A/N:

HUGE thanks to GoodVibes for helping me type this. Rewritten.

.bdobd.

The next day Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise, NCC 1710, was ordered to Starbase XI to assume the position of the First chair of the Administrative Board.

This order was relayed by a very surprised Lieutenant Uhura, and received by an even more surprised Captain Kirk. The captain nodded twice, told the lieutenant to send his 'Affirmative' to Starfleet Command, and left the conn to Mr. Spock.

He then strolled nonchalantly over to the nearest conference room, locked the door, and burst into hysterical laughter.

.bdobd.

Tishri was disgusted, amused, and horrified. Which was, actually, a marked improvement, she decided. Yesterday she'd been disgusted, amused, horrified, surprised, and murderously angry, causing her to become hysterical. Which was never fun.

The thought of Leighton using Kirk to kick off Barnett was sickening. The Captain was an intergalactic hero, for the gods' sake, even the Cardassians liked him. Using Kirk was the way to get the public angry.

So when Barnett came to her office to ask if she knew why the Admiralty had gotten so pissy, she told him everything.

Well, her version of everything.

How Leighton had convinced her to soften up Barnett. Wasn't it great that Barnett'd been too smart for that?

How Leighton had planned to elevate Arya to First chair, and then switch the placements, which required less paperwork. Wasn't it good that she caught that in the nick of time, and how smart they'd been making it backfire?

And how Leighton had convinced Kirk to – against his will, probably blackmailed, the poor dear – turn the Admiralty against Barnett. Shouldn't we let Kirk go, just this once? You belong with the Admiralty anyway, let's be grateful that the good Captain did us a favor!

And Tishri went on like this for quite some time.

And is was so... boring.

Seeing Leighton get his impeachment notice had been wonderful. Barnett had 'secretly' recorded their meeting, as she'd expected. He came by later apologize, but she wasn't angry. She had made her own recordings to send to the judge that was to prosecute Leighton for corruption. Explaining their existence would've been difficult.

She destroyed her tapes later. Never a good idea to leave such things lying about.

.bdobd.

Jim would be eternally grateful that the Enterprise had sent him off to Starbase XI in a shuttle, instead of taking him there herself.

He couldn't bear the thought of his crew seeing the look on his face when he walked into the Administrative Hall: horror, fear, and bemusement, which, when compressed onto one face, made for an expression that looked suspiciously like panic.

The Board was a mess: that he'd known going in. But my god, no one here could do anything. A vacant Third chair, a Second chair filled by a scared little Arya who had no idea what she was doing (and knew it), an inefficient staff, and himself at the head.

He was doomed.

So when his mother called on Day Three, he was ecstatic.

"Mom!"

Winona blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Well hello there!" she grinned. "And how are you?"

Jim gave a melodramatic shudder. "Don't even ask. How've you been?"

"Bored. That Third chair you've got is literally the only job in the Fed that doesn't require you pass a physical with flying colors."

Jim snorted. "You want it?"

"What?"

The question had been asked as kind of a joke, but it was out there now, so why not? "Do. You. Want. The chair?"

Winona's face hardened to stone. "James T. Kirk, I raised you better than this. You do NOT just give away Base chairs."

Jim stiffened, then decided to go for the gold. If he let this hang, it would only get awkward, and if the chair was kept vacant he was going to kill something. "You do if they're improperly manned, and you know who to replace them with."

"James!"

Kirk leaned forward. "Mom: I have a Second chair that doesn't know Fleet regs on a Starbase. She only gets Fed rules. I don't even have a Third chair, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I can't call any of my own crew in to sort it out. I'm screwed. I'm totally fucking screwed, and you can help. You know the regs. Fuck, you made some of them, and I can trust you. I know you're not going to be doing this to fuck with some random councilperson. And I can't move forward with 41 Beta's application without all the paperwork, and you can do that."

Winona was staring at him as though he'd grown another head. "Holy shit. You're serious."

"Completely. I need someone I can trust as my second, and I can't have Spock. I trust you, and you need a job."

Her lips thinned, and her eyes narrowed. "You know how this'll look, right?"

Jim gave a lopsided grin, "When'd I start caring about that? Come on, you raised me better."

Winona smiled. "Get my forms done, I'll be over asap."

"Thank gods." He was clearly relieved, "You have no idea how much you'll be helping me.

His mother flapped a hand nonchalantly. "Of course, of course. See you soon. Kirk out."

"Thanks again. Kirk out."

.bdobd.

When Winona Kirk did arrive at Starbase XI a week later, it was a cause for much speculation among Starfleet personnel. It was also the cause of much distress to one particular Andorian.

When Tishri heard the news, it was all she could do to keep from laughing. She loved Arya, she really did, but by gods, Kirk replaced her with his mother? Too funny.

And Ayra was so upset, she clearly thought it was the end of the universe. "Honey really, Third chair is NOT that bad. Just think of it as probation." It was hard being sympathetic over a comm connection.

The woman in question was still sobbing, "No, Tishri, he didn't move me, he fired me. He said he had someone else waiting. There's an empty seat now!"

The older Andorian blinked. That was quick. "How'd he line her up so fast? Did he know the Admiralty was going to elect him?"

"He didn't." Clearly hurt by her mentor's callousness, Ayra gave a loud sniff. "He had no idea. Oh Tishri, what am I going to do?"

The politician in question had to resist rolling her eyes. "First, stop crying. Then, take a shuttle back here and get a position as a city planner."

"City planner?"

"Yes, a city planner." She pinned the hapless woman with a stare. "You, my dear, are doing it the old-fashioned way from now on. Bottom rung up. I'm not giving you any more freebies, if James T. Kirk thinking that you need work, then by Gods, you need work. The man's practically his own political party. Now get your antennae over here and let's see if we can't get you prepped for a minor election. Alright?"

This was clearly NOT what Arya'd wanted to hear, but she couldn't exactly refuse. To be rejected by both Kirk and Tishri would mean a total political suicide. She hung her head. "I'll be over as soon as I can."

"Good girl. Tishri out."

"Arya out."

The older Andorian knit her hands behind her head and leaned back in her chair. What to do now. Planet 41 Beta's admittance to the Federation was almost guaranteed, the Federation needed as many citizens as it could get its hands on. The planet wasn't even the issue any more, not really. It was those damned board seats.

Once a Starbase got publicized, more and more captains remembered its name and asked to be docked there. That meant more independent businesses coming into cater to the needs of the crew, which meant more revenue going to the Base and to the board itself. But Captain Kirk couldn't say on as board head, he had a ship to look after.

That left only the Second seat filled, with Mrs. Kirk, who really was not a bad politician. She'd been part of that Europa Convention and that had certainly gone well. Still two seats unfilled, Winona could only really recommend one in practice, as the lowers in the base wouldn't follow the orders of an administration that was being blatantly manipulated. But who would she pick? There was always-

wheep wheep

"Oh, for gods' sakes." The glare Tishri gave the comm could melt dilithium. She presses the 'Answer' key, expecting to see Arya, or Barnett, or maybe even Tom, but-

"Captain Kirk?"

The captain threw her a grin, "That's me. You know about the whole Base XI thing, right?" He gave her a knowing look, "Or is it insulting for me to even ask?"

Tishri, who was still stunned, just managed to stammer out a faint, "Well, yeah, I know about it."

Another blinding smile. "So you know that there's a seat still unfilled, right?"

Blinking rapidly, and trying to regain control of the conversation, the Andorian slammed up her masks. "One seat Captain?" she asked slyly, "Surely you're not planning on leaving the Enterprise understaffed?" Because if he was, gods, what a bargaining chip that would-

"Of course I'm not abandoning her!" Fuckit. Was nice to see some Fleet loyalty though. "I'm just working in the moment. Currently, there is one seat open on the board, the Third chair. Do you want that seat?"

"Yes." She hadn't actually realized it until he'd asked, but really it was The Perfect Job. Nothing too strenuous, nothing too boring, no chance of Thkahn calling. "I'd love the position."

"Wonderful!" Another grin. 'No wonder the media loves him' "How soon can you get here?"

"Um." 'Um? What the fuck was that?' "I wasn't expecting to leave, I'll need to talk to my staff..."

"Of course! Say your goodbyes, and all that." If he was lying, then he was bloody fantastic at it. "Can you be here by Sunday?"

Five days? Hells, she'd been expecting three. "That's plenty of time."

"Great, I've already got you a ticket."

'What?'

"Excuse me?"

Shameless grin now. "Sorry. Didn't make sense, making you pay your own way. I'm sending it to you now," and when Tishri checked her downloads, the damned filed'd been downloading for two minutes.

She gave him a genuine smile. "You cheeky bastard. You started sending the ticket before you even called me."

He was beaming again, "No sense in wasting time. See you Sunday."

Tishri was still grinning. "Sunday it is."

"Kirk out."

"Tishri out."

The Andorian sat in silence for a few moments, thinking over her situation. Then, suddenly, a thought flew across her mind. 'Well, fuck,' she thought, 'I've just been played.'

Then she tilted her head back and laughed loud and strong. 'This is going to be SO much fun.'

.bdobd.

The first thing Tishri did when she arrived at the base was clean out her new office. In the process, she found several bottles of illegal Romulan liquor, which clearly had belonged to Leighton in his short time as Third chair. Relations with the Romulans being what they were, the alcohol was now not only illegal, but in truly bad taste. She gleefully sent the ale to the Admiralty to be used as part of a pending corruption investigation on Tom's time on the administration.

This move only added to Jim's confusion, and whenever Jim was confused, he talked to Spock. Called Spock, in this case: Jim was hating not being able to talk face-to-face with his crew. The Vulcan, was, unfortunately, not particularly helpful.

"I see no logical reason for the former Councilperson's actions."

"Damn. I was hoping I'd missed something." The blond shook his head. "I just do not get her. She wanted Barnett off to help Arya, that's also the reason for getting Tom ousted. I get that."

Spock broke in, "Have you any clear proof of her actions, as related to these situations?"

"It's all second-hand stuff, but it's good enough for me. Tom was too riled to lie."

"If what you are proposing is true, the former councilwoman is guilty of the corruption of the Starfleet electoral process."

"Again, it's nothing concrete enough for an investigation. What I don't get is how easily she's accepting my position. She should want to kill me, but she seems perfectly happy with me in control."

"Perhaps she has seen the illegality of her past actions, and is now attempting to 'make up for them.'"

"That's what I'd thought, I was counting on it, actually. But then she brought the ale. So now I'm back to square one."

"I do not understand your explanation. Why do you believe that Tishri was not trying to make amends?"

Jim smirked. "She came into my office – it's quite a nice one, by the way – and she was practically skipping. She found some Romulan ale-" he broke off at Spock's suddenly distinct non-expression, "I know, right? Anyway, she found some of it in a drawer in Tome's desk, and wanted permission to send it to the Admiralty as evidence in the investigation."

"Did you approve her request?"

"Of course I did! Christ, I'm not that heartless. Anyway, so if she was trying to make amends, she wouldn't want Tom getting into any more trouble. She'd feel too guilty. And she's definitely not doing it for Andoria, she wouldn't want any trouble with any governor –,"

"Former governor."

"He's got political leverage in that part of the galaxy, he still counts."

Spock looked almost-exasperated. "I am continually amazed by the illogical actions of others."

Jim flashed him a smile. "And there are only four parties involved here, you should see some Terran family dramas. They're insane." Spock blinked in a Vulcan wince. "She wouldn't want any trouble with any governors that govern planets that make raw materials, and Q has a great quadrotriticale crop now."

Spock nodded once in acknowledgement. Jim propped his head on his fist, "How's my ship been?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. "It has not been destroyed, insofar as I can tell."

The blond snorted with laughter. "See, you do have a sense of humor. Any other news?"

"Negative."

"All right then." The human yawned and stretched. "I have to get some sleep. The new councilpeople are gonna be sworn in tomorrow, it's gonna be crazy around here."

Spock gave a short nod of acknowledgement. "Live long and prosper, Captain."

"Peace, and long life, and I'm starting to think that you're forgetting my name just to annoy me. Kirk out."

"Most certainly, Captain. Spock out."

.bdobd.

The swearing-in of Federation Councilmembers had, like wine, gotten more complex with age. However, wine was almost guaranteed to go down easier.

These ceremonies used to be simple, quick little things, a semi-archaic holdover from the time of the Earth-Romulan conflict and the War of Charon. Now, these rituals had mutated into something that put Earth's Mayan culture to shame.

The politicians themselves didn't do much, they were a kind of boring sideshow in a gaudy diplomatic spectacle that the vast majority of people agreed was either ridiculous or in bad taste, or both. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people did not hold political office, so protests hadn't really gotten anywhere.

Why the Enterprise was expected to attend was both very obvious, and, with a bit of thought, very stupid. It was the flagship of Starfleet, with the biggest lasers, so it must attend. Whether or not this display of arms was actually a good idea was a question no one really seemed to care about.

This oversight was thrown sharply into focus when two Zedakitian warships, ships that should not have existed, arrived at the ceremony.

.bdobd.