A Crew and a Captain Like Me

Captain James T. Kirk was drinking coffee…for a change. It was the morning of his maiden voyage as official Captain of the Enterprise. He carefully removed the cup from the replicator and took a tentative sip.

"So, Bones," he began. "Do you think this crew is ready for a captain like me?"

Doctor McCoy sipped at his own steaming mug. "Ask me again in six months, Jim. If we have been blown up, shot up, strung up, or brought aboard a virulent agent that kills us all, then yeah, we're ready for you."

"The question was rhetorical," he replied, thoughtfully.

Call it Non-verbal Communication

No one ever accused Jim Kirk of being unobservant. Now that things had settled down, and that Spock and Uhura's relationship was out in the open, Jim still seemed to be in a cold war with his communications officer.

It wasn't that they hated each other. It was that Kirk was nosey and kept his hawk eye on her and his first officer while they were on the bridge. He wanted to catch them swapping meaningful looks; practicing their non verbal communication. How ever much fun it was, it was also voyeuristic, intrusive, and certain to further alienate them from him. He thought about letting it go.

I'm a Doctor, Not a Walking Punchline

"Dammit, Jim, lay off the jokes," McCoy growled, after Kirk had cracked another one about his lack of a love life. "I'm not in the mood."

"That's just my point, Bones," Kirk replied, reassured. "You're grumpy. All the time. You need some lovin'."

McCoy just stared. "Did you really just say that to me? 'Lovin'?"

Kirk opened his hands, seeing no problem with the term. "Look. Christine has a friend I want you to meet. She's not in medical, so there would be no conflict of interest."

"I don't need you to set me up, Jim," McCoy replied, wearily. "I'm just concentrating on my career."

Kirk laughed. "You need my help more than I thought, Bones. You sound like a woman."

Aggressive Negotiations

Kirk watched as the leaders of the two factions yelled and pointed fingers at each other. Each man was young and well built, strong looking and muscular. Though their diplomatic garb looked cumbersome, Kirk could tell that each man might fair well in a fight.

"The fact that you invited the Federation into our conflict shows that you and your people do not have confidence of victory," yelled the red bearded man, dressed in purple, green, and yellow.

"It is not a lack of confidence, Krystian," replied the clean shaven man dressed in orange, brown, and yellow. "It is a desire to keep our world from destruction. But we will not lay down for you."

Kirk stood, tired of the bickering. "Why don't you fight about it?"

"Excuse me," the diplomats said in unison.

"We have been fighting for years; even decades," Krystian said.

"No," Kirk declared. "Why don't the two of you fight it out?"

At the Day's End

"It was improbable and highly illogical," Spock said of Kirk's unorthodox solution to the stalemate on Cassh.

"But it worked," replied Nyota, sitting on the edge of her bed removing her stockings.

"That it did," Spock said, unzipping his dress tunic. "It is hard to believe that years of conflict could have been avoided by a fist fight."

"Given the culture's public gaming preoccupation, I think it harder to believe it wasn't discovered sooner," Nyota replied.

Spock sat on the bed next her. He was shirtless and bootless. She was still wearing her undergarments.

"But, I say we leave that behind us and open our own set of negotiations," she added, touching his face and leaning in for a kiss.

"Ever clever," Spock replied, pulling her close and opening his mouth to her advance.