Disclaimer: (set to army theme song) Don't own Star Trek, no I don't! (don't own Star Trek, no I don't!) Copy Planet Naturalis, no you won't! (Copy Planet Naturalis, no you won't!) Left, right, left, right…
A/N: I'm afraid the action I promised didn't quite pick up as fast as I thought it would in this chapter, but I promise that the next chapter will have lots of it! I really do!
Captain Kirk was having a viciously bad game of chess. He was playing against Spock, and although the clever Vulcan beat him at chess more often than not, Jim usually put up a good fight. Today, however, he felt like he could not concentrate at all, and Spock completely bested him at three games in fifteen minutes. "I'm sorry, Spock," he apologized to his first officer, "I'm so distracted, you can't be having much fun."
"Fun? That would stem from happiness, and I do not play chess to make me happy. It is simply--"
Jim interrupted, "Yes, I know, to exercise your mind, and you don't have any emotions to start with. What was I saying? See, I told you I was distracted!"
Miffed at the interruption, Spock said rather bluntly, "Judging from your behavior, I must conclude you have a problem, Jim. You are irritable, even for a human, and this is the third time today you have complained about your inability to concentrate."
"I have to agree with you, my green-blooded friend. Jim has been a basket case for the entire week!" The chess players looked back to see Dr. McCoy standing behind them, and he smiled and pulled up a chair.
Seeing he was cornered, Kirk shrugged and commented, "Well, if you two are agreeing, things must indeed be serious! All right, I confess. It's that ambassador from Naturalis that's bothering me. I really liked her, but I just didn't know how to give her what she wanted. Gosh, I messed things up."
"What happened?" Bones asked with morbid curiosity. This was the first time he had ever heard of Jim Kirk messing up romantically, and McCoy wanted to know all about it.
"Well, we were on the observation deck, and we kissed, she didn't like it, and she said most people don't even kiss until marriage on her planet, and what was I supposed to say to that?"
Bones shook his head, comprehending the awkward position his friend must have been in. "Yeah. That's a tough one."
Jim nodded his head vigorously. "After that, I just sort of clammed up. She asked me to see her off at the transporter the next day, but I didn't go. I wasn't sure if she really liked me, you know, maybe she might have made that up about her planet. Even if she did, things weren't going the way I wanted them to, and I figured it was best to just move on."
"I've been there, Jim," McCoy said solemnly.
"But I don't know, I think I did the wrong thing. Becky wasn't like the other women I've met, she was really special. She was beautiful, smart, and fun to be with, and I just got this feeling the minute I saw her, that she was going to be important to me. Some girls, you just can't move on, but what's there to do, Bones?"
Dr. McCoy clamped a hand on Kirk's shoulder, and said sagely, "Jim, I've had a bit of experience with the ladies, and I'll tell you something I've learned. When you've got a special one like your friend Becky, you've got to learn to bend the rules. Love is crazy! You've got to accept that things don't always go right, and forget protocol. At least that's how it always seems to turn out for me."
"Aside from that comment about your 'expertise' with the fairer sex, I think there's something to your advice, McCoy. But what exactly are you getting at?" Kirk asked.
"What do you think, Jim? Give her a call and tell her how you feel about her! So maybe the Macho Man Manual recommends silence in these cases, but what good will that do you, except to save your pride? If Becky means that much to you, you should be able to go out on a limb for her." McCoy got out of his chair and sauntered to the door. "I'll be in Sickbay, let me know how things develop." He walked out, then he ducked his head back in and said roguishly, "And as for my experience with women, I've gotten married twice now, and you haven't even made it to the altar yet, so don't get too cocky, Captain."
"There was the Indian princess! I married her!" Jim called stubbornly.
McCoy's voice drifted back, "Doesn't count, you had amnesia!"
Kirk shrugged and quirked his eyebrows philosophically. He glanced over at Spock, who had been observing the whole conversation shrewdly. Jim asked furtively, "So what do you think, Spock? Should I call her?"
"Pardon my curiosity, Jim, but why are you asking me? It seemed to me as though Dr. McCoy has already answered your question." Spock replied, looking puzzled.
"But do you think he's right? I mean, call her, just like that? How do I know she won't hang up on me?"
"There is an old adage on your Earth that I believe is appropriate here. 'You never know unless you try.'"
Jim nodded, and Spock continued, "And I strongly suggest you do try, because I have never seen humans behave more irrationally than when they are 'in love' and act on it. You can't command a ship like this, Jim."
Kirk laughed wryly. "Well, I suppose I ought to call her, then." He stood up out of his chair, then he chuckled.
Following the advice of his friends, Captain Kirk was soon in his quarters, where he opened up a frequency to Rose Castle on Planet Naturalis. He waited eagerly for the other end to open the frequency, and finally, a voice said briskly, "Planet Naturalis, Princess Marta speaking. Who is this?"
"This is Captain James Kirk, of the starship Enterprise. Is Princess Rebecca there?" he managed to say, although the lady's terse voice was somewhat off-putting to his uneasy emotional state.
The woman returned, "This is really not a good time right now. Call back later?"
"I need to talk to her!"
Kirk thought he heard Princess Marta sigh heavily, at least that was how he translated the brief increase in static. It was hard to say amid all the other useless noise on the connection. Finally she said, "I'll go get her."
Jim waited impatiently, wondering what all the banging and pounding on the other end was, until he heard Becky say tensely, "Hello? Who is this?"
"Well here's the moment of truth," the captain thought. "She either hangs up or tells me she loves me at this point. Here goes!" He answered slowly, "It's Jim. I'm sorry to be bothering you, but I had speak to you."
Her heartache forgotten, Becky shrieked, "Jim! I'm so glad to hear from you!"
Kirk said gravely, "I had to tell you something. I'm so sorry I didn't come to say goodbye at the transporter last week. I'm not exactly sure what happened.
"I did wonder, you just got so gruff all the sudden, and then you didn't come." Rebecca sighed, then she asked softly, "Do you even like me anymore?"
Realizing what he had put her through, Kirk winced at the question. "Becky, how could I not? I just can't believe how amazing you are. But when you didn't want to kiss me that night, it startled me. All the relationships I've been in, they all seem to go the same way, and you're not like that. Maybe that's why I'm still single, because I've never broken out of that mold. But I want to now, Becky. I want to be the right man for you. Rebecca, I--"
Suddenly, Rebecca shrieked as the castle took a particularly violent hit. "Becky, what's wrong?" Jim cried anxiously.
"Jim, I'm going to have to go now. Those trolls are attacking Rose Castle with these huge trebuchets, and it seems like they're going to hit this tower any minute now, and my brother's been captured, and, it's just terrible around here!"
Kirk recoiled as he realized the danger Rebecca was in, and his mouth set in a grim line. He was not going to let some truculent beast take away the perfect woman, now that he had found her. He punched the speaking button on the communications console to speak to Becky again, and was hit with a rush of static. The connection was going fast, due to the last onslaught of the castle, but he shouted into the speaker, "Becky, don't panic! I'm coming to help you!"
"Oh, you mustn't! What about the Prime Directive?" Becky pleaded.
"Don't you worry about the Prime Directive! I'll work it out, just tell me where to beam down!"
Realizing it was useless to protest, Becky replied, "There's too much static, you'll never get the right coordinates this way! I'll send them to your ship, okay, Jim?"
"Right!" Jim cried decisively. "Becky?"
"Yes, I--" she answered, but her voice descended into gibberish as the connection faded out.
Kirk fiddled angrily with the buttons of the console for a couple of minutes, but the effort was futile. Making his way for the bridge via turbo lift, he clenched his fists tight as he thought of the cherished women in his life he had not been able to save. "Not this time," he growled through gritted teeth.
Again, I am so sorry for the inevitable wait, but you know, college is tough! And time-consuming. Anyway, I hope this rather longish chapter makes up for it. Also, thanks to astronomylover for being such a faithful reviewer of my Trek stories. I totally appreciate it!