AN 1: One of my goals this year to actually finish this story. So far, I have 3 chapters written, which I should be releasing every 2 weeks or so. That being said, I've had MASSIVE writers block. A special thank you to everyone who sent prompt ideas!
Harriet had decided that the 'Spock issue' could be dealt with later. For now, there was absolutely no reason for her and Spock not to continue as they were. Interacting with Spock, and watching him respond to the various situations that she put him in, made her happy; that was all that mattered.
Still, she thought it only fair to offer her other friend the opportunity to offer bad advice. Friends, after all, had rights.
"So I think Spock finally clued in to the rumors that are running around and I'd really like to know who clued him in."
"Which one?"
"The one about us dating."
Bones grumped. "Are you really that surprised? You've been at it for several months now."
Harriet hummed noncommittally.
She and Bones had just finished another study session and Harriet was nursing her ever so reliable coffee cup ('if you were sentient, we might've been best friends by now.') The material they were studying wasn't particularly difficult but it was dense. Harriet herself wasn't participating in the rounds that McCoy was studying the information for but she'd taken it as another opportunity for her to learn more about the Starfleet approach to medicine. Thus, they'd both found helping the other learn the material beneficial.
It had led to more late nights studying outside her own home but the more upsetting point turned out to be her reduced Spock time. She was on the fence about that possibly being a good thing but was leaning toward it being unsatisfactory.
"Look, did you really think he wouldn't eventually catch on?"
"Hmm, that's not necessarily the problem."
"Then what is?"
"I think I may just be upset if someone upsets the status quo."
McCoy gave her pinched face number 2. "You can't be serious."
"I'm not sure. I'm rather on the fence about it. The whole rumor thing started a while ago, back when we were still getting to know each other. Then I started the whole thing last semester mostly to see what would happen but also because I suspected one of his students was getting attached, which, by the way, I'm now quite sure of." She took another sip of her coffee. "But now, well, I'm quite attached myself and I don't particularly feel like sharing."
"I can't believe we're having this conversation."
Harriet smiled over her cup, black curls barely restrained by pins framing her face. "I figure it's your right as best mate to put in your two credits."
"I'm not grateful for the opportunity."
She let out a small laugh. "Don't look so constipated! I'm merely getting it off my chest that as much of a stick in the mud as Spock can be, I truly value the time we spend together, and I'm not particularly in the mood to have it infringed upon."
"Don't you have female friends you can have this discussion with?"
She laughed again and dropped the subject. She would weigh the pros and cons of bringing up the subject with Mrs. Thurston later.
"Well Captain Pike, it seems you officially have a medical civilian attached to your ship. Congratulations." The as yet unnamed Admiral was sitting behind an impressive desk, interacting with the glass interface that comprised its top.
Pike's lips twitched in amusement. "I take it Ms. Luna finally agreed to Starfleet's conditions?" He had to admit the way the young woman interacted with Spock and her cryptic comments both amused and intrigued him.
"After some adjustments." Finished with whatever he had been doing, he pulled a padd out of one of the desk's drawers and passed it to him. "Her particulars are strictly confidential; familiarize yourself with them." He sat back in his chair. "You are expected to observe and comment on her performance and any strange behavior that you may witness, both on- and off-board your vessel."
Pike's face evened out as he reached for the padd. "Is there anything in particular I should be on the look out for sir?" Why was she a point of interest to Fleet Command?
"Read the file; everything we have is in her profile. If possible, try to get more information out of her or her acquaintances. Unfortunately, it was part of our original agreement with Ms. Luna that we would neither order Spock to use his position as a close acquaintance to gather information on her nor use him as leverage against her. Any information he shares must be done voluntarily, which is unlikely.
"I also want medical to keep a close eye on her. At this point, we're pretty sure she's not entirely human, for all that she's humanoid in appearance. Part of the reason we're attaching her to medical is to observe first hand how her healing abilities work and evaluate how Starfleet could benefit from them. So if there's more like her out there, we want to know about it.
"Understood Sir." Perhaps her previous comments to him had been more literal than he had first assumed. He would have to take care to commit the file to memory.
"And figure out what her real name is. At this point I'm damn sure it isn't Harriet Luna."
According to the advice that Spock had sought, it would be best if he 'didn't allow things to get awkward' between him and Hari in light of his revelations. Admittedly, his experience with Terran females other than his mother was rather limited. Thus, while he was not entirely sure of the meaning behind his Captain's advice, he would endeavor to follow it.
So, he decided sticking to their regular schedule was best. However, Hari was now intermittently unavailable and he was not sure how to proceed. Should he be concerned? Was she now uncomfortable with his presence?
Ostensibly, she was spending more time at the Academy studying. Yet, statistically speaking, the percentage of time she spent pursuing such studies on campus was low; she had her own library that was well stocked and she did not find the completion of her rounds in a manner that met her exacting standards difficult. He suspected, but had yet to confirm, that her abilities and experience also made the completion of those rounds comparatively easy and less stressful. Certainly, if she was to be believed, having over 100 years of exposure to the profession gave her a sizable edge over the other attending staff.
It also made the exact nature of the abilities she employed both on her rounds and in her side business more worthy of consideration. Was it strictly psionic in nature? From what he had observed, it was not entirely rooted in the traditional telekinetic, telepathic, or bioelectric categories. There was also no evidence of the use of delta waves or hallucinations.
That was not to say she was incapable of such abilities.
Even so, there was more evidence suggestive of extrasensory perception, which was an imprecise phrase as the term was largely used by humans to describe otherwise unexplainable activities performed by humans. Regardless, as she had refused to submit to any tests other than the standard entrance exams, he was not aware of, and could think of no favorable situation with which to enquire of, her apperception quotient. Statistically, the likelihood the exact rating would be important was low but it would be helpful in defining her potential limits.
Their first encounter, and many of their subsequent encounters, also indicated she was able to create a psychoactive effect without the use of a device, gestures, or any visible exertion. Additionally, these incidents provided evidence that the effect could be either illusionary or permanent in nature, likely depending on the situation in which she found herself. Based on what he had learned so far of her personality, it was more probable that she used the more permanent option sparingly while using the more illusionary aspect at least semi regularly.
Finally, there was her ability to succeed where many others of her profession generally failed. Reason dictated that the very nature of her side business depended on an ability to evaluate a patient at a cellular or molecular level. In terms of her revelation, her ability to treat the advanced level of viral, bacterial, and cellular mutations her patients faced is highly developed. However, given her heavy focus on xenobiology and preference for non-Terran oriented rounds, it was likely not developed off world.
This produced something of a conundrum. If she had truly spent the last 141, if not more, years on Earth, how had she or her equally long-lived brethren not been noticed before? Have they been using psionic and extrasensory abilities to go unnoticed?
How had she created forged documents, and logged them into the national database, without any discernable trace or effort to hide that they had not previously been in the system?
All of this led him to be unequivocally certain she was capable of more than she demonstrated. Yet, in light of her distrust of Starfleet, he deemed her self-imposed limits both explicable and prudent, no matter how perplexing a puzzle it presented.
He had supposed, and so far had not been proven incorrect, that presenting his observations on this matter was not deemed appropriate. Therefore, he kept them and his fascination to himself.
… This tangent did not help him with his current predicament. Should he approach Hari directly on the matter of her increased absences or would that make things "awkward?" Was his not enquiring more "awkward" than his silence on the matter?
He was uncertain.
… Why did Hari inspire such uncertainties in him so often? It was most puzzling.
It was one minute past 2pm on Wednesday when McCoy entered the shop for his weekly pick me up. Harriet smiled to herself. Even after all this time, he was still a loyal regular.
And O! His facial expressions! He always looked so grumpy when he walked in! Of course, she now knew that this was his default expression but that didn't change the fact it had also, somehow, become endearing. 'Perhaps it's because he's secretly a teddy bear?' […Define "teddy bear"…]
Whipping out a freshly washed mug, she went about preparing a cup of her 'herbal' migraine reliever. Thankfully, it was only as addictive as the coffee she mixed it with so she didn't have to worry about needing to slowly ween him off before the end of the semester. She would have to discuss with him what he would do once he was properly assigned to a vessel but there was some time yet to broach the subject.
"Is it possible for me to get a double dose?"
Harriet raised an eyebrow. "No. Why?" Bones grit his teeth and sat down heavily at the bar. "Let me guess: Jim?" She was rewarded with sound of frustrated … gruffiness.
The café was generally not busy this time of day so she set his cup in front of him and dragged over a stool. After he'd taken a few sips and muttered a few uncomplimentary words, she asked: "What's he up to now?"
"Remember that test I told you about? The one for command track cadets? I don't know how the hell he did it, and I honestly don't want to know how he did it, but they approved him for a third shot."
Harriet actually was rather familiar with that test. Spock would never divulge details regarding cadet performances but the Kobayashi Maru simulation was something he rather proud of.
"Is he ready for it?"
"He wasn't ready for it the first two times. I highly doubt he's ready for it this time."
"Maybe he's matured a bit, gained some additional insight as to what it means to lead." The whole point of the exam after all was to see what kind of leader you were or could potentially become.
Bones gave her a look over the top of his mug. Right, this was the infamous Jim. It was highly unlikely he'd suddenly matured into Captain material. He put his cup down.
"The issue isn't that he lacks potential. The issue is that he refuses to accept that in certain situations, there is no 'good' outcome; he's constantly looking for a win-win scenario."
Harriet snorted. Those scenarios didn't exist in reality, much less in armed conflict. Someone, even if it was a rival business partner or some general opposing party, always lost something. It was a matter of how much each side was willing to sacrifice in order to obtain a goal… and morality often deemed running away an ill-advised decision.
"Is there no way to "win" the scenario?"
"No. That's the point."
Harriet knew this but she raised an eyebrow in silent inquiry ('I've been learning from an Eyebrow Master, why shouldn't I employ the skills that I've learned!').
"The scenario's called the Kobayashi Maru. According to the Instructors, it's designed to assess a cadet's discipline, character, and command capabilities. In the simulation, we receive a distress signal from a civilian freighter called the Kobayashi Maru. It's been disabled in the Klingon neutral zone, which we can't enter without violating several treaties. So we have a choice: either ignore the distress call or face being confronted by three Klingon battle cruisers and not leaving the neutral zone with the starship intact."
He took another sip of his drink.
"The problem for Jim is that it's an impossible situation, there's just no legitimate strategy that results in a successful outcome for everyone involved."
"In accepting the inevitable, one finds peace." *
"Somehow I don't think Jim sees it the same way."
"But the point isn't the outcome, it's how you face it."
His face took on a rather grim look for a second before he nodded his agreement. "Unfortunately, his refusal to accept the situation at all results in his inability to put up a good showing."
If Jim couldn't accept that there were sometimes casualties when you did the right thing, he wasn't ready to be in charge of a starship. 'Have I become a pessimist?' No, the whole point of the exercise was to see how the cadet handled the rescue mission, how well they handled the stress, and what kind of decisions they made when there were lives on the line. You didn't want someone who couldn't handle the stress, who couldn't think rationally, who wouldn't carefully consider their options before pursuing a route that could result in lives lost, even if they are the lives of an opponent.
"And where do you come in?"
Bones rolled his neck with a resigned look on his face. "I have the distinct pleasure of manning one of the stations on the simulated bridge."
Harriet quirked a smile at him. "Tell me when you're planning on stopping by and I'll be sure to have something waiting for you."
"Thanks."
A customer came in so Harriet briefly stepped off to take and fill an order for a Tellarite java. She really didn't see the appeal but coffee was coffee and who was she to deny someone their fix? So she wiped down the workspace, then went back to her stool.
"In other news, you're officially looking at a Starfleet civilian doctor."
"When the hell did that happen?"
Hari was behind the bar when Spock walked into the shop and he took the time to take in her appearance as he walked toward the bar.
She was wearing what appeared to be a "sweater dress" under her tan shop apron, working the espresso machine for a customer's order. Her hair was bound in a partial "messy bun," likely held together by "an unholy number" of gold pins, and a wooden stick with a trail of loose hair falling in waves down her back. The earrings today were perhaps not as unique as her other pairs but still a visually pleasing pair of "gryffindor" red lions that matched the pins in her hair. It was not displeasing to the eye.
As he reached the bar, Harriet finished with the customer she was serving and turned toward him with a smile.
"Spock, you are well met!" Her smile was infectious and Spock could not help the small upturn of his lips in response.
"Good day Harriet. I do not believe I have heard that greeting before."
"Ah, it's rather old. Shakespheare old actually. Are you well?" She wiped down the milk steamer.
"I am. Are you not available?" He knew her schedule well but felt it appropriate to ask anyway.
"Ah, yes but I've only got another five minutes before my shift ends. Why don't you take a seat and I'll bring out the tea service when I'm off."
As that was agreeable, he dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement and headed toward their customary table as she moved to prepare the service, and, likely, a cup of coffee.
Five minutes and 23. 2 seconds later, she carried a tray with the tea service and her cup of … cappuccino, if he was not mistaken, over to the table. As he placed the scoop of powdered tea present on the service into the Yixing pot and poured the provided water, she returned the tray to the bar, took off her apron, and came back to the table.
"So, you had some free time today? Is there anything in particular you wished to speak about?"
"In light of the recent changes to your schedule, I believed it prudent to adapt my own schedule to better facilitate our meetings." Was that too "awkward" an opening?
Hari smiled again. "I have been rather busy lately, haven't I? Thank you for accommodating me." He poured the tea into a matching clay cup. "Did you have to do much rearranging?"
"There were minimal difficulties in making the necessary changes. " He took a sip of the tea and raised an eyebrow. "This is a new blend."
She acknowledged his statement with a small nod, clearly pleased that he had noticed. "It is. It's a new herbal blend that I've been working on for a while now. What do you think?"
"It is a soothing mix of sweet and spicy…"
As he continued with their discussion of the merits of the tea and its composition, he decided there was nothing awkward between them and his indulgence in such worries had been for naught.
Prompt: Tuvok has spoken
*: This is a line spoken by Tuvok in VOY: "Once Upon a Time"
AN 2: The next chapter should get us into ST2009 cannon. I'll be re-reading the book – yes, the book – to keep to the parts I intend to keep to and diverge from the parts I don't plan to keep to. This is established AU so you shouldn't expect all parts of the storyline to develop the same as it did in the movie, if at all. As always, if you see any grammar/spelling errors, let me know.
