Chapter Text
Todays mission for the Enterprise is to beam down to an unexplored planet titled Dasis V and catalogue the different species of plant life that they can find. Dasis, of course, is a typical class M planet with a breathable atmosphere and a benign seeming surface, its only difference from earth being that the native colors seemed to be inverted with all the natural green trees turned to a shocking purple and white, and a typically blue sky being a strange mustard yellow color. The landing party consists of Spock, Sulu, and Nurse Chapel among the higher ranks, Rija, Graham, and Ridley from the science department, and Dailey as the security officer. They find themselves materializing onto the surface after a successful scan of the planet deemed it safe for them to beam to.
The change of scenery is truly jarring to all except Spock, who shows no change in attitude or even shows any acknowledgement that this world is any different from the countless others he’s been to. They seem to have materialized onto a nearly picturesque field with a stream flowing through it and what must be at least a thousand flowers for as far as they can see, and behind them a little ways off seems to be a forest. Well, it would be picturesque if the trees and grass weren’t such strange shades of purple and white and the stream weren’t that unnatural yellow color. Well, unnatural for Earth, at least. After conducting a brief tricorder reading, Spock begins to speak.
“Mister Sulu and Rija, you are to begin recording the life within this field. Graham and Ridley, you will accompany me to the forest. Dailey and Chapel, you are to be aware and act immediately should any mishaps occur. Understood?” Mumbles of “Aye,” and “Yes, sir,” overlapped for a moment before Spock nods and they all go their separate ways.
After a couple minutes of walking (exactly 4 minutes and 56 seconds, if you ask Spock), Spock’s group reach the forest and immediately get to work in deciphering the biological makeup of the trees, grass, fungi, and whatever else they find. Spock is examining a light purple moss when he hears a rustling sound coming from the trees about 10 feet away from him. He immediately puts himself on guard and begins to approach the noise with his hand on his phaser ready for anything that may occur. Right before he’s about to peak through the brush, he notices a pair of triangular ears atop the head of what seems to resemble what the Terrans would call a “feline.” This…cat-like creature stares at Spock, like it’s waiting for his next move to make a determination of his character, and Spock, ever the curious scientist, slowly bends down and extends a hand towards the creature in a gesture of peace.
It seems to take kindly to this action, and emerges from the trees to nudge against Spock’s hand. He takes a moment to observe the details of this animal; it’s a small thing, probably no older than a few months, it’s fur is white and it has deep purple eyes, and he assumes that if this were an Earth cat it would have green eyes and a black coat. Fascinating.
He pets the creature, secretly taking immense pleasure in it. Along with his natural affinity towards the Earth felines, they remind him of when he was a boy with his pet sehlat, and though a canine may provide a more accurate comparison, he can’t help the pang of nostalgia that gathers inside when he scratches behind the ears of this new creature. He gently picks the tricorder up from where it has been resting on the ground and is careful not to scare the feline away while scanning it. The scan reveals nothing harmful, just as he thought it would, though there does seem to be some sort of underlying ailment in the cat. He’ll have to run some more in depth tests on it later, but now when he looks at the cat he does notice that is seems to be sort of weak.
His heart wrenches at the idea that it may be sick, and he hopes that the medical wing of the Enterprise will be able to assist. He realizes after this thought that he has gotten sidetracked in his mission, but he tries to assure himself that, logically, learning about this creature to the extent that he has is a part of the mission, even if he feels a sort of attachment to it now. In a way, it reminds him of himself, but he catches this thought before continuing it. Now is certainly not the time to be reminiscing on the past and projecting onto a stray kitten, he has work to do. He decides to beam aboard the ship with the creature, only to ensure its safety, of course.
He cups his hands around its body and holds it in his arms, and it is in this position that he can feel a bump on its tail and on its side. He frowns at this and pulls the communicator out to have Scotty beam him back up, hoping that whenever he gets to the medical wing that someone will hold any knowledge applicable to domestic animals and pets, after all, the Enterprise is not quite equipped with veterinary services. He also finds himself hoping against the odds that the bumps are nothing and merely a factor of its alien heritage; an illogical thought, but perhaps not one to be eliminated.