If James T. Kirk was such a rule breaker, you'd think he could manage to break the one about holding debriefings before the crack of an Earth dawn. Yasmine didn't mind the 0645 walk down her corridor when it was a trek to her desk to run the morning systems' sweep, but to sit and listen? The cooks would have to pull extra espresso from space itself.
"Lieutenant." The sharp voice of one Hikaru Sulu cut directly toward her and he fell into pace with her smart steps.
"Lieutenant," she volleyed back.
There wasn't much else to be said as the winding halls gave way to the turbo lift and then to the conference deck. Sulu waved her in first and then took his own seat in the plush black chairs, tapping his mug against hers once in a bit of bleary solidarity.
They weren't the first to make it to the meeting, the pair from Research and Development had probably been sitting pretty in their seats for a half hour to win some unspoken game of punctuality. The historian traipsed in with the three from Logistics, and then the tactician with his bandaged arm and more pills in a bottle than a regular junkie.
Second to last to swing into a chair was Yasmine's supervisor himself, Mr. Scott. He was to serve as a chief witness to the debriefing's existence, something Pike no doubt required to keep this captain in check. Otherwise he was the lucky one free to tune out the yammering, even if it came from so pretty a mouth as Jim's.
"Careful with that braid, lassie," he chirped and gave her dark rope a tug, "there's a few night owls in here who might wanna try a strangle at this hour."
"I call dibs," Sulu piped up and the three snickered quietly as one golden boy captain moseyed into the room.
He kept his gaze trained away from Yasmine as he passed them but flicked his eyes her way when he made it to the spotless podium front and center. Her imperceptible nod was what she offered in hello, along with a sympathetic twist of her lips. With his pad set up and some notes projected onto the wall he scuffed his heel around as he bided a few minutes until they officially started.
When the air had almost become stale with waiting, Kirk broke the silence with a firm cough. "Alright, I get it, none of us are very thrilled at trudging through this red tape. But if you'll listen and just let me talk, we can be done in no time. So for those of you who happened to be under a rock yesterday, there was a brief mission on Epsilon IV that myself, Lieutenants Sulu and Roy, and Tactician Iker carried out."
Kirk let loose a myriad of impatient ticks while he gave the mission description, from shuffling feet to clearing his throat. Icing on the cake for Yasmine's amusement was the sheer number of times he looked her way, and while she was against public flirting it was endlessly entertaining during this boring meeting. It would be easy enough to play off their nonverbal conversations as him simply being restless with his burning gaze.
"Captain."
"Yes, Mr. Scott?" Kirk's stare once again feathered over Yasmine only to shift behind her to take in the Scotsman.
"Have you got an aftermath summary for me to report? I could easily be convinced to cut this short." A man bringing saving grace had never sounded so smug.
"Yes again, Scotty." Kirk's countenance brightened and he skipped directly to the last page. "Well, none of the species' major systems were permanently damaged and despite not retaining samples, we did learn a good bit about their culture by subtly observing them. Good work."
A collective sigh eased away the tension from the stark atmosphere and they were almost home free when Tactician Iker spoke up, leaving Yasmine wanting to duct tape him.
"Captain, aren't we about to pass another aggressive planet? Do we have plans to interact with them like on Epsilon IV?"
"Iker, hm." Kirk laughed and tried to wave off the question that was sure to extend the meeting. "You've been looking at the maps with Ensign Chekov again, haven't you?"
"Indeed he has, Captain. And he has a valid concern." A new voice, strangely calm and collected, came from the doorway. Spock had a pad tucked in one hand and stood unwavering under the many stares that turned and fell on him. "I believe distributing our initial analysis on the planet Drusus would be beneficial, especially to those gathered here."
"Mr. Spock, is this really –"
"Captain, if you truly wish for me to discontinue I will immediately, but many of the crew here will likely compose those who will come into contact with the Drususians, if we proceed that way." Spock still hovered at the door until Kirk sighed and waved him in. "It will only take a moment."
Kirk scoffed and swayed into the frontmost chair and let it swivel with his annoyance, and it went far enough to allow one glance at an expectant Yasmine. She shrugged, what was one to do with a Vulcan in the morning.
Of course a moment turned into five and then into a few minutes that Yasmine found herself tuning in and out of. The parts that she did catch of this Drusus included that they were humanoids extremely advanced in all aspects, yet were hostile and had returned to a more ancient system of government and living. She hadn't heard of any command orders dictating the Enterprise as the ship deemed to make contact with Drusus, but her plush chair held her captive to listen anyway.
"So they're so forwards they're backwards?" a now interested Kirk summarized.
"Affirmative."
The room then fell quiet again save for the whirring of the air conditioning too early in the morning. Shuffling feet signaled dismissal and Yasmine's boots did the same, bringing her all the way out of the door back toward her normal routine before a voice called her to a stop. It was Scotty, and with a quick whistle and turn of his head he called her to follow him the opposite way down the corridor.
It was just the two of them in the turbo lift and as soon as it slid shut he was facing her again, a peculiar quirk in his brow.
"Now, Lieutenant Roy." Scotty had a tendency to take people under his wing at random and Yasmine recognized this voice as the father figure surfacing.
"Yes, Engineer Scott."
"How long have you been working for me?"
Her gaze was trained on the lights slowly leading them toward the correct deck. "Just shy of two months, sir."
"And how many times have I seen you interacting at all tenderly with your fellow male engineers?" There was a slight smile to his tone as he obviously circled whatever his real question was.
"I believe none, sir, especially while in task."
"Then would you run me through why, pray tell, you and our own Captain Kirk were throwing lovers' glances back and forth like a game?"
Yasmine kept her breathing steady, the explanation coming easily to her lips. "With the exception of the few times his gaze made it around the room to me, I'm lost on your point."
"C'mon lassie, I saw those eyes. Jim's got pretty ridiculous ones, eh?" He nudged her shoulder and his own eyes were twinkling at her. "But look, I cannae stand here and say that wasn't real fondness between youse."
"I think you're mistaking camaraderie for fondness. He was looking because I was one of the other ones on the mission."
His pursed lips let on that he wasn't convinced, but Yasmine was not about to give them away. She wanted her and Kirk's relationship to stay beneficial, period, and was confident he felt the same. She'd just have to warm him about bedroom eyes in public.
"Alright, Yazzie, I'll leave you be about it. Now come run a damn systems' check from my deck for a change? Your desk on the bridge can wait."
She hummed a long note of agreement and followed him to Engineering, finding a pad easily and tapping away through the routine. One small thing kept nagging at her throughout, though she didn't let it manifest fully until she was back on her way to the bridge.
Fondness. Scotty was on and on about this fondness. He seemed committed to the idea that all those glances he'd clearly picked up on were of a much sweeter variety than Yasmine seemed to have noticed. But she put it out of her mind easily as the doors to the bridge slid open and she was met with yet another typical coy glance from the captain.
See? No wayward feelings.
Nyla's love affair with the coffee maker was well known throughout the ship. Her moans as she devoured the scalding caffeine each morning could be heard from hallways away and those in her path knew to part for her bright morning eyes; anyone caught in the crosshairs would be peppered with question after question inquiring as to their wellbeing. Today, however, not a soul caught sight of her until noon rolled around and Nyla finally stumbled out of her office, clutching the largest coffee her hands could wrap around.
After leaving Bones, she granted herself a brief shower before forcing her bone tired feet to carry her to her office desk where she promptly fell fast asleep, drooling all over her notes. Even after the few hours of captured sleep, she could not shake the grogginess slowing her muscles or ward off what felt like a throng of African war drums pounding against her temples.
She was on a man hunt for Captain James T. Kirk. Months on end in space and he was the only crew member who had yet to tell her anything about his life aside from petty squabbles. Today, she was determined to wring something out of that insufferable yellow shirt. Searching his room and med bay, where she found him more often than not, yielded no results. Now, she was trudging her way through the swarm of people flooding the hallways to acquire lunch and made her way up to the bridge.
"Doctor Harlow," a voice called. Her heart gave a pathetic stutter when the only thing she saw was a blue shirt and a dark head of hair attached to it. Then, Spock stepped out of the crowd of people and Nyla's pulse returned to a reasonable rate.
"Commander Spock," she replied, attempting to force a smile to her weary lips and ending up merely grimacing.
"How can I help you today?" he replied.
"Is our captain on the bridge? I need to give him a shake down."
"I am certain that would be well deserved on his part. I believe the captain returned to the bridge with Lieutenant Roy and Doctor McCoy."
"Of course he is. How does he ever get work done?" she grumbled.
Spock inclined his head, smile pulling at his mouth as the woman so normally out of reach from any negative emotion irritably chugged her coffee. "I do believe I have some spare time on my schedule if you wish me to stop by your office, Doctor," he said.
"I'm no use today. Tomorrow?" she asked.
A dip of Spock's head confirmed their appointment as the flow of people finally ceased. She would be excited for quality time with him once she had at least a full night of sleep under her belt. She would not inflict her foul mood on the good intentioned First Officer. James Kirk, however, she was fine with giving a piece of her mind.
With the hallway clear, Nyla finally entered the empty elevator and leaned against the railing while it hummed away. She shut her eyes for a moment, drawing a slow breath through her nose and the last of her coffee into her stomach.
When she opened her eyes, the elevator doors were ajar, waiting impatiently for her to exit. She strode forward, taking in the three occupants of the bridge. Kirk wore a dopey grin and had his gaze trained on the backside of Yasmine as she leaned against the back of the Helmsman chair and teased Bones with a lazy smirk on her lips. Bones was in the midst of rolling his eyes at her and the captain when he spotted Nyla emerging onto the deck.
"Love the sex hair, Doc," Yasmine called.
"You look sick," Kirk said.
Bones, in response, instantly pressed his hand to Nyla's forehead. Well, now she was warm. Heat licked up her skin at the memory of the embarrassment the previous night held. "You don't have a fever," he noted.
"I know. I feel hungover. I'm too old to be pulling all-nighters," she grumbled, swaying slightly on her feet. Bones shifted closer, poised to catch her if she keeled over on the spot.
"Who kept you up all night?" Kirk's eyebrows wagged to the stars and back, his eyes sparkling with their light. "Did it have something to do with…" His hands motioned wildly to illustrate the big frizzy mess her hair resembled.
"Just Leonard," Nyla replied, self-consciously smoothing a hand over half her curls only to feel them bounce right back out of place.
Kirk had the misfortune of sipping at his water at that moment and nearly choked on it. Yasmine rubbed his back, clicking her tongue as he coughed the water clear of his lungs. "Just?" she asked, hand lingering just slightly on their commanding officer.
"We were working, you horny buffoon," Bones grumbled.
"Understood." Kirk threw a wink that said he most certainly did not.
"How'd the debriefing go?" Nyla asked.
"Spock yanked the rug out from under my feet soon as I was done. And we're not doing this today, Doc. I already let you delve into this young promising mind yesterday."
"You gave me nothing to work with, James. Just one more session, please," she begged.
"'Fraid not," Kirk clipped.
Nyla felt her eye twitch either from the amount of caffeine in her system or his refusal to comply. Her mouth opened to lay into him when Yasmine positioned herself between the two.
"Anyone else hungry?" She played off the peacekeeping attempt casually.
"Starved," Bones agreed. His hand fell unconsciously to the small of Nyla's back, sapping the anger from her system effectively. She blinked up at him. She blinked again. How could he do that?
A flicker of the window indicated a hail along with a chime that ended the conversation. All turned their attention to the screen as a woman's face flashed on and off. Kirk furrowed his brow and called over the intercom for the crew to end their lunch break early and make their ways back to the Bridge. Uhura arrived first, saw the shaky connection and touched one button at her desk to stabilize it. The woman's face came into focus, more importantly her uniform came through: a yellow Star Fleet shirt.
"Is anyone receiving me?" she asked. She swallowed, brown eyes flickering as she took note of something alarming off screen.
"We receive you, Captain," Kirk replied.
"You're real. Oh, thank god. I'm just a Commander, Commander Y'hara, acting Captain for the U.S.S. Martian. I was beginning to worry no one would come by here. Listen, our engines and transporters have been stalled by these dastardly Drususians and we still have a man down there, our Captain actually and our communications are blocked with them, so we can't actually negotiate for his return. We were just here to promote public relations when they became hostile and kidnapped the Captain."
"Captain Kirk at you service, Commander Y'hara. I can have a recovery team down there shortly to retrieve your Captain. We will also come to you and our head engineer, Mr. Scott will take a look at those engines of yours." Kirk threw out a wink that had the Commander's already hot pink skin flushing a few shades darker.
"You're most kind. Our Captain's name is Max Whitney. He'll be most grateful to see you."
"I'll hail you again when all the preparations have been made. Hang tight over there. Kirk out."
"Captain," Yasmine jumped up readily as soon as the screen cut off, "I'm ready to assist with the team that will be on the ground."
"Wonderful. You can join me. Uhura would you mind as well? May need to communicate with the locals," Kirk said.
"Perhaps," Spock joined them on the Bridge, "it would be best if we took a more incognito approach if possible. If they are as hostile as the reports indicate, then more Star Fleet officers would not be welcome."
"You mean some fancy ass costumes?" Bones asked dryly.
"Along with someone who is capable of helping us blend while we seek out the missing Captain. Someone who can read body language about the culture around us and can see past mere words."
Nyla was rubbing a sticky spot from her pants and glanced up when silence followed the statement. "What?" she asked when she found all eyes fixed on her.
"She's not trained in the field," Yasmine blurted.
Nyla blinked, unsure whether to be reassured that the woman was protecting her or offended that she did not view her as up to the challenge.
"Us?" Kirk spoke. "I don't remember inviting you, Spock."
"You lot are going to get yourselves killed. I'm coming, too," Bones input.
"Whoa, too? I didn't agree to this. Commander Spock, I appreciate the confidence, but I'll be more hindrance than use," Nyla argued.
"No, I like the idea." Kirk rebutted. "Doctor Harlow, you're now under orders to accompany us. Get some sleep then be ready to get to work. Bones, pack a doggy bag of your med stuff. I like living. Lieutenants Roy and Uhura and Commander Spock, get your affairs in order, we leave at 1900. Let's go native, folks."