Our secret fears
All the main officers of the Enterprise were in the recreation room, with their Captain and his First Officer. The two friends were playing a game of tridimensional chess and, as often, Spock was winning.
Around them, Sulu and Scotty were taking bets discreetly with other members of the crew. One more time, Dr McCoy had bet on the victory of his captain and friend, although his past victories looked more like a fluke. Jim's strategies were often intuitive. This was probably what pleased Doctor McCoy.
"Your last moves were illogical, Jim…" Spock stated in a serious tone while moving his bishop on the highest level of the three dimensional chess board, taking another pawn of Jim.
"I know, Spock, you already told me this…" Jim said with a broad smile.
In fact, the Vulcan was disconcerted by the behavior of his captain. The latter was so calm whereas he was clearly losing.
Maybe this is part of his strategy,Spock wondered,maybe he tries to make me doubt…
Eight moves later, Jim had his rook in his hand and put in check the King of his Vulcan friend.
"Checkmate, Mr. Spock!"
"Good boy, Jim! You win again! I bet you didn't see that coming, Spock!" Leonard said, happy to have bet on the winner.
"Doctor, I admire your constant faith in our Captain, as you always bet on his victory. But I remind you that the word 'again' involves the repetition of an action. The Captain has won this game but lost the three previous games! This means that your profit is minus than your bets comparatively! If we consider the last 254 games of chess played these four last years, and I do not include those played privately in my quarters or those of Jim, the statistics in favor of the Captain are 0.284 victories …"
"Uh…only that?" Jim interrupted.
"Damn Vulcan! Do not bother us with your stats! You have LOST!"
Dr McCoy rubbed his hands while the rest of the Alpha Team exchanged a few glances and smiles… The chess game was over, now was the time for the traditional debate between McCoy and Spock, source of amusement and sometimes philosophical discussions!
"Doctor, I absolutely agree with the fact that I have lost. I'm just saying that your enthusiasm to have won this wager is illogical!"
"Spock, you dislike losing against the Captain! Are you afraid to admit it? Sometimes, his intuitions are better than all your calculations!"
"Fear is an emotion unknown to me, Doctor."
"Here we go…" Uhura sighed while looking up at the ceiling. She was seated at his right side.
"Spock! You once told me that Vulcans have emotions. They succeed to master them while getting older, right? So, you have to admit that you were afraid of one thing or two, at least in your childhood!"
"That's correct, Doctor!" Spock sighed, slightly embarrassed.
"So, what were your fears when you were a child?" Leonard asked, happy to have found a gap in which to rush.
In order to put his friend at ease, Jim himself began to confide about his own childhood.
"When I was a little boy, I was afraid of storms, especially at night. I can see myself slip into Sam's bed whenever the storm began." There was no need to remind them who was Sam, all of them knew about their Captain's family. The deaths of his brother and sister-in-law had been recorded seven months ago.
Sadness was now spreading around the recreation room until Nyota Uhura confided herself: "When I was a little girl, I was afraid of frogs…I know that's a stupid fear! Those little creatures are so harmless!"
"If I understand correctly, you were not the kind of girl who tried to kiss a frog hoping to get a Prince Charming instead!" Scotty chuckled. "And you, Pavel? What were you afraid of?"
The young Russian opened his mouth to answer but closed it almost immediately, making a slight grimace at the memory of his childhood.
"Hey, Pavel, don't be ashamed to tell us," The chief engineer said, adding: "If this can help, I will tell you my own secret fear. Like all people of Scotland, I was raised in the believing of every castle and houses were haunted…and that despite the fact that I was raised in a spaceship since my birth as I have followed my parents in all their assignments…So, every night until I was 8 years old, my father accompanied me to my room and looked with me in all the corners to find a ghost that, of course, did not exist."
All his friends smiled, picturing Montgomery Scott watching under his bed.
Spock was hearing the different stories, making no comment in order to stay out of their attention…but at the time, it seemed that it was Pavel's turn to answer. The young navigator was reluctant to speak. That's why Sulu intervened. "Myself, I was afraid of the dark. There was a night light above my bed until I was nine years old! And look at me today: I love stargazing in the darkness of space…"
"Well…when I was younger, I was afraid of rats…there were plenty rats where my grand-parents lived. Rats in Russia are oversized, you know, at least 60 centimeters long…"Pavel explained with his Russian accent.
All the officers began to laugh, except McCoy who turned immediately toward the First Officer of the Enterprise.
"Soooooo…And you, Spock?" He asked.
"One minute, my dear friend, I think that you have to be the next to answer that question!" Jim Kirk said, smiling. Intentionally or not, he had given an additional respite to his Vulcan friend.
"Okay, you're right, Jim! Well, when I was a little boy, I was afraid of only one thing: cats! I have to say that the cat of my grandmother, like rats made in Russia of our dear colleague, this cat was terrifying! All claws out, it jumped on my bed in my sleep. This sneaky creature was just a monster! Plus, we had told me stories about infants suffocated in their cradles by cats! So, a bit like Scotty, I checked under my bed and in every corner when I went to sleep at my grandmother's home which happened quite often…"
"That's an interesting story…I mean, this fear of feline creatures! Of course this is unrelated with their similarities with Vulcans?" Jim teased gently.
"Soooo…It's your turn, Spock! Tell us what you were afraid of as a little boy!"
As usually, Spock's face remained impassible, his fingers intertwined in front of him.
"Well, Doctor…When I was a child, I was afraid of Doctors…Of course, I master perfectly that fear now." Spock answered slowly.
Suddenly, huge laughter rang out around the table. McCoy, surprised by his answer, stared at the Vulcan with a big smile on his lips.
The end