The P'Jem was escorting a Romulan ship back to Romulan territory. It was a Romulan scout that was suspected of having spied on the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Moreover, they had the Vulcan flu on board, which had killed about a third of the crew and incapacitated most of the remaining crew members. Commander Tamulok had not been the most grateful when the Federation had helped them fight the disease, but he had accepted to be escorted back, nonetheless.
Kirk had suspected them to try to self-destruct or at least die fighting. Maybe he had overestimated Romulan pride. However, when he heard about the P'Jem's distress call he just knew she had to have been attacked by the Romulans.
"The distress call is automated, Captain. We don't know any details," Uhura reported when Kirk entered the bridge.
"When can we get to them?" Kirk asked.
"They're in the neutral zone. We can arrive there in an estimated 5 hours and 58 minutes at maximum speed."
"Do it. Any other signals from that area, Spock? Any Romulans?"
"No, Captain. The only other ship our sensors detect is the Romulan scout, that the P'Jem was escorting. Both ships seem to be intact, they're in orbit of a planet."
"What planet?"
"Unknown, Captain. The planets in that area of the neutral zone have not been mapped, yet."
"So, there hasn't been a fight?" Kirk asked, surprised.
"It does not seem so. However, sensor readings at this distance are not fully reliable."
Kirk nodded. Curious. The P'Jem was a Starfleet vessel with a mostly Vulcan crew. Her captain, Saluk, was a cold and arrogant son of a bitch, he'd thought. Of course, Bones had said that he was only being a typical Vulcan, but Bones hadn't known all the facts.
Kirk had had to make a few calls to Starfleet Command to make Saluk back off and refrain from sending that iceberg T'Plok, one of the Vulcan medical officers, over to evaluate the mental state of Enterprise's chief medical officer.
Bones didn't need yet another person to mess with his mind. He was alright, Spock had said so. And although Kirk considered Spock a very good friend of Bones', even if it wasn't that obvious most of the time, he knew that Bones hadn't particularly enjoyed his mind meld with Spock. However, it had helped their doctor recover from the mind rape, and there was no need for further "evaluation".
Of course, it could be dangerous for all of them if Bones wasn't 100% his normal self and had a nervous breakdown or something like that at a critical moment. Sometimes the lives of an entire starship crew depended solely on its medical staff. Spock knew that, and Bones sure as hell knew that as well. They'd both claimed he was fit for duty, which was enough for Kirk. He trusted them both with his life, and what was more, with the lives of his crew, also.
When Starfleet had finally ordered the P'Jem to escort the Romulans back to their territory, he'd been relieved, they had got rid of the Romulans and the Vulcans that way. However, now it seemed as if they were about to meet again. You always meet twice.
"Lieutenant Uhura, have you tried hailing the Romulans?" Kirk asked.
"They're not answering our hails, sir."
"Are they sending a distress call?"
"No, they're silent."
Kirk pursed his lips. Well, we've still got a few hours, we'd better use them.
"Kirk to sickbay."
"M'Benga here, sir."
"Doctor, we're answering a distress call from the P'Jem. We don't know the nature of the emergency yet, but prepare for casualties, mostly Vulcans ... possibly also some Romulans! We'll be arriving at the given coordinates in about 6 hours."
"Understood, sir."
"Kirk out."
They would start preparations and Bones was probably already on his way to sickbay again. Whatever awaited them, they needed to be fully alert.
"Gentlemen," Kirk took a look around the bridge and his eyes settled on his communications officer, "and lady, ..." She smiled back. Being the only "girl" on the bridge, at least most of the time, had its advantages. Everyone tried to be charming, including, maybe even especially, her captain. "Keep your eyes and ears open, I don't want to run into the Romulan fleet, an ion storm, or whatever else it was that attacked the P'Jem."
"Maybe they weren't attacked. Maybe it is a technical problem, or a medical emergency?" Chekov speculated.
"No." Kirk answered and left his seat.
"Why are you so sure, Captain?" Spock asked him.
"A gut feeling," Kirk answered. "Lieutenant, call me in five hours. I will take a short rest."
"Yes, sir," Uhura replied. But she was sure she wouldn't have to. The captain would be on the bridge again in three hours, if not earlier. Although he'd had a full shift behind him, he probably wouldn't be able to find a lot of sleep, until this mission was over.
o0o
Kirk felt uneasy when he approached sickbay. At times like these, he was only in their way most of the time. The medical staff would be in "emergency mode" functioning with efficiency and communicating with words and phrases that were a complete different language to him. Usually, he would just let them do their work. But once again, he was concerned. Bones would do great as always, of that he was sure, he just hoped it wouldn't prove to be too much for him when the crisis was over.
He caught him in the corridor.
"Shouldn't you be on the bridge?" McCoy asked, as they hurried to sickbay together.
"We still have a few hours. I thought I'd get some rest."
McCoy stopped and turned to look at him. "Look, Jim, I really appreciate your concern. But: I ... am ... alright. Really. Now, I know you're lying when you say that you want to go to sleep when there is an emergency coming up. What surprises me, is that you don't know that I know."
Kirk studied the floor. He really had intended to go back to the bridge after a little talk with Bones. You're more of a mind reader than you care to know, Bones.
"Sorry. I ... you just scared the hell out of me on Meriah Five, Bones. I only want to be a good friend, that's all. I know I haven't been the best friend lately."
"What are you talking about? If it hadn't been for you, I'd probably be on that Vulcan ship going to some Starfleet mental asylum."
"It was Spock who helped you, not me."
"I was talking about that Vulcan doctor and the mental evaluation thing. If she'd melded with me, I swear I would have fought her and gone nuts again."
Kirk blinked. How did he find out about that? "You weren't nuts. You were confused, because someone had raped your mind. And I didn't help you, but yelled at you to leave the bridge."
"So? You were right, it would have been better for me if I'd left."
"And I lied to you, when you woke up in sickbay."
"Only because you didn't want to hurt me. M'Benga even advised you to keep your mouth shut."
"And I even thought about making you feel guilty, so that you'd consent to the mind meld with Spock."
"And? I often think about giving Spock a hypo that knocks him unconscious in mid-sentence. But I haven't done that - so far." His mind wandered off to the botanical gardens on Meriah Five where Spock had found him and had actually pulled him up against his chest, promising him that he was safe. He exhaled.
"Jim, I'll tell you what I remember about this whole, Meriah ordeal: You, desperately trying to convince me that it was not my fault that the Meriahn stole sensitive Starfleet information from my brain. You being there when I woke up in sickbay. You carrying me from the bridge to Spock's quarters. You wiping the tears from my face and promising me to go with me on holiday wherever I wanted. Your heartbeat in my ear, keeping me calm and focussed while Spock performed the mind meld. And you coming to my quarters with a tray of dinner and keeping me company until I fell asleep again."
Kirk opened his mouth to say something. But decided against it. Instead, he closed it again, smiled and nodded. Bones didn't like talking about that "Meriah ordeal" or any other ordeal which hadn't gone well for him, he just wanted to forget. What he'd said was the most he'd ever talked about it and probably ever would, and only for his sake. He'd come here to be a good friend, and now Bones had only convinced him that he was a good friend, forgiving, and knowing him better than he knew himself.
"What did Spock do this morning?" Kirk decided to change the subject. He was curious to know what Spock had done. He knew that Spock was concerned for Bones as well. But Spock just observed and let him alone. Patience, it was a Vulcan virtue, or maybe just Spock's.
"He asked me if I had any disturbing dreams."
Kirk just shrugged his shoulders. For Spock it was an unusual question to ask, but not completely out of the ordinary, it just showed that Spock cared for Bones' well-being.
"Yes, not too unusual, I know. But when I said I hadn't any dreams at all, he started to tell me about his dreams."
Kirk frowned. "I thought, Vulcans didn't dream."
"I don't know, Jim. I'm suspicious that he just invented something to get me to talk to him. It was most strange. I try to avoid him. It's weird to be around him when he's all caring and nice."
"Don't be too hard on him."
"Well, I'm sure he will start arguing with me again, soon."
"You mean, he always starts?"
"Of course. I'm all for peace and harmony, Jim. You know me."
"Yes, that's why I'm so surprised. Oh, and I'm really looking forward to floating around and relaxing when this is all over."
"That sweet spot in cargobay 1? Yeah, me too. Trust me Jim, it's better than sex."
"Well, it makes doing this with you all the more weird. Maybe we should invite Spock too?"
"Now, that would be fun. And Jim, I said it's better than sex, not like sex."
"I hope so." Kirk smiled. He gave Bones a pat on the shoulder when he turned to go to sickbay.
For a while he stood there in the corridor, thinking. Spock did not dream, at least he didn't think so. But what was more, Spock did not invent stuff to make people talk. It was like lying, wasn't it?
