"Jim, you have to be calm. You have to sit still, be quiet, and just listen. I'm going to make this short. We will have a long talk when you get back in four days. I am not returning to the Enterprise, not just yet. Now before you say a word I will say what I have been saying to you: your memory will return, it will return much faster if you review the reports and records of the events. Start eight standard weeks ago. Review the reports and records while you are on the shakedown trip, talk with the others, and we will have a long talk when you get back. Do not try to force yourself to remember the events, they will come back. You and I will have as long talk when you get back. I'll do what I can here. Take care. McCoy out."
Kirk just sat for a moment staring at the blank screen. It was not like McCoy to be so short. Obviously he was busy with something and wanted to let him know that he was staying at Starbase Ten while they did the shakedown. He had to think. Eight weeks ago. Just before. . . . Before what? There was that fog, that blank in his memory that was annoying him. Momentarily he closed his eyes, put his elbows on the table, then placed his head in his hands. He had to think. He had to clear the blankness. He had to remember. Perhaps McCoy was right, perhaps he should review the reports and records. For the past week McCoy had been afer him to do so.
"Captain to the bridge." He heard it but sat with his head bent an eyes shut. The more he thought the more questions he seemed to come up with. What was Bones not telling him? Why was he not returning to the ship just yet? Where was Spock? What was so important about the reports that he,
"Captain Kirk to the bridge."
A hand touched his shoulder, "Captain?" He looked up at M'Benga and nodded. Training took over. He had a ship to command. It was only for four days. He would get his answers then from Bones and Spock. As he stepped onto the bridge and saw Sanchez stand and move from the chair as he suddenly stopped. Nobody else had mentioned Spock. Even Bones had not said his name. This time, as he sat, he was aware of the look he was getting from Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov, a look that was a blend of sympathy, understanding, and support. He felt the uneasiness build only this time he knew it was in himself. This time he knew whatever was causing that unease was to do with that time he could not yet remember.
"Captain?" he heard the question in the tone and looked at Sanchez and nodded.
"Let's, let's do this. Mister Sulu, take her out." He was aware how his crew responded as usual and how almost normal things seemed. Almost normal. It was that annoying unease and that gap in his memory that stopped things being normal. It was not having Spock and Bones there beside him that was not normal. And it was how nobody had mentioned Spock that was far from normal.
As soon as they were in open space and had done the necessary basic testing of basic and emergency maneuvers Kirk had left the bridge and gone to his quarters, he knew Sulu and the others would do other minor testing and then set to work correcting what they could and noting what they would need repaired on their return. He sat at his desk and looked at the computer. Bones had said for him to review the reports and records of eight weeks ago. Bones had told him to review them and to talk with the others. A part of him accepted the most likely possibility for Spock's absence was he had remained back at Starbase Ten to do some further research for yet another project but it seemed odd. He could think of no reason for both Spock and McCoy to be at Starbase Ten unless it was something they were working on together. He relaxed slightly the more he thought about the two of them working on a project. He had seen it before, the way Spock would almost go into a state of hibernation just to concentrate on a project with McCoy and McCoy would be there to ensure he did not make the end result too complex for "mere Humans" to understand and apply. No, that was it: the two of them were working on a project together, something that Command obviously wanted them for, maybe something to do with what he could not remember. Kirk settled back into his chair and nodded to himself. That was it! That was why Bones had been so insistent he review the reports and talk with the other.
Relaxed and curious Kirk entered the details into his computer and started with Chekov's report. There was nothing in it that he was not really aware of. He had been told there had been a series of explosions in the ship that had caused some major interior damage but that had left the ship's structural integrity intact. He had been told that Spock had immediately notified Command of the situation stating they would be notified of the full situation later. Chekov's report was basically just about an explosion on the bridge that had knocked him out and how lucky they had been that Spock had managed to get them all out.
Sulu's report was more detailed and mentioned more than one explosion and not just on the bridge. He had stated it was as though small explosions had been set throughout the ship. At first he had thought that there had only been one explosion on the bridge coming from behind him but as he was falling he was aware of a second explosion with a physical result. He had been badly stunned but remembered seeing Chekov unconscious and Uhura also badly stunned on the floor. He mentioned that he suspected the explosion had come from behind him and knew the Captain had started to sit down but then had started to leave the bridge for some reason just as the explosion occurred. There had been the sound of a third explosion but he had not been aware of anything physical being projected about only a strange odor before he was aware of Spock getting them out.
Uhura's report was very like Chekov's as she was badly stunned by the initial blast. She vaguely remembered the explosion and dimly remembered Spock helping her off the bridge.
For a moment he paused to get himself a cup of coffee. Explosive devices on the bridge? Who would have put them there? He knew that only the crew had been on the bridge.