"I can't believe I agreed to this," her husband grumbled.

Jamie chuckled, "Hey, Bonesy. Buckle up." He rolled his eyes at her but didn't say anything else.

It took Jamie, Scotty, Chekov and the engineering team a couple months to put the ship back together and the Enterprise was as good as new; better considering the upgrades that Scotty and Jamie added. The senior staff stayed the same, with the addition of Gaila as assistant science officer, she'll be the chief if Spock doesn't show.

Sulu turned and looked at her, "Firing thrusters and impulse engines at your command, ma'am."

Chekov smiled, "Veapons systems and shields on standby."

Uhura spoke from the communications station, "Dock control reports ready, Captain." Jamie smiled and sat in the command chair.

"Scotty, how we doin'?" she asked after hitting the comm down to engineering.

Her friend responded quickly, "Dilithum chambers at maximum, Captain." Jamie smiled as she heard him tell someone –Keenser, if she had to guess- to get down off of something.

"Mister Sulu, prepare to engage thrusters." He acknowledged her orders just as Spock stepped off the turbolift.

"Permission to enter the bridge, Captain?" the Vulcan asked.

Jamie smiled, "Permission granted, Commander." Spock was here! He had disappeared on her for a while and Jamie had to entertain the idea of Scotty or Sulu being first officer.

"As you have yet to select a first officer, respectfully I would like to submit my candidacy. Should you desire I can provide character references." Spock must've been reading her mind because he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Jamie smirked, "Took you long enough. It would be my honor, Commander." He took his seat at the science station as Jamie ordered Sulu to take them out.

She looked over at her husband, "Admit it, Bones. This is pretty awesome."

He smiled, "I'm not admitting to anything." Jamie chuckled.

Their first official mission as the crew of the Enterprise was to take medical supplies to Makus III. It wouldn't have been so bad, except they were given a babysitter in the form of Federation High Commissioner Ferris.

Everything was going smoothly until they came across Murasaki 312. It was an unexplored quasar-like formation. Ferris had a bitch-fit about keeping on schedule. Jamie informed him that she had standing orders to study any unusual phenomena, this qualified. Spock took command of the shuttle Galileo, with him was Bones, Scotty, Lieutenants Boma, Gaetano, Latimer and Yeoman Rand. She pouted at Bones before they left, "First away mission on my ship and I'm babysitting a cranky commissioner."

"Captain, I lost them. Their last transmission was about being off-course then they cut out," Uhura informed her.

Jamie looked at her youngest crew member, "Chekov, scan for them."

He shook his head, "I'm getting nothing. Zhe scanners are blank, Keptin. Ionization iz disrupting all systems."

Ferris chimed in from behind her, "This is what I was worried about, we can't afford this kind of delay." Jamie had a retort on the tip of her tongue but Uhura saved her from saying something to Ferris.

"Captain, there's a M Class planet in the middle of that thing. Taurus II."

The young captain nodded, "Sulu?"

The pilot punched commands into his station, "On it, ma'am." Jamie ordered Uhura to keep checking for communications from the surface.

"Nothing, Captain," the communications officer told her. Come on, sweetheart, help us out. Jamie knew he couldn't hear her thought but Spock might hear Ny; crazy Vulcan bonds. Jamie ordered the shuttle bay to prep for a visual search and rescue.

Ferris opened his big mouth, "You think that'll work?" She honestly had no idea but she wasn't telling him that.

"I won't stop until the last possible second," she told him.

Ferris glared at her, "Not one second longer, Captain. Is that understood? Because if it isn't, I suggest you look up Starfleet Regulation Book nineteen, Section four-thirty-three, paragraph twelve. Despite your very short career, you have a reputation for neglecting protocol." She couldn't believe his nerve. She knew the regulation that his was referring to; it was the regulation concerning the ability of ranking Federation officials to give direct orders to Starfleet officers.

"I'm aware of the regulations and I know about your authority. Most of my reputation is crap but the one thing that remains true: I never give up on my people."

Twenty-four hours rolled by but they hadn't found anything yet. Jamie was not giving up on them yet, Bones, Scotty and Spock were all just a stubborn as she was; they'd die before they quit. Her husband and her brothers are not the guys who give up, even when persistence is no longer 'logical'. Ferris pulled her from her thoughts.

"In twenty-four hours, I will invoke my authority and order this ship to resume it's heading to Makus Three."

Jamie shook her head, "I love the optimism, Commissioner. I have faith in my people." It was one of the few things she truly believed in.

The next day, Ferris made good on his threat, "You're out of time, Kirk." It killed her to agree with him but there were millions of people counting on the supplies they were carrying. Ferris didn't have to rub it in, "It grieves me to say that me must call off the search for your missing crew. Mister Spock in particular was an irreplaceable officer…"

"Is," Jamie cut him off.

"Excuse me, Captain?"

She looked up at him from her chair, "Commander Spock is an irreplaceable officer. I'm not writing his obituary yet. As much as it pains me, you're right, we're out of time. Mister Chekov, set course for Makus Three. Mister Sulu, full impulse until we're out of the system." They both looked at her, "I know what you're thinking guys, but we're out of time. None of the crew on that shuttle would want people to suffer or die because of them, Bones and Spock, especially." They both nodded and followed her orders.

"I take no pleasure in abandoning your missing crew but there are…"

Jamie cut Ferris off, "Millions counting on those supplies, I am well aware of that, Commissioner. Just do me a favor and don't talk to me about my crew." She was so sick of him that it wasn't even funny. Jamie was thinking of ways to get rid of him without getting in a bunch of trouble.

"Keptin, one of zhe shuttles was just hijacked from the bay." She looked at Chekov, this is just what she needs today.

"Uhura, where are…?" Jamie stopped when she realized that the communications station was empty. She knew exactly what her friend was up too. She really should've thought of it first. "Sulu, turn us around." He chuckled and got to work on steering the ship back the way they came.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Kirk?" Ferris was such a pain in her ass, if Bones was here, he'd hypo his into next week for her.

"Lieutenant Uhura has commandeered a shuttle to go after our missing crew herself. I'm not leaving her out here too." Ferris huffed and glared at her.

"Commandeered my ass, she stole a shuttle. I'll have her commission for this. I demand that you continue on your assigned mission. I have authority here according to Starfleet regul…"

"Are you really quoting regs at me on my bridge? Okay. Starfleet Regulation Article seven, Section twenty-three, lines eighty-nine through ninety-two state that 'In the event of the reassignment of command on a starship by a Starfleet Commissioner due to extraneous circumstances not involving dereliction of duty by the ship's captain, said captain reserves the right, should subsequent events dictate, to resume command if it becomes necessary to ensure the safety of the ship and it's crew.' We are down a first officer, the chief medical officer, the chief engineering officer, and the chief communications officer, not to mention two shuttles that are vital to the full functionality of this ship. I'm getting my crew back, if you want to stand over there and bitch about it, be my guest, but command of this vessel belongs to me." She turned in her chair and ignored him. Her PADD beeped:

Starfleet Network Subspace Text Communication
From: Sulu SP982-0134 KCG
To: Kirk-McCoy SC937-0176 CEC

Sulu: That was seriously badass.
Kirk-McCoy: I try.
Sulu: Don't worry about that douchebag. We got your back.
Kirk-McCoy: Thanks, Hiri
Sulu: Anytime.