The Matter of Lt. Bailey
Summary: "Dammit Jim, he's just a kid," Bones argues. "A kid you promoted too early, who just couldn't live up to impossible expectations." A reboot!afterview of "The Corbomite Incident".
"Well, what's next?" Jim asks, at one of Spock's weekly briefings.
Spock hesitates. It is so uncharacteristic that Jim looks up, concerned; some newborn captainly instinct tells him that he's not going to like what he hears next. "The matter of Lieutenant Bailey," Spock says.
"Ah, hell," Jim sighs. "You know Bones has made that kid one of his crusades."
"Indeed, Dr McCoy has been quite vocal on the matter."
"What was I supposed to do, Spock? He couldn't handle the pressure, and he cracked." Jim remembers the young navigator's frozen terror as Balok's deadline counted down, giving way to panicked ranting until Jim had finally relieved him from his post.
"I hope y'all aren't plannin' on keepin' me out of the loop on this one," a sardonic drawl interrupts them.
"Bones!" Jim jumps, startled. "Knock, next time."
Spock eyes the doctor with mild disfavour. "Indeed, Dr. McCoy. Had I known you wished to be kept informed of Mr Bailey's case –"
"Dammit Jim, he's just a kid," Bones argues, scowling, his eyebrows lowered belligerently. "A kid you promoted too early, who just couldn't live up to your impossible expectations."
"It is not a matter of expectations or pressure," Spock replies. "It is a question of fact. The Enterprise is not a democracy, Doctor. Lieutenant Bailey questioned a direct order in a crisis situation, then gave into what I can only call hysteria. No captain can afford to overlook such behaviour."
"If we're talking of facts, Mr Spock, don't forget that I warned the captain Bailey was unstable." He turns to Jim. "You asked too much of him, Captain, and he simply couldn't deliver."
They stand on either side of him like two angels on his shoulders, one grouchy and soft-hearted and all-too-human, and the other cold practicality and ruthless logic. And in the middle is Captain Kirk, the weight of responsibility on his shoulders alone.
He'd seen good things in Bailey, who at 24 years old and three years out from the Academy had more experience than most of Jim's crew. But Bailey had spent those three years on the Artemis blockading and patrolling an assigned course along the Romulan Neutral Zone; he had no experience with deep space or the unexpected, and had missed the trial by fire that was the battle of Vulcan. The standards set by the Enterprise crew during that time were impossibly unfair to newcomers, but he'd thought Bailey could live up to it.
In a way, Jim had been proved right: after the shame of being summarily dismissed from his post, Bailey had found his backbone and returned to the bridge. But it had been too late the moment Jim sent him away.
The fact is that hesitation or carelessness out in space could endanger the Enterprise and everyone aboard her. The fact is – and Jim had learned this one the hard way – that a starship on active duty is not a training cruise, and the dangers of deep space make no allowances for youth or inexperience.
"Alright, Spock," he sighs, ignoring Bones' heavy scowl. "Start the disciplinary process."
A/N – In the original TOS episode, Lieutenant Bailey redeemed himself by going with the alien ship as an impromptu ambassador of the Federation. I've always wondered what would have happened had he stayed on the Enterprise.