STAR TREK: COURSE CORRECTIONS, PART 1
Jim Kirk
opened his mouth to speak, then paused. He slowly closed his mouth and worked
his chin back and forth in frustration. Finally, he mercifully ended the
recording by giving a button below the monitor an angry jab with his thumb.
With a heavy sigh, he sank back into the chair contemplating his next avenue of
attack. For a brief moment the smiling face on the monitor seemed to mock him.
The door to his cabin chimed and, for a moment, a flash of irritation shot through
his body. It quickly subsided when he realized he really didn't mind a
distraction from his current duty.
"Come."
The door
parted with a soft shush of air to reveal Leonard McCoy. The doctor looked
tired and took long slow strides across the captain's quarters and dropped into
the seat on the other side of the desk. As he sank back, he deposited a curved
bottle of brandy and two small gasses on the work surface between them.
"I
know that look," Jim said. "Is he..."
"Alive,
for now," McCoy said. "I've done all I can. If he makes it though the
night..."
McCoy
allowed his thought to trail off before snatching the bottle back up and
pouring two fingers worth of liquid into each glass. Without pause, in what
appeared to be a single motion, McCoy had returned the bottle to the desktop,
hefted the small glass, drained it's contents and was already pouring a refill.
Jim would have been impressed with the surgeon's dexterity, if he hadn't seen
his Chief Medical Officer's "disappearing" act multiple times of the
last four and three quarter years.
Jim picked
up his glass and contemplated it.
"Damnit,
Jim," the doctor said slowly, "I'm getting tired of having to remind
you that everyone on this ship volunteered for duty knowing the risks."
"I'm
responsible..."
"Yea,
yea, yea, you're responsible for your crew, but this is a dangerous job. I've
been on enough landing parties to know, if anyone dies or gets injured it's
usually in spite of your efforts, never because of them."
"You
weren't there, Bones."
"I
wish I were, for your sake, but I don't have to be there to know you did all
you could."
Jim stood
up and carefully poured his drink back into the bottle.
"I
have paper work." Jim said, "I need a clear head."
McCoy's
eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"The
computer said you uploaded your log and incident report to Starfleet command
over an hour ago."
"I
have," Jim paused briefly searching for the right words before continuing,
"a more important report to send."
McCoy,
clearly still not understanding, moved to the corner of the desk and gathered
the bottle and glasses. Jim noticed him sneaking a glance at the monitor. A
look of understanding then washed over the older man's face.
"I,
ah, guess, I'll leave you to it then, Jim," McCoy said in a softer tone as
he walked toward the cabin exit.
The door
swished open and McCoy paused and looked at the captain.
"If
you want to talk later," McCoy hefted the bottle slightly and put on a
half smile, "The bar is always open."
Jim, for
the first time in two days, felt the corner of his mouth quirk up briefly.
"Doctor's
orders?"
"Friend's
request. Doctor's orders would require I waste the good stuff on you,"
McCoy said has he exited to the corridor, "Can't have that, can we?"
With that
the door slid shut, leaving him trapped with the absolute worst duty suffered
by a starship captain. Jim thumbed the recording back to life.
"Mister
Takahashi, it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that your daughter gave her
life in service of the Starfleet..."
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