Into the Wild Black Yonder

Chapter Seven - Drills and Inspections

On the Enterprise

Mid July, 2258

Mess Hall, 1700

Jim

"Can I run some ideas past the rest of you here, or will you make me wait for Senior Staff Meeting on Monday?"

Although he got some wry looks and a sigh or two, everybody looked at him and waited to see what he had to say. I've been looking through policy manuals and stuff." He glared at the barely suppressed merriment that surrounded him. "Well, crap, I've got to figure this stuff out. There was some interesting reading on that list of Spock's. Turns out we're supposed to be having all sorts of emergency alert drills and practice inspections and stuff like that. So we need to start setting those up. I guess each department needs to have their own first and then we can set up something ship-wide." He saw nodding heads all around him. "Okay, think about it, read some of that stuff, and we'll go into it on Monday." He drew a deep breath, maybe he would eventually get the hang of this stuff. Or learn how to delegate it.

Nyota

She couldn't believe how much effort Kirk was actually putting into this leadership thing. Maybe he would actually make a good captain one day. Now she needed to check into those manuals and see what sort of emergency drills the communications department was supposed to run. Maybe she ought to see about suddenly shutting down some of the circuits to see how quickly her team could figure out how to work around that. Her mind drifted off, plotting.

Scotty

What would they do if one of the dilithium crystals cracked? What if they didn't have any thruster power? How would they maneuver? Hosts of possibilities presented themselves.

Spock

He watched the others as thoughts turned inward, stimulated by the captain's suggestions. Yes, emergency drills and practice inspections were certainly necessary components of the ship's readiness to respond to whatever might happen out here in the wilds of space. He must think about scenarios that could be enacted.

Wednesday morning 0500

"Wake up, Nyota. Time to go run."

"Wha... What time is it? It's not Saturday yet." She burrowed back under the covers.

He pulled the covers back down, revealing her lovely brown skin. He nibbled on the back of her neck. She wiggled. "No, it's not Saturday. One day is not enough. We used to run every morning. Now get up." He nibbled some more. She sighed and rolled over, winding her arms around his neck.

"Why don't we just stay here and get another form of exercise? Hmmm?"

"Nyota! Run! Now!" He sat up, bringing her up out of the nest of blankets. "Shower after." This last was said in an entirely different tone of voice.

She looked at him, considering. "Now that's an option we never had before." She gave him a big smile and bounced out of bed, running first to the bathroom, back out in a minute, grabbing shorts and tee from a drawer, shoes from the closet. She was ready to go quickly.

They left her quarters and headed for the gym. There was almost no one there at this time of morning. They took the same treadmills they had used before, at the end of the row. Once again, Spock set his at the steepest angle and highest speed. Scotty and he had not yet had a chance to begin their modifications, although they had spent some time discussing what needed to be done and Scotty had procured the wiring diagrams.

Nyota jogged, gradually increasing her pace, until she had covered half a kilometer, and was running fairly fast. She loped along at that pace for another two km, then adjusted the pace upwards a bit for the next km, then back down to her previous pace for another two km, then jogged again, gradually decreasing. This was not nearly as invigorating as running with the breeze in her face and Spock beside her, pushing her to run faster, or running step by step with her. Possibly they would be able to take shore leave somewhere where they could run together. Something to put on her wish list, she guessed. She slowed to a walk and reached for her water bottle in the holster on the read-out panel, taking small sips as she cooled herself down. By the time she was ready to switch her treadmill off, Spock was slowing down, the angle of his machine gradually going back to horizontal. She had his water bottle in her hand, ready to give it to him when he had slowed enough. He switched his machine off and they headed back to her quarters. The corridors were still almost empty. The night shift was still working, and it was too early for breakfast yet.

Nyota tapped the touchplate at her door and they entered her quarters, crossing straight to the bathroom. Quickly they stripped out of their running gear and stepped into the shower stall. This stall was slightly smaller than the one that had been in Spock's quarters at the Academy and they didn't have much spare room. That didn't bother them, however, as they intended to be very close indeed. Nyota pulled the band out of her hair and laid it on the small shelf where the shower gel was and ran her fingers through her hair, spreading it out. Behind her, Spock joined in, fanning her hair out more, getting it wet. She opened the shampoo bottle, squeezing some out into his hand when he reached over her shoulder. His long fingers began to massage her scalp, causing her to sigh with pleasure. She loved to have him wash her hair, it was pure pleasure.

Hearing her sigh, he leaned forward and kissed the side of her face, just in front of her ear, watching the smile spread over her face. Then he went back to rubbing the shampoo into her hair, being sure to create enough suds to cover the entire length of it. When he had rinsed all the suds out, he ran his hands down the long length of it, squeezing it together. Then she turned around so that she could shampoo his hair. He leaned over, bending his head down so that she could reach the crown of his head. She dug her nails just barely into his scalp, causing thrills to run down his spine. He growled softly at her, making her sigh again. Her hands moved through his hair, rinsing the suds out. Then they dropped down, caressing his chest. He shook his head, water flying, then tilted her chin up with one hand, kissing her first softly, then with more intensity. She moaned softly against him, molding her body to his. Then she heaved a big sigh and straightened up, reaching for the shower gel. She flipped the top up and smelled it. This was a new one that he had found with a very intriguing scent. Cinnamon, the label said. She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "This is not a scent I would have associated with shower gel. I'm curious as to why you picked this. And when and where you got it."

"I actually found it in the commissary yesterday. It smells - intriguing. I cannot say why. It contains an ingredient I thought to be used only for cooking. If you do not like it, we do not have to use it."

Nyota

"No, let's do try it. It does smell good." She squeezed some out into her palm and motioned for him to turn around. She rubbed her hands together, making suds and began to spread them out over his back. A pleasant spicy odor rose from the lather as it warmed, filling the shower stall. She made more suds and rubbed her hands over his buttocks, getting a soft moan from him as her fingers ran down the cleft between them and then curved along the bottom edge, where they curved into the tops of his thighs. On down his legs she went with the suds, soaping everything, then rinsing it all off. He really seemed to be reacting a bit more than usual, she thought as she finished with his feet. Usually he did not moan quite this much at this point. She smiled. Things were going to get very interesting shortly if he was this aroused already. She straightened up, not being so careful not to brush against him, and heard him growl softly. Hmm, yes, interesting.

She tapped his shoulder to get him to turn around, brushing the side of his face and he turned toward her. He captured her fingers in his mouth, sucking on them. Ahh. She leaned against him, feeling how aroused he was already. Oh, my. His eyes were closed in bliss as he laved her fingers with his tongue. "Spock." Her voice was soft. "Can you wait? Or are you ready now?"

He opened his eyes languorously, blinking at her. He smiled softly, not just a lip quirk, but a real smile, even if it was small. "I can wait, Nyota. Turn about."

What exactly was going on here? There certainly wasn't any chocolate in this shower gel. She turned her back on him, pulling her hair forward over her shoulder, and he began to apply suds to her back. He applied the suds to her shoulders and upper back and then rinsed them off. As he began to apply suds to her bottom, he also began to nibble on the nape of her neck, little kisses and tiny little bites, moaning against her neck. "Spock?"

"Yeeessss." He continued to knead the muscles of her buttocks, his mouth still busy on the nape of her neck, spreading ripples of goosebumps away from both areas. She was beginning to be quite aroused herself. And she could feel, through all the skin contact they had now, just how aroused he was getting. Very.

"Are you okay?"

"Ahhh, yeesss. Very okay. Please turn around now."

She turned cautiously around. His eyes were barely open, his mouth was loose, his face slack, and he was inhaling deeply. He bent his head, putting his nose against her neck, sucking in her scent. His hands were all over her, caressing, setting her on fire. He pulled her close to him, and with all the additional skin contact, she could feel the fire seething through him. And he was sending it into her as well, she could feel it flaming down her nerves, setting her ablaze. Forgetting the unfinished soaping, she leaned into the side of his neck and started biting him. He growled louder now, pushing against her, driving her back against the wall of the shower stall. She bit him again, higher on his neck, working her way up towards his ear. One of his hands slid between her legs, cupping her, long fingers sliding down her wet flesh, finding the points he knew so well, making her legs go weak as she moaned against him, shaking now. His other hand was under her bottom now, pulling her up against him. She wrapped her legs around him, hanging on with hands grasping at his ears, pinching and caressing, moaning continuously now as he growled at her, biting her neck, kneading her bottom, stroking her, thrusting, his own hand still in his way. She squirmed against him, arching her back, pushing herself forward, and he moved his hand, thrusting into her, pushing her hard against the wall, thrusting hard now, pounding into her, so deep, the fire blazing, blazing through them. She felt it building, building, and then it was too much and she felt the glorious ecstasy burst upon her, flowing from her to him, back again to her, back to him, rolling through them, consuming. He was shuddering against her, lost in glory.

After a while, she realized that they were still standing in the pouring water, locked together, his head on her shoulder. She turned her face, murmured in his ear. "Spock, are you all right, ashayam?"

"I believe so. I am not sure what happened. I am certain there was no chocolate in that shower gel." He rotated his head so that his face was against hers. "That was extraordinary, Nyota." His voice was soft and slurred, his face all soft and open. His eyes were wide, deep pools, full of love.

"Yes, it was. Very extraordinary. Very wonderful." She kissed him lightly. "But I think maybe we need to get dressed and go eat breakfast."

"Yes." He heaved a great sigh and straightened up, letting her down gently until she was steady on her feet. She stepped out of the shower as he stopped the water, picking up one of the towels laid out on the counter and handing the other to him. They dried off and dressed in their uniforms, not talking much, still floating in the afterglow. Before they left, she went back and retrieved the tube of shower gel, reading the list of ingredients. "The only thing in here that's at all different is the cinnamon. Have you ever eaten anything with cinnamon in it?"

"I do not know. I do know that I have never smelled anything that strong and spicy before. Perhaps the concentration is very high? I do not know, Nyota, but I think we should not use that shower gel again on a morning when we are going to stand duty on the bridge. I can still feel the effects."

She looked at him. Yes, she could see it, his face was still very soft, his eyes not fully open. She would keep a close watch on him today.

Seeing the look on her face, he leaned down again, resting his forehead against hers. "It was very nice, k'diwa."

"Yes, it was." She smiled at him. "Now let's go eat."

***

In the mess hall, the others were talking about the drills they were going to start. It seems that everyone had been thinking about that. She mentioned the ideas she had had and joined in the conversation. Spock said very little, but did eat his breakfast, although much slower than usual. If anyone else noticed anything odd about his behavior, no one said anything. They all bused their dishes and headed for the bridge.

By noon, he seemed to have recovered. But she thought cinnamon definitely needed to be explored more.