Chapter 8

On some more days passing, Starfleet Command contacted the Enterprise of a new diplomatic mission being put under their care. They were informed that the chance for Federation membership was being extended to a fairly newly discovered planet, Uhin III. The dominant species on the planet, the U'Shonenet, was humanoid, and Kirk was thankful for this.

Especially with him struggling to keep his mind off Spock and his condition and on his work, he didn't need the extra worry of figuring out how to communicate with a strange alien on top of all of that. And he figured that this would be an easy enough mission, since all he had to do was extend the membership to them, and assure them that their compliance in the alliance would grant them protection from other hostile empires through Starfleet.

It seemed like a deal that the small, far out planet couldn't refuse, so Kirk planned to get this done as fast as possible. He also saw no foreseeable trouble with the U'Shonenet either, as the sparse information provided to him about them implied that they were a friendly people.

Though he would not understand their language, he would be taking a universal translation device with him to deal with this problem. He figured that two people on security detail with him on the landing party would suffice, and so he briefed two men on his security team on the mission before they were to beam down to the agreed upon place.

Gathering with the security men in the transporter room, nodding to them as they took their places on the transporter pad, and then he looked to Scotty, saying, "Alright, Scotty. Beam us down. There should be no worry, but if don't check in within five hours, beam down with reinforcement."

"Aye, sir." Scotty said with a nod, then started the transporter.

As he beamed down, he felt the familiar feeling of weightlessness that he wasn't sure he'd ever really get used to. It was exhilarating in a strange way, always making him feel as though he was flying through a kind of nothingness, only to be pulled back to reality when he rematerialized.

He found a small group of the U'Shonenet waiting for them as was agreed and he greeted the person that stood in front of the group, assuming that this one was the leader.

"I am Captain James Kirk and these are two members of my crew on the Enterprise." Kirk said, nodding toward the leader, who was smiling at him.

"G'mut teut t'nah, Kirk nuet." The leader replied with a nod.

Kirk blinked at the man, but then quickly realized that his universal translator wasn't on. Smiling sheepishly, he switched it on and asked him to repeat what he said.

"Captain Kirk. We receive you well." The translator rattled to him, and then he smiled politely to the leader in response.

Kirk then decided to turn the charm on because the whole idea of this mission was to get this planet to accept the Federation membership being extended to them, so he'd better do his best to play the part he was given.

With this in mind, he then gave the leader his most winning smile and said, "Well, shall we?"

The leader gave a deep nod and then led the three of them over to the council chambers to discuss the agreement. On arrival to the building, Kirk noticed a very striking woman sitting at the table they were to conduct the talks at, and he instinctively smirked at her. The day that James T. Kirk does not smile at a pretty lady would more than likely be the end of the world.

She gave him a tiny smile in return and her face grew slightly more red. Kirk was a little pleased to learn that he would be sitting next to her during the proceedings, wishing that this pretty face was enough to bring him out of the depression he'd felt the whole time Spock had been in sickbay.

"If I might inquire…who is this lovely lady?" he asked the leader, then turning partly toward the girl and smiling again.

"She is my daugher, J'hani'su. She will be the proprietor of our treaty with the Federation."

Kirk just smiled politely at that, but the whole thing confused him. Just what did the leader mean by that? Kirk decided that the translator was probably being a little wonky, so he ignored this strange translation it gave him, and took it to mean that she was going to help during the discussion they were about to carry out in some way.

Once the other council leaders joined them and were seated comfortably, the leader then told Kirk, "It is tradition that we imbibe food and drink during communication with guests in our home. We intend to do so with you, Captain Kirk."

Kirk nodded and said, "By all means."

The dinner and talks seemed to proceed without a hitch, the leader speaking of the benefits Federation membership would bring the planet and vice versa as well. Truth be told, Kirk wasn't really listening to most of what was being said, diplomatic proceedings never much having the ability to keep his attention for long.

He just agreed with the leader when it seemed appropriate, and tried to keep a neutral expression on his face the whole time, so it wouldn't be obvious that he wasn't really listening. Instead, thoughts of how Spock was doing on the ship and the pretty girl sitting next to him swirled in his head.

He found it curious that she didn't seem to be helping with proceedings of the discussion much at all, being very silent, and looking quite shy every time he met eyes with her. This was really strange since the leader mentioned her to be the "proprietor" of the treaty between them and all. Maybe the leader had just said this to be nice, but something didn't sit right about any of this, he could feel it.

Once dinner was over, Kirk assumed his job was done, but before he could get up to leave, and consider this talk a success in diplomacy between the Federation and Uhin III all thanks to him, suddenly everyone was looking at him. He didn't often feel uncomfortable when all the attention in a room was focused on him, but that was when he knew why everyone was staring at him.

Now he felt like shifting uncomfortably under everyone's gazes, wondering just what he did wrong. He knew he'd have less to worry about if Spock was here, knowing the half Vulcan was always able to keep them out of pinches that they were bound to get into as a result of culture clashes, but now he was alone, since his security guards were of little help in this situation.

The leader finally spoke, "Now it is the time to understand if you will bind the Federation with Uhin III as according to our most sacred traditions. If you cannot, it is time for you to voice your concern."

Now Kirk was at a complete loss. Didn't they already do this with the dinner and the talk? He wasn't sure what they meant by 'sacred traditions,' but he figured that it must be some sort of ritual they like to do, since he had known other cultures to be attached to their traditions of old, even if they had progressed considerably since those times.

This matter was so close to being done and finished, so Kirk especially didn't want the mission to go down the tubes at this point. So what if he had to participate in some strange custom of theirs? It probably would be fine. He just hoped that they wouldn't make him put on some strange outfit or wear a stupid hat. All diplomatic missions Starfleet sent them on were recorded, and he sure didn't want the higher ups to see him like that. And, he especially wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, so that he could get back to the ship and then go to check on how Spock was doing.

Realizing he was silent for a long moment as all this went through his head, he decided not to worry and just to go with it, finally giving the leader a smile and saying, "Yeah, I'm ready to join our sides. So…what do I have to do?"

The leader seemed really happy at Kirk's consent to follow their traditions, and when Kirk glanced over to his daughter, he was surprised to see her looking at the floor and her face was completely flushed.

Kirk's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, wondering why she seemed this apprehensive, especially when the talks between their planet and the Federation went so well, but he didn't have much time to process this as the leader gave Kirk a ceremonial looking bow and said, "Please follow after me."

He noticed that the other planet officials stayed behind in the council chamber and it was only he, the leader, and the leader's daughter that were apparently going to be a part of this, and this made a red flag go up in his head. Why wouldn't the important planet officials be coming for such an important ceremony?

He was about to ask them this, but they had arrived to a small room. More red flags were going up as he realized that he seemed to be led to a more private room in the building. None of this was right, he realized, as the small room they walked into was quite obviously a bedroom. There was little else in the room except for a small dresser with what appeared to be some aromatic oils on top of it and the large bed in the center.

His eyebrows went up in absolute shock as he looked around the room, and he attempted to sputter how he thought there was a mistake in what he communicated, but they appeared not to be listening.

The leader gave him a deep ceremonial looking bow and said, "We welcome you to our planet and into our home, Captain James Kirk of the Federation. May you find joy in this joining."

Kirk was completely speechless as the man said this to him, and with that the leader whisked out of the room, leaving him alone with his daughter. Now, on examining her, she looked extremely anxious and nervous, and she was blushing so incredibly red. Kirk also began to blush as it finally came to him what they were expecting him to do here. There was no way could he do this!

"Captain Kirk." she finally said, giving him a very shy look and smile, "I will prepare for the coupling in the next room, and then I will rejoin you. Please wait here."

"Wai- " Kirk tried to stop her before she left, but she was gone before he could say anything.

He made a noise of frustration, and ran a hand through his hair. He needed to figure out what he agreed to exactly and then how to get out of it. He also kicked himself at this point, knowing that none of this would have happened if Spock was here. Spock…that was another reason he couldn't do this.

Maybe a few months ago, he would have had less qualms about doing this but now…he couldn't even dream of it, no matter how pretty this girl was. He quickly flipped open his communicator to ask for help, since he knew he couldn't do this alone.

"Kirk to bridge."

"Bridge here. Uhura speaking."

Oh, great. She was definitely going to have a field day with this one, but since she was the ship expert on languages, she would definitely be the person to ask about this.

"Uhura, I need you to go over the recording the universal translator had taken of my conversation with them for the last five or ten minutes. I need to know your personal interpretation of what they said, since I'm not certain the translator was literal enough in the translation it gave me."

Her voice turned dry as she answered, "Are you in trouble, sir?"

"We'll see how bad the trouble is when you go through the translation. Kirk out."

He quickly hung up the communicator and just paced around the room. He hoped the girl would take a while 'preparing' since he definitely was up shit creek without a paddle at this point.

After a few minutes, his comm beeped again, and he hurriedly answered it, "Kirk here. What did you find out?"

It sounded as though Uhura was really trying not to laugh, and he might have heard a few chuckles in the background as she answered, "Well, sir…it appears you agreed to a more…physical joining than you'd thought."

Kirk sounded irritated as he replied, "Obviously, as I'm standing in a bedroom right now, I've already figured that out. Was there anything else I should know?"

Now Kirk was certain that he heard Sulu and Chekov laughing in the background now and even Uhura's voice quivered as she continued, "And, well…it seems you're expected to impregnate her with a child to represent the union between Uhin III and the Federation."

Kirk's mouth dropped open, "WHAT? You can't be serious!"

"That's the best translation I can offer with the information you've given me, sir."

Kirk ran another hand through his hair. He managed to fuck up again, in more ways than one. It seemed as though he was getting better at that. This was one time he actually was completely happy with following Federation rules on diplomatic proceedings, since that didn't require him to screw a girl he'd just met, especially since he was trying to change for Spock.

Finally he spoke with clear irritation, "Well, don't just stand there, I need you to beam down immediately to help me get out of this mess!"

"You want me to beam down? What can I do to - " she spoke in surprise, since it wasn't customary for her to beam down most missions.

"I don't know, but you're going to help me since you properly translated whatever they said to me. I'm not sure I'm going to make much headway by myself." Kirk grudgingly admitted, "Just use my communicator for your beam down coordinates. Kirk out."

Within another couple minutes, Kirk saw Uhura shimmering into view next to him, and then when she'd completely materialized, he said extremely dryly, "You realize that anything you say and do right now will never leave this room."

She couldn't help but smirk in amusement on her reply, "Captain, it's a little late for that, since everyone on the bridge already heard you."

Kirk made another noise in frustration, and decided to worry about damage control at another time. Right now, he had to make it clear to the girl and her father that there would be no baby making happening on his part today.

"Okay, we'll wait for her to come back and then we both need to talk to her. We'll probably have to bring her father into this conversation eventually since he's the council leader too." Kirk said, still pacing a little since he was extremely stressed and nervous.

At this time, the leader's daughter reentered the room, and shock was painted all over her face as her eyes settled on Uhura. Kirk noticed that she had on a dark velvet robe that she had let hang open slightly as she entered the room, offering him a tantalizing view of a very sexy outfit. Geez, these people seemed to know what they were doing.

He shook his head to get his thoughts back in order as she held the robe closed tightly and she said in confusion, "Who is this person? It is not customary for any one else to be present during the union."

"Ahh, well…I think we need to talk." Kirk said awkwardly, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder, but taking it back before he could, deciding that he didn't want to give her any more mixed signals than he already had, not wanting things to get even worse, and for this to turn into a diplomatic incident.

He looked over to Uhura for assistance, and she shook her head, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she added, "Our Captain here misunderstood what would be required of him in…your union."

J'hani'su looked between Uhura and himself for a moment, seeming to get more confused, and she said in worry, "But James Kirk agreed to follow our sacred tradition. Once the time has passed to voice a concern, the contract is binding."

Kirk kicked himself again. Yes, he surely was better at fucking up than he'd ever imagined.

"I didn't know that I was agreeing to this."

A slightly hurt expression crossed her face as he said this, and he realized that he'd messed up once again by inadvertently hurting her feelings.

"You seem like a really nice girl, and I'd really like to do this. I just…can't." he quickly added so he wouldn't feel that he just found her much too undesirable to let things move along, since it really was quite the opposite.

The girl looked between the both of them again and seemed to come to some sort of conclusion as she said, "Is this because this woman is your mate and it is she that is voicing an objection to the union?"

Uhura's eyebrows went up in shock and in the moment she was unable to say anything, Kirk jumped on this opportunity to get out of this situation quick, "Yeah, she's my mate, and she doesn't agree to this at all."

Then Kirk decided to have a little fun with this, since it wasn't often that he got to have a little fun at Uhura's expense, so he added with a tiny smirk, "She's just feeling jealous since we mate frequently and I don't usually mate with anyone else."

Uhura raised an eyebrow at Kirk and sent a thinly veiled glare in his direction and said, "I couldn't very well let my mate make an uninformed decision."

Though, she said 'mate' like she was referring to a particularly nasty bit of slime.

"Do not be concerned, mate of James Kirk. He will not be required to stay once the union is complete. His responsibility to us will end at that time, but he would be remembered always as the proprietor of this important joining of our people." she said with a nod, most likely believing that she had come to the heart of the problem.

Uhura obviously bristled at being called 'mate of James Kirk,' but she made no comment about that as she replied smartly, "Other than his responsibilities to me, he would still be unable to fulfill his end of this treaty."

"What else would prevent him?" J'hani'su asked, getting concerned again when she saw that the problem was not solved yet.

Then a smirk came to Uhura's face as she said, "Oh, he's impotent. Definitely can't get anyone pregnant, so he'd be a bad person to make this treaty with, given your requirements."

Now it was Kirk's turn to glare at her, but he supposed that he had it coming. Oh well, things were fun while they lasted.

Giving Uhura a sarcastic look, he then turned to the girl and said, "I certainly don't want to let your people down with my own…short coming."

J'hani'su seemed at a complete loss now, not sure how to approach this problem, "I have never heard of an instance where one party is unable to hold up their promise to join. I require council with my father to come up with a solution for this matter. Please wait here."

When J'hani'su left the room, Uhura turned and fixed him with an intense glare, speaking in an extremely aghast tone, "I'm yourmate?"

A smirk came to Kirk's face and he said, "Hey, as long as I'm impotent, you get to be my mate. Unless, you know…you'd like for me to prove you wrong on that account."

She rolled her eyes as if to say 'this is not the time,' and spoke in irritation, "You'll never change. Not even after what you've done to Spock."

On speaking the words, she looked a little hesitant, realizing that perhaps she'd let a little more slip than she should have, especially since they were on a mission together, and not speaking privately on the ship. Kirk was hurt when she said that, but he decided he probably deserved it, since she didn't say anything but the truth.

With all of the teasing gone from his face and voice, Kirk let out a sigh and said, "No, you're right. I have been an asshole to Spock."

Uhura looked at him in silent surprise, but waited for him to continue speaking, unable to believe that Kirk was actually owning up to something he did for once.

"I've slept with a lot of people, and done little else than that as far as relationships go, I know that." Kirk continued bitterly, wishing that he'd changed before Spock came along, so that he wouldn't have put the other through the pain he had, "And then…when Spock sprung his feelings on me, I didn't know what to do. I admit that the idea of a commitment freaked me out."

Letting out another sigh, he said shamefully, "When the two of you broke up and Spock and I started something, I thought it would just stay friends with benefits. I thought that'd be the best way to maintain our command and to stay out of the sticky relationship stuff. But then, it all happened. And why wouldn't it? We had more closeness than I ever had with any one else I slept with, and I just kept denying it because I was afraid. And then…and then I caused him all this pain because I was an idiot."

He wouldn't even look at her, just glaring at the floor, so ashamed of himself for being so immature. She then softly cleared her throat to get his attention and she said in hesitation, "Captain…Jim. I've seen that over the time that Spock was in sickbay, you've not been yourself, and I can see now that you regret much more than just the situation turning out like this. I'm sorry I thought you to be so careless."

"But you're right. I was careless. I was purposefully oblivious. And now…it's probably too late for me to change things. Spock's not going to want me back. Who would want someone back that caused them enough stress to literally put them in the hospital?" Kirk wanted to kick something, preferably himself, but he held himself back, trying to keep himself together since they were currently on a mission.

"Hey…" Uhura's voice turned just a little apologetic, and she said, "Spock's a fighter. I know he'll be alright. And really…I'm sorry for thinking so little of you."

"I deserved it. But, when he wakes up, I'm not going to be like that anymore. I have to be better than that." Kirk said, sounding determined.

"I think you'll be able to do it." Uhura said, patting him lightly on the shoulder in a demonstration of confidence.

Kirk smiled a little sadly at her for a moment, glad that he finally succeeded in really clearing the air between them, and then he looked down at the floor again. Suddenly the leader, his two security guys, and the daughter returned to the room, and the leader was looking rather confused.

"James Kirk, I was under the impression that you fully understood our tradition and were able to uphold the joining from the end of the Federation."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't fully understand. But I don't want our negotiations to fall apart just because of this. I'd like to find another way for the Federation to uphold our side of the union." Kirk said sheepishly, trying to show that he was still going to try his best smooth this whole thing over, even after all this happened.

The security team came over and regarded Uhura in confusion, wondering what she was doing there, and while the leader and the daughter spoke in the corner of the room, trying to decide amongst themselves what they should do to solve this situation on their side.

Kirk tried explaining quickly to the security team what had happened, when the leader and the daughter approached them again.

The leader spoke somberly, "We will allow you to provide us with a replacement in your place who can fully perform in the capacity that we require, since we do not want to abandon this union either."

Kirk had to think fast. As he looked to his crew members with them for some assistance on making this decision, one of his security men stepped forward and said, "Sir, I can do this for us. I'm single and I really want this mission to succeed too."

Kirk raised an eyebrow at the man and said, "Are you sure about this, Lieutenant? You are aware that all of this would be far above the call of duty."

The Lieutenant stood up proud and said, "Yes, sir. I want to do this."

Kirk gave his team a small smile in relief, and then he spoke in humor to his Lieutenant, "You certainly could be worse off. Alright, let's tell them."

Kirk broke their little circle and then he approached the leader and the daughter and said, "Lieutenant Masterson has volunteered to take my place in the union. I hope he'll do?"

Both of them looked the Lieutenant over and the daughter nodded to her father.

"The Lieutenant seems capable of fulfilling our tradition." she added, giving Masterson a smile.

The Lieutenant blushed at her and the leader, and Kirk decided that he should just leave and let them to it.

"Alright, everyone. Let's beam up. Masterson, we'll be checking in on you in a couple of hours. If we don't hear from you, we'll be coming back down, got it?" Kirk said as the rest of them prepared to be beamed out.

"Yes, sir." he said with a shy smile.

Kirk smiled at him one more time and then he flipped open his communicator and said, "Scotty, beam us up."

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