Surefoot 01: Ch. 04

"Yes, Sir."

He couldn't flee quickly enough without actually running.

*

He was in his bathroom in his quarters, removing the shards of glass from his palm and washing the blood away -- Mother's Cubs, just how many litres did he have left in him? -- when he heard his door slide open, despite his ordering a lock on it. He called out, "I said I didn't want to be disturbed."

"I heard," came a cheery, familiar, unwelcome female reply.

He poked his head out. "That includes you, Counselor."

"I know," she admitted, "And it's adorable that you think that's going to stop me." Kami stood there, carrying a black medical kit on a sling under her arm, her tail swishing behind her. "I smelled the blood and saw the broken glass, and I knew a Big Proud Male like you wouldn't be smart and go to Sickbay to get fixed up, so..." She indicated the kit. "Thought you'd like to play Doctor."

"I'm not interested. Get out."

She set the kit down on his desk, regarded him and smiled.

"What's so amusing?"

"That expression of yours, that tone -- it reminds me of my cub."

"Your... cub?"

She nodded, opening the kit. "He's all grown up now. But when he was only knee-high, and refused to get in the bath, he'd stand there by the tub, arms crossed, scowl on his face as he declared, 'No! No Bath!' And he'd try to be fierce, but all I could see was this beautiful little naked cub that I made. And I'd sweep him up in my arms, spin him around and hug him and tell him how much I loved him... then I'd put him in the bath."

He approached her, still clutching his cut hand. He wasn't in the mood for her. "I'm not your cub, Counselor."

"I'm glad to hear it, given all the filthy fantasies I have of you."

"Get out!" he growled - baring his teeth in her face for good measure, knowing how wrong he was for doing so, even as he did it.

Swifter than he expected, her hand shot out, claws raking the left side of his muzzle, making him gasp, stagger back and clutch his face with his good hand.

She stood there, claws still extended from the tips of her fingers, no longer the facetious, flirtatious woman he knew, her eyes narrow, her face taut, her growl low and dangerous. "Listen carefully: I'm your Counselor, and I'm your friend. But don't ever bare your teeth at me unless you mean it. Do you understand me?"

He shook. He physically shook, as shocked by his own unforgivable action as he was by her reaction. Too long he had lived among humans, who bared their teeth to show pleasure rather than threat. He had forgotten what it meant to his people-

No. He knew what he was doing. And he was ashamed of it.

"I'm sorry," he finally offered. "That was uncalled for. And I knew it as I did it. I'm... ashamed of myself. And I need your help." He held his hand. "With this, as well as what happened with Giles."

She regarded him, lowering her striking arm and retracting her claws. "Wow: six open, honest statements at once. If I knew I could get that from you I would have scratched you from the start." She indicated his chair at the desk, her demeanour calm again. "Sit down, I'll take care of the face as well as the hand."

Too chagrined and defeated to argue any further, he complied, setting the wounded hand palm up on the desk while she withdrew the sterilisers, tricorder and autosuture from the kit. He watched for a moment, before looking away again. "What happened after I left?"

Kami ran the tricorder over his palm, confirming no glass remained in the cuts, though the bleeding continued. "Well, Sasha demanded to know what Giles had said to get that reaction from you. She was ready to finish what you started, almost to the point of insubordination with T'Varik." She snorted as she began cleaning the cuts. "Seven Hells, she may not look Caitian, but she certainly has our spirit." She smiled. "Anyway, her squad convinced her to back off and return to their quarters. Your First Officer then sent Giles to the Brig."

"The Brig? Seriously?"

She nodded. "Article 89: Disrespect Towards a Superior Commissioned Officer. To be fair, I think her first choice might have been confining him to his quarters, but since he shares them with Sasha, that might have constituted capital punishment." She paused and added, "The party fizzled out after that, so I guess we're all eating leftover vol-au-vants and Andorian bhajis for breakfast. So... want to tell me what he said?"

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter, I didn't have any right to get angry about it like I did- Oww!"

He almost pulled his hand away. Kami, still holding the autosuture, looked up innocently. "What? Oh, sorry, it's the device. It not only repairs cellular damage, it also delivers a painful charge whenever you talk crap." She shrugged as she resumed her work. "It's probably best not to talk crap."

He stared in disbelief. How had this woman managed to get a medical licence? "You can't really believe I had a right to lose my temper over a stupid remark?"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm the Captain. I have to be held up to the highest standards- Owww! Stop that!"

She indicated the autosuture. "Warned you about talking crap. And you can drop that 'highest standards' garbage. How can anyone aspire to that? How can anyone relate? Nobody wants to serve under Captain Perfect, he sounds like a massive sodbox. So I'll ask again, what did he say?"

He breathed out, wishing he'd had some liquor in his quarters. "He... made a remark about my losing my tail, that's all."

"Oh? What about when he mentioned you getting neutered?"

"You already knew he said that?"

"Of course, I was there, I heard."

"Then why bother asking me?"

"To catch you lying, of course. So... you were outraged, you got into his face and made him wet himself." She nodded. "Good."

"What do you mean, 'Good'? It's good that I scared some kid into wetting his pants?"

His hand was numbing as she continued to repair the cuts. "Listen, it might not have been textbook Starfleet behaviour, but it wasn't as if you went Full Klingon and gutted him, either. You never even touched him, just shook him up; if he was Caitian, he would have had his snout smacked. And I'd have been more worried about you if you did all that and didn't come back here to mope around like you were ready to join the First Martyr on the Wheel."

He grunted. The woman was unbelievable.

Not that he didn't like what she had to say. Then he straightened up. "Oh no... Sasha..."

"What about Sasha?"

"In all the years I was a part of her life, I never so much as raised my voice in her presence."

"So?"

"So now, tonight..." He shook his head to try and dispel the memory. "I don't- I don't want her to end up afraid of me- Arrgh!" Now he pulled his hand away completely. "Mother's Cubs, stop that!"

Kami looked up at him unapologetically. "You know, if you keep this up, I might have to find a Klingon pain stick to use on you." She pulled his hand back for a final check. "Let's get one thing clear: you can't do wrong as far as that girl's concerned. She's defended you time and again when others thought you had betrayed her and your wife and your oath to Starfleet and was living the high life on Orion. She's stood up to the media, to upperclassmen, to senior officers, and she'd probably bare her teeth to the Great Mother Herself to protect you. You have no fear of losing her."

She tilted her head as she looked at him. "Your hand's done. Now, let's see about that face." She leaned in with the autosuture from where she sat, but seemed to find the position awkward. "Wait."

She rose, drew closer, and lifted up the hem of her uniform to straddle him without preamble, her legs wrapping around him, her tail snaking around one of his legs. "Yes, this is better."

He gasped. "What the- Get off me!"

"Stay still, I won't be long." She shifted slightly. "Think clean thoughts, Captain, or I'll be the first to know otherwise."

He tried not to react, but the heat from her on his lap was... Mother's Cubs... "Are you usually this outrageous with all your patients?"

She leaned into the scratched side of his face, her voice a teasing murmur. "Most people are actually easy to communicate with. Then there are sodboxes like you who always come in with their shields raised. They need to be constantly thrown off-guard, whether it's with a flirt or a swipe across the snout. And it works."

She moved the tip of the autosuture over the scratches she gave him on his muzzle, as her voice took on a gentler, more sympathetic tone. "Esek... I know you feel guilty about frightening the boy, no matter how justified everyone else thinks you were for doing so; that's part of what makes you such a decent man.

So... go to him. Don't apologise - that will only let him off the hook for what he said - but explain why you reacted the way you did. Cubs Giles' age tend to say and do things out of ignorance. You two might even reach an understanding."

He considered her advice, having had similar thoughts already. "Assuming our First Officer hasn't already arranged to ship him off to a penal colony." He breathed out. "I don't care what all the other Arringtons have done to me, I don't have any desire to punish this kid."

"There's more of that decency." She smiled. "You can always go to T'Varik and appeal to the logic in minimising overall disruption to the Program by not punishing him."

He thought about it, finally nodding in agreement. It made sense. "And the rest of the cadets, our crew? After my outburst, what are they going to think about me?"

She leaned back. "They're probably going to thank you for making this very routine assignment a little less routine." She switched off the autosuture, resting her hands on his shoulders. "There, all done, and you went a whole minute without getting shocked. I should get you a lollipop as a reward for being a good cub."

"No thank you. You can get off me now."

Kami purred, moving teasingly on him. "But I've just got comfy."

He rolled his eyes. "Go, I have work to do." With her still not budging, he reached up between them to tap his combadge. "Captain Hrelle to Commander T'Varik."

A second later, the Vulcan's voice joined the room. "T'Varik here."

"Report to my office, please, I'd like to discuss what happened tonight."

"On my way."

Kami smiled, saying aloud, "Take your time, Commander."

"Excuse me, Sir?" T'Varik asked.

He screwed up his face. "Never mind, Number One. Hrelle out." He tapped his combadge once more to end the link. "Damn, I'll never get used to the protocols on these. Vacate my lap, Counselor, immediately!"

She was sniggering as she rose and straightened herself up. His eyes wandered - and then he looked away again. "And perhaps next time you can act more professionally!"

"Oh, yes, Sir, Captain Sir, absolutely." She didn't sound too convincing, though. She packed up the medical kit and slung it under her arm. "Nighty night!" She winked at him as she departed, her tail swishing behind her.

Mother's Cubs...

He hoped he would be more composed when his First Officer arrived.

TO BE CONCLUDED