
“YAAAHHHHHH! HELP! GET AWAY FROM ME!” Asif screamed running about as The Dog hovered after him while spitting lightning bolts. “OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!”
“S-S-Somebody get a phaser and unmelt me!” Karavitus shivered while frozen to a bulkhead. “I can’t f-f-feel my fingers!”
“Look who’s talking about style problems, sister!” Tendi snapped still oblivious to the surrounding chaos. “I’ve seen better uniforms worn and cared for by personnel from Starbase 80!”
“At least my uniform isn’t full of wrinkles and stray dog hair like yours!” Moxy shot back. “Not to mention the growing mass of wrinkles and hair quickly growing around every square millimeter of your face!”
“Look out! That stupid dog ate my combadge and is drooling all over the place!” Asif wailed. “Yuck, how much drool can one dog make? There must be gallons of the stuff…IS THE DROOL MELTING THROUGH THE DURANIUM? WAAAGGGHHHHHH!”
“D-D-Did that dog just break into a dance?” A half-frozen Karavitus goggled.
“Did it just burst into flames?!” Asif blanched. “GAAAHHHHHH!”
“Your eyesight and sense of reality are in question if you think a young female Orion would ever appear with wrinkles!” Tendi declared. “Besides, one’s outer appearance isn’t everything in Starfleet. It doesn’t even count as anything! What counts is one’s drive, passion and dedication to one’s work.”
“You bet it does,” Moxy smirked patting her project. “Which is why I’m going to be praised, hailed and put on the fast track to promotion once Doctor T’Ana takes a look at this medical marvel…”
CHOMP!
CRUNCH!
“Bark!”
“You were saying?” Tendi asked sweetly as The Dog suddenly appeared next to her and woofed down the replicated brain stem in one bite, cylinder and all.
“WHAT THE HECK?!” Moxy shrieked staggering back. “THAT CRAZY DOG JUST ATE MY MEDICAL PROJECT!”
“And she did a very thorough job of it too,” Tendi remarked patting The Dog on the head. “She must’ve been really hungry. Did you like that, girl? Was it tasty?”
“THAT THING’S A MENACE! A MENACE I TELL YOU!” Moxy screamed pointing a finger at The Dog. The Dog playfully nipped at it. “OW! IT BIT ME!”
“No, bad girl!” Tendi scolded The Dog. “Don’t bite members of Delta shift. You’ll get rabies.”
“THAT STUPID DOG IS GONNA BE SKINNED ALIVE!” Moxy howled lunging at The Dog only for The Dog to sneeze and cover her with some kind of slime. “WHAT THE?! EWWWWWW!”
“Y-Y-Yuck,” Karavitus winced still frozen in place while slowly turning bluer than a Bolian. “And I t-t-thought I had it b-b-bad.”
“No kidding,” A frazzled-looking Asif moaned stuck to the ceiling. “That crazy canine blasted me up here coated with some kind of sticky bodily fluid or something. And instead of its nose, it shot the sticky stuff right out its…”
“Arf! Arf!” The Dog emitted a blast of sonic waves at the beleaguered ensigns of Delta shift.
“AAACCCKKKKKK!” Moxy and the rest of her restrained companions wailed. “WHAT KIND OF CRAZY DOG IS THAT?!”
“The best kind,” Tendi smiled kneeling down and giving The Dog a big hug. “I don’t know why you all are acting so surprised. She’s just a normal Earth dog after all.”
“ARE YOU INSANE?!” Moxy screamed while completely covered in slime. “EARTH DOGS DON’T…WAAAUUUGGGHHH!”
“Well, it’s been nice chatting with you guys,” Tendi said as Moxy slipped in the slime and fell on her behind. “But we really must be going. Come on, The Dog.”
“Right, Tendi!” The Dog woofed happily as she and Tendi casually took off. “Onward to treats and adventure!”
“Huh?” The conscious members of Delta shift did a double-take. “Did that dog just speak?!”
“Hey, what’s going on down here?” Lieutenant Commander Stevens sauntered around a corner carrying a padd. “Why are you ensigns lounging about? You all are late for your duty shifts.”
“WHAT?!” Karavitus yelped. “B-B-But it’s not our fault! A stupid m-m-member of Beta shift did this to us!”
“Yeah right. I’ve heard that excuse before,” Stevens rolled his eyes while gazing at the sticky, frozen, slimy and heavily melted sections of the hallway. “You all have to quit playing around and pulling pranks amongst yourselves or you’ll never make it in Starfleet. And stop causing damage to Starfleet property.” Stevens tapped on his padd. “You’re all on report and reassigned to waste extraction cleaning detail for the rest of the month.”
“WHAT?!” Karavitus and Asif screamed. “AAARRRGGGHHHHHH! CURSE YOU, BETA SHIFT!”
“I’M GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS, TENDI!” Moxy howled as she futilely struggled to escape the pool of slippery slime. “YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS! YOU AND YOUR CRAZY LITTLE DOG TOO!”
“You know, I’m usually really bothered and upset when someone doesn’t like me,” Tendi commented as she strode down the corridor. “But not in this case.”
“Woof! Woof!” The Dog barked cheerfully while glowing and hovering along beside her.
“Gee, all my project research was right. Dogs are great!” Tendi smiled petting The Dog. “It’s a wonder why there aren’t more dogs aboard starships. Ah, dogs and Starfleet. If that isn’t a winning combination for happiness, I don’t know what is!”
--------------------------------------
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Lower Decks.
