"Someone kill me now," Bones muttered. Jamie chuckled and looked at him.
"It's not that bad, Bones." They were standing in the shuttle bay preparing to board a shuttle to the USS Republic for the next six weeks. They got back from their break and found themselves scheduled to go out on a training cruise. Jamie thought it would be cool to spend time on a ship, of course, she's not the one who's afraid of space. "You knew this was coming eventually, the good news is that you won't be alone. Me, Brax, Gaila, Glorak, Sulu and Uhura will be right here with you. Hell, this is Mitchell's fourth tour, his second on this ship; he was assigned to the Republic last year."
Jamie knew that Bones didn't like space or spaceships but he was determined not to get left behind. She was destined for a ship, maybe even her own command one day; he told her that he wanted to be with her when that happened.
"You'll be fine, doc," Sulu said from behind them. Pike caught her eye before they got on the shuttle; he was going with them as well.
"That's easy for you two to say, you're both crazy. Do you know the kinds of things that could happen to you out there?" he asked.
Jamie chuckled, "Yes, we do know. Me and Sulu both lived on colonies and Braxim's people had to escape their home. We know that it's not all fun and games up there. I know that more than most, I was born in space, remember." Whatever Bones was going say, he stopped himself and nodded.
"I still don't have to like it," he mumbled.
She smiled and touched his hand, "That's true, you don't have to like it. If it makes you feel better, I promise that I won't let anything bad happen to you."
He glanced at her, "Only a little better."
The group was split up and ordered to board the shuttles, after a few minutes they were in the air.
"Jim, look." Bones was actually looking out the window at the Starbase and the ships.
"That's awesome," she whispered as they looked at the ships. It didn't take long to get to the their home for the next month and a half. Pike assembled them in the shuttle bay as a man his age with captain's stripes on his sleeves walked into the room. The captains had a quick conversation before the man turned to the group of thirty- six third and fourth year cadets.
"I'm Captain Rollin Bannock. For those of you that I don't know, welcome. For those of you that I do know, welcome back. The next month and a half will have each of you training on this ship and learning from my crew in your respective areas of expertise. Piece of advice I give to everyone from the newest cadet to my first officer, Commander Andrade, is that there is always something else you can learn. Captain Pike has assured me that you represent the best of the academy, we will see. Your duty and berthing assignments have all been sent to you, the returning cadets will assist in getting everyone settled. Those who are assigned to Gamma shift will report tonight, the rest of you will report tomorrow. That is all, unless Pike has something for you, you're all dismissed." Everyone glanced at Pike who gave the okay to leave.
Gary walked over to their little crew, "You guys can come with me. I have a friend who works with the quartermaster, so we're all together in crew quarters." Jamie wondered how they all ended up together on the Republic, it turned out to be a mix of their GPA's and Pike asking Admiral Barnett, who took over as Commandant for Admiral Tullsey.
Jamie was bumped into from behind, "I am sorry I bumped into you. I should have watched where I was going." The boy said in Russian. He was right but didn't think it warranted an apology. Jamie recognized him as the Russian wonder kid and introduced herself.
"It is alright. My name is Jamie, what's yours?" He flashed a bright smile at her question. She doubted that people understood him most of the time, his Russian accent was thick when he spoke Standard.
"I am Pavel Chekov. You know Russian?"
She chuckled, "Yea, I know Russian, her too." She pointed at Uhura, who nodded and waved. "Guys, this is Pavel Chekov." She told him all their names as they stepped onto the turbolift to their quarters.
"Jim, how old is that kid?" Bones whispered in her ear.
"Fifteen."
Gary was a God. Lower ranking crew members ended up in rooms that held four people at a time. Crew quarters were also co-ed, being comfortable just meant getting roomed with people you know. Jamie, Bones, Brax and Glorak were in the same room, Uhura, Sulu, Gary and Gaila were in the room next door. Chekov was supposed to be in a room with three cadets that he didn't know. Jamie doesn't know how Gary talked the quartermaster into letting the kid stay in their room but that's exactly what he did. Not that it mattered, Gary would just sleep with Gaila anyway.
They all dumped their gear in the rooms. Jamie took off the top to her uniform and lay on the bed.
Glorak looked at her, "Are you going to stay here?"
Jamie nodded at her Tellarite friend, "I'm gonna take a nap before shift starts." Bones decided to stay with her, Glorak went with Gary, Gaila, and Chekov on a tour of the ship; Brax was already asleep.
"You could've gone with them. You don't have to work until tomorrow," she told her boyfriend.
He kissed her neck, "I'd rather stay." Jamie chuckled and snuggled into his chest after setting her alarm to wake her up an hour before shift. There were three shifts on a ship; Alpha was the 'day' shift, Beta was the 'evening' shift and Gamma was the 'night' shift. Bones, Glorak, Gaila and Chekov were all Beta. Jamie, Uhura, Sulu and Brax were all Gamma and Gary was the only one on Alpha but that's because he was ahead of them and the captain liked him.
Jamie and Braxim woke with the alarm, she wasn't surprised to find that Bones wasn't asleep; he was reading on his PADD. "Good read?"
He nodded, "You know that neural grafting project I want to start? This is just some research in that."
She nodded and smiled, "Such a smarty-pants. It's really sexy."
He rolled his eyes, "Don't you start with me, Jim. You don't have enough time to finish it. Get dressed." She kissed him, then hopped outta bed.
While on the ship, they all wore the standard duty uniform. She got up and pulled hers from her bag, Jamie looked at it before putting it on, a command gold uniform dress with sleeves and lieutenant stripes. Jamie, Braxim and Glorak all rated stripes for A.T.T. and Bones because he was already a doctor.
"You're a lucky guy, McCoy." Jamie looked at Brax and chuckled, this wasn't the first time she's changed clothes in the same room as him.
"I know I am. She looks good in gold. Then again, Jim always looks good."