Chapter Text
“How long until we reach the system, Mr. Sulu?” Jen asked, beginning to rise from the Captain’s chair.
“At present warp, we will be there in roughly sixteen hours, sir.” Sulu reported.
“Excellent.” She turned to face the rear of the bridge. “Landing party,” the team perked up. “Conference room in twenty minutes. We have some things to discuss about the mission. You have the con, Mr. Sulu.”
Jen went to her ready room to prepare PADDs for everyone. The information just needed to be transferred from the computer which would take only a minute or two, but Jen wanted time to grab some coffee from the mess before meeting with her landing party. She meandered down to the mess, PADDs under her arm. Bones was there getting coffee as well.
“Heya, Bones.” she greeted as she made her way over to him.
“Jen.” He handed her a cup with the divine, hot beverage inside.
“Aww! Thank you!” She hummed her appreciation as she took a sip. “How do you know the way I like it?”
They began to walk to the conference room together. “You’re a lot easier to figure out than you think you are.” Jen rolled her eyes and began to protest. “Plus, I’ve known you for a long time. If I didn’t know the way you take your coffee by now, there’s something wrong.”
“Fair enough.” Jen conceded.
“You know how I take mine, right?”
“Sweet as the day is long, Bones.” He smirked at her; a private little smile that no one else ever earned. Jen mostly figured it was because no one could get under his skin quite like she could. She had private smiles for him, too, because no one else was quite as entertaining as Bones when he got irritated with her.
They walked the rest of the way to the conference room, chatting about nothing in particular. Jen didn’t want to start talking about the mission with him and end up having to repeat herself.
Everyone else was already there when they arrived. Uhura and Spock sat together on the opposite side of the table from Lieutenant Ankara. Ankara had recently transferred to the Enterprise from a nearby starbase. He’d quickly proven himself to be vitally useful in engineering and had been taken under Scotty’s wing. Bones sat down next to Ankara and Jen sat at the head.
“Computer, begin recording.” The computer chirped its affirmation. “Thank you all for coming. Please take a data pad each and I’ll begin to go over the mission. This will be relatively brief, but I welcome any questions afterwards.” Meetings were always strangely formal. Jen Kirk wasn’t much for constant formality on her ship, especially amongst friends, but meetings were an exception she made. At first, her friends had been a little uncomfortable with it because it was so unlike her, but they got over it pretty quickly because it became like her. They also secretly blamed it on her tendency to record the meetings.
“You have the next fifteen and three quarter hours to learn as much as you can about these people. All the information you will need is included and can be gone over at your leisure after this meeting. If you have any questions, feel free to consult me or one another. The people in question are called the Tiam-Na. They are requesting the aid of the Federation because their society is in a state of dereliction and they would like our help in fixing that. As the closest Federation vessel to the region, we’ve been ordered to meet with them and assess their actual need.
“They are also requesting medical aid, which we will provide in limited supply without prior investigation. However, Dr. McCoy, you will need to thoroughly examine their biology before we get there so you will be at least a little familiar with how best to treat them. You’ll only be treating some council members for now, but we will need to survey a location at which to set up a semi-permanent medical facility. You may choose to take a small team of medical personnel with you if you want, just make sure you educate them first.
“Lieutenant Uhura, you will accompany myself and Commander Spock to aid in communication and diplomacy. As I understand, they speak English pretty well as they appreciate the native tongue of Starfleet, but just in case, I’d like you there to pick up on any dialect their language may resemble. If time allows, we’ll have you sit down with someone and learn as much as you can before we leave. This will more than likely end up happening as we will be on the ground for a while and we don’t want you getting bored.
“As part of their request, we need to assess their technological capabilities. We know that they have primitive warp capabilities, but they neglected to include anything else in their report for us. Lieutenant Ankara, you will oversee the majority of that endeavor, though I will accompany you for a part of it. We will arrange for you to tour their facilities and meet with their chief science officers. We’re not providing them with materials or anything, so no taking requests; just an assessment of their capabilities.
“Finally, Commander Spock and I will meet directly with their council. The discussion will undoubtedly be lengthy and, Spock, you and I can discuss the parameters in private. In total, we will be on the surface for between eight and fifteen hours. Any issues, contact one another first. If there is an emergency, however, don’t hesitate to interrupt the council meeting to contact me directly. We will all meet again after the mission is complete and report our findings back to Starfleet. We will await orders on how to proceed after that. Any questions?” Jen looked around the room to see everyone shaking their heads. “Excellent. All dismissed until it is time for the landing party to assemble and take the shuttle down to the surface. Computer, end recording. Spock, with me.”
“That was extraordinarily efficient, Captain.” Spock remarked as he joined Jen on the way to her quarters. Jen preferred to be in the comfort of her own living space when she and Spock had long meetings like this. And Spock never minded, so that was a plus.
“I think the response you’re looking for is ‘thank you,’ but I’m not entirely sure you’ve earned it, Mr. Spock.”
Spock cocked his head in confusion. “I meant no offense, Captain, I was merely remarking that the efficiency with which you conducted that meeting was noteworthy. If I should not have said so, then please correct me, sir.”
Jen chuckled lightly and clapped Spock on the shoulder. “It’s fine, Spock. It just didn’t come off as very endearing. Sort of a back-handed compliment. Don’t even worry about it.” They sat down in Jen’s comfy chairs at her desk and she toed off her shoes. She loved the feel of the carpet under her bare feet, so she removed her socks as well. She set them aside for laundry later. “Hungry, Spock? I could use a burger.”
“Thank you, Captain, I do not require anything.”
“Nothing?” she queried, moving to issue a request to the galley. “Soup? Tea? Flavored water?” Spock repeatedly shook his head. “Suit yourself.”
“Shall we begin, Captain?”
Jen sighed and shrugged. “Might as well.” She took out the PADD and began to go over the mission with Spock. Before too long, they were interrupted with Jen’s food, which she accepted gratefully.
“Sir, am I correct in assuming that they are requesting our assistance in a ‘clean-up effort,’ for lack of a better term?” Spock asked after going over some of the information on his own while Jen’s eyes rolled back in her head at how delicious her burger was.
“Space burgers, man! They astound me!” Spock raised an eyebrow. Jen continued, “You’re half right, Spock. They are requesting assistance because of the ramshackle state of their society. We’re neither going to spoon-feed them a solution nor are we going to be their maid, but if the Federation decides they will gain our assistance, we will spearhead a campaign to help them to do it themselves. They just need a little push in the right direction, as far as I understand it.”
“Very astute, Captain.” Jen nodded her thanks and wiped her fingers.
“The people we will be meeting with will be giving us every bit of information we could use to assess their situation. They will also take us on a short tour of their capital city. The tour is to help us truly understand the gravity of the situation. Uhura will separately meet with an education committee and will report back to us.
“One of my concerns is that we know very little about their atmosphere. That was part of the information they neglected to include for us. So, when we reach their orbit, I’ll have you take a reading and we will determine and issue any necessary breathing apparatus or special landing uniforms.”
“Captain, if I may?” Spock paused for permission to continue. Jen took a sip of water before nodding her permission. “I do hope this sentiment does not come across as insincere or ‘back-handed,’ but you have grown into your role of Captain quite elegantly.” Jen placed her fingers against her brow and rested on her elbow, watching him with an amused smirk on her lips. “As someone who doubted your aptitude from the very beginning of your Starfleet career, I must say that I have never been more pleased to have been proven wrong.” At this, Jen laughed openly, eyes sparkling.
“Thank you, Spock! That may be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me!” She reached across the desk to shake his hand. He accepted it and graced her with a smile.
With that, Spock left to conduct his research on his own. Jen still sat at her desk, going over the data again. She’d had access to it ever since Starfleet told her the assignment and had been briefed at the same time. Just the same, she wanted to be as prepared as she could be.
About three hours later, when Jen had begun to nod off, her door chime sounded. “Come!” she called. In stepped Bones, a coffee in each hand.
“Captain.”
“Bones.” Jen smiled and gestured to the chair in front of her. “What can I do for you?” Bones sat and placed his PADD on the desktop next to hers. He passed the cup of coffee to her. “Yoooouuuuu are sent from Heaven! Thank you, Bones!”
“I wanted to let you know I’d be taking Nurse Chapel with me to the surface. She’s my most competent nurse and I figure I could use a hand. Their biology isn’t terribly complex and even though we’ll be there for over eight hours, I figure I could use a hand.”
“I trust your judgment.”
“Damn right, you do!” Jen smiled into her steaming beverage. Bones regarded her with soft eyes before asking, “So how’s diplomacy rehearsal going?”
“Wonderfully!” Bones snickered at her and sipped at his own coffee, closing his eyes in appreciation. “Spock gave me a hell of a compliment, though.”
“Did he now?”
“He did. He said, and I quote, ‘As someone who doubted your aptitude from the very beginning of your Starfleet career, I must say that I have never been more pleased to have been proven wrong.’” Bones nearly choked on his drink. “I know! I damn near fell over!”
“If you’ve managed to impress Spock, then maybe you’re doing something right after all.” Jen dipped her fingers in her coffee to flick some of it at Bones. High temperatures be damned, she wanted him to suffer slightly for that comment. “I have a question, though, Jen.” She raised her eyebrows. “I know you want me to go down to the surface to help them with their medical needs, but I’m concerned about the crew. I’ve been over the data they provided us with and there’s nothing about their atmosphere or weather conditions. I can’t guarantee the safety of the landing party if I don’t know what we’re walking into.”
Jen smiled. “This is actually where I impressed Spock.” She leaned back in the chair, and laced her fingers together over her belly. “I told him that when we reach orbit, I was going to have him do an analysis to determine atmospheric composition and we will plan accordingly from there. You should be there as well, just in case there’s something he doesn’t see because he’s not a doctor.”
The Chief Medical Officer gaped at her for a moment before nodding, impressed. “You’re really a starship captain, aren’t you?”
“Why is everyone so surprised by that?” Jen flung her hands in the air in disbelief. Bones simply chuckled and settled in to keep her company while they traversed the remainder of the space between the Enterprise and the Tiam-Na.