formulating hypawtheses
“Anything else of note, Mr. Spock?” The technical details his science officer had provided about the sensor readings were a little sparse, and Kirk wasn’t keen to miss anything important.
“Negative, Captain.”
Kirk hadn’t known Spock to be so quiet on the bridge, especially when prompted. He stood from his chair and moved to Spock’s side at the sensor terminal.
“Something on your mind, Spock?”
“Yes, Jim. I am seeing a fascinating pattern on the sensor readings.”
“You are? Why didn’t you say so when I asked?”
“The readings are normal, Captain, but they have seemingly coincidentally arranged to form a certain pattern: a kitten’s paw. A round shape with four smaller beans seemingly directed out from it.” Spock backed away from the screen he had been staring into, and raised a curious eyebrow, not so much to request an explanation from Kirk as to express his eagerness to know more.
“Beans, Spock?”
“Yes Captain. Did you know, humans several hundred years ago used to call kittens paw pads ‘toe beans’? It is truly fascinating.”
Kirk smiled. “Ah yes, I think I have heard that before. You seem to be very interested in this, Spock.”
“I apologize, Captain.” Spock withdrew back to his neutral expression. “I assure you, I will not allow my personal interests to interfere with my performance any further.”
“No, Spock, that’s not what I meant. I love to see you get excited about things that interest you. Say, Pavel, didn’t your party see some kittens up for adoption on that last surface expedition?” Kirk turned to his navigator.
“Yes Captain, but the woman there said they were going fast.” Chekov suppressed a chuckle when he saw a look of mild excitement, followed by concern on Spock’s face, which he quickly hid.
“Another surface party is due to beam down soon, Captain,” Spock said as Kirk turned back towards him.
“What about it, Spock?” Kirk looked back at Chekov with a small smirk of his own.
“Perhaps I should go with the next party. They may benefit from my scientific input.”
“Is there something you had in mind that you would like to do on the surface, Spock?”
“If there were time, I think I should investigate the kittens closely, Captain. We may find that they are related to the unusual sensor data.”
“Ah yes, of course, the ‘normal,’ ‘coincidentally arranged’ sensor data?” Kirk smiled incredulously before clapping him on the shoulder. “I think I’ll come with you! We ought to adopt one, and bring it back to the ship for further study, don’t you think, Spock?”
Spock shook off his momentary surprise and smiled back at Kirk. “That would be most logical, Captain.”
“Besides, I’m interested in seeing the toe beans you were talking about. We shouldn’t keep the rest of them waiting! Chekov, why don’t you take a closer look at that sensor data while we’re gone.”
“Yes, sir.” Chekov stood and moved to the science station.
“Here is my report thus far, Mr. Chekov. Please add to it as you see fit.”
“Thank you, Mr. Spock.” Working together on scientific reports with Commander Spock was always a privilege for Ensign Chekov. He began reading through the report right away, as Kirk and Spock exited the bridge.
“‘...the field tensor integrator began… outpurring…? unusual patterns…’ Uh, Mr. Spock…?” Chekov looked up from the report. “Oh, they are already gone.”
The bridge went quiet again as Chekov was left with his fellow junior officers to wonder if Spock was really letting his personal interests affect the performance of his duties, or if he had simply misspelled on purrpose.