I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters or story lines.
Stardate: March 27th, 2252 (Later that day, Kirk's POV)
Today was not one of my better days. Uncle Frank was on my back, as usual, pushing me to get the farm chores done. And my mother was off planet - again. And my twin sister? She was mad at me because I missed being the third wheel on a date with her boyfriend. Well, boyfriend turned fiance.
Gritting my teeth, I brought my attention back to the task at hand, mucking out the stalls of several hundred chickens. The stench of manure was churning my stomach, and the shovel handle was giving my hands both blisters and splinters.
Around me, chickens clucked loudly, expressing their displeasure of my presence. One of them screeched loudly as I scooped a large chunk of muck a few feet away from her.
"Sorry, lady," I said, tossing the muck into a barrel like container. This manure was going to be shipped out to colonies throughout the galaxy, to fertilize the plants there. The hen clucked back at me, stalking off. I could have sworn she was swearing at me, but since no one's cracked the code of chicken language, I don't think I'll know what she said anytime soon.
I was just scooping up another pile of muck when I heard Uncle Frank hollering at me. Frowning, I tossed one more scoop of manure in the bucket and stuck the shovel in the ground next to me. Leaning on it, I waited for my uncle to come to me. He didn't take kindly to that.
"What the hell do you think you're doing boy - I was calling you!" He yelled as he marched towards me. His hair was shaved nearly to the scalp, giving him the appearance of an army general from old Earth history books. "When I call - you answer! Do you understand?!"
"Yes sir," I replied, giving him a sloppy salute. I kept leaning on the shovel, but was prepared to dodge any punches he might want to throw at me. "Was there something else you needed me to do?"
"No." Frank said through gritted teeth. His brown eyes locked onto my blue ones. "Your sister's calling." Straightening up, I left the shovel sticking up in the chicken coop to leave for the house. And I ignored the yells and complaints of Frank as I left. Let him muck out the rest of the coop for himself - it was his job anyways.
Stepping into the house, I found my P.A.D.D. sitting on the table by the door. On screen, I could just barely see Julia. She was sitting somewhere dark, and I could tell instantly from the way she hid her face she'd been crying.
Taking the screen to my room, I shut and locked the door before I went to the window to chat with her. Looking back at the screen, I realized that something big must have happened to her. She hadn't noticed that I was on screen yet. So, I cleared my throat, and tried to look as nonchalant as I could.
"Jim," she said, startling from...wherever her mind had been. "I didn't notice you there."
"Yeah, well, kind of hard not to." I replied, giving her a small smile. I tried to meet her eyes, but she avoided my gaze. "What's wrong, Jules?" I thought it better to be straight with her, not beat around the bush.
"Well…" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was a definite sign she was upset. I settled myself into my chair, preparing to be there a while. "Jim, I saw the last video feed from the USS Kelvin before it was destroyed." She spoke the words quickly, and it took me a moment to for their significance to hit me.
"What?" I asked, staring at her. I thought the video feed from the Kelvin had been destroyed with the Kelvin. At least, that's what mom said the officers had told her. "How could you have? Mom said the video feed was destroyed with the Kelvin -"
"I think, maybe, that the footage was withheld for security reasons," Julia replied, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "The footage we watched in Tactics class looked...tampered with. I think they cut out the bits and pieces that were considered 'classified'."
Swearing, I brushed a hand through my hair. How could those jerks withhold the video feeds from the Kelvin from my mother? She always talked about how she wished she had more footage of dad…
"When I get my hands on Star Fleet…" I said, feeling a boiling anger rise inside of me. Julia cleared her throat this time, and I glanced at her. She gave me a little smirk.
"I'm part of Star Fleet, in case you don't remember."
"I meant the guys who withheld the video feed."
"About that," She moved off screen for a moment, and came back with several packages. "One of the officers gave me these. The personal log tapes of dad, and the Captain's log." I stared at the packages, and I almost immediately felt something was up.
"Why did he give it to you?"
"How do you know it was a he?"
"It's a common method for getting a girl," I said, leaning back in my chair, "Give 'em something that they want, and then you'll be more entitled to give them what they want."
"That - that's not what he was doing -"
"So it was a he!"
"Yeah, and he was a friend of dad's."
"How old?" I asked, leaning in now. "Did he give anyone else video feeds?"
"I think he's in his 30s - and no, he didn't give anyone else video feed," Julia replied, looking off screen at some spot I couldn't see. "Except for one other person - but he's a different matter entirely."
"Who is this other person? Why did he get the feed?"
"Jim, it's none of your business." Julia responded, suddenly getting defensive. I didn't know girls well, but I did know my sister, she was hiding something.
"Is the guy someone you know?" I asked, prying for more information. "An ex-boyfriend? A best friend? A -"
"My fiance - the one you'll meet, if you show up at The Rusty Nail this weekend." I brushed my hair back again, and watched my sister. Maybe this was the root of the problem - me skipping out on the first meeting with her fiance.
"So, are you mad at me?" I asked. She blinked at me, and clapped her hands so that the lights came up in her room. It looked as I imagined it would, with some picture frames of her family and friends in the background.
"Mad?" She asked, suddenly getting up and looking around the room. "Jim - you missed meeting the man I plan on marrying. You blamed not showing up on your technology. And now, when I try to share a moment with you - to share the joy of being able to actually see dad alive on video feed - you question how I got it and don't even ask to see the video!" She stopped in front of the screen and practically screamed at me, "I'm not mad - I'm hurt!" I could see tears in her eyes, and I felt guilty for not owning up to my mistakes. Julia was always able to do this to me, and I could do it right back at her. But right now, I could tell what she needed was her twin brother to listen, not for him to turn the force she was using back on her.
"Julia…" I started, looking into her teary eyes. "I'm sorry. I truly am." I sighed as I prepared to talk about what I was feeling now. I didn't like talking about what I was feeling, but with her I made an exception, because we were twins. "You're right, I was a jerk when I blamed me flaking out on you earlier this week. The truth is: I don't like the idea of you marrying so young. You're 19, you should be living life, not settling down for it. And the video feed? I'd love to see it - but I don't want you to risk putting her yourself at risk for being taken advantage of or getting hurt." When I'd finished, my own eyes were getting teary.
"Okay, Jim," she said, sitting back on her bed. "I forgive you. And, I'm sorry for snapping at you." She wiped away her tears and looked at me. I was wiping away a few of my own tears.
"Good. Glad that we got that out of the way," I replied, putting my P.A.D.D. on the chair as I went to find wash my hands. They were red and throbbing from working on the coop earlier today. "So, you going to have a party tomorrow?" I asked.
"You kidding?" she replied, and I could hear disgust in her voice as I rummaged through my own personal medical cabinet. "No. You know I don't like to celebrate that day."
"I know, just thought I'd ask," I found a pair of tweezers and disinfectant ointment. "You gonna stay alone, or with friends?"
"I dunno yet. You?"
"Eh, I don't know," I replied, pulling out several splinters. "I might call mom, see how she's doing - you know how she gets - and then maybe go down to the bar for a drink."
"What is it with you and drinking? It's not like alcohol can take your troubles away,"
"Only for a short amount of time," I said swiftly back. "For a short time you can forget your troubles. And when the buzz ends, you're too miserable to worry about anything else for the rest of the day, and most of the morning afterwards."
"How on Earth are we related?" Julia said. I started to reply with something witty when a knock interrupted our conversation. "Sorry, Jim, I gotta go. See you soon - bye!"
"Bye," I answered back absentmindedly. She'd hung up before I said my goodbye. I guess it was fair, since I'd done the same thing to her yesterday morning. Glancing at the window, I could see there was still enough daylight to see by. If I went out now, then I'd be put to work by Frank for sure.
So, being the smart boy I was, I kept on taking out splinters until it was dark outside, and then left my room. Uncle Frank was furious that my conversation with Julia took so long - and when he started asking questions - I simply told him that if she wanted to tell him about her problems, she would have done so.
This, of course, brought on intense swearing from Frank, and would resort to violence if I didn't get out of the house. Giving him a sloppy salute, I escaped through the front door, and onto my bike. I was gonna check on The Rusty Nail, and make sure it was still in one piece for my sister's visit. And if it was, well, I might as well have a few drinks while I was there.
Thanks for reading! The next chapter is still going to take place on March 27th, but after that it'll go on to the weekend. Till then, I still have some finals to do (this chapter helped me to de-stress about finals), so, in the words of Spock, "Live long, and prosper."