The Mylar Cat: Star Trek Voyager (Complete)

Star Trek Voyager: The Mylar Cat (Chapter 1)

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Star Trek Voyager: The Mylar Cat

Chapter 1

It had been a busy few weeks. The full strip-down and maintenance overhaul of Voyager's warp engines and other essential systems had kept everyone on their toes.

They'd landed on a comfortable M-class planet with a pleasantly temperate climate and friendly locals. The warp-capable humanoid civilisation who called it home, named it, Mylar.

Despite the heavy work-schedule, most of the crew managed to allocate at least some time to visit the nearby town.

Captain Janeway had been in daily contact with the local town administrator, Mr Jared, negotiating for supplies. He seemed a reasonable and agreeable man and Kathryn enjoyed her interactions with him in the town each day, which involved a fairly long daily walk from Voyager's landing site to the town and then back again.

She could have easily transported into the town, but she enjoyed the rather scenic walk. It quickly became like a ritual she looked forward to each day. The fresh air and pleasant views en-route were a welcome respite from being permanently cooped up on the ship.

About halfway along the walk, she would make a point of stopping by a large hollow tree, where she had discovered a young stray cat living. She spotted it on her first walk and had quickly fallen in love with the adorable little creature.

Each time she passed-by, the little fluffy black and white cat, with big piercing blue eyes, would recognise her and prance over to greet her, meowing enthusiastically, clearly very happy to see her.
She'd end up cheerfully petting and fussing over it, often for a long time.

She started to treat these twice-daily encounters as an excuse to take a short break from the walking. She would sit cross-legged on the soft warm grass and the little cat would climb into her lap and lay there, eager to be petted, stroked and cuddled.

The poor thing seemed desperate for attention and companionship, and was clearly half-starved, all skin and bone, but its unceasing excitement at seeing her each day, quickly won it a big place in Janeway's heart.

She could see it was alone, starving and didn't appear to be doing particularly well in its current situation, so after her first couple of encounters with it, she began to bring a small bowl of feline supplement along with her each day to feed it. She would watch, tenderly stroking it, as it ate ravenously.

Kathryn wondered if it was a lost pet as it seemed so tame and at-ease around her, she decided she would ask around in the local town at the next opportunity.

Until then, Janeway had always considered herself more of a dog person. She dearly missed her own dog, Mollie, the loyal Irish Setter she'd left behind on Earth, yet there was something about this little cat that she found so utterly adorable and endearing. After a while, she couldn't stop thinking about it all the time.
Whether it was the incredible silky-softness of its fur, especially around its ears when she petted it, it's insanely beautiful piercing azure-blue eyes, the way it always bounced up to greet her so enthusiastically each day, or the very gentle and timid demeanour it showed in its personality, she couldn't be sure, but she did know, she had completely fallen in love with it.

Kathryn knew winter was coming. The general agreement among the local population was it would be a severe one and she realised the young cat would be very unlikely to survive it, especially living out there alone in the wild.

After spending time in town interacting with some of the local inhabitants, she brought up the subject of the little stray cat, but quickly learned the entire population of Mylar were allergic to cats. Something in their genetic makeup made them experience reactionary symptoms, sometimes quite severe, if ever they were in proximity to one.
Because of this, over many generations, cats had earned themselves a very bad rap and were considered vermin.

The administrator himself asked if was just one cat, or if there were more, expressing concern and wondering whether he should alert the local pest control service.

Janeway assured him it was only the one and he seemed relieved. After that conversation, fearing for the little cat's safety, Janeway was careful not to bring the subject up again.

Clearly, the captain wasn't experiencing any of the allergic-reactions that the Mylarians all did, and each day, she would continue to visit, pet, cuddle and feed the little fluffy black and white cat that continued to give her so much joy.

She adored the way it always insisted on nuzzling and snuggling itself up to her. It clearly gained comfort and a feeling of safety from doing that and it would express love and affection by resting it's head against her shoulder or neck and fall asleep, gently purring contently in her ear; a sound she came to realise was so deeply calming and relaxing to her.

When the maintenance overhaul was complete and the time came for Voyager and her crew to depart, Kathryn simply didn't have the heart to walk away and let the poor creature fend for itself, especially knowing a harsh winter was coming and the population was so hostile toward it.
And so, without needing to give it much thought, the little black and white cat became the newest addition to the Voyager crew.