Reuniting the Hounds
Posted on Mon Jan 15th, 2024 @ 6:40am by Alika Mahone & Lieutenant Alan Harrison & Lieutenant Gunnar Arnason
1,371 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Pressure
Location: Haumea Medical Facilities
Timeline: MD 02: Early
Without a leash, Haechi was afraid to lose sight of the pair she was following after. Not that either Alika nor Alan would let her go far, but she was a young pup. And without Luka or Lugh to guide her, she was packless. But Alan, he gave her food and did not try to grab at her. And the other one? She smelled nice, like the same salty wet smell that Luka smelled like. To Haechi, that meant Alika was part of the pack. She held herself like Luka did too, and it was a quality that told Haechi she could be followed.
On the other hand, Alika was in a panic. As they burst into the hospital, she frantically searched for the first person who looked like a doctor. Or a nurse. Or... Anyone important. She had only been on the colony for a couple of weeks, and most of that time was spent with a fantasy side show going on. She knew of only a handful of people, and doctors were not among those she knew.
But there was a name Kikua had, if she needed it. One of Luka's friends. Tall, built like no doctor they had ever seen. And a name that sounded kinda funny to her. If only she could remember...
"Hey ah," she turned to Alan, rubbing her nose. "We don't happen t'have a guy here we can talk to specifically, do we?"
"Uh, that would be Gunnar, I mean, Lieutenant Arnason," Alan replied, distracted by his worry for Luka's condition due to the blood found on his dog, "If you've not reported for your physical yet, he's not the CMO, but he has more or less run the hospital on and off since I've been here."
"Oh." Alika's gaze squinted over to the reception desk, where there was a lone woman sitting behind the counter.
A ward over, the man in question was making rounds, a large dog by his side. Fortunately, Lugh was used to the hospital and the staff were used to him, so this posed no real issue. Which was good since Gunnar couldn't imagine leaving an already traumatized dog alone in his quarters or, potentially worse, in the care of well-intentioned but extremely energetic young Romulans. The rightness of the decision was reinforced by the fact that the typically outgoing malamute had stuck close all morning, though that might have to do with how much of a sausage and cheese omelet had shared at breakfast. And getting to sleep on the bed. He'd practically grown up in and around a vet practice, but somehow every bit of dog training and good practice he knew had been overwhelmed by big sad dog eyes hitting right smack on his natural inclination to be a soft touch. "I'll just explain to Luka that my family dogs always got to sleep on the bed..." he explained, half to Lugh and half to himself. "But I bet you'll be happy with the floor if you can have him ba-"
Words were interrupted by a sudden bark and the previously glued-to-his-side canine shadow dashing down the hallway. Gunnar took off after him, a smile forming at a wild hope that the reaction was to sensing Luka who must have come in on his own power or there would have been an emergency comm.
A large dog is a lot faster than a human, even one with quite long legs, so by the time he caught up, Lugh had already barreled toward Haechi, barking excitedly. Disappointment at the lack of Luka was quickly replaced with relief that the other malamute had been found, coupled with concern at the dried blood evident in his fur. "Lugh, back up," he said as he grabbed the dog's collar to enforce it. "Time for reunions after we examine him. Someone comm forensics," the NP called to the nearest staff. "and make sure they don't send Tate this time. The last thing we need is a tech who hates dogs."
That handled, he turned his attention to Alan and the ensign with him. "Where did you find her?"
Somehow, the lean-framed Alika had the hefty pup in her arms by the time she laid eyes upon Lugh. Haechi was happily wiggling toward her brother to the best of her ability, simply happy to see him. "I found her with- HEY!" Eventually, Alika set the pup down, allowing for the happiest of reunions. "She was with the Chief here when I found 'er. Must've been hungry, huh Chief?"
"She ate all the food I gave her with no hesitation," Alan chuckled nervously. Leaning toward Gunnar, he asked quietly, "Hear anything new about the... situation? I imagine not..."
Gunnar gave a short shake of his head in reply, then handed Lugh over to another nurse and went to examine Haechi. A dog eating everything offered was not unusual, even if they'd just eaten, but she'd been gone at least overnight and might well have missed more than one meal.
"Hey, girl," he said gently, stroking a hand lightly over the dog's head. "We're going to check you over, clean you up, and then maybe get some treats, okay?"
The pup gave a happy yip at Gunnar, tail wagging as ever. To her, Gunnar almost always knew where or how to find her person. And if Lugh was around, Luka was not far off. Soon everything would be alright!
But Alika looked ready to dissolve into the wall. She had taken a few steps back, as Lugh was giving her the malamute stink eye. But, despite her judgement, she had to know why the dogs were not without their owner. "What's been going on?" she asked, a touch more annoyed than she meant to have come off. "These guys aren't far from the Captain. Where'd he go off to?"
Actually looking at the ensign for the first time, Gunnar realized he hadn't seen her before, though there was something about her that seemed vaguely familiar... Still, Alan had lowered his voice and asked about news indirectly. You didn't spend time with Dosadi Raiders and not learn to pick up on when to keep things confidential. He glanced toward the Security Chief. "I'll let you handle that one. I should examine Haechi to make sure she's not too much worse for whatever she's been through."
Alan nodded defeatedly - it seemed there was no news on the missing person front, at least not that Gunnar knew. At that moment, the PaDD in his back pocket began chirping excitedly. He briefly skimmed the incoming secure message. It seemed there was another situation developing - why were there always multiple weird things going on at the same time around here? This time it was something about an unresponsive ship on approach to the colony. He turned back to Gunnar, "I'm sure the Captain will appreciate it. It seems something else has come up as well - I imagine the Colonel will fill in the rest of the senior staff about *that* thing, but I'm urgently needed back in Engineering."
"Understood," Gunnar replied, picking up Haechi to carry her into an exam room. "If need medical support, let me know."
Alan nodded a farewell at Gunnar as he carried Haechi off. Turning to Alika, he said, "I'm needed back in Engineering. I'm sure you were assigned to some task or another before we ran across Haechi that you urgently need to get back to..." Pausing a second to think, he continued, "Say, Crewman, I don't think I caught your area of expertise - what is it exactly?"
"Operations," Alika stated offhandedly. In the next beat, her badge chirruped, and the distinctive voice of Kikua could be heard from the other end.
"I swear to all the-" Alika's hand tore the badge off her shirt, muffling the remainder of whatever it was Kikua was about to frustratedly state, before she took a step back. "Yanno what, I think that's my cue. I don't wanna keep ya any more, Chief!"
And before Alan could say anymore, the girl took off, turning only to give him a two fingered salute in goodbye.
"Catch ya later!"
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