Disclaimer: This story and the characters I created belong to me. "Star Trek" belongs to The Powers That Be at Paramount…more's the pity.
Notes: This story was originally written August-October 2004…etc…etc.
The words that inspired this chapter? SURF EXILE BUNKS SHAG
Feedback welcome!
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The Captain's quarters...
After he finished the plate of cheese cubes, Kirk placed it on the coffee table and then stretched out on his couch, snuggling down into the deep, soft cushions. "Ah! The perks of command," he thought gratefully. This was only a couch - not even a bed - and it was already infinitely more comfortable than any of the bunks he had been forced to rest upon during his Academy days. He wondered briefly how comfortable K-tel's bed or couch would be, and how soon he would have the opportunity to find out.
As he continued to relax, Kirk let his mind wander over to the topic of Ensign Jed-Ghar's death. He reviewed what he knew of the officer, which wasn't much. He knew the man had liked to work hard, party hard, and drink even harder - and wondered if the ensign had ever indulged in anything stronger than drink while on the Enterprise, like his former crewmember Yeoman Rand had.
"Poor Janice," Kirk sighed regretfully as he thought about that pretty young woman, who was now in Starfleet-imposed exile in a detox center on Earth. Kirk missed her blond hair, her blue eyes, her short skirts...he even missed her efficiency in the office and on the bridge. He had had no one on staff since who had been as capable as she had been of keeping him on top of all the reports and files and correspondence that infest a Captain's life.
Kirk recalled the incident that had led to Yeoman Rand's involuntary medical leave. It had occurred during the crew's mandatory yearly physicals - at the end of which, each crewmember would receive the standard booster shots for Denebian dropsy, Romulan rubella and the like. The yeoman had experienced a severe and unexpected allergic reaction to one of the shots she received - unexpected because this particular serum had never elicited that response from her before. She had been laid up in Sickbay for days as Dr. McCoy had worked feverishly to discover the reason for her illness. It had eventually been revealed that Yeoman Rand had been indulging in several recreational herbal supplements of a less-than-legal nature - one of which had reacted dramatically with the serum. Once she had recovered, Janice Rand had been put on medical suspension and taken off the Enterprise.
Kirk yawned and stretched, then checked his chronometer. There was plenty of time yet before he needed to get ready for the dinner, so he decided to take a nap. After setting the alarm, he asked the computer to play a random selection of relaxing background sounds - and soon the soft roar of a gentle ocean surf began to filter throughout the room. As the audio program continued to run, Kirk drifted deeper and deeper into sleep, until at last, his hand slipped off the side of the couch to rest upon the shag carpeting on the floor...
TBC…
