I'Aisha

I'Aisha is a member of the Pa'UR or WereCat race of bipedal felinoids.

She left her home world when the starfreighter SS Hanford made a stop there. She signed aboard the Hanford as Ship's Cat. When that captain retired and the Hanford was briefly Moth Balled, she stayed aboard guard the ship and make sure any pests were controlled. Sometime later, when Capt'n Don purchased the vessel, she again served as Ship's Cat and owing to her father's influence as an Iron Dancer (Blacksmith), she became intrested in the engineering aspect of the Hanford's operation. She eventually became one of the vessel's engineers. She is described as having long golden brown furred and ice blue eyed. She is five and a half foot tall with the longest and fluffiest tail that has ever been found on a feline (of which she is very proud). For those familiar with the gods of ancient Egypt, she bares an uncanny resemblance to Bastet the cat headed goddess (from some of the "old stories" (Pa'UR legends) it is quite possible the Egyptians might have had one of her kind as a model).

She has the IQ of an adult human, the strength of a Klingon and, the temperament of a earth cat.

Although she doesn't need clothing for protection, display or modesty, (Pa'UR do seem to like a thin robe like garment for every day ware, it appears that the garment makes it easier to care for the body fur) when she discovered pictures of ancient Egyptians she went nuts and now dresses in a Egyptian like gown, complete with a bead collar and ear rings when the occasion calls for that type of dress.

She can talk, the Pa'UR have a spoken and written language and with the use of the Universal Translator, humans can converse with her (she can also speak cat sounding english but, it takes a while for a person to begin to understand it). She, like most cats can communicate VOLUMES! just by the swish of a tail or a twitch of an ear.

I'Aisha's Father is the equivalent of a blacksmith. He is called a Fire Tamer or Iron Dancer. Her Mother and Maternal Grandmother are healers.

I'Aisha plays a sort of violin type instrument. The Pa'UR's traditional music sounds a lot like Irish folk music (like the song Orokno Flow by Enya). She is to shy to play in public but there are some of her songs recorded in the Hanford's music library.

She has a sense of humor, but it is in the Pa'UR frame of reference. A passenger talking to her about her violin, was questioning her about the instrument. He asked her what the strings were made of (possibly leading up to the joke about "cat gut"). I'Aisha looked him strait in the eye, and with a very serious tone said, "human gut". Then I'Aisha walked away, a Cheshire Cat like grin forming on her face. The passenger laughed nervously not knowing whether to take her seriously or not.

Although one is tempted to call her a "pet", she IS an important part of the crew. Her job is to find and eliminate the rodent like pests that infest MANY space ports (which in some cases isn't as easy as it sounds concidering the size of a Klingon Rat!) before they can nest and start chewing on the wiring and opti-cable. She has many hunting traits of an earth cat. She can sit for hours, watching for a rodent's head to pop out of a hole. Once caught and killed she can play with the dead rodent for hours. She also enjoys other "toys" that can help keep her hunting skills honed. Her favorite is a 3 ft diameter ball of yarn, on which she pounces and tries to subdue. Her two inch nails need caring for in a fasion simular to Earth cats so a deck to overhead, padded scratching pole was rigged in the ship's mess hall. This eliminated the need to repaint the decks of the Hanford to hide the scratches.

I'Aisha becomes VERY AFFECTIONATE once a month. Although she is more humanoid than animal it appears this condition does affect her much like an earth cat. Compounding the problem is the effect that men's after shave has on her, especially during this time of the month. (Voyages of the SS Hanford)