Jim smiled as she walked into starboard observation on deck two. At the end of Alpha shift, Gaila pressed a note, a real note, into her hand and left a dress in her quarters. The note was from Monty, the only thing on it was a time and a location written in his neat, all-caps, engineer's handwriting. She knew the pair of officers were definitely up to something but in the recesses of her mind, Jim was drawing a blank on what that something could be.
The room was darker than usual and it was almost empty, almost. Monty was leaning against one of the tables. Jim smiled, "Hi." He looked at her, "Hi, lass." Gaila must've gotten to him too, Monty was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt; sleeves rolled up, of course. She took a breath, "Wanna tell me what's up?" Monty stood in front of her and ran his fingers along her jaw, "I know I drive ye bloody mad sometimes but I just wanted to show ye how much I love ye."
She could feel herself blush from her head down to her toes. It should be illegal for anyone to be that sweet. "You show me how much you love me every single day. Even when we were just friends," Jim told him with a smile. Monty shook his head, "No, lass. I was a bloody idiot in the beginning." She chuckled, "No you weren't. You were just trying to figure out how some command cadet wormed her way into your head… and your heart. Getting shipped to Delta Vega with a crap-ton of time on your hands didn't help."
Monty chuckled, "That bloody place still gives me the shivers. I guess it wasn't all bad. Made friends with Keenser. Talked to ye all the time. Helped save the world." Jim smiled, "Those were the good old days when I stayed up all night just so I could comm you." He laughed, "I knew it. I bloody called ye on that. I bet Leo did too." She nodded, "So what, I was a girl with a crush on her friend. Look at us, now. You couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to."
"Never want that, lass. So, I had ye meet me in here for a reason." Monty took her hand and pulled her further into the room. That's when Jim noticed the picnic set-up in front of the large viewport. She looked at her husband, "Monty…"
He smiled, "Ye know my parents have been together for forty-eight years. When I talked to my paw about getting married, he gave me some advice. He said the reason he and maw are still together is the fact that they still date. Almost five decades, three kids and a grandson later, they still go out on dates. Since we can't go anywhere, I got creative."
"This is… wow." The view was an insanely beautiful blue nebula. If Jim didn't know any better, she would swear that he'd planned that. Monty smiled, "I know how much you like the stars. I figured I'd give ye some." Jim nodded, "How'd I get so lucky?" He wiped away the tear that rolled down her face, "I'm still convinced that I'm the lucky one and yer just that good. I love ye, lass." Jim smiled, "I love you too."
"Hi, Willa. She's so big. I hope I get to see her before she's an adult." Jim's mother chuckled, "I'm sure you will. We'll still be here when you get back." Jim raised an eyebrow, "Mom?" The older blonde smiled, "You're not the only captain in the family anymore. I was notified today that I'm getting another stripe. It's comes with my new assignment."
"Don't leave me hangin', woman. What's the job?" Jim asked her mother. Winona chuckled, "Starfleet Corps of Engineers Command Liaison." Jim looked at her mother, "Holy shi… ship. You know you'll be stuck in San Fran most of the time. Are you okay with that?"
The Starfleet Corps of Engineers Command Liaison was the officer in charge of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. SCE, as its commonly referred, is a special projects division of Starfleet, assigned to deal with projects and missions requiring high degrees of engineering expertise. Winona's new job would be coordinating SCE activity with Starfleet Command, issuing mission assignments to the SCE detachments throughout the fleet, and making sure those teams got adequate personnel and logistical support. SCE operated out of the Tucker Memorial Building at HQ and used the Tucker Hall labs at the Academy, both in San Francisco.
Winona nodded, "My biggest regret in life is that I never took the time with you and Junior. Your father was gone and I buried myself in work. Then I married the first person who showed me any attention. I should've stayed put when I had the chance and I didn't. You both went through some horrible things because I didn't. I don't want to make that mistake with her." Jim watched her mom look at the tiny child in her arms and understood exactly what the woman was thinking.
"Firstly, none of us would let that happen. Secondly, it's a good thing. With Chris at HQ, that little one will have a family at home. Lastly, being the head of SCE does have its perks. You'll get to see all the cool Engineering developments and you can affect some change. Like the stupid minimum requirement at the academy that needed to be updated five years ago."
Her mother chuckled, "Oh, that's the first thing on my list after I appoint some people. Don't worry, I won't even bother trying for Monty. Between you and the Enterprise, there's no way he'd agree to come work for me."
"Well, you're right about that. They could make Monty an admiral tomorrow morning and he'd be slinging a wrench by lunch. He loves what he does too much to go anywhere, especially since he's got his hands on the flagship. I'm just a bonus." Her mother chuckled, "You're the bonus, sweetie." Baby Willa made a noise and Jim smiled, "I guess my sister agrees with you."
"Of course she does, she's as smart as the rest of us," Winona said in a baby voice. Jim watched her mom interact with her baby sister. "I love you, mom," Jim whispered. The engineer looked at her, "I love you too, sweetie. You better get back to saving the universe." Jim chuckled, "Yes, ma'am. I'll talk to you later. Tell the old man I said hi." Her mother nodded, "Will do. Davis out."
"What the hell?" Jim asked as she walked through the empty ship. It was almost like the mission on the Constellation, except this was her ship. At least, it looked like her ship. Jim just had one of those feelings. The feeling she had on Tarsus. The feeling she got before Nero. The feeling before Harrison showed up. The feeling before she died. Doctor Dahner told her that it was just Jim's subconscious keeping her safe. Right now, it was everyone else that Jim worried about. Where were they?
The Enterprise had been in orbit over the capital city of Gideon to assess their candidacy for Federation membership. All the reports the Gideons submitted describe their planet as a paradise, with a germ-free atmosphere. What Jim found weird was the fact that the Gideons requested that no surveillance scans be carried out upon their planet and the brass agreed. What's more, Hodin, the Gideon Council's de facto ambassador to the Federation, 'demanded' that Jim was the only one to beam down. Naturally, Monty, Bones and Spock didn't like it. Neither did she but orders are orders and she didn't have much choice.
With Spock at the controls, because Monty flat out refused to send her anywhere without back up, Jim was beamed out and apparently beamed back to a depopulated Enterprise instead of the Council Chamber. Jim stepped onto the bridge and took a look at all the readings. The various screens told her she was still over Gideon. All she had to do now was figure out where the rest of the crew was.
She searched the ship and ran a shit-ton of scans but everything was inconclusive. Jim leaned against the bulkhead outside her quarters trying to will herself to go inside. A noise from further down the corridor caught her attention. Jim pushed herself off the wall and walked towards the sound. "Oh, hello," the man said to her.
"Who are you? How'd you'd get on the ship? Where's my crew?" Jim fired questions at the man, who was wandering her ship in a state of awe. "On my world everyone was pressed in against each other. I could barely breathe. I'm Odon." The captain nodded, "Jim Kirk. How'd you end up here?" The tall man shrugged, "I don't know."
She nodded, "O... kay." He was lying his ass off and Jim knew it; she just had to figure out why. Jim headed back to her quarters and, unsurprisingly, Odon followed her. She stopped before she walked into the room, "Can you wait out here, I won't be long?" He looked like she kicked his puppy but he nodded.
Jim chuckled when she walked into the room and it was just how a captain's quarters should look. It was also NOTHING like her quarters actually looked. Jim and Monty had PADDs and tools all over the place in their quarters. Porthos had a small basket of toys near the door and a bed next to the couch. There should've also been holos of her and Monty's families. Not only was this NOT her ship, it wasn't even a good copy. Her first clue was in the transporter room; the hum that she usually felt under her feet was missing. Jim stepped out of the fake quarters and looked at the man in front of her. "Who are you? Where are we? And what do you want with me? Don't bother lying; I already know this isn't my ship."
So, this was an Enterprise construct on the planet and they wanted a virus from Jim's blood. Hodin explained to Jim how Gideon was once a paradise, and its atmosphere has always been germ-free. The lifespan increased and death became almost unknown. The birthrate rose until Gideon became encased in a living mass, with no space to live in comfort. Hodin told her that sterilization is impossible since their organs regrew and contraception is unthinkable because of their 'love of life.'
Eventually, they decided to introduce a mortal illness to Gideon, choosing Jim as its source, and Odon as an inspirational model of self-sacrificial heroism. Kill people but no birth control... that was some backwards logic if you asked Jim. Hodin tried to convince her to stay and provide the necessary virus. Somehow, they knew about her vegan choriomeningitis. She -and a bunch of people- got it on Tarsus Four and was given the vaccine when Starfleet rescued her but Harrison's blood cleared the virus and the antibodies from her system. They kidnapped her for nothing.
Jim glared at the ambassador, "I don't even have VC in my system anymore. You couldn't just inject yourselves with something? Hell, you could've asked for test samples; my CMO has plenty. You kidnapped me. I guess you thought I was gonna get all cozy with your son?"
"It would've happened over time," Hodin told her coolly. Jim snorted, "One, he's not my type. Two, I'm married. Back home, married people have a saying, it's still a vow in most ceremonies; 'til death do us part.' I'm not dead and I know my husband isn't either. Even if he were dead, I still wouldn't go there. If I were you, I'd send me back to the real Enterprise because this is when everything goes to hell for you."
"What makes you so sure?" Hodin asked. Jim smiled, "I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise, the flagship of the Federation. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that my crew… my family wouldn't do for me. You think you've won but I know for a fact that Spock has already figured you out. Let me go now and we forget about this, don't and you find out what happens when you piss off the crew of the Enterprise. Trust me when I tell you, it's not pretty."
At least Odon was smart enough to look worried. He looked at Hodin, "Father." The older man glared, "She's lying." Jim chuckled, "No I'm not. I bet it's my Vulcan giving you the biggest headache. You're banking on the fact that he's a by-the-book kind of officer? If this was a few years ago, I'd agree with you. Then, I almost died and he beat the man responsible half to death with his bare hands. Like I said, my crew is a family."
Just as she said the words, a welcome sight appeared behind the two men. Jim smiled, "Took you long enough." Hodin and Odon weren't fast enough to counteract that damn Vulcan nerve pinch. "I am not supposed to be here, Captain," Spock told her with a bit of amusement in his voice. Jim gave her friend a quick hug, "I'll deal with the brass… later." Spock nodded and signaled his communicator for a beam out.
Monty was right where she knew he'd be when she beamed onto their ship. He was sitting next to Kyle at the transporter console. As soon as she fully materialized, she found herself in his arms. "Ye scared the crap outta me, lass."
"That one was not my fault… at all. That was the brass ignoring our concerns," she muttered into his chest. Monty nodded, "Spock already commed Pike." Jim laughed, "To be a fly on the wall back at HQ." He chuckled, "No kidding. Come on. Ye need to debrief and get some rest." She smiled, "Yes, sir."