Twenty Four
Two weeks after Leonard and Victoria's new-found friendship, the Enterprise hit an ion storm.
In most cases, travelling at warp speed meant they would have been able to avoid the worst of it, save a few jostles here and there. Unfortunately, Commander Scott had decided that now was the prime time to do some integral repairs to their warp core, which meant they were stuck cruising through unchartered space for the next week, at least. Normally, this would have been fine on its own, but since the decision had been made without consulting the Science department, there had been no way for them to warn the captain that they were due to hit an ion storm during the week of repairs. When the memo had arrived stating that they were due to drop out of warp soon, Homer and Victoria had exchanged looks of confusion before ordering an ensign to dispatch a brief to the bridge immediately to alert the captain of the impending storm.
Jim stormed into the Science department ten minutes after the brief had reached him, looking ready to kill someone. Fortunately for everyone involved, the first person he ran into was Victoria.
"Calm down," said Victoria. Pointedly, she walked out of the lab, and Jim followed. When they were out in the hallway, which was empty since it was still early, she leaned back against the wall and gestured for him to speak. "Okay, go on."
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" he demanded. "I need to know these things!"
"I'm an exobiologist, Jim. Warp cores and ion storms are not what I keep track of."
"Then who does?"
Victoria winced. "I assume Homer or Spock do these things, but you won't gain anything by yelling at them now. Just take it easy. We can pilot through the storm, it isn't meant to be a bad one."
Jim ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "But we're miles away from help. Something could go really, really wrong."
"It won't," said Victoria soothingly. "A few scrapes, some people may experience motion sickness, but the likelihood of major injuries is really low. And Hikaru is an incredible pilot, you have nothing to worry about. Why are you worried anyway?" she gave him a suspicious look. "I thought you'd enjoy this."
Jim immediately looked away, and Victoria narrowed her eyes. Even as a child, he had been unable to look into her eyes and lie. It was why it had gotten much easier for him to lie to her over the years, since they only spoke through the phone and emails. Otherwise, she always knew.
"Just trying to be responsible," said Jim defensively.
"You're lying."
"I'm not!"
"I will find out," said Victoria warningly. "But I don't have time right now. We need to stabilize the lab in case of violent movement. I'll see you later."
Jim muttered something under his breath but nodded, stomping off back to the bridge while Victoria returned to the lab, still wondering why he was so angry.
A few hours later, she learned why.
Spock came into the lab, armed with a flotilla of questions for Homer regarding the procedure to be implemented during the storm. For once, Victoria was glad she wasn't in charge, and slightly impressed that Homer was able to keep up with the half-Vulcan, not even faltering as he rattled off statistics and plans that were to be put into practice by the time Alpha shift was over. When Spock approached her after he was done with Homer, Victoria was almost smiling.
"Commander," she greeted him. "How can I help?"
"Dr. Woodville," Spock nodded in return. "According to the roster prepared at the beginning of our journey from Yorktown, you are the officer on-duty in case of an ion storm, to record readings from the magnetic field since the usual sensors will have to be shut down," he dropped a PADD onto her workspace. "I have prepared a list of functions you must implement in order to achieve the best possible readings, along with the instruction manual on procedure of evacuation before the captain releases the pod and we make contact with the storm. You are scheduled to be in the ion pod at 2300 hours six shifts from now."
Victoria blinked. "I'm the duty officer in charge of the ion pod?"
"Affirmative, lieutenant."
"I thought –"
"Duty rotas cannot be altered so close to the time, lieutenant, and you are by far one of the most qualified scientists on this ship," said Spock. Victoria felt as though she ought to be flattered at his words, but he wasn't praising her. For Spock, this was merely a fact. She was good. "In addition, I believe after our last conversation when you requested more solo tasks that this will be a good way for you to ease yourself into more advanced projects."
Victoria raised an eyebrow. "Did Uhura tell you to add that last part?"
Spock didn't smile, but his posture did relax slightly, so Victoria knew he was amused. "Lieutenant Uhura is indeed aware of your assignment, and she advised me to tell you that she agrees with me."
"Alright," said Victoria. She picked up the PADD and nodded slowly. "Is there a –"
"I have equipped the PADD with a simulation exercise regarding your exit from the ion pod so that your assignment may go smoothly, and you are at liberty to inspect the pod any time before your deployment," said Spock, already knowing what she was going to say. "I have also left it up to your discretion to inform the captain."
Victoria winced. "Gee, thanks, Spock."
"You are very welcome, lieutenant."
!
Leonard shifted the pack of hyposprays from one hand to the other awkwardly, his eyes fixed on the door in front of him. He knew he didn't need to be here. Nurse Riley had made that clear twenty minutes ago when he'd given her the rest of the night off and volunteered to deliver Dr. Woodville her usual dose of medications himself. M'Benga had given him a knowing look he had pointedly ignored, and he had also told himself it wasn't wrong to also bring the woman a cup of coffee when he knew for a fact she would have just gotten off-shift less than ten minutes before his arrival.
Okay, so he'd checked her schedule. It was still normal.
Mentally berating himself, he pressed the intercom button and waited, not allowing himself to dwell on his reasons for coming any longer. They had said they'd be friends, and friends did this kind of stuff for each other. Fortunately, his thoughts were interrupted when the intercom rang out and a smooth voice spoke over the line.
"Yes?"
"It's me," said Leonard, not feeling the need to clarify. He doubted she got many visitors.
He was right. The door slid open immediately and he found Victoria standing on the other side.
"Hi," she greeted, head tilted to one side as she smiled. She didn't look annoyed, which he took as a good sigh. But she did look surprised. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"I come bearing gifts," he said dryly, holding up the injections. He saw Victoria's eyes widen in understanding, but also saw how they lingered on the Styrofoam cup in his other hand. Smirking, he offered it to her. "It's for you. Black, no sugar?"
"My hero," she smiled, accepting the cup. "Well, you've come all this way, so you might as well come in," she stepped aside and gestured for him to enter. "Perfect timing, actually. I was about to comm and ask if I could come to sickbay later."
"Why?" Leonard followed her inside and paused in the entryway, unsure of where to go. The small sitting-room of her quarters had the same, staple furniture everyone else's did: desk, chair, sofa, an extra armchair and a coffee table. One corner was devoted to a small kitchenette with a sink and replicator, along with some shelves that he noted were empty. What was different about Victoria's room, however, was the fact that every available surface was covered with paper.
"Sorry about the mess," she picked up a random sheaf of papers off the sofa and indicated for him to sit, perching herself on the coffee table in front of him when he did. "I've been reading up on ion storms and the Enterprise's ion pod, and I don't have much time to familiarise myself with it."
Leonard frowned as he noticed the scribbled notes on the papers closest to him. "What kind of research is that?"
"The kind that you do when you're put on rotation to observe an ion storm, of course," Victoria looked at him curiously. "You didn't know? Someone's making a ship-wise announcement soon, I think."
"Hasn't happened yet. Come on," he gestured for her to turn around and opened the bag of hyposprays, taking them out carefully. "Let's get this over with."
"You didn't have to come all the way here for this, you know," said Victoria. She turned to her side and gathered up her hair up her hair of her neck, which Leonard noticed was loose, and leaned closer to him. "I can do this myself, I've had a lot of practice."
"No wonder you're gettin' a scar," said Leonard dryly. He pressed the three hyposprays against her neck in quick succession, trying not to dwell on how her shampoo smelled like strawberries. "Leave this stuff to the professionals, eh?"
"Well, if this particular professional can spare a few minutes every two weeks to come see me, I might be open to it," she winked, the teasing unmistakable. She was flirting, again. And he had no idea how to respond, again.
Leonard cleared his throat pointedly. "So, you were talkin' about ion storms?" she nodded. "Exactly how dangerous is this?"
"It shouldn't be, if my predictions are right and the storm stays below grade seven," Victoria shrugged. "Standard protocol is to eject the ion pod before we make actual contact with the storm anyway, and I have no interest in being on it when it hurtles into deep space without an anchor. As long as Jim isn't too trigger-happy with the eject button, it should be pretty easy."
Leonard picked up one of the papers scattered around the sofa and glanced at the calculations, his own training as a science officer coming back to him. "I'm guessin' Jim isn't happy you're doin' something this dangerous."
"I haven't talked to him about it yet," admitted Victoria. "But I think he already knows, he was in the lab freaking out like a puppy a few hours ago. There's nothing to worry about, though, it's completely safe and if not me, someone else would be doing it anyway."
Leonard grunted non-committedly, trying not to let the spike in anxiety show on his face as he read through her calculations again. According to her own work, she had a very small window in which to escape the ion pod, or the captain would be forced to eject it while she was inside, since it was a matter of safety for the whole ship. The idea made him feel faintly sick. He cleared his throat. "So why'd you need to come to sickbay then?"
"Oh, I need a clean bill of health before I can officially go into the pod," said Victoria, waving a hand dismissively. "Since you're the only one who can read my medical file and make an accurate judgement, I thought I'd come to you."
"Even though I still don't know everything?" asked Leonard pointedly.
Victoria's smile didn't waver. "I was hoping we could come to an agreement about that, actually."
"Are you really in the position to be makin' the rules right now, darlin'?" Leonard raised an eyebrow.
"Definitely not, but you wouldn't deny a girl a small favour, would you?" she batted her eyelashes exaggeratedly.
Leonard snorted. "Damn you, woman. What d'you need?"
"I need two senior officers to sign off on my simulation for the ion storm, and since you have to do my physical anyway, I figured two birds with one stone?"
"That's it?" Leonard frowned. "Provided you pass the simulation exercise, signing off ain't gonna be a problem."
"Yeah, that's not all you'll be doing," Victoria winced. "I kind of need the captain to sign off too, so –"
"You want me to sit back while Jim freaks out about you doin' something even he thinks is dangerous?" Leonard snorted and made to stand up. "No chance. You're on your own, darlin'."
"Oh, come on!" Victoria grabbed his sleeve before he could get up. "I told you I had a solution!"
"What could you possibly have that'd make me endure an hour of Jim's whining?" demanded Leonard.
Victoria grinned.
!
"This is so dangerous."
"You do more dangerous things every time you go planet-side," said Victoria, continuing to walk towards the simulation chamber calmly.
"And you yell at me every time!" countered Jim desperately. "An ion storm is no joke, Tori!"
"Don't be an idiot. It's Force-3 at the most, and you know we're not in trouble unless it's at least a seven," she increased her pace to catch a turbolift that was just closing, breathing a small sigh of relief when she saw that Jim was holding off on arguing with her in the company of the two ensigns who were currently occupying the lift.
As soon as the doors opened, Victoria tried to dart away, but Jim kept up with her easily. "I don't like you being up there all alone," he continued, wringing his hands. "Maybe we should try and get a replacement."
"Are you saying that as my captain, or as my friend?" Victoria gave him a pointed look. "Because if you're saying it as my captain, you know it's a bad call. I'm probably the most qualified person you have on this ship to observe an ion storm in a quadrant of space that is unexplored. And if you're saying it as my friend, you're being unprofessional. You know I can do this."
"But I don't want you to!" Jim ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly. "That has to count for something, right?"
"You sound like a child," they reached the simulation chamber and Victoria inputted her access code. "Do you want to come and watch, or will it be too much for you?"
Jim glared. "I have to be here. If you don't pass the simulation, I get to assign the task to someone else," his face lit up suddenly. "Hey, maybe I should –"
"What took you so long?" McCoy's gruff voice interrupted Jim, and Victoria sighed internally with relief. The doctor had already set up the simulation chamber to mimic the ion pod perfectly, and was balancing his PADD in one hand as he read something on the control panel's screen.
"Sorry, I got side-tracked," said Victoria. She jerked her head in the blonde captain's direction. "Still baby-sitting."
"I know the feeling," said McCoy. He offered her the PADD and indicated the control panel. "I got it all set up, but take a look anyway. Spock said –"
"Hey!" Jim cut him off, and both science officers turned to look at their captain curiously. He was staring at them in shock. "What, you two are friends now?"
Victoria blinked. "You wanted us to be friends."
"You told us to be friends," added McCoy.
"Well, yeah, but you're, like, real friends," Jim gestured between them wildly.
"As opposed to what, kid, fake friends?" McCoy rolled his eyes. "Two senior ranking officers need to sign off on this mission. Who better than the captain and the ship's CMO?"
Victoria wrinkled her nose in distaste. "That is not why I asked you to be here, Leonard."
Leonard turned to face her in confusion. "You want to tell him why else I'm here?"
Victoria shrugged and held her hand out for the PADD again. "Did you adjust the time like I said?"
"Hello, stop talking about me like I'm not here!" interjected Jim. "Bones, what the hell is going on?"
"It's thirty seconds below the predicted time," Leonard nodded to Victoria and then turned to Jim. "Look, kid, I ain't happy about this either, but Tori and I made a deal."
"What deal?" demanded Jim, his voice almost shrill.
"I told him he could have access to my unredacted medical file if he made sure you let me go on this mission without a fuss," said Victoria without looking up for the PADD.
Jim gaped at them both. "This is insubordination," he said finally. "This is definitely against some code of ethics."
"Surprisingly, no," McCoy shrugged and threw an arm around Jim's shoulders, leading him to the chairs that had been set up behind the simulator's control panel. "This is perfectly legal. I'll make sure you don't overreact and try to get her out of this mission, Tori gives me her medical file, and the whole thing goes off without a hitch."
Jim looked at him suspiciously. "And why are you here, instead of Spock?"
Leonard snorted. "What kind of a deal could she have made with that goblin, eh?"
"Don't be mean," scolded Victoria. "I could have probably traded Spock a few unpublished research papers."
"Trust me, I think I need the medical file more than Spock needs extra readin' material. C'mon, Jim," Leonard nudged him towards the viewing chamber. "We're gonna sit down, have a drink, and watch a perfectly capable officer pass a perfectly easy simulation. Got it?"
Jim allowed himself to be led, but frowned when they sat down. "We're drinking on duty?"
Leonard shrugged and took out a small hip-flask from inside his pocket, quirking an eyebrow at his friend. "I ain't averse to drinkin' on my own, y'know."
Jim looked at the flask suspiciously, and the Victoria's voice rang out over the speaker. "Ready to go, boys. We have six scenarios, beginning with this one. Computer, activate simulation code alpha delta six nine indigo."
The chamber they were watching suddenly lit up, and as the lights dimmed they caught a glimpse of a perfect replica of the inside of an ion pod, before it was rocked with what looked like a violent earthquake. Caught off-guard, Victoria grasped at the control panel and made a face, managing to her to her chair and buckle in just before another tremor passed through the chamber. One of the screens began to fluctuate, just as the computer started reporting on the failure of several core functions, including the oxygen bank.
Jim grimaced. "I think I'll take that drink, Bones."