"Perky officers and itchy noses"
 by Lieutenant jg T'Kang
 Assistant Tactical Officer - USS Tempest
 http://come/to/tkang


T'Kang's eyes were red and still watering from his passing 
encounter with Lieutenant Doherty's pet kitten.  The 
Klingon's skin still itched and his nose was stuffed up and 
making it difficult to breathe.   Several times, when between 
external sensor scans of the two orbiting Ferengi vessels, 
T'Kang would rub the back of his hand across his itching 
nose several times, making the most irritating sound 
possible for a runny nose as he cleared his throat and 
sighed.

"Welcome aboard, I'm the OPS officer Emily O'Malley."

T'Kang glanced over at the short officer.  She was wearing 
that goofy dimpled face humans constantly put forward when 
they want to be friends and share 'small talk'.   Being 
Klingon, T'Kang never understood that particular motivation 
in humans.  All he knew was he felt rotten and didn't want to 
be bothered as he rudely looked away.

"And your name is?"  Emily insisted rocking forward and 
back on her tippy toes momentarily.

T'Kang's face betrayed his annoyance and surprise.  Most 
humans would have taken the hint and have left the allergic 
Klingon alone.  Either this officer was remarkably persistent 
or incredibly unobservant.   Without looking at the officer, he 
answered,  "T'Kang, Lieutenant. . . . can you not see I'm 
busy?"

"Yup, you're a Klingon alright. . . . oh by the way you missed 
a menu option."  O'Malley pointed at the console indicating a 
circuit the Klingon had left opened while he conducted the 
scans before smiling and walking away.

T'Kang looked at what the Operations Officer had pointed 
out and decided she wasn't remarkably persistent or 
incredibly unobservant.  She was simply a pest.  "Soj be' 
mach" he mumbled in a cutting tone just loud enough for 
O'Malley to hear as she walked away.


"Ah, another who needs the attention of my wonderful charm 
it seems." Emily said quietly with a smug look on her face as 
she punched into her console.

Again T'Kang went into a nose rubbing fit, trying to get the 
itch of cat hair out of his nose.  Though the tearing in his 
eyes had finally stopped, his skin still itched all over his 
body.  Reaching around his back, the Klingon dug his nails 
into the small of his back, if you could call it small, and 
scratched.  He wondered if it was the kitten that was causing 
him to itch or the near by Ferengi ships.

Emily was summoned to sickbay, not one of T'Kang's 
favorite places on a starship.  With nasty, grumpy eyes the 
Klingon followed O'Malley as she exited the bridge.   If there 
was one thing the Klingon hated it was overly perky officers 
that wanted to be friends.

Glancing down at his monitor, T'Kang detected that the 
transporters on board the Ferengi vessels had been 
activated.

"Captain, the Ferengi ships have activated their transporters.  
They appear to be beaming something down to the Colony 
not far from where the away team is located."  T'Kang 
reported.