Unfinished Business
Chapter 6 : The Lady's Back
December, 2272
Jim Kirk sat back with his drink in his hand and surveyed the gala. They were celebrating the end of dry dock for the refitted Enterprise. Very soon now they would start restaffing, beyond the skeleton crew that had been aboard during the refitting. The celebration might be just a bit premature, but it was a great time of year for a party. And he had had the great pleasure of handing out promotions this morning, so there were a few extra celebrations going on as well. One he had been especially happy about had gone to the lovely young woman he was watching. Nyota Uhura was now a Lieutenant Commander, and she certainly deserved it. Without that woman's constant work for the last two years, his desk would be piled several feet deep with unprocessed paper work and he would certainly have had a heart attack by now.
He continued to watch her, observing how she had changed over the last two years. She was smiling again. Not the glowing wonder that her smile used to be, on the Enterprise, but a real smile and not a grimace pretending to be a smile. She was still much too quiet, but moved with more animation now, although, again, not what it used to be. He missed that other woman, the one who didn't seem to exist any more. He still wondered what had happened to her, but Bones refused to tell him, and he knew better than to question her. Bones said if she wanted him to know, she would tell him, and he would just have to live with that.
The next person who caught his eye was Captain Willard Decker, the man who had commanded the Enterprise throughout the refit. He really envied that man. He missed being on the ship. Missed it with his whole being. He wasn't meant to be a desk jockey. He sighed. Maybe one day he could get back out in space. But not today, not this week, almost certainly not this year. Decker was a good man, a little green yet, but he had been handling things well. A few years into the next mission and he would have his feet solidly under him.
And there was Scotty, headed his way with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He grinned at the greying Scotsman, glad to see him. He held out his glass and it was filled with something brown and shimmering that slid down his throat with a smooth burn. Ah, yes, trust Scotty to have the best drinkables anywhere. He sat back and listened to a long monologue on the new engines, Scotty's pride and joy. And Uhura even wandered over, and gave Scotty a hug. That was something he was certainly glad to see.
There was someone missing though, someone he missed very badly. His first officer and one of his few real friends, had disappeared after the end of the mission they had served on together, and no one really seemed to know what had happened to him, other than his father reporting that he had resigned his commission. That was a mystery he had no way to solve, and it nagged at him, an itch in the back of his mind that would not go away. Several times he had started to ask Uhura if she knew what had happened to him, but every time he had drawn back without bringing it up. Something just told him not to. He shook his head. This was not the time or the place to dwell on what he could not change. This was a time to celebrate.
He stepped out into the small cleared area, and lifted his glass high, toasting the newly refitted Enterprise. Everyone in the room joined in, their voices ringing. It was a good night, a very good night. Even if he wouldn't be shipping out on that ship when it left Earth-orbit. He would get over it. He had no choice.