Brown

 Brown  is a short story by the pseudonymous jespah.

The story is told from the perspective of Chandler Masterson (mirror), while on the USS Defiant (NCC-1764).

In May of 2158, Hoshi Sato (mirror) is pregnant for the second time. The father is Aidan MacKenzie (mirror). At the same time, another female is pregnant, but this second female is a lot smaller.

The second female is a brown mouse, and it becomes clear that the Defiant has a major rodent infestation problem. The Empress has ordered MacKenzie and Chandler Masterson (mirror) to deal with the problem. When Masterson and MacKenzie overhear her ridiculing them to Travis Mayweather (mirror) and José Torres, they decide not to help at all, and don't care if the Empress ends up knee-deep in mice.

When Hoshi suffers Braxton-Hicks contractions during her pregnancy, Doctor Cyril Morgan orders her to bed. As MacKenzie is attending to her, he spots the brown mouse building a nest in the corner of the Empress's quarters, and leaves the rodent alone, a small measure of defiance against a demanding tyrant.