Spot looked left: nothing. He turned and looked right: still nothing. He made an entire 360 degree turn: nothing at all. There wasn't a crumb to eat in his cage.
Spot thought that was very unusual. Usually, the giant bipedal life form that lived with him gave him food regularly. In Spot's opinion, it was never quite enough food, and it wasn't jelly doughnuts often enough, but that was another story.
Come to think of it, Spot hadn't even seen the giant bipedal life form for a few days now. Spot suddenly felt anxious. What if the giant bipedal life form never came back? Spot would get lonely. Living in this big cabin all by himself would get boring. But most important, who would feed him?
Well, that situation simply wasn't acceptable, Spot would have to do something about it. He would go and find his bipedal friend. He squirmed over to the wall of his cage, and then began inching up the side. Once Spot reached the top, it was a simple matter of nudging the top open and then inching back down the outside of the cage wall. He had always been careful not to do this little trick when anyone was watching. To this day, his friend had no idea how Spot always managed to escape.
Having made his escape, Spot began a cursory examination of the cabin. It didn't take long, the cabin was very Spartan: a bed, a night stand, a desk and chair, and the replicator niche. Spot headed that way. He knew that's where the food came from, but he was disappointed again. The replicator was clean.
Oh, dear, thought Spot. He didn't know what that meant, but he had heard his friend use it often.
Well, his friend obviously wasn't in the room (and neither was there any food), so Spot decided to expand his search. He looked around the cabin until he spotted the ventilation duct. He headed in that direction.
Meanwhile, Francesca sat in front of her mirror brushing her hair. It was late, normally she would be in bed by now, but tonight she felt anxious and restless. As she pulled the brush through her soft dark hair, her gaze wandered involuntarily to the picture that was stuck on the upper left of the mirror. It was a candid shot of Lieutenant Benton on duty. She had painted a lipstick heart with an arrow through it around the photo.
As Francesca's eyes found Benton's miniature face, the hand holding the brush stopped its motion and slowly sank to rest on the countertop. She sighed wistfully. Would she ever see him again? She had so many things to tell him, he can't get himself lost now!
She didn't dare call the bridge again to ask how the search for the missing landing party was coming. The last time she called, the captain threatened to throw her out an airlock if she bothered them one more time. But she had to ask someone!
She had it, she'd call Sitto. After the incident where Sitto had had to pull her off the newly arrived Benton, she and Sitto had become friends.
She thumbed the com switch on the counter in front of her. "Milano to Security," she said.
[Security. Kelowitz here,] came back a disembodied voice.
"Hi, Kelowitz. Is Sitto there?" she asked.
[Just a sec.]
After a minute, Sitto Lan came on the com channel. He sounded a little annoyed, [Franny. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call, as if I didn't know?]
"Well, I was just wondering if you heard anything about how the search was going, Sitto," she said.
A small chuckle came over the com channel. [Why are you asking me, Franny? Didn't the captain threaten to throw you out an airlock again if you didn't quit bugging him?]
"Yes," she said, a little chagrined.
There was a slight pause at Sitto's end. When he replied, Sitto's voice was uncharacteristically compassionate. He said, [Try not to worry so much, Franny. I'm sure they're all right. Benton can take care of himself. And the captain's doing everything he can to find them. Try to get some sleep, will ya?]
"Thanks, Sitto."
[Any time.]
Francesca clicked off the com. She looked over at her bed, but it still didn't look inviting. She got up. Maybe if she went for a walk...
Francesca wandered the decks aimlessly. Crewmembers she passed in the corridors wondered at the faraway look in her eyes. That wasn't like her, normally she was bubbly and exuberant. Eventually, her feet led her down to the engineering decks. She hadn't even realized it, but now that she looked up and got her bearings, she found herself in front of Benton's cabin.
Francesca darted quick looks to the left and right to make sure no one was in sight, then entered Benton's access code into the door panel. If anyone found out how she got the code, she'd be in big trouble. The door obediently slid open, and she ducked inside.
She hadn't ever been in here before, so she was momentarily taken aback by the sparseness of the decor. She decided that what the place needed was a woman's touch.
She noticed Spot stuck to the wall. It looked like he was headed for the ventilation panel. She walked over and plucked him off.
"Where do you think you're going, buster?" she asked with a smile. She looked in the cage and noticed there was no food in Spot's dish. "Aha, so that's it."
Francesca put Spot down on the bed, ordered a jelly doughnut from the replicator. She got Spot's dish out of the cage and put in on the bed next to Spot, then she put the doughnut in the dish, and Spot on top of the doughnut.
Spot purred very happily. You're my new best friend, he thought.
Francesca sat down on Benton's bed alongside the feasting tribble and absentmindedly began petting Spot's fur.
"We'll wait for Benton to come back together," she said.
Spot purred again.
Meanwhile, Benton felt a strange sensation in his ears, or at least, he thought he felt something. He couldn't be quite sure, the sensation wasn't quite real. His ears felt warm.
He remembered an old Human proverb, and said, "My ears are burning. Someone must be thinking about me."