No Amount of Chai Can Fix This

[Hakran K'hal 0]

Hakran had retreated to the quiet of his office to review the information they had thus far collected via passive sensor scans. There were some anomalies but all faint enough to rate low confidence scores, so he did no more than keep them in the back of his mind for now.

Rising, he ordered a nice cup of hot vanilla chai from the replicator. As he took his first sip his console beeped. Thinking it was something juicy from the sensor scans he hurried, slopping some of the hot cinnamon-scented liquid on the back of his furry paw. With a curse, he gave it a quick shake and a quick lick which showed how preoccupied he was as he seldom resorted to the "traditional" method of cleaning.

Instead of dry data, it was an official communique from Captain Swain. He quickly wiped up the remaining dripping chai before placing the mug onto his desk, not wanting any more accidents. He opened the message and gave it his usual quick scan to get the gist before re-reading it thoroughly. As he progressed through the message his eyes opened wider while his ears flattened.

He silently mouthed "independent authority to conduct the investigation." Twice. He took an over-large gulp of his chai, then spent the next minute or so regretting it and waiting for his mouth, throat, and esophagus to cool down.

"I'm not a detective! I'm a scientist! A lab scientist. My idea of leading is 'go forth and collect data,' and that's with friendly scientists." He sighed the weary sigh of a person waiting in line at a Department of Suborbital Vehicles office to get their license renewed.

With a powerful snort of air blown through his nose, he glared at the screen and growled "crap on a cracker!"