Dawa stumbled a bit in the thick, purple sand that covered the beach. The number of Mai Tai’s she’d thrown back only had a little to do with that, though they were certainly the main reason she’d lost both her sandals in the dunes hours ago.

The booze had made her briefly maudlin enough to regret leaving her nephew behind on the station for orientation, but the feeling quickly faded when she thought about how wonderful it was to be out with her squad for the first time in ages. When was the last time she’d spent time with any of them outside of drills and patrols? When was the last time she’d seen Cam outside of working hours?

Actually, when was the last time she’d seen Cam?

She continued her march down the beach, waving at Korrapati who was building a sandcastle, Nahuel who insisted he was ‘bodysurfing’ but looked more like he was trying to drown himself, and Raddi and her team who were thoroughly demolishing their opponents at a rather haphazard attempt at beach parisses squares.

Time to use her Squad Leader voice. “CAM!!” she shouted, still stumbling through the dunes. “Where are you? I hope you didn’t get too much sunshine, Sunshine!”

Cam heard Dawa long before he saw her.

Her voice carried impressively over the dunes, cutting through the music, the surf, and the distant shouting from the parisses squares match.

He was crouched beside a cluster of dark rocks near the waterline, one knee buried in purple sand and both hands held cautiously in front of him. A loose towel hung over his shoulders, his shirt having been abandoned somewhere farther up the beach.

Between the rocks, a small creature stared back at him.

It was roughly the size of a housecat, with six narrow legs, a rounded blue shell, and two oversized golden eyes mounted on flexible stalks. One of its front claws clutched Cam’s combadge.

Cam pointed firmly at it.

“No. Put it down.”

The creature clicked and pulled the combadge closer to its body.

“I’m serious,” Cam told it. “That is not food, treasure, or whatever else you think it is.”

It lifted the combadge toward its mouth.

“Absolutely not.”

Only then did Cam glance over his shoulder, following the sound of Dawa stumbling somewhere beyond the dunes.

“Down here!” he called. “And I’ve had exactly the recommended amount of sunshine!”

He turned back to the creature.

“Unlike some people, apparently.”

The creature clicked again.

“Before you ask,” Cam called toward Dawa, raising one finger while keeping his eyes fixed on the animal, “I did not try to pet it.”

He lowered his voice toward the creature.

“I was retrieving Federation property.”

The creature darted sideways with surprising speed.

Cam lunged.

Wet purple sand sprayed across him as it vanished into another crack between the rocks, leaving Cam sprawled across the beach with one arm buried up to the elbow in the gap.

He looked back toward Dawa.

“So,” he said, preserving what little dignity remained, “I may have been robbed.”

“What was that?” Dawa said quietly to herself, her voice tinged with awe. Her eyes were practically glittering with excitement from the brief glimpse of the creature, barely registering Cam’s awkward sprawl.

Cam’s free hand emerged holding a collection of brightly coloured shells, two pieces of jewellery, a pair of sunglasses, and what appeared to be somebody’s room access card.

“Apparently it has done this before.”

Cam finally extracted himself and stood, brushing sand from his chest and knees. Somewhere inside the rocks, his combadge emitted a faint metallic chirp.

He offered Dawa an innocent smile.

“Sunshine is fine, Commander. Sunshine has simply encountered organised crime.”

Dawa clapped her hands and jumped up and down in delight. “Wonderful!”

She quickly collected herself and looked at Cam apologetically. “Not that you were robbed. Wonderful that you discovered some local fauna. Or perhaps it discovered you?”

Dawa looked more closely at the collection in Cam’s hands, delicately picking one of the shells and the room access card from the pile. “Quantity over quality? It don’t seem particularly discerning about what it likes to steal as long as it’s small enough to carry.”

Her rumination was interrupted by a pair of eye stalks popping out from between the rocks, slowly followed by its blue carapace. Dawa gasped, and slowly lowered herself to the ground, mindful not to make any sudden movements.

The creature stood its ground, its eyes waving curiously at her. It didn’t flinch as she slowly offered up one of the colorful shells Cam had pulled from its collection. Instead, it extended one claw until it had a grasp on the object. When Dawa didn’t release her grip, it extended its other claw and clasped the shell, holding tight as Dawa gently bobbed the shell up and down. Finally she released the shell, and the creature held it close to its body as it regarded her with its protruding eyes.

Cam glanced back toward the rocks as another pair of golden eyes appeared in a nearby crevice.

Then another.

And another.

His smile slowly faded.

“Oh.”

Several blue-shelled creatures emerged onto the sand, each carrying something shiny. One dragged a sandal behind it. Another carried a cocktail stirrer across its shell like a ceremonial spear. A third wore what looked suspiciously like a Starfleet officer’s sunglasses.

Cam pointed toward the sandal.

“Is that yours?”

“Huh!” Dawa put her hands on her hips, eyeing the footwear with surprise. “I thought I’d just lost it in the sand.”

Cam took a careful step backwards as the creatures began clicking to one another.

“I think the first one called for reinforcements.”

Cam’s eyes lit with the particular combination of concern and excitement that usually preceded a poor but memorable decision.

“We could report this to resort security,” he said.

He paused.

“Or we could follow them and find out where they’re taking everything.”

Dawa locked eyes with Cam as a grin slowly crept across her face. “That’s one of the things I love about you, Sunshine: your spirit of discovery.”