Watching Jim Kirk Sleep 3
'Captain's Privilege, my ass,' she thought, watching Jim Kirk sleep.
Yes, this mission should have been completely routine; and when Spock conducted his briefing, it all sounded so easy. But that was when the Science Officer planned to do the work himself.
She closed her eyes and imagined him standing in the Briefing Room, his voice clear and serene. He knew exactly what needed to be done, and so did she. He had chosen a security officer who also had technical experience that would prove helpful with the work.
As always, Spock's suggestions were well-thought-out, impartial - logical.
It was beyond her what made the Captain suddenly stand and say, "Well, Mr. Spock, that sounds great. Nothing I can't handle there." And before Spock could speak, he had grinned and shrugged and said "Seems like a nice day for a hike: Captain's Privilege, right?"
And Spock had said nothing. She could tell there were things that he wanted to say, lots of them. He had looked into her eyes for a long moment, before turning to Jim and calmly revising the plan.
Maybe Jim really did just want to get off the ship for a bit: He chose to take all of the readings and gather samples first, before getting down to the mission at hand. She was almost glad that Spock wasn't here for that part – Jim's attitude would have made him crazy.
On the other hand, with Jim talking to Scott and Spock on the ship, retrofitting the relay beacons had taken about four times as long as it would have done if she and Spock had just been working together directly.
And even that would have been fine, she supposed - except that during the extra time, the ship had had to move off. At least Spock was able to get that message through to her before communications were cut off by rising interference.
Now it was just a matter of waiting.
She knew that if things got desperate she could use one of the beacons to signal – as long as Jim didn't try to help her. At that, she had to laugh, a little. And laughing a little made her want to kick him a whole lot less.
She leaned back against a rock and watched Jim Kirk sleep.