Cadet Wei, Meet Captain Smooshy

Posted on Jun 22, 2019 @ 1:26am by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Jun 22, 2019 @ 1:26am

Mission: Last Days of Empire

“Cadet Wei, Meet Captain Smooshy”
(contd from ‘New Old Faces’)

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Location: USS PHOENIX
SD: [2.19] 0621.1943
Scene: Sickbay -> Counseling Department

Jasmine let out a sigh, walking through the grey double doors that whooshed open upon her arrival. In her arms, she was carrying Wei, her new corgi puppy, which was moving her head around to explore her new surroundings. As Yu already found, the puppy had a curious nature and liked meeting others as long as they weren’t a threat. It was the same with her parents’ dog, Mai Li – friendly with others with an inquisitive nature.

Sometime after the recall from shore leave, Jasmine and the senior staff attended a briefing on their upcoming mission. Prior to the meeting, she had dropped off Wei as well as her belongings at her quarters. Following the mission briefing, Yu had a brief chat with Lieutenant Byte. The Android had informed her that some of the new crew and civilians had brought pets with them and provided her a list. Jasmine had taken particular note of pets that were mobile – with the ability to roam around the ship like Smooshy did on a regular basis.

Apparently, there were two cats and three kittens in the list, belonging to one of the new crewmen and a civilian. Majority of the new pets were likely to be confined in either the owner’s quarters or the science labs and these included aquatic beings so no chance of those creatures running around the ship. One of the crew even brought a pet lizard, which had given her some cause for concern but she was assured it would remain in its confined space in the person’s quarters at all times.

The young woman wondered if it was a good idea to set up a pet daycare room to hold some of the pets in one place in order to make it easy to keep track of them while their owners were on duty. Her previous ship, Camelot, had one set up. But from what she had recalled that was only able to happen because of a civilian couple with backgrounds in zoology and a love for animals who were willing to supervise the pet room. Jasmine wasn’t aware of any such persons on the Phoenix.

The security chief now made her way to one of the biobeds, greeting one of the nurses, a Bolian woman, with a smile. Yu placed the puppy on the biobed and turned to the nurse.

“Crewman,” she informed. “I’d like a quick medical checkup for my puppy.”

“Sure, Lieutenant,” Crewman Chaki said, smiling as Wei yapped at her. “Wait here, I will get the medical officer on duty.” She left, leaving the Asian woman and the puppy alone, when all of a sudden, Jasmine felt brushing against her leg. Wei barked in excitement, while Jasmine’s gaze moved downwards to the ship’s resident pug aka the chief therapy dog. Smooshy’s eyes were on the pup, his curled tail wagging as he barked a greeting. Wei yapped in response, inching closer to the edge, though the pug was too far from her position so both canines had to just settle for eyeing each other.

“Smooshy, meet Wei.”

The pug barked, wagging his tail happily – excited that he had met another dog, perhaps a new playmate.

“And Wei,” Jasmine said, smiling at the puppy. “Meet Smooshy.” The puppy barked, when Yu turned around upon hearing footsteps.

Doctor Bartlett approached them, his lips curling into a smile as his eyes fell on the pup. “And what do we have here, Lieutenant?”

“Doctor, this is my new puppy, Wei.” Jasmine further added. “I brought her here for a medical checkup.”

“Okay, let’s see how she’s doing.” The CMO removed the hand scanner from his medical tricorder and began waving it over the puppy. A moment, he informed, wearing a warm smile. “Well, Lieutenant, I am happy to report Wei is in perfect health.”

“Thank you, doctor. I’m glad to hear.” She chuckled, when the puppy let out a bark and was given a quick pat on the head by Bartlett.

“Well, she’s cleared for duty,” Bartlett said with a laugh, petting the puppy again, when Smooshy came up to him with a pleading look in his eyes. The doctor petted the pug as well and left for his next patient.

Jasmine sighed, turning to the corgi. “Well, looks like I have a counseling session with Lieutenant Dalziel to attend.” The puppy yapped, not really understanding what the Asian woman meant. “Come on, Wei. It looks like you’ll have to come with me till I take you back to our quarters.” Jasmine picked up the puppy and placed her down on the floor beside her feet. Smooshy approached the little corgi from the side and the two dogs began to sniff each other – their noses briefly touching. Then the pug began to slowly trot towards the exit, when Yu let out a sigh and called out, shaking her head. “No, Smooshy.” Smooshy stopped moving, glancing behind and giving the young woman a blank stare. Jasmine wagged her finger, speaking in a gentle, yet firm voice. “No, Smooshy. You’re not wandering around.” The pug whined, his big brown eyes giving her a sad look. Jasmine sighed, patting the back of the pug’s head. “Come on, let’s take you back to Counseling.”

Smooshy let out another whine, following Jasmine with Wei tagging along beside the pug. The puppy was barking cheerfully, bouncing about beside the older dog - eager to play with him. The trio made their way to the counseling department before entering Dalziel’s office.

“Jasmine, thank you for coming in to see me. How can I…” Eve greeted but then her gaze fell upon Smooshy and Wei, circling around the security chief. “I didn’t realize you brought some company with you.” She gave the dogs a warm smile.

Jasmine let out a sigh, glancing at the pug and the corgi. “I can leave them outside if you want.”

“That’s fine.” Eve further added. “Smooshy is a regular presence in my sessions anyway.” The Counselor’s gaze flickered to Wei, who padded towards her and began sniffing around her shoes. “I see Jasmine you have a new puppy. What’s her name?” She bent forward to pet the little pup, which barked, clearly enjoying the attention.

“Wei.”

Eve spoke in a soft, soothing voice, “Hi Wei, nice to meet you. My name is Eve.” Wei gave out a cheerful bark – happy to meet another new person.

“Smooshy tried to wander off again.” Jasmine gave the pug a sidelong glance.

“Not again” Eve chuckled, eyeing the pug before returning to a standing position. The puppy ran off to join Smooshy and both animals began circling around the office, sniffing at the walls. Jasmine was amused at how Wei was attempting to imitate the pug. When Smooshy sniffed the walls, Wei did so too. “Please have a seat.”

Jasmine sat down on the chair opposite the counselor, giving the dogs a quick glance.

Eve sat down behind her desk. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing well,” Jasmine replied in a calm, yet polite voice.

“That’s good.” Eve smiled. “How was your shore leave on Earth? I heard you had spent some time with your family.”

“My shore leave was great.” Jasmine beamed, thinking of the lovely time she had with her family. “It was wonderful being able to see my parents, grandmother and the rest of my family as well as catching up with some old friends.”

“Great to hear so that you are now recharged and ready for our next mission.” She paused for a moment. “Speaking of which, what are your thoughts on our upcoming mission? How do you feel about heading to a potential warzone?”

The Asian, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, inhaled in a deep breath as her thoughts went back to the mission briefing. “Well, to be honest, on one hand, while it seems like a standard search and rescue mission and on the other, we will be winding up in the middle of a possible war between the Klingons and the Orion Syndicate. According to the information provided in the briefing, that particular region of space is under dispute by both the Klingons and the Orions.”

“I see.” The Cardassian-born woman arched a brow. “I can understand your concerns about entering a potential warzone, considering the risks to our ship.”

“Yes.” Yu nodded. “I very much hope we find the SATET intact and its entire crew alive and that we’d be able to bring them safely home with us without getting into any trouble with either the Klingons or Orions or both but…” She sighed.

“But?” Eve raised an eyebrow.

“I’m prepared to expect the worst, which would be the ship having been destroyed and that the Klingons and Orions are at war.”

“So hope for the best but expect the worst?”

“Yes.” Jasmine nodded. “I’m normally not a pessimist just trying to be a little realistic so that I can make sure my staff is better prepared to defend this ship and crew against any and all attacks.”

“Okay.” Eve further inquired, “Any other concerns on the mission?”

The raven haired woman furrowed her brow, pondering for a moment. “Yes.”

“Go on.”

“If I am being honest,” Jasmine began. “I’m not entirely comfortable that the Phoenix is now under the operational authority of Starfleet Intelligence.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, is it because you don’t trust intel or is it based on past experiences?”

“It’s more the former than latter,” Jasmine said. “I never had any bad experiences with a member of intelligence.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“It’s just that I have this bad feeling that…” Yu paused to inhale. “That intel could be holding back some information from us – information that could make the difference between life and death. I’m concerned we may not know the whole story.”

“What makes you think intel is holding back information?”

“I guess it’s what they usually do.” Yu shrugged. “Now I’m not saying their motives are always suspect and do believe they have the Federation’s interests at heart. It’s their methods that I’m not comfortable with.”

“So you are not a fan of secrecy or what everyone refers to as cloak and dagger?”

“That’s about accurate.” Jasmine gave a wry smile. “I prefer having all information at hand before I dive into a high-risk situation but…” She let out a sigh. “I understand that’s not always possible and will have to be prepared for all possible scenarios. And be adaptable to tackle unexpected events.”

“Okay, another question, while we’re at the topic of intelligence.” Dalziel glanced sideways when Wei and Smooshy both let out barks at the same time. “In your previous posting, was your ship ever involved in missions on Starfleet Intelligence’s orders? If that was the case, how did you feel about it? I am not asking for exact details of the mission as they are confidential.”

Jasmine inhaled, closing her eyes for a brief moment before reopening them. “Majority of Camelot’s missions were scientific and involved deep space exploration.” She set her jaws. “But during my 3rd year with that crew, we were tasked with an assignment under the directive of Intelligence. I admit I was sort of frustrated that whole time.”

“In what way?”

“Well, first off, we were provided very little information,” Yu began, sighing. “Basically nothing more than go to this destination and wait there. Also, they had sent all this equipment with advanced technology that they wanted installed on the ship, which kept both engineering busy and never specified what the equipment would be used for until after we reached our destination.”

“So in other words, you were unhappy they didn’t give more information.” Eve arched a brow. “Now if they did, would that have made a difference in the mission?”

“Absolutely.” Jasmine nodded. “My job is to ensure the safety of the ship and crew and not being given all the necessary information makes doing that hard – not impossible – just hard. As I said earlier, I understand that is not always possible and need to be adaptable.”

“So you’re not the jump in with guns blazing type of officer but someone who would rather have all the facts as much as possible before taking the leap.”

“Yes, that would describe me.” Yu shrugged. She smiled, feeling brush against her leg, followed by a whimper and her gaze flickered to Wei, attempting to reach up to her but was unable to, while Smooshy sat in silence, watching the puppy.


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~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX