"This is my favorite part. 'To be, or not to be, that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die, to sleep, no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.
To die, to sleep; to sleep, perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause: there's the respect that makes calamity of so long life; for who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of despised love, the law's delay, the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin?
Who would these fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveler returns, puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know naught of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; and enterprises of great pith and moment, with this regard, their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action. Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons be all my sins remembered.'" Jamie smiled as she listened to Hikaru recite the line along with the actor in the performance they were watching.
Taking the Armstrong back to Earth gave the Enterprise a chance for some shore leave. With a little help from Barnett, Jamie snagged a few days off for her crew to relax. Shakespeare in the Park was something that has been around for centuries. Sitting on a blanket in the grass, Jamie was leaning back against Hikaru's chest as they watched the amateur performance of Hamlet.
"I love that part."
She smiled and whispered, "I can tell. No Hamlet nicknames, though." Jamie felt him chuckle against her back.
"Why?" She shifted in his arms so that she could look at him.
"They all died, babe," Jamie muttered.
Hiri kissed her behind the ear, "I know. It's a waste… Ophelia would've been a good one."
"Not really, she killed herself, Hiri."
"Good point. No Hamlet nicknames."
"Hey, Jim, have you seen the news feeds?" Bones asked her.
Jamie shook her head, "Nope. I mostly try to avoid them. Why?" He hit some commands on his PADD and slid it across the table to her.
"You and Sulu are the newest press target," Bones said. Jamie looked at the holo of her and Hiri walking down the street with his arm over her shoulder; the headline read 'Enterprise Captain dating Pilot?' Jamie quickly scanned the article.
"What the hell? It's not even a real story, just a bunch of conjecture," she muttered.
"It doesn't have to be a real story, kid. If I were you, I'd get with PR and make a statement. You and Sulu don't have anything to hide. You're both good at keeping your job separate from your relationship. But you need to get in front of the press before this all goes sideways and the brass transfers him away from you."
Jamie looked at her best friend, "Since when are you politically savvy?"
"I got stuck with this brat at the academy," he chuckled. "Turns out that even though she acts like an infant most of the time, she always knew what was going on around us. I paid attention." She reluctantly agreed with her best friend and pulled out her communicator to comm her boyfriend.
"You're scared."
Jamie rolled her eyes, "I'm not scared, I just don't like talking about myself."
"So talk about me," he kissed her temple. "You can tell everyone how amazing I am and how you couldn't live without me. Of course, you can go on and on about all my badass skills." She couldn't help herself, Jamie laughed.
"You're a goofball."
Hikaru nodded, "No shit, Sherlock. It's one of the many reasons you love me."
"I think you might be onto something, my dear Watson."
"Hmm, maybe you're Watson," he said.
Jamie shook her head, "No way. I'm Sherlock. I solve the mysteries and you're my sidekick."
"Sidekick, my ass," he said with a nudge.
"You know what, you're right. Sorry, Bones is Watson and you could be Irene Adler."
"No, and I'll give you two reasons. One, Irene is only in one of the original books. Two, she left Sherlock. I'd only leave if Starfleet made me... or I died. I can't control the first and I'ma fight like hell to prevent the second. How about this, we're both Sherlock?" he asked.
"Hmmm… two Sherlock's. That has possibilities. We're both beyond intelligent, badass, sexy. I can see it. I'm Sherlock and you're Holmes."
"Two parts of one amazing whole. Nice," Hiri smirked.
Jamie thought about it, "We could say that. In the interview, that we're parts of a whole. You and me, Bones, Spock, Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, even Carol. The Enterprise doesn't work without all of us. And part of what makes us who we are is how we interact with each other."
"See. There's that big beautiful brain I love so much. Nice work, Sherlock."
She pressed a soft kiss to his lips, "I do have my moments, Mister Holmes."
And once more with feeling. Their short leave came to an end and the Enterprise was back to their task of traveling to parts unknown. Jamie looked around her bridge as her crew worked,
"Lieutenant Uhura, whatcha got?"
The communications officer turned in her chair, "A distress call from the Starnes Expedition at the outpost on Triacus."
"Professor Matthew Starnes?" Jamie asked.
Uhura nodded, "Yes, Captain. You know him?"
"Yea, I had a life before the fleet," Jamie sighed. "Best professor I ever had, save Pike. He specializes in geography and archeology. The expedition on Triacus is a planetary survey, last I checked. How long until we get there, Chekov?"
The young officer turned to look at her, "At our current speed, ve vill arriwe in tvelwe hours."
"If we jump to warp seven?" she asked.
He did the math in his head, "Three hours, Keptin."
She looked at her helmsman, "Mister Sulu, if you'd be kind."
"Aye, Captain," he replied. Jamie watched as he hands flew along the console and the ship sped up. Most people wouldn't notice how fast the ship was going but Jamie could feel the warp core like it was her pulse, always there even if you're not paying attention.
Jamie took a deep breath as she walked out of the cave she was in with Spock. She couldn't put words to the feeling but it was beyond being uneasy. The feeling nearly overwhelmed her but the feeling wasn't her own, it was like someone –or something- wanted her to feel that way and she had to get out. Spock followed her and while he didn't show it, she knew he was worried.
"Jamie?"
"I'm fine, Spock. I… I just don't know what that was. Grab the data and let's get back to the ship. I wanna check on the children."
When Jamie, Bones and Spock beamed to the surface, they found the bodies of the scientists as well as the group's five children, who were alive. It was odd to her that they seemed to be okay with their parent's deaths, asking her to play and running around as Jamie and the officers she called down buried the adults.
Bones thought the avoidance was a psychological defense against trauma. It made think about her own attitude about her parents. Dealing with George's death was something that she's had to do her whole life but the idea of dealing with Winona's would be different. Even though they weren't like a normal mother/daughter but they were still family. She glanced at Spock as they were beamed back to the ship and she thought about his mother too. She could see from his older counterpart that Lady Amanda's presence in his life was a motivator and her death would play a role in how her Spock dealt with life.
After checking in with the bridge, Jamie went to the arboretum to check on the kids. Chapel was sitting with them as they had ice cream. "That looks good. What flavor is it?"
Tommy, Professor Starnes' son, smiled, "Pistachio and chocolate."
"Hmm, I should try that," Jamie said as she sat across from him. Chapel motioned that she'd get Jamie some while the captain talked to the children. In addition to Tommy, there was Mary, Don, Steve and Ray. "Did you guys like it on Triacus?"
They all shook their heads and Tommy looked at her, "It was stupid. Parents like stupid things."
She smiled, "Yea, sometimes they do." Jamie kept probing but they weren't talking. When she seemed to be getting something out of them, they ran around chanting the word 'busy.' After a while, Chapel took them to their quarters. Acting on instinct, Jamie had security posted on them.
Working in her office with Spock and Bones, they figured out from the data that the feeling she had in the cave was the same one that the scientists had before some force made them commit ritual suicide. That's also when she realized that they were moving.
"We're in orbit, Jim," Bones said. She turned to one of her consoles and pulled up the readings from the bridge.
"No, Bones, we're moving. I have no idea where we're going, though. I'm… I'm locked out. Spock?"
She watched as he entered his codes with the same result. They all looked at each other before sprinting on the bridge. They arrived as the children are chanting and a being called Gorgan appeared. The creature all but ignored her and the crew and issued orders to the children before his disappeared.
Jamie looked at her officers, "Sulu, set course for Starbase Four. Uhura, contact Command and fill them in."
Tommy looked at her with a smirk, "You're not in command anymore, Captain." Hiri hadn't budged and Uhura appeared to be having some kind of vision.
"Spock, send the message. Sulu, I gave you an order," she said but he didn't even move. It was like he wasn't even there, same with Chekov and the crew on the bridge. Jamie stepped closer to him and put her hand on his arm, "What do you see, Hikaru?" She hoped her touch and the use of his name would help her out, just a little.
"If I change course, we'll all be destroyed."
Everything goes a little hazy after that.
"What happened?" She looked at Spock, who still had an arm around her waist as they stood in the turbolift.
"I had to remove you from the bridge, Captain. It appears that Tommy has some form of power from the being. It affects your perception of everything around you. It's hold over me was no match for my logic."
Jamie nodded, "Of course not. You didn't save your girlfriend?" He gave her a look and she held up a hand, "I was kidding. Your first priority as first officer is the safety of the captain, I know. If we're gonna get the ship back, we gotta get to auxiliary control."
Man, nothing on the Enterprise is ever easy.
Jamie and Spock found Scotty and his officers under the children's influence too. They were forced to leave the room after the Scotsman got agitated so they didn't have to hurt her chief engineer.
"Keptin, I must place you and Mister Spock under arrest," Chekov said. This was getting out of hand.
Jamie sighed, "You've gotta be kidding me. Where'd you get that order, Ensign?"
"Starfleet Command," the wiz-kid told her.
She shared a look with Spock, "They're fake orders, Chekov." That's when he pulled a phaser on them and ordered her to go to the brig. "Russia, forgive me." Jamie disarmed the kid, who's a lot stronger than he looks, while Spock took down the security officers. "Take them to the brig, then meet me on the bridge." Spock nodded at her order and pointed the phaser at the three officers. She sprinted to the turbolift and stepped onto the bridge to find Tommy and Mary there hovering over the bridge crew. "This ends now."
Tommy shook his head, "You will understand."
"I'm not under your hold and if my people weren't, they wouldn't understand. And they wouldn't take you to Marcos Twelve," she told him.
"Gorgan is our friend, he promised. We will win," Tommy said.
She looked at the little boy, "Then why isn't he here? Why make you do his bidding? You don't make your friends do things like this. Summon him and let him tell me. What's he got to hide?" She glanced at Spock who played back the recording of the children chanting on the bridge. After a moment, Gorgan appeared.
"Who has summoned me?"
Jamie looked at the creature, "I did. It's time I took my ship back."
"You are not in control, I am," Gorgan said.
She glanced at her first officer, "Play the footage we found."
Spock nodded and played the footage of the children on Triacus, playing with their parents, followed by images of the parents lying dead, then by the headstones marking their graves. She watched as the emotions played on the children's faces. Jamie never thought she'd appreciate the sound of gut wrenching sobs but they were helping.
"Without followers, your power is useless," Spock told the being. Without the children, Gorgan morphed into a grotesque being with a face of drooping flesh.
Jamie knelt to Mary's level, "It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay."
As Gorgan disappeared, he began shouting "Death to you all!"
Jamie held the child in her arms as Mary wrapped her own arms tightly around Jamie's neck.
"We're… Captain, Marcos Twelve is dead ahead. How the hell…?" Hikaru asked. She breathed a sigh of relief that he sounded like himself.
"Get us to Starbase Four, Sulu. Then, all of you get your reliefs up here and get some rest," she ordered just as Doctor Grumpy stepped onto the bridge.
"Not that I want to see crying kids but this is a good thing, Jim," Bones said.
She nodded at her best friend, "You have no idea, Bonesy."
"In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon. And there were three little bears sitting on chairs. And two little kittens. And a pair of mittens. And a little toy house. And a young mouse. And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush. And a quiet old lady who was whispering 'hush'." Jamie put her fingers to her lips at the last part, earning a giggle from the children.
"Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light. And the red balloon. Goodnight bears. Goodnight chairs. Goodnight kittens. And goodnight mittens. Goodnight clocks. And goodnight socks. Goodnight little house. And goodnight mouse. Goodnight comb. And goodnight brush. Goodnight nobody. Goodnight mush. And goodnight to the old lady whispering 'hush'. Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere."
"Do another one, Captain Jamie."
She smiled, "Sorry, kids. It's my bedtime too. Get some sleep and we'll have pancakes for breakfast."
Don looked at her, "Chocolate chip?"
"Of course, we'll even put whipped cream on 'em and have some bacon." Bones was gonna complain at her for it, which was all the more reason for her to do it. The kids all smiled as she kissed the top of their heads and wished them goodnight. Jamie headed for the door but stopped in her tracks when she realized that she was being watched.
"You know Goodnight Moon by heart?" Hiri asked.
"Yes, I do." She linked her arm around his as they stepped into the turbolift, "Sam used to tell it to the kids on Tarsus." Jamie really missed her brother.
"What's that look?"
She shook her head, "Nothing."
"Liar. Tell me," he said as they walked into her quarters.
"I wonder what Sam would be like. I look at Tommy and he reminds me so much of my brother."
She doesn't talk about Sam or what happened a lot but Hikaru and Bones are usually the people she spills her guts too about the brother who gave his life protecting her and a bunch of kids.
Hiri smiled, "Close your eyes." She nodded and did as he asked, not sure where her boyfriend was going with this. "Hmm, your brother would be married with a hot, scientist wife, they met in a lab. They would have a son, who's middle name would be James because you're awesome and he'll have the Kirk eyes. They wouldn't be fleet but they would work for the Federation. He'd give me the whole 'you hurt her and I'll kill you' speech and you'd roll your eyes at him when he did. You two would drink beers together while I hung out with your nephew, Jack worked the grill and your sister-in-law would gossip with your mom."
"Your folks will be there too."
He nodded, "Okay, dad and Jack work the grill while mom and Winona gossip with your sister-in-law."
She could picture it and it brought a smile to her face, "I like it."
"Good. Now, bedtime." Jamie shook her head as she starting pulling off her uniform.
"Nope, I'm gonna take a shower first."
"Please tell me that I'm invited," he said.
She kissed his neck, "You're always invited."
Hiri chuckled, "That sounds like my kind of party."
AN: I don't own Hamlet, Sherlock Holmes or Goodnight Moon.