Chapter 21

Nyota took another look at her options. Was it really only days since she'd touted these new regulations as one of the more enlightened things to come out of Starfleet Command in years? Now they were an annoyance, frustratingly unsuitable for her new needs.

Even so, they were a welcome distraction to the conversation Gaila wanted to have.

"Everything is now right with the world. The band's back together and it is going to sound harmonious!"

"I hate to break it to you, but he isn't fine," Nyota started, only to be interrupted.

"Of course he is! He said so. And he smells fine." The Orion punctuated her words with a decisive nod.

"That's just hard to believe." She knew she was mumbling now, but was it too much to hope that her best friend/now lover would get the message her tone and body language were putting out to the universe?

Of course it was. She changed the subject.

"Am I open to being approached by other shipmates for romantic or sexual advances?" she asked, her voice changing as she quoted the Shipwide Profile questions.

"Do you want to be?" Gaila asked lightly, but something about her tone of voice pulled Nyota's attention away from her padd. She looked Gaila in the face, taking in every facial marker looking for extra clues as to what the Orion really meant.

"Well, no. I mean, not before, mainly because of Spock. I mean, he doesn't try to know things but he can hear everything and this ship is a beehive of gossip."

"Ooohhh... love the imagery!"

Orions were visual thinkers, like Vulcans, and Nyota usually remembered that when speaking. With Spock it meant she avoided saying certain things. With Gaila it was more like a creative challenge.

"Stay on task!" Warming up to the conversation she snapped at her green sister playfully. "I'm asking you what our rules are. I know you're Orion, and I want to make sure I'm giving you what you-"

"Rules, shmules! I am not the one with rules," Gaila declared with her hands on her hips. "Though, I am a benevolent Mistress," she continued, every word slow as if she was saying them as she thought them, "and I know you're human," she quoted Nyota, "so I will hear what rules you would like for us."

She ended as if she were a royal monarch, nodding slowly as if to give Nyota permission to speak.

"That's not what I-" the human woman huffed, shaking her head and then letting it loll back dramatically before continuing, "-I was just saying that I know you probably have needs, at least sexual needs, that you'll want other people to fill and..."

Nyota's words slowed and then stopped as Gaila sat, crossed her legs, and leaned forward eagerly.

"No, go on!" Gaila encouraged Nyota with a widening grin. The human woman knew a trap when she saw one, and when it was clear that she wasn't going to continue to dig a hole the Orion continued.

"Go on and talk about how sexually needy I am, ignoring how you have to have all the friends, friends of every species and gender, all who get to know some of your secrets, and a second romantic partner-not that I was threatened by Vulcan, especially when it comes to romance because, well obviously!-all through school while I confessed my secrets to no one else, had no other close friends, and was definitely not romantically ensnared by anyone else. Sure, I had sex but we weren't even fucking then, Ny. Not at all!"

Nyota was taken aback, and took a moment to try to see things from her friend/lover/sister's point of view:

Gaila claimed Nyota as her best friend after almost a week as roommates. She let everyone know and, as far as Nyota knew, didn't have any other close friends. She had all manner of acquaintances-usually people she'd slept with, or done makeovers on, or tutored in computer science-but no one else was in the paint your nails together and dish category.

She also didn't really date. She had a lot of sex, but she went about it like a conquering Amazon. There was nothing romantic about it.

And even though it was weird to think about, Nyota had to admit that there was something romantic about their friendship. As roommates they did all kinds of intimate things around one another.

She thought about all the times she'd had a conversation with her roommate while she was changing clothes, not bothering to hide anything because why and her roommate was Orion, surely she didn't care...

And what about all the nights that they whispered across the bunks to one another in the dark, all those hey I know you aren't sleepings and are you awakes...

God, they'd shared nearly everything. Straws, food, accessories, socks, underwear...

Nyota put a full stop on those thoughts.

"Are you saying you've been monogamously my friend and girlfriend this whole time? That the only way you haven't been monogamous was through sex?"

"-and that you've been a total emotional floozy and I have been completely chill with it? Yes."

The Orion's hand and neck whipped with her words but Nyota felt disconnected from the moment. She was shocked that she had misunderstood this fundamental part of her relationship with her best friend.

If she hadn't found Gaila she would never have known.

"But I thought Orions abhorred monogamy?"

"No Ny! Goddess, I've been such a bad teacher to you! Orions don't hate any one way of being sexual with others. We love being sexual with others, in every and all ways! But as an Orion woman, it is in my nature to want to win, even in sex. Especially in sex."

Gaila was up and across the room in moments, dancing sensuously across the space and to Nyota's side.

"And trust me when I say, sexual monogomy with you, Lt. Nyota Uhura, is definitely winning."

Nyota let herself get drawn into her Orion's arms for a few minutes, distracted. She was brought back to reality with a snap as Gaila pulled away with a jerk as if she'd just remembered something important.

"Spock!"

That was not a name Nyota was in the mood to hear. She pulled back.

"What?"

"You were totally right, Ny. Spock will care if he sees others are trying to get with you. You should say 'no' to that question."

At this declaration Gaila pushed her chest out, proud of herself.

"What?" Nyota was confused, and then remembered the padd that had fallen loosely out of her hand and onto her bunk.

"For everything to be harmonious it has to be you, me, and Spock. If you start acting like an Orion after living for years like a Vulcan it will upset him," Gaila explained with an air of patience.

"Whoa whoa whoa hold up!" Nyota's hand was out, because she knew her friend would just plow right past her verbally and she needed to make this clear. "You know Spock is never going to be in a relationship with both of us, right? He can't bond with me, has never even once hinted that he might be attracted to you-and he might be the only person at the Academy who didn't in one form or another-and he wouldn't because Vulcans don't share."

Gaila sighed loudly and tossed her hair. "I know all that! But he's still ours. Even if we have to share him with this new person, he is ours too. Besides," she looked pointedly at Nyota as she said her next words, "I'm used to having to share my cherished one with a Vulcan."

The two women just stared at one another for a few long moments.

"So, just to be clear," Nyota began again, speaking slowly, "your ideal situation is Spock and I are your best friends, one..." Gaila was shaking her head, "...or both of us are your romantic partners and... I'm still not clear on who you are having sex with in this scenario...?"

"Ugh! And I am the one who is supposedly obsessed with sex. Whoever! You, obviously. Spock if I could get away with it but I've resigned myself to the fact that it will never happen. Though Ny, his legs! I was on his lap and his thighs were as tight as-Off topic? Yes, I'm off topic. As I was saying, you, not him, but only because of him. Others if you were fine with it, but I wouldn't want to hurt your delicate human morals. Maybe others together?"

During her monologue she had spread out on the bunk and by the end she was propped up on one arm, her head cocked and her face curious.

"Maybe. But not on the ship. Seriously, people are really immature about sex and relationships here."

They continued to talk until Gaila forcibly turned their attentions elsewhere. Later, while Nyota lay dozing, Gaila finished her profile for her.

Are you open to being approached by fellow shipmates for romantic or sexual advances? Yes or No

No

Declare a relationship with a fellow crewman.

In a relationship with Engineer Gaila Vro

The Orion smiled in the dark, overwhelmed by how it felt to finally be home.

Spock stood under a magnolia tree in the Arboretum. He heard Lt. Uhura and Dr. Marcus enter the gardens, both speaking quietly but not nearly enough to keep him from hearing every word. He let his mind turn from them to take focus on the tree, shifting his attention to honor their privacy.

"Commander."

They stood behind him at attention, but just a nod from him was enough to put them at ease.

"You wanted to speak to me about the proposal I am presenting at the Federation Conference?"

"Yes, Sir."

He turned his back on the tree then, facing them and giving them his obvious and undivided attention.

"First, let us say that we fully support the building of a new Starfleet Academy on Vulcan. Truly, an elegant solution to a complex set of interrelated problems." Dr. Marcus's words were crisp and calm, but Spock could hear her heartbeat speed up as she began.

"Thank you, Doctor. Lieutenant."

Lt. Uhura took a breath before speaking and Spock's attention moved to her.

During his next meditation cycle he planned to review this interaction and his own physiological responses. He would use that data to make a behavioral plan for himself that should allow him to reintegrate into his friendship with her and Engineer Vro now that the individual relationships themselves had changed.

"Commander, Dr. Marcus and I have been working with a small group of staff in our off hours to identify missing Starfleet officers. We have worked in collaboration with similar teams on other ships and, including the recently recovered Engineer Vro we have rescued 124 members of Starfleet."

Spock nodded and Lt. Uhura moved into a position that was slightly more like attention than it was like at ease.

Engineer Vro had been correct to remind him of Lt. Uhura's many displays of cultural flexibility over the years-and of her possible limits. Nyota Uhura had conformed to both Orion and Vulcan culture on many occasions. Spock knew enough about constantly conforming to an alien culture to have some understanding of her position.

He resolved to do whatever was necessary to help her transition back into their new friendship as well.

"We thank you now for your support for our project in the past. We know you have spoken up for it when we needed ship's resources."

Dr. Marcus's words surprised him. Truly their team needed almost nothing, but the communication with other teams on other ships had required Communications resources. And Lt. Uhura was a consummate professional, bringing the requests to him instead of approving them herself.

"Your work on this project was commendable, and the small resources involved were a more than reasonable request. Acting logically is its own reward."

"We now have a proposal that we hope fits logically in the vision for a second Academy," Uhura continued, stopping only to breathe in as the ship's vents simulated a breeze, drawing the sweet smell of Magnolia flowers over them.

"This project suffers from a lack of central command. Different teams work on different ships. We were tracking escape pods, while another ship drew up the legal paperwork. Right now Gaila is working with a team on the Beirut to get her credentials reintegrated and arrange for all the training and medical requirements she'll have to work through to get her commission back."

Spock raised an eyebrow, realizing he had not actually thought through the logistics that would be required for Gaila to actually become Engineer Vro again. He made a mental note to offer her his assistance. At this point in his career he was extremely proficient in moving through Starfleet bureaucratic channels.

"If they haven't already, the team will message Enterprise from the Beirut to request that we continue to allow her board on our ship for the duration of the process."

Spock nodded, his mind racing ahead of them as he followed the steps the personnel on the Beirut would need to take to successfully restore Gaila's Starfleet rank and commission.

"The fact that we are all on different ships, without some central point of command for the project, is leading to a lot of unnecessary work, especially around reintegrating lost personnel. However-"

Lt. Uhura had stopped talking, recognizing that Spock was already ahead of her.

"-were this project run from the new Academy, lost personnel could regain their commissions faster and receive updated training and needed medical care all in one central location," the Commander finished her thought and both women nodded.

"Yes."

"Exactly."

Something was wrong, and it took Spock longer to think through what it was than he was sure it would have taken Captain Kirk. Lt.

Uhura and Dr. Marcus were proposing a plan that would honor the sacrifice Starfleet personnel had made by allocating resources to their rescue. It would cut out the use of additional resources by organizing the work more efficiently. It even had the benefit of giving Vulcans more options for employment at the Academy as specialists on this project, which would allow more Vulcans a stable living situation for potential new families.

The logic of their proposal was sound, but both women were exhibiting the physiological symptoms of moderate stress.

"I find your proposal to add this project to the list of duties for a new Starfleet Academy to be sound. More than sound, it is impressive, and your initiative is in keeping with the highest values of Starfleet and the Federation."

Both women seemed surprised, Lt. Uhura docking her head and Dr. Marcus looking at him with wide eyes.

"I know you are holding an event for rescued officers at the Conference. If you wish to speak of this project as a part of the Academy proposal, I can add information about it to the workshops I where will be presenting."

"That's an acceptable request, Commander."

"Extremely acceptable. Thank you Commander."

As he turned back to the tree and listened to the two officers walk away, Spock wondered if it was too soon to ask his friend Nyota Uhura how well he had interpreted and handled this situation.

Captain Kirk stared at the screens around him, refusing to admit that he was completely lost.

The middle screens were filled with missile plans, where a large missile casing was being used to contain some sort of biological element alongside a rectangular computer server.

On his left the screen was filled with what looked like an agricultural experiment, where the computer had taken the experiment's parameters and was running hypothetical simulations of the experiment, cataloging each possible outcome.

On his right the screen was running through what looked like the life cycle of the planet. The planet would start as an empty dead world and then would grow microorganisms, which flourished into life, which then spread out all over the planet, creating a range of climates. Then the world would start to die, decay, and then the cycle would end in a dead, lifeless planet again.

"Come to check up on your experiment, Captain?"

Dr. Marcus spoke from behind him, where she had been working at a console as he entered the room.

"My experiment? If this is my work I'm in trouble because I'm not sure I understand how it all goes together," he said with a smile.

"I meant the Communications study you had me design. For your information, Lt. Uhura is working with Dr. McCoy to include it in his survey questions during annual physicals."

"Oh, well then I'll never forgive myself."

"Pardon?"

"For making those physicals any longer."

As she laughed Kirk swallowed, deciding to take her opening and just ask.

"How is... Dr. Chapel?" When she didn't answer right away he went on, nervous energy translating into more explanation, "I haven't been avoiding her but I also haven't bothered her. You said that was the way to go..."

"It is." Marcus said firmly as she handed him a padd. On it was a thorough breakdown of what must have been the project on the screens, currently draft named "Genesis."

"She's doing well. McCoy has her running day-to-day operations while he does the big project scheduling and sets up the care plans for our new crew."

"Good, that's..." he looked down and was inadvertently pulled in by the schematics for a moment, "...that's good. Wait, what is this?"

"It's called terraforming, Captain. You know how planets are altered, usually alongside some artificial atmospheric layers to create permanently manicured climates."

"I do, I just don't understand what you're doing here. When people terraform, aren't they usually going for beaches and palm trees? This looks like you are trying to create deserts and volcanoes."

"Some people like deserts and volcanoes, Captain."

The console whistled and she tapped it with her stylus.

"Geology Lab 2, Marcus speaking."

"Is Captain Kirk in the lab with you, Doctor?" It was Lt. Uhura and when the Doctor put her on the large front viewer it was clear she was calling from the Bridge.

"I'm here, Lieutenant."

"Ambassador Selek is on the line for you, Sir."

Kirk looked around behind her and saw Spock from behind. His First Officer was standing at the Conn facing the forward viewer.

"Put it on my screen and yours."

"Yes, Sir."

His screen filled with Selek's face and the background looked like a small Vulcan shuttle.

"Captain. It is pleasant to see you."

"It is good to see you too Ambassador. Has... something happened?"

"Yes, Captain. I brought your petition to explore the Time Planet to the Ambassador of the Oasis and it has been approved. You may travel there at your convenience and they have placed no restrictions on your exploration. You are permitted scans, a landing party, and any scientific samples you should wish to collect."

Kirk exhaled as soon as it was clear the call wasn't going to be about this alternate universe business. Actually, getting a chance to explore the "Time Planet" made his heart jump a beat.

The Time Planet was a planet deep in Nomad territory. It was the source of the waves of time displacement that created the Seas of the Oasis, which were home to space whales and other space-evolved species. It was also a point of interest for the Organians, a race of beings so advanced that they had no need for corporeal bodies and could take control of both the Federation and the Klingon Empire with a thought.

The Nomads themselves were drawn to it, and it was now central to their people's history and culture. All Nomads made journeys there during their lives, first to get a destiny and then several times after that for reasons still unknown.

Exploring a place like this was what the Enterprise was designed to do. This is what the crew had signed on to do. Each exploratory mission he led was followed by a boost in crew morale.

"Any hints about what I'll find there?" He asked as open a question as possible so that the Ambassador could tell him whatever he wanted to tell him.

"Only time will tell."