James T Kirk; The Next Generation

What to Wear

James T Kirk was happy; happy to be breathing in fresh air. From the moment they had left their home on Timus Prime, and until they had beamed down to Ashalla, the capital city of Bajor, Jim and his wife Myran had been breathing filtered air on various Transport vessels and space stations. To be sure, Jim Kirk had spent many years aboard starships breathing in filtered air as well, but…nothing beats fresh air.

In fact, he remembered getting gently ribbed by his peers for risking his life as much as he did, especially when he became the captain of his own ship and had a first officer to do all the physical work. But one of the reasons Jim Kirk liked to go on landing parties was so that he could breathe real air. Growing up on a farm, as he did, always instilled Jim Kirk with the yearning of inhaling real fresh and crisp air.

Ashalla was a beautiful city. The Bajorans were a friendly people, and as Myran had pointed out, had made great strides since the days of the occupation. The once battered cities, including Ashalla, had slowly recaptured the beauty they had before the Cardassians had arrived and occupied Bajor.

The simple market square that Jim Kirk and Myran strode through was crowded and full of life. A rain system had passed through the area for several days, meaning that the first real day of sunlight had brought a feeling of joy to the market square, and the crowds as well. Jim smiled at a cluster of Bajoran children ran past him and Myran as they chased some sort of flying toy.

"Robert," Myran said to Jim, "I need to use the facilities, so don't go wandering off like you always do."

Jim Kirk, who had been using the alias or Robert Crane for nearly two years, even to his wife, smiled at Myran while motioning to a clothing store nearby.

"I'll be over there in that store," Jim told her, "this leather jacket is getting to warm. I'm going to see if they have something lighter I can get."

"Alright," Myran said, and then she turned and headed off in the opposite direction.

-
Inside the clothing store Jim entered, there were all kinds of customers. Many of them were from off world, and were no doubt tourists as well. Many of the alien races he saw in the store were unfamiliar to him, but he had been used to that observation ever since he had joined Starfleet. And, sure enough, he saw four of the modern age Klingons shopping and looking around as well. The ridges on their foreheads made the modern Klingons seem even more menacing than ever, and it was taking Jim sometime to get accustomed to.

Making his way through the various clothing sections, he finally found himself in the woman's scarf section. It was almost like tradition that whenever he and Myran went shopping, no matter where they were, he would get her a new scarf. The selection, which was dominated by locally created scarves, was quite extensive. But when Jim came across a selection of scarves made from pure Tholian silk, he knew she would want one.

It was at that moment, as he looked through the selection of Tholian scarves, Jim began to overhear a conversation. He looked over and saw a teenaged girl, of African descent, with a man who she called dad, her father no doubt, and they were having a controlled argument over an article of clothing she wanted to get.

"Dad," Rebecca Sisko said, "why can't I get it?"

The girl held up a very slinky two piece bathing suit. Jim Kirk smiled inside, instantly knowing what the two were arguing over. Though he had never had a teenage daughter, Jim had, on more than one occasion, seen the same scene play out at other clothing stores he had visited in his life. The daughter wanted to wear something that the father thought was inappropriate. The daughter contested the father's judgment, and would no doubt stall for time, until the mother could miraculously appear and save the day for the daughter. Jim decided to listen in and see if he was right. What else did he have to do?

"Rebecca," Benjamin Sisko, with his deep baritone voice, said to his daughter, "You're only twelve.."

"I turn thirteen in two months," Rebecca countered.

"It wouldn't matter if you were twelve, thirteen or fourteen, because the only place I would even let you wear that bathing suit, if that's what you call it, is inside your room; if that."

"Oh come on dad," Rebecca pleaded, "Everyone is wearing these now."

"Fortunately, for them," Benjamin said in the tone of a father, "everyone isn't my daughter, but you are. Now," Sisko said, with a broad smile, while motioning towards the more bland selection of bathing suits, "there are many nice choices here."

The girl stared at the selection her father was pointing out to her then sighed, and shook her head defiantly.

Suddenly a woman came from another section of store, carrying an assortment of clothes as well, draped over her arms.

"Rebecca," Kasidy Yates said, with a slight tone of anger in her voice, "I can hear you from all the way over there. Now what seems to be the problem?"

Rebecca held up the bathing suit she wanted to get.

"Oh honey," Kasidy said to Rebecca, "that is so lovely."

Upon hearing that, Ben Sisko spun around on his heels.

"Kas, how can you even say that?" Benjamin Sisko asked with a laugh and a tone of disbelief in his voice.

Jim Kirk had to fight urge to laugh out loud. The argument was going just as Kirk had expected. The teenage girl, now armed with her mother as a solid ally, was surely going to get the suit she wanted. If the man were smart, Kirk concluded, he'd just give up; the fight was over.

As the mini-argument waged on, Jim Kirk shifted his view when he noticed that several of the Klingons he had seen earlier were, at least in Jim Kirk's opinion, preparing to attack the bickering family. The Klingons had separated earlier and now, from four different directions, they were slowly converging as they pretended to look at the assorted clothing racks. Something was about to go down and Jim Kirk going to be right in the middle of it; or was he? Was Jim's imagination getting the best of him?

It's when he saw one of the Klingons holding a D'k Tahg, which was a Klingon made knife, that Jim Kirk instantly knew his instincts were right; and he had to do something to stop it!

Continued…