Chapter 2: Wanted

AN: Not all of these installments will be written in dialogue-only format. Sometimes, however, the characters start talking in my head and will not pipe down until I get their blitherings on paper.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek. This story is written with love for the characters, and no copyright infringement is intended.


"I mean it, Jim. These people could change how we think about medicine. I'm just askin' for a month. We're gonna be in the system anyway."

"Not for a month, Bones."

"I'm telling you, this is important. Their medicine is completely different than anything I've seen before."

"I appreciate that, but you do have a job on the ship. This morning you had some pretty strong opinions about whether you had time to finish annual physicals."

"A trained monkey could do the annual physicals. M'Benga and Chapel certainly can, particularly if you and Spock refrain from acting like fools on away teams. If you two would stop antagonizin' the natives –"

"We never antagonize them."

" – Or even better, stay on the ship like you're supposed to – "

"Bones."

"– Medical might have a chance between stitching you up to do the physicals. Seriously, Jim, you've been attracting trouble like horseflies to a stable for months. Can't you join a single away team without landing in my sickbay?"

"We have a mission."

"That pixie dust they use might be a new life form. This is completely consistent with the mission."

"I'll give you two weeks."

"I'll barely be started in two weeks, Jim. We have nothing in the databases. Look, I can keep in touch with M'Benga on subspace, talk him through any emergency surgeries –"

"Two weeks, Bones."

"Dammit, Jim – "

"Two weeks, and I´ll stay off away teams until you get back so you can concentrate."

"…Really?"

"Sure."

"And Spock."

"Not a chance."

...

"Are ye ready to beam aboard, Doctor?"

"All set, Scotty.

"Need some help with that, Bones?"

"Got it. I swear, it´s easier to balance during a warp jump than during a beamup."

"How was the pixie dust?"

"Incredible. I´ll be going over my notes and these samples for months. Jim, the chromosomal interplay between the nanogenes and the – " *

"Save it for Spock, Bones."

"Speaking of Spock, how were your last two weeks?"

"Sitting on the ship reading reports about planets and civilizations instead of meeting them? Longest two weeks of my life. Couldn't end soon enough."

"Now don't be getting any ideas. Two weeks does not the end of a jinx make. A fellow might think that someone else would have the bad luck for a while, but you seem to be hogging it for the whole ship. I'm going to stop you now, because I know that look on your face but you know that I don't want the rest of the crew hurt any more than you do. I just wish you could catch a break."

"It's good to see you, too, Bones. I'm glad you're back."


*Nanogenes are also not mine, and are borrowed with love from the ninth incarnation of Doctor Who.

What did you think? Like many authors on this site, I'm always trying to get better. Please let me know what worked (or didn't), via review or PM. On this installment, I added a couple of slang phrases that I'm not sure were in parlance when TOS aired. If you see something that is out of place, I'd particularly appreciate it if you pointed it out.

-Arhie