Jamie didn't know what she expected when Daddy finally came back to her quarters. Although she felt a little better since Dr. McCoy told her everything would be all right, she still had a funny jumpy feeling in her tummy. Just because Nanny and Dr. McCoy believed her didn't mean Daddy did. Maybe he would leave her here in her quarters forever with everything locked up. Part of the time when she wasn't so scared, Jamie wished she could open a book or work a puzzle. It got awful boring staring at her four walls even if they did have some nice pictures and posters on them.

"Jamie."

Even though she knew somebody had whooshed open the door, Jamie jumped. She sat up in bed and turned around when she heard Daddy's voice.

"I told the truth. I did. I'm not lying," she hadn't planned to start crying again or even to talk until he said something, but the words just burst out. "I never touched that old medallion."

She expected Daddy to start hollering or use his Captain Kirk voice to scold. When he stepped toward her, she thought maybe he might even be planning to spank her. But she never expected Daddy to pick her up, hug her tight and say, "I believe you."

No, that was the very last thing she expected to happen, but it was awful nice. Suddenly her tears were happy tears and she hugged Daddy back. This was the best part of living on the Enterprise, being safe and snug in her daddy's strong arms. Even if it didn't happen too often.

"I know you're telling me the truth," Daddy whispered in her ear. "Shh, don't cry. It's all right now. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"It's okay." And, it was. If Daddy believed her then everything would work out okay just like Dr. Bones said.

Daddy shook his head, "No, it's not okay, but I'm trying to be a good father, Jamie. I guess I just need a little more practice. Are you hungry?"

"A little." Jamie had just eaten a bunch of chicken nuggets Dr. Bones brought but there were still hollow places in her stomach.

"Then let's go to the Officer's Dining Room and get you something." Daddy sat her back on her feet and tugged her curls. "Anything you like."

"Anything?"

Daddy looked a little worried at that but then he straightened his shoulders and said, "Within reason."

It sounded so much like Gramma Jamie had to laugh. Then because Daddy still looked worried, she said, "A hamburger and ice cream?"

"I'm sure that will be fine."

Jamie had the best time until Daddy got called back to the bridge. Thankfully, he spent a long time with her eating, talking, and then he even helped work one of her puzzles. It sure made up for having to spend so much time alone in her quarters. Jamie even got to talk to him about everything she'd been thinking about when she was sitting there staring at her walls.

Jim knew it wouldn't be too long until he was called back to the bridge. He tried

to make every second with Jamie count – something he planned to do every day. I've lost too much time with her.

"Daddy? Why did somebody hide that medallion in my room?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out." He placed a piece of puzzle into the proper slot and glanced at the worried frown on her face.

"Do you think the person that tried to come in my room that night of the puppet show was gonna hide it then?"

Something else he needed to address. How could someone unlock a door that only Jamie and I were authorized to open? Was Spock right, did someone attempt to put a fake medallion in Jamie's room to throw us off the track of the real one? Until he opened his mouth, he had no idea that he planned to share with a nine-year old what he knew about the medallion. As he told her everything he knew, even about Spock's assessment of her fingerprints, Jim watched Jamie carefully. It actually filled him with pride to watch her listening carefully, hazel eyes wide and attentive, her mouth pursed waiting for him to stop so she could state an opinion. "You can't tell anyone I told you any of this, Jamie," he warned her, suddenly unsure if he'd done the right thing. Children loved to talk. If word got back to the Ambassador . . .

"I know how to keep a secret, Daddy." She sounded almost hurt that he'd doubt her. "I know lots of secrets I can't tell you because you're the Captain."

"You do?" That started him and yet he wasn't too surprised. A Captain was often the last to know the many little intrigues about a ship. "Then, I'm trusting you to keep this one."

"Somebody tried to get me in trouble," Jamie said. "They hid that old fake medallion here 'cause I'm the Captain's daughter. They thought you wouldn't tell anybody if you found it here."

"Why?"

Jamie gave him a look of pity at his stupidity. "'Cause Daddy you're the Captain. You wouldn't tattle on me because it would make you an' the Enterprise look bad. You wouldn't want anybody to know."

Out of the mouth of babes. Of course, she was right. Someone might have hoped to buy a little more time before their trickery was discovered. "I believe you might be right."

"'Course I am," she stated without a hint of guile or pride, "And I bet if anybody hid that medallion, I know who. It was that mean Mr. Cornelian. He has scary eyes."

It was as good a guess as any, but Jim knew he was still without a motive or an answer for the theft of the medallion. I still have to tell the Ambassador and Mr. Cornelian – whether he has scary eyes or not. And to think . . . I enlisted in Starfleet of my own free will.

Jamie went to learning cycle in a happier frame of mind the next morning. Daddy believed her about the medallion thanks to Mr. Spock. Wiggles of happiness made her feet feel dancey when she thought about the Science Officer. It had been nice of him to keep testing the medallion – Daddy had explained it all – so that it proved Jamie hadn't put it in her quarters. The first chance she got Jamie planned to thank him too.

Another reason to be happy was the note she'd found written on her bedside data pad when she woke up.

Come to the bridge for dessert after your dinner tonight. I love you, Daddy.

Jamie couldn't imagine what kind of dessert you could eat on the bridge, but anything would be nice. Going to the bridge would be fun too. It was a nice surprise to begin the day, but it would sure be hard to keep her mind on schoolwork. Dinner was a million hours away . . .

Jim Kirk was feeling chipper despite the circumstances surrounding the medallion. There'd still been no sight of the real medallion, if it existed. There was no possible way to know if the Ambassador had boarded the ship with a real or fake medallion. Not without asking him, which Jim wasn't prepared to do quite yet. There was still time before they'd reach the rendezvous point with the Klingon delegates to the peace conference. Until then he had Spock, the Security team and Communications working on the dilemma from various angles. Also, thankfully, the Enterprise had entered a no-communications zone near Romulan space. For the next 48 hours Starfleet would be blessedly quiet.

"Captain," Uhura said from her console, "Officer Ferguson is reporting that a thorough scan of the cargo area of the ship has produced no further evidence in the investigation. He's asking for orders."

Swiveling his chair toward her, Jim answered, "Tell him to proceed to the next level of the ship. Search every possible crevice where the medallion might be hidden."

"Yes, sir."

After that the morning dragged onward. It was a routine shift – despite the worry about the medallion and all that entailed – but Jim's thought were on Jamie. He felt guilty about not believing her when the fake medallion had been found in her quarters. He felt worse that he'd punished her for something she hadn't done. There was no way to undo his stupidity, but he'd found something that might give her a better impression of the parent she was stuck with.

While he could have asked Dr. McCoy or even Nanny Banks what Jamie might like, he'd stubbornly decided to pursue Jamie's heart by doing his own research. Feeling more than a little embarrassed, although who would know but the ship's computer, he'd sat in his quarters this morning and brought up Jamie's records. It was something he should have done six months ago when Jamie first came onboard. Had he ever known her favorite color? Green. Or that she loved to ride horses? Every once in a while, he came across a fact he did know about his daughter. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he felt as if he'd passed some kind of test when he could answer a fact about his child before the computer verified it. He couldn't manufacture the pony or the puppy she'd always wanted. Neither could he take her to some place called Saucer in the Sky Pizzeria – her favorite place to eat. But Jim was fairly certain that somewhere aboard the Enterprise someone would have a packet of her favorite cookie – Classic Oreos.

Although he could certainly replicate Oreo's using the ship's food computer, it wouldn't be the same thing. Jamie had been quite vocal at times about eating 'real' food or 'pretend.' The way back to his daughter's heart had to be through real Oreos.

Feeling more than a little intimidated, Jim commanded his personal computer. "Message Boards – Open." He'd never used the ship – wide search engine that allowed the crew with skills or goods to barter, trade or sell esoteric items or services. With light years between space stations, it was a way to utilize everyone's abilities or share favorite food or comfort items that might not be a standard part of the ship's stores. Jim had often overheard various crewmembers sharing stories about finding this or that unusual item using the message boards. Maybe someone would have a packet of real Oreos. Using the interconnected message board, he put out a few feelers among the crew who were notorious for having a sweet tooth. Nothing. He thought about having a ship wide announcement but no, Jamie might overhear or someone might tell her. He'd do this secretly so she'd be surprised.

All morning he checked his data pad with such frequency that Yeoman Barrows grew curious. "Is there something I can help you with, Captain?"

"Um . . ." Was he blushing? His face felt warm. "No, thank you. I'm just looking for something."

To his chagrin, the Yeoman blatantly leaned over to see what he was reading. "Oh, the message boards! Those are fun. I was able to get some lovely material for a dress I wanted to make. Are you looking for something in particular? I've gotten quite good at finding . . ."

At her communications station Uhura had overheard and interrupted. "I love the message boards. You can find anything on there. Mr. Spock helped me with a search last week and we were able to find a crewman in the cargo deck who knew how to tune my harp. I was afraid I'd have to wait until we docked at a space station."

Mr. Spock used the message boards? This was news to him. Jim turned to his Science Officer."I wasn't aware you were an expert in using the MB's," he said using the common crew nickname.

"I find them informative," Spock answered, "and often they lead to unusual items that are not included in the Enterprise stores."

"What are you looking for, Captain?" Yeoman Barrows grinned and pestered him with the intensity as a buzzing bee. "Maybe we can help."

Slightly embarrassed, he mumbled, "Oreos for Jamie."

"Those are her favorites," Uhura smiled and several of the Bridge crew nodded.

"Of course," he answered matter-of-factly although he hadn't known that fact until he'd read his daughter's records. How did everyone else have time to know his child so well?

"I'm sure I saw Oreo's listed for barter somewhere this week . . ." Yeoman Barrows took the data pad out of his hands, realized what she'd done and apologized, "I'm sorry, Captain. I got carried away."

He made a go-ahead gesture. "By all means, if you can find the cookies try."

Not more than five minutes later, Yeoman Barrows gave a rather unprofessional squeal and pointed to a line in the message boards. "Here you go! She still has them and she wants to barter."

One packet Classic Oreo's. Purchased StarBase Six last docking. Freshness sealed. Will barter. See Sandy Deck B5.

"Deck B5," Jim said, trying to picture the bowels of the ship in his mind. He rarely had reason to go down there. "Are there living quarters down there?"

Spock came to answer. "There are five, Captain. They belong to the artisans."

"The who? The what?"

"You know, Captain," the yeoman reminded him, "the artists? Remember the order from Starfleet that every starship had to have a quota of artists who were not crewmembers but worked for the cultural and emotional enrichment of the crew?"

Suddenly he did remember and scowled. Starfleet had come up with some lame-brained regulations before but he'd thought the Artisan Initiatives took the cake. He remembered yawning through the preliminary meeting with the bigwigs while they explained how men and women could become callous and hard on long space voyages. To try to combat that a little they intended to put artists of varying types on the Enterprise to test out their theory that art was good for the soul. Jim thought he had met the artists when they came on board, but he couldn't remember crossing paths with any of them since. He'd signed a requisition order for someone named Perry to repaint a mural in the Children's Rec Room, but he couldn't recall Sandy at all.

"I could go down and get the cookies," Yeoman Barrows offered. "What should I offer for barter?"

Thankful that he didn't have to venture too far from the bridge, Jim settled back in the Captain's chair. "See what she – or I suppose it could be a he – wants. I'm willing to trade for any reasonable offer." He'd already decided that he'd willingly pay anything to give Jamie the cookies. After all, he'd promised her dessert on the bridge before he knew what it would be. Disappointing her would be unthinkable.

With a pleased expression on her face Yeoman Barrows hurried to the turbo lift, a bargain hunter on a mission. She returned less than ten minutes later with a frown and empty hands.

"The cookies?"

"Oh, she still has them," the yeoman blew a wayward blonde curl off her forehead, "and she's willing to barter. But she wants to deal with you, Captain. I think she's a little miffed that no one in command has ever ventured down to the artist's quarters. She really has a lot of lovely things to sell or trade."

"Very well." he wasn't looking forward to it, but he'd do anything within reason for Jamie.

Deck B5 wasn't as dark or remote as he expected. The corridor with the living quarters had been painted vibrant colors and several murals of alien cultures graced the walls. From behind one door he heard soothing music and then a voice singing scales. A second later the voice began to do an alien rhythm on a cytarina. The scent of oil paint and turpentine assaulted his nose as he passed a door marked simply FIGURA. Sandy's door had a nicely stitched sign that said - Alterations, Sewing

The woman who answered the door wore a non-regulation smock of bright blue. Her eyes were a lovely hazel with green flecks and she had a mop of the reddest hair he'd ever seen. One arm held an old-fashioned pin cushion and she smiled and beckoned him inside. "Hello, Captain. I'm Sandy. Sorry to make you come down here but I had a trade that I couldn't propose to your yeoman."

He could see the bright blue package of Oreos on the table. "You guarantee they're fresh."

"Oh, yes. I got them on Starbase six. They're great favorites with the crew as well as some of the children like Jamie – so I buy several boxes to use as trade."

Did everyone know Jamie's favorite cookies but him?

The room was smaller than Jamie's suite but nicely furnished. Oh, he assumed it had the standard bunk, dresser, chair and desk as all the other regulation quarters. It was hard to tell around the riot of material, fabrics and sewing equipment. Smiling at his gaping, Sandy went to an old-fashioned ironing board and switched off a modern solar powered iron. "You caught me in the middle of an alteration project."

"You sell all these?" Jim walked around the tiny room staring in wonder at the various quilts, costumes and clothing hung in Seloseal and priced with yellow tags.

"Oh, yes," Sandy nodded. "I can't keep my store stocked." She went to one of the quilts and held an edge up playfully, "Sandy's Stitches in Space – that's the name of my store."

Jim smiled back at her obvious delight in her creations. He took his time walking around admiring her wares, stopping at one blue and white quilt. It looked big enough for Jamie's bed in a deep midnight blue with stars appliquéd on the top. Swirls of white satin looked like the Milky War awash in the deepness of space. It was a scene he'd often viewed out the bridge viewscreen. "Is this for sale?" Seeing it he knew how much Jamie would like it.

"It is, but it's very expensive. The cloth was chosen at a specialty shop on Vega 5 and is woven using an ancient method to make the stars and such glow in the dark. Let me show you." Sandy commanded the lights of the quarters out and the stars glowed with a luminescent light that he'd only seen in space. "Lights on."

"How much?"

"Twenty thousand credits."

"I'll take it. Can you have it sent to Jamie's quarters today?"

"Certainly. I'll take it up myself. And the cookies?"

The cookies – the main reason for his visit. "Yes, I want the cookies. What did you have in mind?"

"A trade of sorts." Taking a deep breath, Sandy folded the quilt over her arms and pressed it to her chest. "After the ship finishes this mission with the Klingon peace delegates, the itinerary says we're going past Lumina and then the Enterprise will dock for a while at Starbase 19."

"That's the plan."

"In exchange for the Oreos, I'd like to be dropped off at Lumina and then picked up as the Enterprise passes going back."

Jim started to shake his head, then thought better of it. The first thought in his mind was "we aren't running a taxi service", which would not get him the Oreo's. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Lumina is famous for its wonderful mercantile area. There are stores and supplies from all over this portion of the galaxy. If I had the time to explore, to trade and bargain in depth, there's no telling what wonderful things I could find. It's rare for a ship to stay at Lumina long, since there are so many regulations for Starfleet crewmembers to beam down, but I'm not a member of the crew. According to the Artisan Initiative, I'm a private citizen. I've already made the necessary arrangements to gain admittance to the planet," at his frown she hurried on, "just in case there was a hope of going. Please, Captain, it would be the chance of a lifetime. And, you do want those Oreos."

"You drive a rather hard bargain." He couldn't actually see any harm in letting her off at Lumina. Everything she said was true. He could also see Jamie's smile of delight when he handed her the cookies. "However, it seems I have no choice."

Sandy's eyes twinkled. "You could refuse and not barter for the cookies."

"No, that I could not do. When we reach Lumina, you have my permission to beam down. Let Mr. Trammel know the proper coordinates."

"Here are the Oreo's. I'll take Jamie's quilt to her quarters and she shall have it when it's time for her sleep cycle."

"You drive a hard bargain," he repeated but this time he smiled.