A Meeting

or

Déjà Vu

Note: I do not claim that this story is entirely true.

On the other hand, I do not claim that it is false either.

The reader may judge for themselves.

Montgomery rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat staring blankly at the smoky group in front of him. Why were they smoky? he wondered. Must have something to do with the fact that the abandoned classroom had been closed off because of a science experiment gone wrong. Coughing slightly, he hoped the fumes weren't toxic.

James Kirk stood up solemnly and pounded a book on the table. Montgomery wanted to protest, and tell him that he should on no account treat books in that manner. But he was silent. For one thing, he was always a bit awed by James Kirk, and didn't like to correct him. For another, he was so sleepy and this was all so strange, he wasn't at all sure it wasn't just another dream.

"I suppose you're all wondering why I've called you here tonight," James Kirk said importantly.

"Aye!" called the thin young Doctor McCoy enthusiastically. No one else spoke. Montgomery saw Hikaru Sulu rubbing his eyes.

"We are understandably curious," came the calm voice of a Vulcan.

James Kirk whirled around and scowled. "What are you doing here? Humans only."

"Yeah!" called the thin young Doctor McCoy. "What do you mean by barging in, you infuriating Spook?"

The Vulcan, named Spock, sat down next to Montgomery composedly. "You cannot very well exclude me now, as I can easily get you in trouble with the dean. I consider it my duty to see that you do not get yourselves into trouble."

Montgomery thought it was rather nice of Mr. Spock to look out for them, but James Kirk didn't seem half as pleased. He looked rather like he would like to strangle Spock on the spot. But, he had to realize that Mr. Spock had a point when he said that if they didn't let him stay, they could be in quite a bit of trouble. Finally, James Kirk wiped the frown off his face and replaced it with a sweet smile, as if he had gotten down on his hands and knees and begged Mr. Spock to come to the secret meeting.

"How very nice to see you, Mr. Spock!"

Spock seemed unaffected by this, and said, "Please continue, Mr. Kirk."

Obviously a bit ruffled, James Kirk looked around and said with a business-like manner, "So, does anyone have any questions?"

Montgomery and Sulu shook their heads sleepily, and the thin young Doctor McCoy shook his head enthusiastically and rubbed his hands together. But the sixth member of the party - Miss Uhura - raised her hand practically.

"Yes, Miss Uhura?"

"I have a question, sir, I would like to know why we have been called here?"

"A sound inquiry," Spock nodded.

"Oh, that."

"Excuse me, sir…" Spock began, but Kirk pounded on the table with his book again.

"Please, Mr. Spock, have the courtesy not to interrupt the meeting."

"But Mr. Kirk…"

The thin young Doctor McCoy's hand went up at that moment.

"Yes, Doctor McCoy?"

"I second the motion."

"What motion?"

"Whatever motion you were going to propose."

Montgomery sighed. The thin young Doctor McCoy - who happened to be his best friend - was a bit too enamored with James Kirk and his ideas. He was also too ready to follow James Kirk into trouble, and Montgomery, gullible but kind soul that he was, usually got dragged along as well.

"I was not going to propose any motion," James Kirk said a bit irritably. "I was going to tell you why I called you here tonight."

"Sir," Spock spoke up again, "I really feel that I must inform you that…"

"Please, Mr. Spock, do not interrupt."

"Yes, you green-blooded nuisance, why can't you ever keep your thoughts to yourself?"

"I apologize for any inconvenience I may cause, however, my observation is of the utmost importance…"

Montgomery yawned. He was feeling very sleepy, and a little strange. Why was James Kirk wiggling back and forth like a snake? For that matter, why did it look like the thin young Doctor McCoy was swimming? And what was Miss Uhura doing jumping up and down? No, they weren't moving, the table was. Actually, wait, he was mistaken, the whole room was moving… now all the color was draining from it and it was fading… wait, he had been mistaken the whole time, it was him who was moving after all. The floor was rushing towards him at an alarming speed - funny, the floor had always stayed put before. Then Spock's arms jumped in front of him, and something like a cold breath hit him in the face, making everything suddenly go black.

When the room came back into view again, he was inexplicably lying on the floor. The thin young Doctor McCoy had his ear to Montgomery's chest, and James Kirk, Spock, and Miss Uhura were leaning over him.

The room was no longer smoky, but it was a bit cooler, as if someone had opened a window - though there was no window in the room.

"Why didn't you tell me the air was toxic, Mr. Spock?" asked Kirk very irritably. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have brought them in here!"

"I tried to tell you, sir, but you kept telling me to stop talking."

"Oh, of course, blame me. Why do you all act like everything is always my fault?"

"It is your fault, Jim Kirk!" sobbed the thin young Doctor McCoy, sitting up and feeling Montgomery all over for broken bones. "Why do you always have to get everybody in trouble?"

"I'm not forcing you to do anything, you always hang around me whether I ask you or not!"

"Scotty," wailed the thin young Doctor McCoy, pumping his hands on Montgomery's chest, "I'm sorry I got you into this mess. Oh, if only it had been me instead of him!"

"It is not logical for you to wish to have been injured…"

"Don't talk to me about logic you unfeeling animal! Scotty was the only man in this academy worthy to be called a man… except Jim." The "except Jim" was mumbled as an afterthought - James Kirk wasn't supposed to know that Montgomery and the thin young Doctor McCoy were best friends.

"Don't say 'was,' Mr. McCoy," said Uhura kindly. "He's not dead yet. Thanks to the hole Mr. Sulu knocked in the wall, the fumes are all gone."

Great. Now they would all get in trouble for vandalism of Federation property.

"Scotty," cried the thin young Doctor McCoy again. "Please, speak to me! Tell me you forgive me!"

"Of course I forgive you, Doctor," murmured Montgomery, opening his eyes wider. Apparently they hadn't been opened very widely before.

"Oh, Scotty, Scotty, you're alive!" The thin young Doctor McCoy wrapped his arms around Montgomery's neck and squeezed him in what was no doubt meant to be an affectionate hug.

"Of course he's alive," Uhura said calmly. "I told you he was."

"He's very excitable," James Kirk explained in what was supposed to be a confidential whisper, but was so loud that he might as well have whispered it in Montgomery's ear. "Well, let's get back to business, shall we?"

It was on the tip of Montgomery's tongue to ask what the business was, but he didn't say anything. He was tired of the whole thing.

"I wouldn't call Mr. Spock names if I were you, Bones," said James Kirk virtuously, as if he would never dream of saying anything mean or deprecating to Spock - or anyone else, for that matter. "He saved Mr. Scott from - if not death, then far greater pain by catching him before he hit his head on the floor."

Grudgingly, the thin young Doctor McCoy shook hands with Spock, while James Kirk beamed at them as if they were a couple of children who had just done something brilliant.

Sometimes Montgomery didn't understand the other cadets at all.

"Here, let me help you up, Scotty," said the thin young Doctor McCoy eagerly. He put his hand down to pull Montgomery up, but when Montgomery cautiously tried to put his weight on the thin young Doctor McCoy, he was rewarded by a thin body collapsing down on him.

"Sorry, Scotty," said the thin young Doctor McCoy meekly.

After Montgomery had sat down again, the thin young Doctor McCoy moved from his seat next to James Kirk and moved next to his best friend Montgomery. The only trouble with this was that now every time Montgomery - sleepier than ever - started to doze, the thin young Doctor McCoy would grip his arm and cry, "Scotty! Scotty! Stay with me! Speak to me!" To which Montgomery would reply obligingly, "What would you like me to say, Doctor?" And they would get scolded by James Kirk for interrupting the highly important meeting.

After another half an hour or so of this, Montgomery was beginning to drift off again. Sulu was snoring with his head resting on his arms which were resting on the table, Spock was sitting stoically across from James Kirk, who was babbling on about nothing, as far as Montgomery could discover, and Miss Uhura was looking very bored.

"I have said it once, and I shall say it again," Kirk continued, "if there is one time which is the most invigorating to the mind, most edifying for the heart and most conclusive to the senses, it is the middle of the night. The middle of the night, historically, is a time when the most important and noteworthy deeds have always been done, and most important of all…"

Montgomery never found out what it was that was most important of all, because the door swung open at this minute, and all six of them - except Sulu, who was still fast asleep - jumped back, thinking it was the faculty.

It wasn't, however. It was little fourteen-year-old cadet Pavel Chekov, the youngest at the Academy. He stumbled in, rubbing his eyes and holding a blanket with pictures of teddy bears on it around his shoulders. "Vhat's going on in here?" he asked.

"No children allowed," James Kirk announced savagely. "Adults only."

Undaunted by this, Chekov stumbled forward. "I'm not that much younger than him." He pointed to Sulu, who was still snoring away loudly.

James Kirk looked exasperatedly at Sulu. "How did that kid get in here?"

But Chekov had already seated himself next to the thin young Doctor McCoy. "Oh look, there's a hole in the wall. Hello Mr. Scott. Hello, Miss Uhura."

"Hello," mumbled Montgomery, closing his eyes slowly. But before he could close them all the way, thin fingers had gripped his arm desperately, and his friend's voice called, "Scotty! Scotty! Don't go!"

"I'm not going anywhere, Doctor," Montgomery assured. "I'm just sleepy…"

"No sleeping!" yelled James Kirk, banging his book on the table again. He startled Montgomery into a state of mostly-awakeness, but Sulu only snored louder.

"He snores to the tune of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' sometimes," Chekov gossiped confidentially. "Usually on Saturday nights."

"'Mary Had a Little Lamb'?" scoffed the thin young Doctor McCoy. "Why would he pick a ridiculous tune like that?"

"'Mary Had a Little Lamb' is not a ridiculous tune," Chekov insisted, pouting. Then he brightened up, and said, "So, vhat is going on here, anyvay?"

"We're trying to find out," hissed Uhura, apparently trying to quiet them.

Montgomery closed his eyes in frustration. Why hadn't he stayed in bed where he belonged?

"Scotty! Scotty!" The thin fingers clenched his arm once again. "Wake up, speak to me!"

"Hello," said Montgomery, not sure what was expected of him.

"Hello," sighed the thin young Doctor McCoy in relief. "Don't, whatever you do, don't go to sleep. It would be very dangerous."

"But it's night time," Montgomery protested. "Lots of people sleep in the night time."

"But you mustn't. Just rest, Scotty."

"You just said not to go to sleep!"

"Don't sleep, rest."

Montgomery was getting more confused by the moment. Sulu snored louder. Spock looked more and more logical. Chekov was amusing himself by scratching his initials and everybody else's in the table, which caused him to lean over to everybody one at a time and whisper, "Vhat is your middle name, anyvay?" Uhura looked more disgusted with mankind every minute. James Kirk went on about the virtues of getting up at midnight, being courageous, helping to explore the new frontier, and all manner of other high and mighty values.

Now Montgomery was slapping himself in the face, trying to stay awake - his arm was getting sore from being constantly gripped. Sure enough, Sulu had begun snoring "Mary Had a Little Lamb," which amused the thin young Doctor McCoy greatly. He kept poking Montgomery in the ribs delightedly. Spock looked so logical it was hardly possible to look at him without feeling foolish. Chekov had tired of writing people's initials, and was now trying to say "boldly go where no man has gone before" backwards, which turned out "erofeb enog sah nam on erehw og yldlob," which he found extremely funny. James Kirk was talking more enthusiastically than ever. Uhura was looking at her watch.

"…and of course, we all know that we must be absolutely devoted to the overarching mission of the Federation, which has always been one of peace, justice and liberty…"

Chekov and the thin young Doctor McCoy clapped heartily. Sulu snored. Spock and Uhura exchanged glances. Montgomery was tired of the whole thing.

"If I may ask, sir," he said boldly, standing up and pounding his fists on the table, "why have you called us here tonight?"

"Why, I told you that hours ago," James Kirk insisted. "I want us to start a club. We can meet in here every night at midnight and have secret meetings, and we can elect a president (Kirk looked very presidential as he said this), and have all kinds of fun."

Spock and Uhura exchanged glances again, and then both stood up and walked out at the same time. James Kirk looked after them and called, "But wait!"

"I think I'd better be getting to bed," Chekov said, yawning. He picked up the teddy bear blanket and lugged it out. "I vill see you all tomorrow!"

"Good riddance," muttered James Kirk. "Now, to those of you who are loyal…"

Sulu snored. Montgomery sighed. The thin young Doctor McCoy looked attentive and excited.

Just then the door opened again. Montgomery half expected to see Spock, Uhura and Chekov coming back in for more of the oh-so-delightful meeting, and was surprised to see James Kirk suddenly fly out of his seat and jump through the hole that Sulu had knocked in the wall earlier.

Before Montgomery or the thin young Doctor McCoy could comment on this unusual behavior, three faculty members came in sternly.

"You two again!" They pointed at Montgomery and the thin young Doctor McCoy. "What do you think you're doing up after curfew… in a forbidden classroom… and vandalizing Academy property!" One of them pointed to the hole in the wall. "It will be detention for the rest of the night, and probably well into tomorrow."

"What about him?" cried the thin young Doctor McCoy, pointing at Sulu, who had ceased his snoring and was sleeping as peacefully as a baby, or pretending to.

"He clearly had nothing to do with this, he's fast asleep," one of the faculty said witheringly, looking at the thin young Doctor McCoy as though he were a moron. "Come on, both of you."

So the two of them were in detention for the rest of the night. Montgomery once again found himself drifting off to sleep, while the thin young Doctor McCoy amused himself by studying him for traces of toxins.

"I'm sorry for getting you into this mess, Scotty," the thin young Doctor McCoy said mournfully.

Montgomery didn't answer, because he was asleep.

"Scotty?"

Montgomery closed his eyes tighter. He needed to sleep.

"Scotty? Come on, wake up. Jim's calling all hands to the recreation room for a briefing."

Opening his eyes, he saw a much older Doctor McCoy leaning over him.

"Ah, awake at last, Scotty. Come on, Jim wants us all up there as soon as possible."

"Be right there, Doctor," Montgomery said sleepily, and got up to get dressed. He was in his cabin on the USS Enterprise, a full grown man. The whole meeting, he realized gladly, had been a dream.

But had it ever really happened? Montgomery wasn't entirely sure.

When he reached the recreation room, he tried to focus on James Kirk's speech about the danger they were facing, but he found himself dozing off.

"Scotty!" cried his best friend Doctor McCoy, "Stay with me! Are you alright? Count to five."

On the other side of Montgomery, he heard Chekov whispering, "Did you know that last night, Sulu snored the tune of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'?"

Somewhat disturbed, Montgomery turned his attention back to James Kirk, who was going on and on and on…

Had it been a dream or a memory?

That didn't matter now. Right now, he had to stay awake, and listen to the important things that James Kirk had to say.