Ode to Spot…..or Maybe Not
By Celestia
Paramount owns it all……we only dream that they’re really ours. 🙁
Summary: a very strange tale (tail?:) told from the
point of view of Data’s cat, Spot!
Dedicated to cats and cat-lovers everywhere.
Also dedicated to my old cats, Socks (who, in this
story is a boy, but was really a girl), and Bandit.
Author’s note: the stuff that talks about “that’s what cats do”,
is only my idea, and not scientific fact. Truthfully, we’ll
never know. But I hoped to make a good guess.
I’ve always believed that cats must have some form
of advanced communication, and telepathy was just
a guess, one that I’ve had since I was a very small child.
The premonitions were just something I made up. 🙂
ON TO THE STORY!!!
Ode to Spot……..or Maybe Not!
By Celestia
I was curled up in a little ball, almost asleep, when I was
awakened by the familiar sound of clicks and beeps. I ran over to
where my android sat working. I jumped up on the computer console,
my favourite place to be.
“Down Spot,” my android said as he lifted me up and deposited
me on the floor. I sat there staring at him, then I meowed. He’s *my* pet,
how can he tell me what to do?
I guess I should tell you who I am. I am Spot, a cat. I have a pet
Soong-type android named Data. I have survived through more than your
average cat. I am starting to get scared that I’m coming to the end of my
nine lives.
One of the things that happens the most is this ship, the Enterprise,
gets blown up. But the ship is still fine. I think it has something to do with
those temporal anomalies my pet is always talking about. I don’t know
why he wastes his time with such things. They have no importance. As far
as I know, they have nothing to do with food.
Speaking of food, it’s supposed to be supper time. I meowed to get
my android’s attention. It works. He stopped working, turned and looked at me,
then got up to get my food. My android is trained well.
As I began to eat my food, the ship began to shake.
I hoped that we didn’t blow up again, I hate it when that happens.
I noticed that Data had stopped working again and that he had gotten
up to leave. I would’ve stopped him, be he had work to do. As he went out the
door, I snuck out behind him, being careful not to let my tail get caught as the
doors hissed shut. I knew from experience that this was not a good thing.
As I entered the corridor, I saw my friend, Socks. I walked
faster to catch up with him. We continued to walk down the corridor
together, thinking to each other, because that’s what cats do.
*So where did your android go? He never let’s you out of
your quarters.*
*He left when the shaking started, same as always. Where’s
your human?*
*She’s been gone all day, same as always. I never see her
anymore.*
Just as he finished his thought, we heard footsteps behind us,
and suddenly I was being lifted up into the air. I whipped my head around
to see who it was, and scratched his face.
It was my android’s friend, the man with the metal over his eyes.
I meowed and screamed at him, but he didn’t let go, he just moved his head,
and I kept missing when I went to scratch his face. He said something,
but I don’t usually understand humans, and I wasn’t about to start.
He took me back to my quarters and threw me in. Great.
Confined to my quarters for another lonely day.
I jumped up onto the computer console for a nap. The shaking
stopped a while ago, but my android hadn’t returned.
I finally fell asleep and started to dream. Cats dream often,
and I have found that things in my dreams sometimes happen, so
that’s why this one scared me.
I was walking on a pink cloud. There were no people or cats
or anything else there, just pink clouds and blue sky. I kept on walking,
wondering what I would see.
There was no noise. Not a single one. That was weird, to not
hear anything. Cats have very good hearing, and it is an awful feeling
to not hear anything.
And then a strange-looking man in a red Starfleet uniform appeared.
He was not one of the officers I had seen, but, since I don’t get out much, I
have not seen many Starfleet officers.
He snapped his fingers. That’s all it took. Suddenly, in a flash of white
light, the clouds disappeared. So did the sky, so did the light, and so
did everything. I was alone, in the dark, with nothing but black
surrounding me. It was weird, and somehow, in the back of my head, I knew
that there was no one who could come and get me. It was a horrible feeling,
even when it was only a dream.
I woke up with a start, and I looked around the room to see what had
saved me from my disturbing dream.
There was nothing there. I uncurled and stretched. There was
probably nothing to worry about. After all, it was only a dream, and not
*all* dreams had to come true.
Then I heard the doors swish open. Data came in and set something
on his console. I didn’t wait to see what it was. I bolted out of the door
and into the corridor.
When I got out there, Socks was waiting for me. We ran down the
corridor so that my android wouldn’t catch us.
Suddenly I stopped. I stopped so suddenly that Socks ran into me.
*What was that for?!* he asked angrily.
*Can’t you smell that?*
*Smell what?*
I was getting impatient. I wanted to go investigate.
*Sniff, Socks, sniff!*
So he did.
*Smells like…food. A mouse, maybe?*
*A mouse? On the Enterprise? It certainly smells like it…*
Now Socks was getting interested too.
*Let’s go!*
We ran quickly, letting our noses lead the way. We ended up at the
doors to Ten Forward. There were about 20 other cats there too. They had
probably smelt what we had smelt.
I don’t know why the others were just standing there. Socks and I
just waltzed on in. After we went in, the others just kind of followed.
When we got in, there was no one there. We walked all over the room,
twenty of us, all in a line, and we couldn’t find what was causing the smell.
It was like it wasn’t there, but we knew that it *was*. How peculiar, I
thought.
Then, the smell became stronger. It smelt just like a delectable
mouse. Mmmmm…I hadn’t had mouse in such a long time…none of us had,
really. Not real mouse, anyway. And replicated mouse just isn’t the same.
The smell was coming from behind the counter. I leaped on a barstool,
then onto the tall counter. I looked down, hoping to see a mouse, or maybe
more than one, because the smell was so strong, but that’s not what I saw.
I saw…something really weird. It had the body of a mouse, but the
face of the man from my dream. I quickly jumped back to the floor, startled.
In a white flash of light, the mouse-man turned into a man, looking
exactly like he did in my dream. Then, everyone but me just disappeared.
There had been no people in Ten Forward, but now there were no cats, either,
except me.
“I’m very disappointed in you, Spot, I’m very disappointed in you.”
I could *understand* him! I had never understood humans before, and I could
only understand a few words that Data said. Mainly when he said it was dinner
time.But I had a feeling that this man was not human.
“You’re right,” he said. He could understand *me*?! “I’m not human.
I am Q. I came here to test you. I’ve always felt that cats *must* be more
intelligent than humans, and here you go, proving me wrong! You purely let
your stomachs lead the way, not once thinking of the dangers that could have
met you here! I’m disappointed with you, Spot. I’m very disappointed.” He
raised his hand, about to snap his fingers, and I was very afraid that he
was about to do to me what he did in my dream, snap his fingers and throw me
into oblivion.
Just then, I heard the doors to Ten Forward swish open. I turned my
head to see who (or what) was there.
It was Data! I had never been so happy to see my pet in my whole
entire life (which consisted of 7 human years, or 49 cat ones).
He said something, something that sounded like, “Come here Spot.” I
ran to him. Anything to get away from that…Q.
Q lowered his hand, sighed, and rolled his eyes. “Fine, you keep
your dumb animal. I think I’ll go visit my friends the Calamarain. *They*
haven’t seen me for a month or so. Maybe they miss me.” He snapped his
fingers and was gone.
Data carried me back to our quarters and berated me for leaving,
but then gave me a treat. Pets are weird. I don’t think I shall ever
understand them. But for now, I am content just to eat my treat, then curl
up with one of my cat toys and go to sleep. I may not have passed Q’s test,
but I think that, either way, Q would’ve taken me away, and Data may have
missed me. After all, is it not an owner’s responsibility to look after
her pet? I don’t know if my pet could’ve survived without me, even if my
pet *is* an android.
***************************************FIN**************************
send your tales (please, no disembered tails!)of how much you loved this to celestia@innocent.com