Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (14 page)

“So?
Do you ask what gender your dinner is?” she asked.

“Well,
when you put it that way,” he said amused, moving further away.

“You
are not eating my coonie,” Bryan said not looking up. “Try and I'll give you
one hell of a hangover that will last
weeks
.”

“I'm
kidding Doc,” she said giving the medic a look.

“Funny,”
he said not smiling. He picked off a bit of singed fur. “Lucky for you, I've
got a sense of humor or I'd leave you here with a nice bald spot.”

“How'd
you get the purser to sign off on the cat Doc?” the guard asked clearly
fascinated. She reached a hand out to let the coonie sniff her.

“Hmm?
Oh the captain okayed it. Only way I'd come actually. I brought Nara and her
mate. She's pregnant too. Prize winning kits in that one. She's a coonie, by
the way, not a cat. At least not all of her,” he grimaced.

“Coonies
are genetically engineered from racoons. Old earth racoons and cats actually.
They are about as intelligent as an old earth dog,” Irons filled in stroking
the beasty. His fingers rubbed and scratched at her ears. She purred louder and
then yawned sharp needle like teeth. She made smacking sounds and then her
eyelids became suddenly very heavy. “They can come in natural colors or have
bright coats like this little lady here.” He stroked the purple fur then
tweaked the banded tail. She grabbed her tail and licked it clean indignantly
as they smiled.

“Coonie.
Huh. The bandit mask is darling. Can I have one?” the guard asked looking at
the pet.

“Not
likely,” Bryan shook his head. He sighed at the kids expression. “Not my
choice. I'd love to give you one but the captain forbade it. I'll probably end
up giving or trading the kits to the colonists we run into. Coonies are great.
Better than house cats for pest control They are smart, omnivores so they eat
anything, and aren't afraid of water. They actually wash their meals. It's why
I got into them. It's so much fun to watch.” He paused what he was doing.
“Sorry, no offense.”

“None
taken. Now,” the lioness growled. She blinked, her irises were wide. “Goddess
of space do you have to have the lights so bright?”

“Sorry,”
Bryan said shaking his head. “I need them to see clearly.”

“Yeah
well, hurry up then. I want to sleep.”

“The
healing process is kicking in then. Good.” He looked up to her eyes. “Pupils
are dilated...”

“Drug
reaction doctor,” Sprite said over the intercom. “Possibly to much
phenobarbital.”

“Oh,”
he grimaced. “I thought I got the weight right.”

“Not
if the bed's scales are off. Which they were,” Irons said, raising his right
hand. “I fixed it.”

“Thank
you. Can you check the other equipment please?”

“A
good idea. I'd hate for something to happen because the equipment is not
properly calibrated,” Bailey said, sticking his head into the room. “Gah! What
stinks like fish and burnt fur!” he said, covering his mouth and nose. He waved
his right hand in front of his face and turned away.

“Possibly
burnt fur,” Irons said moving aside to let him see the Neo cat's arm. The
aluminum tray nearby was covered in singed bits of fur and skin.

“Oh,”
Bailey shook his head. “Oh hey Nara,” he petted the suddenly excited coonie.
Irons snorted as the chief palmed the coonie a treat.

“I
saw that,” Bryan said with his back turned to them. “Don't do it again. She's
fat enough as it is.”

“She's
pregnant. She's got the right,” Bailey muttered. Irons smiled. He set the
coonie down as she began to struggle. She went over to chatter at the chief
then when he spread his hands apart she went off with a tail flick.

“Going
to try to charm more out of someone else,” Bryan sighed turning. “You know
she's supposed to be pest control as well,” he said shaking his head. “Evil
pure and simple.”

“What
her? All females are Doc, thought you knew,” Bailey said with a toothy smile to
the females in the room. The female guard in the corner sighed and rolled her
eyes. The Neo cat gave him a look then looked away. Her whiskers twisted back
and forth as her ears flicked and then laid flat again.

“My
ancestors would have chased you up a tree for that.”

“Mine
would have thrown shit at them from the tree tops,” Bailey returned grinning as
he gave as good as he got.

“Go
on. Go find someone else to harass before you get her BP up,” Bryan said
shooing them off.

The
door opened and Irons looked up. That wasn't supposed to happen. He looked but
didn’t see anything. The door closed. He frowned. Then he felt a paw on his
pant leg.

He
looked down to see a red and black coonie twitching his whiskers at him. “Well
hello there,” he said smiling. He patted the little guy under the chin. That of
course had the little guy purring right away, eyes half closed, ears up.

“That's
Cooter. He's the male.”

“How'd
he get in?” Irons asked.

“His
collar. Mr. Kelly talked someone into setting that up. It opens the doors for
him when he gets near.”

“Oh
lovely. Can you say security breach in progress?” Irons said shaking his head.
“I bet the security chief doesn't know.”

“Paranoia
Admiral.”

Irons
closed his eyes, willing patience to return as he felt a wave of exasperation
well up. “Tell that to me after someone copies what ever signal this thing
sends out and uses it to gain access here. Hell that might have been how they
got in here in the first place. Did you think of that?” he asked, fingering the
collar.

“Um...
No,” Sprite answered. She felt like kicking herself. She wasn't an organic. She
should have thought of it.

“Track
this guy and his partner then. By their movements. Fingerprint what ever this
thing is sending out and lock off access to areas of the ship he and his cohort
shouldn't be in. And let me know if someone is using the access.”

“Good
point,” Sprite said chastened.

“Now,
what can I do for you fella? Out exploring or did your wifey toss you out for
eating bugs in bed?” he asked, as the coonie chittered. After a moment he got
up on the bed and curled up on the foot of it.

“Coonies
are normally nocturnal. On stations and ships they usually conform to the
normal day night cycle over time. However since it is now  morning...”

Irons
grimaced. “And I pulled an all nighter again.” He rolled his shoulders.

It
had been well worth the effort though, most of the sickbay equipment was now in
spec. He had to wonder though why they weren't in the first place. Another
thing to pass on to the IG office.

“Yes.
I expect you'll have a furry bunk mate Admiral,” Sprite said, sounding amused.

Irons
looked at the furball. It had been a long time since he had a partner in bed. A
furry partner too. He hoped the connie didn't shed much. “No problem. It's been
a while, but I think I can handle it.”

“And
if you can't you can always kick him out,” Sprite replied. He snorted.

“Not
likely. Night Sprite.”

When
he woke he stretched. He felt the furry lump on his feet and paused. Caffeine
deprived it took his sleepy mind a moment to remember his furry house guest.
When he did he opened an eye to see the bandit looking at him sleepily. Ears
up, eyes sleepy and half opened. The coonie yawned and then smacked his mouth
together a few times and then stretched a hand paw out before settling back
down again.

“Sorry,”
he said sheepishly. “Want some breakfast?”

The
coonie chittered, looking up. His ears perked and his eyes were now fully open
and alert. He stretched and then ordered some coffee, then a treat for the
coonie. He snorted. His furry house guest got up and stretched this way and
that then took the hand out with grace and worked it over with his whiskered
cheeks and hands a few times before looking at him. “Well?”

The
coonie jumped to the floor and ate it, then got back up onto the bed and
proceeded to stretch and then clean himself when no more treats were presented
to him. Occasionally he'd stop the grooming to look up at the Admiral in
curiosity. Irons just watched him in bemusement.

“You're
a little too close to the edge there matey,” Irons said, sipping his coffee.
The coonie chittered then toppled off. He snorted and saluted him with the cup.
“Told you so.” That made him smile. It felt good to have a small laugh.

The
coonie gave him a dirty look and then went into the more serious activity of
taking his morning bath.  After a minute more he stopped, looked up and then
made his way to the refresher. He heard some scrambling then winced. “He's...”

“No,
wait for it...” Sprite said chuckling. After a moment he heard the toilet
flush. The fan even came on came on. Then he heard water running. He snorted.
Coonies really were smarter then they looked.

“Okay,”
Irons said watching the coonie, tail high bounce out. “Later,” he snorted.
“What's on the agenda for today?”

Bryan
stuck his head into the wardroom and paused. “Ah. Sorry captain.”

The
captain looked up, cup half way to his mouth and paused. “Looking for someone
Mr. Kelly?” He smiled slightly. Apparently he was in a good mood. The medic
didn't want to spoil it.

“Yeah,
it's not important. I'm... uh...” He looked at the tablet in his hands,
thoroughly confused.

“She's
right here,”  the captain said indicating his lap. The paramedic made his way
across the room then looked around the table to see Nara asleep on the
captain's lap.

“I'm
sorry she's such a bother sir,” he said feeling embarrassed and a little
mortified. He tucked the tablet under his arm and dry washed his hands in
anticipation of getting chewed out.

“She's
not actually,” the captain said amused as he sat back. “She is heavy though,”
he chuckled, free hand stroking her pelt.

“Yeah,
she's pretty gravid. And insatiable when she gets that way,” Bryan said,
shaking his head. Even from two meters away he could hear her loud rumbling
purr. Nara had her ways. She obviously had added the captain to her list of
special friends.

“Yes,
that she is,” the captain said with a fond look down to the animal. “When is
she due?” he asked, smiling slightly.

Bryan
spread his hands. “Any time. Coonies gestate anywhere from fifty four to
seventy days. It all depends on how many kits and the length of day where they
are at,” Bryan said as he grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. “She's
pushing the envelope though, but then again she's got five in her.”

“Five
huh?” the captain smiled, stroking her again. “No wonder she's one big mama.”

“I
normally limit her to two, but well, since we're going out to new worlds, I
thought it would be a good idea. Genetic diversity.”

The
captain blinked. “How...” he started to ask, looking up.

“My
partner did it,” Bryan grimaced once more, this time in distant pain. “His term
paper for his veterinary course at the college. I gathered samples from other
coonies and he combined them into random samples and then inseminated her with
the embryos.”

“Oh,”
the captain nodded. “Different parents you say?” He was genuinely curious and
talking about it might help the medic a little.

Bryan
nodded. “Yes captain. Dame and sire for each. Nara is a surrogate in this
case,” he shrugged. “I was going to have one of her own with Bluefeld, a prize
winning male, but my mother sent me a sample of Jezebell,” he smiled. “I
couldn't resist.”

“Okay,”
the captain said sounding amused as he looked up. The ins and outs of Coonie
breeding were beyond his ken or care.

“Coonies
are pretty big on Anvil sir. At least in the circles I traveled. They take care
of insects and pests and are pretty lively. They help with moral and keep
people amused by their antics.”

The
captain nodded. “I noticed that. And I remember your speech when you asked for
them to be included. Demanded it really as a condition of your coming,” he
snorted then looked down as he stroked the coonie. “I see why though.” His
voice was soft. He didn't regret it now. Even if he had to be blackmailed into
it. He wasn't about to admit to the medic that he had considered getting a ship's
cat before the medic had been introduced to him. This had taken care of two
birds with one stone. No three. One the medic, two a ship's pet or in this case
pets, and three someone to feed and care for them. Good. Usually it was the
purser's or ship's apprentice's job to take care of the cat or pet. Charlie
wasn't up for it, he really didn't like animals that much so this worked out
much better. Since the medic was also versed in animal care they didn't have to
worry if the animals got sick too. Good.

“I'm
glad sir.”

“Are
you planning on keeping them all?” the captain asked, looking up. He wasn't
sure he liked the idea of seven of the furry monsters running around. Even
though they were cute. Getting one into something they couldn't get out of...
or getting killed... no picking the fur out of a fan motor wouldn't be fun. Nor
would be telling the medic that one of his precious charges had come a cropper.
He'd have to have a quiet word with the chief about that later.