The Stars Above Us

Chapter 22

"Will that even work?" Velasquez asked. Jim and Borrik looked at each other. It was a fifty/fifty thing but it was the best plan they could come up with.

The Constitution was on a mission to Sordinia IV to investigate why six alien satellites were orbiting the planet. Of course, the orbiting turned into a bombardment of the major areas. Being the ranking officer on the ship, Jim was forced to assume command from the duty officer after they lost contact with Captain Augenthaler and Commander Hirota on the surface. Gaynor was at the weapons station on the bridge when they entered orbit and he disabled one of the satellites' weapons before they were forced to withdraw.

"It'll be close but it should work," Gaynor said, agreeing with Jim and Borrik's plan to send a team to infiltrate the satellite he had disabled and take down the networked platforms from there, despite the risk of heavy damage. "We're only gonna get one shot at it though."

"I'll do it," Lieutenant Anita Jankowski, the chief engineer offered. "I'll take one of the computer programmers with me."

"That sounds good. Take a security detail too, just in case. Head over, bring the system down and we'll pull you out when you're done," Jim said to the officer. "Everyone else will maintain battle stations. I have feeling that this is gonna get worse before it gets better. Dismissed."

"What the hell was that?" Jim asked from the command chair.

"Muon burst, sir," Ensign Polcovich, the officer manning the science console, called. "It's wreaking havoc on our shields and we have systems dropping all over the place."

"Where did it come from?" Jim asked.

"The satellite," Gaynor said. "I bet it's getting us all primed for that ship on approach. Sir, we need to bail out. If that ship's weapons are even remotely the same as the satellites, we're screwed."

"I'm not leaving them over there to die. If we fall back, that's exactly what we'd be doing," Jim said. "Have the transporter room on standby, it's gonna be tight. Keep an eye on that ship."

"You got it," Gaynor nodded. They weren't gonna be the best of friends, but they somehow managed to work together really well now that Gaynor wasn't being a jerk.

Jim didn't like waiting. Her whole being was itching for something to do besides sit in the command chair and hand out orders. 'Note to self, be an active captain,' she thought as she listened to the officers around her.

"The other ship is almost in range," Mansfield said from the tactical console.

"Park says that Lynch isn't finished with their network," Borrik told her. "Orders?"

It was a tricky decision. She could leave them over there to finish the job and risk getting them killed or she could pull them out, which would take everyone back to square one. It wasn't just the ship at risk, there was a whole planet in danger that she had to consider. Jim sighed, "How much time do they need?"

"A few minutes," Borrik said.

"Sir, we don't have a few minutes," Gaynor said. "That ship will tear us apart."

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't, I don't know. What I do know is that there are four billion people on that planet, including the captain, and we're the only ones that can give them a fighting chance. We keep that ship focused on us while we let Lynch and Jan do their jobs. Mitch," she looked at her friend who was manning helm controls. He gave her a nod and his hands went flying over the console. "Gaynor?" The security chief, who was on weapons, looked like he wanted to argue with her but he didn't, he just gave her a nod and got to work.

Being a distraction wasn't as easy as it sounds. They were trying not to get themselves killed while also protecting their officers in the damaged satellite. It didn't help that they were a bit outmatched and every minute they fought with this ship felt like an hour.

If Jim wasn't on the bridge she would've laughed as she thought to herself, 'Bones is never gonna let me hear the end of this.'

"Captain on the bridge," Borrik called.

"Welcome back, sir," Jim said as she stood from the chair.

"Good to be back. I see you all had an interesting few days," Augenthaler chuckled.

"Nothing we couldn't handle, Captain," she said. "How's Commander Hirota?"

"Got himself banged up pretty good helping some kids but medical says he'll be okay," he sighed. "Bring me up to speed, Miss Kirk."

They destroyed what they now know was a N'shaii mothership. From the information that Lynch and Jankowski found while they were in the system, the N'shaii was a humanoid race that was split into a number of different factions who had competed with each other for millennia. Their favorite past time was apparently to see how many populated planets that one faction could hold. This was their typical method of invasion, place a number of autonomous satellites in orbit of the planet and bombard the major population centers below. Once the planet had been softened up, a mothership could move in and complete the invasion. Unfortunately for them, the Constitution was there to defend the planet before the N'shaii could take it.

The ship was a mess. Thanks to that stupid muon burst, there were systems down all over the ship. Since the N'shaii had more advanced weapons, there was massive damage to the Federation vessel. Sickbay was full of injured officers but how nobody died was still a mystery to Jim.

"Good job," the captain said to her.

"Thank you, sir, but it was a team effort. Lynch, Jankowski, Gaynor and Mitchell, especially," she said.

"I'm sure I'll see just how much in your report," Augenthaler said.

"Yes, sir."

"Go get some sleep, Kirk. The rest of you should call up your reliefs as well," he ordered. "Nice work, everyone."

Jim smiled as she stepped into the turbolift. Gaynor and Mitch stepped in with her. The security officer looked at her, "How'd you know that would work?"

"Didn't," she shrugged.

"But you had so much… faith. I… How…?" Gaynor started.

"There was this British writer, James Allen, who once said 'A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself.' I had no idea if our plan was gonna work or not, the trick is not letting anyone see my doubt. I'll see you guys later." Jim stepped off the lift and walked to medical.

"Please don't be hurt," Bones said as she walked into the room.

"I'm not. How long have you been in here?" Bones was on duty when this whole thing started two days ago. Knowing him as well as she does, Jim could almost guarantee that he hasn't slowed down since.

"Uh… I'm not entirely sure," he told her as he finished wrapping an engineer's hand.

"Two days," she told him.

"Is this you telling me to go to bed?" Bones chuckled.

"Not just you. Captain relieved everybody who's been on duty during this crisis. That includes you and Velasquez, Bonesy."

"This place is…" he started.

"Not as full as it was three hours ago. All major injuries have been taken care of. The junior medical officers can handle the minor stuff," Doctor Velasquez said from behind Bones. "She's right, McCoy, we need to get some rest."

"God, you're as bad as Pippa," Bones told the CMO.

Velasquez chuckled, "I'll take a comparison to Philippa Boyce any day. Now, go."

"You too," Jim told the older doctor.

The older woman smiled, "As soon as I fill Watson in, I'm off to bed."

"It felt good, Bones," she smiled. "For two days, I was the captain of this ship. And I know it's been a crappy couple of days but I can't get over that feeling. It doesn't hurt that nobody died this time around."

"You're not gonna let me sleep, are you?" he asked, his accent thicker than usual. "I can think of something much better to do with all this energy."

"What would that be, Doctor?" Jim asked as Bones slipped his arm around her and rolled onto his back, pulling Jim on top of him, her knees astride his hips.

"You tell me, Captain Kirk," Bones smiled. Jim could feel him hardening against her thigh.

"I'm obligated to tell you that I'm a very bad patient," she whispered against his lips.

He nipped at her bottom lip before he chuckled, "Well, you're in luck. I happen to be a very good doctor."

"You okay?" Mitch asked as Jim and Bones sat with him and Borrik at the table.

"I'm perfectly fine aside from the fact that everyone keeps staring at me," Jim said, the last few words louder than necessary. Some of the officers in their immediate vicinity looked away.

Today was January fourth, twenty-two fifty-three, Jim's twentieth birthday. It was also the twentieth anniversary of the day her father died. Usually, she could fly under the radar on her birthday, but no such luck this year. The fleet was making a big deal about it and that meant Jim's semi-anonymity was blown all to hell. People who hadn't already figured out that she was George Kirk's daughter knew now. She went from being a respected officer to a walking museum exhibit overnight. If another person asks her about her father, she's gonna hurt somebody.

"Does this mean I should cancel the cake?" Gary asked with a mischievous smirk. Before Jim could answer him, Bones did.

"You know that she doesn't..."

"Doesn't like cake. Yea, I know, I'm just making sure she's paying attention," Mitch chuckled.

"Who doesn't like cake?" Jankowski said as she joined them.

"Kirk," Borrik told her. "I've never had cake, so I don't know if I'd like it or not."

"You've never had cake?" Gary shook his head. "Hopeless. You're all utterly hopeless."

"He's lucky we love him," Jan whispered.

"Yep. Otherwise, I'd let Bones loose on him," Jim chuckled. Gary could be annoyingly chipper but he was their friend and they loved him for it.

"You'd have your fiancé fight your battles? I didn't know you had it in you, Jimmy," Mitch smiled.

Bones laughed, "She could take you with one arm tied behind her back. If she sent me to deal with you, I'll just hypo your ass and let you drool on the floor."

"I'd pay to see that," Borrik said causing everyone, aside from Gary, to laugh.

"Me too," Jankowski chuckled.

"Hey, that hurts my feelings," Gary pouted.

"You have feelings?" Bones asked with a smile.

"You're all jerks," Mitch laughed. "Anyway. My original point was that you should be glad. I wish people knew my birthday."

"March twenty-seventh, twenty-two thirty-four," Jim replied automatically.

"Of course you know what it is, you know everything," Gary said.

"No I don't. I know a lot of things but not everything," Jim told him. "Now, the point I was trying to make wasn't that people know my birthday, I could honestly care less. I just wish they would stop staring at me. I have enough of a problem with this day and they're making it worse."

It took years for her to stop blaming herself for George's death. Part of her always knew it wasn't her fault but she still had those moments when she couldn't help but think that if he hadn't been so hell-bent on saving her and her mother, her father could've made it out alive. She certainly wouldn't feel like a bug in a mason jar right now.

"What do you usually do on your birthday?" Borrik asked after a long moment. Not really changing the subject but moving to something that wasn't nearly as depressing as thinking about the father she didn't know.

"Bake," Bones chuckled before telling them about the first birthday they spent together. "I teach her a different recipe every year, even if we're apart."

"That's sweet. What's on deck this year?" Jankowski asked.

"Blueberry crunch muffins," Bones said.

"You need a taste tester?" Gary asked with a wink.

Jim rolled her eyes, "Sure, why not."

"Bones, where are we?" she asked.

It was two weeks after her birthday –two days before his- and the pair was on leave on Earth. Jim had no idea where they were or what they'd be doing since Bones was being tight-lipped about it. He didn't let her handle anything and it was starting to frustrate her.

"You'll see in a few minutes, darlin'," he smiled.

"Not even a hint?"

"'After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began'," he said.

"I know that from somewhere…" she muttered. "The Mass Effect movies."

"Yes, but that's not the point. Focus on the words," Bones told her.

Jim thought about it for a few minutes before she smiled. "We're not?"

"We are," he chuckled.

"I thought you couldn't go back."

"I'm not entirely sure that I can actually go in the house. I figured that I could give it a try with you here," Bones smiled.

"Always," she told him. "So, what should I expect?"

"It should be mostly the same as I described to you," he said as they pulled up to a house at the end of a long road.

"This is the McCoy family home? It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is. I still haven't decided what I'm gonna do with it," Bones told her as he opened her car door. Bones didn't even realize that he owned the place until Pippa told him a few months ago. The older doctor had someone taking care of it for him this whole time.

"You sure you don't want to keep it? We could come out here when we have time off like dad does with the cabin in Mojave," she said. Jim would kill for her parent's house. All she got was a set of nearly indestructible metal footlockers that belonged to her parents and some other small stuff that they pulled out of the rubble of the Kirk house in Riverside.

"Maybe. I don't know," he shrugged as they looked at the front of the house. "Wanna see the inside?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God. How old were you?" Jim asked as she looked at a holo of a little Bones sitting on a tree branch.

"Seven," he smiled as he sat on the couch next to her. "I fell off that tree a week later and broke my arm." He pointed to a spot on his arm. "After that, I swore that I'd stay on the ground."

"We see how that turned out," she smiled.

"To be fair, I didn't have much of a choice at first."

"And now that you have a choice?"

"There are some wonderful things out there," he said. Jim looked at him and found his eyes focused on her. She could feel the blush creeping up her neck.

"Surely you don't mean me," she whispered.

"Pretty sure I do," Bones chuckled.

"What about this one?" Jim asked. It was a holo of little Leonard in a set of mini-medical scrubs next to a tall man that looked a lot like Bones does now.

"I was nine. Went trick or treatin' as my dad." Bones looked at another holo. "That's my mom teaching me how to make her apple pie."

"Is it weird being back here?" she asked when she noticed that he was lost in a memory.

"A little. I keep expecting them to walk through the door even though they've been dead for nine years," he told her. "I guess it could be worse."

"How so?" Jim was a little confused by that.

"If they were here, I doubt I would even know you."

"I happen to disagree with you, Bonesy." She smiled, "I think that we would've found each other eventually."

"You sound so sure," he chuckled

"That's because I am."