Stranded

Chapter 3

Off the coast of Bear Island….

As Kirk walked across the bow of his boat he couldn't help but smile. It had taken them a full 8 months, to construct the dry dock but, when it was finished, it was the finest dry dock in the world. Maege and Dacey weren't happy with the delay but, they just had to deal with it. The dry dock was crucial to Bear Island's new fleet. Without the docks, newly envisioned trade fleet and navy could go nowhere for repairs. He wouldn't be spending hard earned dragons on as fleet that couldn't be maintained more than 10 years. Suddenly, he was broken from his thoughts as his executive officer came up to him.

"Mr. Davos, how soon until we get to The Motte. " Kirk said.

Davos looks at his captain and answered.

"Captain, we will be there in a day, maybe less, if we have a head wind." Davos said.

"Very well, make sure that all the junior officers are present during the night shift. I want some more night training before they bed down for the night. I want them to bring their sextants. If they are to be our new officers, then they better learn how to use the damn things." Kirk said.

"I'll have the watches posted as normal and have our navigator know to get some rack now before the night." Davos said.

Kirk nods.

"Also, how much cargo did we finally get onboard?" Kirk asked.

"We are heavy two tons of goods. The Enterprise is drafting 2 and a half feet below normal."

Kirk nods his head again.

"Very well Davos. You have the conn until evening. I'll relieve you after my dinner and take the conn while the navigator sets up the night time lesson." Kirk said.

"Aye sir." Davos said.

Kirk made his way into the captain's cabin beneath the wheel house. It was larger than it needed to be but, his wife insisted. It was the only place where they could engage in their nightly activities while at sea and after looking at his beautiful wife, he couldn't help but agree.

As he took a seat at his desk, thoughts of his executive officer permeated his mind. Mr. Davos had come far since the time that he had first met him. When he had first met him, he had been a bitter soul drinking his life away. Dacey had called him the onion knight, a knighted pirate, who hated his liege lord with a passion.

Everyone knew the tale of the onion knight. A pirate and smuggler who had smuggled onions into Storms End defying the Tyrell barricade. In return for his bravery his liege lord, Stannis Baratheon, had given him a knighthood but, since he had broken the crime of smuggling, Stannis had taken his hand.

When Jim and Dacey met him on their travels, he had told them of his tale and how openly he despised the lord of the land. Jim took pity on him. In him, he saw a kindred soul, a man willing to sacrifice everything to do what was right. When they left him at Storms End, they gave him a small bag of gold and directions to get to Bear Island. It didn't surprise Jim when Davos showed up a year later with his wife and sons in tow.

Kirk looked down at the paper in front of him, the fourth ship in the Enterprise Class Frigates was almost finished and it needed a captain. Kirk sighed. He hated the thought of losing Davos but, his time had come. He regretted not giving him command of one of the other two enterprise class ships but, one of the ships was one that Glover had paid for so, it would be crewed by an Glover man and the other was given to Ulthar Mormont, Maege Mormont's cousin. He couldn't really dispute Maege's decision. Ulthar was a seasoned sailor and until Davos learned how to read, he couldn't command. It was one of the disqualifiers that Jim himself stressed to Maege Mormont about their burgeoning navy. How could he trust a captain to follow written orders or make logs of his journeys if they couldn't read.

Jim looked down at the paper once again and frowned. Seriously, why did Maege insist on calling his new ship the "Bear Claw." It sounded like a desert, he had had when he travelled to the twentieth century. Jim signed the paper officially naming the ship, "The Bear Claw", and assigning Davos Seaworth as its new captain.

Jim sat down and opened the small window to the rear of his cabin. He sat down and looked out the window. Looking at the sea always calmed him. To know that he would spend the rest of his days as captain of a ship named the Enterprise made him smile. Here at the helm of his ship he was once again making a difference. Granted the stakes weren't as high as they were when he was a starship captain but, he was still making a difference. He leaned back into his chair and thought about the friends he'd never see again. In his mind's eye, he could just see Bones smiling at him. Bones would find it extremely fitting that he'd beaten the odds again. Not only had he escaped death once more but, he'd somehow conned god into giving him another shot at the Enterprise. Just the thought of McCoy thinking that brought a laugh out of the old captain.

Then he thought about Spock. His first officer would quote the prime directive and how precariously close he was to stepping over that fine line of his. Jim shook his head. Spock was one to talk about the prime directive, he'd seen him many times choose what was right over what was prime. Christopher Pike was a prime example of that. Spock wouldn't mind stepping a foot or two over the line but, he'd never consent to going so far that you couldn't see the line anymore. The prime directive was there for a reason, without it, there would be more tyrants then there are now.

Jim put those thoughts out of his mind and went to bed. He laid down his head and sighed. He thought about the changes that he had made and smiled. The closest thing to a prime directive violation he'd done was introducing the Bessemer furnace but, he'd seen a primitive model of one in Tobho Mott's shop in Kings Landing. It wasn't a perfected version but, Tobho had almost gotten all the kinks worked out. The only problem he had was funding the thing. Luckily for Kirk, he had bought Tobho Mott's services, and sent him to Bear Island. He had taken all of his belongings and his apprentices to Bear Island six months after meeting Kirk. After he reached Bear Island, Jim Kirk had partnered up with him and set up the KirkenMotts Steelworks. He had altered Tobho's bessimer furnace and improved it enough to make it work. He had also added a bicycle contraption that could mechanically run the blower system. He wasn't as good an engineer as Montgomery Scott but, it wasn't difficult to put together a bike stand and some air bladders.

He and Tobho had started small but, that soon became a thing of the past. He had completed the second Bessimer furnace a year ago and plans for a third were already in motion. KirkenMotts Steelworks was quickly becoming a household name in Westeros. They churned out everything from steel swords to pots and pans (by far their best sellers). They would import pig iron from Deepwood Motte and return they would export finished goods. The trade route was quickly making the Glovers and the Mormonts fairly rich. He had urged Maege and Tobho to keep the Bessimer process a secret for as long as they could. With the secret intact both Maege and Tobho could ensure Bear Islands prosperity for a generation.

As Kirk reminisced about his fortunes, the churning of the oceans soon had him feeling drowsy. He had stayed up last night and most of the day ensuring that the cargo was properly stowed and the ship was thoroughly cleaned. It seemed all his labors were finally catching up to him. As he made his way to his bed to take a long deserved sleep, he couldn't help but, thank whatever gods in the heavens decided to place his tired old soul here. Here he was energized and lived a life he had never dreamed of. As he closed his eyes he felt the ocean breeze waft in from the open window. As the waiting arms of Hypnos claimed him, he would swear he heard a voice, saying, "you're welcome" in his head.

Hi, just another small chapter for those of you that are still reading. It's a quick explanation of things to come and Jim Kirk's loose interpretation of the prime directive. I know that it seems that that this is too star trek to your liking but, the game of thrones stuff doesn't happen until much later. I promise you, Jim Kirk is just getting started. By the time my writers block starts up again, Jim Kirk will adopt one character and foster another...oops too much of a spoiler. Please read and review.