Flea Circus

 Episode Name:  Flea Circus

   Written By:  Belgarath

         Cast:  Evans, Gellan, Ghorev, Leah, Dakin, Belgarath, Starfleet and Raxil.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Belgarath

     Aired On:  Sun Jan 06 22:00:00 2002

     Stardate:  52145.5

Starting several weeks ago, there have been constant advertisements for a traveling zoo that will stop by this station. The date of arrival is here, and the traveling zoo is just beyond the airlock. A considerable group of people have gathered in this airlock, particularly parents with children. Finally, the airlock opens and a Centauran male steps out, dressed in khaki-colored clothing and wearing a large smile on his face.

Tanol scans the crowd and waits for everyone to quiet down first. A couple of other people stand behind him, wearing similar garments. He says, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! My name is Tanol, and I'm the owner of this zoo. It's one of the best traveling zoos around, and I'm sure you're all going to have a great time here. And plus, just as the advertisements promised, the new Special Animal is here!"

Dakin arrives in the airlock area, Leah close to his side. The two off-duty security officers are both dressed in off-duty attire. Dakin, ever the creature of habit, scans the crowd for any signs of unusual activity, but still wears a pleasant smile as though just another spectator.

"Now without further adieu," Tanol pronounces the French word awkwardly, "I present to you, Tanol's Traveling Zoo. Five slips of latinum for general admission, 3 for children!" He steps aside to allow people to walk through the airlock, and so do his assistants. "There will be guides waiting for you on the other side, but you're welcome to go on by yourself!"

People start to head toward the airlock. The noticeable leaders of the mob are the children, with their parents not far behind.

Ghorev is -- no surprise here -- in uniform, but seems to be as off-duty as he gets. He keeps an eye on the crowd, watching one or two Andorian children for a moment or three before he returns his gaze to the zookeeper.

Tanol still has a wide smile on as people pass by him and enter his ship.

Raxil idly queues up, staying behind most of the little monsters and their keepers.

Leah gets into line, Dakin hopefully not too far behind. She gives him a bright smile, "I haven't been to a zoo since.... San Diego. Quite a while ago, actually. You?"

Gellan walks in shortly after Dakin and Leah, meandering on the outer edges of the crowd. She eyes the zookeeper curiously as she nears the growing crowd near the ship.

Dakin considers for a moment. "Um, I think the closest I've ever come to a zoo was observing wildlife on Makema VII during survival training."

Leah slips a hand into her jacket pocket and pulls out the requisite five slips of latinum. When she reaches the attendant, she hands it off, waiting a few moments until Dakin has done the same.

Evans arrives and looks about the place. Unsure if he wants to go in or not.

Dakin fishes the five slips from his trouser pocket and hands them to the attendant immediately after Leah.

Dakin has left.

Leah walks off the station via the airlock.

Leah has left.

Ghorev, perhaps originally around to supervise docking arm work, hands off the admission fee and presses on with the rest.

Ghorev has left.

Gellan, drawing up a bit behind Leah and Dakin..and a few scattered children, comes up with the required fee and follows.

Evans throws in his slips as well and goes in.

Raxil slides the strips from a small pocket on the sleeve of his sweater, handing them to the attendant before passing through.

Gellan has left.

Evans has left.

* Tanol's Zoo IC *

The main section of the ship is large, with the ceiling being several dozen meters high. The entire room is converted into something resembling a zoo, with stone paths meandering through grass and leading up to cages. A wide variety of exotic animals from all over the Quadrant is kept here, in spacious and comfortable-looking cages or pits. Among the animals is an Andorian nordorn, Betazoid ferrets, and Romulan bengalaases. In a far corner, a building with glass walls has the words "Butterfly House" written in various languages. Map consoles located at various intersections of stone paths show where certain animals are kept.

. o O Leah 's thoughts seem to revolve around Dakin, rather than the zoo.

. o O Dakin is currently displaying a lot of curiosity towards all of this, and is also displaying a rather high amount of affection towards Leah...

Kaln approaches the group that just entered, namely you guys. Smiling, he says, "Welcome to Tanol's Traveling Zoo. I will be your guide if you wish for one?"

Leah smiles at Kaln, looking to Dakin for his opinion, then over her shoulder at the other Starfleet entrants. "A guide sounds great to me."

Evans shrugs and seems to hang back behind the others.

Dakin nods to Leah, then back to others. "Any objections, anyone?"

Gellan pulls up near the back of the group, easing up near the other off-duty officers. Flashing a smile to Leah when she glances back,

Sharra nods once. "Works for me."

Raxil nods quietly, looking around.

. o O Raxil feels a bit more relaxed than when you last saw him. The anxiety has been pushed back; he's actually making an effort to enjoy himself.

"Great!" Kaln says, almost excitedly. "And as promised, our one-of-a-kind animal is available for viewing at the end of the tour. I promise you, this is the /only/ zoo that has anything like this animal."

. o O Dakin thinks "Just hope it's not something that could pose a danger to the station..."

. o O Evans thinks "Hope it's not a tribble."

Kaln says "Alright, if you'll follow me? Our first animal is a raptor from Vulcan. Very exquisite. Please don't walk on the grass."

Gellan chokes back a small laugh, turning around to glance at Evans as she moves in with the rest of the group.

Kaln turns and heads down one of the many stone paths.

Leah avoids the grass, of course, following behind Kaln. She watches the raptor for a few moments with interest, then continues onward.

Ghorev follows along, and says, just loud enough to be heard, "Do you simply *show* the animals, or do you also make information available?"

Dakin looks about the place, not particularly following Kaln's guiding, but doing so on occasion.

"Feel free to ask me any questions along the way," Kaln says as he turns his head around while still walking toward his destination.

Raxil glances idly at the raptor, avoiding the grass only at the last minute as he follows the rest down the path.

Evans follows the others. Sighing...

Gellan watches the raptor a moment with keen interest, managing to avoid stepping on the grass by following the general throng of the crowd. As the group moves forward, she falls back to be even with Evans. "Something wrong, Lieutenant Evans?"

Kaln does not answer Ghorev, perhaps he hadn't heard? Either way, he stops directly in front of the raptor's cage. "This Vulcan bird of prey has been an endangered species for several decades now."

Kaln says "The cause of why their numbers have been decreasing has been the study of top Vulcan scientists for many years, and the answer still hasn't been found."

Ghorev rolls his shoulders, after a moment, in something resembling a shrug and continues to follow along.

"If you look over there, in the foliage of that tree there, you'll see her mate," Kaln points to a mass of green leaves.

Kaln says "We've been unable to actually make them mate, I'm afraid."

Kaln says "Any questions?"

Leah smirks slightly, and turns to Kaln, speaking, "If they're endangered... how did you manage to obtain them from Vulcan?"

Dakin looks to Kaln for the response to Leah's question.

Raxil winces slightly, overhearing Leah; although he appears to be intent on watching the raptors.

Evans smiles at Leah's question then gazes over at the Raptors.

"Ah, good question," Kaln nods. "Since the cause behind why their numbers are dwindling is yet unknown, the Vulcans must have felt that a 'logical' way to keep them all from becoming extinct is to have some of them try to reproduce offworld - since the environment most likely has to do with why with they're dying out.

Kaln says "As you can see, we offer only the best habitat for our animals, which is why the Vulcans agreed to allow us to do this."

The female raptor screeches and dives down to the ground. A few seconds later, she is perched back on a tree limb, but with a small rodent in her claws.

Dakin nods. "Sounds logical. Forgive my choice of words." He punctuates that comment with a bit of a smile.

Kaln gestures down another stone path, "That leads to the orange pandas of Tellar IV. Shall we?"

Leah nods once, smirk turning into a smile. "Interesting." Seemingly satisfied, she follows Kaln along to the pandas.

Dakin follows Kaln, semi-close beside Leah.

Gellan follows the rest of the group after taking a last look at the raptors.

Ghorev follows along, mostly keeping a careful eye on the little kiddies running about.

Evans is in the group somewhere...Not that anyone is paying any attention to him.

Upon arrival to the panda cage, one can see several small, furry animals ducking in and out of fallen logs and rock formations, almost as if they're playing hide-and-seek.

Raxil hurries in, having spent a few extra moments watching the raptors.

A woman wearing the khaki uniform walks into the panda cage with a bucket.

Kaln gestures at the woman in the cage, "That's Trainer Onie, our best keeper of these Tellarite pandas. It's their feeding time, it seems."

Gellan crosses her arms, looking down at the pandas with a small smile. "How cute."

Ghorev says "What do they eat?"

Dakin can't help but smile a bit at the little Tellarite bears.

Leah smiles and says, in agreement with Gellan, "They are cute." To Kaln, "They aren't endangered too, are they?"

"Fruits such as apples," Kaln says. "And no, these little fellows are fortunately not endangered." After the woman has distributed some fruit from her basket onto the ground or rocks, the pandas stop scurrying about and head over to the food.

Raxil hides a faint smile behind one hand, trying to look like he's musing over something.

One of the orange pandas, no more than two feet long, goes right up to edge of the cage a couple of meters from the group. It grabs a piece of sliced fruit with its forepaws and falls back onto its rump in a sitting position and starts eating.

Kaln says "There were a time, however, when they were hunted for their fur. As you can see, these pandas are quite small, so making a cloak out of them will require a lot of pandas."

"Awwww." Leah says with a smile, watching the panda intently. "If only I had a holocamera."

"Evidently the fur went out of fashion?" Gellan glances to Kaln briefly, averting her attention from the munching panda. "Or did they realize they were endangering the species?"

Kaln says "Neither, miss. Because the hunters were not natives of Tellar IV, they were eventually kicked out by the Tellar government, which didn't like them killing their animals."

Evans nods. "Like the white elephants of Taiwan?"

Ghorev eyes the little creatures for a few moments, considering.

Kaln says "The what?"

Evans says "Err...Thailand."

. o O Ghorev thinks "I can't see how it would be very much protection against the cold."

Dakin smiles to Leah then nods to Kaln. "Rightfully ejected in my estimation."

Evans says "A species of animals on my Homeworld."

Kaln says "Ah, perhaps. I'm afraid I've never heard of your planet Thailand before, sir."

Raxil glances between Kaln and Evans.

. o O Kaln thinks "Maybe it's close to that planet Taiwan..."

Dakin suppresses a smile.

Evans raises an eyebrow. "Really? It's the sector capital. Of its sector I should say."

Leah grins back at Dakin, and holds back a giggle for about half a second. Still, she doesn't correct Kaln, but does give Evans an amused look.

Kaln says "Ah, then maybe we should look it up and see if we can get this Thailand white elephant. Thank you, sir. Shall we continue?"

Gellan smiles faintly and turns her attention back to the pandas. "Voracious little creatures, aren't they."

"Yes," Kaln answers Gellan, then raises his voice to talk to the trainer. "How much do they eat a day, Onie?"

"Fifteen hundred grams each. They really love the fruit," Onie answers back.

Raxil purses his lips in a silent whistle.

. o O Evans thinks "An elephant would eat a lot more than that."

Kaln says "Next up is the Nausicaan behemoth. If you've no further questions, then please, this way."

Dakin frowns a bit at the mention of the word "Nausicaan" but proceeds onward.

Ghorev mouths 'Behemoth?', but follows as well.

Leah takes a few more moments to look at the pandas before following Kaln to the behemoth.

Raxil follows, smiling slightly at Ghorev's reaction.

Kaln leads the group to a giant tank, one side of which is made of a very thick transparent aluminum. Within, one can see a huge horned beast at least ten meters long swimming around.

Evans hangs back and watches the others again lead the way.

Dakin lets out a low whistle. "I'm not entirely sure I'd care to know what that eats."

Kaln says "This is another treat, ladies and gentlemen. Nausicaan behemoths are hard to come by because of their ferociousness when being captured and because of their typical size. This one's just a baby."

Ghorev says "Do the Nausicaans themselves harvest anything from them? Hide? Food?"

Leah takes a long look at the behemoth, wide-eyed at its size. She takes a step closer to Dakin without quite realizing it.

Raxil winces involuntarily at the comment 'just a baby.'

Kaln shakes his head, "Not anymore, no. Old tales do tell about tamed behemoths, though. The ancient Nausicaans apparently tamed these guys and made them a part of their sea navy.

Gellan moves up with the rest of the group, eyeing the Behemoth with a wary curiosity. Not something she'd like to meet while on a swim.

Kaln says "It's not hard to imagine these ancient Nausicaans crushing their enemies with behemoths over 500 meters in girth leading their fleets."

Dakin says "I'm guessing the population on the Nausicaan homeworld isn't large given their adult size?"

. o O Ghorev thinks "It also explains why they can't translate that advantage into space."

Ghorev nods as he contemplates the answer to his question.

Kaln says "These things never leave the ocean when they're full grown, because they'll get crushed under their own weight. Land creatures are very safe from these behemoths."

Dakin nods in understanding while still having his eyes locked on the infant behemoth.

Raxil speaks up. "What's the feeding schedule like?"

Kaln grins as he sees a little kid approach the transparent aluminum, "But there /have/ been stories about how little children standing too close to the water being snatched up by them."

Kaln says "Feeding schedule, you ask? They don't need to eat too often, but when they do, it's a lot. We feed this guy about once a month. Pretty soon we'll have to drop him back off on Nausicaa or he'll get too big for us to take care of."

There is an eerie, echoey sound as the behemoth roars underwater.

Kaln says "Alright, let's us continue, if there are no more questions?"

Ghorev winces at the noise, and rubs at the base of one of his antennae.

Dakin nods to Kaln in affirmative response and glances over to Leah with a comforting smile before proceeding further.

Gellan darts a look to Kaln, and then the child. Surely he was joking. She suppresses a smile at Ghorev and starts to move on away from the tank.

. o O Ghorev thinks "Sometimes I envy these humans with their limited frequency range."

Leah shivers involuntarily and clasps one of Dakin's hands in her own, giving it a squeeze. In a hurried voice she asks, "We should move on, right?" Does she look a little pale?

Raxil nods, following on; he glances at Leah's reaction, making a mental note.

Dakin gives Leah's hands a gentle pat with his free one. "Sure, Morgan, we're moving on..."

Evans sighs and glances in at the big thing. He shakes his head and waits for the group to head off again.

And so the guide leads the group through the zoo, bringing them to the major attractions while leaving the minor ones like the butterfly house for the people to visit on their own time. He shows his group animals ranging from the furry Trill rabbits to the predatory Betazoid fogcat. Eventually, he brings them to the very last attraction.

Gellan lingers for a long while over the fogcat, not rejoining the group until they reach the last attraction.

Kaln stops in front of a building with no windows or anything that allows people to see what is inside. "As promised, the last attraction on this tour is one-of-a-kind. No other zoo has ever had this creature before, and Tanol's Traveling Zoo is proud to be the first, and maybe even the only, zoo to present it."

An old, haggard-looking Klingon, wearing tattered, maroon-colored civilian clothes falls into step with the group. His greying hair is long but well kept. He is missing an arm and bears a scar on his cheek.

Kaln smiles, "If anything, this guy alone will satisfy your five-latinum entrance fee."

Evans sighs and closes his eyes. "Oh boy..."

Kaln says "Is everyone ready? It's going to be a real treat!"

Leah finally let's those lingering thoughts of the behemoth go as they near the final attraction. She gives Kaln a skeptical look, then looks at Dakin, "Just as long as it isn't another sea monster."

Kaln says "Oh, don't worry, miss, it isn't."

Raxil smiles slightly. "Or another panda." he mutters to himself.

BaH'TUQ mumbles something under his breath and looks about. The old Klingon puts his one arm on his hip and yells, "Get on with it, you sniveling p'tagh!"

Dakin glances back at the one-armed Klingon briefly then back to Kaln.

Kaln glances at the Klingon, a little shocked, but then puts on a friendly smile. "Okay, let us enter!" He turns toward the door and says, "Open." Upon command, the door slides open, revealing a darkened hallway. He steps in and off to the side to allow everyone else to enter.

Leah sighs, taking a deep breath, and enters, tugging Dakin along with her.

Dakin gets tugged, following closely behind Leah.

Raxil steps in behind Dakin and Leah.

BaH'TUQ walks in, and, stepping before Kaln, he looks the man in the eye, gets a little closer, and sneers. He walks into the hall after a moment of snarling.

Ghorev enters, of course, after the others, keeping the occasional eye on a child who seems to be escorted laxly.

Evans follows near the end of the line.

Kaln makes sure the door is shut after the last person enters so that no one who does not belong to his group can enter without a guide. Of course, he lets the Klingon enter.

Moving to the front of the group, Kaln leads everyone down the dim hallway and turns a corner. After turning the corner, one side of the corridor becomes a wall of transparent aluminum about a foot thick. On the other side of the clear wall is a large room than drops several meters down to keep whatever is in it from reaching the viewing wall very easily.

There appears to be nothing in the room, save for jutting rocks and a few dead trees. The room has better lighting than does the hallway, but is still rather dim.

Gellan finally catches up with the rest of the group, bringing up the rear in silence.

Dakin, while still having his hand clasped to Leah's, peers at the transparent aluminum partition.

BaH'TUQ snorts in derision. "It's empty."

"It's just hiding, sir," Kaln says to the Klingon. "Let me see if I can get it to come out. It can be a little shy at times."

Kaln says "Computer, lights, a hundred percent."

The room on the other side of the transparent wall brightens quickly, almost blindingly compared to its former dimness.

There are aggressive clicking and hissing noises from within the room, and a giant insect two meters tall jumps out from behind a rock formation - a Siinogan.

Kaln says "Ah, there we go."

BaH'TUQ squints his eyes, but strains to see into the exhibit. When he sees the insectoid, he starts to laugh heartily.

Leah looks away when lights brighten, shielding her eyes somewhat from the change. Allowing a few seconds of adjustment, she peers back at the little room. Once she sees what's inside, she flinches and reaches for her waist where her phaser would normally be.

Dakin blinks as his brow creases in recognition. "What in the name of the Prophets...?!"

Raxil squints, recoiling slightly.

The Siinogan resembles a wingless mosquito with thin but strong legs. It stares up at the spectators, body moving up and down as if ready to move at an instant.

Ghorev's initial look of surprise twists into general displeasure.

Evans frowns and then looks to the Zoo guide. "I don't know what you're trying to pull here," he says angrily.

BaH'TUQ continues to laugh, the deep rumble echoing in the hallway.

Kaln looks at Evans, not quite comprehending. "We always keep our promises, sir. I assure you, it's genuine."

Gellan reacts more to the reactions of the assembled group than to the exhibit, which she hasn't gotten that good a look at yet. With a bit of alarm, she glances toward the exhibit and pales slightly. "Oh no.." Concern turns to a bit of anger as she looks over to the laughing Klingon.

Dakin says "I think what he was referring to is the fact you have an imprisoned sentient here..."

Evans looks to Dakin. "I don't know our laws too well...But I do believe its illegal to keep intelligent creatures as zoo exhibits."

. o O Kaln does not understand what all the laughing and frowning is about.

Kaln blinks a few times, his eyebrows furrowed. "It's a giant insect, nothing more."

The insect chirps faster and louder, and its body continues to bob up and down slightly.

BaH'TUQ's laugh goes to a chuckle. "If even that!"

Evans takes a step towards the Zoo guide again. "That is a Siinogan. They are a local species who we just fought a war with!"

Leah frowns at Kaln, "Sir, they're speaking the truth... if there's any doubt, ask the Klingon, he knows exactly what that creature is." She glances back at the insectoid, keeping a wary eye on it.

Dakin nods in confirmation. "And I can't imagine their government would be all that pleased to know you have one of their citizens under lock and key for public display."

Kaln says "It's...it's not like we have a humanoid in there."

The old Klingon bellows, "Sentient or not, he's getting what he deserves!"

Gellan steps forward a bit, inserting herself into the group with a frown. "Since when did resembling a humanoid define sentience?" she asks of Kaln. Another angry look is shot toward the Klingon. "They might say the same about you if it were you in that cage."

BaH'TUQ shouts, "Siinogans'll /put/ him in a cage! It's justice!"

Evans crosses his arms. "Sentience comes in all forms." He looks to the Klingon. "Were they honourable opponents?"

Kaln says "But...it's not it's...but it's just a bug. We're not mistreating it or anything. We treat it as well, if not better, than our other animals."

BaH'TUQ glances sidelong at Evans. "No. They are pests that infest worlds, they are without honor."

Leah shakes her head at Kaln, "That's not the point... the point is that thing in there is as intelligent as a humanoid. Holding it here is not just a violation of principle, it's -dangerous-."

Evans shrugs. "I fought them. They were worthy to me. They do not deserve to be kept locked up in cages. In the end I think Commander Balin will be making the decision on this..Slavery..."

Kaln says "Oh, I assure you, miss, it can't break out of there and hurt anyone."

Ghorev speaks up. "Be that as it may, I've *met* several representatives of their race, and even served on an away mission to one of their worlds. I can vouch for the fact that they are sentient, and, though aggressive and prejudiced, somewhat civilized in the strict technical sense." He takes a step or two forwards. "Anyone who cares to dispute *my* account of this can say so now."

Dakin says to Kaln evenly, "Sir. That bug, as you call him, AND his people forcibly annexed a Klingon colony world. Now if that doesn't tell you something about the Siinogans, I don't know what else will. If they find out one of their citizens is being imprisoned here, I assure you, they will come looking for him and they will not be happy about it, regardless of how you've been treating him."

Kaln says "Well, uh, I can see that you're not at all comfortable here. Why don't we end our tour? Come this way, please."

Evans nods and moves to Dakin.

Raxil glances to Dakin and Ghorev, looking for a lead.

BaH'TUQ looks to Ghorev for a moment and nods. "Andorians are honorable if not misguided. But yes, perhaps your Federation ideals can work after all. Let's let the bug out. Let's let it out so that I can put my hand around its neck and squeeze until it pops."

. o O Kaln thinks "Oh boy..."

Kaln says "Um, please no injuring of zoo animals. Please follow me, ladies and gentlemen."

Gellan glances around from one person to another, then to Kaln and shakes her head. "We can't just leave the Siinogan here."

Dakin scratches his head as he heads back down the corridor. "Sir, I'd like to speak to the person in charge of this establishment."

"I don't think that's going to happen, sir." Leah says to the Klingon, then looks to Gellan. "There's not much we can do at the moment, but we can order everyone from the station off the ship, can we not? For safety purposes?"

Ghorev follows, as well, still frowning but otherwise silent.

Evans shakes his head and wonders what will happen to the creature.

Instead of answering Dakin, Kaln chews on his lower lip a bit before saying, "How would all of you like something from the gift shop? Courtesy of the zoo, of course."

. o O Evans thinks "Probably not even a Warrior."

BaH'TUQ doesn't follow Kaln out, either. This is what he paid his latinum for - it's made it all worthwhile. He looks back down at the bug and smiles crookedly.

Raxil nods. "I think I'm going to have to agree with my fellow officers..."

The mosquito-like Siinogan jumps and hits the transparent aluminum. Bending its wiry less as they come in contact with the clear wall, it then jumps backward down to the ground for a safe landing.

Dakin sighs. "Sir, perhaps I've failed to introduce myself. Lieutenant Dakin Rann, chief of security of this station. The pleasantries out of the way, I want to speak to the person in charge and I want do so _now_."

Evans shakes his head. "No thanks. Can you show us to the door?"

Gellan crosses her arms and sets a foot to tapping on the floor. "You're not buying this crew out of a sticky situation." She glances to Leah and nods. "For starters, maybe. But only if we can guarantee the ship doesn't leave the station with the Siinogan aboard."

BaH'TUQ laughs. "You'll always be welcome in Klingon space, Zookeeper," he says jovially.

. o O Kaln thinks "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy..."

"Is that a bribe, sir?" Leah asks Kaln before turning her head to look at the jumping Siinogan. She shivers involuntarily, as she again pats her left hip right where her phaser would be if she were on duty.

Kaln sticks his hands into his pockets and says, "Umm...okay...please, follow me..."

Dakin turns to Leah and whispers something.

Dakin whispers to Leah, "Stay here, make sure they don't try and do anything undue. Call me if anything happens."

Ghorev says "Someone should escort most of these children off the ship until all this is resolved."

Leah purses her lips as Dakin speaks to her, then nods. She takes a step closer to the transparent aluminum wall.

Dakin nods to Ghorev as he turns to follow Kaln. "I'll get a security team down here to do just that." As he follows behind Kaln, he taps his combadge. "Dakin to security. Have a team assembled outside the docking arm."

Kaln bites on his lower lip again.

. o O Kaln thinks "Great, just great..."

Gellan blinks a bit, glancing to Ghorev with a look of chagrin. "You're absolutely right." She moves away from the group a bit and starts rounding up various children that appear to be unescorted. "Just in case something goes off.." There's a glance to Dakin. "I'll herd them all toward the airlock.."

Evans nods. "Yes. I'll go with the ensign."

Dakin calls back. "Good, keep me in the loop, everyone..."

BaH'TUQ slaps Kaln on the back. "Worth every strip, Zookeeper. I'll tell my friends." He looks back and lowers his voice. "If they take this one, I know where you can get plenty more."

Kaln looks uncertainly at the Klingon, then at Dakin.

Dakin looks to Kaln, inscrutable expression on his face. "Shall we?"

Kaln says "Uh, sir, I'm not allowed to leave anyone in this room without a guide. Everyone has to come out."

Gellan nods to Evans and herds the children toward the ship's exit, stopping to speak quietly to the adult visitors as well. Soon she and Evans have the entire corridor cleared of people and on their way out.

Raxil stands there, glancing around. "Guess I'd better head up to the Infirmary... just in case." he mumbles as he heads for the door.

Dakin sighs uncomfortably. "Then get someone to cover for you or just point me to the man in charge so I can speak to him myself."

Kaln says "Um, that would be Tanol, sir... He should be near the airlock...or maybe his office..."

The old Klingon wanders off happily, chuckling to himself occasionally.

Dakin frowns. "And the office is where?"

Kaln says "At th-the front of the ship, past the Orion werewolf pen."

Dakin nods. "Thanks." Without further adieu, the Bajoran makes his way to the office in something of a hurried pace.

Leah remains where she is. Looking at Kaln, she says, "Looks like it's just you and me. Don't go anywhere."

Raxil follows Dakin out, giving Kaln a bit of a half-stare, half-glare.

Ghorev coughs politely.

Kaln sighs.

Leah blinks and notices Ghorev, "Sorry, sir."

Ghorev says "I'll try to be more noticeable in the future, Ensign."

Leah chews her lower lip, then says, "And I'll try and not make a complete idiot of myself in front of any more Lieutenants, sir."

The light in the Siinogan room automatically dims to its former level.

Dakin walks back to the corridor where Leah and Ghorev are located. "He's shutting the zoo down for the time being so we can try and talk this whole thing over. He seems pretty adamant about hanging on to the Siinogan though."

Ghorev says "Indeed? How does he expect to justify it, or did he not make that clear?"

Dakin shakes his head. "I don't think even _he_ knows. He honestly doesn't see a problem with keeping him. We may have to end up filing charges."

Leah remains standing where she's been standing, arms crossed and eyes watching the insectoid, despite the darkness.

Kaln does not say anything.

Ghorev says to Dakin, with a light sigh, "If you want to borrow my PADD to start making your entries on the subject, you're welcome to. Remind me again that I can leave Engineering and occasionally have a relaxing evening, though."

Dakin nods. "I'll take care of it at the office, but thanks. And yeah, I think you're entitled to some downtime." He then taps his combadge. "Dakin to Ops. Mr. Tanol's traveling zoo-ship's going to be berthed here for a while while we straighten out a little matter of diplomacy. Inform the necessary parties."