Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last section. You are all wonderful.
Day 13: Now Resuming Semi-Normal Communications
Therapy Journal excerpts from Jim Kirk, husband of Spock
March 2, 2260
Dear Spock:
So, good news. I didn't wake up tonight due to a warp core flashback. I did wake up because of a dream about Kevin finding Winona's body on the anniversary of Sam's death. March 20 is a bad day for our family. You have no idea how many times I had to… I don't even know how to finish or explain to you what those days were like before she tried to get clean. I was always expecting to come home one day and find her dead. Then she got clean and I thought I wouldn't have to worry about her dying of alcohol poisoning anytime soon.
After her relapse last June, the fear is back and we are light years away. I don't want to put this on Kevin. One of the reasons why we switched was if Winona goes off the rails again, I can leave to deal with it and you get Sulu as your temp first officer. And yet Kevin is going to have to deal with the initial fallout on his own.
Also, I'm worried that the Admiralty is out to get us again. Okay maybe not get us. But somebody is obviously sabotaging the dependent minors on board program because they sent us hellions. They're like me, but worse because I never locked an 11-year-old in a Jeffries tube. I never partook in bullying. I was the one getting bullied. I just fought back.
I think they're pissed off because she's doing freshman math and having private Russian lessons. Okay, I think the last part may be why the girls were involved. Our navigator is very popular with the three Ashleys. Seriously how did we get three girls named Ashley, ages 15 to 17 on the same ship? Somebody in the Admiralty hates us.
Hey, can you teach an 11-year-old how to do a nerve pinch? Seriously, I would feel better if Jo Jo could defend herself and apparently her pre-ship self-defense class was mostly about running away. Apparently, they are faster than her. And she won't tell Bones and Nyota what's going on. She won't even tell me what's going on, but I raised Kevin, so I know that they are responsible for what happened. I can't prove it enough to punish the brats, but I am watching. If something like this happens again they will be off my ship. I mean our ship.
Maybe I should ask Kevin for some ideas or maybe ask him to talk to Jo Jo. Apparently, us adults just don't understand anything. She may tell him what they did.
Dear James:
You are aware it is possible for humans to learn how to do this, but I believe Josephine is too young to be instructed in such a matter. I will talk to Mister Sulu about providing Josephine with fencing lessons to supplement any other training that she has had. She appeared to be intrigued when she attended one of his exhibition matches in January. Not only will this provide her with necessary combat skills, but will provide her with another person to interact with.
I agree that you should write your brother about this. You should also write to your mother. However, I will force you to do neither.
Dear Spock:
God, I love you.
I'm already dictating a response to Kevin now that I think I have the system working correctly. I tried to dictate one to mom as well, but well, feel free to look through my recycling bin. There's like 18 attempts in there and none of them are usable.
PS: Write your father.
From: Spock's_cuddlebunny
To: Kevin KR
Time sent: 3/2/2260 11:13:17
Subject: Tell your girlfriend and Sue thank you.
Chocolate sprinkles means that the ship is being spied on by Starfleet. Chocolate sprinkles mean that just the bridge crew is being spied on. Rainbow sprinkles means that whole ship was being spied on. Thankfully, that was not the case. Otherwise you would not be getting this email for at least a month as I fix things. This disruption they're not even going to notice because everyone else is still sending and receiving emails.
I'll try to email mom, especially before March 20 a.k.a. the anniversary of Sam's death, but I make no promises. Usually letters to mom result in a full recycling basket or broken PADDs. The quartermaster is kind of a little pissed at me for breaking so many during my sabbatical. It's not my fault Spock can be a little rough in bed and the work ones are so cheap. You'd think they would make them unbreakable by now.
Hey, I am betting against you two running off and getting married without telling the admiral because I don't want to go back to Delta Vega. If you piss her off, it will be bad for all of us. Everybody knows what she did to Susan's ex-boyfriend, which is probably why he and his sister are being so petty and vindictive right now. The guy totally deserved it. But I don't want to end up there because of you.
I'll write you again after my first mission in a couple of days. I'm leading the negotiating team because my husband realizes that's my favorite part of my day job. Hopefully this negotiation will go better than some of the previous ones.
On the bright side, it will keep me from spending quality time with teenagers. I really think somebody in Starfleet is trying to sabotage the minors on ship program. Probably not your future mother-in-law because hey, she at least tipped us off to the spying, but it could be someone else, who knows. They're being extra nasty to Josephine so if you wouldn't mind being a great little brother and sending her an email that would be great. Her new non-Starfleet email address is kitten_loverJJMU.
Just like you in Junior high, she won't tell me who is treating her like crap. But you know I have my ways. Unfortunately, I think she's using a hardcopy therapy journal so hacking won't work like last time, and Spock frowns upon breaking and entering..
I'm getting used to my new job. Although things are not too different. I spent most of yesterday reprimanding Scotty for trying to turn engineering into a distillery again. This is not my idea of fun. I had to reprimand him because somehow Rodriguez found out. I'm trying to decide if Pike told her or if Rodriguez is the one spying on us. I was kind of hoping this time our admiral wasn't out to kill us all. Of course, maybe she just wants to not have kids living on starships. One can hope.
It's probably best that Liz is not on campus. Judiciaries are not fun and well, if people were saying nasty things about my sister and my niece, there wouldn't be enough people to hold me back. People have no right to be talking about an innocent little baby like that. Also, if Sue wants to have a three-way, it's none of their damn business. Although I can totally understand why Liz would not want people knowing about the details of her sister's sex life.
From: SuluHG2260
To: Mommy_Susan
Time sent: 3/2/2260 19:03:06
Subject: Sorry I haven't written you lately
Dear Demora:
I'm sorry I didn't email you earlier. Uncle Jim had to take the system off-line for a few days to do some repairs and reconfiguring. But it's all fixed right now so I can talk to you again. I've missed you and your mommy.
So, what have you been up to? Have you started crawling yet? Learned any unfamiliar words lately? I've been doing a lot of flying. I can't wait until we get there in a couple of days. I love exploring new planets. Okay, I like finding new plants. One of the favorite parts of my job.
In other exciting news, Uncle Spock asked me to teach Jo Jo how to fence. He won't explain why he asked me to do this, but Josephine was excited when I suggested it. Honestly, I think I was asked to spend extra time with her because the Ashleys are stuck up teenage girls. Promise me you won't end up like that. Always treat everybody with respect and dignity.
Anyway, love you.
From: SuluHG2260
To: Benjamin_2254
Subject: Sorry I haven't written lately.
Time sent: 3/2/2260 19:23:01
Sorry I haven't written you recently. We were having email issues. I assume that's probably why I haven't received a reply from my last message. I'm not worried that you met a new hot guy at playgroup that is 100 times better than me mostly because he's there. Although just to be on the safe side, I am getting your birthday present next month from the red-light district. Hide that from the kids.
Anyway, miss you. Having next door neighbors that make out constantly is making it a little bit worse. They're trying to be discreet, but I know a Vulcan make out session when I see one. At least Jim stopped licking chocolate off Spock's fingers in the mess hall, which is good because we have children present. I will use children because Josephine's the most mature one and she is still a preteen. The Ashleys scare me and I grew up with a house full of sisters. Sisters who like to test their makeup skills on me. I'm personally surprise they haven't emailed you pictures of that yet.
Anyway, love you.
To be continued