"Curiosity Kills the Cat"

[LeftEar JoNs 0]

USS Excalibur NCC-2000B

“Curiosity Kills the Cat”

It had only taken Left Ear JoNs about twenty minutes to get ready and equipped for the upcoming away team jaunt to the Bajoran space station. The brown furred Caitian had chosen a plain, close fitting dark green tee-shirt that matched her eyes, a black windbreaker flight jacket – minus the Fleet patches – from her piloting days, and a pair of charcoal gray slacks ending just below the knee. She also wore an anklet and small hoop earrings. Hey, she was known to break out the jewelry now and then – Lieutenant Commander Teykier had ordered them all to wear civilian attire, after all.

 

The decidedly un-civilian parts of her attire were the weapons. The Caitian had her hideaway type two phaser strapped to one arm, and a Caitian dagger hidden in the small of her back. She would have opted for an ankle weapon, but that was kind of hard to do when you had cat-like hind paws and did not wear shoes, so she wore a second phaser pistol in a shoulder holster, hidden by the jacket like the arm band.

 

The junior grade security lieutenant glanced at the computer console *one more time*. It was now or never, as the minutes to the away team rendezvous were ticking down. “Computer, prepare a search query…” She moved over to small office area in her quarters, and settled in at the desk.

 

It was logical to assume that the technology across the universes – if they were indeed in an alternate universe if the ships gossip were to be believed – would be the same, if not in theory, at least in practice. She would confine her search to the civilian news feeds; if she went botching around in whatever passed for the Starfleet data banks in this universe, she could trigger any number of alarms. A low profile was very much called for right now.

 

“Computer, search civilian news feeds, public sector. Information on the following individual. JoNs, MVess Vacer, junior grade lieutenant rank, pilot call sign Left Ear, currently attached to Starfleet Security.”

 

The monotone female voice of the ships computer was compliant. “Searching…”

 

“No information found. Please adjust search parameters.”

 

Left Ear was surprised at that. Oh gods…was she dead in this universe? No information at all? She cleared her throat. “Computer, same search query for the Caitian news feeds, all civilian and business sectors. Go.”

 

“Working…information located.”

 

JoNs promptly devoured the information as it popped up on the screen – even though her jaw dropped several times during the process.

 

=== Caitian Civilian Database ===

 

Name: JoNs, MVess Vacer

Known Aliases: Left Ear, Lefty

Age: 29

Family Affiliation: Tribe Honorscar

Clan Designation: Shadowpride

Status: Single

 

Notes:

 

Captain of the CSS Dark Fury, CX Class.

Caitian Cargo transport, registry number unknown, civilian clan ship.

 

Warrants:

 

Unpaid docking ticket, Space Station K-7

Cargo theft, New Mars Transparent Aluminum Corporation

Unpaid speeding ticket, issued by Halkan patrol ship

 

=== con’t ===

 

JoNs began muttering to herself. “…docking ticket, theft, speeding – not in a million years. My brothers would skin me alive.” Against her better judgment, she continued reading the profile, and got more disturbed as she went on.

 

The Dark Fury was a name from the past. At least in “her” universe, the cargo ship had been one of the ships used for Lynxcis Transport, the family run cargo business belonging to a section of the JoNs family. But, that business had been bought out over twenty years ago, and the Fury scrapped.

 

“Great Bird of the Galaxy…” Left Ear whispered. Her entire immediate family was listed on the crew roster for the cargo runner. Her father was the engineer. Her one brother was listed as Helm and First Mate. “Grand Elder MVirran?!” Her grandmother was listed as the financial retainer for the ship and crew. “The woman is in her nineties?! What in….what is she doing zipping around the cosmos?”

 

The children were on the ship as well. It looked as if they were schooled by her Aunt Mrree. “Computer, pull file for JoNs, Mrrett Shaow.” Her fourteen year old guardian child was listed as an engineers mate. “Mrrett…she is an engineer? Oh, I don’t think so. I wouldn’t be surprised if the kid blew out a few panels here and there…”

 

But, why was the entire family on this…this clan ship? What made them leave Cait and head for the stars as cargo jockeys? It was like looking through a mirror. The same image, yet reversed, especially the pictures that accompanied the profiles that JoNs perused. She knew, in her heart, that these Caitians were different from the ones that she knew and loved. Left Ear knew she wasn’t looking at…herself, as well. Her counterpart was rougher looking - she might as well break down and say scruffy – mainly due to her facial scarring. Unlike the same scars that JoNs wore, the scruffy JoNs missing ear tip and facial scarring were more…stark. It was as if the wounds were not treated properly, and then healed over, or medical attention had come at a later date.

 

The junior grade lieutenant settled back into her seat, mind blown. “What exactly are we in the middle of here?”

 

There was no forthcoming answer from the bulkhead, but the computer chose to respond to the query with a dissertation on the known occurrences of the alternate universe.