Dr. Chapel returned to her office. Their first mission was coming a lot sooner than she had anticipated and Sickbay was in shambles. She had less than an hour to make sure they were fully supplied. Then she had to recruit her medical staff to finish what the engineers had left undone. The image of Epsilon 9 dissolving and leaving nothing but space sent a chill down her spine. As unexpected as it had been to see Admiral Kirk there was something unsettling about the way he had just walked in and taken over Capt. Decker's briefing.

It was almost as if he were trying to make up for something...

She shook her head. Too much time in therapy had made her analyze everyone else's motives.

She was probably just overreacting. Still, as CMO she was entitled to be wary. It was her duty to ensure the physical and mental health of her crew. The whole crew.

She keyed up the final crew assignments for entry physicals. The roster for sickbay staff showed an additional head count. She tapped the button to read the change. It was authorized by the captain personally.

She sat in shock for a moment.

This was authorized by Captain Kirk this morning.

She read the name again. Captain Kirk?

"What in the hell is this?" she punched the comm system. "Chapel to Captain Kirk." Somehow it was hard to say it. She was so used to saying Decker's name. When no one responded she keyed the computer. "Computer locate Capt. Kirk." Come hell or high water, she wanted an explanation.

The feminine voice chimed in dispassionately, "Captain Kirk is in the captain's quarters."

Doctor Christine Chapel was livid.

There was no other word for it.

She stormed into his quarters unannounced.

"What is this?" she tossed the pad to the center of his desk.

"I believe it is quite clear, I have requested the reactivation of Dr. McCoy."

"You drafted him. Why?"

"I need him."

"Then I formally request a transfer."

"Why?"

"Why? I'm not needed here." She did not say she believed she was not welcome.

"Look, Nur-Miss Chapel," He hastily corrected himself, "I don't have time for this sort of petty -"

"Captain, if you don't need me here I want out now. Before we leave Earth. I may have a chance to get another posting. I've worked too damn hard to just step aside and hand my sickbay over to someone who's inexperienced. I am a doctor not a head nurse."

"I don't believe that 5 years CMO for Enterprise constitutes inexperience."

"No sir, it doesn't. However in view of the full refit of Sickbay and Dr. McCoy's inexperience with the new diagnostic systems, I think it's reasonable to question his qualifications as 'experienced' with this ship. "

"There seems to be a prevalent attitude on this ship that the experienced members of the crew are somehow unable to perform their duties. Do you question Dr. McCoy's ability to adapt, Miss Chapel?"

Her eyes narrowed, "With all due respect, sir, I don't understand why you've gone out of your way to force Leonard back into service. My only conclusion is that you question my abilities. That being the case I prefer a duty station in which I will be given a chance to prove myself based on my performance."

"I don't question your abilities, Miss Chapel. I just need a seasoned professional in Sickbay in case we get into trouble."

"If you don't question my ability, then why is it so hard to call me 'Doctor', sir?"

"That's out of line, Lieutenant." His eyes flashed and he rose from his chair.

"No sir, activating a retired officer because you're too scared to face the big bad bogeyman out there alone, is out of line, Sir!"

"You're on report, Miss Chapel."

"Fine, as long as you're filing the paperwork, sir." she placed both hands on the table and leaned forward menacingly. "Let me speak my mind. I don't know how you convinced Starfleet that you were the only one who could do this job and frankly I don't care. But if you're here to prove for once and for all that you can save everyone, you are sadly mistaken. This little 'save the planet' mission is for real. It's not some personal vendetta between you and the karmic gods. You are not the hero of this story, sir. This is real life, and in real life mistakes are made, people get hurt and if you're not careful they even die." She turned on her heel to leave, fairly shaking in anger.

He stood stunned, grinding his teeth in anger.

As the doors opened she turned once again to face him.

Her eyes were suddenly soft, "No one believed it was your fault, Jim. No one. I don't know why you did, but if you want someone to talk to I've had some pretty extensive experience in this kind of stress counseling. I'm here, at least until that transfer is approved."

He blinked, startled by her sudden change of tone. He sat speechlessly staring at her.

She sighed with exasperation and turned and marched away.