The Unexpected Get-Together

Chapter Fourteen

Spock had only been out to this bar a small number of times.

It was located close to the Academy and the majority of the Starfleet-issued housing, so it was a popular choice among Starfleet members.

When he was a cadet he tried to participate in some social gatherings with his fellow classmates, but each experience went uncomfortably for both him and them. He did not fit easily into their social patterns and preferences. To save all parties from further discomfort, Spock began to decline all invites to 'hang out' and instead spent his free time studying or working on solo projects and personal pursuits. Growing up as a child on Vulcan, he never really had companions to spend his time with, so a solitary personal life was nothing new to him.

It was not until he had met Christopher Pike and, later on, Nyota Uhura that he started to be more social. The both of them were individuals with strong personalities that often ignored his protests and excuses and insisted he spend time with them outside of the pretense of work and duty. With them he had learned the value of friendship and its many uses. He had many positive experiences to reflect back on

Nyota was still with him now. They had spent the whole afternoon in the coffee shop, talking for hours until it closed. They had dinner at a vegetarian restaurant they had been to before. Not ready to end their night, going out to the bar was a logical choice for their next destination.

Both had anticipated it to be a quiet and slow night inside, but when he and Nyota walked through the door he was surprised to see that it was actually crowded with cadets.

"I didn't think anyone would be out." Nyota said to Spock.

"It seems we are not the only ones who desired a night out on the town." He responded, to which she smiled.

Nyota walked confidently into the crowd. Spock followed, sticking close to not be separated.

At the bar she ordered a Klabnian Fire Tea for herself and a lemonade for Spock, out of respect for his preference for it. After a pause she added a shot of Jack for herself.

"Make that two," Said a familiar voice.

Spock looked to the source and saw a grinning Kirk standing at the bar a few spots down. Nyota looked over at whoever dared to hit on her but when she saw him her expression turned from what Spock assumed was annoyance to surprise.

"Kirk!" Nyota exclaimed in recognition. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting a drink. Pleasure to see you again. Glad you recognize me without all the blood and bruises." He responded, giving her a wink. He looked at Spock and if grin seemed to widen. "Spock! It's good to see you so soon, but to be honest I didn't think I'd find you in a place like this."

"This is not my usual choice of venue, but tonight I made an exception." Explained Spock.

"Well I am glad you chose tonight out of all nights to slum it here."

"What do you mean?" Asked Nyota.

"You don't know? I'll explain if you two join me at my table. I think you'll recognize a few friendly faces." Kirk grabbed his freshly delivered shot off the bar and took it down in a quick swig, banging the shot glass back on the bar top with a satisfied 'ah'. He picked up his beer and gestured in the direction of the table for them to follow. Nyota received their drinks a moment later and headed after Kirk. Spock, with not much other choice, followed her.

In what seemed to be the heart of the crowd was a large circular table. As Kirk made his way through the crowd he shook a lot of hands and greeted a lot of people. Spock was not sure how this was possible, but Kirk seemed to know and be on friendly terms with all of them. Some recognized Spock and Nyota and greeted them as well.

When he sat down at the table, Kirk had to move a few data pads out of the way to make room for his beer. The whole table was covered in data pads, each one open to a different screen.

At his table sat various other key members from the crew of the Enterprise. Sitting across from Kirk was Hikaru Sulu, the last minute pilot, who was deeply reading into a pad with the young Russian cadet sitting next to him, Pavel Chekov. Sitting directly on one side was Doctor McCoy, who looked just as irritable as he had on the bridge and he argued something with Montgomery Scott, the Starfleet officer who had beamed onto the ship with Kirk, and happened to be sitting on Kirk's other side.

Nyota sat close to Sulu and Chekov so she could spy on their pad. Spock sat next to her, following Kirk's example and moving a pad out of the way so Nyota could place down their drinks. Everyone at the table acknowledged their arrival with a chorus of joyful hellos. Nyota greeted them back happily. Spock gave a curt nod.

"What is your name, by the way?" Kirk asked Nyota.

"Uhura." She gave her last name.

"That's a pretty name. Is it your first or last?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" Nyota said playfully. Nyota did not often give away her first name, as cadets usually referred to each other by last names, like their instructors did. The only person Spock knew beyond himself that called her by her first name had been her former roommate, Gaila.

"No, I suppose it doesn't. You can call me Jim. Just Jim."

"Stop flirting, Just Jim." Said McCoy. "It's painful to watch."

"I can't help it. I have a naturally charismatic personality. It's in my nature for people to be drawn to me and me to be drawn to them." Kirk responded dramatically. Nyota rolled her eyes.

"So tell me, why are there so many people here?" She asked.

"It's game night!" Jim proudly declared. "I created it by accident. It's a long story, let me start from the top:

"If you didn't already know I am going to apply for Starfleet. With my newfound super special saving-the-world credit I will most likely get into a fast track program for early graduation. First I need to get into the Academy. I have been spending most of my time since making this decision studying because, as I'm sure you know, I have to pass the entrance exam. I hear it is rather challenging and I am a bit out of practice. "

Kirk gestured to the doctor. "Bones here has been helping me study. A pint or two really helps with the learning process, so this bar became a natural choice." Now he gestured at Montgomery Scott. "Scotty here started joining in as well. This is where he goes when his coworkers chase him away from the repair project of Enterprise. His engineering and warp theory lectures are very in depth, and get very passionate and amusing after a drink or two."

"The repairs are going fantastically, by the way!" Scotty chimed in, lifting a pint of beer in the air for a miniature toast. "I am in charge of the whole project and I get to redesign all the faults as I go about fixing her."

"The Enterprise is state of the art. You shouldn't have had to change anything." Sulu said, looking up from the pad.

"Aye, state of the art by average Starfleet standards. Now it's on the way to being Montgomery Scott-approved! Thank you again, Jim, for busting me off of that rock."

Kirk flash Scotty a grin. "You're welcome. So Bones, Scotty, and I have been coming here for days. We have been some of the few regulars

"This morning I ran into Pavel. I told him I was joining Starfleet and studying for the entrance exam and he offered to help me prepare. He starts going off on a barrage of information right away. I invited him to the bar to join my study trio and he showed up with a stack of pads almost as tall as himself."

Pavel Chekov looked up from the pad now and, despite the low lighting of the bar, Spock could see he was flushed. "I was just trying to be helpful." He said with mock indignation.

"And you are! I'm grateful, trust me."

"You're welcome." Chekov nods, puffing out his chest and crossing his arms. "I got into the Academy at a very young age and I have developed the best study system in the galaxy. Multiple data pads let allow you to soak in information better. I even transferred my old study guides from home."

Jim continued his story, "When Pavel arrived he brought Hikaru with him. He and Pavel had run into each other in the library where Chekov was picking up all the pads he requisitioned. Glad to see another familiar face, I was eager to let Hikaru join us and have a chance to thank him for his fantastic piloting skills the other day."

Hikaru Sulu raised his glass and nodded in thanks.

"And today when Scotty arrived he is not alone, but managed to drag what I think is his entire repair team with him out for a drink. Quite few of his repairmen are cadets. They joined in to help me study, joining Pavel and Hikaru in quizzing me on the study material. The study session quickly devolves into more of a trivia game for everyone, and before I know it I am competing in a tournament of darts.'

"After a while I realize the place is half full of cadets and I thought 'why fill not fill it up?'. I asked the proprietor if I could hold a last minute game night here in the bar and I sent out an open invitation targeted at all Academy cadets. I'm surprised you didn't receive it."

"My communicator has been off all afternoon." Nyota explained. "I probably did get it, but I haven't checked my messages yet."

"So that's everything. We have darts, chess, cards, monopoly, kadis-kot, you name it. I just felt everyone needs a night of relaxation and fun. Stuff like this is always the best way to heal wounds." Kirk concluded.

Kirk's conclusion was logical. Thought he was absent for most of the period of time after the Narada, even he noticed that the senior class of cadets were suffering from the loss of their classmates and friends. He knew Nyota suffered and still felt shame for ignoring her in favor of dealing with his own problems, despite the fact that she forgave him.

Humans thrived in numbers and often relied on each other for comfort and support and the disaster had destroyed many of the support systems everyone had set up. Such a large social gathering could be very beneficial for the cadets.

"Fascinating." Spock commented. Kirk beamed, reveling in his approval.

Not only was Pike excited about Kirk, but everyone else seemed excited about the prospect of him joining as well.

As the night wore on Spock and Nyota stayed at the table with the others. Spock learned more about Kirk, satisfying a curiosity he harbored about the man.

Kirk told him and the others of how he had left the planet as a child to go live on a colony planet with his aunt and uncle. He decided to run away and explore the galaxy, too impatient to wait to grow up, or so he claimed. On his own Kirk worked his way around from outpost to outpost, colony planet to colony planet, until he eventually fell into the role of a trader and acquired a ship. He worked as a trader under a different name for years until, by chance, he happened to detect a lightning storm in space on his sensors. Familiar with the phenomenon, which had also taken place the day of his birth, he went to inspect it and got captured by the Narada and held as a prisoner. Here his story got more detailed as he explained how he had managed to figure out what the Narada was up to and tried his best to warn Starfleet and the Federation. This part of the story they knew, for the most part, as he had explained it when he first showed up on the Enterprise.

His story was very vague, which a quick exchange of glances with Nyota confirmed that she shared his suspicions on its validity. Jim was not telling the truth, but Spock was not going to press the issue. There was no need to know it now. Kirk was entitled to his own secrets for now and Spock would respect them.

Everyone took turn sharing their stories, bonding in the lively atmosphere over drink.

Sulu was a Californian Native and always wanted to be a pilot. Not only was he the top pilot of his class, he was a decent fencer and liked surfing, windsurfing, and other extreme sport. Kirk and he made plans to make plans to go out and take part in some of these sports.

Chekov shared how he was, indeed, a child prodigy from Russia. He had a family and a home that he expressed great love and pride for. He couldn't wait to finish at the Academy and get his first assignment.

Nyota shared how she was from Kenya and grew up speaking only Swahili. When she finally learned Standard she picked it up like a sponge and discovered she had a talent of tongue. She began to pick up new languages 'like crazy' and that, in combination with her impressive track running abilities, got her into the Academy.

Scotty shared the ill-fated story of how he had gotten into an argument with his professors over warp theory and, in an attempt to prove himself right about the limitless potential of transportation range of objects of various sizes, had ended up transporting Admiral Archer's prize beagle into oblivion. To this day no one knew where the animal had turned up and Admiral Archer, in his rage, had Scotty assigned to the Delta Vega outpost as punishment.

"There wasn't even a proper replicator. I had nothing but rations for months on end! Can you imagine that?" He exclaimed.

McCoy had been a civilian doctor to most of his life. He had been married once but it did not end amicably. A child had come from the union, Joanna, who McCoy missed. Claiming his wife had 'taken the whole planet in the divorce', however illogical, McCoy turned to Starfleet and joined Starfleet medical. He went to the academy to study to be an officer and shared that he had been officially appointed the Chef Medical officer of Enterprise, once it is fixed and ready for flight. Spock found it amazing how McCoy elected to go into space despite his apparent dislike of it, but then again humans were often full of contradictions.

Spock shared that he grew up on Vulcan, the child of a human mother and a Vulcan father. His father was an ambassador. He applied for both Starfleet and the Vulcan Science Academy, was accepted to both but chose Starfleet. He went through the Academy and became an officer where he worked himself up to the position of an officer under Captain Pike. When Pike was assigned to take a spin as an instructor for cadet ships at the Academy, he took Spock with him as his second in command. When not on a cadet cruise, Spock work as an instructor in the Linguistics and Computer Science departments and became one of the instructors who coded and conducted the Kobayashi Maru exam.

Spock was not very comfortable talking about himself. It was not something he usually did but the setting seemed appropriate and he felt strangely at ease. Perhaps since he was still working on repairing his emotional barriers in his mind and the emotional atmosphere of the room was affecting him.

The mention of the Kobayashi Maru got Sulu all worked up. He proceeded to share his story of how intensely he had studied and prepared for that test only to fail within the first five minutes.

"I thought I'd last at least fifteen minutes before exploding my ship. I know you may not be able to discuss this but I swear that test is programmed to be unwinnable." Sulu exclaimed.

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios." Kirk responded with a confident voice. "If anything, the way we all met is proof."

Kirk looked at Spock and bore a hesitant smile. The unsaid mention of the Narada incident hung in the air, bringing a sobering feel to the group that was a stark contrast from the revelry around them. Somewhere in the background a cadet yelled out 'Yahtzee'.

"That day was a horrible day that should never have happened… but because of it I'm here today. I have been much worse places with worse people… and you all seem like a good bunch."

"The worst possible outcome was averted." said Spock. "Vulcans suffered a great loss that day. I take comfort that Humans did not share our fate. I do not know what our lives would be like if this temporal incident had never occurred, but we must live in this reality where it has and learn to accept it."

Nyota put her hand on Spock's arm in a comforting gesture. Spock had unknowingly crossed his arms as soon as the subject came up.

"I always knew a life in Starfleet was a life of risk and potential loss. I just never thought I would experience it before I graduated." Nyota spoke softly. "I just thought I'd have more time. To prepare."

"No one can ever be ready for something like that." Sulu answered. "No matter how many years of Starfleet experience they have under their belt."

"Life is full of risk," reasoned Kirk. "There is no way to prepare for them all, no matter what you have done or where you have been, or how long you have been doing it. I never thought I would actually join Starfleet. It had been a childhood dream of mine, but I learned to let it go rather quickly. My father was the famous Starfleet hero who sacrificed himself to save his crew. It was a noble act, one I should have been proud of, but my mother never could forgive him for it. Any mention of Starfleet and she would shut down. I think she was afraid that if I joined Starfleet I would end up just like him." Kirk looked down and took a sip of his drink. "Who knows? Maybe I will… or maybe I won't. I don't know what will happen, but I am not going to just sit around and wait to find out. That is why I am joining Starfleet. I am sure you all can relate."

The group sat in a moment of silent reflection. Spock stifled the thought of the Narada and instead looked at Kirk and wondered about his past. He had never been more curious to know about anyone's life before.

Kirk broke the silence, raising his glass. "I propose a toast. To new friends, I am glad for the chance to get to know you. To new beginnings!"

"To new beginnings!" The group responded, cheering. Spock joined in, raising his glass

Scotty produced a deck of cards and they commenced playing card games. Spock mostly opted out but Nyota and Kirk conspired together to make him play a few rounds.

The night wore on and Spock fell into a comfortable silence, listening to the conversations of his tablemates. By the end of the night Spock discovered that he actually found the whole experience to be agreeable.

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."

William Shakespeare