Chapter 6: Some revelations

"Something's wrong", Sulu whispered to Uhura when he got back to the bridge after his post-away-mission-check-up.

She turned with the chair at her station. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Doctor McCoy is suddenly completely different. He looks happy. It's weird and a little scary."

Uhura chuckled.

"Could it have something to do with our discovery?" he asked hopefully.

Uhura shook her head. "Can't be. I just told the Captain twenty minutes ago and I think she's on her way to Medbay now. I guess she's telling him and they'll decide what to do."

"What is going on, Lieutenants?" Commander Spock suddenly interrupted their conversation. He looked to them from the command chair.

"Nothing, Commander", Sulu replied fast.

"The duration of your conversation and the secretive whispering does not imply that it is nothing", Spock remarked.

Uhura couldn't help herself and smiled. "It has to do with Captain Kirk. But I think it's something she has to tell herself."

"Are you referring to your research about weddings on alien planets and the course of action if a marriage should become valid according to Federation law?" he asked completely calm.

Uhura wasn't even surprised that Spock knew. He must have seen it on her screen. "Yes."

The commander nodded. "So you became aware that the marriage Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy accidentally entered on Carah 3 has become legal with Carah joining the Federation?"

Now she just stared at him, Sulu too, and all chatter on the bridge suddenly went quiet.

"Wait a minute", Sulu said and gave him a disbelieving glance. "You knew about that and didn't say anything?"

"The captain didn't know until twenty minutes ago", Uhura added accusingly.

In the background excited whispering started.

Spock stayed as calm as usual. "She knows that the planet has joined the Federation."

"Doesn't mean she realized that the 13-13b never got to Starfleet Legal and therefore the marriage never got annulled", Sulu gave back. "They're legally married, but didn't know."

"Why didn't you tell them, Spock?" Uhura added. "They could have avoided that forced wedding on Elara today if they'd known. They could have told the Elarans that they are already married."

"I was under the impression that Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy had read the pre-mission evaluation and would do nothing that could result in a cultural misunderstanding. That situation was completely avoidable."

Uhura rolled her eyes. "Still no explanation why you didn't tell them."

"Yeah, Spock, why didn't you tell us?"

Everyone turned around. Jamie Kirk was entering the bridge right this moment from the side.

"Keptin on ze bridge", Chekov announced, but blushed slightly for being a little late with it.

Spock got up and Jamie sat down in the command chair. "So, I guess, everyone's already up to date?"

"Well..." Sulu started, went now to his station and relieved the Lieutenant sitting there. "News travel fast."

"That they do", Jamie agreed and turned her head towards Spock. "Still waiting for an answer, Commander."

"I do not think there would be an answer that would suffice."

"Maybe." She gave him a challenging look. "Try."

"I noticed a certain tension between you and Doctor McCoy since the forced wedding on Tek two months ago, Captain. In my opinion, said tension was affecting your work. For the form 13-13b was already too late by the time I realized that the marriage on Carah had became valid, I came to the conclusion that a divorce would be the only option. I decided to wait with that information until you and Doctor McCoy would be on better terms again."

Jamie opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again. "Spock..." She let out a short disbelieving laugh. "After all that time you know us and know how Bones and I are talking to each other you should know that everything was as usual. You could have, no, you should have told us."

Spock hesitated with a reply. "I am sorry if I was mistaken."

The captain sighed, then waved it off. "Forget it... Though I might hold that unnecessary ceremony today against you for a few days." She winked at him. "And for the record: Bones and I were lately fed up with the recurring pattern of getting accidentally or forcedly married on Non-Federation worlds. Seriously, nine times in sixteen months is a little much."

Silence took over.

"Keptin..." Chekov was the first to speak and pronounced what everyone was wondering about. "What will you do now? Are you and Doctor McCoy getting a divorce?"

Jamie stared at him in amazement. The young ensign looked like he feared that his parents were separating. For a moment she considered to tell the bridge crew about the recent developments, but she didn't.

Sulu watched her really closely now and thought about the bet with Scotty. 24 hours versus 48 hours. Would the marriage stand? And when would the crew learn if yes or no?

The captain leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs over each other. "We'll see..." she said cryptically and looked at the helmsman. "Hey Sulu, what happens to your white-alert-list now? Are Bones and I disqualified now the Carah wedding is valid?"

Some giggles broke the tension on the bridge. Sulu just stared at the captain and Spock raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on, guys", Jamie went on. "As if I didn't know about the list and who created it."

She grinned and decided that it would be really fun to keep them in suspense a little before telling them about everything.