The Orbital officer looked from Scotty's faceplate to his outstretched left hand, momentarily confused. He looked to the "security officer" to his right, clearly a press ganged maintenance worker who only had the vaguest ideas of which end of a sidearm you wanted to stand on. The one on his right simply replied with a shrug, but the one on the left chimed in.
"Wait, the big man? Puddle Jumper... oh my word, you don't mean-"
The exchange only took a few seconds, but a few seconds were all that was needed. Before the security guard could finish his sentence, a mighty roar bellowed from the other end of the shuttle sounding halfway between nails on a chalkboard and a freight train crashing through a window factory. A terrified Seabourne, speckled with feathers and mayonnaise, ran through the group, arms flailing.
"The goose is loose! Run for your lives!"
As Seabourne disappeared behind a corner inside the Orlando, the four men at the door turned in unison to see what he was running from. A large, long legged emerald green goose, frothing at the mouth, stared back. None of them were familiar enough with Gaian wildlife to know if the creature's red eyes were natural or a temporary byproduct of its current disposition, but none of them needed a degree in xenobiology to know that this thing was pissed.
It let out another ear splitting roar, raised its two sets of wings, and awkwardly charged for the airlock as fast as its gangly flamingo-like legs would allow it. What it lacked in grace it made up for with determination. The orbital officer gave the order to fall back. His two subordinates, apparently psychic, were already halfway down the corridor Seabourne hadn't taken by the time the words were out of his mouth. Their sidearms dropped to the deck with the safeties still on.
The goose stared at Scotty, hocked a nasty green-white chunk of phlegm at his feet. The goo sizzled and fumed ominously as it ate through Puddle Jumper's deck plating. The goose roared again.
