Adventures of Commander Bear

The sun was hot on the 12th of July over the city of Las Vegas; the sun was very hot. Fortunately, Tranio and his wife... um... Mrs. Tranio were spending a great deal of time indoors. At this particular time, they were enjoying the Star Trek Experience at the LV Hilton. After viewing the world's largest Star Trek collection of costumes and props, riding the simulator a couple times, and drinking a Pattern Buffer (Tranya for Tranio) in Quark's bar, Mrs. Tranio decided that she wanted to purchase a certain Commander Bear for her son. So they did.

A long walk later, the three of them made it through the hotel to the Strip Trolley pickup point. A full trolley was just arriving and there were easily a dozen or more people already waiting. The trolley driver encouraged everyone to board and simply squeeze in tightly. So they did.

Although Commander Bear was happy to be going home with someone instead of simply spending countless hours lying in a pile of Commander Bear clones, he wasn't thrilled about being squished in a plastic bag on a crowded trolley. This is not why he attended Star Fleet. Stop after stop, a couple would exit to the point that eventually, there was enough room for Tranio and his Mrs. to sit down. Commander Bear also got a bit of a rest, as he got to lie down on the seat with them. He was still inside the plastic bag, but now it was more like a sleeping bag, but with his face covered. Then he noticed that the trolley was beginning to increase in temperature, as if the air conditioning was failing. He was right. One stop short of the Tranios' destination, the driver told everyone to leave the trolley, so that she could return to "the yard" for reparation to the air conditioning. So they did.

After walking a great distance through the New York, New York casino, Mrs. Tranio noticed that neither she nor her husband were carrying any bags. "THE BAGS!!" she exclaimed. Most people have never seen Tranio run as fast as he did, especially through a crowded casino, but this day they did... they did indeed. He made it back through the doors that they had entered minutes before, only to find that the trolley, along with Commander Bear, was gone. In a frantic grasp for luck, Tranio continued to run, in some desperate hope that it may be stuck in traffic around the corner or further down the street. It was not.

Fortunately, Tranio noticed earlier that the trolleys were equipped with two-way radios, and that they run quite frequently. In fact, he had to hurry back to the trolley stop in order to head off the next one. After explaining his plight to this next driver, and after having him attempt (and fail) to successfully contact the original driver (which Commander Bear was still with), Tranio was asked to leave the trolley so that the driver could continue with his route. So he did.

The driver was, however, kind enough to provide Tranio with a phone number to contact the trolley office and possibly reconnoiter with Commander Bear. After the first attempt, Tranio and his wife were forced to momentarily give up since there was no answer. Discouraged, but not without hope, the hot and tired duo retreated to their room in the castle-like hotel next door. Again, Tranio tried to call, after about fifteen rings,...... a man answered. Tranio began to explain who he was and what he needed. The man on the other end merely said, "Mmmm-hmmm" several times. He already knew of Commander Bear and what had taken place. (Evidently, Commander Bear refused to sit idly by and allow himself to be subjected to the void of lost-and-found, and must have taken action on his end as well.) The kind man called himself D.J., and said that he would be going on route himself in a while, and could drop off Commander Bear (and the other bagged items) if Tranio met him at his hotel's stop at a specific time. So he did.

Tranio was so grateful, that he tipped D.J. a few dollars, and thanked him many successive times. Commander Bear was pleased to be returned to the nice people. He encouraged them to take him directly to their room and place him with their luggage for the journey home. So they did.


If you enjoyed this story, I encourage you to read the other stories in this series, which include but are not limited to:
"The Eternal Trivet Quest"
"The Great Water Conspiracy"
"Carpé Buffet"
"The Tram That Couldn't"
"The Case of the Exploding Baby Powder"
"Mr. ATM Says, 'No'"
"The Neverending Layover"
And "Airplane III & IV: This Lady Is Actually Sitting On Me"


Tran"sporter malfunct"io"n"