Felis catus

Written by Mel'Aad

Feeling comfortable on a new ship always took some time for Mel'Aad. Normally he already knew quite a lot of the species he was travelling with so this time it was even more difficult to feel relaxed. So far he had learned that "Humans" had a lot of special rules on board that were surprisingly difficult to get the hang off. Mainly due to the vague hierarchical structure that seemed to exist on the ship. So Mel'Aad had resorted to use the difference in wake-cycle between him and the "Humans" to explore their ship. He floated quietly around the hallways, peeking into some rooms along the way. It felt weird to float around in the now dimly lit halls that were normally filled with movement and banter.
Mel'Aad was on his way back, moving through the upper halls when he heard soft movement in one of the rooms. So far he hadn't seen anyone and Mel'Aad felt brave to check who it was. Silently he approached the door, waiting for the sensors to pick up his intent of entering. A soft whoosh was heard when they slid open. Mel'Aad expected many different scenarios to be hidden behind that door, but what he found was even more shocking than he could have imagined.
On one of the couches he found their crewmember, clearly incapacitated, not making any sounds or movement and on top he saw a medium sized predator eating his hand! Mel'Aad let out a shriek and bolted from the room. His normal slow floating changed into him quickly pushing hinself forward through the hallways. Mel'Aad quickly advanced to the captains quarters and knocked at the door. He knew the captain was not to be disturbed, but this was a clear emergency! One of the crewmembers was being eaten by a predator that had snuck on board! Mac didn't even wait for the doors to fully open before he rushed inside.
Luckily the captain was still awake, clearly sitting upright in his bed. He had a weird expression on his face, one that Mel'Aad had not yet experienced and thus could not understand yet.
"What?!" the captain almost growled. Mel'Aad dove full speed into his explaination, not noticing the look on the captain's face. "Yeah, yeah, I'm comming. Go wait outside, I'm right there." Luckily Mel'Aad's explaination seemed to satisfy captain Hayes and he floated back out of the door, eagerly waiting for the captain to join hum to save their crewmember.
"You woke me up for this?!" Captain Hayes was back to growling when they walked into the lounge. Both of them looked at the, previously incapacitated, crewmember scratching the predator under their chin and talking to it with soft loving words, beckoning for a smaller specimen to join for pets.
"Mel'Aad, meet Atlas and her daughter Cyclo, our ship cats. They help with the rodent population." The captain sounded tired as he walked over to the smaller of the two predators, which immediately bit into his fingers.
"Now that this problem is dealt with, I'm going back to bed. Sleep well Mel'Aad, Joel." Mel'Aad watched in confusion as captain Hayes picked up the small predator and walked back to his chambers.

Scientific name

Felix Catus

Alternative name

Cat

Average Lifespan

15 years

Average Height

23–25 cm

Average Weight

4-5 kg

Average Length

46 cm

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Fluffy killers

According to "Humans" a Felis Catus is not considered to be dangerous, even though it is classified as a feline predator on γ-F5-23, earth. "Humans" see a Felis Catus as a personal pet and will feed the creature and guard it from harm. These creatures will be given personal names and are often allowed to roam around a home-area. In the "Human"-tongue it is known by many generalized names such as: cat, kitten, fluffball, hairball and tiger (which, according to available data, is an even more dangerous predator within the feline family).
"Humans" will go about petting them and playing with small "feather-balls" connected to a thin stick with a elastic string. Within my time on board the ESS Happy Days I have seen many small epidermal abrasion caused by "playing" with the Felis Catus.