Autor's note: Sorry it's been a few days since I added this chapter, been having internet problems which are hopefully are all sorted now. Enjoy reading.
Kirk, McCoy, and Spock were around the table in the briefing room. They had all met up there after they had finished their work to prepare for the Enterprise to leave Space Dock. "How was Lexie during her examination Bones? Did she behave?" Kirk asked with a little chuckle but was surprised to see the Doctor smiling. "She was brilliant Jim; Lexie is not only extremely healthy but she is a good patient too." McCoy replied still smiling, "Did you note anything unusual?" McCoy stared at him. "If you're referring to anything more unusual than her eyes then yes, Lexie has quite the scar on her stomach around three inches long." Spock rose an eyebrow, while Kirk just stared at the Doctor. "Is it recent?" He asked, "No, it looks to be about three years old." McCoy replied. "Did you ask her how she came to have this scar?" Spock asked calmly as if he had just asked a normal question.
McCoy span his chair round to face him with a look of disgust in his eyes. "Are you out of your Vulcan mind! Of course I didn't! The girls only just arrived on the ship so she doesn't need it's Chief Medical Officer asking those types of questions." Spock lowered his eyebrow slowly, "My apologies Doctor." "And so you should, green blooded hobgoblin." McCoy muttered under his breath. Kirk had buried his face in one of his hands, the Enterprise hadn't even left Space Dock and Spock was already testing McCoy's patience. This was going to be a long five years if this was anything to go off. The door then opened and Scotty wandered in, much to Kirk's relief that he wasn't going to have to listen to the others arguing alone. "Nice of you to finally join us Mr Scott." He announced with a small smile, Scotty sat close to Kirk. "Sorry Captain, I was a little tied up." Kirk knew that Scotty was working extremely hard trying to get the ship ready. The Enterprise had a full re-fit in preparation for her new mission so Scotty was having to get familiar with some new systems but Kirk knew that the Scotsman would be fine. "Did you go and introduce yourself to our new crew member?" Kirk asked him, Scotty nodded. "Aye Captain. She seems like a fine lass who will be a great help down in Engineering, I've given her today to be able to settle in and unpack. I hope you don't mind that Sir." Kirk smiled, "You're her Commanding Officer Scotty so that choice is yours." Scotty nodded once again. "Has anyone had the time to read through her file?" Asked the Captain as he picked up a PADD that sat in front of him, "Aye Captain I have, and it's remarkable." Scotty added.
Kirk pulled up Lexie's Academy file on his PADD, "She graduated in three years, studied every single thing that the Academy had to offer. She came out with the highest overall scores in Engineering, in which she was able to fix a broken warp core in only fifteen minutes with only a paper clip, a boot lace and a piece of sticky tack." McCoy glanced over to Scotty, "Are you distant relatives?" Scotty chuckled. "Not to my knowledge Doc, but she has Scottish blood and we all know that us Scots make the best Engineers." Kirk grinned before continuing. "Lexie was the youngest person to ever complete the extreme fitness course and she completed it in under thirty minutes." He scrolled down on the screen, "And she is the only student to become a Lieutenant after only being out of the Academy for two months after an event during a training mission in which she was recognised by Star Fleet. Now that's an impressive file, wouldn't you men agree?"
Spock and McCoy both nodded simultaneously, at least they could agree on something. "However, there is something I noticed about Lexie's file Sir." Stated Scotty as he pulled his PADD across the table so it was closer to him, "And what would that be Mr Scott?" Spock asked. Scotty pressed a few things on the PADD's screen until it came up with Lexie's Star Fleet file. "There's nothing on her before she joined the Academy and I mean nothing. Everyone has at least a little section about their past but the lass just simply doesn't have one. It's almost like she didn't exist before the Academy. The only information that is there is her date of birth." Kirk had also noticed that, it was an odd thing for a file not to contain this kind of information but he was sure there was a reason for it. "I'm sure it's no big deal Scotty." The Engineer didn't look so sure, but he understood what the Captain was saying. "You're probably right Sir but…" "Maybe Lexie will open up about her past in her own time." Kirk told him; Scotty nodded in reply as he shut off his PADD.
There had been a question playing on Spock's mind ever since he had learnt of Lieutenant Smiths arrival, "Captain, may I ask you a question?" Kirk turned to face the Vulcan. "Always Spock." "I was under the assumption that before Ms Smith beamed aboard that we had taken on the selected crew for our voyage. So why was Ms Smith beamed onboard so late?" Kirk looked around; he had an answer for that however he didn't know the reason behind it. "She was just a late addition to the crew list on the request of many of her instructors at the Academy, as far as I know she was never set to come aboard the Enterprise." That seemed to be a good enough answer for the Vulcan, who simply nodded at his Captain. Just then the rooms intercom went off, "Bridge to Captain Kirk." The Captain pressed a button on the table. "Kirk here." "Captain, Space Dock has given us the green light." "Thank you Uhura."
Kirk turned to face his friends who were all looking at him, "Gentlemen, it seems our mission is about to officially start." He said as he got to his feet, closely followed by the rest of them, "I'll head back down to Engineering, just to make sure everything goes alright." McCoy chuckled loudly, "Scared someone will scratch your pride and joy Scotty if you're not there?" Scotty smiled back, "You're dam right McCoy, It took weeks for Star Fleet to upgrade everything on this ship so I don't want anything to happen to it." Everyone laughed at the Engineers statement, all but Spock of course since he was a Vulcan. "Alright Scotty you can head off to watch your baby." Scotty didn't need to be told twice as he darted off.
McCoy, Kirk, and Spock made their way towards the bridge. When the doors opened to allow them entry onto the bridge a familiar voice called out "Captain on the bridge!" Kirk and McCoy shared a smile while Spock simply went to his station. Kirk made his way towards his command chair which sat in the centre of the bridge which had an unobstructed view of the screen, he sat down in the chair still with a smile on his face. "Captain, Space Dock has given us permission to disembark and have wished us well on our voyage." Uhura said in her normal way, serious but soft. "Thank you Lieutenant. Mr Sulu, take us out and try not to scratch her otherwise Scotty may go insane." The helmsmen smiled as he turned back to his console, "Yes Sir and don't worry, Mr Scott has already warned me about that." Sulu manoeuvred the ship out of the Space Dock with ease, Kirk pressed a button on the arm of his chair. "Scotty, is warp available?" There was a short pause before there was an answer, "Warp is available Captain, just give the wor… Get Down!" The Scotsman yelled; Kirk held back his laughter. He assumed that Keenser was somewhere high up, this happened often so he had come to expect it if he called down to Engineering. "Mr Chekov set a course, Mr Sulu warp factor two. Let's get this voyage started." Sulu and Chekov just nodded, first at their Captain then at each other before following their orders. Kirk then turned to face McCoy who was stood beside his chair, "Well Bones, we're out the gate now." McCoy looked at Kirk dead in the eyes, "Yes Jim we are." The two of them then gazed out of the view screen as the stars rushed by.