Week 14 - 7/6/09 -

66. Whispering

"What's with the pinched face? You look like vomited on your console and didn't clean it."

Might as well have. Scott was in my face, this morning. "'A baby could calibrate this console, Stevens! Pick up the pace, Stevens! The captain is waiting, Stevens!' Get my drift?"

"Do I? Yesterday, Commander Spock stood over my shoulder while I scanned an entire grid of space."

"How is that even close to Scotty climbing up my backside?"

Have you ever had Commander Spock watch you do anything?"

"No."

"He never says anything. He just leans over with his hands behind his back."

67. Haunting

A brief recall to Earth gave Kirk the opportunity to talk to Admiral Pike about his recent dreams. He had discussed them to some satisfaction with Bones, but he wanted the admiral's perspective.

"Sounds like a bit of post traumatic stress, Jim," Pike said, concerned.

"That's what Bones said, but the meds he prescribed haven't gotten rid of the dreams."

"They don't help on their own," Pike said, giving Kirk a knowing look. "Have you talked to anyone about the Narrada?"

"No," Kirk replied, humbled by his friend and mentor's gaze.

"Do you want the dreams to stop or not?"

68. Lingering

As Jim left his quarters and headed to the bridge, he did so by an indirect route. As he approached sickbay, he placed his boot close enough to activate the door. He scanned the bay for Christine. She was standing next to a bed, occupied by a crewman injured on a recent away mission. He caught her eye. She winked and smiled. She was so damn beautiful. The door closed and he proceeded on his way. Suddenly, his lower lip tingled and he brought a finger to touch it. Still numb; a lingering reminder of an early morning spent together.

69. Echoing

When he dreamed, Jim saw another life; a life where his father had not died, where Vulcan was not destroyed, where his friend Spock died and was reborn. He saw a women killed in the street; a woman he loved and yet had to let die. He saw a son he did not know murdered in cold blood. When he awoke crying out, he knew that he needed to talk about these things. They felt so real. They felt like they happened to him. He went to his desk and sent a personal communiqué to Ambassador Spock on new Vulcan.

70. Murmuring

When the warm water from the sink ran over the infant's tiny body, Nyota hear him coo peacefully, murmuring in his own language of sensation. He was a beautiful boy with light brown skin, straight black hair(which would not stay straight for long), and beautiful brown eyes which were large and expressive. Cupping some water into her hand, she poured it lightly over his head, making sure that it wet his hair. She traced the back of his head, running her fingers over the dull points of his left ear. She was thankful for this outward evidence of his Vulcan heritage.