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"Nuggets" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG Chapter 3 : Nuggets Returns Doctor Phlox heard a noise as he entered Sickbay. A white streak dashed between his legs and out the closing doors. He spun, catching sight of Nuggets disappearing around the corner. “STOP!” Phlox yelled, running after the chicken. # Nuggets raced around a corner and came to a halt. Archer and a crewman were discussing something. At Archer’s feet, Porthos had laid down to take a nap. But the scent and soft rustle of Nuggets’ feathers roused him from his cheese and bone filled dreams. His eyes popped open, and then his head slowly drifted up with his body following just as slowly. He kept his head low, staying eye to eye with the chicken. It was prey and it was about to become caught. “Uh...sir...” The crewman pointed at Nuggets. Archer turned in time to see Porthos skid out, get traction and head straight for Nuggets. Nuggets let out a surprised squawk and ran from the dog. “LEAVE IT! PORTHOS, LEAVE IT!” Archer yelled. Porthos began baying as he pursued the bird, ignoring his master’s sharp order. The two sped down halls, making crewmen dodge, stumble and fall to get out of their way. Nuggets raced through an opening door into engineering with Porthos was right behind, snapping at her tail feathers. Trip looked up from a PADD he was reading and let out a surprised yelp as the two animals barreled into him. He tripped and stumbled over them, lost his balance and fell on them. Nuggets squawked. Porthos let out a surprised yelped, but their pursuit didn’t stop. They struggled free from Trip and the chase resumed. The two raced laps around the warp drive, expertly dodging and ducking hands trying to catch them. A door began to open and Nuggets ran for it. Malcolm leapt to the side, watching both dog and chicken race past. They ran past more crewmen, Nuggets searching for some form of escape. She turned into a hall and ahead the lift door began opening. Hoshi stepped off the lift as dog and bird ran into her, tripping her and making her fall back into the lift. The lift began descending. The two animals quickly untangled from her and began making laps around the inside of lift and over Hoshi. Hoshi got to her feet and grabbed for Nuggets, and caught her in the first attempt. Porthos danced around her legs, snapping and snarling at the chicken. Nuggets continued squawking, flapping her wings in Hoshi’s face. “NUGGETS!” Hoshi yelled. By luck or experience, Nuggets got a leg over Hoshi’s arm and raked her talons down her forearm, drawing blood. Hoshi yelled, dropping her. The lift opened and the door slid open. Hoshi made a lunge for Porthos, instead crashing into a crewman about to step onto the lift. The two fell in a tangle of arms and legs, allowing the two creatures to escape and continue their chase. There were more crewmen here, but the two animals managed to elude their would be capturers and each other. A door slid open and Nuggets bolted through it into the mess hall. The mess hall erupted in screeches, yells and laughter. Everyone tried to catch the two animals as they made laps around the room. T’Pol was sitting alone in the center of the room reading a PADD and sipping from a mug. She looked up, watching the commotion, but did nothing else. Nuggets leapt up and got enough lift to get onto the breakfast buffet table. Porthos leapt onto a chair and across the expanse onto the table. They raced down the buffet table, knocking over dishes and scattering food in all directions. Nuggets reached the end of the table and jumped. Porthos put all his strength into his hind legs and lunged into his leap, landing on Nuggets’ back. The two crashed to the floor in a fight filled with fur, feathers, baying, yipping and squawking. Porthos yelped when a pair of hands roughly grabbed him, pulling him away from Nuggets, who was being pulled away by another pair of hands. That didn’t stop Nuggets from squawking and trying to run, or Porthos from baying, snarling and trying to pursue. And then the two were taken to opposite ends of the mess hall to await their fate. Archer, Trip and Doctor Phlox ran into the mess hall and stopped, staring at the disaster left in the animal’s wake. Archer spun to face the Denobulan and Chief Engineer “I am going to shoot that GOD DAMNED CHICKEN OUT OF A DAMN TORPEDO TUBE!” Archer screamed. “HOW THE HELL’D IT GET LOOSE?” “Apparently the fowl has a limited amount of luck. She pulled the pin out of the latch and escaped,” Doctor Phlox answered. “I WANT THAT CHICKEN OFF THIS SHIP! THIS IS NOT A FLYING ZOO!” Archer walked over to the crewman that had Porthos, snatching his dog away. “And as for you, mister, you’ll be lucky if you ever get off a leash!” Archer stormed past Trip and Doctor Phlox, shooting both an angry glare. Trip sighed, looking at Doctor Phlox. Doctor Phlox walked over to the crewman holding Nuggets and took the hen and the two left to figure out the demise of the bird. With the excitement over, the crew began cleaning up the mess hall. T’Pol turned back to her PADD but soon her attention was distracted as the crew began voicing their disapproval of Archer’s decision. T’Pol slowly looked up from her PADD. “He doesn’t have a right to get rid of Nuggets. Porthos was part of this too!” “If Trip has to get rid of Nuggets, Captain Archer should get rid of Porthos.” “Yeah, but that’ll never happen. He’s never liked her since she was brought on board, you know that.” “We should complain. She’s the ship’s mascot! We all feel like she’s our pet.” “Maybe we could hide her from him.” “Where?” No one answered. “I guess... This is so unfair! Chickens can be too smart for their own good!” “We could protest.” “A ship wide mutiny?” “Whatever it takes to keep Nuggets on board.” “I doubt he’d notice,” someone hissed. “That’s not part of his job!” T’Pol stood and left the mess hall. # Archer worked on duty schedules, but neither the tedious work nor the soothing music he had playing did much to calm his anger from the morning chaos. In a corner behind him, Porthos lay on his bed, watching his master. The doorbell beeped and Porthos jumped up. “DOWN STAY!” Archer snarled at Porthos. Porthos promptly laid down and didn’t move. “Come in,” Archer called out. T’Pol walked in carrying a PADD that she handed to Archer. He took it and skimmed the contents. “That’s fine. Send it to Starfleet.” Archer handed it back. T’Pol tapped the screen a couple of times. “Captain, there is something else I’d like you to review.” Archer held his hand up for the PADD and she placed it back in his hand. Archer skimmed it and started to hand it back to her. He took a second look, staring at the information on the screen. He looked curiously up at T’Pol. “This is a...uhm...good design, T’Pol. What, exactly, do you need a cage for?” “To properly contain Commander Tucker’s pet fowl.” At first Archer was surprised by the answer, but his anger promptly replaced it. “Damn him!” Archer reached for the companel. “How could you let him talk you into this, T’Pol? You feel that bird doesn’t belong on this ship as much as I do!” T’Pol covered the controls, stopping Archer. “Commander Tucker did not convince me to do this, Captain.” Archer was stunned. “He didn’t? Who did?” “No one, Captain. And this cage design would be impossible for the chicken to escape from unless she had thumbs and an extreme amount of ‘luck,’ as Doctor Phlox put it.” Archer’s eyes narrow with his suspicion. “Why are you helping Trip keep this chicken? I don’t know how many times you’ve told Trip his compassion for that bird is pointless since she can’t even reciprocate it like Porthos does, which I agree.” “Today I came to the realization that many of the crewmen are fond of Commander Tucker’s pet fowl. They were very disgruntled about your decision to remove the chicken from the ship and their complaints about it have continued throughout the day.” “Disgruntled?” “Extremely. Not to mention I fear Doctor Phlox may suffer from mild depression if you take his favorite creature away.” “Mild depression over the loss of a chicken?” “For one, chickens do not exist on Denobula. He is quite intrigued by the fowl. Additionally, crewmen regularly visit Sickbay to give attention to the fowl. Doctor Phlox has mentioned to me on several occasions how much he enjoys the visits as crewmen also engage in ‘idle chat’ while visiting. With Commander Tucker’s help, this cage could be finished by the end of the day, sir.” Archer sat the PADD down, staring at the design on it. “Fine. But if that bird gets out of this cage, I will personally kill it and fry it. You tell Trip that.” Archer looked back at T’Pol. “Understood?” “I thought you didn’t believe in hunting or killing animals, Captain?” “Chickens are the exception. Understood? Yes or no?” “Yes, Captain.” “Go tell those two I’ve approved this and I don’t want to hear another word about that damned chicken.” “Thank you, Captain.” T’Pol picked up the PADD and left the room. Archer waited until he was sure she was gone and grinned. He looked down at Porthos. “Almost sounds like she likes that chicken as much as the rest of the crew, Port. What do you think about that?” Porthos jumped and trotted over to Archer. He picked him up and sat him on his lap, and then returned to the schedules. |
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