Fencing


Nyota Uhura sat at her comm station on the bridge. It was a boring job while in space dock under normal conditions, but with shore leaves canceled due to the incidents on the station, there was truly nothing to do. She listened anyway. It was her job. But nearly halfway into the shift, she was almost looking forward to mingling with the delegates again.

She glanced over toward Spock, who was scanning something on his viewer. Soon they'd both be back on mingling duty. The Aolians had taken to him almost as much as the Trubese had to her, although she was fairly sure there was no worship involved. They felt comfortable around the reserved Vulcan and seemed to take a more positive view of the Federation after learning that Vulcan had been able to maintain a society largely closed to outside influence while still being one of the most prominent members of the Federation. That, and the revelation that an isolationist party from their own planet had helped fund the terrorists had gone a long way toward making them more amenable to negotiations. But everyone had had to be careful not to mention Spock's mixed parentage or allow them to know that she and he were more than close colleagues. The idea that their sons might fall for outworld women would surely send the Aolians screaming back into isolationism.

The Trubese that had been closest in the aftermath of the explosion had surely guessed of course. Fortunately they were almost xenophilic and it had only taken a small hint that she wanted the relationship kept discreet to keep them quiet. Sometimes it was good to be a goddess. Despite the fact that they had saved her, several of them seemed to be under the impression that it was her doing that Selina had sensed the bomb before it blew. But at least as worshippers went, the Trubese were pretty laid back. Apparently Prafali didn't care much for groveling but enjoyed humor and random acts of kindness. So their 'worship' consisted mostly of being more polite when she was around and trying to make her laugh. Nyota smiled to herself recalling how her amusement at one of the Trubese petting Kirk like a big dog had lead to his being mobbed by others. She was reasonable sure that she could them to feed him kibble if she wanted to - which she might if he kept pestering Selina. (She'd made Spock stand down, but that didn't mean she had to).

Sulu was spinning around in his chair, equally bored. There was even less for a pilot to do with the ship docked. She caught his eye and he winked at her, twirling his hand in a small fencing move.

"Looking forward to getting out of that chair, Sulu?" Kirk asked.

"Definitely, sir."

"I could stand a workout after getting out of this chair too. Any chance we could work in a training session?"

"Sorry, sir. I already have a match lined up for right after shift. But I'd be glad to warm down parrying with you afterward."

"Warm down?" Kirk emoted with mock wounded pride. "You're on. Just you wait."

Nyota was distracted from the exchange by an odd series of clicks coming over her comm link. "Sir. I'm picking up something on subspace, but I'm not sure what. It seems like some sort of code, but it doesn't correspond to anything I can identify."

"Patch it over to Spock so he can help decode it." Kirk was suddenly all business. "Where is it coming from?"

"Somewhere in the station, but I can't pinpoint it. The source seems to be bouncing all over the place."

"Transmissions are being sent sequentially from multiple comm links throughout the station," Spock reported, his brow furrowing slightly as traced the links on his scanner.

"Then where is it going to?" Kirk demanded.

"That's just it, Captain. It seems to be directed to an empty point in space just outside this system," Nyota replied.

"Chekhov, what's out there?"

"Nutting, Keptin. Long range senzors are showing yust...empty space."

"Uhura, call Mr. LaSalle to the bridge," Kirk ordered. "Chekhov, you're relieved of watch. I want you to concentrate on finding the target of that signal. We need to know what's out there."


.

After leaving the bridge, Jim Kirk had headed down to the deck housing the delegates. As he turned the corner, he was just in time to see Selina entering the turbolift and jogged to slide in before the doors closed.

"Hey, I was just coming to find you," he said.

"For what purpose?" She was carrying what looked like a small duffel bag, but was clearly still in professional mode.

"We got the autopsy results and -"

"The killer is human," she finished.

"I should have guessed Bones would've already told you." He grinned.

She nodded and looked back to the lift door.

"Okay, but I also needed to tell you that Uhura just picked up some sort of code being transmitted from the station to what looks to be an empty point in space."

That got her attention. "What have you determined?"

"Whoever sent it routed pieces from points all over the station to make it hard to trace. Spock and Chekhov are working on it."

"Thank you, Mr. Kirk, please keep me informed." She went back to looking at the door.

"So, where are you headed?" Jim gave her his friendliest and most innocent smile. She didn't look.

Suddenly the lift lurched and came to a stop. The doors did not budge, despite her apparent effort to will them open. "What has just occurred, Mr. Kirk?"

Jim hit the comm button. "Scotty? Turbolift 9 just stopped somewhere between decks. What's going on?"

"It did? Sorry, sair. Ah had ta reroute a few power couplings. Musta got something crossed."

"Scotty, please tell me that I don't have crew, or worse yet, trade delegates, trapped in lifts all over the ship."

"No, sair. Looks like only 9 and 13 aer stuck and 13 is empty. Don' worry. Ah'll get it sorted out."

"How long might this take?" Selina cut in.

"Is thair more than one o' ye stuck in thair?" Scott's accent, as usual, got thicker when he got nervous.

"Just me and Ms. Chandri, Scotty. You know, Spock's friend. She seems eager to get to wherever she's going."

"Ah see, sair. Weel, Ah'll do me best, but ya might want ta make yerselves comfortable. It could take a wee bit."

"Understood. Kirk out."

Jim thanked whatever mischievous gods ran turbolift malfunctions, and then hoped he was thinking that quietly enough that she wouldn't notice. He smiled helplessly at her. "Sometimes we have trouble with the lifts when Scotty's working on the engines. New ships always have at least one design problem."

"I take it there is no standard definition for the length of time 'wee bit'?" she asked, one eyebrow edging upward.

"No. Sorry. It's a pretty imprecise term for an engineer to use, I guess. But don't worry. Scotty's the best." He tried to look reassuring rather than happy.

She nodded and hit the comm button. "Lt. Uhura, would you please inform Hikaru that I may be delayed." Hikaru? Jim thought.

"Okay. Is everything alright?" Uhura's voice was professional but slightly concerned.

"I appear to be stuck in turbolift 9 with Mr. Kirk. Mr. Scott tells us we may be here 'a wee bit'."

"I see." It was a tribute to Uhura's skill in communications that she managed to convey with only two short words both deep sympathy to Selina and a warning to Jim that he had better be on his best behavior or else. "I'll tell Spock. Maybe he can help Scotty sort it out a bit faster."

"Thank you, but Spock should not be distracted from analyzing the signal you detected. We will...wait." Selina replied with resignation. She closed the comm and leaned against the wall.

The tactician/pick-up artist in Jim quickly assessed the situation and his chances against the data he had gathered on her so far.

1. They were not in a bar. Check.

2. He'd made an effort to get to know and appreciate her as more than a pretty face. Check.

3. There was nothing (not really) going on with Bones. Check.

4. Intellect and self-control were attractive qualities but she also appreciated wit (to quote Chekhov, 'I ken do zat!'). Check.

5. Uhura had convinced Spock he shouldn't interfere if anyone tried to make a move on his friend. Check (sort of. well, close enough.)

6. They were going to be stuck together for awhile, but it was not his fault. Check.

- All systems go! Jim vs. Selina round 2.

He sat down cross-legged. "You might as well have a seat, too," he said holding up a hand to help her down. "It could be awhile."

She did not take the proffered hand or sit.

"C'mon. I thought staying off your ankle was a condition of your parole from sickbay." He grinned up at her. "If you don't sit, I'll be duty bound to rat you out."

One eyebrow rose, but she slid down the wall into a sitting position.

Jim waited. She clearly wasn't feeling talkative. Okay, he'd break the ice. Something non-threatening, definitely not remotely pick-up like.

"So..." he said, thinking back to the conversation on the bridge. "You were going to watch Sulu fence? Is he putting on a demonstration for you? I can see why you wouldn't want to miss that. He's really good. In fact, I was going to spar with him later."

Both eyebrows were slightly up and she was looking at him appraisingly. "Do you also fence?"

"He's teaching me, but I'm a quick study." Jim grinned at his own small brag.

"It would be interesting to see that claim tested, Mr. Kirk."

"Maybe if Scotty works fast," he winked.

She didn't exactly smile, but the iciness had definitely thawed a little bit.

"It looks like you're planning to work out." He nodded toward her bag. "I thought you were supposed to take it easy?"

"I have had difficulty sleeping for the last several nights," she admitted. "Len has been persuaded that if it will aide me in obtaining rest, physical exertion should be permitted."

Jim bit back the offer to help that immediately sprang to mind. No. Intellect and self-control he told himself. Think. How would Spock waste an opening like that? "So there's nothing he could prescribe for you?" he asked.

"Nothing that would not unacceptably cloud my mind." Her posture had relaxed slightly. Not being himself was paying off.

"Well, if exercise doesn't work, maybe you could try warm milk. That's what my mom always gave me when I couldn't sleep."

She inclined her head. "Thank you. I will consider it, Mr. Kirk." The edge in her voice had definitely eased off. Okay. Time to try for one small crack in her defenses.

"How many times do I have to tell you: it's Jim," he smiled disarmingly. "I mean, why am I the only guy you won't call by his first name?"

"I do not call Spock by his first name, nor Mr. Giotto."

"Mr. Giotto would jump out of his skin if you called him Sam, and no one can pronounce Spock's first name."

That got a slight smile. "His first name is not that difficult to pronounce, but he would not appreciate my using it."

"Really? Why?"

No answer, but 'I have no comment on the matter' was etched in the set of her face. He briefly wondered which one of them had come up with that first. He decided to wait. She wouldn't like someone who gave in too easily and most women in his experience would talk rather than let silence hang between them.

She tilted her head, smiled slightly and closed her eyes, looking perfectly content to remain quiet. Huh. Apparently she fell outside his experience of most women on that point too.

"Right. But I would appreciate it. So, it's Jim, okay?" He smiled hopefully. "It's even easy to pronounce."

Her lips wrestled for a moment against a small smile. "Very well. Jim." Yes! He did a little victory dance in his head.

"Thanks. It was getting embarrassing - Bones being 'Len' and me 'Mr. Kirk'," he said. "How'd he manage that anyway?"

"He never attempted to pick me up." She crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow.

"No, wait a minute. I am not accepting that answer." Jim tried to raise an eyebrow back at her. He was really going to have to work on his forehead muscles. "I mean, it's not like he's been all hands off. You guys had two breakfast dates, flirted enough to make Spock nauseous, and Costellano is convinced you're sleeping together."

"Indeed?" The eyebrow dropped back into position and she looked rather pleased.

That was not the response he had been hoping for. There should have been some declaration of how she really had no interest in Bones. At the very least, he thought she'd be a little miffed about that last bit.

She was looking sideways and smiling to herself. This was probably not going in a positive direction.

"How, may I ask," she said, "did Frank come to that conclusion?"

Jim hesitated. No matter how much he wanted to win, he couldn't quite bring himself to throw Bones under the bus. "It seems like he'd heard something about you two having breakfast together," he offered.

She tilted her had back against the wall so that she was looking at the ceiling, but he could see evidence of a smile along the edge of her jaw. "In the realm of medicine, Frank's creative imagination has saved a number of lives, but applied to social observation it can be truly appalling." Her head rocked side to side. "And he is a terrible gossip. He had half of the ship convinced that Spock and I were lovers the first time I travelled on the Yorktown." She made a small noise somewhere between a laugh and scoff.

Jim smiled. She had just placed the idea she might be sleeping with Bones on the same level of absurdity as sleeping with Spock. ...Wait...That was absurd, right? Some of the speculation he'd heard around the ship flashed across his mind. No, couldn't be. She and Uhura liked each other too way much ...no, wait, that was part of the speculation... He mentally plunged his head into a bucket of ice cold water. No. No. Definitely not, if for no other reason than that someone like Spock just could not possibly be that lucky.

She had lifted her head and was looking in his direction, but her eyes were a little unfocused. For the first time, he understood why Giotto found her so unnerving. Pleasepleasepleaseplease do not let her have read what I was just thinking.

The placid expression was firmly back on her face. She blinked and her eyes focused on him again. "Forgive me, Mr. - ...Jim. Spock was inquiring after our well being."

He involuntarily glanced at the comm. Obviously Spock had decided to inquire after their well-being in a way that he couldn't hear.

"There is insufficient data for him to decode the signal you intercepted, so he is proceeding to engineering to assist Mr. Scott." There was a faint look of amusement on her face. "I have asked him to assure Nyota that you are behaving yourself."

"I guess she's never going to forgive me for trying to pick her up either," he said. "Anything else?"

"He says that Len and I did not make him nauseous."

Okay, with Spock working on the problem, they were probably going to be out of there soon. Game called on account of interference.

He looked at her again. Her face was serene, but her eyes twinkled. Jim thought of what Spock had said to her in the bar on earth, 'Only someone who does not know you would think you are not laughing simply because you are not making the sound.' He settled on a new goal: he was going to get her to actually laugh.

He grinned at her. "Well, honestly, I think I was the one who made him nauseous. I suggested he might end up with Bones for a brother-in-law."

The smile started to work its way back onto her face.


.

Spock strode into engineering at a determined clip. Mr. Scott was lying on his back in a Jeffries tube, cursing under his breath.

"Can I be of assistance, Mr. Scott?"

"Aye. Could ye take a look at this connection here?" He shifted to allow Spock to move into the tube beside him.

"This does not appear to relate to the turbolift system," Spock observed.

"Ah know that, Mr. Spock, and Ah'm verra sorry, but the lights are acting up in sickbay an that has ta take priority. Ah'll git back to freein' yer lady friend as soon this is fixed." He noted the raised eyebrow. "Ah mean yer friend...who happens ta be a lady."

Spock adjusted a wire, resulting in a small spit of sparks.

"Scotty!" McCoy's voice called over the comm. "What in the blue blazes do you think you're doing? Now the lights are flashing on and off like strobes. This is supposed to be a sickbay, not a nightclub!"

"We are attempting to remedy the situation, Doctor," Spock responded, pulling another wire.

"Great! Now it's gone dark," McCoy growled. "Any chance you'll get this fixed soon, or should I start breaking out the candles?"

"Trust me, Doctor, I have every interest in resolving the issue with alacrity," Spock replied, running a scanner over the connection.

"Why? Planning another trip to sickbay, Spock?" McCoy was clearly not going to stop harranging them.

"No, Doctor," Spock replied calmly. "However, Selina and the Captain have been trapped in turbolift 9 for past 19 minutes and 53 seconds. We cannot work on freeing them until the problem in sickbay is resolved." That brought a moment of stunned silence. If he were human, Spock would have smiled. Instead, he concentrated on rearranging wires and using a small laser tool to re-splice the connection.

"Hey, I think that's got it, Spock!" McCoy said. "Now go get that poor girl out of the lift."

"That is my intention, Doctor."


.

Jim was feeling pretty good about the new project, which was kind of strange. His prospects for even minor physical contact were pretty much nil, but he was actually enjoying himself. It was a lot easier to talk to her when he wasn't trying for more than a laugh. So far he had managed a smile with a glimpse of teeth and he'd just gotten a small chuckle with his imitation of Bones.

"Surely Len is not like that often?" she asked. "I have rarely seen him without a smile."

"Yeah, that's Bones. Mr. Happy-All-the-Time." There was just no way to say that with anything remotely like a straight face. He broke down laughing, almost rolling against the wall. "Maybe we should install you in sickbay. He hasn't smiled so much since I met him, and Spock said you had a thing for doctors!"

He knew it was a mistake the moment it escaped his lips. Every trace of amusement disappeared from her face and a spark of anger glinted in her eyes. Oh god. He hadn't even touched her and Spock was going to hurt him. And then Bones was going to kill him.

"That is, um, you know he wouldn't normally say anything like that. It's just, um, the comment about having Bones for a brother-in-law sort of threw him and he was trying to factor things into the odds against it, and, um, ..." Jim stammered.

"Odds?" Her eyes narrowed. Nope. Bones was not going to kill him. Spock was going to do it first.

"Look, please, don't be angry. You know him. He calculates the odds for everything. He can't help himself," Jim said desperately. "It's like his mental security blanket or something."

She just stared at him. "His...mental...'security blanket' ?" she repeated slowly. Her lips compressed and she was still for a moment. Then something like small tremors shook her body. He braced himself for whatever she was going to do to him before realizing that she wasn't shaking with rage. She looked down, repeating the phrase to herself, and then finally looked back up at him.

"You realize that it is going to be very difficult for me to keep a straight face the next time he calculates odds?" She had covered her mouth with one hand and her chest was moving with suppressed laughter. Jim made an effort to keep his eyes on her face. No use tempting fate.

"You?" he said, laughing with relief. "I estimate my chances of not totally cracking up to be 9 zillion 753 trillion 824 million 134 thousand 251.123456 to 1." He made his best attempt at imitating Spock and then threw in another attempt at lifting one eyebrow.

The botched eyebrow lift did it. He was sure there were teeth showing behind her hand and the sound of an actual laugh had definitely come from that direction. He was allowing himself another mental victory dance when the lift jerked and the doors opened.

Uhura rushed in and started helping Selina to her feet, shooting a glare at Jim. "Are you okay?" Uhura asked a bit concerned at her friend's odd expression.

Selina took a deep breathe. "Yes. I am well. Jim has been entertaining me with impressions of the crew."

Uhura looked at him dumbfounded. He shrugged. "Best behavior," he said, holding his fingers up in a Boy Scout pledge.

Spock appeared around the corner, taking in the scene at the lift door. He scanned Selina's face and raised an eyebrow.

"I am well, Spock," she said, lifting her bag. "Does Hikaru still have a match open?"

Spock shook his head. "He said that he would gladly reserve a time for tomorrow."

"She fences?" Jim asked.

Spock raised both eyebrows. "Quite aggressively."

Jim grinned and said sotto voce. "What do you suppose my chances would be in a match with her?"

Spock tilted his head. "I estimate that your odds -"

Selina grabbed his arm. "Please," she said earnestly. "Please, do not."


We'll get back to solving the mystery in the next chapter. I needed to write some plain humor.

I had to have Kirk and Selina stuck together, but decided my original idea for it just didn't work. While trying decide how to re-write, I was inspired to use a stuck lift scene after reading "Need a lift?" by TalesFromTheSpockSide (if you haven't read it, you should).

My all-time favorite scene from the TOS episode The Naked Time is Sulu running around with an epee and his shirt off, playing D'Artagnan. And sexy as ZQ is, in the movie what I actually lusted for most was Sulu's sword. (No, for those of you with dirty minds, that is not a metaphor. I studied Japanese fencing for close to 8 years and I would LOVE to have a katana like that.)