Disclaimer: The Enterprise and all personnel belong to Paramount, except Lowell who is mine. Kirk is also Paramount's, and so is Harry Mudd. The other Sharks belong to me. Gray, who I don't think is in this chapter but who will be in the future, belongs to Whatshername. Everybody clear now?
Well, you already heard the spiel about junior year if you read "Trekkie Soul" so I'll just reiterate that I'm overworked as an excuse for not posting and leave it at that. And we can all be happy now, because they eased up a bit today and I finally have some time to post! Twice over!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Neither Kirk, Harry nor O'Riley stayed on the bridge for the rest of the day. O'Riley left first. He came for reasons unknown, left for reasons unknown, went to places unknown. Kirk didn't worry about it. Unlike Carl, he doubted O'Riley would go off and kill anyone.
Harry hung around a while longer, leaning on the command chair and chatting with Kirk. He eventually tried to make a pass at Uhura, was sharply rejected, took it in a cheerful spirit, and left for greener pastures.
Kirk stayed on the bridge for some time after that. The bridge was very quiet. Kirk ignored the tension, if he even noticed it. He was contemplating the unmoving starfield, and thinking. Considering. Planning.
"I assume engineering's at work on repairs?" Kirk asked, breaking the silence.
"I assume," Spock said dryly.
"How long are engines going to take?"
"Days. Veeks," Chekov said at once.
Kirk grinned. "Your determination is vaguely impressive, but I know what your information is like. Anyone besides Mr. Chekov?"
"A call to engineering would no doubt provide the desired information."
"Thank you, Mr. Spock, but a call seems rather dull and impersonal, don't you think? Maybe I'll wander down to engineering myself." Kirk didn't care a whit for whether a call was impersonal or not. But he was curious. He'd headed straight for the bridge once he could, but now that he'd been there awhile, he was curious. What he was really after was an excuse to go exploring. Sooner or later he'd end up in engineering. Probably.
He stood up, took two steps towards the turbolift, when he had a thought. "Computer…lock all bridge controls."
"Authorization?" the computer requested.
"Erickson1002."
"Locking."
"Good." Kirk grinned at the obvious irritation of the bridge crew (except Spock, of course, who, if irritated, it wasn't obvious). "It seemed a reasonable precaution. And I'll be changing that code, so don't get any ideas." Without further adieu, Kirk left, leaving the bridge to Starfleet crew only.
They weren't a particularly happy crew either. A general babble of voices with the general theme of "we've got to do something!" rose almost before the turbolift doors shut on Kirk. Spock's was the only calm one, and it cut through the others.
"Obviously, something has to be done. But haste and carelessness will profit nothing. If something is to be done, it will require a certain amount of thought and planning…"
* * *
Meanwhile, things were calming down in Sickbay. Anyone with severe injuries had been taken care of, and even the numbers of people with minor injuries were shrinking. So far, the pirates had had no direct effect in Sickbay.
That was about to change.
The doors swished open, and Kirk strolled in. Only one person near the door, a nurse with her back to it. Everyone else, of the few people still in Sickbay, were busy with other things and not paying attention to the entrance.
"Be with you in a minute." The nurse near the door turned, and her eyes widened. "Dr. McCoy!"
McCoy was at the far end of Sickbay, busy with a security officer with a broken arm. "What is it? I'm kind of occupied here…" He trailed off as he turned and caught sight of Kirk. The nurse's eyes had widened. McCoy's narrowed. "Get out," he said flatly, crossing the room at an even pace to stop in front of Kirk.
Kirk smiled, reasonably pleasantly. "Hello. I'm Jim Kirk. I'm on something of a self-guided tour, thought I'd drop by. You must be the chief medical officer."
"Yes, and unless you have a medical problem get out of my Sickbay," McCoy ordered.
"Hardly a friendly reception," Kirk observed. Not as pleasantly.
"I don't need you coming in here and upsetting my nurses and disturbing my patients. Now leave."
"Don't push me," Kirk warned. Not pleasantly at all.
"I'll push you any way I want, and right now it's going to be straight out that door."
McCoy took a step forward on that line. Kirk had his phaser in his hand and aimed at McCoy's chest within a second and a half. "Go ahead," he said quietly. "Try me."
The two men locked gazes for a long, long moment. Hazel eyes into blue eyes, each matched in determination, neither backing down. Tension stretched between them like a tangible presence as the moment lingered, lengthened and grew taut, like a crackle of lightning suspended between the two gazes. Breaths were held all around the room.
It was McCoy who broke it. Not to back down. More as though he'd seen something and knew there wasn't a battle worth fighting here. He shook his head slowly, almost smiling, almost a little contemptuous. "You're not going to kill me."
"Are you sure?" Kirk challenged immediately.
"Yes," McCoy said. "I've no doubt you might kill someone. I've no doubt you probably have killed someone. But you're not going to kill me just because I tell you to leave. If you were that bloodthirsty, someone would be dead already."
Kirk remained in position, expression grim, for a heartbeat longer. Only a heartbeat though. Then a grin spread across his face. He clipped the phaser back onto his belt, chuckling. "Y'know," he told McCoy, "I kinda like you. You've got nerve."
"Well that just makes my day. Now leave," McCoy said coldly.
Kirk might have left before. Sickbays of any sort usually bored him. But now he was interested. "Nah, I think I'll stick around for a while. That going to bother you?"
"Yes. But I don't have time for this. Leave or stay, it doesn't matter, just leave my staff and patients alone." With that McCoy turned his back on Kirk and went back to the security officer.
No one else was able to tear their gaze away from Kirk quite that easily, but within moments they did all manage to go back to their work and ignore the pirate in their midst. Kirk shrugged, grinned, and took a stroll around Sickbay. The fact remained though, Sickbays bored him. So he ended up watching McCoy, who continued pretending he didn't exist.
"You do that well," Kirk commented.
"It's my job," McCoy said flatly.
Kirk felt possessed of a desire to tease the good doctor a bit. "Always had the impression doctors on starships did more exciting things than fix broken bones," Kirk said idly.
"You missed it. That was an hour ago. Blood, burns, surgeries, very exciting," McCoy said without inflection.
"Sounds thrilling."
McCoy glared at him and didn't answer.
Kirk was unperturbed. "Fix broken bones often?" he asked.
"Seventh one today," McCoy said without looking up.
"That's fairly often," Kirk agreed.
McCoy gave him a look of absolute disinterest and went on with his work.
"Speaking of bones," Kirk said idly, "I knew a man nicknamed Bones once."
"Really," McCoy said dryly.
"Mm-hmm. Except he didn't fix them. He broke them."
"Sounds like a pleasant person."
"I've known worse."
McCoy ignored that. He closed up his scanner and set down the hypo. "You can consider yourself healed, Ensign," he told the security officer.
The ensign tried his arm and found that McCoy was right. "Thanks, Doctor." He slid off the biobed, shot Kirk a look half nervous and half angry, and left Sickbay.
"Fast work," Kirk commented.
"Long practice," McCoy said, picking up his instruments to put away in the cabinet above.
Kirk grinned a little wickedly. "Maybe I should call you Bones, you're at least as efficient as the other Bones I knew."
The cabinet closed and latched with a snap. "It's McCoy," he said shortly. "Doctor McCoy."
"I don't know, I think Bones has a better ring to it."
McCoy gave him an exasperated look. "Why don't you just leave?"
"All right, all right, I know where I'm not wanted." Kirk flipped up the collar of his leather jacket, and headed for the exit.
"Good-bye," was what McCoy said. His tone said "good riddance."
Kirk paused at the door, looked back with a grin. "I'll be back…Bones."
Thank you all for chiming in that Kirk is a scoundrel…haven't written a serious fic before and I'm far more nervous about this one than the funny one. But I'm reassured now, thank you.
Oh, and about the flashback, I dunno how clear I was about that. The flashbacks are a long-range plan. I started at the very beginning, obviously, but they're going to continue chronologically, so there will be more along the lines of how he became a pirate. Not immediately. But in a few chapters.
Broken Infinity: Yay, I managed witty and cute! lol
Samantha: "Conniving, double-crossing, untrustworthy version of our Kirk…" Okay, I'm satisfied with that. He doesn't really have to be evil, just a bit rotten. And disillusioned, yes.
Emp: It's not quickly, I know, but it is continuing! Slowly but surely!
Nenya: I love "I, Mudd," and I love "Journey to Babel." Two truly excellent episodes, for all the reasons you mentioned! And if you can't think of ways for the crew to get around Kirk, we're doing good…I certainly had to think hard enough to get it that way.
Bug the Vulcan: Wait…are you I-am-bug? [checks bio] Yes, you are. Now that I have that straight…see above regarding flashbacks. Kirk-to-pirate is coming, I promise!
Whatshername: lol, I hoped itty-bitty Kirk would be cute…that's why I wrote that scene, 'cause I thought it was cute! And I LOVE that movie!
Aura: I figured, Kirk's in with a lot of scoundrels, who else was a scoundrel on Star Trek? Harry! Lol, Gary Mitchell might come up…and then again, he might not.
Mzsnaz: Y'know, it took me a minute to remember what the Harry reference was. I assume you meant in the shuttlebay. And I don't really anticipate Stella…he might talk about her though, we'll see.
Kiri: Okay, I posted Trekkie Soul and now I'm posting this. And sooner than this weekend too!
Unrealistic: Funny, my writing inspirations come at night too…and then rarely hang around in the morning. My belief is, when the muse knocks you have to answer, because if you ignore her she might not come back.
Ael: It's funny, I'd never heard the "Pirates who don't do anything" song, and then just the other day one of my friends was singing it…funny world.
RadarPLO: Insanity is healthy. Although I don't really think of this one as one of my insane stories…
Silverfang: Nah, it doesn't make you bad…judging by reviews rooting for villains is quite normal.
Wedge: Important Trek episodes! Amok Time, Journey to Babel, City on the Edge of Forever, Trouble with Tribbles, the list goes on…
One down! One more to post! Don't forget to review! No prob if you wait 'til the next chap, though if I get no comments on the McCoy-Kirk convo I'll be very disappointed. (hint, hint. Lol) Onward! Posting!