Two hours after arriving at Starbase 180.
Nyota was sure the first thing she wanted to do was go back to her quarters and sleep.
Scotty seemed to agree. But sadly, they were still on the Starbase, arguing over the repairs to the HECS. The base techs seemed to be at a loss at where to start when it came to the extensive damage.
Scotty and the lead repair tech had been arguing for the last hour about where to start, and had gotten nowhere.
Nyota was sure that Scotty was correct - but she was a communications officer, not an engineer - so Nyota was also confident that the lead tech would ignore her opinion.
In fact, the only opinion other than her own that the lead repair technician seemed to take seriously at all was Captain Kirk's. The woman hadn't pulled her eyes away from the Captain when he had explained the situation an hour ago before he left with Spock. If Nyota had to hear 'Yes, Captain Kirk!" in that breathy tone one more time…
The woman was insistent that only her techs should work on the repairs. "Mr. Scott. I don't care that your people have worked on the Enterprise since you were put in charge of the Engineering. They clearly don't know anything, or the HECS would still be in one piece."
Scotty gasped like he had been physically struck.
"Now see here," Scotty started to say, his voice starting to rise in anger. If Nyota didn't do something this whole meeting would end up in a fist fight.
A sudden idea stuck her; Nyota placed a hand on his arm and Scotty froze.
Nyota looked at the woman; she was glaring at Scotty like Scotty was the cause of the explosion that damaged the ship. And Scotty was scowling right back.
"We'll call the Capitan over to get this cleared up," Nyota said, in a tone of voice that most of the Enterprise's crew would understand. The tone of 'follow my lead, if you want to get out of this.' She followed it up with the code phrase the senior bridge crew created after being held hostage with guards one too many times. The phrase was code for 'Just trust me," "The Enterprise's Captain will help us. He's not meeting with the Vulcan delegation for at least another half hour."
The woman paled.
"Aye. He'll make it over here soon, or it'll have to wait until the Captain's meeting with the Admiral. After that." Scotty added, following along with Nyota's lead. He may not have known where Nyota was going, but he would follow her lead, Nyota knew. He was the one who thought up the redundancy of their code phrase. Even if Kirk was hostage along with them, the phrase worked. (If Kirk was also a captive, Spock was usually the one to save them in that case.)
Both of them looked at each other and nodded. "The Captain won't be happy. To be bothered like this. But I'm sure we can deal with him." Nyota said.
The woman frowned. "What do you mean he won't be happy." It wasn't a question, but Nyota answered it anyway.
"Well, he knows that Scotty here was going to make sure his team was the one working on the repairs. Captain Kirk wanted Scotty, because then Scotty will know and understand the new HECS. Right Scotty?" Nyota asked. She glanced at Scotty who was doing his best to keep a straight face.
"Aye. Captain Kirk has placed his trust in me to learn the new HECS," Scotty repeated, solemnly.
While their words were the truth, Nyota knew neither of them would just ordinarily throw Kirk's name around like this. Kirk would, of course, hear about this later.
Nyota would probably tell Jim about this while Spock was in the room so she could watch the fun. Spock would probably try to hide his 'I'm a good mate. Not her!' expressions and fail entirely, and Kirk would still miss them somehow. The whole situation would be incredibly hilarious.
"Fine." The woman huffed. "Mr. Scott and his team can stay. But only them. I don't need some know-nothings around here, trying to make a mess." She crossed her arms and glared at Nyota and Scotty.
"I think that's the best we'll get, love." Scotty murmured to her under his breath.
Nyota hummed in agreement. He was right, the Starbase engineering team probably wouldn't give any more ground. Especially this woman. She was already too angry at them. If using her clear hero worship of Kirk was only able to get them just Scotty and three others…
Damn. Nyota had hoped to help for a little while before the meeting with the Vulcans.
"You promise next shore leave we'll get some time off?" She asked, knowing she had responsibilities this shore leave too.
The lower crew would have the shore leave on the Starbase. The senior crew had shit to do, as the common saying went.
Scotty smiled and nodded, "Aye, love. And since the HECS will be fixed after shore leave, we can work on the communication system too. I'll see you tonight at the formal dinner."
"Remember to get out of here soon enough to get cleaned up for dinner. The Vulcan's are very particular about eating with grease," Nyota reminded, teasing.
Scotty laughed. "I forgot once, three years ago, and everyone and their Ma have to remind me now! The Captain AND Mr. Spock have already warned me to be on time." He smiled at her.
"Mr. Scott. Any time now please?" the Engineer said, her tone impatient. She was glaring at them both with an annoyed expression, her arms crossed. Nyota had to leave. Making the woman even more angry would be a problem that Scotty would be left to deal with.
"I'm coming." Scotty groused, exchanging a quick speaking look with nyota before pressing a quick kiss to her temple, and Nyota leaned into the gesture with a soft smile. Then Scotty stepped back, and Nyota waved him along.
Scotty would be fine, Nyota knew perfectly well.
She watched him leave back into the Enterprise with the Engineer. Once they had disappeared into the ship, Nyota turned on her heel and headed to the Starfleet base Command Offices.
Kirk had asked her to be there when they met with the Vulcans, along with Sulu.
He had also asked for McCoy, but McCoy had shut that suggestion down with a glare. Apparently, he was going to spend lots of time in the base medical fixing their crewman.
Chekov was still with McCoy in the med bay. And Scotty was going to fix the HECS.
So, it was just going to be her, Sulu, Kirk and Spock.
Just the Alpha shift bridge crew, more or less, were meant to greet the Vulcans. But the dinner that night would be all of the crew.
And based on the conversations Nyota had held with Jim for the past week, in-between dealing with the HECS and that negligent engineering crewman, Kirk had been quietly trying not to panic (and failing) over the Vulcan's visit.
As she entered the building, she saw Sulu near the lifts. He waved at her as she got into speaking range.
"Morning, Uhura," Sulu said, smiling at her.
"Good morning," she said back. "Where's your other half?"
It was starting to become strange not seeing Ben with Hikaru Sulu. They were a partnership that seemed hard to know where one began and the other one ended.
Sulu had changed since the experiment of letting Starfleet families on board the Enterprise had begun.
And Nyota was glad for it.
Something had always struck her as lonely when she watched Sulu while they had been away in space. He had always been happy and gregarious, and close friends with Chekov, but something had always struck Nyota as always off. It was as if he had always been living with a piece missing, always looking to his side for someone who wasn't there.
But now that Ben and Demora Sulu were on board the ship, by Hikaru's side for the next five years, Sulu had reclaimed that missing piece.
"Ben and Demora are going to be at the Starbase amusement park," Sulu said. Together they walked into the lift that leads to the upper conference floors. "Mora's been excited about it for the last week. She been talking about lt like its Disneyland in Los Angeles, but it's just this little small thing."
Nyota nodded. "How is Demora holding up? After the explosion?"
Sulu shrugged in a 'what can you do' motion. "About as well as she can, I think. She had a nightmare the first night after, but hasn't had any since. Ben and I are watching out for any signs of post-traumatic stress." They had reached the lift and Sulu paused to let Nyota enter. He was still smiling as he followed her in. "I'm not too worried though. She's resilient."
"She is," Nyota agreed with a warm smile. "What about Ben? I can't imagine that being a civilian on a starship like the USS Enterprise can be easy."
Sulu laughed, a bright and happy sound. "Ben's having so much fun! He's written two papers and has the kids in the Crèche to work with. I honestly think he's going to take over my botany department. He keeps saying that i could so much more"
Nyota laughed along with Sulu, she was glad that Ben was enjoying himself. The Alpha Shift Bridge crew always enjoyed the few times that Ben had been able to join them on their adventures, usually in on a starbase or on earth. Nyota was glad that Ben was able to find himself a place on the Enterprise.
Before the start of this five year mission, nyota had worried that the spouses and families would have a difficult time adjusting, especially Ben, who was used to working in a lab everyday with his own Botany experiments. But everyone seemed to have adjusted smoothly to the ship.
"Tomorrow he's going to take some time for himself, and I'm going to get a full day with Demora. We're going to the movies, and maybe we'll spend some time at the dance studio the base has," Sulu looked excited as the doors to the lift opened up to the conference room's level. "Ben has her most days while I'm on duty, so I haven't had some papa-daughter time in a while."
Nyota could almost feel the happiness that rolled off of him in waves. She was glad that Sulu could spend time with his daughter while on Starbase 180. After the experience with the HECS it was nice to see someone from Alpha bridge crew experiencing some rest and relaxation.
But first, they had to get through this.
They both paused at the door of the conference room, Sulu schooling his face into his bridge officer expression - the one he wore during every call Kirk took on the bridge. Nyota wished Scotty was with her.
Meetings like this were always better with Scotty.
She opened the door to a handful of Vulcans, a few members of Starfleet, and Spock already in the room, waiting.
About ten minutes after the start of mission briefing
Spock refrained from looking at the door with impatience.
Two people were missing from the briefing.
One of them being the Admiral in command of Starbase 180, and the other was Spock's own Captain.
Spock knew that Jim had a meeting with Admiral Hernandez just before the planned meeting with the Vulcan delegation about the damage that had been inflicted on the Enterprise by Crewman Kent. That meeting shouldn't have run late.
Spock hoped that his concern and agitation wasn't showing on his face as he spoke to the Leader of the Vulcan delegation.
It wasn't like Jim to be late for a meeting like this.
"Commander." The Vulcan leader, Renank spoke. "As your Captain and the Admiral have yet to arrive, may we discuss the project I have contacted you about recently?" Renank was an older Vulcan who had survived Vulcan's destruction because he was off planet.
Spock respected him greatly. "We may. I've received the first of the data packets with the Terran literature."
"As I had sent the data before the damage occurred to the Enterprise, I was concerned that they did not arrive," Renank said. He took the padd that was on the table and opened up a program. "I've also been informed that we have found physical books that will also need processing. Will you be able to handle physical books along with your duties to the damaged Enterprise?"
Renank, Spock felt, wasn't asking out of some sense that Spock wasn't going to be able to handle the workload because Spock was somehow less. He was asking out of an actual concern that Spock wasn't going to be able to complete the project with the damage to the Enterprise from the explosion.
Spock nodded, "I will be able to handle the books. The Chief Engineering officer will be handling most of the repairs."
"Understood. I will arrange for the books to be separated from the rest of the literature we have found," Renank said. "We have found more physical artifacts then we anticipated."
Spock tilted his head in curiosity. This delegation was one of several that Spock knew of who were searching for Vulcans' lost past. They had been sorting out cultural treasures from traders, private collectors, and a few museums.
If they had found more than they thought, then Spock was pleased. It meant more people were willing to part with the treasures or there was more on the market than previously thought.
"As I gathered when you sent a revised request for more than one cargo bay," Spock responded to Renank. "I am pleased with the development." He was. His father had explained that, understandably, the Vulcan species had lost more data than could ever be replaced. But there was hope that delegations, such as the one Renank was leading, could find more data and information stored in of servers or libraries which had been saved off-planet.
"Indeed." Renank said. "It has been a fortuitous event." He paused and handed Spock the padd, the listing of the physical books that Spock will be working with open on the screen.
Spock briefly glanced down the list. Some of the titles he could already dismiss as useless to the project, as they were propaganda. Earth, just after the first contact, had some strong Xenophobic factions that had promoted lies about Vulcan and its culture as hearsay to try and prevent peaceful relations. Such factions were unheard of in the present, but their literature was a constant reminder of their past.
Some of the titles on the list were children's books that may or may not become a source of useful information. Spock made a mental note to look them up first. That would go the quickest.
Some of the titles were in Vulcan, and that would be a complicated read for Jim. Although, Spock knew his Captain well, and if Jim Kirk ever turned down a challenge, then it would be a surprise. Jim might just learn how to read Vulcan for this project.
Spock was profoundly grateful that he had asked Jim to be part of this project. Jim would help him sort the information and determine what was genuine cultural writings, and what wasn't.
The project would give Spock a place to showcase to Jim that he would be a good mate, because of his intelligence and loyalty. That wasn't his intent when he had asked Jim originally, but it was going to be an excellent outcome, nonetheless.
Spock had been working on showing Jim that he was the best mate for Jim over the last several weeks. The explosion in engineering made it simultaneously a more difficult task, and somehow easier at the same time. For the past few days, Jim had needed to be reminded to eat as he kept getting caught up in everything: from the projects for repairing the damage done to engineering, to conversations with Starfleet about what to do with crewman Kent, and making sure the rest of the ship was still running smoothly.
Spock had been doing his very best to make sure that Jim ate, showing that he was a skilled provider. Spock made sure that Jim slept, proving that he cared for Jim's welfare. He made sure that the ship ran as smoothly as possible - and that the crew was doing their best without being strained to the point of weakness and breaking. He cared about the crew as much as Jim did.
But it wasn't enough.
All of Spock's actions weren't out of character, and were already things he had done before attempting to prove his worthiness as a romantic partner to Jim. Yet nothing had shown Jim that he was clearly a better choice than whoever had driven Jim to drink to deal with his feelings.
And this project was going to show just that. Jim might see that Spock cared enough to share his culture with Jim. This project was more significant than both of them, and that was something precious.
Jim would understand that and, maybe if Spock was lucky, he would see what Spock was offering.
If not, then it was a start. Winning Jim's affection and love would be a long battle, one that Spock was willing to fight.
"Commander Spock, this is one of my students," Renank said, catching Spock's attention. "He is the one who found many of the physical books."
A tall Vulcan strode up to them. While most of the Vulcans in the room were wearing simple clan robes of some sort, as this was a diplomatic meeting and not extremely important, this man was wearing robes of lower social strata.
Vulcan society may have changed since the destruction of their home planet, but some habits were harder to break than others.
Social strata were one of them. It was long ingrained into their society. Although out of necessity, that was changing too. Spock didn't foresee the changes being complete until well in the future. Vulcans of every strata had survived, as communities prioritized who should escape the planet - by skill set, or who were children. However even with the changes in their society and culture, some of the differences were still prevalent.
Spock felt a sense of remembrance when he looked at Renank's student. Spock was thankful for Vulcan's perfect memory. He knew he had met the student as a child. However, it still took a moment for Spock to place the face accurately.
"This is my senior student, who was with me while I was off planet," Renank introduced, "Jolvek, Commandeer Spock." The tall Vulcan nodded, his eyes on Spock. Jolvek's eyes weren't as blank as the others - there was something else in them too.
"Commander Spock," Jolvek greeted, holding up the ta'al. "I believe you are Spock, Son of Sarek and Amanda?"
Spock stood, returning the gesture, momentarily surprised. Most Vulcans would just acknowledge the father of a person, not both parents. His mother was also often forgotten by most because of her race. "I am."
"Then I believe we went to school concurrently for a period of time," Jolvek said.
And that was when the memory of a young Vulcan, of lower social strata but not lower intelligence, surfaced in Spock's mind. They had indeed gone to school at the same time. Jolvek was younger than Spock, they had not shared the same learning pod's or the lessons that were taught, but Spock did remember him.
And Spock remembered how he had also done nothing when the other Vulcans had spent their time trying to provoke him, tormenting him and bullying him in attempts to elicit an emotional response. Spock could not forget the surety Jolvek had possessed of his own superiority.
"I believe we did." Spock agreed cautiously. Something about Jolvek was, as Jim would put it, 'setting off alarm bells'. "You are the one who found the books?" He didn't say any more. The school was not a time in his life that Spock liked to remember. Even someone who did nothing to bully him wasn't a person that Spock wanted to reminisce with - as they had done nothing to help him either.
Still, if Jolvek had been included on this delegation then perhaps his opinions had changed. It would be illogical to condemn him before evidence appeared
"I am, I have long had a particularly interested in Terran-Human culture. I had previously established contacts with traders and sellers who were willing to part with their collections, or who were able to find more." Jolvek said.
He met Spock's eyes for a more extended period of time than necessary. Spock refrained from frowning at the other Vulcan.
"I see," Spock murmured. He wasn't interested in where the books came from; he was fine knowing that they existed at all, but Jim might be interested.
"I am satisfied to have my work in the capable skills of yours, Commander Spock," Jolvek said. "I was unable to parse some of the more… Nonsensically written books from the time of the first contact. I believe that you may help me understand the topics brought up."
Spock eyed Jolvek. There was something off about the way Jolvek was acting toward him. He just didn't know what.
"Once I've gone through the literature and have created the report, you will read it," Spock said mildly. Jim would be a co-author of course. He knew instinctively that Jim would be creating all sorts of ideas and topics and theories, only by reading all of the books presented.
"I will hope for an in-person debrief," Jolvek said, reaching out to take the padd back.
Spock calmly handed him the padd. Jolvek slid his hand up the padd to brush their fingertips together.
Spock immediately moved his hand away, giving up the padd with a suddenness that would have been noticed by others in the room if not for the arrival of Captain Kirk and the Admiral.
The feeling of Jolvek's hand and mind jarred Spock. He hadn't expected it, but he could now tell that he was being flirted with in the Vulcan way.
Spock could feel Jolvek's interest. Jolvek wasn't as telepathically strong as Spock was. Few were. But he must have gotten something from the brief contact as he had a slightly satisfied air about him as Jim walked up to them.
Spock fought the urge to just take Jim's hand in a Vulcan kiss, to declare that he was taken and to wipe the feeling of Jolvek's mind from his. While the first and contact from Jolvek weren't terrible, Spock wasn't interested, and the sensations were jarring.
He would have to work on his shielding.
"Spock! Sorry, we're late," Jim said as he drew near. " I had to deal with another Captain with an issue."
Now that Jim was so close, his emotions practically jumped from him to Spock. Spock let the feelings of his love run over him. Jim was stressed. Jim's thoughts were harder to read. The call he had to deal with was about Kent and … Captain Warrington? Maybe. Jim was calming down, and it was a good feeling to experience.
"It is no matter, Captain." Spock said, turning to the assembled group. "This is Leader Renank and his student, Jolvek."
Jim gave a correct Ta'al and received the gesture in turn.
Admiral Hernandez cleared their throat. They were smiling but slightly harried looking too. "If we could get started Gentlemen, ladies, and genteel beings. We've got a lot to cover."
"Yes, of course, Admiral," Jim nodded. He took a quick look around for a headcount as he went to his seat.
Spock sat, and saw Nyota across from him. She raised an eyebrow, and her eyes flicked to Jolvek. Spock raised an eyebrow back and silently agreed to meet her later to discuss this turn of events.
After he spent some time with Jim.
Meanwhile in star base 180's medical facilities
Bones did his best not to hover.
But he wasn't the one healing Pasha, and that was hard. Pasha was currently in one of the most state of the art biobeds getting the last of the burns and internal damage fixed. Riley was right next to Pasha in a similar biobed, both of them unconscious and still.
Bones hated it.
He wasn't able to help them. He was now forced to rely on a team that wasn't his to fix his own crew.
Bones had led the transport of all of the patients with injuries from the explosion to the medical facilities on the Starbase. Bones refused to call it a hospital.
It wasn't.
But it did have a far better, more capable system the what was on the Enterprise. He glanced at the digital readout that was scrolling data at quick pace and took in what the readings were showing.
It was all good things. Riley was healing faster, which wasn't a surprise, he had been far enough away that his burns weren't nearly as bad as Pasha's. M'benga had done a damned good job fixing the wounds. Riley wouldn't even scar when the biobed was done with him.
Pasha, on the other hand, would carry the scars for a while.
But Bones would fix them, or they would fade. He always did.
"You know they'll be fine Doctor," came Chapel's voice from behind him.
Bones shifted in his place by the doorway of Pasha and Riley's room to look at his head nurse with a sad smile. "I know, but it's still hard to not be leading that charge."
She nodded in return, understanding.
Together they watched the medical team from the Starbase work on their patients. While Bones was their primary doctor, he also was unfamiliar with the new biobeds. He wasn't going to damage his patients - or hurt Pasha.
Part of this trip would be learning how to use the beds and getting one installed on the Enterprise.
But for now, Bones just watched.
"How's the report on the families going?" He asked Chapel. More to distract himself with work than anything else. He would read the report of the first six months soon, but right now, this was a blessed distraction.
She smiled like she knew what he was doing and handed him the report on the pads she was carrying. "So far so good. The crew members with families on board are showing to be healthier mentally and physically than before. While the families themselves are all adjusting well and honestly, haven't been shaken by things. It's very promising."
Bones had to smile at that. "Good. Hopefully, the next five years works out well for everyone."
"Maybe you'll get to bring Joanna for a while next time we're near Earth?" Chapel said.
And Bones honestly felt his heart stop at the thought.
In a good way.
He could see introducing Joanna to Pavel. They had met before, but this time he would be presenting Pavel as his partner. As his lover. As his boyfriend? If that didn't sound far too young for Bones.
Joanna would probably enjoy spending some time on the Enterprise away from her mother. According to Jocelyn's last communication, they had been fine. But according to Joanna's previous message they'd been fighting more. Bones believed that it was a mix of teenage angst and her mother being difficult.
Maybe he could get Joanna for a summer.
"Maybe," Bones smiled, unwilling to say more - he didn't want to get his heart and hopes up.
Chapel sent him a smile that said his attempts at staying cool weren't very good. She saw right through him.
Bones shook his head. He had a great team.
Pavel shifted on the bed and Bones was at his side in an instant. He didn't honestly care that it might have been a little impetus to do so. He was a man in love.
"Doctor, I'm going to check on the others. I'll get you if you're needed," Chapel said in farewell as she turned to walk away. Bones could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. Chapel may have not known about Bones' feelings in the same way Jim or Scotty did, but she clearly understood it on some level.
Bones nodded. "Please do, Chapel." He watched her go and returned his attention as Pasha began to wake up.
Pasha's eyes opened slowly,and he smiled up at Bones. "Hi, Len." His voice was hoarse and scratchy with disuse.
Bones was helpless to the smile that spread across his face. "Good morning, sleeping beauty," he reached out and brushed at the curls that were messy on top of Pasha's head.
Pavel sleepily grinned.
"So how much longer, Doctor?" Pasha asked. There was a note of hope in his voice. He wanted to leave the med bay, Pavel had spent the last two weeks in the med bay on the ship. He was eager to go.
Bones found that when Pasha called him "Doctor," it was a like a line had been drawn. Pavel was his patient in those moments and Bones liked that. He could deal with the realities of being in love with his patient without it tripping into permanent over protectiveness. It was a good way for both of them to compartmentalize.
Bones could work with just a little amount of over-protectiveness. But he couldn't help it. Pasha was injured. He was overprotective of all of the sick and wounded of the Enterprise.
"The team says you and Riley will be out by the end of the day. You may still be tired for a few days, but you'll be fine by the time shore leave ends," Bones told him, repeating what the doctor in charge of the ward had told him. The readings from Pavel's bed said the same.
Pavel nodded. "Good, because I've got plans for you, Len, and I don't want your worry to get in the way." He sent an almost seductive look at Bones. He played up the leer into something comical.
Bones laughed loudly, and light entering his chest. "I can only hope these plans of yours match up with mine!"
Pasha just grinned up at him from his bed, unable to keep a serious expression for long as Bones was finding out. When Pasha was off the bridge and not working, he smiled much more than frowned. Bones delighted in finding out parts of Pasha he hadn't seen before, despite being friends for so long.
Bones didn't stop smiling himself, but he did have to admit to the hot lash of want that ran through him at the thought of the plans he and Pavel might have.
There was a ping from the padd in Bones hand's, distracting him from whatever he might have said.
"It's from Jim…" Bones said as he looked at the message. "It's actually for you, Pasha-love." He hadn't meant for the endearment to slip out, but he was an old Southern man. Endearments just tended to happen.
Pasha turned bright red at the escaped endearment. His smile turned from laughing to something softer and happier - if that was even possible. Bones liked that look on him.
Pavel looked like a man in love and Bones was still damn happy he was somehow so damn lucky that Pavel loved him.
"Oh? What does the Captain want?" Pavel asked, as he shifted in his bed and reached up and took Bones hand.
Bones absently intertwined their fingers together.
"They want to talk to you about that argument we saw a while ago between Warrington and Kent. And maybe talk about that dinner you went to with Captain Warrington," he said as he read the padd. He was little trepidatious about bringing this topic up. "They also want to speak to Riley, as he was working with Kent."
Pavel's last ex was in the middle of something big that had somehow caused an explosion in engineering that had nearly killed two crewmen, and injured forty more.
Pavel didn't stiffen up or even make a move that he had registered Bones' words. Then he shook his head, as if clearing a thought, and squeezed Bones' hand. "The investigators?"
Bones shook his head in the negative. "The admiralty and Jim. Mainly. I think something big is happening if the issues got pushed up that high." Bones didn't voice his suspicion that Captain Warrington wasn't going to be a Captain for much longer.
Starfleet wasn't about to let family drama do this much damage without repercussions. Especially if the person responsible was being emotionally devastated and had been ordered not to tell anyone.
Because Bones had learned from Jim that Kent had been ordered by his father to never reveal their relationship to anyone - and that if he mentioned their relationship to anyone on the Enterprise, he would be fired and cut off from his sister and their family.
No wonder Kent went from a perfect crewman to distracted problem child overnight.
Bones knew that Kent was in trouble, but Captain Warrington wasn't going to get out of the investigation unscathed either.
"I can do that," Pasha said. "As long as it's alright with my doctor?" he asked with a hopeful note.
Bones had to laugh. "Yes, it's alright with your doctor to talk to them tomorrow." His tone was playful. "But I get you to myself for several hours after that. I want to take you on a date." He paused, and then realizing what he said, "If that's alright with you?"
Pavel was nodding an affirmative before Bones had even finished his question. "Yes, please! A date with you would be wonderful."
Bones leaned forward from his place in the chair and pressed his forehead against Pasha's. Pasha leaned into the touch. "I'm going to take you on the best date you've ever been on."
Pavel smiled, and Bones could feel it on his skin. "Looking forward to it, Len."
The next day
As Chekov left, he was moving slowly, still clearly healing. Bones had stood by Chekov's side for the entire interview, both of the men in their gray service uniforms.
Jim had been relieved to find out the Admiralty didn't want the full-dress uniforms, despite how good everyone looked in their colors and braids. Jim himself was dressed in his service uniform.
Jim sighed and glanced at Admiral Hernández. On the screen behind them were Admirals Kormack and Chase, all of them looking serious and solemn in their own service grays.
Kormack looked ready to start swearing. Chase didn't seem much more composed. Hernández just sighed in tandem with Jim. They returned his gaze with a sad look before they turned around and faced the other two Admirals.
Jim wasn't going to be the one to start speaking. Not with this group. Plus, he was only present on 'observational' status.
He had already given his testimony. Chekov and Riley were the last ones.
Now that they had all had their say, all Jim could do was watch and answer any questions.
"We've heard all the testimonies" Chase started. "I think we can definitively say that Kent is at fault."
Kormack snorted. "That's correct," he said, interrupting Chase. "Tell us something new, Chase."
Chase just glared at him through her screen. "As I was saying, it is Kent's fault for missing the maintenance and falsifying records to make it look as if he had been working when he hadn't been," she looked at her padd off-screen.
Jim agreed with this part of the investigation. He hoped the board recognized the rest of Jim's opinion.
Before the explosion, Scotty had been livid to discover how the HECS had gotten so bad. Kent had lied about doing the work and had created some false maintenance documents, reports, and records.
Jim had been thinking about what to do about the mess later, but he gave up when Scotty said they needed a new HECS anyway.
"I agree," Hernández said, they closed their eyes, frowning. They opened their eyes and glanced at their padd. "But I don't feel like he should be punished for this alone. His direct emotional state was the cause of one man."
Jim wholeheartedly agreed.
Kormack sighed and said in a patronizing tone, "But the member should have control over their own actions. Kent should have left his personal life at the door. He should have spoken to someone. It's his fault alone." He readjusted in his seat. "Don't endanger people," he shrugged.
"Hernández, according to Kent, he had been ordered to - and then threatened to - stay silent about his emotional issues?" Chase asked.
Hernández nodded. "Captain Warrington had threatened that if word got out that Kent was his son, the member would be cut off from his family. According to Kent and Nurse Warrington, Captain Warrington also said that he could hack into their files to see what was going on with them - and had before."
"That doesn't mean that Captain Warrington is at fault," Kormack said. Jim understood where Kormack was coming from. He was an asshole about it, but the logic was sound.
Jim just didn't agree.
Just three days ago, Spock had come to him with the computer logs of Crewman Anderson Kent and Nurse Camilla Warrington. There had been several noticeable hacking entries. Some of the data had been changed, recently.
Family history and Next of Kin records, specifically, for both of them.
But worst of all was a standing endorsed order in Kent's file. One Jim did not authorize. Nor did Captain Wise, Kent's last Captain. It said that Kent was under orders to never reveal his family history. If he did, it was good for prison time on an asteroid jail.
Not even a prison colony. An Asteroid Jail.
Jim nearly had a fit when he'd read that order. Spock had needed to physically stop him from hunting down the only person who would have given such an illegal order, cleverly hidden underneath stacks of useless information.
Chase had taken one look at the order and rescinded it.
"No. Captain Warrington wasn't directly at fault for the actions of Crewman Kent," Hernández said, their back getting straighter as they arrested their point. "However, he is guilty of giving an unlawful order that created a hostile work environment that was directly related to an explosion that could have killed could have killed many Starfleet crew members and, worse, civilians. His actions directly controubled to nearly ending a promising trial for Starfleet!"
Hernández heled Kormack's gaze for a moment, neither flinching.
Kormack sat back in his chair, conceding the argument. "That, I'll agree Captain Warrington is guilty of."
Chase sighed, bringing the attention to her. "I'll send our recommendations up to the rest of the Admiralty. We'll take the Intrepid away from him at least. He's far from ready to lead a ship if this is how he uses his power."
Jim felt tension begin to drain from him at that. Captain Warrington wasn't going to be left unscathed from what he'd done to his son.
If Jim had a son, he didn't know what he would do, but it certainly wouldn't be what Warrington was doing.
"Onto Kent…" Hernández said, trailing off as they brought the attention of the Admirals back to the primary matter at hand.
Chase and Kormack fell silent.
"I think we all agree that he will be dealt with, but I think we need Captain Kirk's opinion on what type of punishment should occur," they said.
Chase nodded, and Kormack didn't say no, so Jim chose that moment to speak.
"Kent thinks he's going to an asteroid jail," Jim said bluntly. He didn't think that an asteroid jail was the right fit for Kent. They were for the worst criminals in Starfleet space. Kent wasn't that sort. He had messed up, but it was fixable. "I think he would be best off in an earthbound posting where he could work with the Starfleet psychiatrists. He could learn there. Grow, recover and deal with his actions there. Maybe, in the future, he might be sent to a Starbase, but that will be up to them."
Jim wasn't stupid enough to believe that they would let Kent go, even just to kick him out of Starfleet. That wasn't going to happen. Not with millions of credits in damage and several injuries. It may be too hopeful to think they might keep Kent in Starfleet.
It also probably wasn't safe to have Kent go free without any supervision. He was still on suicide watch.
All three Admirals nodded. "I agree. I don't think that …order… should be held up. Kent will have to be informed," Hernández said. They also said the word order like it was a poison in their mouth.
Jim had to clench his hands to keep from immediately searching out Captain Warrington and punching the man.
"Kirk. I am going to have to ask you to leave now. We have some discussions about what to do next that you don't have the clearance for," Chase said, now looking at her padd and not the screen.
Jim nodded and stood. "Admirals," he nodded, grabbing his cover from its place on the conference table and leaving the room. He didn't want to know the formal way a Captain was removed from their post. He had hated the idea when it had happened to him. He may have wanted to punch that asshole Warrington, but he didn't want to know how they stripped him of his rank.
Jim stepped out of the building and into the artificial outdoors of the Starbase. He placed the cover on his head and made his way to the bay where the Enterprise was currently docked.
He needed to see Spock.
But needed to see Spock wasn't strange in and of itself. What was strange was the way that Jim was starting to know where Spock was at any given moment. Jim wasn't going to question it much because he was in love with Spock and if his understanding of Spock had developed to the point that he could find Spock faster? Then who was he to complain? He got to see Spock sooner.
As he approached the docks, Jim saw Spock near the loading bay doors, supervising the loading of the Vulcan delegation's freight. It was a large enough shipment that it would take several days to get everything on board.
Renank was standing near Spock, writing on a padd. Spock was directing the crew as they loaded boxes and crates of, what Jim assumed, were Vulcan artifacts. There were a couple large containers that had already been put in the ship's hold.
Jim paused as he watched his crew from a distance. He was so damned proud of them.
Jim was close enough to see that Renank was looking up at a large pallet of stacked cases that had just been pulled up. Spock listened to something as the student of Renank's came up and gestured to the cases.
Spock nodded, and told the crew something that made them place the cases in a different location. Apparently, they weren't ready to be placed on board.
The student gestured at the cases again, and Spock followed the Vulcan over to them. Jim was fairly sure the student's name was Jolvek.
Jolvek opened one of the cases, and Jim saw, even from a distance that it was filled with books.
Ah! Jim was sure that was part of the project Spock had asked him to help with. The one on working with human literate on Vulcan. Jim had been looking forward to the whole thing.
It was going to be an excellent distraction from the entire mess with Kent and the Warrington's.
He could sink his teeth into the anthropological readings and spend time with Spock. He could flex his brain and attempt to keep up with Spock who would be in his element.
Jim was going to have fun.
Jim continued on his way to where Spock and Jolvek were talking.
He was forced to pause and talk to his crew a few times on the way there. They were 'outside' so they kept saluting him. Jim, per duty, had to respond.
Once he was finally closer, he could hear what Spock and Jolvek were talking about.
"As you can see, some of the books have water damage from a flood that occurred near the library they were stored in," Jolvek was saying, gesturing to a book that had honestly seen better days.
Spock nodded thoughtfully. "Are they legible?" he asked. "I would be concerned if they weren't. Or can they even be read? Or are their spines damaged?" Spock looked at the book with concern, his expression easy for Jim to read.
Luckily, Jim had an answer for that. He loved old books. "I've got something for brittle and for damaged spines in my room, Spock. If we find one, we can deal with it then."
Neither Vulcan started at Jim's presence, but Spock did turn to face Jim. "Captain. I believed that you were in a meeting for a while longer?" He stepped closer to Jim. He reached out and readjusted one of the star devices on Jim's left shoulder board.
Jim quirked an eyebrow at him and received an eyebrow raise in return. Jim shook his head as he stepped closer to Spock. He was thankful that Spock was always on top of everything. Even if it meant that Spock was correcting his uniform.
"Just finished with the Admiralty," Jim said, sure that Spock could hear the tension in his voice despite the fact few others would. Spock raised an eyebrow again. This time in question and not sarcasm. Jim waved him off. "I'll tell you about that later, after the dinner tonight."
Spock nodded, accepting Jim's deflection for what it was. A statement that whatever had happened was not to be discussed out in the open where the crew could hear them yet.
Jim turned to Jolvek, smiling politely at him. Jim had received enough diplomacy training that the smile was no longer forced.
"Are you going to be at the dinner, Jolvek?" he asked. Jim honestly wasn't looking forward to the dinner. He would have to be in his dinner dress golds. He may look damn good in the uniform, but he also had to sit straight up and try not to stare at Spock who would be in his own dinner dress blues.
Spock would look, as always, beautiful in his blues.
"I am," Jolvek said. He leaned forward and made as if he wanted to step closer to Spock, shifting in his place. Instead, he just stared at Spock like he was the one talking instead of Jim.
Jim refrained from frowning. "I hope you enjoy it. The Chefs here on the Enterprise have been planning for it for the past week." He didn't like the attitude that Jolvek was giving off. There was something off about the way the other Vulcan was acting toward them both. He was far too, what Jim could only describe as, attentive to Spock while being completely dismissive to Jim himself.
"I am sure they have been, with Commander Spock on board," Jolvek said. "An excellent source of information on performed Vulcan diets. He must be demonstrating a large amount of leadership. To lead the crew." Jolvek was still staring. He didn't even glance at Jim.
Jim noticed that Spock stiffed at some point during Jolvek's statement. There was nothing Jim could see that was insulting but he got the feeling that, somehow, he had been insulted.
Jim didn't hide the frown this time.
Jolvek didn't see it.
"Captain," Spock said, he was still looking at Jolvek, but Jim knew, somehow, that all of his attention was on Jim. "We are needed on the bridge."
Jim didn't know if they truly were or not, but he wasn't about to pass up leaving the weird situation. "Yes, we are," he said, agreeing with Spock. "Let's go. Have a good day, Jolvek. We will see you later this evening."
Jolvek nodded, not taking his eyes off of Spock. "Yes, I will, Captain."
Spock frowned.
He openly frowned in public with Vulcans nearby.
Jim didn't know what had caused the conversation to be so damned weird, but it had apparently also made Spock upset. Jim was glad they were leaving.
"Du ras-tukh nash hali, Spock. Nash-veh glazhau fa'rak tor du hasu svi' ish-veh yeht shi," Jolvek said as they walked away.
Spock didn't even turn around. "nash-veh tor ri wuh khart-lan. nash-veh tor svi' wuh yeht shi. nash-veh tor ri tvai tor nam-tor wuh ang'jmizn." His tone was short and unhappy.
Jim stared at Spock for the rest of the journey up to the bridge, but Spock never explained what was said.