Chapter Two
True to her word, Miz Balderdasian put Jamie in the solitary cubicle, which was supposed to be the worst punishment, for the rest of her learning cycle. Being in solitary meant you could see everyone else in the room, but you couldn't talk to them or 'interact' as teacher said. All you could do in solitary was your own work, carefully planned and presented at the computer terminal. If you didn't work, or you tried to get out of your seat and play, the computer had a series of little probing punishments depending on how old or how incorrigible you were.
Jamie had heard teacher explain the word to Javik the other day when he'd protested the series of small shocks he'd received in the cubicle for trying to override the ship's navigational system. So far Jamie hadn't earned the cubicle and she was a little scared to try it. To her disgust, when she let ten minutes go by without answering a dumb question in her number tests, the computerized voice went through a silly chant, "You want to learn and grow smarter. You know the answer to this question." Like for a baby! Jamie put down the wrong answer just because. The computer sighed sadly and spoke tragically, "I'm sorry, that's wrong. Do you want to try again?"
Jamie did not. She raced through the rest of her work for the day and then called up a book to read. Thankfully, the computer did not make any comments on how often she turned a 'page' or how slow she read. That was good since Jamie wasn't really reading. She was staring out the cubicle at Centauri, wondering how she could get back at her for today's mishap.
Like I wanted him mad at me! Guess it doesn't matter, everyone else is too.
Miss Balderdasian had been horrified when Lt. Simons came dragging Jamie back to the straight line and told her she was on report. Teacher almost cried. Centauri was mad too when she poked Jamie in the back and asked, "What did he say?"
"I didn't get to ask him," Jamie answered.
"You'd better! Or else."
Jamie was almost glad to go in solitary.
She spent most of the cycle listing everything she did not like.
1. The Enterprise
2. Not being home
3. Centauri
4. Synthesized food
5. Captain Kirk
It had been a long learning cycle and she was so ready for recreation. To Jamie that was the best time of the whole day, the only good thing about the Enterprise. Although the children's deck hadn't been finished yet, they were allowed to spend time after learning cycle in one of the rec rooms.
At first Jamie thought it might be boring, but it turned out to be exciting and fun - especially the Holo Room. You could set the holograms to be anywhere - a forest, a beach, and even a fun park probably. And ever since the Federation had found the technology to improve holo's on an ancient planet called Taurous, they were almost like the real thing. Trees were solid; the bark even scraped your legs if you tried to climb. The sand was gritty and stuck to wet feet. A holo adventure that included wild animals could be risky because the animals actually killed and maimed, just like real life ones. Of course, Mr. Scott had somehow programmed the Holo Room to Safety mode for the children. Only grown-ups could program them all the way up to Danger Zone.
Jamie loved to program the Holo Room to resemble the farm in Iowa. It was almost like being back home. Today, she wanted more than anything to step inside and forget being in space. Best of all, at first meal she'd talked two of the other youngers into joining her. Trevya was from a planet in Rigelian and spoke only in sign. No one else would play with her and Jamie knew how that felt! Then there was Baxter, Mr. Scott's nephew. His parents had both been killed when their boat exploded. Baxter had been going to a school on a Federation planet when Mr. Scott stopped for a visit. To no one's surprise, Baxter was soon onboard. Unlike Jamie, he was crazy about the Enterprise and knew everything - almost - about it. Baxter understood what it was like to be the Captain's daughter - almost.
"Jamie, quit dawdling."
Oh, slime devils! Why is she here?
"It's time for me to go to recreation now," Jamie spoke up and pressed her booted feet hard into the floor.
Nanny Banks shook her head. "Not today. The Captain left orders that you were to go directly to your quarters after learning cycle and spend the rest of the evening there. Your recreation privileges are being denied after the spectacle you made of yourself in front of King Hescate."
Slime devils!
Baxter shot her a sympathetic glance but he had no choice but to follow the other students and the teacher to the turbo lift.
Kicking the wall, Jamie didn't try to hide her displeasure.
"Stop that!" Nanny hissed. "Do you want me to end up on report like Ava?"
I wanted to go to the Holo room. And I don't care if you end up on report or not. I don't even like you. Not that Jamie planned to say that out loud. She had to spend too much time with Nanny Banks and getting along with her was easier.
"I don't know why you're acting so put upon," Nanny continued as they walked to the turbo lift and got on. "Officer's Deck. If you hadn't behaved so abominably today, the Captain planned to have you come to dinner with him and meet the King. It's upset all my plans too. Varoom invited me to a concert and dinner on B Deck tonight - which I had to refuse."
Varoom was her special friend. He was a shuttlecraft pilot and spent most of his time on the shuttle deck in the bowels of the ship. Sometimes after she was in bed, Jamie could hear Nanny Banks giggling as she used the Com-Chat to talk to him.
"It's not often I get an evening off."
Jamie kept silent.
The turbo lift let them out in the quiet corridor near the Captain and First Officer's wing. Jamie's cabin was one past the Captain's yeoman's quarters. She and Nanny Bank shared three small rooms - two sleeping quarters with a room in between for play and meals. When Jamie didn't have learning or other cycles, she ate her meals there - unless she was carefully pressed, starched and sent to eat at the Captain's table or in his quarters. That didn't happen often. Jamie sometimes wished it didn't happen at all.
"I don't know why I signed on as a Nanny," the woman said as she did four or five times a day. "Join Starfleet, see the universe. I should have stayed in Atlantis and done tours for a living. I loved being a tour hostess."
Wish you had too.
If Jamie had to change her list of everything she did not like about the Enterprise, having a nanny came almost first. Back on earth, Jamie had pretty much been able to do whatever she wanted. Almost. She had to tell Gramma, of course, if she was going out of the house or down by the lake. But, Gramma didn't hang over her every second watching how much she ate or telling her it was time to go to sleep.
Almost the first thing the Captain . . . um . . . Daddy did when Jamie got on the ship was introduce her to Nanny Banks. "She'll be taking care of you, reminding you where you need to be each day, that sort of thing. If you need anything, you can tell her and she'll get in touch with me."
Why can't I just talk to you myself?
It was one more thing about the Enterprise and this strange new world she didn't understand. Another thing was having to be on the Officer's Deck. Even though the new children's deck hadn't been built yet, most of the other children lived with their parents in larger cabins on the C Deck. Centauri and her mother, Javik and his older brothers who were in Engineering. Even Baxter lived with Mr. Scott who'd given up his officer's quarters to move down below - closer to his beloved engines anyway.
Jamie didn't like having to be oooooooooooooh sooooooooooooooooooooh quiet in the Officer's Deck quarters. Everytime she actually made a little bit of noise in her own room, Nanny Bank would pop up, "Shush, shush! You might disturb someone."
If I could go back to Earth I wouldn't disturb anyone.
"If you hadn't been so naughty today, I would be out with Varoom tonight," Nanny sighed as she placed her hand over the door and waited for it to whoosh open.
"Just so you know, missy, you're going to sleep cycle early!"
Right before she walked into her quarters, Jamie stared down the hall at the Captain's door. She knew he was inside because a little green light glowed at the top of the ceiling showing it was occupied. I wish . . . I wish I could just go ask him . . . What would she ask him? Every day Jamie thought of more and more questions she wanted to ask. The first one would be Why did you bring me here?
It had not been a good day. Jim Kirk's head pounded in the worst way. Lying on his bed he willed his shoulders to relax, to ease down from their hunched position around his ears. In less than a few hours, he'd be expected to be in his dress uniform, entertaining a very boring King at dinner. And I'd rather be with Jamie - maybe on the rec decks finding something that would make her happy.
He sighed, leaned over and pressed the Com button. "Kirk to Sickbay."
"Yes, Captain," a soft voice answered. "How may I help you?"
"Send someone to my quarters with something for a headache."
"Right away, Sir."
"Kirk out."
He must have dozed for a few minutes because it seemed no time when he heard the soft chime that signaled someone at the door. "Come," he answered using a voice command.
The door whooshed open to reveal Dr. McCoy, carrying a decanter and a small brown bottle. "I heard your call and thought I'd come myself."
Jim smiled and sat up. "It's just a headache. But, I see you've brought some Saurian brandy."
"Just what the doctor ordered," Mc Coy grinned and opened the cabinet where Jim stored glasses. He poured out a small amount in each glass - the potency of Saurian brandy was almost 200 proof - higher than anything on Earth. "I brought some of these pills too, but try the brandy first."
After a few cautious sips, Jim's headache did begin to ebb away. "I may survive tonight's dinner after all."
"So," McCoy sat down across from the bed and leaned back in a brown leather chair Jim had brought from his father's study on the farm. "What caused the headache? Let me guess, our notable guest?"
Jim made a face. "It's not hard to guess that. The man is impossible. He insisted on being shown all over the ship - making nasty comments at every move. When we got to Engineering and he made some crack about the engines, I thought Scotty might beam him with the wrench in his hand. Having him onboard was like walking the plank and waiting to be pushed over the edge. I'll be glad when we can leave Mavaro."
"Well, we won't be here that long, will we?"
"Long enough." Jim took a last swallow of the brandy and looked sadly at the empty glass. He knew better than to ask for a second drink - not if he wanted to be awake tonight at the dinner. "The Federation sent a private communiqué today. They want us here until Ambassador McCale has the King's signature on the shipping rights agreement. And, the Ambassador won't be here for another two days at least. He's coming via one of the shipping barges so that the King can see what we have to offer his planet."
"Oh . . . well, since we're going to be here that long, some of the staff in Sickbay were wondering about shore leave. . ."
"Not you too, Bones!"
"Well, I've heard there are some excellent casino's down planet, a variety of entertainment including that fun park, dancing . . ."
Rubbing his forehead, trying to ease out the last vestiges of the annoying ache behind his eyes, Jim sighed. "You and every other member of the crew. If I had my way, everyone would stay aboard ship. All I need is a bunch of hotshot crew getting drunk; losing their credits and stumbling back to the ship. Or worse having to claim some of the crew from their prison system. However, in a spirit of good will, Ambassador McCale has insisted I allow shore leave for everyone on board. So, you can tell your staff they can be among the first."
"Thanks! I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Maybe I'll take a run down there myself."
Jim made a be-my-guest gesture and went to pull his dress uniform out of the closet. "Is there any hope you'll be joining the rest of the officers and myself at the dinner for King Hescate tonight?"
McCoy shuddered and took a reflective sip of the brandy. "Changes of that happening are as good as a fireball in a Titan winter. I'm a doctor, not a diplomat."
"Wish I didn't have to go . . . I wish . . ."
"What, Jim? Something's been bothering you for days and I know it's not this crazy King and jumping hoops for the diplomats. You've seem distracted and . . . oh, I don't know . . .down in the mouth?"
Smiling, Jim turned to look at his friend and shook his head in sudden understanding. "You didn't just happen to hear me call up to Sickbay. You've been planning on this little impromptu exam for awhile haven't you?"
McCoy shrugged his shoulders but didn't agree or deny the statement.
"There is something bothering me. It's Jamie. She's not fitting in as well as I'd hoped." Jim spilled the burden he'd been trying to suppress ever since leaving Starbase 39 where he'd picked up a very reluctant little girl. "She hates being on the ship and resents me for bringing her here."
"It wasn't like you really had a choice, Jim. Not with Winona having to leave for Camaroon's Folly. That's no place for a child."
"I know . . . "
Until a few months ago, Jamie had been living quite happily in Iowa with Jim's mother. The two got along famously and had bonded from the second he'd had to leave Jamie at the age of two. He'd been both glad and somewhat guilty that his mother had put her life on hold to raise his daughter. Winona had left a rising career as a historian and planetary archeologist to stay grounded on Earth. Although she often said she didn't mind, Jim worried that he was keeping her away from the world she loved best. Every time he mentioned making some other arrangements, his mother would list her accomplishments - teaching at the Academy, writing scholarly papers, presenting papers to various academia – all while raising Jamie. From time to time she would express a wish that Jim and Jamie could get to know one another better. Or she'd send him a long Skymail about something Jamie had done and conclude with regrets that he was missing so much of her life.
Almost since Jamie's birth, he and a dozen others had been trying to get Starfleet to see the wisdom of allowing children to travel in space with their families. There'd been numerous studies to test the plausibility of the idea. A few test studies, a few children allowed into space on the Excalibur and then almost overnight, the Federation gave their approval. A sudden boost in enlistment's proved that one obstacle to people joining Starfleet had been leaving their children behind. It had been the push Jim needed to bring Jamie aboard and back into his life.
"I worried about taking Jamie away from Mother," he said. "But then Mother told me she'd been asked to do the excavations on Camaroon's Folly . . . and it all seemed to work out."
Camaroon's Folly was an ancient planet that everyone believed held important clues to life in the G Quadrant of space. Winona Kirk had been instrumental in deciphering an early stone years before Jamie's birth that led to excavations which improved life all over the universe. Now, archaeologists had discovered another underground city, which proved to hold clues to vast stores of healing and scientific discoveries. The Federation had sent a personal invitation to Winona, asking for her help.
"If I know Winona, she couldn't wait to get her hands grubby."
"She misses Jamie, she said in her last Skymail. She hoped we were getting along well."
McCoy stared through the brandy in the glass and spoke in a voice meant to be confided in. "And you aren't? I thought you were trying to have her join you for dinner every few days . . ."
"It's not working." Jim jerked off his everyday tunic and tossed it into the clothes freshener. "She barely speaks to me. Most of her answers are one word . . . how did your day go, Jamie? Okay. Did you learn anything in your learning cycle? Yes. Would you like to walk around the ship? No."
"Maybe it's going to take her a little longer to feel comfortable with you, Jim. You've seen her what – like four times since you left her on Earth. Give her a little time."
"Five . . . I saw her five times since Diana . . ." It never got easier to say her name or to remember . . . "since we lost Diana."
McCoy could sympathize. He'd been there when Jim's young wife, Diana, vanished in a Romulan riot. He'd watched and hoped and pulled Jim back from the edge when all their efforts to find her had been in vain. When Starfleet demanded they stop the search and Jim refused, it had been McCoy who pulled some strings to extend the recovery efforts. Eventually, there had been nothing to do but admit defeat and leave. When Jim in his bitterness and grief wanted to toss it all away, to turn the Enterprise over to Spock and stay behind in the seething turmoil of a planetary overthrow, it had been McCoy who talked him out of it. Who reminded him he still had someone to live for – Jamie.
"Then Jamie's going to need a little more time to get to know you." McCoy advised. "Just be patient with her . . ."
"I'm trying, Bones, although not very well. Did you hear what happened today?"
McCoy shook his head.
"I was taking Hescate on a tour of the rec decks and Jamie came running up to me." A brief smile flickered on his face remembering. "It was almost like . . . when I'd visit her on Earth. Those first few times, she'd come running up to me and throw her arms around my neck. Today, when I saw her running toward me I hoped maybe . . . maybe she'd decided to like me again. Then . . ."
He told the story of the Elusian peach and being afraid she'd hurt herself some how. McCoy laughed. "Remember at the Academy – how the plebes always tried to ruin someone's uniform with those peaches."
Jim nodded, grinning with remembrance and then sobered. "When I realized she wasn't hurt, that Hescate was making grumbling noises and she'd broken away from the other students, I'm ashamed to say I got angry and sent her back to the teacher. She looked so . . ." even thinking about those blue eyes staring at him felt like a knife through his heart. Swallowing hard, he finished, "She looked so hurt. It was the first time since she's been on board that she's actually sought me out. She wanted to ask me something but I cut her off . . ."
"Then go make it right. She's your kid!"
"Easier said than done. She's probably mad enough to spit now. I sent orders to deny her rec cycle."
"Why? Are you punishing her? For what? So the kid got out of line . . . Seems to me that if the kids on ship weren't marched to and fro like prisoners, this kind of unexpected encounter wouldn't happen . . ."
Jim sighed and ran a hand through his sandy hair, standing it on end. "Bones, I don't need another lecture on how we're handling the children. Until the new deck is finished, this is the way it is. It's bad enough we have to do most of it in space. Jamie has to learn to obey the rules."
There hadn't been time to have the whole new children's deck finished before the Enterprise had to quell a small uprising between the Taurans and the Encylos. Most of the parents had already been summoned for duty when it became apparent the children would have to brought on board even without the completed deck. While most of it was done, the interior was quietly being finished by a group of space carpenters, painters and other added bodies onboard. Minor skirmishes were constantly taking place between the Enterprise crewmembers and the non-space personell. "I'll be glad when we reach Starbase 25 and can dump them all off to wait for transport back to Earth."
"Still . . ." McCoy had found this a sticky point but insisted on mentioning it at every opportunity. "The whole point of having children in space is having them interact with the crew. Like those old Earther customs – Bring a Kid to Work Day."
As he had several times before, right or wrong, Jim stood firm on his decision. "I'm all for that, Bones, as soon as the children's deck is finished. We can program the places they're allowed and where they aren't. Until then, all we need is for some little girl to wander into Sickbay, the ship hits some type of turbulence and she's shot full of Metzaprine. Or what if one of the boys wanders into Engineering and gets too close to those mega-watt exchangers? I'm sure no one wants to see his or her son fry. Until their deck is finished, the only way to keep them all-safe is to keep them together and have them supervised. After things settle down, we can work out all the knots."
"Well, Captain," It was a sign of his annoyance that he didn't call him Jim and Jim knew it. McCoy's thoughts on having the children aboard were often loud and granite. "I'll leave you to get dressed for your dinner. With one last thought . . . why don't you go say something to Jamie now? She and the nanny are in their quarters, I noticed as I went past. Maybe you can do a little damage control."
Not wanting McCoy to leave with bad feelings between them, Jim agreed. "You're right." He reached for a clean tunic and slipped it over his head, already feeling years younger. "I've got an hour or so before I have to dress. Maybe I'll take Jamie to the rec room . . ."
The insistent whistle that signaled an incoming call interrupted.
"Kirk here."
"Captain," Uhura's voice came over the com. "We have word from King Hescate that he's decided he'd rather dine on the planet tonight."
Jim grinned; already thinking of the freedom this would give him to spend time with Jamie.
"He's asked that you and the other officers come early. His chefs are planning a royal welcome."
Jim uttered a word he'd rather not be repeated.
"Excuse me, Captain. I didn't quite get your reply."
"Never mind, Uhura. Tell him I'll be there. Inform the other officers."
"Yes, sir."
At the door McCoy raised an eyebrow – ala' Spock – and sympathized. "That's too bad, Jim. Why don't I take Jamie to the rec room for awhile – let her program in a holo? I'll put in a good word for you."
"Would you, Bones? I thought you wanted shore leave?"
"Not tonight . . . maybe tomorrow. Enjoy your dinner."
"Ha ha ha . . ." With a sigh, Jim turned back and went on reluctant feet to fetch his dress uniform and turn on the shower. I hope McCoy's good word helps me out, because Jamie and I are still light years apart.