Chapter 3
Well, this is it. Short but sweet, hopefully... I loved writing this and will have to come up with my next one. Ideas anyone?
It was the Monday of their last week of shore leave. Jim had made great progress in his recovery in the last few days. Tomorrow the doctor was going to sign off on his medical release and Jim would be free to enjoy what little was left of his shore leave. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do with it. Dr. McCoy was adamant that he not go too far, in case of a relapse. He had originally planned a road trip, but that couldn't be accomplished in five days anyway. That kind of left things up in the air, but it seemed that providence was stepping in. The Admiralty felt guilty, for keeping him in meetings the first week and then him being sick the next week, that they were planning to take him to an expensive restaurant Tuesday night to "celebrate his release and fatten him up." Bones made plans with him to go to Fiorella's Pizzeria for lunch on Wednesday. Thursday, Uhura and Spock (mostly Uhura) were going to drag him off to multiple art museums and then a jazz concert. Jim figured that would leave him a few day to laze about and read before he shipped out again.
xx
The rest of Jim's week was an unmitigated disaster.
xx
Tuesday night, Jim all spiffed up in his dress uniform, was picked up and chauffeured to a very expensive restaurant. The admirals immediately voiced their objections when Jim ordered a steak in a well renowned seafood restaurant. Admiral Morrow being the most vocal, vociferously complained, "You don't insult the chef by ordering a steak in a fish place! Broaden your experience and try some seafood," thinking that Jim's inexperience had led to his decision. Pink in the cheeks, Jim tried to explain, in the most diplomatic way possible with an admiral, that he was allergic to most seafood. Then it was Admiral Morrow's turn to pinken and awkwardly apologize. The evening was only made worse when Jim suddenly started choking and went into anaphylactic shock because his steak had been cooked on the same grill as scallops. As the emergency medical response team was jamming a hypo of epinephrine into Jim, he heard one of the admirals say, "Well, this evening was a major blunder." Jim had another word for it but he didn't think it was appropriate.
xx
Wednesday afternoon Bones laughed his butt off at Jim's expense, "Only you Jim, orders a steak and has an allergic reaction. Seriously though, you should carry an EpiHypo with you."
"Hey, it was totally not my fault," he defended, "but it was almost worth it to see the looks on their faces. We should be getting a few cushy assignments to make up for it," he laughed.
"Kid," McCoy said, shaking his head, "you're perspective is so screwed up. I don't even know where to begin."
Jim just smiled at him as they walked into the pizzeria.
xx
Four hours later, Jim was not smiling anymore. He was back at his apartment, throwing up in the toilet.
"I can't believe it," McCoy announced, "you're not having a relapse, you've got food poisoning! In this day and age, who gets food poisoning anymore? You know between last night and this afternoon, you could clean up if you get yourself a good lawyer," McCoy joked.
"Not funny Bones," Jim said, glaring at the good doctor.
"Ok, ok...now that I know what's wrong, I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy," Bones said, pressing a hypo to Jim's neck. It was a testament to how dreadful Jim felt when he didn't flinch or make a comment. Leonard felt awful, Jim's shore leave was turning into one calamity after another, and he had no idea how to fix it.
xx
Thursday, Jim tried to back out of his afternoon with Spock and Uhura, but she wouldn't take no for an answer and she could be very persuasive, a.k.a. "scary." So, Jim found himself being dragged from one museum to another. Currently they were walking through an exhibition of musical instruments. It was obscene how many different types of keyboard instruments there were. Harpsichord, Virginals, Spinet, Clavicytherium, Ottavino, Clavichord, pianoforte, etc. The list went on and on and Spock felt the need to discuss the merits of each one. Jim felt like his brains were going to ooze out of his ears if they didn't leave soon. If he was being honest, he had found the drum section interesting. Jim had once played the acoustic drums in his sordid youth, but that was the extent of his musical appreciation. "Hmm," he wondered, "did playing music vids count?"
Uhura must have noticed either the inattentive look that Jim wore or his brains leaking out, because she suggested they leave and go to the Starfleet Botanical Gardens. "We could take a nice leisurely walk before the concert," she suggested.
He agreed. "Anything was better than this museum," thought Jim.
When they exited the museum, they all hesitated on the walkway. Cool, dank air hit them in the face, it was apparent that it had rained recently. The walkways were wet, and puddles had collected here and there.
"Perhaps we should just go get a drink before the concert," Uhura suggested, "in a nice, dry and warm Bar?"
"Sounds good to me," Jim replied.
"I am in agreement," said Spock.
They found a place close to the concert hall and as they were getting ready to enter, Uhura stopped suddenly.
"Oh, I dropped my glove," she said, looking around for the missing object.
Jim spied it lying a few meters away. "Here it is, I've got it." Just as he was bending down to pick up the glove, a gust of wind lifted the fabric awning above them and pushed the collected rain water off the edge and right onto Jim's bent back. Spock had grabbed Uhura and pulled her out of the way in time. Wide eyed and dumbfounded, they both stood there gaping at Jim, still bent over and sopping wet. He slowly stood up and turned around. His dress coat was soaked and water was dripping down his face. He walked over to the astounded couple, handed Uhura her glove and said, "I thank you for the lovely day, but I believe I will forgo the rest of the evening activities and take my leave now. Good evening."
Uhura and Spock found they could do nothing more than nod their heads and stare with disbelief as Jim turned and walked away, both thinking the same thing, "How could one person be so unlucky?"
xx
Friday, Scotty came to visit.
"Mr. Scott," Jim said shaking his head, "I know everyone is trying to help me salvage what is left of my shore leave, but all this help is killing me. If one more person..."
"Captain," Scotty interrupted, "I've heard all about the lamentable episodes, believe me, I have just the thing. Trust me laddie."
Jim didn't have the heart to say no to his chief engineer.
Mr. Scott had immediately noticed how jumpy and wound up his captain was. The others just didnae understand him the way Scotty did. Their first stop was the Museum of Starfleet History.
James T. Kirk was enthralled. He had never been in this building before, even though it was right on the Presidio campus and he had walked by it numerous times in the past. It housed the most comprehensive collection of space vessels Jim had ever seen: pre-warp, post-warp, small cruisers, large cruisers, transports, and other UESN ships. It housed a large array of Dr. Zefram Cochrane's research on experimental fusion-powered warp theory and a model of his first ship, the Phoenix. There was even the first matter/antimatter drive.
Scotty just stood off to the side, hands clasped behind him and rocking front to back on his feet. He had a big self-satisfied grin on his face as he watched his captain wandering around like a kid in a candy shop.
After Jim had investigated every last square cm of the museum, he and Mr. Scott went off to a sandwich shop.
Leaning back in the booth, Jim let out a sigh. "Scotty, that was a great sandwich and this was by far the best day of my shore leave. Thank you," Jim said sincerely.
"Ach, think nothin' of it. Twas no trouble at all," he replied. "Besides, the fun's just beginning. Stick with me laddie."
"You have more planned Mr. Scott?"
"Aye Captain."
xx
xxx
It took two days for Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock, and Lt. Uhura to figure out where Mr. Scott had taken the Captain. When they did, they were furious. The three of them stormed into the engineering bay on the Enterprise, ready to tear into Scotty. It was the last day of shore leave and Jim had spent the whole weekend on the ship, helping Scotty in engineering. The captain was supposed to be relaxing, not being conscripted to labor away his last few days of shore leave!
They pulled up short when they heard music playing throughout the engineering bay. "Sweet Home Alabama" came on and they heard Jim yell from somewhere, "You heard the man Mr. Davies, turn it up!"
"Yes Sir!" Davies yelled back and the music cranked up louder.
They walked through engineering trying find Jim. All the people they encountered working, had a smile on their face, and were tapping hands and feet as they worked, obviously enjoying the music. The next song was Frankie Valli singing "I Love You Baby." Then came The Lovin Spoonful, "Do You Believe in Magic."
McCoy recognized the music, it was a mix Jim had made of his favorite 20th century music, most of them what might be considered love songs. "Build me up Buttercup" was playing now.
McCoy stopped one of the workers. "Ensign, where did y'all get this music from?" he asked.
"Oh, it's the captain's sir. He has a bunch of them that he plays depending on the mood he's in."
"The captain makes a habit of coming down to engineering with music?" Mr. Spock queried.
"Yes sir, Mr. Spock. All the time," the Ensign replied.
"And what mood would this music be indicative of?" asked Spock.
"A good mood sir, a very good mood," and he smiled a broad toothed grin.
"Thank you Ensign, that is all."
The Ensign nodded to the commander, "Yes sir," and walked away humming to the music.
They continued on their search for the captain. "You can't Hurry Love" was playing when they found Mr. Scott.
"Scotty!" The irate doctor yelled. "Just what in the blue blazes were you thinkin? Did you lose your mind man? I told you I wanted Jim to rest!"
"Aye, I know that Doctor, but I gave Jim what he needed, not what you wanted. He needed to spend some time with his love. This lady has calmed him down and picked up his spirits like no other cannae do."
"Mr. Scott," Spock inquired, "are you suggesting that the captain is down here wooing a female? In engineering? I find this highly inappropriate."
"Can it Spock," the doctor interjected, "I get it Scotty. The question is, did it work?"
Uhura looked on doubtfully. "I'd like to see this for myself."
"Aye, can do, follow me and I'll show ya." Scotty led the way over to where a pair of jean clad legs was sticking out from under a console. One leg was bent with the foot tapping to the beat. The chorus at the end of a song started and Jim began belting out, "Sha la la la la la la, la la la la Tee da," to a "Brown eyed Girl." Everyone in the engineering bay was smiling.
When he started singing "My Girl," McCoy rolled his eyes and kicked the captain in the leg. "Jim ya sound like a love-sick cow under there."
Jim immediately scooched out from under the console with a spanner in one hand, grease on his nose and a large smile on his face. "Bones! Spock! Uhura!" he greeted. "Have you come to party with us?"
"This looks like a grease party to me," McCoy replied with some disgust.
"Yeah it's great!" Jim enthused, "but later on we're meeting in Rec-Room Two for an air hockey challenge. That might be more up to your standards."
"All that time in space, getting on each other's nerves. And what do we do when shore leave comes along? We spend it together. Other people have families,"[1] McCoy observed.
"Other people, Bones. Not us," Jim corrected.
"Well in that case, count me in. I didn't plan on spending my last evening of shore leave on ship, but it sounds like fun. I'll bring the beer." McCoy had to admit to himself that Jim looked great.
"Spock and I will get some Chinese take-out and bring it," Uhura offered.
Jim's grin widened. "Sounds great. I'll see you all at seventeen hundred hours. Got to finish spiffing my girl up." Jim patted the console lovingly and scooted back under humming to "Daydream Believer."
Scotty motioned them out of ear shot.
"Well?"
"Ok Mr. Scott, I'll admit he looks pretty good. Maybe this wasn't such a dumb idea." The doctor admitted.
"Mr. Scott, are you inferring that the Enterprise is a woman that the captain is in love with? I find this highly irregular," Spock intoned.
"Absolutely," Scotty replied. "Although in this case it's a love triangle. He has to share her with me."
"Spock," McCoy explained, "humans have a long history of referring to ships as women. It's a tradition."
Spock raised an eyebrow. "That is illogical. Why would they do such a thing?"
"Ach, that's easy Mr. Spock. The captain and I, it's like we're married to the ship. We fight with her, forgive, love, hate, understand, anguish over, and give our soul to this ship. In return, she's our protector, comforter, and home," Scotty explained.
"Yes, I think I understand Mr. Scott," Spock replied introspectively, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
"So, when we're feeling a wee bit down in the dumps, there's no place the captain and I would rather be than here at home on the Enterprise. She fills a void within us that nothing else can." And so, with that new found understanding, they walked off to prepare for their evening activities, listening to Jim, happily singing in the background.
The End.
Thank you so much if you reviewed! I was very excited to get reviews on my first attempt at writing. A big pin-up of Jim for everyone! :)
[1] Star Trek V: The final Frontier (1989)