The Search for Jii

Posted on Fri Jul 17th, 2026 @ 7:16pm by Lieutenant Daltom Vesper & Lieutenant JG Caitlyn MacRae

1,861 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Friends and Traitors

A moment of silence, a pause to offer up a prayer to the universe, and then it began. Impossibly loud against the quiet, the guitars and drum beats filling the air and seeming to echo around her. Fumbling with the earbuds she had brought in her little bag of tricks, she sighed with relief as they activated. Muting the noise to a more tolerable level.

Jii was, for reasons Elynya Teikil did not understand, a fan of ‘heavy metal’. A type of music an old boyfriend had enjoyed and Elynya tolerated, for a time.

But desperate times called for desperate measures.

She had set up several traps around the area, loaded strawberries and sugar - another favourite. And her hope was that the music would entice the creature to this area and from there, Jii would be unable to resist the snacks. After all, she had to be hungry.

The Padd she held had a map of all the traps and would alert her if one was triggered. It was just a matter of patience ….

She let out a startled yelp as she suddenly became aware that she was not alone. Half turning she found an unfamiliar face on the other side of the open access hatch, It took her a moment to realise he was speaking, at least she assumed so as his lips were moving. “I’m sorry what?” She managed, slightly irritated that he was speaking so quietly.

Oh…

Holding up a hand she tapped a control to mute the music and slipped the earbuds out. “Sorry…. I … I didn’t meant to disturb you. I thought this part of the ship was empty.”

Daltom was on one of his many walks. Despite being a cynical man, he was a keen observer of beings' behaviors. If he could help, he certainly would. What Daltom knew was that few people ever willingly came to a counselor. When they did, it was usually too late and if they did come on time, it was because they had a plethora of problems that were influencing the problems that already arrived. In the end, it would not matter because those at the top always ended up getting what they wanted. Only by pleasing those people could you empower yourself and then hopefully empower others, which eventually would bring the entire original structure down.

Those thoughts would have been comforting to Daltom except he heard noises from an open access hatch. What was anyone doing in there? There was nothing here interesting. He looked at a fresh female face and asked, "Petty Officer, what are you doing here?"

The Petty officer looked at him confused and finally asked, "I'm sorry what?" then finally taking earbuds out started to make sense talking to Daltom by saying, "I thought this part of the ship was empty." Of course you did, because otherwise why would you be doing whatever it is you're doing. Gods, beings were not that smart!

Daltom, summoning all the patience that he had, continued, "I said, 'Petty Officer, what are you doing here'?"

“Doing?” She all but squeaked, her voice an octave higher than usual as she carefully began climbing out, avoiding eye contact as she tried to think of a good reason. She was coming up empty. Reaching the corridor she bought a second or two tugging on her uniform to erase a few invisible creases before peering back into the open hatch. “Well… I…. Was…. Listening. To music. Acoustics are phenomenal just beyond that junction.”

She could practically feel her distinctive Trill spots darken with every nervous sounding word. When she was little her brother told her that her spots changed colour if she told a lie (a lie he himself was told by their mother) and while she had not found correlating evidence, in her head it was true. Which was fine because she did not, as a rule, ever set out to deceive people.

Except for now. And when she had snuck Jii on board…

"The acoustics are that good, are they? With earbuds?" Daltom asked with wry amusement. "Perhaps you should take me to where you were and show me how amazing this music and accoustics are. After all, music can be very soothing to the soul and therapeutic. I might need to take a patient here, if it is so amazing."

There was a stunned silence, her green eyes widening in panic at this stranger calling her bluff. “Of course, Lieutenant,” she managed, almost launching herself into the small space. Maybe he wouldn’t notice the little sensors and food traps and the acoustics were actually above par. Not that she was one to normally appreciate such things.

Without looking back she shuffled along to the junction and moved right, cycling through the displays on the PaDD until it was just the musical selection. She paused the onslaught of heavy metal - thank the gods - and looked over her shoulder as the lieutenant appeared at her shoulder. “Do you have a favourite piece of music, Sir?”

There was something new in her voice. A small glimmer, perhaps, of hope.

Daltom, unfortunately for Elynya noticed all of the sensors and food traps. He wondered why it was his lot in life to now play animal therapist. For now, he decided to play along and see how long the petty officer was going to play ignorant. "A favorite piece of music?" Daltom mused that for a few moments audibly. "Maybe the Zenite Chain. Nice rhytmic and heavy percussion."

Elynya groaned inwardly- heavy percussion now was a guaranteed headache later. Yet she did not voice the thought and instead allowed the computer to search for this ‘Zenite Chain’. Sure enough it found the corresponding file and with a tap, the PaDD once again filled the space with music although she did lower the volume somewhat. To her ears it was just noise, not quite as elegant as classical music - more chaotic. Yet the underlying beat was something Jii might -

A new tone, a series of rapid beeps, came from somewhere up ahead. She lifted her head just in time to see one of the sensors light up before going dark. “Jii?!” She called out for her pet as she silenced the music, letting out a long high pitched whistle as she called up her network of sensors and food traps. None of the traps showed any change but something had been there….

The Counselor grinned. So, Elynya knew exactly what was going on, as he suspected. "So, are we going to tell me exactly who Jii is and what you were really doing, or should we play this game a little longer?"

Elynya froze for a second, her back to him. Yet after that brief moment, she seemed to deflate at the realisation she hadn’t fooled anyone. And now… no. She would not cry. She wasn’t a child.

Quietly she tapped the controls and silenced the music, the sudden silence feeling uncomfortable and somehow loud. Taking a deep breath she turned to face him. “Jii is my…. Pet,” she told him. Pet felt insignificant. “Unfortunately she escaped from her cage and it is important I find her. Quickly. Before she gives birth. Or cuts through something she shouldn’t…”

She was starting to ramble but found it quite impossible to stop.

"That's a lot to unpack. Let us slow it down for a moment." The Counselor stood patiently with Elynya. "What kind of creature is Jii? Not a tribble, I hope?"

“She is a Pyji,” the scientist groaned. “They are native to Trill and quite rare. Jii has been with me since she was born… but no, not a Tribble. I suppose more like an anthropod, but not quite. In the final life cycle they spawn up to twelve babies - of those only three at most survive in the wild. But I was hoping …”

She turned off everything as she retreated back to the corridor. She had been hoping to find her before she got caught. And from there to keep all of the newborns safe.

“I’m not supposed to have her here,” she confessed, “she has these pincers and if stressed can excrete this oil that … it’s messy. And I can’t just scan the ship, it wouldn’t work. She is like a - what is the word in Earth Standard…. Camelot? She could be anywhere, even damaging the ship and I am so dead when the Chief and Captain find out, aren’t I? You can tell me the truth. I can take it.”

Daltom listened to everything that Elynya said and tried to determine if he should be alarmed or raise a general alert. The fact that the Petty Officer admitted that she was not supposed to have this creature on the ship certainly made him more inclined to do so. However, he felt more information was needed. "What do these creatures eat? How might it damage the ship? As to discipline, I am certain you can expect it but I do not know the severity level. Certainly cooperating will likely be a mitigating factor for any potential punishment. So the more information that you can give us now, the better."

“They eat plant leaves, moss … but Jii has a sweet tooth, she prefers fruit and the jams I had put in the traps… you don’t thing she’s-“. She couldn’t say the word and the possibility hadn’t occurred to her until that moment. It was a dangerous place and she could have gotten into just about every area of the ship! No, she had to think positively. Jii was strong and adapted well to new surroundings. She would find a warm safe place. Wouldn’t she?

“I don’t think she could do much damage but her pincers are sharp and dangerous. She could cut through small things so there is a possibility she does damage something important…?” Dear lord she was gonna be shipped off to a prison for this mess.

"I hate to sound like a Vulcan, but the most logical solution might be to do a search for any Pyji lifesigns and have your pet and any offspring beamed to a safe location in science," Daltom answered.

His words hung in the air and for a long time they didn’t really register. But then she managed a small nod, acceptance of a situation which had so easily gotten out of control. After all it had been so long since she had last seen Jii…

Taking a deep breath she tapped her comm badge and in a shaky voice spoke up. “Crewman Teikil to Lieutenant Knight. Lieutenant I am so so sorry but, erm, we have a situation and I need your help.”

Daltom nodded. He hated giving into the power structure, but this was a matter of safety. They would talk more at a later date and time. For now, the ship's safety had to be considered.

OFF

Lieutenant Daltom Vesper
Chief Counselor
USS Thunderbird

&

Petty Officer (3rd Class) Elynya Teikil
Science Department
USS Thunderbird

 

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