Chapter 1, I Saw Her First!

"I saw her first! Give it up, you green-blooded hobgoblin-!"

"Once again, Doctor, you are attempting to cause me alarm with your emotional outbursts. I assure you, I remain immune to them."

"Why you—"

"Gentlemen, is there a problem here?"

The Enterprise's First Officer, Chief Medical Officer, and Chief Engineer all scrambled to their feet as their Captain entered the officers' lounge.

"At ease, gentlemen," Captain Kirk said. He was new to the ship, and had been on board for a little over more than four Earth weeks. "Can anyone tell me what exactly you two are fighting about this time?"

The CMO glared at the First Officer, who calmly gazed back at him before facing the Captain. "Nothing of importance, sir. Just another case of near-insubordination from our Chief Medical Officer."

"Opinion, Mr. Scott? And may I?" the Captain said to the Chief Engineer as he sat down, gesturing at a bottle of whiskey on the table. The three other men seated themselves after he sat. Scotty, as he was known throughout the ship, reached behind to another table to grab an empty tumbler. He handed it to the captain. "With pleasure, sir. Please help yourself."

The Captain topped off Scotty's glass before pouring one for himself. "Your opinion on this…debate, Mr. Scott?"

Scotty grinned at him, and glanced over at the two men, whose eyes remained locked on each other. "It's a fight over a woman, sir."

"A woman!" Kirk was genuinely surprised. His evaluation of his First Officer was constantly changing. He'd received a surprisingly cordial greeting, not something he had expected from a Vulcan. He'd witnessed his ability to interact pleasantly enough with a new civilization on two visits to the planet they were now orbiting. From what he gathered from Sulu, the ship's chief navigator, the science staff all but adored working for him. And this display of brotherly bickering he'd seen more than once between him and the emotional (even for a human) CMO, well, this man Mr. Spock was quite a puzzle.

He wondered if thinking of him as a man was insensitive. He was, emphatically, a Vulcan. He'd have to check with Starfleet embassy staff on that.

Kirk had met Spock once before, years earlier, as a young Lieutenant just back from his first two-year tour of duty. He'd accompanied a friend to watch a hockey game at the Academy Coliseum, where the Cadets were hosting the Fighting Irish. Incredibly, the Academy's first-ever Vulcan student, now a third-year student, was a defensive player, albeit relegated to the bench and practice squad most of the time.

The game had been brutal; two Cadet starters were injured and a third was in a crowded penalty box. A replacement player skated in and the crowd leapt to its feet, roaring "Live Long and Prosper!"

The player, none other than that lone Vulcan student, was a zone defender and a crafty one at that. Two Irishmen staggered off the ice within a few minutes, dazed by his barely-legal checks. The tactic worked, and the Cadets managed to score the one point they needed to win the game one-nil.

Afterward, Kirk accompanied his friend, who had been a hockey standout at the Academy, to the locker room. They looked for Number 9 and found him shivering in a thick bathrobe as he answered questions from a local sports reporter. His hair stuck straight up around his pointed ears. His helmet and skates lay in a puddle in front of his locker, his uniform already rumbling inside a refresher. Kirk's friend walked up to him and introduced himself and Jim.

The reporter, an old veteran of Academy sports, recognized Kirk's friend and quickly finished interviewing Spock. "How's the hockey on the ice planets?" he asked the other officer and the two were soon catching up with one other.

Kirk handed Spock a dry towel. "How did a Vulcan learn to play hockey like that?" he asked. "Don't tell me you learned to play in the desert!"

The cadet rubbed the towel over his hair and face before answering. "My mother's family is from Calgary," he explained. "I learned to play during visits with my cousins. I was never fast enough for offence, but since my body is denser than a human's, it is logical for Coach to bring me in for zone defence."

He then excused himself for a hot shower and much-needed visit to the sauna "to thaw myself out."

Now that defenceman was watching the CMO, who was practically shouting about his dire need for nursing staff, with something like bemusement. "Really, Doctor," he said with a slight hint of teasing in his voice, "The need for additional medical staff is quite redundant. No one dares to get sick with you in charge."

McCoy's expression grew even darker and Kirk began to wonder if he might have an all-out brawl on his hands. Then, to his surprise, the doctor burst out laughing. "I won't give up on this one, sir," he managed to gasp. He turned to Kirk. "Captain, we are severely short-staffed in sick bay. Our people save lives and that's a little more important than staring down a microscope all day long looking at new rocks from new civilizations."

Scotty snorted. "Point, McCoy."

"Those rocks, Doctor McCoy," Spock began, "often contain minerals that can give us insights into the development of new life forms we may encounter with those new civilizations. These insights, Doctor, can help us develop immunizations and treatments for life-threatening ailments such as those we encountered on Mantilles, which resulted from spores emanating from the planet's dusty surface and inhaled by the population. Perhaps you recall that many developed a pneumonia-like breathing disorder unique to that solar system. It was those very rocks you disdain, Doctor, that contained a unique mineral from which we were able to develop a powder to circumvent the disease."

How did he get all that out in one breath? Kirk wondered. He sipped Scotty's scotch thoughtfully.

McCoy huffed and took a long drink of whiskey. Spock drank water; his mouth was quite dry after his speech.

Kirk smacked his lips. "This is really nice, Mr. Scott," he said. Turning toward the two other officers, he asked "is the woman in question a medical professional?"

"Yes." "No." The doctor and the First Officer spoke in unison. The doctor shot a look at Spock, who raised an eyebrow at him. "I suppose she could classify as medical, Captain. However—"

"No howevers!" McCoy yelled. "You said 'Uncle'!"

"I said no such thing. If you could control yourself for just a moment, Doctor," Spock continued and turned back to Kirk. "I concur with the good doctor that medical needs additional support staff, at least one but preferably two. However—" he shot a look at McCoy, who had opened his mouth to interrupt but then shut it. "The officer in question is far more qualified to serve on the science staff than as a nurse."

"She's a registered nurse and BSN with experience serving with embassy medical staff on Orion," McCoy huffed.

"She has a master's degree in xenobiology," Spock countered. "She has been accepted into the doctoral program at Tulane University. She is associated with Roger Korby, who pioneered the geomedical research you have just conceded is a worthwhile endeavor."

"You have what, 80 staff up in the labs?"

"Sixty-five, Doctor, of whom 32 split their time with other duties outside Science."

Kirk spoke up. "This is easy to fix, gentlemen," he said. "Is there any reason that this officer can't split her time between medical and science?"

"Oh Captain," Scotty interjected, "you wouldna want to subject the poor lass to both Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy! She'd be putting in for a transfer after a fortnight!"

"Captain," McCoy said earnestly, "we have emergency situations in medical. I need experienced staff to handle these as well as the routine work. Right now, my people are pulling double shifts if someone manages to get shore leave—and I haven't approved any in three months-or gets sick. If this were a hospital emergency room, we'd be considered short-staffed and have to refer patients out. That is not an option on a starship!"

"Sir," Spock spoke up. "The necessity for additional medical staff is well-known. But I am convinced that Lt. Chapel's talents are better served in the science department."

"Well," Kirk said thoughtfully as he took a few more sips of Scotty's excellent Scotch, "what assignment has the Lieutenant accepted for her tour of duty?"

"Nursing," McCoy said triumphantly. "She was one of about 40 applicants. I'm the one who found her, I was the one who took time to interview her"—he shot another look at the expressionless First Office—"and I, and only I, offered her a position. She fully expects to be reporting to me. I should be the one to claim her. This one"— he pointed to Spock—"wouldn't even know she existed except that he approves officer assignments below Lt. Commander ranking."

Spock was silent. He knew when he was beaten. But he'd read Chapel's resume eagerly and immediately thought of a bioscience slot for her on his staff.

Kirk turned to look at him. "Mr. Spock, it appears the doctor has won this battle. Lt. Chapel will report for medical duty when she comes aboard…and that is when, Doctor McCoy?"

"Four days from now. We'll be getting some new transfers at the time, aren't we Spock?"

"We are, Doctor. Your nurse, three Engineers' Mates, a petty officer second-class who will oversee general ship maintenance, a boatswain's mate, and four Ensigns assigned to intelligence, logistics, communications, and purchasing."

"Mr. Spock, does the Enterprise have any kind of meet-and-greet event for new crewmembers?" the Captain asked.

"Yes, sir, one of my first assignments from Captain Pike when I became Executive Officer was to create an orientation program for the ship."

"He puts on one nice shindig, I can tell ye, Captain," Scotty said, topping off his and the Captain's glasses. "They went over so well there was no competition a'tall to replace Number One."

"Dr. McCoy helped," Spock interjected.

"Really?" Kirk couldn't help himself. "I can't picture the two of you shindigging together. So you don't hate each other?"

McCoy laughed. "I know the hobgoblin from waaay back. I've even been to his home on Vulcan, and I stayed there during a summer semester at med school."

"Did you two meet at the Academy?"

Spock nodded. "The Doctor was a student in my First-Year Vulkansu language class. He nearly failed it."

"But you two became friends and bonded."

Spock briefly flushed a greenish tinge. "I would not put it in those terms, sir. We did become acquaintances, and he did stay with my parents on Vulcan while he attended the VSA medical school," he said. "They are still recovering from the experience."

Kirk, momentarily distracted by the green flush, laughed out loud. Scotty grinned into his drink and McCoy finished off his glass. "They loved me, Spock. If they could, they would adopt me and disinherit you."

"That much is sheer fantasy. If anything, they were fascinated by your rather colorful speech. And I do not believe my father has ever seen someone consume so much at first meal."

"Breakfast is…" McCoy started to say.

"…the most important meal of the day," Spock and Scotty said together, finishing the sentence for him.

"Well it is!"

Kirk was now thoroughly enjoying himself. "Mr. Spock, I would like to attend the orientation session, since I'm new myself. Count me in."

"As you wish, Captain." He rose. "Gentlemen, I must take my leave of you. A pleasure, as always."

Kirk stood up, too. "I think I should get going, too. Thank you for the scotch, Scotty, it was excellent. Dr. McCoy, I'm glad to know I won't have to settle any fights."

"My pleasure, sir. Good night, Captain, Mr. Spock." Scotty stood up, saluted, and smiled.

McCoy half-rose and waved at them in a mock half-salute. "Good night, Sirs."