Merry Christmas! Enjoy! More chapters to come after the New Year.
"Okay, whose great idea was it to decorate the whole ship with pink tinsel for the winter holidays?"
Captain James T. Kirk was in the conference room talking to all of the senior crew and staff organizers. Apparently someone had taken advantage of the replicators to make endless amounts of the bright pink stuff to decorate every room (minus the living quarters) with.
Pavel Chekov and Janice Rand squirmed in their seats. They had a hunch they knew who it was.
"Mr. Chekov," Kirk said, looking towards him from the head of the table, "you are training to become Security Chief. I'm going to assign you to figure out who did it and why."
"Aye, Keptain. Although, do I have to throw whomever it vas into the brig for this?"
Kirk laughed. "No, of course not, unless they're armed and dangerous. Just get them to make things more… Christmas-y. Not like Valentine's Day."
Kirk then dismissed everyone. "Oh, and one last thing, we will be holding our holiday party meeting at 2000 hours. If anyone is interested in attending the party, especially to take part in the Secret Santa, its best to come then."
As people began to cheer and clear the room, Spock walked alongside the captain. " 'Secret Santa', captain? If I am remembering Earth celebrations correctly, the concept of how the mythical figure of Saint Nicholas, whom was called Santa Claus, already acted in secret. So, I am highly puzzled as to why one would announce a concept and call it a secret."
McCoy rolled his eyes as Kirk gave a smirk and laughed a little. "It's somewhat difficult to explain, Spock. Basically, you pull a name out of a hat at random and have to get a gift for that person, without letting them know." Kirk explained.
"Besides, Spock, you got one part of Christmas taken care of for us." McCoy added.
"Oh?" Spock raised his eyebrow. He had a small hunch he knew what sort of joke McCoy was going to jab at him.
"Yes, if Santa came here looking for an Elf to help him, he wouldn't have to look very far!"
McCoy and Kirk walked off laughing. Spock merely chose to ignore this and go back to his work at the science station back on the bridge.
"Miss Primerose! I know you are in there. Please come out." Chekov said, banging at the bathroom doors in the rec room.
"A minute for me is a different minute for you outside." Primerose replied. "That's what the picture on the wall in here says."
"That's… wery nice of you to point out…" Chekov said, rolling his eyes. Her procrastination skills were amazing. "So please hurry. I need to talk to you."
"Is this about the dinner date I wanted to have with you on Christmas Eve?" Primerose called.
"No, not at all." Chekov said, blushing. Dinner date… He couldn't imagine what Primerose had in mind. She never usually initiated any dates.
"Good!" there was the sound of a toilet being flushed and hand washing before she finally came out. "So what did you need then?"
He held out a piece of pink tinsel to her, which she blinked at. "Did you put all the pink tinsel up?"
"Of course!" Primerose said, sounding offended at the prospect Chekov was unhappy with her decorating. "Why do you sound so upset? Didn't I do a good job?"
"You did a wery good job, Miss Primerose. Just… vhy all the pink? Pink isn't a Christmas color." Chekov said.
Primerose went over to a table where she had a box of decorating supplies (more pink tinsel) and pulled out a book from the box. It was actually the book that McCoy had given to her for her birthday, on all of the various Human customs.
"In the book that Doctor McCoy had given to me, it said that tinsel was used to help make a Christmas tree look sparkly. It didn't specify which colors to use, so I used my favorite color, pink."
"Vell, ve need to make this ship look more like its winter holiday time and not Walentine's Day. Ve need to use more Russian colors, such as red, green and gold."
Russian colors? Was that really the best I could do? Chekov mentally beat himself on that. He really needed to get better control over his love of Russia. He was relieved when Primerose giggled and went to replicate some gold tinsel instead of roll her eyes.
"Alright, first off, I want to thank Primerose for helping with the decorating. And, er, making it a wonderful Christmas theme." Kirk said, at 2000 hours, where a few people, mostly from the senior staff, had gathered for instructions about the holiday party. Before this meeting, Primerose and Chekov worked quickly to replace the pink tinsel with gold, putting up green Christmas trees, and getting various ornaments. The ship finally looked proper.
"And now comes the fun part. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and at 1900 hours we'll have our holiday party and our Secret Santa." Kirk continued. "So, I put all of your names in this Santa Hat and now you'll all pull one name out. Don't let anyone know who you have, and remember it's for fun."
He went up to Uhura first, who pulled a tag out.
Primerose
Next was Scotty.
Rand
Sulu was third.
McCoy
Primerose was fourth in line.
Sulu
Chekov was after her.
Kirk
Doctor McCoy rolled his eyes as he pulled his out.
Spock
Chapel was hoping to get Spock, but got disappointed.
Scotty
Rand pulled a tag out hoping for Kirk.
Chekov
Spock didn't show any emotion as he pulled his tag out.
Chapel
And Kirk took the last one.
Uhura
"Alright, no trading, no telling. Good luck!" Kirk said, and the crew scattered and left to find their respective gifts.
"Okay Pavel, you can totally keep yourself together. You have the perfect chance to impress the captain with his Christmas gift. Except what does one give to a captain?"
Chekov wasn't sure how obvious it was, but he highly admired Captain Kirk. No matter what the situation, Kirk was calm and had a level head. He never left any of his crew behind. If something went wrong, he always led the team to figure out how to resolve the problems. It was becoming rarer and rarer to find captains like that, since now most First Officers led away teams and missions. He remembered the legendary story of how Kirk as a First Officer saved many lives from a vampire-cloud creature. Even then, Kirk always put others before himself.
Chekov always wanted to be a captain, and after learning and meeting and working under Kirk, he hoped he would be at least half as good as Kirk was.
Still, if he wanted to be a halfway decent navigator, he'd have to get a good gift for Kirk.
He tried to think of things Kirk liked. Not much came to mind. Women were an obvious choice, but Chekov was not a female nor was he going to find a woman to pair up with the captain. (Janice Rand would never forgive him).
Chekov decided to ask Primerose for advice. As a princess she would at least have advice on leadership and what they enjoyed.
Primerose was wrapping the Triplecettan crystal dagger she found in the bottom of her trunk. She assumed that Sulu, who was fond of fencing and swords, would enjoy trying to learn to use the deadly yet beautiful dagger. This gift was far too easy.
She just finished wrapping it with shiny pink paper when the door chime rang. "Come in." she called. The doors opened and closed. She blushed. She could feel it was Chekov. "Hi Chekov. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be wrapping your gift?"
He laughed nervously. "I need advice… for a friend."
"A… friend?"
"Y-yes. My friend wants to buy a gift for the er… mayor of Leningrad."
"Oh, Chekov, then it's a good thing they went to you. You know all about Russian culture and what an appropriate gift is." Primerose said, sitting on the edge of her bed, motioning for him to sit next to her. They both blushed at the close contact but neither moved away.
"Well, er, I wanted the opinion of a beautiful princess! What would you give to a person of leadership?" Chekov asked.
Primerose put her finger to her lips and cocked her head sideways in her trademark style. "Hmm… Leadership loves the old ways and wealth. Even though I have loads of jewels at home, I always enjoy getting more jewels, especially pink ones. And when I speak of the old ways, I wouldn't mind getting history books or lessons on the Triplecettan Warrior Queen, my great-grandmother. She was the greatest of all queens. I'll never be half as good as her when I ascend to the throne."
"Why was she so great?" Chekov asked.
"Never mind, I'll tell you another time." Primerose said. "So, anyway, since I'm sure your friend can't just get a jewel, I'd suggest an antique."
"An antique? Okay, I think I can do zat!" Chekov said beaming.
Primerose raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, er, I mean, I'm sure my friend can do zat."
Christmas Eve came very quickly. Spock was at Sickbay for his routine physical, and watched as Nurse Chapel was preparing and calibrating the equipment for Vulcan readings. "Have you finished finding a gift for your Secret Santa, Mr. Spock?" she asked.
"Of course. It would be illogical to put it off until last minute, Nurse." Spock said.
"Do Vulcans celebrate a season of sharing and giving, Mr. Spock?"
"No, we do not have any form of holiday like Humans do. Vulcans do have days of remembrance where we meditate on certain subjects. If history is to truly repeat itself, we must learn from our past mistakes and our ancestors' mistakes and prevent further disaster. It is a logical precaution."
"Then why are taking part in what must seem to you a most illogical event?"
Spock raised an eyebrow. Christine Chapel was a most interesting Human. He was fully aware of her feelings for him, and how she was aware he could not possibly love her back in the way she wanted. It was interesting how she tried so hard to at least use the situation to learn more about him and his culture…
"Because the captain made it clear he wanted me to try." Spock said, and left it at that, as McCoy walked into the room. "You are late by three minutes doctor."
"I'm aware Spock. I had to finish wrapping my Secret Santa gift. Now, let me hurry and finish checking you so that way I can go help set up for the holiday party." McCoy said, getting out his tricorder.
Spock raised an eyebrow. At the very least, Nurse Chapel was not as abrupt as the good doctor.
1900 hours arrived before most of the crew knew it. Primerose had obviously had run of the decorating committee, having pink sparkles and glitter everywhere. Once everyone had arrived, Kirk stood near the Christmas tree and cleared his throat. "Welcome to the annual holiday party everyone. Those of you whom are taking part of Secret Santa should now exchange gifts. And I wanted to thank the whole crew for everything that was done this year and every year. From the cooks in the galley who feed us, to the engineers who keep our beloved ship sailing through space, to the navigators and helmsmen who steer us safely no matter what the situation, I could never have asked for a better crew."
Everyone clapped, except for Spock, although Kirk saw a slight hint at a smile that only he could see.
Just then, Chekov went up to Kirk. "For you, Keptain Kirk. I got your name out of the bag." He held out a small object wrapped up.
"Thank you Pavel." Kirk said as he opened it to find an ancient paper copy of William Shakespeare's works. "It is truly wonderful! How did you know that I was looking for some old books to read?"
"Ah, sir, it is a Russian inwention to share antiques." Chekov said. Kirk laughed, and Chekov knew at once he did great with his choice of a gift. He would have to thank Primerose later.
Primerose went up to Sulu with the wrapped up crystal dagger. "For you, Sulu." she said proudly.
"Oh, Primerose, thank you!" he opened it right away. "Awesome, is this from your planet?"
"Yes, it is a deadly weapon, so be careful! Like I need to warn you about that though." she said laughing. Sulu hugged her but let go when he saw Uhura approach.
Primerose ended up getting clothes and pajamas from Uhura. Scotty got real scotch from Chapel. Rand gave Chekov a bottle of real vodka and some Russian dumplings she made in the galley. Scotty gave Rand some scotch (because apparently you can never go wrong with scotch). Rand was secretly grateful. Her supply of brandy was running short because she had taken to drinking herself to sleep over Annie. Kirk gave Uhura a lyre so she could play it as she sang her lovely songs. Sulu gave McCoy an old blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, something McCoy was most interested in trying out later on and see how Humans did it in the old days.
And then of course came the more interesting gifts. McCoy went over to Spock, and gave him a box wrapped in green paper with a red bow. "Open it Spock. I think you may enjoy it."
"Something tells me that you will enjoy it. I will not. Enjoyment is not logical." Spock said, as he worked to carefully open the wrapping. Inside he pulled out a long picture (a real one, not a hologram) of the senior members of the crew in a bronze picture frame. "Why Doctor, this is most illogical. Why would you provide for me a picture of the crew? And of such high quality. I am fully aware of what you look like."
"Damn it Spock! It's for when you go home to Vulcan! You can put it in your room! Now say thank you, you green hobgoblin!"
Spock gave, for a split second, a smirk but it disappeared right away. "Thank you, Doctor McCoy. Now I am destined to forever remember you and your rather plain Human features."
Everyone laughed, except for Chapel. She was the only one left who did not get a gift, and then she realized that Spock was the only one who had not given a gift either. Meaning only one thing: "He's my Secret Santa!"
"And this is for you, Nurse Chapel, not only for taking part of Secret Santa, but for always taking high quality care of me whenever I was truly sick. I hope that this Vulcan harp will express my gratitude." Spock said, giving to her a large gift.
Chapel opened it and touched it delicately. "Oh Mr. Spock…! It's beautiful! Why, I don't know what to say!" she was clearly flustered, searching for the appropriate words to say. "Thank you!"
Rand grinned and then looked over where Primerose was standing, next to Chekov. She cleared her throat and indicated to them to look up.
"What is that?" Primerose asked, pointing to a small green branch with white berries on it.
"Uh-oh! Mistletoe!" Chekov cried out.
"It means you two have to kiss." Rand said.
Primerose and Chekov blushed but then Primerose shut her eyes and put her hands on his cheeks, pulling him close for a long, deep kiss. Chekov's eyes went wide at the slightly forceful contact, but he otherwise enjoyed it and kissed her back. The kiss was deepened even more, and soon their tongues were preparing to meet, when Scotty now cleared his throat. "Do you two mind?"
Everyone laughed as the two of them blushed and pulled away from each other, pretending it didn't happen.
"But this is most illogical!" Spock exclaimed the next morning at the rec room where everyone was gathering their breakfast. All the stockings that were hung in decoration were stuffed to the brim with presents. "We must have Ensign Chekov review the security tape on this."
"Spock, don't you believe in Christmas miracles?" McCoy asked.
"Doctor, there are no such things as miracles. So why would I chose to believe in a Christmas one?"
"Santa clearly thought well of you, Spock. Despite your… devilish good looks." Kirk said.
Spock inwardly sighed as McCoy and Kirk took turns laughing and making jokes. What a strange race Humans were…
