The bleeping of the chronometer broke into his dream, and he yelled "OFF!" at it. He still did not feel rested and he couldn't believe that it was already time to get up. He couldn't remember what he had dreamt about, just that it had been very unsettling. That's why you're feeling so drained, he figured. Well, he was the Captain and he could not set a bad example. With a yawn that could have been heard through a number of thick bulkheads he got up to a sitting position and stretched. Then he noticed that his terminal was blinking, and that finally got him out of bed. It wasn't unusual for him to get messages in the middle of the night, but it was less common. Crewperson's tended to adjust themselves to the Captain's schedule, and send messages to him during his 'day' period.
There was only one message. It was from an Ensign Leela Gray. He knew that she was one of Uhura's people. Very quiet officer. A little too quiet, he thought. He didn't know too much else about her. That was why he was surprised at her request for a transfer. She only gave 'personal reasons' as to why she wanted to leave the Enterprise, his ship. He took such things personally. If a crewperson was experiencing problems on his ship, that reflected badly on him, and he did not want a person to suffer while on board the Enterprise, if possible. How come he wasn't aware of a problem here? He'll have to speak to McCoy about this. The doctor was supposed to detect such things. He will have to talk to this ensign. He checked the duty roster.
Ensign Gray was not due on the bridge till later. He was due on the bridge, but Spock could cover for him. He informed Spock that he will be coming a bit late to the bridge today, then he contacted McCoy.
Leonard McCoy believed he was going to have another boring day. Although he blessed God for every day that he kept him out of business, he had to admit that the boredom was getting to him. He longed desperately for a planet survey. He jumped when the table comm bleeped. I must have been far away from here he smiled inwardly.
"McCoy" he answered.
"Bones" a very tired Jim Kirk voice greeted him. McCoy was on alert.
"Bones, I have a word with you. Do you mind if I drop by?" such politeness from the Captain? McCoy didn't like it. This meant that something was wrong.
"Sure, anytime" he said.
It didn't take too long for the Captain to arrive at McCoy's office.
Now it was obvious that Kirk was under the weather, and McCoy restrained himself from passing his medical scanner over him. It's probably nothing he tried to convince himself, and he turned towards the Captain and smiled "Well, Jim. What brings you here so early in the morning?", but Kirk had no time for the doctor's bedside-manner.
"Cut it out Bones! *I* know, *you* know, that I am in a bad mood, so just let me get this out, OK?!" he said.
McCoy made an insulted face "Well, if I knew you would be bringing Grumpy in with you, I might have gone out" he retorted.
"Funny Bones. I thought *you* and Grumpy were the best of friends"
McCoy was about to answer Kirk's sarcastic comment, when the Captain raised his hands "Bones, let me finish".
McCoy realized that he'd best let the Captain say what he came to say, or he might end up in the brig. He pointed to a chair beside his desk "Well, you might as well sit down, Jim".
The Captain wasn't quite sure about this, but feeling his weariness creep over him, he decided to accept the doctor's offer.
"Why don't you tell what's bothering you to your good friend, the old country doctor" McCoy said.
At the sound of McCoy's rather patronizing voice, Kirk sighed "Bones, I found a message on my terminal this morning."
Bones looked at Kirk "So..." he drawled.
"So, an officer under *my* command has requested a transfer because of 'personal reasons' and I didn't even know that she had a problem."
McCoy was beginning to see what the Captain was getting at.
"Bones, I thought that you would inform me if a crewperson had a problem" said Kirk with an accusative tone.
"May I ask for the crewperson's name?" asked McCoy while going over in his mind on the list of crewpersons. He did not remember any particular problem and his certainly did not expect it to be the person Kirk was about to name.
"It's Ensign Leela Gray". Kirk said.
"Ensign Gray?!" said a surprised McCoy.
"She's the sweetest, quietest person on this ship. She gets along with everybody. Are you sure?" McCoy asked.
"Bones, I'm sure" said Kirk, weariness in his voice.
McCoy was tempted to ask him why he looked and sounded so miserable, but he held his tongue.
"Doctor, would you mind bringing up the ensign's psyche profile?".
The doctor did as the Captain asked, although he already knew that there was nothing out of the ordinary in that file. Kirk skimmed through the file and then looked up at McCoy. "I'm sorry Bones. I see why you had nothing to report"
"That's alright, Jim" McCoy said softly. "Listen, I'll ask her to come in and give her another evaluation, OK?" suggested McCoy.
"I don't think so, Bones" and as he saw the doctor was about to object, he raised his hand to hush him and continued "I will talk this over with her, try to find out what's going on. After that I will hand her to you. Agreed?"
The doctor had no choice. "Agreed" he said, but not wholeheartedly.
Leela was expecting that call, but it still didn't ease the butterflies fluttering in her belly. The Captain had called her in her quarters and she was now on her way to the briefing room. She tried not to look at the faces of the people passing by, but she could not avoid the crying out of Crane's voice from the other side of the corridor "HEY, LEEELAA!"
Oh Goddess, *why* now? she thought, and contemplated moving on as if she did not hear Crane, but who was she kidding? She could bet that Crane's shout was heard in all the nearby star systems and probably beyond. With a heavy sigh she turned towards the rather loud Crane. She had a smile plastered on her face by the time she had finished turning.
"Hi" she said, trying to sound cheerful.
"Leela, how are you?" an excited Crane asked.
"I'm fine. You?" she asked politely.
"Oh, I'm so excited. In five minutes I'll start my first day shift" said a proud Crane.
Now Leela had to turn around and stifle a cough. You mustn't react to this! You have to control yourself! she clenched her teeth and noted that her hands formed fists, while her short nails were piercing the skin of her palms. It was like she was holding to life itself. Then she remembered Crane, and slowly turned around to face her.
"Everything OK?" asked Crane.
"Oh, I got something caught in my throat. It's OK." and before Crane could continue she said. "Listen, I have to go. I have an appointment to keep" then she disappeared into the nearest turbolift.
Crane, finding herself alone, muttered to herself "Boy, and you think you know someone".
He was sitting by himself by the briefing room table. He could not escape the strong feeling of worry gnawing at him. *What* the hell is wrong with you?!. He knew he tended to worry, but could it have worsened during the last day or so? He attributed it to Spock's strange behaviour at first, but now he came to realize that it was something more. In fact, now that he came to think about it, he had been feeling like this ever since he went to sleep. No, he was alright before he fell asleep. It was something that happened while he was sleeping.
He was beginning to believe that there was some pattern to it when he heard the sound of the doors opening. He looked up and saw a young woman. She's just a girl, he thought. He gave her a smile. He could tell that she was very nervous by the way she moved. He noticed a slight trembling of the hands, and also the blood stains on her palms.
Leela felt that her butterflies were rising to the level of her throat. The Captain was sitting all alone, and when she looked at his face she was certain that she saw a reflection of herself in it. What could worry the Captain so much? she pondered. Then he smiled. He's trying to make me feel better, she realized. Unfortunately, this worked the opposite way. She felt guilty. I'm hurting him by leaving this ship, she realized, but she knew that she couldn't stay on the Enterprise any longer.
Jim Kirk was about to invite the ensign to sit down when a strong feeling of what was unmistakably guilt caught him unprepared. Am I doing the right thing? he asked himself, and then he tried to shake that feeling. I have to ignore these feelings. I'm the Captain. I cannot allow guilt to cloud my judgment. He stood and offered the shy ensign a seat. Then he began "Ensign, I received your request for transfer, and I must admit that I was quite surprised" The guilty pangs were getting stronger. He took a deep breath and continued "You see ensign, I like to be informed if there is a problem with one of my crewpeople. It is the CMO's duty to keep an eye on such things, so you can imagine how cross I was at Dr. McCoy for not making me aware of this problem." The guilt was rising "Thing is, my CMO was not aware that there *was* a problem, either" He noticed the ensign fidgeting in her seat, and he had such an awful feeling. I shouldn't be doing this to her, but even so he continued. "So, ensign, if there's nothing wrong, why on earth do you want to leave?"
Leela was prepared for that question "Sir" her voice was trembling "I would prefer to keep my reasons for myself. It is something very personal."
Kirk stared directly at her, and she flinched, but nonetheless, took in his gaze.
"Ensign, I respect your privacy, but on this matter I need some more substantial facts, before I can grant you a transfer, therefore, your request is denied" and he got up.
Leela could not believe that the Captain could be so unfeeling. She was about to protest his decision when the loud shrilling sound of a siren hollered, combined with Uhura's voice over the comm channels "RED ALERT!, RED ALERT!, This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!"
"Damn!" the Captain yelled, and he was out of the briefing room in a second.
Leela was left sitting by the table, her mouth wide open. Her thoughts were racing Red Alert!? Now?! What could have brought this on, and at such bad timing.
