Adea blinked open slowly to the smell of coffee, rotating in her bed to face the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes as the room came into focus, a sleepy smirk winding its way onto her face as she spied the figure moving about her kitchen. She sat up slowly, stretching her arms over her head as she blinked tiredly.

"You're up," McCoy smirked, turning towards her as he switched the stove off.

"Mmm," Adea groaned, glancing at the dim screen of her PADD across the room, "What time is it?"

"Half-past six," McCoy replied, "Physicals are starting in the lab at 7:30."

"You're making coffee," Adea commented, picking up the large blue uniform shirt from the floor as she slipped it over her head.

"Making coffee? I'm performing miracles," McCoy corrected, raising an annoyed eyebrow at the silver kettle as Adea padded into the kitchen behind him, "I mean, how old is this thing?"

"It's not old. It's an espresso maker," Adea sighed, rolling her eyes at McCoy as filled one of the cups on the counter.

"Last used circa 2000 AD?" McCoy commented.

"I got it in Italy," Adea replied dryly, adding milk to her glass.

"In a museum?" McCoy smirked.

"No," Adea sighed, rolling her eyes as she leaned against the counter, "I practically lived there for three years."

"You lived in Italy?" McCoy asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced down at her.

"Switzerland," Adea clarified, taking a sip from her glass, "On the Italian border. My family used to move every two to three years for work assignments."

"You speak Italian?" McCoy mused, taking a sip from his own mug.

"So un po' di italiano," Adea shrugged, winking at McCoy.

"Well aren't you something," McCoy smirked, setting his coffee on the counter as his hands found her waist.

"Ti piace quando io parlo italiano?" Adea asked innocently, lifting up onto her toes as she planted a kiss along his jawline.

"I'm going to go before your Italian makes me late," McCoy replied, eyeing her dubiously as she blinked up at him.

"Cosí presto?" Adea frowned.

"Unless you don't mind me waltzing out of here at eight when the rest of the crew wakes up," McCoy drawled, kissing her softly as her smirk faded.

"Don't be late to your Physicals, Lee," Adea admonished, stepping away from him as she made her way back to her bed, "Besides, I need to get to the Archive early today."

"I thought you just had a briefing later for the Nibiru mission?" McCoy questioned.

"I do," Adea replied, ignoring the smirk on McCoy's face as she traded his shirt for her sweatshirt, "But I wanted to check something first."

"Where to buy a coffee maker built this century?" McCoy mused, slipping the blue shirt over his head.

"Hilarious," Adea sighed, flashing him a deadpanned grimace, "I just wanted to look again through the documents we got back about the Ujaar mission. Something still isn't sitting right about what happened."

"Well that's typically the case when a squad of Klingons tries to take you out," McCoy sighed, eyeing Adea as she sat down at her desk, swiping the screen of her PADD on.

"That's still not it," Adea frowned, swiping through the report they received from the Andorian Science Division, "They yelled "Get that woman." They weren't there by accident and if there was something I was doing that made them follow us, then I have to figure it out before someone else gets hurt."

"It's still getting under skin that Spock said they were following you?" McCoy sighed, rubbing her shoulders.

"No," Adea huffed quickly, frowning as she caught sight of McCoy's bemused smirk, "Alright, fine. A bit."

"That pointy-eared bastard'll do that to you," McCoy smirked, kissing the top of her head.

"This is not about him," Adea exhaled steadily, biting the tip of her thumb, "Something here isn't right."

"You know, you're starting to sound like Kirk with his conspiracy theories," McCoy mused.

"Don't you have cadets to examine?" Adea huffed tiredly, rolling her eyes as McCoy leaned forward, kissing her cheek.

"Well if there is something, you're smart enough to find it," McCoy mused, tilting her face towards his as he kissed her softly.

"Go," Adea smirked, catching his hand as it trailed to her waist again, "Before the rest of the crew wakes up and I have to add "explain sleeping with the ship's doctor" to my agenda."

"And make everyone jealous?" McCoy drawled, his lips brushing against her neck.

"You're full of it," Adea sighed, playfully pushing him away.

"You like it," McCoy teased, brushing the back of her hair as he made his way to the door.

"Get out," Adea stated, shooting McCoy a final teasing glare as he shut the door behind him.


Adea exhaled slowly as she flicked to another screen of the report, her left hand absently stirring her soup as she sat alone at the cafeteria table. She had spent hours pouring over documents and reading through reports. But still nothing. Sozia's story checked out. No further Klingon activity had been reported in the quadrant. She'd scanned her clothing from the mission for trackers again but to no avail. Any other equipment she'd carried had been identical to Sulu's.

Yet…

She still couldn't make sense of the overlaps between her trek through Ujaar and the arrival of the Klingons. The coincidence was driving her crazy, but each time she'd try to put it past her, the urge to look it into had simply gotten worse. She was losing her mind.

But at least McCoy was one less thing to worry about.

She knew it was just a matter of time before someone else caught on...or spied either one of them sneaking out of the other's room….Still, the more time that had passed, the more at ease she'd begun to feel. Maybe they'd even make it back to Earth before anyone noticed. At least then, she'd have a month or so without the crew to contemplate what she'd do when everyone else found out.. especially Nyota…

Adea knew she'd have to talk to Nyota eventually. She glanced up slowly from her PADD, eyeing the table where her sister usually sat. In spite waves of guilt the silence brought, she couldn't help but notice how nostalgic the passive peace made her for the relationship they'd had when they were younger. She would've hardly described them as friends, but they had at least been on civil talking terms. There was a fat chance in hell their relationship would ever return to that—and that was without Nyota learning about McCoy—but for even for that faint chance, Adea couldn't help but to hold out hope. But until that day came, she was more than content to distract herself with her wild goose chase through the files of the Ujaar mission.

That, and waking up next McCoy.

God she'd forgotten the things that man could do with his hands.

She could still feel them from last night. Trailing their way down her hips until he'd-

"Someone had a good morning," Carol smirked, nudging Adea's shoulder as she joined her at the lunch table, "Again."

"What the hell, Carol," Adea hissed, her cheeks flaring red as her spoon clattered out of her hand, "I don't tell you things in private you can bring them up at random intervals for your own amusement."

"Oh, you didn't have to tell me anything," Carol winked, "That face says it all."

"Shut up," Adea snapped.

"So how long exactly to you plan to keep sneaking in and out of each other's room before someone notices?" Carol mused in a low voice, nudging Adea's side as Adea swatted at her hand.

"A lot longer if you would keep your mouth shut," Adea hissed, nearly choking on her water as a voice spoke up behind her.

"Good morning, Mini?" Kirk mused, a devilish twinkle in his bright eyes as he slid into the seat next to her.

"Fucking hell," Adea wheezed, coughing as she glared at Carol, "You told him?"

"Carol didn't tell me," Kirk admitted, his grin breaking into a full blown smile, "But that comment did."

"Seriously?" Adea hissed.

"I mean, that comment, and the big "I just go laid" smirk plastered across Bones' face," Kirk smirked.

"You talk to Kirk about this?" Carol mused, raising an eyebrow at Adea as she groaned into her hands.

"He figured it out," Adea mumbled defeatedly into her hands.

"Oh, I knew that," Carol replied calmly, "I just didn't think you talked to him about it."

"What?!" Adea replied quickly, her head snapping up from her hands as she glared at Carol, "You knew Kirk knew?"

"Please," Carol sighed, "I knew this ages ago."

"Ages ago?" Adea hissed quietly, glaring between Carol and Kirk, "Honestly? Anything else you all would like to share that you've been hiding being my back?"

"What are we hiding behind people's back?" Scotty chirped up.

Adea grit her jaw as she met Kirk's amused expression, glaring hard at the table in front of her as she felt her face burn.

"Do you want to tell or will you?" Kirk smirked, nudging Adea's foot under the table.

Adea stared wide-eyed at Kirk as his cocky smirk gave way to a broad smile, the corner of her mouth twitching as she resisted the urge to slap it off his face.

"Nothing," Adea replied quickly, gritting her teeth as she forced a smile at Scotty.

"Oh, come now," Scotty smirked, settling into the chair besides Adea, "I can keep a secret."

"It's nothing, Scotty," Adea started quickly, "It's just-"

"It's her birthday," Kirk announced, "Day after tomorrow isn't it, Mini?"

"What?" Adea frowned, raising a confused eyebrow at Kirk, "Why on Earth do you know that?"

"I know everything," Kirk smirked innocently, turning back to Scotty, "She tried to hide it from us, so we decided to throw her a party."

"What?" Adea hissed.

"Oh, well happy almost birthday then, Lass!" Scotty beamed, patting Adea on the back as her cheeks flared red.

"Good, so it's settled," Kirk beamed, "We're throwing you a party."

"What?" Adea squeaked, glancing at Carol for help, "No."

"Well, I think it's a great idea," Carol spoke up, smirking as she glanced up at Kirk.

"Seriously?" Adea shot back.

"I like parties," Scotty stated excitedly before turning to Kirk, "But you're a party won't be too much after a mission? I mean, hopefully less blood and Klingons than last time, but still?"

"Exactly, Kirk," Adea sighed, glaring at him, "Why the hell are we having a party?"

"I thought we were keeping things out in the open?" Kirk smirked innocently, wincing slightly as Adea kicked his food under the table.

"Well I like the idea," Scotty continued, taking a large bite of his sandwich, "Given she'll survive the ordeal."

"Given I'll what?" Adea frowned, glancing wide-eyed between Kirk and Carol, "I thought having a party was a joke and now I might not survive it?"

"Not you, Lassie," Scotty clarified, shaking his head at her, "The ship. Space is one thing. Salt water is another. Besides, do you have any idea what it will take to hide her on the bottom of the ocean?"

"Wait, what?" Adea replied quickly, fixing Scotty with a curious stare.

"I mean, the poor Nacelles," Scotty continued, "And don't get me started with the finish..."

"What did you just say?" Adea repeated, realization dawning slowly as Scotty eyed her with a confused pout.

"The Nacelles?" Scotty questioned slowly.

"No," Adea replied quickly, shaking her head slowly as she stood up abruptly from the table, "The ship. You said the ship is a her."

"What?" Scotty questioned, the confused lines along his brow growing deeper, "Should I have said him?"

"You alright, Adi?" Carol asked, raising an eyebrow as Adea briskly shoved her PADD into her bag.

"I have to go," Adea replied quickly, picking up her tray as she backed away from the table, "I have to check something."

Adea hurried quickly out of the cafeteria as Scotty stared after her, his eyes flickered between Kirk and Carol.

"Was it something I said?" Scotty muttered, his confused pout fading into a frown as they both shrugged, returning slowly to their meals.


Adea exhaled loudly as she arrived at the medical bay, catching her breath as Nurse Hayes approached her with a clipboard.

"The morning appointments are filled for today," she stated tersely, raising an annoyed eyebrow at Adea.

"I'm not here for an appointment," Adea replied calmly, "I'm looking for Doctor McCoy."

"He's busy," she replied simply, her dark brown eyes flickering up at Adea from her clipboard.

"It's lunch time," Adea stated, stepping past the nurse as she glanced around the Medical Bay.

"Appointments for Physicals ran over," she stated briskly, hovering behind Adea, "Can I help you?"

"No, it's fine," Adea frowned, crossing her arms as she scanned the space for McCoy.

"You're welcome to come back," Hayes offered sappily.

"I'll wait," Adea replied slowly, raising an annoyed eyebrow in her direction.

"Wouldn't that be a waste of your time?" she replied dryly.

"I think I can decide that for myself, Ensign Hayes," Adea stated firmly, her unamused frown fading briefly as McCoy entered the room, "Doctor McCoy, a word?"

"Yeah," McCoy replied slowly, eyeing the two of them, "Nurse Hayes, do you mind giving us the room?"

"Of course, Doctor," she replied sweetly, her bright smile fading a molar as she turned towards Adea.

Adea stared after her as she exited the room, returning her gaze slowly to McCoy.

"What's with your nurse?" Adea huffed.

"What about her?" McCoy replied quickly.

"Is she always this joyful to be around or is it just me?" Adea questioned dryly.

"Why do you say that?" McCoy asked, confusion knitting his brows.

"Never mind," Adea sighed, shaking her head quickly as she opened her PADD, "I think I may have found something."

"What is it?" McCoy sighed, eyeing the report displayed on Adea's screen.

"It the Academy's monthly linguistic journal," Adea explained, "I can't believe I didn't think of it until now."

"A linguistics journal?" McCoy mused.

"No," Adea continued, "Language."

"What?" McCoy questioned.

"The ship's a her," Adea declared.

"What are you talking about?" McCoy mused, raising an eyebrow towards her as she scrolled down the article.

"The ship. It's a her," Adea continued excitedly, "Scotty calls it a her."

"Sweetheart, what in the Sam Hill are you talking about?" McCoy frowned.

"Italian. German. Latin. Arabic," Adea listed rapidly, "All of those languages have masculine and feminine. What if the Klingons do the same? What if an object can be a "her" or "woman"?"

"That very well may be," McCoy stated, frowning as Adea continued excitedly, "But—"

"I found an article about it," Adea pressed on, "But it's about old Klingon. I'm not sure if the same applies now. I just learned the main dialect of Klingon at the academy for my program."

"Adi," McCoy sighed, brushing her shoulder.

"One second," Adea huffed, scrolling quickly through article, "I just had it."

"Sweetheart," McCoy pressed.

"Hold on," Adea hummed, "It was just here—"

"Adi, darlin', look at me," McCoy stated, rotating her gently to face him, "I'm a doctor, not a linguist."

"I know," Adea frowned slowly, glancing down quickly at her article, "I just—"

"You need to ask a linguist," McCoy stated calmly.

"Lee," Adea sighed slowly, frowning as she met the expression in his eyes.

"Talk to her," McCoy urged quietly.

Adea exhaled loudly through her nose, biting her lip as she glanced down at the floor.

"She doesn't want to talk to me," Adea sighed tiredly, looking away from McCoy as she opened another article on her PADD.

"She'll talk to you if she knows you want to see her," McCoy replied.

"Lee," Adea frowned, leaning against his palm as his thumb trailed her cheek, "She's—"

"Your sister is one of the best damn linguists in all of Starfleet," McCoy stated calmly, "And she may have had a funny way of showing it, but she cares about you, Adi."

"Lee—"

"Talk to her," he sighed a low voice, a smirk twitching at the edge of his mouth as his finger trailed over the silver Starfleet clip in her hair.

"Lee, don't start," Adea huffed as he leaned forward slowly, kissing her softly as he brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Fine," McCoy relented, "But at least consider it."

"It's considered," Adea sighed, turning away slowly as she looked down at her PADD, "I'll see you later?"

"I mean it, Adi," McCoy pressed.

"Considered," Adea repeated firmly, raising an eyebrow at his coy smirk as she turned and left the lab.


It had taken all but two hours of Klingon linguistic texts for Adea to regret studying Xenobiology over Xenolinguistics. Adea frowned again, pressing the tip of her stylus against her lip as she attempted to decipher the pointed runic symbols written across the page. She exhaled slowly through her nose as she heard a shuffle in the Archive behind her, her annoyed frown giving away to a wide-eye stare as she caught sight of her sister.

"Nyota," Adea exhaled quickly, tucking her stylus swiftly behind her ear as she glanced warily as her sister's nervous stance, "What are you doing here?"

"Bones," Nyota added quickly, "He said you were looking for me, but I figured he must have heard you wrong."

Nyota hesitated, glancing down at the floor as she exhaled steadily.

"I can go, if you want," she added quickly, stepping back slowly as she turned to leave.

"Wait," Adea called after Nyota, biting her lip as her sister turned towards her.

"I need your help," Adea added.

Adea sucked in slowly as she gestured to the Archive screen, Nyota coming to a hesitant stop besides her.

"Spock said the Klingons appeared to be trailing me," Adea started slowly, "If it's me or if its something else, I need to know or I risk putting the crew in danger the next time I step foot off this ship."

"What do you need?" Nyota asked quietly, the faint traces of a hopeful smirk twitching at the edge of her mouth.

"The Klingons shouted "Be'vetlh tu'," Adea continued, reopening the mission report on the screen, "I'm sure that's what they shouted but I'm not sure if it meant something else. Scotty referred the Enterprise as a her, what if they were referring to something else? I tried to find something on gender in the Klingon language, but it's confusing. Some articles about about old Klingon say yes, but other—"

"Adea, Klingon doesn't have genders," Nyota frowned, shaking her head slowly,"They distinguish between inanimate and animate. Only a handful older Klingon dialects had genders, but they're not spoken anymore."

Adea exhaled slowly, crossing her arms as she glowered at her screen.

And back to square one...

"It was worth a try," Adea sighed, crossing her arms as she glowered at her screen, "Thank you, Nyota."

"Of course," Nyota replied quietly.

Nyota paced towards the door slowly as Adea turned back to her screen, hesitating as she reached the door to the Archive.

"Adea, I'm so sorry," Nyota stated quietly, her bottom lip quivering slightly as she turned towards Adea.

Adea exhaled shakily, turning away from the monitor as she looked up at her sister.

"I know you may never believe me, but I never wanted to hurt you like that," Nyota concluded slowly, "And I'm sorry I did."

She offered Adea a sad smile, wiping hastily at her face as she turned quickly towards the door.

"Ny, wait!" Adea called out, taking a deep breath as she looked up at Nyota, "I shouldn't have told you the wave I did. You couldn't have known much more than me what would happened."

Nyota shook her head slowly as she walked towards her sister, a faint smirk twitching at the edge of her mouth.

"You're apologizing to me?" Nyota mused incredulously, crossing her arms as she eyed Adea.

"Would you rather I slap you?" Adea smirked, raising an eyebrow at her sister.

"If it would make you hate me less," Nyota replied, sadness tinging her joking tone as she looked up at Adea.

"I don't hate you, Nyota," Adea sighed after a pause, smirking in spite of herself.

"No?" Nyota commented dubiously.

"I might have to take a rain check on that slap though," Adea smirked, "You're typically good for about a month before you're a pain in my ass again."

"So we do agree on something?" Nyota mused, nudging Adea playfully.

"You ought to frame this moment," Adea laughed, shaking her head at Nyota as she nudged her back, leaning back again the frame of the archive screen.

"Who would've of thought we'd end up on the same crew?" Nyota mused, leaning on the Archive table across from Adea.

"I bet mother's thrilled," Adea snorted,"She only has one ship to stalk when she wants know our every thought and movement."

Nyota groaned loudly in response, shaking her head slowly as she pressed her fingers into her temples.

"Have you been home since then?" Nyota asked hesitantly, looking up slowly at Adea.

"Why?" Adea huffed dryly, crossing her arms, "I was barely home before all this, and now they live even further off world than before. I have no reason to. You?"

"Not since I graduated from the Academy," Nyota shrugged.

"Let me guess? Not ready to discuss your career path to becoming admiral?" Adea teased dryly, "Or have your picked up weird hobbies you don't want them to know about?"

"Weird hobbies?" Nyota mused, "Please you're the one skipping around the ship like Kirk's long lost twin."

"Kirk is a friend, not a weird hobby. Jeez, don't say it like it like that," Adea sighed, grimacing, "Besides, my hobbies are perfectly normal and Admiral approved."

"Drinking Sulu and Bones under the table?" Nyota offered.

"Hilarious," Adea huffed, "Starfleet approved research position. Classified level clearance. Fencing—"

"And judo, of course," Nyota added, rolling her eyes as she took on their mother's aristocratic tone, "'How else do you expect to survive a firefight with those scrawny arms?'"

"I still can't believe she said that to you," Adea sighed, shaking her head.

"She wasn't wrong though," Nyota replied, exhaling loudly, "At least now I could take on just about anyone on this ship."

"You got dad's height, though," Adea grumbled, "I'm just praying my opponent doesn't know that they're doing. I swear that's why mom made to join sport shooting too."

"She made you join?" Nyota asked, raising her eyebrows, "I always thought that had been your choice."

"When is it ever my choice?" Adea replied dryly, shaking her head slowly, "At least I'm handy with a rifle now. A perfectly reasonable skill for an organization whose standard issue weapon is a phaser."

"What did you just say?" Nyota interjected suddenly, thoughts ticking rapidly behind her wide eyes.

She turned quickly to the archive screen, logging in hastily as she began opening new windows.

"Nyota, what are you doing?" Adea frowned, raising a brow at Nyota as she flicked open the Academy's linguistics page.

"Give me a second," she huffed, typing rapidly into the search bar as she stepped between Adea and the screen.

"Ny, what are you-"

"Rifle!" Nyota shouted back quickly, moving quickly from in front of the screen.

"Rifle?" Adea repeated back, "What the-"

"Rifle," Nyota repeated, turning hastily to face Adea, "Kirk was annoying me when we outfitted your gear for Ujaar by asking what everything was called in Klingon. You didn't have a phaser on Ujaar, Dea, you had a rifle."

"What?" Adea breathed, glancing away from her sister's crazed expression as she eyed the computer screen, her breath catching in her throat.

"BeH vItu'," Nyota stated slowly, glancing at the translation on the screen, "Rifle is BeH. Woman is Be'. It would've been an impossible difference to make if they were shouting it at your across a market."

Adea stared back at the screen, her wide eyed gaze turning from the screen to her sister. She stepped forward slowly, her finger trailing down the screen as her sister pressed the audio pronunciation. Adea's blood ran cold as the automated voice barked out the words in Klingon,. She stared up slowly at Nyota, a cold horror creeping up her spine as the familiar phrase echoed across the room.

"They weren't looking for you, Adea," Nyota breathed quietly, glancing slowly at at her sister.

"They were looking for my gun," Adea concluded quietly, swallowing slowly as she stared back at jagged runes etched across the screen.


Author's note: cue Main Theme, Track 14 :)

To my readers around the world in these difficult times right now, I say to you all:
Live long and prosper. Stay safe.

- Case