Log Entry 120921.21

Luke and I have formed a plan of action. We've designed and produced our humane trap, which is big enough to take a large Cardassian vole. We reckon the Beast is no bigger than that, otherwise it wouldn't be able to move into the smaller ventilation shafts from the Jeffries tubes. All we need to do now is work out what to bait it with. Should it be a food item and if so what sort of food; we don't know if it's a carnivore, omnivore or herbivore. Or should it be a comfort item: bedding, something that smells good, or something shiny.

For this, we have decided we need to do a bit of proper detective work and inspect the area we know the Beast is patrolling, to see if we can find any evidence as to its diet. We're not expecting to find much as nothing has been reported by other crewmen (which makes the Beast all the more mysterious), but there has to be something!

Luke has been able to wangle a shift of inspection duties in the Jeffries Tubes and, being an Ensign, was able to request me to assist. Today then, is a day in the Jeffries tubes! Everybody thinks we are mad though. Its the sort of day most dread: eight hours in the confines of a Jeffries tube, your knees scraping over hard floors and metal grids as you wander about on your hands and knees pushing your kit along in front of you, but for us? I have to admit it; I am filled with excitement!