To Storm Heaven - Esther Friesner [67]
Lt. Worf sighed and backed off. “Ensign Wolf, I wish you would rethink your decision. This creature was given to my son Alexander by Dr. Crusher in a moment of improperly considered generosity. I have attempted to make her see that it is not a suitable companion for the boy, but she can be… stubborn.
She will not take it back. If you will take this beast for your own pet then I will be in your debt always. This is not something I promise lightly. A warrior’s honor demands that he hold fast to all his obligations.” Ensign Wolf could hardly believe what she was hearing. Lt. Worf in my debt? That does call for a second thought. Or three. Still.
Lori had heard all the ancient “red shirt” jokes, the old jibes about how easily expendable Security personnel were, and she didn’t think they were funny.
She hadn’t reached her present position by leaping first and looking afterwards. Surely Lt. Worf would never give her a dangerous animal, but there was no harm in asking a few preliminary questions. She examined the creature in the tank. Born and raised on Alamo Station at the very fringes of the Beta Quadrant, she had never seen a hamster before, so of course her first question was: “It’s a tribble, isn’t it, sir?” Lt. Worf quickly corrected that understandable misconception.
“A hamster, sir? What, precisely, is hamming and what action, if any, should I take if the animal starts to do it?” The Klingon took a deep, slow breath and explained a few more details of Fido’s natural history, gleaned from Alexander’s impromptu lectures on the subject. The boy was delighted with his exotic pet and had set himself to absorb all available information that the ship’s computer could provide about the beast. Not for the first time, Worf felt a pang of conscience over how his son would react when he found the animal gone.
I am doing what is best for my son, in the long run, he reminded himself. That is never an easy task, but it is a necessary one. With this reassurance in mind, he renewed his attention to Ensign Wolf. “Well? Will you take it?” “Sir, it may not be my place to ask this but… does your son know you’re doing this?” That infernal question again! He could not lie. “No, he does not. However, that is of no consequence. I have made the decision: The animal goes. All that remains to be settled is whether you will take it or if I must find someone else to perform this service for me.
Well?” Again the impression of a scowl, a very fierce one.
Lori was neither a coward nor a fool. Although the sight of an angry, impatient Klingon was enough to give her a momentary start, she quickly recovered enough to think over her options with a calm mind.
While the notion of having her superior officer in her debt was appealing, her own sense of honor rebelled at the idea of taking away a child’s pet without the child’s knowledge or consent.
When you were with Security, there was one lesson you learned in a hurry: Try to find more than one way out of a tight spot or become the punchline to yet another joke about Security personnel. Lori Wolf wasn’t about to sacrifice either her principles or her superior’s good will. She saw a another way out and she took it.
“Sir, I’ll be happy to take this animal—” “Ah!” “—as soon as I can determine beyond the shadow of a doubt that it’s harmless.” Worf glowered at her.
“Sir, perhaps you’ve forgotten I don’t live alone. I have a family. I’m certainly not afraid for myself, but I can’t ask them to share living space with an alien creature that for all we know might be—” “But this creature is innocuous!” Worfprotested. “I have seen Rigelian narJapuddings with more spunk!
Why do you think I do not want my son to keep such a thing? All aspects of the life