i. Jim heard the screech from the bridge. They all did; Uhura nearly dropped her earpiece, Sulu swiveled in his chair to glare in the general direction of the sound, and Spock raised an eyebrow, but did not look up from his papers. Jim sat momentarily before getting up and heading towards the door, figuring that since he was the captain, he was the one to investigate. It didn't take him long to find the source of the squeal. Chekov had wedged himself in the corner of the hallway, clinging to the banister beside him. Jim then noticed the large spider that had made itself quite comfortable on the lift controls.
"Keptin! I almost touched eet!" Chekov whispered, sounding nervous that the spider would sense his fear and spring to attack.
"It's okay, ensign. I got it…" Jim said, swatting the spider down with his hand. He flinched internally, but felt that a show of bravado was necessary at the moment. He quickly stepped on the creature as it fell to the floor, Chekov peeking over his shoulder.
"Oh, Keptin…I am wery sorry, but…spideers have always been a fear of mine…" Chekov's cheeks blushed in embarrassment. Jim clapped a hand down on the young ensign's shoulder and couldn't help but laugh to himself.
ii. The food on the Enterprise wasn't necessarily amazing, but you could always find at least two members of the main crew eating together at any given time. Jim walked into the cafeteria and saw Scotty, Uhura, and Spock sitting at a table, eating some sort of replicated lunchmeat. Jim had only come in for a snack, but he couldn't help but overhear a part of the conversation that was going on between them.
"I'm certainly not suggesting that the mechanical capabilities of the Enterprise are in any way inferior to any other spacecraft, even though there is sufficient evidence that could indicate the existence of technology much beyond what has been employed here. However, I believe that if we are going to attempt to match ourselves against a ship with unknown abilities, we should ready ourselves beforehand…" Spock paused to take a bite of his ultra-bland salad. Uhura looked absolutely captivated by what he was saying; however, Scotty was not as intrigued. He stared at the Vulcan with the same look a student gave his teacher when he didn't want to be called on in class. Jim knew this look well.
"Lieutenant Scott, can I speak with you?" He said in his best authoritative voice as he stood up to leave. Scotty was snapped out of his concentration with what looked like a suppressed smile.
"Certainly, sir!" He grabbed his sandwich and hurried over to Jim, who was already out the door and waiting in the hallway. "What can I do fer ya?"
"You can enjoy your lunch somewhere away from him," Jim said, taking a bite of his apple. Scotty's face turned from business to a wide smile.
"Aye, Captain. Will do," he said, nodding to Jim and hurrying away down the hall.
iii. It was late; so late that it could easily be considered early. Dr. McCoy lay sprawled out, face first on the floor of his quarters. Several seconds earlier, he had been standing upright next to Jim and telling him how "goddamned tired" he was of all that "freak of nature's righteous bullshit" and swinging his flask dangerously close to Jim's face. They had just returned from…someone's birthday party, Jim couldn't even remember now. All he knew was that McCoy had taken the opportunity to get as drunk as humanly possible, walk directly up to the Vulcan First Officer, and tell him exactly what he thought of him. Of course, one could say that the doctor was provoked by Spock's off-hand that it was "quite ironic that one of such a position could allow himself to engage in such reprehensible behaviors," but he supposed that it was "merely the nature of humans." It was this statement that had the doctor inches from the Vulcan's face within seconds, using every obscenity and insult he could think of. Jim knew he had to get him out of there before the nerve pinch came; he didn't want to be dragging an unconscious Bones through the hallway for an hour. So he pulled McCoy away, much to the doctor's dislike, and continued to listen to the yelling and complaining on the lift and down the hall to his room. Jim used his security code to open the door to McCoy's room, and momentarily let go to find the light switch. McCoy proceeded to fall face first into the carpet with no more than a grunt and another string of expletives. Jim sighed and pulled the doctor back to his feet just long enough for him to make it to his bed. McCoy flopped down onto his back, his feet sticking over the side. Jim took the flask from his hand and began removing his boots, as a good friend does.
"Goddamn…you're a life-saver, kid…" he drawled before falling into a deep sleep.
iv. Jim loved shore leave. And though this wasn't technically shore leave, they were stuck on a Federation planet with nothing to do while Scotty worked on the ship, which meant the rest of the crew was free to do what they pleased. Which, for most, meant going to the bar. Jim found himself at his usual spot at the end of the counter, scoping out potential "dates" for the night. McCoy was seated next to him, engaged in a heated discussion with one of the locals about the latest medical whatevers. From where he sat, he could see Uhura and a group of officers seated at a table together, laughing and carrying on about something. She looked beautiful, as usual, and definitely stood out among the other girls. Jim already knew there was going to be trouble tonight. He watched as she walked up to the bar and took a seat.
"I'll just have two shots of the same, thanks," she said, smiling at the bartender. He nodded and smiled back, recognizing that she was clearly out of his league, and turned to fix the drinks. Jim then watched one of the locals creep up next to hear and get uncomfortably close to her ear.
"Hello, beautiful…you doin' anything tonight?" he said a bit too loudly. He was obviously drunk, and very large. Uhura shifted slightly in her seat and replied without looking at the stranger.
"I am, in fact. And not with you," the bartender glanced over his shoulder as he made the drinks. The stranger moved still closer to Uhura, who stood her ground. Jim wasn't surprised.
"Come on, baby…" he hissed into her ear, placing his hand on her thigh. Uhura immediately turned and pushed him away, causing the already unstable man to fall to the floor. Jim hopped off of his stool as the man began to stand back up, cursing at Uhura for spilling his drink and swinging the empty bottle.
"Starship bitch…you're all the same. I could still have you if I wanted…" he started back over towards the counter. Jim stopped him just inches in front of Uhura.
"Hey, buddy, I think it's time to go home," he said calmly, squeezing himself between Uhura and the stranger. The man looked Jim over for a second, then laughed.
"I still have some business to finish with the little lady over here…" he said, trying to push past Jim. He dropped the empty bottle in the process, causing it to smash at his feet. This seemed to infuriate the man even more; he shoved himself into Jim as he attempted to throw a punch. He was already off balance, and it wasn't hard for Jim to get him to his knees.
"Yeah…time to go," he said, dragging him through the crowd, which gladly moved, and pushing him out the door. He returned to the bar, where Uhura was still waiting for her drinks. He leaned against the bar next to her and put on his best John Wayne impression. "If you'll be needin' anythin' else tonight, miss, you just go on and holler," he twanged, tipping an invisible hat. Uhura laughed as the drinks finally arrived. She nodded and handed him one of the shots.
"Why, thank you, Captain," she said, returning to the table of anxious girls who had just witnessed the entire ordeal. Many of them looked over at Jim longingly, and giggled when he looked their way. Jim merely sighed and returned to his seat next to the oblivious doctor.
v. "What the hell is that?" Jim asked, hovering over Sulu's shoulder. He was on the ground, hunched over a tiny, pink, flower-like plant. The petals were a bright fuchsia with black specks, and it had a long, black tube jetting out from the middle. Jim was aware of the pilots side-interest in botany, and even if he didn't understand it most of the time, he still found it interesting to a degree. Hikaru began digging up the delicate plant to take it onto the ship with him, as he found it very odd that the plant could grow in the desolate, barren soil of the planet they had just landed on.
"It looks like a species I've never seen before…it appears to be a simple flower, but I would guess there's much more to it than that…" he said, tugging gently at the roots. Jim scrunched his face up at the idea of having some unknown plant thing on the ship.
"Maybe you should try to figure out some stuff about it before you go ripping it out of the ground…" he said, shifting his weight to get a better view of the flower.
"I just don't understand how it's survived out here…I mean, it -" Suddenly, a spear-like thorn shot out of the black tube and planted itself firmly into Hikaru's neck. He gasped and fell backwards, immediately falling unconscious. Jim swore loudly and pulled Sulu away from the plant before inspecting the wound.
He whispered curses under his breath as he watched the area around the thorn begin to swell up. For a second, he considered calling McCoy, but he had no idea where he was or how long it would take. He scooped Sulu up into his arms and called for Scotty to beam them up immediately. Before they had fully materialized onto the platform, Jim had instructed Scotty to alert medical and was already running with the pilot towards sickbay. He arrived in under a minute, even though it seemed like forever, and let McCoy take over. After an agonizing hour of "I don't know, we'll see, it should work, I can't say for sure," the pilot was coming to in the hospital bed. There was a large bandage around his neck, and he was hooked up to several different medication streams, but he didn't seem to mind. Jim was sitting next to the bed when he woke up.
"Captain?" he said hoarsely , his throat still sore from the breathing tube that the doctor had only just removed.
"Hey, you! The next time I tell you not to play with strange plants, you should listen!" he half scolded. The pilot laughed softly and nodded, and Jim patted the side of the bed. "You need your rest, and I need to get back to the bridge. Don't stay here sleeping too long, we need you up there," he said, standing up and heading to the door. Sulu nodded and forced out a "thank you" before falling back to sleep.
vi. Contrary to popular belief, Jim hated fighting. Yes, he enjoyed showing off on occasion, but only when he knew lives weren't in danger. He didn't mind exploring planets, but only when he knew the locals weren't hostile. He didn't like being put face to face with danger, even though many people would peg him as the risk-taker. He preferred to know what was going on, where it was going on, with whom, and under what circumstances. He didn't like being thrown into situations with no plan and no way out. So when he and Spock were set to explore a planet that was believed to have been abandoned, he wasn't concerned. They were simply looking for resources, new information for the Federation, and at most, survivors or refugees.
"God, it's quiet down here. I could never live on a planet like this…reminds me too much of Iowa," Jim said, pushing some rocks around with his foot.
"The environment here is very similar to that of Vulcan, actually," Spock said matter-of-factly. Jim was examining a set of strange markings in the stone as Spock made his way over to him.
"Well, no offense, but I probably wouldn't have been spending my shore leave on Vulcan," he said, glancing back at the Vulcan, secretly hoping for some sort of reaction. Spock merely shook his head.
"I never implied it was an enjoyable climate, Captain," he said, crouching to inspect the markings as well. Jim looked over and smiled at Spock, who nodded. This was one of many moments the two had shared since they began their time on the Enterprise. Jim thought he was finally beginning to understand the Vulcan in some odd way. His mind began to wander as he got bored with the markings that Spock seemed so interested in. He instead focused his attention on a large, unusually shaped tree in the distance. At first, he thought it was a weird place for a tree, but after further consideration, he figured that he'd seen stranger things in his lifetime. It would not occur to Jim until much later exactly how much that tree would impact his life. His attention was focused on this tree, which could have been why he didn't hear the figures emerge from the rock formation behind them, not until it was too late.
Why he was unable to grab his phaser until the last second.
Why the weapons of the unknown assassins were able to hit each of them once before he could even react. Jim had always been the best shot in his class, but this time, it wasn't enough.
Within seconds, the assailants were dead.
Within seconds, Jim fell to the ground next to Spock, who lay motionless. The Vulcan's blood mingled with the dirt to form a muddy puddle around them. Spock's eyes fluttered as he looked up at the Captain.
The Captain, who was now powerless.
The Captain, who could do nothing but whisper "I'm sorry" though his tears.