Chapter Twelve

To: S'nellastina zh'Vecar, Earth, United States of America, Maryland, Baltimore

From: Leonard McCoy. Lieutenant Commander, USS Enterprise A

Hi S'nell. Of course I wouldn't sleep around with anyone else. Who do you think I am, my ex wife Pamela? Sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm glad you know that I take our relationship seriously. I will always be faithful to you. You're not my ex wife and the more time I spend getting to know you better the more I realize that.

On our first date on Earth I'll make sure that we watch a sunset together. Maybe over the harbour in Baltimore could work if you don't mind me visiting where you are living. I've never been to Baltimore so you'll have to show me around provided you let me do the same with you in San Francisco. To be honest, I have no idea if I will be on Earth or back in space once this mission ends. A large part of me wants to spend time on Earth with you and my family. Don't tell Jim but I'm not getting any younger and I can't keep going into space forever. That was Jim's dream not mine. When I joined Starfleet it was in the hopes that I could continue to be a doctor. I also wanted to leave Earth and everything on it behind. But now that I've been in space for so long I just want to get back to Earth. Some days I enjoy the exploration of space travel but most days I can't overlook the danger and disease that shadows us out here.

I replied to your journal article in another message as I had quite a lot to say. Let me know what you think of my comments as I'm a doctor not an exobiologist.

Missing you every day, Doctor McCoy.

Message sent 0710 hours Stardate 2267.99

To: Leonard McCoy, Lieutenant Commander, USS Enterprise A

From: S'nellastina zh'Vecar, Earth, United States of America, Maryland, Baltimore

Hello Doctor McCoy. So other then watching a sunset what would this first date entail? As you know, I'm not fond of chocolates, flowers, or alcohol. Perhaps you could take me out for a meal as I don't tend to dine at restaurants.

I found out this week that my work with the endangered Risian lemur earlier this year has been nominated for the annual Federation Exobiology Award. While I am flattered to receive this notice of the importance of my work from the nomination committee, a part of me hopes that I don't win the award. The credits would be nice and certainly the manager of the lab would be gratified if our of his employees won such a prestigious award. But I would hate to have to dress up and go to the gala. I dislike such social functions as usually the food and drink is the best thing about the night in question.

How is the crew doing? Have you encountered any stellar phenomena or new aliens recently?

Yours, S'nell.

Message sent 1922 hours UTC Stardate 2267.121