Kirk let out a sigh of relief and took a long drink from his cola. "I'm just glad none of that got out. I can't BELIEVE I let him get to me like that."
"As I told you before, his mission was to elicit such a reaction. From the reaction of the others he interviewed, I would say he was quite skilled."
Stephen propped his legs up, too. His side was still stiff, but the pain was minimal. "Still, I thought I knew what I was going to say. As soon as he threw me off, I just didn't know how to recover." He shook his head.
T'Nia took another drink. "It's because you lack confidence." She eyed him intently. Most humans were quite put off by vulcan candor. Thankfully, she knew such wasn't the case with her friends.
Stephen snapped his head up at her. "I do not." He replied flatly.
She cocked her head. "In situations where you are comfortable, no... you do not lack confidence. In new and unfamiliar circumstances, yes you do. Vulcans have been both impressed and perplexed by the power of human instinct. Your instincts are particularly keen. For some reason, you continue to debate them."
"I do not," Kirk said defensively. His expression became more thoughtful. "do I?"
T'Nia nodded.
"Why didn't you mention this before?" He slowly set his glass down.
She raised an eyebrow. "You never asked."
"I didn't ask THIS time... did I?" His mind struggled to remember his past few sentences.
"Close enough."
Kirk found himself staring down at the coffee table. He usually had fairly good ideas, but when the situation changed, as it changed aboard the reman warbird a week ago, he was never able to compensate. Kirk had attributed that as proof he wasn't leadership material. He sat back in his chair and contemplated what his friend had just said.
"If you asked my advice... I would merely suggest that the next time you're faced with a crisis or challenge, immediately follow your instincts." She concluded thoughtfully. She finished her cup of tea.
"That's interesting advice, coming from a vulcan." Kirk smirked.
"I certainly wouldn't heed such advice myself," she countered quickly, "but, then again; I'm not the second in command. There may come a time when you will have to act quickly."
Kirk looked curiously at his friend. "What do you mean?"
T'Nia was conflicted in telling Stephen about Bolerov's unscheduled departure from the tour. He already had enough on his mind, and he was still on medical leave. Still, he needed to know. "It's probably nothing, but the captain left rather abruptly during the interview with the romulan reporter."
"Oh?" This piqued Kirk's curiosity.
"I found it curious. He did not return for the remaineder of the tour. He said he would attending to some matter on the bridge, but when I finally contacted him, he was not there."
"Yeah," recalling the events earlier that day, "I thought it was weird he wasn't in here." He snapped his fingers. "Remember when he blanked out on us at the beginning of the fight with the warbirds?" She nodded. "I wonder what's going on." His mind started wandering off to alternatives... from simple explanations like lack of sleep, to the more exotic, like non-corporeal entities taking over his body.
"I do not know. Admiral Leonard or Doctor Rass would be the most likely people to discuss this with."
"Yeah, but let's not go there just yet. I mean, after all, he could just be really tired for all we know." The last thing he wanted to do was make Bolerov mad at him again. They had just started smoothing things over. Trying to incite a mutiny would be a step in the wrong direction. Besides, as long as Bolerov was in charge, HE wasn't.
"I yield to your wisdom, Commander," T'Nia replied. Looking back, it did seem rather minor. Perhaps Bolerov was trying to get her to step up into more of a leadership role as well. Until the rest of the crew came aboard, she was the second officer, after all.
The door chime pleasantly rang its four notes. "Come," Kirk called at the door.
The door slid open to show a petite, but well curved romulan woman in a brown robe with a dark red tunic underneath. She smiled sweetly. She was holding an unlabled bottle of light brown liquid. "Good latemorn," she said with a mild romulan accent as she walked in. She then saw T'Nia seated on the couch next to him, her feet propped. T'Nia was putting her boots back on. The romulan woman looked a bit embarassed. "Oh! I'm sorry... I didn't know you had company."
T'Nia looked briefly at the woman, then back to Kirk as she finished putting her boots on. Centurian T'osa had been in rather frequent contact with Stephen for almost a month... ever since the ill-fated romulan/Federation dinner. She was leary of this romulan and would have preferred to stay, but it was not proper for human courtships to have bodyguards. "I was about to leave myself. The commander and I had a few crew-related issues to discuss."
"Oh?" Kirk was a little surprised by T'Nia's quick departure. It reminded him of the quick departure she said Bolerov made with her.
T'osa looked at the pair curiously. "I could come back... it's alright."
Her boots on, T'Nia stood. "Not at all." She turned to Kirk. "If you require anything more, contact me. I shall be retiring to my room." She turned back to T'osa. "On this ship, it is evening, and some of us..." she gave one final glance back to Stephen, "have to work in the morning." She nodded her head. "Good evening to each of you."
"Good night, T'Nia." Kirk said, gently shaking his head. What did she think was going to happen?
"Good evening, Lieutenant Commander," the centurian added. She didn't mean to offend Stephen's friend... or was she more than a friend?