Alright here is a little bit of a longer chapter, I hope you all enjoy it. As always, many thanks to my wonderful beta TheWindowView. She has not only been helping me churn out these chapters as fast as possible with few (if any) mistakes and pushing the plot into path I want it, but she is also allowing me to post this on my birthday before she drags me out for a day on the town. Love ya, girl. :D
Please, read and enjoy. Any comments are welcome :)
"What message were you attempting to convey?"
Nia twitched, surprised he spoke, then frowned as she realized what he said. "I don't understand what you are asking."
"Before, in Engineering, you were attempting to convey a message pertaining to Ensign Jenkins?" He tried again.
A light bulb went off. "Oh! Yes, I was trying to ask you to have Jenkins escort Keenser to the medbay."
He almost frowned. "It was unnecessary to do. Due to the duties of Lieutenant Commander Scott and myself, it was logical to have Ensign Jenkins or yourself do the task." He paused, and seemed to come to a realization. "You already knew this. You did not desire for yourself to be chosen."
"Exactly." Nia told him.
"Why?" He asked. He could see no reason for her to be unwilling to perform the task. She was comfortable enough with the assistant to carry him, and had been to the medbay at least once prior. "Do you have a fear of the medbay or Doctor McCoy?"
"Do- Wh- No. Not exactly." Nia shifted her weight from foot to foot uncomfortably.
"You have previously been unwilling to go to the medbay, yet at that time Lt. Sulu and Ens. Chekov had escorted you to the medbay the day prior." He stated before concluding "An event must have taken place to cause your aversion to the medbay."
Nia winced. "It is nothing like that, but… you will find my reasoning illogical."
His only response was to tilt his head in her direction. For Nia, the meaning of his gesture was clear. He was expecting illogical.
She decided to bite the bullet. "I'm embarrassed."
The near frown was back. "Embarrassed?"
"Yeah, embarrassed. Do you know how many times I've been to the medbay for treatment?" Nia asked while rubbing the back of her neck with one hand.
"I only know of the single time."
"I've been three times." Seeing his lack of reaction to her statement, she added "Each time was for something I had done that was either foolish or could be considered as such."
"And you wish to avoid further mockery?" Spock asked.
Realizing he might be thinking McCoy or one of the other medical personnel had been inappropriate toward her, Nia rushed to explain. "Not mockery. I'm not mistreated by anyone, at all. I just would prefer to avoid being labeled a walking disaster."
The turbolift opened at her stop and the commander stepped out with her, deciding to escort her to the labs. He had adequate time prior to his shift.
He was beginning to understand. "That is why you did not wish to receive medical attention – "
"After walking into a handrail that could have been avoided had I been looking? Yes, that's why. That, and it would have been my third medbay visit in a single 24 hour period." She sighed. As it was, her third visit had come with her second sparring match with Sulu.
"Are there not measures to take to ensure your safety?"
Of all the questions to ask. She leveled him with a look, and was not at all satisfied with his stoic response. Instead of answering him, she decided to stare straight ahead and near ignore him until they reached the labs.
Sensing he had somehow upset her – her glare had seemed oddly placed and was an expression he had not yet seen on her face – Spock decided to allow her to be the first to break the ensuing silence. He was beginning to wonder if all Paladians were so… human.
Just before they reached the labs, Nia suddenly pause and turned to the commander. "What is the current stardate?"
Puzzled he told her and was even more puzzled by her reaction.
"In two days we'll be about halfway to the settlers." She informed him, a faint smile curving her lips.
"I am aware." He told her.
Running a hand through her hair, she entered her lab. "Well, I suppose I should get to work. I set out a fair amount to get done today." She turned to Spock, who had already started to leave. "Have a pleasant shift, Commander."
By now used to the human way of well-wishing, Spock only nodded in acceptance of her statement and continued on to the bridge.
Nia rubbed her face as she looked around in the lab. She needed to get to work. Going down to Engineering had been a nice break from what she had been doing, but she needed to work.
She settled down behind the computer for a moment before getting up and starting to gather supplies together. Crewman Michaels joined her shortly and glanced at the computer. Silently, she began gathering supplies alongside Nia.
Nia allowed herself to smirk. Once Michaels and Nia decided to work together, things had become much smoother in the lab. The two worked quite fluidly together, in most instances.
"So, Doctor, what took so long?" Michaels finally asked.
Nia grinned. "Well, turns out…"
The rest of the day was spent working as was the next day, trying to make up for any wasted time from earlier in the day or even from the beginning of her trip on the starship. She even made some headway on getting the research from Starfleet loaded into her own files. She still had a long way to go, but Michaels was proving to be incredibly helpful in that area of work.
Having Michaels integrate the research allowed Nia to test and experiment a few topics that she had yet to try.
When it was time for the evening meal, Michaels almost literally had to drag Nia away from her work.
"Come on, Doctor. You can't tell me that working through this meal will put you any closer to the answer. You need a break." Michaels tried telling her.
Nia didn't even look up from her task. "I had plenty of break time for the first six days on this trip. And I still take breaks, now."
Michaels took a deep breath to keep her focus on not sounding insubordinate. "Early breakfast, short lunch, sometimes dinner, and sparring matches with Lt Sulu aren't enough. Don't you have a team back on Earth working on this? What about on Palad?"
Nia sighed. "There is only one other scientist working on Earth, the rest are working on Palad. No one else had access to this kind of research though. Not even close." She finally looked up. "Besides, the other daytoday I helped in Engineering. That was a big enough break to last me until tomorrow, when Lt Sulu gets to wipe the mat with me again."
Narrowing her eyes, Michaels starred at Nia wondering just what it would take to get her out of the lab.
The day previous, Michaels had timed the woman on her lunches. Fifteen minutes, while she gave the crewman an hour. Michaels never took that long, knowing that the doctor appreciated having her format the research and flag anything that met the basic parameters of their search.
Out of curiosity, Michaels even timed Nia at breakfast. Fifteen minutes, including the conversation with Nurse Chapel.
Michaels understood the driving force, she really did. If Earth's crops were in as much danger as Palad's were, the crewman herself would be putting in as many hours as Nia was.
Then she noticed Nia was skipping the evening meals. She suspected the woman was feeling guilty for not having her work as a higher priority earlier on.
Skipping meals was not a habit to get into though; all the information on Paladians indicated that three meals a day were important. Michaels was torn. She'd already tried the "It's not healthy" approach, but Nia had brushed her off. And how does one defend not working on the problem endangering your people's way of life?
Finally, she pulled out her last resort on the third day in a row Nia was planning on missing a meal. It was fourteen days into their trip, almost exactly half way to their destination. "Doctor Sargent, what you do is your choice. However, I am curious as to the official policy on taking care of yourself. Ma'am, do you think Commander Spock or Doctor McCoy would be the ones to ask?"
Nia froze in her seat and then slowly turned to look at Michaels, one eyebrow arched high in reproach. "You wouldn't…"
"Wanna bet?" Michaels gave up on decorum. She didn't think would care as much anyway, not in this situation.
Nia glanced longingly at her PADD.
Michaels pushed herself up from the desk. "I suppose I'll go ask one of them now. Do you think the Commander is in the mess hall by now?"
Growling, Nia stood up from her chair and took off her lab coat. "Bite me, Michaels." She snapped and stormed out of the lab, head held high.
It came to pass, that Nia did not regret breaking for dinner. The few times she'd spent the evening meal in the mess hall, Christine and Jenkins had sat with her. This evening though, she sat at a full table, one that seemed to exponentially grow as what looked to be the whole alpha shift showed up in the mess hall. And sat with her.
When she first arrived, neither Christine nor Jenkins were in sight. Nia just grabbed her meal from a replicator, and sat down at an empty table.
Within minutes, Chekov and Sulu had joined her. Unsurprisingly, the two started ragging on Nia for various things. The favorite was that she was swiftly becoming the ship's new mascot and insisted that she should start wearing more brown and attach a tail to her lab coat. Or that she should start walking on her knuckles like a chimp.
To this she responded "Maybe you are right. I could begin behaving like your Poe's famous orangutan and start pulling scalps off in amazing feats of strength."
Sulu looked worried, while Chekov grinned. "Aye," the Russian lad said. "But then that orangutan was also able to throw bodies. It seems Sulu more fits that role than you, no?"
She decided to be mature and stuck her tongue out at him. She regretted the move when the young man stared at the bright fuchsia muscular hydrostat and continued staring at her mouth when it disappeared.
"Your tongue is pink." Chekov stated, a little baffled.
Sulu coughed uncomfortably.
Thankfully, Nia was saved from responding by another woman deciding to join the group. Nia had seen her before, but not yet had the chance to meet her, this Lieutenant Uhura.
"I felt the sisterly need to save you from the boys." The dark skinned woman said after introducing herself. She settled down next to Nia.
"Don't believe her." Yet another voice piped up. "She just wants the chance to practice her Paladian on you."
Nia looked up at the speaker in surprise as he pulled a small table and a set of chairs over to connect with the rest of the group. She recognized him, had met him when she first arrived on the ship. It wasn't entirely standard procedure, but was still common for captains to greet guests on their starships.
"Captain." She greeted. What was he doing? The captain has a separate mess, doesn't he? Nia noticed none of the other crewmembers seemed particularly surprised at his antics, though Lt Uhura discreetly rolled her eyes.
"Decided to eat with the commoners?" Uhura asked cheekily.
Her question clearly took him by surprise and he grinned at her. "Of course. How else would I keep the crew from ganging up on our special guest?" He gestured to the others at the table.
"Oh, so you are being chivalrous, Captain?" Nia asked. She caught the look Uhura sent her way.
"Absolutely, Doctor."
Nia wasn't sure what to think of the smirk he wore as he said that.
A throat cleared and Nia realized the captain wasn't the only one who sat at the table. "Doctor McCoy!" Nia said in surprise.
"Sargent." He responded with a nod.
The captain was surprised. "You two know each other, Bones?"
"She's a frequent visitor of the medbay." The CMO told him dryly.
Nia protested. "I'm not a frequent visitor. It has been at least four days since my last visit."
"And your last sparring session with Lt. Sulu."
Kirk came to a realization. "Oh, you're the one who has started sparring with Sulu?"
Nearly groaning, Nia nodded. Was there anyone on the ship that hadn't heard about that? McCoy was telling the truth, though. It had been four days. "Say, Sulu. Are you available to throw me around tomorrow?"
"Missing the smell of the mat?"
Nia opened her mouth to deliver what she hoped to be a cutting comeback when "Scotty!" was hollered in her ear.
Jumping, she turned to glare at the back of the captains head as the man in question waved down his chief engineer.
Once the Scottish engineer joined them, conversations broke out as they usually does in large groups, and eventually Nia found herself turning to the woman next to her.
"So, are you a linguist?" She casually asked.
Smiling, Uhura nodded. "I am." The lieutenant dropped her use of Standard and was speaking to Nia in Paladian.
Nia's eyebrows rose in pleasant surprise. "The Northern dialect too? Most Terrans find the Southern to be andbe an easier one to master."
"I enjoyed the challenge and have not yet attempted the Southern dialect." Uhura paused. "I take it you are from the Northern continent?"
Nia nodded. "Yes, I am."
"I have not been to Palad. Is it quite different from Earth?"
Shrugging, Nia held up a hand and tilted it side to side in a way Henry had done frequently. "So so. Palad does not have as wide a variety of climates as Earth, and is generally much cooler – "
"See, Bones. Girl-talk can span the species."
Nia looked up just in time to see 'Bones' roll his eyes and shake his head. Then the captain turned to Nia.
"Don't you know it is rude to speak in language not everyone in your company can understand?"
Nia was really beginning to despise that smirk. She narrowed her eyes. "I'm Paladian, Captain. I was not raised on human rules of etiquette. However, I was made to believe that interruptions are also considered rude?"
From the corner of her eye, she could see Chekov and Sulu turning away from them as if to hide their faces. Nia couldn't see Uhura, so she had no idea as to the woman's reaction and McCoy and Scotty were carefully watching. Well McCoy might have been carefully watching, but Nia couldn't tell with that scowl. Scotty was watching like them like a woman watches soap operas, eager for the next eruption in drama.
Kirk went carefully still, obviously rethinking over the conversation, trying to prevent what could be a cultural faux pas. "Yes, yes they are. In social settings though, some rules of etiquette are relaxed."
Nia raised an eyebrow. "So this" she gestured to the mess hall "is a social setting?"
He let loose an almost unnoticeable sigh of relief. "This is about as social as it gets." He grinned at her.
"Is it?" She looked around as if in wonder then looked back at the captain. "Thank you for informing me, Captain." She nodded her head primly and turned to continue eating.
"Not a problem, Doctor." The man said.
Nia glanced at him as he started eating. He obviously had not read her file and thought she was unaccustomed to human mannerisms. Apparently, he hadn't been paying attention when she addressed Sulu in a very human manner. She wondered how far she could push his buttons, without getting herself in some deep trouble. The captain did have quite a reputation…
McCoy suddenly asked, "What is that you're eating?"
Everyone at the table looked at Nia's plate as she paused mid bite. She carefully chewed and swallowed before answering "It's a type of Paladian white fish, a creamed root, and honey. It's not as flavorful nor does it quite have the same high fat content coming from a replicator, but it is good enough."
"High fat content? I guess you aren't trying to watch your figure." Uhura said.
Kirk gave Uhura a baffled look before he leaned closer to Nia. "She means that you aren't worried about becoming overweight, as a significant amount of human women are."
She nodded, before turning and smiling at Uhura. "Actually I am trying to watch my figure. I have a faster metabolism and would rather not look like a stick." She told Uhura in Paladian.
The other woman frowned for moment. Then her eyes went wide as she tipped her head back to laugh. It seemed Uhura had caught on, like Chekov and Sulu. Scotty was still watching them, and McCoy still scowling.
Like a wave, Nia felt suddenly exhausted. The long days in the lab felt like they were catching up with her, and she was all too happy to scrape up the last of her meal.
Finished, she stood from her chair. "I will see you tomorrow, Sulu. At the usual time?" The man nodded and she grinned at the group "Have a pleasant evening."
Walking away from the table, she heard the captain say "She must not have been on Earth long before boarding the Enterprise."
Nia was pretty sure it was McCoy who snorted in response.
A/N I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far: QHJumper, Brooklyn, forestreject, England101, randomreader19, CalligraphersNib, and MaGiCaL MoOn. I appreciate it :)