Chapter 12- Beach Bums and Bedfellows
We arrived at the starbase at 0917 mostly due to Scotty's all out engineering skills that sapped every filament of the warp core engine and almost burned it to a crisp by the melting wire smell of the engineer's uniforms. That, of course, would take more time to repair. I carried Spock's bag as well as mine and together we slowly made our way to the shuttle bay to await our turn to the surface. Chekov was already in civilian beach clothing and shivering because the dock was cold, but it didn't wipe the smile off his face. Sulu was also out of uniform, but at least he had the sense to wear a long sleeved shirt and pants.
I had lost almost four days on my studies thanks to the Klingons and I leaned against a wall scrolling through a file on testing procedures while I waited for my number to be called to board. "What's this?" McCoy sneered casually strolling in my direction. "Tell me you aren't working."
"Not working. Studying. I don't think PADDs have self esteem issues or get depressed." I smiled.
He scowled and jerked it out of my hands before hurling it like a Frisbee toward the far bay wall. "Heads up!" Sulu yelled as he watched it arc through the air. McCoy turned just in time to see Jim duck to avoid the projectile as it bounced off the wall with a resounding clatter. Far from being angry, Jim wore an amused look on his face. He was minutes from freedom and nothing was going to spoil his day.
McCoy, on the other hand, was on high alert because the minute Jim stepped off the ship all bets were off. To him it was like setting a Labrador puppy loose in a petting zoo; there was no limit to the amount of trouble he could get into and he had his trusty medical travel bag slung over his shoulder at the ready just in case. I was still stunned that he threw my PADD away, but Scotty thought it was quite funny. "Lose somethin' lass?" he yelled with a smile.
"She doesn't know the rules!" Uhura joined shaking her head.
"No working on mandatory shore leave. Violators will be forced to buy rounds!" They all yelled in unison laughing the whole time. Even Spock mouthed the words as though he had heard it a million times.
"I just did you a favor." McCoy smirked. "You'd be working for free for two weeks to pay off that tab. Ask Spock. How long did it take you?"
"Doctor, I did…" He began before I shot him a warning look. "13 days, 7 hours 7 minutes." He answered simply. I smiled at him while McCoy just stood there assuming the conversation was over without feeling the need to raise his voice or hurl insults.
Jim made his way over to our merry little group and asked in a chipper tone, "So, guys have any plans once you get planet side?"
McCoy didn't bat an eye. "I am going to set up my communicator to follow the tracking device I implanted in your neck last night. I will be damned if I am going to spend this shore leave chasing you around all over the planet fixing this and reassembling that."
Jim's blue eyes went wide with terror as he rubbed his neck. "Bones, you didn't…" McCoy arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Damn it! See if I give you a place to stay again. Next time you can sleep in the hall!" He huffed as he stalked off.
"Doctor, surely you didn't place a device in his skin without his knowledge." Spock stated dubiously.
"Nah." McCoy smiled folding his arms in a self satisfied fashion. "But maybe the paranoia will be enough to keep him out of trouble for once."
Someone had inflated a beach ball and it bounced back and forth across the dock on a sea of hands while we waited. The mood was definitely light and there were smiles all around. The shuttle finally arrived and my number was called along with Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov. I assumed as the ship's commanding officers, Jim, McCoy, Spock, and Scotty would be the last to leave. I hoped one of them would have the good sense to help Spock and I left his bag by his feet.
I buckled up by a window and watched in fascination as I always did on the rare occasions I left the ship. To see such a massive white hull floating in space was a wondrous feat of engineering and truly a sight to behold. Sulu turned to see what I was looking at and smiled. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"
"Yes." I whispered. "And to think that you fly it!"
"I can't believe it myself sometimes." He said with a mix of awe and glee.
Reentry was a little rough and I had to close my eyes and grip my knees to keep from screaming. Pavel reached over and quietly placed his hand on my arm until we touched down. He no doubt remembered the trip back to San Francisco when McCoy and I had to drug ourselves to get through it since neither of us liked flying. I was getting better at it, but sometimes the shaking was more than I could take. I gave him a grateful smile, but he pretended it was no big deal in his usual demure style. I waited for my bag and then stood in line for my room assignment from the flag officer that ran the base. It seemed the whole thing was a hurry up and wait affair, but I supposed I should just get used to it if that was the nature of Starfleet.
I looked around as I waited and smiled when I saw a separate red cargo shuttle not far from where we landed marked "Hazmat." Individuals in what looked like NASA spacesuits loaded coils of tubing and supplies into the vessel in preparation to give the Enterprise a bath. A nice warm breeze spilled through the crowd, giving us some relief from the hot temperature. The sand was a soft seashell pink and the sky was a light lavender with two suns. I could hear the rushing of moving water not far off and I was once again happy to be in the presence of nature.
The rooms were wonderfully unexpected. I was anticipating sterile filing cabinets like the dorms at the Academy, but here they were actual bungalows with windows you could open and nice, white bed linens. And the best part? No one had to share! The bungalows were laid out in neat rows like suburbs all the way up into the hills with enough space to make small streets. I looked around and realized that this part of the base sat in a cove between two large mountains. It was simply beautiful. It was just too bad we would only be here for two days.
I just got settled in when I heard a knock at the door. An actual fist on wood! No chimes! The door opened with a satisfying creak and I saw Uhura standing under the small straw awning stifling a chuckle as she pointed to the door frame. I looked outside and frowned when I noticed the name plate. "Dr. M. Collins-McCoy." I somehow missed that on the way in. "Come on, Mrs. Dr. McCoy, we are heading down to the beach to play volleyball and swim. Not a minute to spare!" She teased. I quickly changed, grabbed a towel, and was on the way.
I spent the day playing hard. Jim stalked the beach shirtless hitting on girls between and often during volleyball games. It was no wonder my team lost. Spock was stuck officiating the games because he couldn't play but had a hard time of it since he had never watched or heard of the game before, so we let him make his own rules as we went. Not that it mattered, Chekov spent more time face down in the sand after trying and failing to spike on Uhura at least 20 times than we actually played. After every attempt, Sulu would help him up laughing and shaking his head.
Most of the afternoon was spent in the water in some capacity while Spock swung lazily in a hammock reading a PADD that he swore contained only leisure material. Sulu, Jim, and I tried parasailing much to McCoy's dismay. He went on about how it was all a deathtrap and catastrophe waiting to happen. We didn't tell him we snuck off in the late afternoon to cliff dive. I had never done it before, but I was something of a daredevil on Earth: skydiving, whitewater rafting, bungee jumping. I loved the rush and thrill of being so near death, nothing made me feel so alive. As we sat on the cliffs watching the suns set over the ocean, I listened to them excitedly tell me about the time they dove from a shuttle onto an oil drill placed by Nero. I envied them.
Once the suns went down, torches were lit on the beach and the bar opened. We danced barefoot in the sand drinks in hand until the wee hours of the morning when in a buzzed moment of disinhibition McCoy picked me up and body slammed me into the water laughing like a maniac. I reached up and grabbed his wrist to drag him in with me and he fell with a loud splash. The water tasted salty just like the oceans on Earth and we smiled and bobbed in the cool water for one tense and magical moment until Scotty and Jim grabbed Chekov and swung him by his limbs to toss him in as well. Jim tried to catch Scotty off guard to push him in, but both men ended up in the drink splashing and cursing.
Spock quietly built a bonfire on the beach because the night air was cool and doubly so if one was also soaking wet. He took a seat on a large log of driftwood and tended his creation until it was a roaring inferno which we all gathered around. The heat felt delicious on my wet skin that was sporting goose bumps. There is a primal comfort that fire gives beyond it's heat; it is the colored flames, the way they dance and the smoldering smell of crackling wood that makes one feel at peace. McCoy took a seat next to me a little closer than I thought he dare given the circumstances. "To the Klingons!" Jim yelled raising his bottle of beer. "Without the smelly bastards we wouldn't be here right now. Thanks, you ugly fuckers!" He yelled at the sky.
Chekov looked up at the stars and interrupted, "Um, Captain, the Klingons are that vay." He pointed in the opposite direction that Jim was.
Jim swirled in the direction Pavel had indicated and yelled, "Yeah!" Uhura snuggled closer to Scotty and laughed. We sat there chatting and laughing until the fire had burned itself out to a pile of glowing embers.
I didn't recall a time I was ever so tired. I dragged myself off to my little beach cottage, being sure to check the ridiculous name plate to ensure I was in the right location and rinsed the saltwater out of my hair before falling into bed. I woke up an hour later sweating profusely. I thought perhaps I just had a sunburn, but I also felt dizzy and sick and my head was killing me. Sunburns didn't do that. I tried to keep my eyes open long enough to look at the map of the camp to locate the infirmary, but it seemed an impossibly long distance away.
I stumbled outside in my pajamas and thankfully came across a Starfleet security red shirt that worked at the starbase. "Mam!" I moaned holding my head and stretching a hand out to her. "I am looking for Dr. L. McCoy's room." She came closer and looked at the nameplate by my door curiously. "I know." I said exasperated. "We are kind of on the outs right now, but I have to find him." I didn't feel real good about lying to her, but then again I didn't feel good at all.
She led me to his cabin which was a few streets over from mine and I thanked her as I knocked on the door and leaned on the frame. "C'mon, McCoy." I whimpered in misery. "Please answer your door." I knocked weakly again and it flew open. I opened one eye enough to see him squinting at me, dressed in a white t-shirt and lightweight pajama bottoms with his hair in a glorious mess. I might have thought him sexy if I could properly see him. "Hi." I whispered stupidly.
He squinted even more and grabbed me by the arm to lead me in. "Sit down." He commanded in a gravely voice while he rubbed his face to wake up. The covers had been hastily thrown aside and the bed was still warm, I felt bad for waking him. He retrieved his travel bag and dug through it. "Well are you going to tell me what the devil is wrong with you or are you going to make me guess?" He asked dropping an assortment of instruments next to me on the bed.
"I feel sick." I replied weakly. I knew I was giving insane answers, but for some reason I couldn't stop them from coming out of my mouth.
"Enlightening." He sighed putting his hands on his hips. He stared at me a minute longer and reached over to the table and turned on a lamp. Thankfully the light wasn't that bright, but it still hurt my head. "I can't work in the dark, darlin'." He drawled running one of his scanners over me. He studied the screen and placed his hand on my forehead. "You are burning up." He announced. "103 fever with a migraine. That must be the 3rd circle of Hell." He mused. "Looks like you picked up a bug somewhere. Come on, we have to get you to the infirmary."
"No," I whined, "too many bright lights." I could imagine the halls lit up by halogen lights burning out my retinas.
He sighed and glowered, "Fine. I will go get something to get your fever to break before your brain cooks in your skull. Stay here, I will be back as soon as I can." He paused before opening the door. "You gonna be alright?" He asked in a low tone. I nodded yes and regretted it.
As soon as he shut the door, I fell back in his bed not caring that it did not belong to me. His windows were open, letting in a beautiful breeze and I lay there listening to the sound of water roll onto the pink beach. It was so relaxing I dozed off until he returned. "Collins," He called softly sitting on the bed, "Collins, wake up. Here, drink this." He instructed handing me a jar the size of a shot glass filled with clear liquid. "Now it will be bitter, so drink it down fast." He warned. I threw it back like I would a shot of Scotty's special brew with the goal of it never touching my taste buds, but my plan failed. It burned and tasted like a raw lemon rind. I made an awful face and McCoy clamped his hand down over my mouth to keep me from reversing the flow. "Breathe. Deep breaths." He coached. I sucked in as much air as I could until it passed. "Got it?" He asked hopefully. I nodded and he slowly removed his hand.
"What the hell was that, Quinine?" I choked.
"Yes, actually." He answered surprised. He looked at his hands and mumbled. "If you can't make it to the infirmary, I want you to stay here tonight so I can keep an eye on you. If that fever gets any worse we will both be in trouble."
"Ok." I agreed breezily. I was so close to having my own room back, but then again I was almost used to having a roommate now. He looked as though he expected more of a fight than I gave him, but started to remove a pillow from the bed to sleep on the limited amount of floor that wasn't taken up by furniture. "You can stay up here." I said in a small voice grabbing his wrist.
He looked at me half suspicious and half confused. "Are you sure?" He checked.
"It's big enough for both of us. You shouldn't sleep on the floor." I muttered. My brain was obviously not in control of what my mouth said and I was a little embarrassed as to what he might think, but a small part of me wanted the presence of another person nearby.
I scooted over to the spot next to the wall and he slowly and cautiously climbed into his side as though he expected his weight to make the whole thing go crashing down. After he was reasonably settled he grumbled, "I warn you that I have been told I am a blanket hog."
I gave a small laugh and a smile. "Me too."
"Well then, a worthy opponent for tug-o-war. May the best hog win." He smiled stretching over to turn the lamp off.
"Good night, McCoy." I sighed.
"Good night, Collins-McCoy." He replied. Damn Jim and his rigged Starfleet paperwork. I could see him smiling by the light of the moon and I gave him a playfully light punch on the arm, prompting him to chuckle.
