Chapter 3

"Why?" Jamie moved a piece of her puzzle and stared up at Dr. McCoy. She'd been right in the middle of building a 500 piece picture of the moons of Xenobia when Nanny Banks said she had a visitor. To her surprise, the visitor turned out to be the doctor all smiling and saying he would take her to the Holo Room for awhile. "The Captain . . . um . . . Daddy said I couldn't go today."

"Well, he's changed his mind." Dr. McCoy leaned over and moved a pinkish piece of the moon named Citar into place. "He wanted to take you himself, but he's having dinner with King Hescate."

Jamie stared at the puzzle thinking. Grown ups are so weird. "I don't know if I want to go now," she answered and it was the truth. There were only a few pieces of the puzzle left and since it was an Orion puzzle, as soon as she solved it, the pieces would sing out a clue. When Jamie had all the clues in the puzzle series, she could claim a prize. There was the cutest little stuffed Tribble with pink ribbons in it's hair that she really, really wanted on the prize list. If she didn't go to the Holo Room tonight, she could probably finish. Then she'd only need to do three more puzzles and get the clues to win the Tribble. "I think I want to finish my puzzle."

Nanny Banks did not like that idea. "Don't be silly, Jamie! Dr. McCoy is being very nice to take you now. A little while ago you were pouting because you couldn't go. You can finish your puzzle anytime."

"But . . ."

It didn't matter how much Jamie protested.

Nanny practically pulled her up and pushed her toward the closet. "Go get your play shoes and don't keep the doctor waiting."

"Well, if she doesn't want to go . . ."Dr. McCoy tried to help out. "We can go another time."

"Nonsense!" Nanny Banks flushed and scrambled around the shoe shelf trying to find Jamie's blue soft shoes. "Jamie needs a little exercise. She's been cooped up in her quarters all afternoon. You'd love to go, wouldn't you, Jamie?"

No. "I 'spose."Since there didn't seem to be a choice, Jamie sighed and pulled on her play shoes. After that, Nanny practically shoved them out the door and waved goodbye. The door to Jamie's quarters swooshed closed.

"Wonder what she was in such an all fired hurry about?" Dr. McCoy grumbled. "Is she always that eager to get rid of you?"

If she wanted, Jamie could probably tell the doctor how Nanny sometimes left her alone at night to go visit Varoom. Dr. McCoy had always been nice to Jamie since she'd come on board. He was never too busy to stop and talk – unlike some people – and he didn't ask silly questions. Sometimes he even gave Jamie a piece of candy just because. She thought maybe he did that with all the children onboard, but when she asked Baxter, he said no. So Dr. McCoy would probably care that Nanny wasn't always there when Jamie woke up scared in the night. He'd tell the Captain for sure. That would sure put Nanny on report or sent back to her planet. But, then the Captain . . . um . . . Daddy might get someone else just as bad to take care of her. I better not say anything. "She probably wants to visit her boyfriend."

"Who's that?"

"Varoom," Jamie answered. "He's a shuttlepilot."

Dr. McCoy chuckled. "Well, guess the jokes on her tonight. The Captain and some of the other officers are taking the shuttle down to the planet. The King changed his mind about having dinner aboard the Enterprise."

For some reason, this cheered Jamie up a whole lot. Maybe Nanny Banks would hurry to visit Varoom and run straight into the Captain. He might even bark an order at her or ask her why she was on the shuttle deck. Yes, Jamie felt like smiling from ear to ear. Suddenly today didn't seem so awful.

"Can I pick my own holo, Dr. McCoy?"

"Certainly."

Jamie kept smiling.

########

Carolyn Bass fidgeted until the door closed and the Captain's brat was out of her sight. Finally! With one eye on the chronometer, (?) she tried to figure out how long she could expect to be free.

Carolyn hurried out of her uniform and into a satin pantsuit combo. Pulling her blonde hair out of the regulation bun, she let it settle across her shoulders in a silky wave. If she hurried, there would be time for a nice visit with Varoom. It would be the only bright spot in a rather dull day. Makeup - but not too much to achieve the natural look -and a spritz of cologne and she was on her way.

To Carolyn's surprise, the shuttle deck was a beehive of activity. Instead of the quiet, between trip lull she found several techs and crewmembers scurrying around as if preparing to take the shuttle away from the ship. She found Varoom in the pilot seat of the shuttle checking over the instruments and preparing for flight.

"Hi! What's up?"

He turned with a wrinkle of annoyance on his olive skinned brow. Seeing her, his Venusians' purplish eyes lit up and he smiled. "Caro! Don't you look as pretty as a Venus sunset?"

"Are you taking the shuttle out?"

"Yeah, change of plans," he said running strong hands over the instrument panel checking she knew not what. Lights and switches clicked green and the shuttle hummed in readiness. "Instead of the King beaming aboard for dinner, the Captain's taking the shuttle down to the planet."

Carolyn made a moue of displeasure. There went her plans for a nice visit. "I was hoping we could spend some time together. It seems you either have to work or I've got to drag the Captain's daughter around."

"Sorry, Caro." He shrugged but not with any real displeasure.

"Will you get shore leave anytime soon? Maybe I can put in a request to have the same time."

Another shrug. "Probably I'll have to take my shore leave in between ferrying others to the planet. An hour here or there. Best not to plan on spending time with me on Mavaro."

He didn't sound too disappointed. Not as disappointed as Carolyn felt. "We never have time together." When he didn't respond, busy with his checklist, she whined, "I've been saving my credits so we could have an elegant dinner at the fanciest place on the planet. There's a restaurant called The Green Pelican."

"Woowee! That's a pricey place."

"What else have I got to spend my credits on?" Carolyn couldn't hide her displeasure. "It's not like I get time to do anything dragging that kid around everywhere."

"You're the one who signed on Starfleet as a nanny," he said without any real sympathy. "You've got quarters on the Officer's deck - pretty cushy digs if you ask me. You eat real food most of the time in the Officer's galley. Lotsa perks to that job."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be . . ." Carolyn started to complain when another crewman stuck his head in the shuttle door.

"Hey, Voom voom," he called using Varoom's nickname. Seeing Carolyn he gave a rather rude whistle and a cheeky wink. "When you can pull yourself away, we need to run the check through. Captain's on his way down."

"Sorry, Caro," he brushed her off. "I've got to get back to work. See you later."

"Yeah, see you later," she answered but his attention was already back to his panel of lights and switches. So much for a romantic evening.

#########

McCoy sat on a bench under a budding apple tree and breathed in the scents of an Iowa farm. Some rather unpleasant scents! You had to give credit to the intelligence capable of creating such realistic holograms that even the manure seemed real.

Although Jamie had seemed a bit surprised when he asked to share her Holo, she didn't refuse. As he'd known she would, Jamie chose to program the room into the farm where she'd lived. As chief medical officer aboard the ship, almost everything came under his control. He regularly checked the children and what they programmed into the holo rooms. While most chose adventures - living on a pirate ship, visiting a zoo or an uncharted planet - Jamie's choice never varied. He'd unofficially diagnosed Jamie with a serious case of homesickness. The farm holo was her solace.

"I'll just sit somewhere and enjoy the breeze," he'd told her when they entered the room. "You go enjoy yourself."

"There's a bench under the apple tree," Jamie said and pointed out the direction.

"Grandpa put it there for ..."

"For your Grandmother on their anniversary," he finished.

Jamie's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"I've been here before - many times."

"You have?"

McCoy smiled at her surprise. "I've known your father and his family for a long time. In fact, I've spent lots of time on the farm."

She seemed to think that over, tilting her head and studying him intently. "I'm gonna climb a tree," she announced and ran across the grass to a small woods. When she got there, she turned and waved.

That was the last McCoy saw of her for awhile. He relaxed against the back of the bench, tilted his face to the sun and closed his eyes. Ah, this was the life . . .

"Dr. McCoy? Are you asleep?"

Jamie's question woke him a bit later. He opened one eye, saw her staring in concern and slowly came back to consciousness.

"Probably. Did you have a good climb?"

"Yes, I'm tired."

"Are you ready to leave?"

Jamie shook her head. "Could we please just sit here until the stars come out?"

Holo rooms were programmed to follow a natural rhythm of time. You could come into one at dawn and stay throughout a whole daily cycle. McCoy had programmed Jamie's to take place in late afternoon. The sun had shifted into setting and parts of the woods were already purple with dusk. Night birds and insects sang a sleepy song. Parts of the sky were already deepening with shades of orange, pink and gold. It wouldn't be long until the stars came out.

"Sure, why not." He patted the bench beside him and Jamie hopped up to join him.

"You going to wish on that star?"

A shrug answered.

McCoy waited until the shadows deepened and promised a sense of confident sharing. "So Jamie, how do you like life on the Enterprise so far?"

At first he didn't think she planned to answer, then politeness won out. Winona had always insisted on manners and civility. It showed in how she'd raised Jim and Jamie. "It's kind of different. . . not like home."

He waited a few minutes to not seem too probing with his questions. "I guess it's a little hard getting to know your father again. It's been awhile since he's been on Earth. When was the last time you saw him? Before you came onboard?" When Jamie didn't answer right away, he said conversationally, "You know, Jamie, there's a rule." He glanced sideways to see if he had her attention. He did. "It's called doctor/patient confidentiality. Do you know what that means?"

"Um . . . not really."

"Then I'll explain it to you. It means that anything you say to me, I can't tell anyone else. Not ever. So if you're ever worried about anything . . . or upset . . . or you want to tell someone something you can't tell anyone else . . . you can say it to me and it's like wishing on a star. Nobody will ever hear."

It took her a few minutes to mull over this idea. Like her father, McCoy could almost feel her mind working on what to divulge. Her question surprised him. "Are you boss of everybody, even the Captain?"

"Pretty much."

"Then how come he thinks he's boss of the ship?"

McCoy leaned over and whispered, "Because he's wearing the Captain's stripes. He doesn't know the Chief Medical Officer is the top man on the ship. Promise you'll keep the secret?"

Jamie giggled and clapped a hand over her mouth. It sounded like music to his ears and he realized it was almost the first time he'd heard her laugh out loud since coming aboard. It reminded him a lot of her mother. As if deciding she could trust him, Jamie sighed wistfully and said, "When I was eight, he came to Earth for my birthday."

The dusk had deepened enough so that McCoy had to strain to see the slight smile on her face. He hoped she would open up more. Keeping his voice matter of fact, he yawned and asked, "Did you have a good time?"

Jamie's face was transformed and she smiled - a genuine grin so like Jim's it startled him. "We had the best time. Daddy taught me to play this funny game. It wasn't a real game though. It was this silly game he made up called Fizzbin." Jamie laughed out loud. It was the first time he'd seen her this animated. "He kept changing the rules and Gramma got so mad."

McCoy laughed with her.

"We climbed trees too. Daddy can climb trees real good. He said when he was a little boy, he liked to climb in the trees and pretend he was sitting in the stars. One night we slept outside in a tent and we watched until the stars came out . . ."

"It sounds like a good visit." He answered, hoping she'd share more but she went quiet. Looked like his work was cut out for him. "Have you played Fizzbin since you've come aboard?"

Jamie shook her head hard. "He don't want to play anything now." Quietly so he almost couldn't hear she confessed. "All he does now is bark at people and worry about being quiet. I don't know why he wants children on the ship anyway. He's not like a Daddy on the Enterprise. He likes this old ship better'n he likes me."

So as not to seem too nosy, he asked quietly, "I thought he was joining you for dinner every little bit and taking you around the ship. Don't you enjoy spending time with him?"

No answer just a shrug he could barely see in the evening shadows. McCoy spoke gently, remembering his promise to put in a good word for Jim. "Your father loves you, Jamie. He's worked a long time on the Children in Space program so he could have you with him. He certainly cares more for you than he does the Enterprise. Right now he's worried that things aren't going right, he's got a lot on his mind - getting the children's deck finished, having to work with King Hescate . . ."

Jamie sneered and spoke up vehemently. "That old King's a meanie! I don't think I like his planet either . . . even if he does have a fun park on it."

"Speaking of fun parks," McCoy said, "maybe Jim can take you down there while we're here."

"He probably won't," Jamie said mournfully. "I don't care. Dr. McCoy, can I ask you something?"

He understood she wanted to change the subject. "Sure."

"How come you're so nice to me? Baxter says you never give him candy."

"Well, now, I guess you're special to me. I've known you a long time."

That puzzled her and he heard the question in her voice. "But me and Baxter came on the ship at the same time."

"Well, Jamie, I just met Baxter but I've known you from the first second you were born. In fact, this ugly mug," he pointed at his face, not sure she could see him in the dark, "is the first face you ever saw."

"Huh?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you were born on the Enterprise, Jamie?"

"No. I didn't know that."

McCoy smiled. Suddenly he realized Jamie must not remember him at all and why should she? Jamie had no way of knowing he'd delivered her or that she'd lived on the Enterprise long before she'd ever seen Earth. She was only about two the last time he'd actually seen her "Well, you were and you lived on board for the first few years of your life. Don't you remember me? You used to call me BoBo."

She laughed again. "That's a silly name. Why did I call you that?"

"Probably because Jim calls me Bones." He laughed too. "You were a pretty cute little kid. Everyone was sad when you left to go live with Winona. Jim most of all. He used to say to me, 'we should have taken the long way home, Bones.'"

Even now McCoy got an ache remembering his friend's anguish at having to leave Jamie on Earth.

"What's that mean?"

McCoy shifted on the bench, feeling the chill of evening beginning to settle in. "He knew that after your mother . . ." No, I don't want to explain that business to her, "well, after Jim knew he had to take you back to Earth, he wanted the ship to go as slow as it could. He didn't want to give you up but back then, Starfleet was pretty set against having children in space."

"Oh. Did you know my mother too?"

"Yes, I knew her very well."

"What was she like? Gramma never knew her and she tells me to ask Daddy but . . ."

He could hear the unspoken words she wanted to say. Jamie didn't feel comfortable yet with Jim - not enough to talk to him about Diana. For the first time he wished he hadn't brought Jamie into the holo. How much should he tell her? If Winona and Jim had never explained what happened to Diana, how much could he reveal? It didn't feel like his place. "Maybe we should go on and start back to your quarters," he made a move to get up, his bones creaking stiffly. "I'm sure it's long past your sleep cycle."

"You promised! You said we could wait for the first star!" Jamie protested.

"That's right, I did."

"Why doesn't anybody want to talk about my mother? I asked him . . . daddy once and he said it made him too sad to talk about her. What happened to her?"

Sighing McCoy fumbled for comforting words. As a doctor he'd gotten a lot of practice pulling them out of a hat. I'm a doctor, not a magician, he'd quipped on plenty of occasions. Ignoring her question, he went back to an earlier one. "Your mother was a very beautiful, very gifted woman. Everyone who saw her fell in love with her. She had a way of making everyone feel special and she loved you very much."

"Did she die?"

"Jamie, you need to talk to your father about this." He felt like he'd spoken a little too crotchety-country-doctor but he had to do something to stop the flow of questions. Sadly, he realized he'd stopped Jamie's confidences by being so brusque. In the glint of moonlight, he saw her eyes fill with tears. "Listen, honey, there are things only Jim should tell you. You ask him and I'm sure he'll tell you everything you want to know." When she didn't respond, he looked to the sky and saw the first star. "There's your wishing star."

Instead of looking up, Jamie got off the bench and began to walk toward the halo exit. "Could we leave, Dr. McCoy? I think I'm tired."

"Sure, but aren't you going to make a wish?"

"Wishes don't come true," she mumbled, "everybody knows that."

He followed her wondering what wish Jamie had made that didn't come true. Then he knew - she wanted to go home. His heart ached for the little girl and for Jim. Maybe we should have taken the long way home so the two had never been separated.

#######

"Captain?"

"Yes, Ensign?"

Varoom nervously cleared his throat and hoped he didn't sound like a weak-kneed Andorian goat. "Request permission to go on shore leave until you're ready to return to the Enterprise, sir?"

"Very well," the Captain agreed following Mr. Spock through the shuttle doors. "Just stay within communicator range so you're available when we're ready to return."

"Thank you, sir."

"And Ensign?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I won't dictate what you can do on your shore leave, but let me leave you with a warning. Mavaro prisons are no joke. This planet's laws and penalties are stiff - too stiff for even Starfleet to cover if you get up to your neck in trouble. Wherever you go and whatever you do, conduct yourself like a civilized representative of the Federation."

"Always, sir." Varoom saluted and repressed a grin. To his chagrin, Mr. Spock raised one distinctive eyebrow and stared as if he knew what Varoom was thinking. So there would be no mistake, Varoom stated firmly, "I intend to visit the gaming tables."

"Very well, just stay within communicator range." The Captain said as he left, trailed by the rest of the Officer's. A royal welcoming committee, horns blaring, flags flying met the group as they exited the shuttle.

Varoom waited until all the pomp and circumstances had cleared away before locking down the shuttle and hurrying away. He had credits to burn in the brown velour pockets of his uniform and an unquenchable belief that tonight he'd win big!

Less than an hour later, Varoom was in trouble - deep space without oxygen trouble.