I do not own Star Trek, any of the canon characters, nor do I make any profit from my writings. However, I am incredibly jealous of those who do.
Green-eyed Monster
Spock surveyed their situation. He and Fred were high up a nut tree, each sitting on their own sturdy branch. A large, cat-like predator circled them below. Less than a week ago, Spock and three others had been held captive by giant orchids which bound them to trees. He did not relish contacting the ship to arrange for another rescue. However, Spock also did not fancy becoming the creature's lunch. It licked its lips and watched them carefully with hungry green eyes.
Fred had continued pelting the beast with nuts. It growled when the hard little objects struck its body, but found the small projectiles little more than a nuisance.
"It is no use, Fred. The nuts are too small. We would need to hurl something with a larger mass."
"Great idea, buddy!"
"I do not comprehend, Fred. We have no large objects that we can throw at the creature."
Fred laughed and took off his uniform shirt.
Sirin's morning had started off with a bang, literally. A construction worker had been injured while working on the hospital's new wing. Several tons of building materials had caused an improperly assembled scaffold to collapse on the young man, Mike Caruso. His survival had been due in no small measure to the proximity of the emergency rescue team. Organ damage had been minimal, but more than half the bones in his body had been broken.
Sirin made the most of the opportunity to watch the Orthopedic surgery staff in action. Jack repaired Caruso's spine and ribs, while Sirin reconstructed his pelvis, hips, and femurs. Andi Powers did shoulder and wrist replacements as well as reattaching one thumb. Caruso would have to spend many weeks in physical therapy, but he would survive.
As the marathon surgery session ended, Sirin looked up into the observation gallery. San Francisco General was a teaching hospital. Staff and students alike were free to observe surgical procedures. Dr. Kroger was feeling well enough to resume his duties for a few hours a day. He had stopped by to watch Dr. Powers in action. Seeing that he had caught Sirin's eye, he gave him a thumbs up. Powers did good work. Sirin had chosen well.
Spock was convinced that Fred had lost his mind. There was nothing laughable about their situation and now Fred had removed his shirt, tied it into a pouch and was filling it with nuts.
"C'mon, Spock. Help me out here. Pick some nuts and drop them into my shirt. I'm making an offensive weapon."
Spock truly did not understand, but he complied with Fred's wishes. When the pouch could not hold any more nuts, Fred tied it closed with the shirtsleeves. He repositioned himself so that he was straddling the branch, his legs dangling dangerously as an enticement.
"Here kitty! Here kitty, kitty!"
"Fred, I do not think this is a wise course of action. The beast may grab your leg..."
The green-eyed predator was suddenly very interested in Fred. It growled and acted as though it intended to pounce.
Fred started yelling and threw his nut-filled shirt at the animal. It connected with a large thud and the cat ran away with a mournful howl. Fred jumped down from the tree and encouraged Spock to do the same. The nut-filled uniform shirt was forgotten as the two made their escape, heading for the clearing where they had beamed down. They were in plenty of time for the required check-in.
Rachel got home in the early afternoon and found Esther and Jason in the family room. Jason was in the playpen protesting his unjust treatment. Esther was sweeping up a broken potted plant.
"Hi Mom. I guess Jason's had a busy day."
"Oh yeah. We need to do a better job of baby-proofing around here. He found one of your Regency romances and shredded it. I was supposed to pass it on to Lewis next. Now I'll never know if Duke Sheldon marries Lady Effingham."
"Trust me when I tell you that the handsome and brave aristocrat always gets the girl in a Regency romance. I'll find another romance novel for Lewis to read. He won't mind. We should pack these books up until Jason is older, maybe get him some baby board books that are tear and drool resistant."
"We need to get the coffee table out of here and replace it with something that doesn't have sharp corners. He tried to pull himself up on it today."
"You're kidding! He's not even nine months old yet."
Rachel bent over the playpen and picked her son up.
"Come here, you little green-eyed monster. Why are you in such a hurry to grow up? Stay a baby for just a bit longer so your mama can enjoy you."
She gave him several hugs and kisses before the little guy started to squirm and complain. Rachel bent down and set Jason on the floor after making certain there was nothing dangerous in the immediate vicinity. However, she hadn't realized that the jar Sirin kept his guitar pick collection in was made of glass. It was on the bottom shelf of a large bookcase. Jason made a grab for it and the container fell to the floor, shattering. Broken glass was everywhere.
Rachel ran to scoop Jason up, making certain that he had no cuts. She carefully brushed him off.
"Jason, for all our being such intelligent people, your parents can be pretty dense sometimes."
Jason found himself back in the playpen while his mother and grandmother cleaned up the glass and did a more thorough investigation of the family room. He yelled for a while but then discovered his teddy bear and tried to hold a conversation with it. About the time Esther pronounced the family room to be truly "Jason proof", the doorbell rang. It was Lewis with several large food containers.
"Good afternoon, ladies. I bring you souberag, (a feta cheese and noodle casserole), yalanchi (rice-filled grape leaves), wilted spinach salad, and paklava for dessert. It's an Armenian feast and my way of welcoming Rachel home."
"Oh, Lewis, it smells just heavenly. But there's so much of it. I've been...umm...having food issues lately."
Lewis looked puzzled.
"Food issues?"
"Yeah. I had to treat famine victims on Fursia III. Now I want to smack people around every time I see food being wasted."
"Let's you and I go out on the back porch and have a little chat. You need to talk about Fursia III and I'm a good listener. That's why I'm a psychiatrist. That's also why I'm with Jack. He never shuts up, you know..."
Spock filed his report on the incident with the feline predator, a creature as fierce as a leopard and as large as a hippopotamus. He made certain to emphasize that Fred was the reason for their escape. Another team had walked by the same tree shortly after Spock and Fred had fled. They had recovered Fred's red outer shirt, still tied up with over two kilos of nuts inside. Fred was delighted to have it back, as he was quite hard on his uniforms.
After a hot meal and a good night's rest, the two roommates were ready to tackle the forest again. Probes and scanners had revealed a bear-like mammal but none of the teams had witnessed in person yet. As they took their places on the transporter pad, Fred was most enthusiastic.
"Spock wouldn't be cool if we found the Gareth bear?"
"It would be infinitely preferable to the Gareth bear finding us."
"It was just so difficult, Lewis. They were literally starving to death. The hardest ones to see were the children. There was a baby, about the same age as Jason. His mother nursed him until she ran out of milk. They both died."
"And you feel guilty because you couldn't save them, even though they were past the point of help."
"Yes."
"You also feel guilty because you have a full belly and a healthy, happy baby."
"Also true."
"Rachel, don't bottle it up inside. Talk about these feelings with me and others that you trust. You can't go screaming at people who waste food. However, you can tell others about the famine on Fursia III. Ask Rabbi Goldie if the Hadassah group would like to raise money for food and supplies to be sent there. You could give them a little lunch time talk."
"However, you have nothing to be guilty about. God has blessed you with a good life, but you use your goods and skills to help others."
"Thanks, Lewis. You are a good listener. Jack is a lucky guy. You should call him and the two of you should help us eat all this fabulous food."
"That's an excellent idea."
The grid search was going quite well. Spock had cataloged several hundred new species of insects. Gareth IV also possessed quite a number of edible plants, including some raspberry like fruits which gave off a most pleasing aroma. Even Spock, who was generally not affected by such things had been tempted to sample them. However, indigenous plants were not to be consumed until they had been thoroughly tested by the research labs on board the ship. In anticipation of this testing, twenty kilos of the berries had been collected, enough for several generous pies.
Spock was in the process of scanning the little green worms that were also attracted to the berries when he felt himself being watched. A pair of malevolent looking green eyes stared at him from over the top of the berry bushes.
Apparently the giant brown bear of Gareth IV also liked berries.
While consuming Lewis' excellent dinner, plans were made for attending the hospital's annual picnic the following Saturday. It was held every summer in Golden Gate Park and catered by the hospital food service, usually their best meal of the year. There would be games and activities for all ages and opportunities for the staffs of various departments to interact with each other. Employees were encouraged to bring family, friends, and significant others.
Rachel looked forward to this excitedly. The previous summer she had been too sick to attend, suffering from copper poisoning and other symptoms of a hybrid pregnancy. She called Paula to ask about appropriate attire and they made appointments to get their hair and nails done at Lee's Day Spa. Lee Johnson had a daughter La Keisha who was going to study engineering at Starfleet Academy starting in the fall. She always had at least a dozen questions for Rachel.
The huge, green-eyed monster peered over the berry bushes at Spock, looking ready to attack. All of a sudden there came a blood curdling scream from behind. The bear took off running in the opposite direction. He had no desire to tangle with a creature who could make such a noise.
Spock turned around, expecting to face another predator and the remains of Fred. Instead of being dead, Fred was sitting on the ground laughing.
"My grandfather was into Civil War battle reenactments. You just heard a "Rebel Yell." It works on bears every time!"
"You will have to teach it to me."
Rachel had a fabulous time at the spa with Paula. They reminisced about old times and caught up on the latest gossip. Paula exclaimed over the lovely shade of coral that the manicurist had painted on her nails.
"This will be gorgeous with my new sundress. That should make that despicable Andi Powers sit up and take notice. She'd better not come anywhere near me or my handsome Vulcan. Not that Trethis would stray, but Vulcans can be somewhat clueless at times."
"Paula, is she still up to her old tricks?"
"Oh yeah. She was flirting with Dr. Kroger after the staff meeting the other day. Elsie Kroger is on the board of directors and just about had a stroke. I don't know why Andi does that. She's very attractive. Surely she could get her own man with out trying to take someone else's."
Rachel nodded.
"Maybe she's insecure, Paula."
"Rachel, why ever for? She's beautiful, smart, and at the top of her field. What else could she need?"
Captain Pike read the communication from Starfleet command while he sipped his morning coffee. The rest of the planetary survey mission would have to be postponed. A distress call had been received from Telonus III. The small, fur-covered inhabitants, the Kholourians, were in trouble.
Pike had been to Telonus III on a previous occasion, while he was in command of the science vessel USS Pasteur. A group of colonists had jumped the gun and settled the world before Starfleet had given its approval. They had not realized that the Kholourians were sentient and a misunderstanding had nearly led to tragedy.
Spock had also been on that mission. His cool head, telepathic abilities, and analytical thinking had saved the Kholourians from possible extinction. An incident started by a green-eyed Human monster named Bart Klugg had led to the 'kidnapping" of some of the colony's small children.*
Spock looked forward to seeing the Kholourians again. He hoped that their trouble was not too serious.
Sirin and Trethis unloaded tables and chairs from the van. The hospital furnished the food and disposable table service. It was up to the staff members to provide their own seating. Most of the Menace members were also associated with SF General, so there would be many people Rachel knew. They were a large and friendly group.
Jack and Lewis arrived with more chairs, which were quickly unloaded. Sirin set up Jason's playpen under a tree.
Everyone ate and visited happily for a few hours. After lunch, however, Rachel spotted Andi Powers making her rounds. She flitted from man to man like a bee from flower to flower. She left a trail of angry women (and a few men!) behind her.
When she started rubbing up against Jack over by the lemonade, Lewis was seeing red. He was on his feet and in Andi's face before his friends could stop him. Jack was trying to escape tactfully, but Andi wouldn't let him. Lewis decided to speak up.
"Excuse me, honey, but you need to leave that man alone."
"And why would that be?"
"Because he is so not your type."
"And how would you know that?" purred Andi.
"Because he's mine."
"Oh. I see. No harm, no foul. There are plenty of fish in the sea. I'll just move on."
Andi released her hold on Jack and looked around for another victim. That handsome Dr. Sirin was standing over by the veggie burgers. Perhaps he could use some company. Andi sauntered over toward the veggie burgers, hips swaying and bleached blond hair swinging in the breeze. She flashed Sirin a huge smile. However, someone stood between her and the latest object of her attention.
"Stay away from my husband, Andi Powers."
"Why should I, Rachel Silverstein?"
"Well, I can give you several reason. First of all, it's the decent and honorable thing to do. He's married and has a small son. Second, Vulcans form permanent mental bonds with their life partners. Sirin has such a bond with me. It makes infidelity highly unlikely, as the other person is always present to some degree in the spouse's mind. This also means that Sirin would probably not return any affection you offered to him. And then there's the final reason."
"And what would that be?"
"If you touch my man, I'll beat the crap out of you. Starfleet officers are trained in both defensive and offensive martial arts, you know."
"Actually I didn't know that. You do seem to be in very good shape."
Andi eyed Rachel's slender form and strong muscles.
"Whatever happened to "mousy" Rachel Silverstein?"
"She grew up, became a Starfleet Officer and married the love of her life. We have a beautiful little boy together. I would die defending either of them."
Andi sighed.
"You have it all together, Rachel. I'm jealous of you. Can we start over, be friends, maybe even do lunch sometime?"
"I'd like that, so long as you respect my boundaries."
"Understood."
When the family returned home from the picnic, Esther put an exhausted Jason to bed. She turned in a little early herself.
Sirin escorted Rachel to their bedroom, where she quickly locked the door and pushed him onto the bed. Sirin had overheard the exchange between Rachel and Andi. He had found it highly amusing.
"So, it seems you have defended my honor after all."
"Yes, and now that Andi's gotten me all hot and bothered, I'm gonna bother you."
Sirin gave her the sexy eyebrow.
"I imagine that I shall enjoy this type of "bothering."
"Yep, I think you will. When I get jealous, I become a bit of a green-eyed monster."
"Such a lovely green eyes..." said Sirin as he kissed her forehead, her nose, and then her lips...
*A/N: Read chapter three of my fic His Mother's Son to get the full story on the Kholourians.