Disclaimer: If I owned Star Trek, I'd be happier than Augustus Gloop in the middle of that dang chocolate factory.
A/N: After a brief hiatus (hah, brief? What am I kidding...) I came up with an idea to get the ball rolling on this story.
Be forewarned, plot twists are amok.
"Hi, I'm here for my physical."
Christine looked up from her large pile of paperwork to find a familiar woman from the bridge crew grinning down at her. "Er…hi, Lieutenant…Uhura, correct?"
"Yeah, that's me. You're the new doctor, aren't you? Christine, right?"
"Uh, yes, I am," answered Christine, setting down her pen and getting up from her desk. She motioned over to one of the medical tables and allowed the lieutenant to where the evaluation was to take place.
Christine grabbed her electronic clipboard and typed in the surname of the officer and began to ask the usual questions involved in a quarterly physical examination.
"Any problems that you would care to address?" she asked, putting her tricorder into the correct settings.
"No," she answered confidently, letting Christine scan the length of her body. The doctor stopped at the midsection suddenly.
"Nothing?" Christine squinted at her tricorder screen and readjusted the settings and scanned the lieutenant once more. Much to no avail, it read the same thing that it had moments earlier. "Er…No shortness of breath, no fatigue, no abnormal food cravings, nothing like that?" Now she was slamming the device repeatedly against the palm of her hand in agitation, hoping that it would change the prognosis.
"Actually, now that you mention it, I have been a bit nauseous lately…" her tone suddenly turned worried. "Um…why do you ask, doctor?"
"Just let me get a second opinion, Lieutenant," Christine turned to a speaker-like machine and pressed a large red button that was directly beneath it. "Doctor McCoy to sickbay, please, Doctor McCoy to sickbay." She tried to not allow her anxiety to bleed through.
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Leonard McCoy entered the sickbay, looking around for Christine. He approached the doctor and patient, turning to Christine first. "What, Chapel? You forgot how to work the dang thing?" He immediately snatched the tricorder from Christine's slightly trembling grip and read over the stats, which followed with McCoy surveying Uhura for nearly a full minute.
"Doctor Chapel, can I speak to you, in private?" He motioned towards the other side of the sickbay. She followed him and as soon as they were far enough away from the confused woman, he grabbed her forearm suddenly to get her to face him.
"Please tell me you reprogrammed that device, that this is some sorta practical joke…" She shook her head, obviously confirming his fears. He ran a sweaty hand through his hair. "Goddamnit, Christine, I'm a surgeon, not a obstetrician!"
"I know, I know," she whispered hurriedly, obviously distressed. "What are we going to do, McCoy?"
"The only damned thing we can do. Inform her of her condition and drop her off at the nearest Starbase." McCoy sighed when he saw the look on Christine's face. "Christine, that's what she gets for not taking her contraceptive injections…all unmarried women onboard have to take em, you know that."
"Yes, I know that," she spat back at him, remembering the painful injection she was given before boarding the shuttle that delivered her to the ship.
Christine looked across the sickbay at Uhura, who was now glaring at them distressfully. "Well, I suppose I better let her know," she mumbled under her breath and miserably crossed the room.
"I've got some news, Lieutenant."
The starship Enterprise departed from Starbase 65.
Christine recalled the events of the last few hours. After informing Nyota Uhura of her pregnancy, she gave her the ultimatum of either retiring from Starfleet (which was a horrifying prospect, according to the look on the linguistic officer's face) with commendation, or to be dropped off at the nearest Starbase and decide if she wanted to either go back to Earth, or stay there until she had the child. Afterwards, Christine was forced to call Captain James Kirk to the sickbay, to be informed of the decision (which was the latter of the two choices) as both a romantic partner and a captain. He was silent at first, but shared a glance with Uhura, after which he decided to escort Uhura back to Earth and stay with her until the birth of their child. To confirm this fact, Christine ran a brief paternity test. Though the couple was sure of the parentage, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Christine remembered Jim walking with Uhura onto the Starbase. She looked devastated, almost as if she wanted to cry, but couldn't. Christine sensed that the young woman had always put up a stiff barrier between her and her shipmates, to prove that she was worthy enough to be aboard a starship. It was unfortunate, because she seemed like such an accomplished officer. Of course, Christine would never hold the unplanned pregnancy against her -- her younger sister, Abigail, had already gone through the situation. Uhura was lucky, though; unlike Abby, Kirk seemed like an unbreakable shelter in the middle of a hurricane, someone who would be there for her.
She was now standing on the bridge among the seated crew, whose attention was now on the newly-appointed captain, the former science officer Spock. A linguistics student from the lower deck replaced Uhura, but seemed nervous and didn't seem to recognize even half of the Federation languages, let alone the distinction between the Betazoid dialects.
"Warp speed ahead, Mr. Sulu," Spock's solemn voice broke the tensioned silence.
"Aye, sir," answered the helmsmen.
The new captain then stood up and turned to the two medical officers. Christine realized had never been this close to the Vulcan and realized for the first time how tall he was, probably at least foot taller than her diminutive five foot and two inches.
The Vulcan turned his attention to the senior medical officer. "Doctor McCoy, I am appointing you my science officer and second-in-command."
McCoy seemed dumbfounded. "Me? My God, you must be out of your Vulcan mind, Spock. I can't tell the difference between a damned meteorite and an asteroid. Why not Chekov or Sulu? Or even Scotty?"
"At seventeen, Mr. Chekov is much to young to be given such an esteemed position, while Mr. Sulu has not been properly trained in the science field. Mr. Scot must remain in the engine room as often as possible, due to his extensive knowledge of--"
"Okay, okay, I got it. Butcha gotta realize the mistake you are making. You're gonna want someone who can make something outta those damned computers and numbers, and that someone ain't me."
"Well, it seems that I am in need of a science officer, Doctor McCoy, and since you are lacking the proper knowledge needed for such a position, it seems I must look elsewhere," Spock concluded, seeming completely unchanged by the decision.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," McCoy grumbled. "Wait, what about Chapel, here?" he turned to Christine, who suddenly began shaking her head rapidly in refusal, wanting nothing to do with the conflict between the two. McCoy's strong grip on her upper arm pulled her forward, between him and Spock.
"No, McCoy, you should take it. You've been on this ship longer than me, it's not in my place to take up a position that is rightfully yours--"
"Are you at all knowledgeable in physics or mathematics?" intervened Spock, staring down at her.
"Er, yeah, a bit, but--"
"Stop your jabberin', Chapel. You weren't Valedictorian for nothing. You were a astrophysics major for a year before transferring into med school, you're perfect for the job."
"Your experience in the science field is much more extensive than Doctor McCoy's, Doctor Chapel. I need a science officer until the Captain's return and you seem to fulfill the qualifications immensely." Christine knew Vulcans were not a race known to plead outwardly, but if there ever were in instance where one was, this had to be it. Spock's face was dispassionate, but she could tell that he was somewhat desperate for a break. She remembered McCoy mentioning his and Uhura's disastrous split-up a few weeks before. The sudden news of her with child must have had some sort of effect on his ego, if not Vulcan nature.
"Fine," Christine grumbled, defeated. "But don't expect me to be perfect."
A/N: Please don't think I did what I did to get rid of Uhura. I adore her, but I needed to find a way for Christine to be able to communicate with Spock on a regular basis, so...er, yeah...*hides from crowd with pitchforks and torches*