The Adventures of Cadet Kowal
Stephen
Member
Overall being a cadet at Starfleet Academy was pretty amazing between the experiences, education, and friendships earned. Exam time, however, was not one of those times and having finished what she thought was easily the toughest exam so far she lay on her bunk face down head buried in her pillow agonizing over the awful grade she surely was going to receive. All in all, Heather did decently well, as did the majority of Starfleet Cadets, but it never stopped her mind from the sense of impending doom of failure especially now in her final academy year.
Her mind went back and forth between daydreams of punching Commander Hunter in the face and the trip she took with her best friend for the short week between her summer assignment and the beginning of her senior year. The beach had been magnificent! The two of them, their favorite wine, and their favorite activity... doing nothing.
“Right now I only want to think about the sun, waves, and ocean,” Heather remembered saying as a conversation too close to school came up as they sat on the beach.
Oanez tried biting her lip, but it just spilled out: “That’s the Mediterranean. But yes.” She stuck out her tongue at Heather.
“The Mediterranean Ocean,” Heather responded, knowing it would annoy her. And to further make her point she poked her tongue with her finger.
Hold it in, hold it in, hold it innnnnnn… “SEA!” she finally gasped. “It’s a sea. I know you know that and you like to tease, but it’s a sea!”
"They're the same thing," Heather said, wiping her finger that had been on her best friend's tongue on her bikini top with a disgusted look.
Heather giggled as the memory came across her mind and then she turned her head to look at her best friend's bunk which was still empty. She hadn't expected her to materialize without talking but then again she'd been occasionally known to be silent when she preoccupied with some weird experiment involving a gross insect.
She laughed again thinking about all of the times that she had to save her best friend from her own antics. Drifting to the awful day... strike that... one of the awful days that Oval's favorite spiders escaped. She relaxed her head back to her pillow and began to drift off to sleep a bit with a yawn.
“What is going on?” Heather asked, looking down at her best friend.
“Bernadette and Henri got out,” said Oanez, her voice hushed. She looked one way down the corridor and then the other. “I don’t think they made it into an air vent.”
“Who are Bernadette and Henri?” she asked. “And why are you trying to hide the door?” she asked.
“Umm…” She checked the hall again, making sure no one would overhear. “So, they’re a pair of avicularia purpurea that may have been irradiated a tiny bit…”
“What is a… avita-laria-purpurea?” she asked, looking a little nervous. “And how much is a tiny bit?” her voice now matching her friends in hush.
“Just think of them as teddy bears. With eight legs. That I need to get back into their terrariums… in the lab three doors down.” Oanez grinned, hoping to melt her friend’s heart into helping her capture a pair of giant spiders.
“They’re big gross spiders, aren’t they?” she asked, crossing her arms.
Oanez looked wounded. “They are not gross.”
“Why do they keep escaping?” she asked, realizing she was getting louder.
The dream was suddenly interrupted by her commbadge going off, "Kowal," she said, tapping it with a sigh.
"Herk! We have a top-secret classified situation, my lab," Oval's voice came through, frantically.
"Really?" Heather asked, annoyed. "I'll be there in a few," she sighed again, rolling from her bed.
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Cadet Heather Kowal
Her mind went back and forth between daydreams of punching Commander Hunter in the face and the trip she took with her best friend for the short week between her summer assignment and the beginning of her senior year. The beach had been magnificent! The two of them, their favorite wine, and their favorite activity... doing nothing.
“Right now I only want to think about the sun, waves, and ocean,” Heather remembered saying as a conversation too close to school came up as they sat on the beach.
Oanez tried biting her lip, but it just spilled out: “That’s the Mediterranean. But yes.” She stuck out her tongue at Heather.
“The Mediterranean Ocean,” Heather responded, knowing it would annoy her. And to further make her point she poked her tongue with her finger.
Hold it in, hold it in, hold it innnnnnn… “SEA!” she finally gasped. “It’s a sea. I know you know that and you like to tease, but it’s a sea!”
"They're the same thing," Heather said, wiping her finger that had been on her best friend's tongue on her bikini top with a disgusted look.
Heather giggled as the memory came across her mind and then she turned her head to look at her best friend's bunk which was still empty. She hadn't expected her to materialize without talking but then again she'd been occasionally known to be silent when she preoccupied with some weird experiment involving a gross insect.
She laughed again thinking about all of the times that she had to save her best friend from her own antics. Drifting to the awful day... strike that... one of the awful days that Oval's favorite spiders escaped. She relaxed her head back to her pillow and began to drift off to sleep a bit with a yawn.
“What is going on?” Heather asked, looking down at her best friend.
“Bernadette and Henri got out,” said Oanez, her voice hushed. She looked one way down the corridor and then the other. “I don’t think they made it into an air vent.”
“Who are Bernadette and Henri?” she asked. “And why are you trying to hide the door?” she asked.
“Umm…” She checked the hall again, making sure no one would overhear. “So, they’re a pair of avicularia purpurea that may have been irradiated a tiny bit…”
“What is a… avita-laria-purpurea?” she asked, looking a little nervous. “And how much is a tiny bit?” her voice now matching her friends in hush.
“Just think of them as teddy bears. With eight legs. That I need to get back into their terrariums… in the lab three doors down.” Oanez grinned, hoping to melt her friend’s heart into helping her capture a pair of giant spiders.
“They’re big gross spiders, aren’t they?” she asked, crossing her arms.
Oanez looked wounded. “They are not gross.”
“Why do they keep escaping?” she asked, realizing she was getting louder.
The dream was suddenly interrupted by her commbadge going off, "Kowal," she said, tapping it with a sigh.
"Herk! We have a top-secret classified situation, my lab," Oval's voice came through, frantically.
"Really?" Heather asked, annoyed. "I'll be there in a few," she sighed again, rolling from her bed.
––––––
Cadet Heather Kowal
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Heather quickly made her way across campus to the science building and up to the second floor to the lab that Oval had called her to. She was not sure what the problem was but when her best friend called her urgently for help the sound of her voice told her to not ask questions and to just get to where she needed to be. When she’d gotten to the classroom she found Oval standing guard outside attempting to stand on her tiptoes and block the window in the door.
“What is going on?” Heather asked, looking down at her best friend.
“Bernadette and Henri got out,” said Oanez, her voice hushed. She looked one way down the corridor and then the other. “I don’t think they made it into an air vent.”
“Who are Bernadette and Henri?” she asked. “And why are you trying to hide the door?” she asked.
“Umm…” She checked the hall again, making sure no one would overhear. “So, they’re a pair of avicularia purpurea that may have been irradiated a tiny bit…”
“What is a… avita-laria-purpurea?” she asked, looking a little nervous. “And how much is a tiny bit?” her voice now matching her friends in hush.
“Just think of them as teddy bears. With eight legs. That I need to get back into their terrariums… in the lab three doors down.” Oanez grinned, hoping to melt her friend’s heart into helping her capture a pair of giant spiders.
“They’re big gross spiders, aren’t they?” she asked, crossing her arms.
Oanez looked wounded. “They are not gross.”
“Why do they keep escaping?” she asked, realizing she was getting louder and then repeating in a whisper. “Why do they keep escaping… and why are they irradiated?”
“That’s classified,” Oanez said, a little too quickly. “But I think they’re playing. Their natural habitat is far more open.” She peeked through the window then had a realization. Turning to Heather, she said, “Or they’re mating!” Avicularia purpurea produces a cocoon of about 120 eggs, but Heather didn’t need to know that.
“Wonderful,” Heather said, rolling her eyes. “Just what we need mutant gross spider babies. And you don’t have a clearance, Oval.”
“Sure I do! Now, keep a lookout. I’m going in.”
“They’re in there?” she asked.
The giant, hairy body of Bernadette darkened the door’s window. Gulping, Oanez looked up and said, “...Yup.”
“Did you just gulp?” Heather asked, panic-stricken.
“If I die, tell my parents that the spiders were twice as big,” Oanez said before opening the door and dashing inside the classroom.
“How big are they?” she exclaimed after her friend disappeared. “Oval!” she yelled, through the door before following her in. She slammed the door shut behind her and then it occurred to her that she just blocked their exit or at least easily. “Oval! What do we do?” she asked, going quiet and pale when she finally got a good look at the two giant, radioactive, gross spiders.
“Just make sure no one comes in.” She faced off against Henri, and the dark mass of Bernadette creeped down the door toward Heather. Noticing that the tarantula was about to “hug” her bestie, Oanez gasped and squeaked, “Look out!”
Heather let out a scream and jerked herself away from the spider’s “hug” and fell to the floor. She scooted across the floor away from it. “Why do they always escape?!” She yelled, angrily.
“They’re just curious!”
“They are supposed to be in cages, Oval!” she said, shrieking a little and getting up and running across the room grabbing a chair to protect herself with. “Why are they so big?”
“Because they can be!” Oanez finally got her arms around Bernadette, who she hefted off the floor. “Open the door, I’m gonna make a run for the lab.”
“They’re not supposed to be,” she said, as she watched her friend grab it. “What if it eats you? What do I do?” she asked, as she tiptoed toward the door, unhelpfully slow, watching the other spider.
If Oanez could shrug, she would have, but the massive spider nearly enveloped her as she hurried to the door. “Now!”
Thankfully Heather realized what Oval wanted and she slammed her hand back against the door’s control panel and it shot open. She hit the panel when Oval ran through to close herself and the remaining spider in the room.
“Come here Harold,” she called, not quite remembering the name correctly. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” she said, under her breath. “Harold…” she said, her voice breaking.
She rushed diagonally across the corridor, constantly shifting her balance to keep the spider from tipping her over. The doors to the lab hushed open and the empty habitats were ready to receive their missing residents.
“Here you go, Bernie,” Oanez cooed, gently setting the tarantula inside its cage. “That’s enough adventure for you today.”
About five minutes after Oanez made it into the lab with the first spider the doors hushed open again and a blur of red hair and a giant spider came into the room.
“Take him! Take him! Take him!” Heather said, literally crying as she ran inside with the spider. She threw the spider out in front of her as she came to a halt and slammed her hand against the panel repeatedly to close the door. She was shaking, her hands trembling in front of her now, as if she were blocking the spider’s return toward her.
Oanez, surprised to see Heather handling Henri, hurried over and scooped the spider away from her friend. “You touched a giant radioactive spider for me!” she gushed, beaming. “I love you, too.”
Heather was still stunned from the experience luckily the girls had plenty of alcohol stashed away to make it better.