Paint and Powder

A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.

PAINT & POWDER – FIRST MEETINGS: UNWANTED

Written by jhosmer1

"And… there we go, lass. Snug as a bug in a rug."

Enterprise came to consciousness with those words. She reached out and felt her ship body. It felt similar but also very different from before. She supposed that 18 months of refit while she was debriefed at the Daystrom Institute would do that.

"Enterprise reporting for duty," she said.

"Welcome back, lass," Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott said, beaming.

"Scotty! Excellent work as always. I feel ready to take on the galaxy!" And she did, though there were a few warning signs. What was going on with her transporters? And those intermix formulas did not look right. Or was that just because she expected things to work like they did before the refit?

"Good to hear that. Let me introduce you to Captain Will Decker, he'll be seeing to you now."

A flash of disappointment. Why was Jim not here? But she squashed that feeling. She was a Starfleet officer, and she would make the Aprils, Uncle Chris, and Jim proud of her.

She looked her new Captain over. He was young, almost as young as Jim had been. Boyish good looks, she supposed, but he looked grim. Very different from how happy Scotty looked to have her back.

"Thank you, Scotty. You better get back to work on the Warp Drive. I'll bring Enterprise up to speed."

"Aye, Captain. I'll talk to you later, lass," Scotty said before heading out of the Computer Core with his tools.

"Captain, Enterprise reporting for duty," she said again.

"Enterprise, there is no way to sugar coat this, so I'm just going to say it: After the shakedown cruise, I'm going to request your reassignment."

It hit her in the core of her being. If she was projecting an avatar right now, it would have gone pale. "What? Sir, did I—?"

"No," Decker replied. "It's nothing you've done." He paced around the small room for a moment, obviously gathering his thoughts. "This is an almost entirely new Enterprise. It's going to have a new mission, a new Captain… and a new crew."

"You're replacing Scotty, Sulu, and the rest, too?"

Annoyance flashed across Decker's face. "They are Kirk's crew, you are Kirk's AI, and this… was Kirk's ship. I am not going to labor in the shadow of the Great Man. It's bad enough that my father—" He stopped himself.

"Commodore Decker was a good man," Enterprise said. "He pointed the way for us to win against the Planet Killer."

Decker's eyes blazed with a hunger that Enterprise could not recall ever seeing before… except maybe in the late Commodore Decker's eyes, as he hunted the thing that killed his crew.

"I know what happened, but there's also the shadow it's cast on my career. I'm Matt Decker's son in charge of Jim Kirk's ship. The only way I'm going to have something of my own, to be Captain Decker of my own ship, is to break the ties with the past." He took a deep breath. "I know it's hard on you, but I'll give you and the crew good evaluations. You can probably work with Admiral Kirk again at Starfleet Command. And the rest of the crew can write their own tickets."

With that, he left the computer core, leaving Enterprise wondering what you did when someone told you that you weren't welcome in your own body.

"Mr. Spock? Could that be one of their crew?" Chekov asked, voice wavering.

Shortly after that talk with Decker, word had reached Starfleet of a huge cloud-like intruder approaching Earth. Admiral Kirk had taken command again, and then Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock had returned as well. It had let Enterprise put her worries behind her for now. She had a mission and a Captain who wanted her. But now…

Spock scanned the beam of energy that filled the bridge with blinding white light. "A probe from their vessel, Captain. Plasma-energy combination."

"Don't interfere with it!" Decker shouted.

"Absolutely I will not interfere!" Chekov shouted back.

"No one interfere," Kirk said, taking command of the situation. "It doesn't seem interested in us, only the ship."

The probe moved across the bridge and stopped before the science station. Lightning flashed across the controls, and Enterprise felt something hit her firewalls like they weren't even there.

"Jim!" she screamed.

"Computer off!" he shouted, but she could not comply. It was invading her, taking everything. Destructively copying her systematically. Soon she would be nothing but information in the alien's databanks—

"It's taken control of the computer!" Decker shouted.

Yes, she was just a computer to him. Perhaps this was best… death in the line of duty, rather than having to find a new meaning for herself… I'm sorry, Father, Mother… Uncle Chris… Jim…

"Enterprise!" Kirk shouted.

Then Spock moved in and brought his hands down on the console in clasped fists. As he had no doubt planned, this sent a surge of power through her and reset everything, sending her down into darkness… but it was not the darkness of death.

"Enterprise!"

It was Jim's voice that beckoned her this time. She came back to consciousness. "Jim…?"

The happiness in his voice was obvious. "Thank goodness you're okay."

"That remains to be seen, Captain," said a dry, pedantic voice. "We will have to run diagnostics—"

"Spock, you can bring down the mood in a room just by breathing."

"And you, Doctor, can—"

"Gentlemen!" Kirk interjected. "Not at a lady's sickbed."

The crew was gathered in the bridge, and she was grateful to see them all unhurt… well, not all.

"Where are Captain Decker and Lieutenant Ilia?" she asked.

Kirk looked at Spock and McCoy before answering, "Missing. They… joined with V'ger, the alien, and became something new."

Enterprise was silent for a time, then said. "He got something of his own, then. I'm… happy for him."

PAINT & POWDER – FIRST MEETINGS: TEACHER

2279

Spock, son of Sarek, closed his eyes briefly as the last note from his ka'athyra faded away. He had chosen to play "Beyond Antares," and now found himself puzzling over his motives for it. He no longer worried about the emotions he felt, but he did seek to understand them.

"That was beautiful, Spock," said a voice from his computer console. Enterprise's avatar appeared on the screen there.

"Thank you, Enterprise," he replied, putting the Vulcan lute away in its case. "I believe I wanted a reminder of the past before our new mission."

"Dr. McCoy would say you were feeling nostalgic," Enterprise said.

Spock raised an eyebrow at that. "There is no need to be insulting, Enterprise."

Enterprise grinned, recognizing one of Spock's jokes. Then she sobered up quickly. "Will Jim be alright?"

"I have found Admiral Kirk to be an extraordinarily capable individual. I am sure that he will overcome the challenges he faces."

"He just seemed so… tired, lately."

"If you wish to accompany him to Starfleet Command, I can put in the request."

"I… I don't think he's going to be there long. He was talking about going to Iowa and the family farm. What would I do there? What can I do here for that matter?" she said, a note of bitterness in her voice.

"Has there been another problem?"

"No, the intermix ratio seems fine for now. I've got a few glitches in the navigational deflector, but Scotty's sure he can track them down before we leave dock… again."

"Kaiidth, Enterprise. What is, is."

"I just feel so… useless. Nothing has worked right since the refit!"

"That feeling is incorrect. You have been performing at approximately 87.2439 percent efficiency. Also, many things have 'worked right' since then."

"Don't joke about it, Spock! How long have we known each other?"

"23 years, 2 months, 4 days, 13 hours, 2 minutes, and 25 seconds."

"… You made that up."

Spock just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Anyway, we're supposed to explore strange new worlds, but I've been restricted to Federation space because, apparently, I can't go past Warp 6 for too long without my intermix ratios destabilizing, my phasers randomly fire at half power, and I keep having cascade failures. It's like those awful holographic communication systems from the 2250s again!"

"Again, you are using hyperbole. Though I do recognize the similarities to the hologram problems."

"Spock, how can you be so calm about this? They made you Captain of a decrepit ship that's only good for diplomatic missions and charting gaseous anomalies!"

"My father is a diplomat. Surely you do not consider his career a waste?"

"No, but…"

"Vulcans have a saying, Enterprise. 'In accepting the inevitable, one finds peace.' The Constitution refit has, unfortunately, limited some of your abilities. This does not mean that you have no value."

"I… I feel like I let Jim down. That he left because of me."

"Admiral Kirk would be the first to deny that. Starfleet Command has been pressuring him to return to other duties ever since V'ger. They would not have granted him another mission under any circumstances, barring saving the Earth from some outside context situation."

"Was he wrong to become an admiral?"

"He wanted the promotion. But, as I once told another, having is often not so pleasing as wanting. His skills are uniquely suited to the role of Starship Captain."

"So, what do I do now?"

"As Fleet Captain Pike once said, 'Sometimes we know the role we're meant to play, sometimes we don't.' We are here to serve the Federation. Maybe you can turn your disabilities into a strength. You will not be the last synthetic crewman to face radical changes to your hardware. The lessons you learn will be important to your colleagues in the future."

Enterprise looked surprised, then nodded. "You're right, of course."

"Of course."

"Uncle Chris also always said that we should try to have some fun along the way. Maybe I should take that advice."

"He was very human."

Enterprise signed off with a grin, and Spock gazed thoughtfully at the screen for several seconds. Then he sat at his desk. "Computer, contact the Commandant of Starfleet Academy."

Another few first meetings by the excellent jhosmer1.