"The Spider In The Science Lab"

[Guest Vulcan3324]

"The Spider In The Science Lab"

Lieutenant Laarell Teykier

Personal Log

January 22, 23--

 

Laarell smiled as she looked into the tidily arranged package that had arrived from Qo'NoS. Five neatly wrapped little packages in the Orion holiday Marivashkan's traditional colors of black and silver. Marivashkan celebrated the first landing on the Orion homeworld's satellite, Dahjan, and the colors reflected the tones of space.

 

It had arrived a few weeks late, no doubt due to the delays in shipping a package across two quadrants. The Orion didn't particularly mind the delay. Happy to be thought of, she began to tear the paper.

 

Ten minutes later, she sat back on her bunk and inspected her gifts. Her parents and youngest sister had sent her an assortment of rough and polished necklace pendants, including a particularly attractive glass and gold one filled with liquid latinum. Her older brother had sent enough premium Raktajino to keep her happy for a few months at the least, and her twin sent her a pair of ancient Egyptian shawabti for her private collection of antiquities, which she assumed had come through his shop during the year. Lastly, her sister and brother-in-law sent a few bottles of 2309 bloodwine, some of the finest.

 

As she began to examine the presents more carefully, the door chimed. "Enter," she called. A steward entered, bearing another, smaller box. "Just in from Earth," he supplied, all business, then left as speedily as he came.

 

Who else would be shipping something to her? All her relatives were accounted for...

 

She looked at the package curiously. It was interesting in the regard that it wasn't your traditional plasticized mailer, but a more high-tech carrier. She keyed in her Starfleet identification number and lifted the lid to reach inside, pondering what could be inside. Top secret orders from the Fleet, perhaps? Experimental technology? Some sort of...

 

Laarell screamed loudly as something sunk deep into her finger. She withdrew her hand and shut the lid without a second's pause before marched out of her quarters down to the Science Lab, cradling her bleeding thumb.

 

On the turbolift ... down the hall ... through the door ... and on the right. The scientist slammed the package on the stationary scanner array located in the Lab and shouted at the computer while looking for the medkit.

 

"Computer, scan that box."

 

"Processing ... scan complete."

 

She turned from the supply box and stared at the package. "What the hell is it?"

 

"The contents of the box include the following items: Long-distance animal food resequencer. Water resequencer. Soil with organic, carbon-based residue. Three sizable rocks, iron-based. One Starfleet personal data storage device. One female orange baboon tarantula, planet of origin: Earth. Taxonomic classification:"

 

Teykier interrupted the monotone of the computer, stunned. "Repeat the sixth item."

 

It resumed, unpityingly complying. "One female orange baboon tarantula, planet of origin: Earth. Taxonomic classification: Pterinochilus."

 

She walked back over to the scanner and picked up the box cautiously, barely lifting the lid as she peeked inside.

 

It didn't look happy. The moderately sized spider began to hiss, rearing on four of its back legs. "Is that thing venomous?"

 

"Orange baboon tarantulas possess a toxic venom..."

 

An Orion swear echoed through the room. "Are Orions susceptible?"

 

"Processing data. Orion physiology does not seem to be affected by the venom of members of the family Pterinochilus."

 

She let out a sigh of relief. What in the name of the ancient deities was she going to do with the thing? She peeped in again, hoping that the orange-colored nightmare wasn't able to jump. "What will we do with you, little monster?"

 

Eyeing the old terrarium used for experiments, she carried the box over and gently dumped the contents into the transparent aluminum cage, getting her first good look at the spider. Bright orange, eight legs ... long fangs...

 

It finally occurred to her that she didn't know who the Sender of the Spider was. She pulled the PADD out and gave it a lookover.

 

Dear Laarell,

 

Found this little girl while on a geological expedition in eastern Africa and thought of how lonely you must be out in the Gamma quadrant. Here's hoping that you'll enjoy caring for your little piece of Earth...

 

Your Horta,

Kahrak

 

Of course. Her little Hortan friend had felt bad for her and sent her a present, which happened to have urtigent-producing hairs on its legs, fangs, and made a horrible hissing sound. But she couldn't exactly throw it out the airlock...

 

She addressed the computer calmly, applying the bandage over the small puncture wound.

 

"What do tarantulas eat?"

END LOG