Alright, I've done it again. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this pace up, but I have another chapter to post. The next may take a few more days than the updates have been as my poor, poor beta has been swamped by my writing madness on top of her busy life. I'm a few chapters ahead with this story, but try to update the next chapter when I have a new chapter written. As such, things have gotten interesting for my beta. Oh well. She loves me anyways (I hope).
As usual, please read and enjoy! Any and all comments/observations/critique/praise is welcomed.
While Nia was not a morning person, she had never been anti-mornings. If she had to get up early, then she got up. If she was only able to get a minimal amount of sleep, she dealt with it. Most mornings, she didn't grumble, didn't swear, and didn't lay in bed contemplating the ways to kill the person who invented morning alarms.
This morning was an exception, proven by the extreme amounts of Paladian and Standard swear words filling her bedroom when once again her alarm went off when it wasn't supposed to.
"Computer! What part of 'turn off all alarms' did you not compute?" Nia shouted as she yet again violently tossed her coverings aside. This time she was thinking about smashing the screen on her desk, wondering if the trouble she would get in would be worth it.
After a mere four hours of sleep, her alarm decided to go off at 0300 hours, instead of at 0630 hours like it was supposed to. Thinking it was just a minor glitch, Nia directed the computer to stop the alarm and rolled over to go back to sleep.
The alarm had gone off five times since then, at uneven intervals. She'd thought she was going to cry after the third time, but that emotion had quickly faded.
Smashing the computer might just be worth it. Stupid things weren't supposed to glitch like this. They were supposed to be reliable.
Noticing it was 0615, Nia realized she had no more time to try to sleep and getting ready for the day would be a better way to spend her time, instead of ripping apart the piece of junk on her desk.
She spent the extra time taming her hair. It was much lighter in the low humidity environment of the ship than it would be on Palad or in San Francisco, and as a result her hair had a tendency to frizz and no longer fit into her many hair clips as well as before. Most of the Paladian men and women that had joined Starfleet had decided to keep their hair short and groomed close to the scalp. As tempting as that was for Nia, she liked her long hair. Plus, she didn't want to have to worry about her scalp drying out like the others did. Her long hair helped keep those necessary oils at a healthy level.
By the time she meet Christine in the mess hall, her hair was more attractive than it had been in days. Nia had been careful to keep it presentable, but never put much more effort into it. It was a waste of time to do so on an everyday basis.
Determined to have a good day, Nia smiled brightly at Christine and the two waited together to get their breakfast, chatting lightly.
Nia couldn't be sure, but she believed the replicator malfunctioned. Christine later insisted that Nia got exactly what she selected, but the scientist refuses to believe it. Nia very clearly remembered selecting a thick cream and grain dish popular in the Southern Paladian continent, not the blue mass she received.
Trying to keep her day light and happy, Nia merely gritted her teeth when she had to select her meal twice more. Finally, she had something edible on her tray and she sat down. Her chair wobbled, but the occasional rocking wasn't worth the bother to find a new chair or to attempt to fix the legs of the chair.
The rest of breakfast was uneventful and relatively peaceful as she and the nurse conversed. When finished, the scientist walked her friend to the medbay, as usual though she didn't enter, and headed to her lab.
Being stopped on her way there by a woman from the engineering department was unexpected. What the woman had to say though, left Nia gapping in the hallway, absolutely shell-shocked.
"Ma'am," the woman said. "You need to stop."
"Stop what?" Nia innocently asked.
The woman fidgeted. "Stop toying with the men on this ship."
"What?"
"Look, no one cares if you are in a relationship with one of the crew, it's just no one appreciates you first toying with Commander Spock and now you are playing Ensign Chekov and Lieutenant Sulu against each other."
"Huh?" was the only response Nia could come up with.
"Maybe it's respectable to flirt with other males on Palad while you are in a relationship with one, but humans find it distasteful." With a nod of her head, the unknown woman took her leave and left Nia standing there.
What just happened? Nia wasn't sure how long she stood there, trying to wrap her brain around what the woman had just said to her, but all she knew was that it wasn't long enough for her to be successful. Still confused, Nia made her way to her lab. What a weird morning.
It was after her short flight and rather undignified splat that Nia decided her morning had transcended weird and was simply awful. She'd forgotten about the short set of stairs leading into the labs. When she pulled herself off the floor, she realized she was going to have to go back to the medbay. Her nose was surely broken.
By the end of the day, Nia was so frustrated that it seemed she couldn't hold on to a single thing. She was repeatedly dropping sample dishes, chemical bottles, and data tablets.
She'd been made fun of for having to go to the medbay, again for an injury. On a normal day, that wouldn't have mattered, but on this day it pissed her off to no end. Nia could handle McCoy's ribbing, but when both Jenkins and Michaels said the same exact thing Nia thought she was going to explode.
Her tests before lunch had the appearance of going well, despite the few broken slides resulting from her elbow knocking the box of them to the floor. She only mildly ranted to the others about her day, and didn't even mention the conversation with the woman in the hall, if it could even be called that. Nia was pretty sure she just dumbly stood there.
It was after lunch that her day started to match her morning.
None, none of her morning tests results proved to be consistent when she and Michaels ran them a second and third time. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.
It was evening when the captain came by the lab. Michaels had just been dismissed and the younger woman had eagerly fled the flustered Paladian.
At the moment the captain tapped on the entryway to announce his presence, Nia was engrossed in her work and was muttering to herself in Paladian.
"Dr. Sargent?" Kirk asked gently to avoid startling the scientist.
She jerked slightly anyways, clearly annoyed until she realized who was standing there. "Captain?"
"Do you have a moment? I have a matter I'd like to speak with you about."
She set down the PADD currently in her hands. "Yes, sir. I have the time."
"Now, I know you may not be totally familiar with human customs or even Starfleet rules," Suddenly the conversation was eerily similar to an earlier conversation "but it is important for personnel in relationships to file the proper documentation –"
Nia interrupted him. "Yes, captain, I am aware."
That surprised Kirk. If she was aware, then was she knowingly ignoring the directive? He decided to just ask the question.
"Then why hasn't the correct documentation been filed for your own relationship?"
Nia had no idea what in the world he was talking about. She stared at him baffled, until she asked "Captain, does this line of questioning have anything to do with the rumors I have heard circulating?" Oh dear, if he was asking if she had a relationship with the commander…
That was an odd way to put it. Kirk was confused and figured there must have been something lost in translation. "I suppose it does, though it isn't really a rumor when you tell Commander Spock who then tells me. And I believe Lieutenant Sulu knows what I'm talking about."
Instead of the reaction he was expecting, Nia's eyes grew impossibly large.
When she continued to stare at him, mouth parted in a small 'o', Kirk finally asked "I believe I was told his name was Matt?"
Her face took several seconds to change and when it did, all the blood drained from her face. Then, as fast as the blood drained it rose again turning her face a brilliant pink. It continued deepening until her face was almost magenta. She set her head in her arms and started to laugh.
Surprised, Kirk just stood there.
"Dr. Sargent?"
She finally lifted her head. "I'm sorry, sir. This day has been more than a little odd, and this – to put it in a human way – is the icing on the cake."
"Were you trying to keep the relationship a secret?"
She shook her head. "No sir."
It suddenly dawned on him. "Did you tell Commander Spock you were in a relationship?"
"I haven't spoken with Commander Spock in four days."
"That isn't an answer."
"No, I did not."
Kirk rocked back on his heels. "Are you in a relationship with someone named Matt?"
"No, I am not." Nia wasn't in a relationship with anybody and if it weren't for the fact she had a strong survival instinct, she might try to act out the sudden urge to throttle a certain eavesdropping Vulcan!
"Is there a reason I should believe you over my first officer?"
Oh great, now Nia's inadvertently called the first officer a liar. A Vulcan too, someone who hads no logical reason to lie.
"Captain, seriously, I'm not lying to you. Nor am I saying that Commander Spock is lying to you. The fact of the matter is, I was having a private conversation with Crewman Michaels that was apparently overheard." She took a breath. "Now, sir, did the commander tell you I told him, or did you assume and he let you?"
Kirk thought back on the conversation and knew she had him. He looked her over. "You know him that well?"
She rolled her eyes, caught his surprise at the move, and nearly rolled her eyes again. "Sir, have you read my file?"
"Yes, you're a Paladian scientist and closely connected to many of the settlers we are sent to rescue – "
She cut him off. "How long have I lived on Earth?"
"Ok, so I didn't read the whole thing." He admitted.
"Thought so. I've lived on Earth for nine years. Five of which I was married to a human man. Prior to that my mother made of study of humans and Earth culture, along with other humanoid cultures." She informed him. She had one eyebrow raised in challenge.
Kirk shifted uncomfortably. He had definitely missed all of that. "So that dinner in the mess hall…?"
"Yes, I did allow you to make yourself look like an idiot." Her smirk was just a tad mischievous. "Actually Captain, I was planning on dragging it out, but after today I give. My brain is too fried to keep it up now." She let out a sigh and ran her hand over her once neat hair. Now, several locks hung down around her face while the rest was still pulled back.
"So, you had a bad day?" He sat down on a stool across from her.
"I had a woman come up to me and tell me to stop toying with the men on this ship since I was in a relationship with one of the crew."
The blonde man snorted then shook his head. Still chuckling, he said "I can see how that could make a day interesting."
"You don't know the half of it." She gestured to the supplies laid out on the table. "None of my research today is panning out. None of it. It is all producing contrary results and none of my experimental results are proving consistent."
"And your testing methods have been consistent?"
"Yes! I have all my steps written out and collect data at each step of the way, both written and audio format. The only thing consistent is my control."
He frowned. "So then the problem is with the samples you are testing? How many variables are you looking at?"
She almost glared at him. "Sir, I'm only testing one variable. To alter more than one would significantly skew the results."
He smirked at her. Pointing to the data screen behind her, he asked "Then why did you write that?"
She turned slowly and looked. On the data screen, she'd written the variables she was testing. Variables.
"Sh- Sugar!"
Kirk started laughing. Nia glared at him.
"I suppose Paladians aren't taught the scientific method?"
"Captain, I respectfully request that you can it."
"Hm, do you even know what that means?"
"Uh yeah, don't you?"
"Not really. It's an old human saying. Only a nonhuman would take the time to actually learn what it meant."
"Sir," Nia groaned. "I have a lot of work to redo."
He grinned. "So then you better get to it."
They both stared at each other.
"Are you going to help, or something else productive, or are you going to leave?"
"That was awfully close to an order. Aren't I the Captain?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You can't seriously expect me to answer that."
"This is true. So, you need help? I don't see an assistant anywhere." He looked around.
Nia blushed. "I dismissed Crewman Michaels. My day really didn't help my mood."
"Or your nose." There was that dang smirk again.
She gingerly touched the bandage he was referencing. Dr. McCoy had requested she wear it for the day. "I fell."' He opened his mouth and she held up her hand to stop him. "Please don't make fun of me. My ego is already limping, no reason to kick it when it's down."
He could see the reasoning in that. "Alright, are you going to show this lowly captain how to help you with the testing, or are you going to kick me out?"
"Have you done anything like this before?" She asked suspiciously.
He shrugged. "Ever heard of the Kobayashi Maru?"
She snorted. "The unbeatable test? Yeah, I've heard of it."
"I hacked it."
"Good enough."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little interaction between Kirk and Nia. I certainly did.
Many, many, many thanks to QHJumper, MaGiCaL MoOn, CrazyFoxyCookie, forestreject, and England101 for reviewing. I love your words of encouragement, so please keep them coming.
Thank you, also to everyone who has added this story to their favorites or alerts. That stands out to me too.