Stardate: 2260.0.4
Omeena Gas Cloud
USS Saratoga
Captain's Quarters
It had still come as a surprise to Kirk. It had been his birthday and he'd been 'hiding' in his cabin
(because there were so many wrong connotations to that date that not even calls from Admiral Pike
or Ambassador Spock could make it brighter. Only to be called by M'Ress via intercom to the Mess Hall –
for a surprise birthday party.
It had been Shylea's idea of course. A consummate hostess his Soul Sister could never resist planning
a celebration. She had overseen the decorations and the crew had made him an enormous cake,
with Happy Birthday! written on it in who over a hundred different languages.
It was now hours later and tired, stuffed and happy he had made his way back to his quarters.
He briefly remembered a birthday celebration of the other James T. Kirk, the one whose memories
he had briefly seen during a mind-meld with Ambassador Spock. The James T Kirk who hadn't left
the Enterprise. Whose crew didn't...
The decorations were there, the cake was there, the singing was there – but the crew was different.
But that knowledge no longer sent pangs in his chest. Whatever life he might have had on the Enterprise,
the Saratoga was his ship now. Its crew was his family and he wouldn't trade a single one of them for anything.
His thoughts were interrupted by the chime of his door. He opened it to see his Soul Siblings, Shylea L'Naym
and her lifemate, Tuskaro Alyen, standing outside.
"Guys!" he smiled broadly. "Come on in!" Since their friendship had begun a year ago he had come to treasure
the times they spent together.
"We hope you enjoyed your party, Jim," Alyen started.
"I loved it, guys," Kirk said softly. He had loved it and he loved his crew.
L'Naym's smile broadened. "I'm glad. The reason we came by was to give you something. An extra gift.
I know that you've already gotten a lot of gifts from the party but I wanted to give this to you privately."
She handed Kirk a large tome. It was bound in hand-tooled leather with a polished sigil of her homeworld, Nlia on it.
"This book is very special," she said. "And it had its beginnings a long time ago."
