The Stars Above Us

Chapter 24

"You two going for a record or something?" Gary whispered when she sat next to him at the tactical console for Alpha shift.

"Don't know what you're talking about," she replied innocently. Jim knew exactly what he was talking about but she wasn't giving him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Liar. You're a married woman and you still blush like a fifteen year old. I'm just trying to figure out if you two actually eat before you disappear to your quarters. Or starve, or whatever," her friend teased.

"We eat in our quarters," Jim told him.

"That explains it," he chuckled. "How is married life?"

"Not a topic for the bridge," she reminded him. "But it's good. Better than good."

Jim doesn't know how they managed it but she and Bones were adjusting to being married really well. Gramps warned them that they could have some issues at first, but because they've basically lived together since they were kids, they haven't had problems… Unless you count the fact that they can't keep their hands off of each other when they're alone as a problem. If anything, being married just brought a feeling of security. They were always a team, Jim and Bones, now it was just official.

"I gotta find me a girl," Mitch sighed.

Jim chuckled, "If I see someone your type, I'll let you know."

"I don't have a type."

"I know."

"You think that maybe we should have dinner in the mess hall with everyone else at some point?" Jim asked when she stepped into the quarters she shares with her husband.

"I was gonna ask you that," Bones smiled. "Who got to you?"

"Mitch. You?"

"Velasquez," he chuckled as she sat next to him on the couch. "I didn't realize we were that bad."

"Are we that bad? Or are we newlyweds who are just enjoying the honeymoon phase?" she asked.

"Both."

"Are we ever gonna get it outta our systems?" Jim asked. They've been going at it like rabbits for the last three and a half months. If it wasn't for their contraception, they'd be knocked up a few dozen times over.

"I hope not," Bones smiled before pressing a soft kiss against her lips.

"We're gonna miss dinner again, aren't we?" she whispered when Bones leaned back to pull her duty dress off.

"Probably," he said, his lips trailing kisses down her neck and along her collarbone. Jim pushed his blue uniform tunic and black undershirt off. "I don't care."

"You, the man who gets mad when I skip meals, don't care about eating?"

"Not at the moment. I would much rather devour my wife," Bones chuckled against her skin before he sat up with Jim in his arms.

"Mitch is never gonna let us hear the end of this."

"I got a bad feeling about this," Jim mumbled as she pulled on her black undershirt and grabbed the pants to her unisex uniform.

"You don't even know what's going on yet," Bones said as he rushed to get dressed next to her.

"No, but Red Alerts in the middle of the 'night' are historically not good," she told him. Jim tugged her boots on and gave Bones a quick kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too," he smiled. "Don't do anything stupid."

Jim grabbed her gold shirt and chuckled as she left their quarters, "No promises."

"I swear to all that's holy, Jim, I'll hypo you into next…"

"Week if I get myself hurt. Yea, I know. Now go to medical," she said as she sprinted to the turbolift, pulling her tunic on as she did. Jim let out a chuckle when she heard him grumble as he went the opposite direction. God, she loves that beautiful, cranky creature.

"Any idea on what going on?" one of the officers in the lift asked.

"Not yet but the captain will fill us in if we need to know," Gaynor said from somewhere. Jim just gave a quick nod, that's what she was gonna say.

Just as the doors to the turbolift opened to the bridge, the ship started taking fire. Augenthaler was issuing orders to return fire as Jim and Gaynor took their stations from the junior officers that worked Gamma shift.

About a year ago, the Federation colony on Archanis IV was attacked and 112 Federation citizens were killed. It was discovered that a Klingon garrison in the next system was responsible when a Federation vessel found a disabled Klingon cruiser inside Federation space. The Klingons denied any involvement and refused to surrender to Starfleet, which started a war. Now, the Constitution was being attacked by a Klingon Cruiser Squadron that dropped out from the tail of a large comet. The Tennessee, the Damascus and the Constitution were all putting up one hell of a fight but they were being outmaneuvered.

"The Klingons are ignoring our hails, Captain," Borrik said.

Augenthaler sighed, "That's fine. I don't want to talk to them anyway. Helm, forty degree down angle then come about on the Damascus' port side."

"Yes, sir," Gary nodded as he continued to fly the large ship.

This was the part of Jim's job that she both loved and loathed. There are always gonna be battles, to be one of the people who fights those battles is what she signed up to do. It doesn't stop the feeling of uncertainty that comes over her every time she's faced a threat or the feeling that there should be another option instead of a fight. Her job was to find the other option but right now, there was nothing she could do but keep firing on the Klingons that were attacking them.

"Sir, we just lost the Tennessee," Jim said as she read the tactical console.

"How many people were on that ship, Kirk?" the captain asked.

"One hundred and nineteen, sir," she told him. They didn't have time to think about the lives they just lost, they still had to get themselves and the Damascus out of here.

"Bones, you okay?" she asked as she walked in the CMO's office. Her husband was sitting on the couch with a drink in his hand.

"No," he sighed. "It should've been me. I should've been the one to go down there."

The ship took a lot of damage fighting off the Klingons and if it wasn't for the Damascus and the debris from the Tennessee, they wouldn't have made it. Among the dead and injured on the Constitution were the first officer and the CMO. Both officers went down to engineering, for different reasons, and got caught in an explosion. Hirota was in critical condition and Velasquez was dead. Bones was now the acting CMO and it pissed him off more than anything.

"You're gonna feel that way for a long time," Jim told him honestly.

"You're not helping," Bones chuckled.

"I am. You just don't realize it yet," she said. "I have a list, it's about as long as you are tall, of people I wish I could've saved. My family. Hoshi. Some of the kids on Tarsus that I didn't get to fast enough. Crew on the Republic. The Farragut. I'm sure the list will grow the longer I'm in the fleet. I wish I could said it gets easier but I honestly don't know."

"I don't know how it doesn't get to you," he said.

"It does. You know it does. I just have a very good reason to keep fighting," Jim smiled.

"Is this the part where you tell me that I'm your reason for living?"

"Not the only reason, just the best reason," she told him. "You remember what you told me after Tarsus?"

"I told you a lot of things after Tarsus," Bones reminded her.

"When I was confused and angry and I couldn't figure out why everything happened the way it did and I didn't want to be around any adults. And you said…"

"We'll figure it out. Together."

Jim nodded, "Since then, that's what we've been doing. Something happens, we face it together. The only difference today is that I'm not the one who's being stupid."

"I'm not being stupid," he told her.

"So you're not drinking the tequila Velasquez had stashed in her desk?"

"It's just one drink… that I can't actually drink," Bones said, looking down at the drink still in his hand. "I'm the acting CMO, getting drunk right now would be a very bad idea. You want it?"

"Can't. Acting XO," she sighed. "How about we leave it here for her like they do in the bars near HQ for fallen comrades?" Bones nodded and sat the drink on the CMO's desk. As long as the artificial gravity holds, it should be okay. "Feel better?"

"A little. Thank you for checking on me."

"Oh please. I just followed my 'WWBD?' rule," Jim chuckled. He gave her a look. "What would Bones do?"

"I don't like not knowing what to do," Jim said. Spock looked at her. "What?"

"You are well aware of what you want to do, Jim. The question you face is whether or not it is a good choice for both you and Leonard," her friend said.

"That is the question. I can logically justify any choice I make and it's annoying the hell outta me. What if I pick the wrong assignment? What if I wait too long and the fleet just gives me something random? What about Bones? This is his life too."

"You are aware that Leonard will follow you no matter what you decide," he said.

She sighed, "I know but I don't want that to be our lives. Me picking things and him just… following along."

"And yet, he would," Spock said.

"You're not helping," Jim muttered and took a sip of her tea.

"I am," he told her. "You told me that you have always wanted to be a Starfleet captain and Leonard always wanted to be a doctor. So far, he has succeeded in his aspiration and you have not. Leonard will not follow you because he's your husband, he will follow you because he wishes to see you accomplish your dream, just as you were there to watch him accomplish his."

"That's highly illogical," she chuckled.

If Spock was the type to laugh, Jim had a feeling that he would. "I have learned that love is a most illogical emotion, and yet, it is something we cannot live without."

"I'm gonna tell your mother you said that," Jim smiled.

"If you must."

"What are your feelings on ground assignments?" Jim asked her husband.

"You, me or both?"

"Either," she said. "I got a few interesting offers and I want your opinion."

With the Constitution in dry-dock for a re-fit, they were all being reassigned. Jim was offered a spot on the team with Doctor Marvick. She was also offered second officer positions on two different ships. The most interesting offer she got was the command of a ground installation on a planet near the Klingon Neutral Zone. She told him about all of them.

"Well," Bones said, "The advantage to working with Marvick is that he's Larry Marvick. The man's your hero. He also likes you so I don't think it'll matter one way or another. He won't hold it against you if you don't take the assignment with him and it's not like you two haven't been working together long distance all this time, no reason for that to change right this second."

"Okay," she said. That was a good point. Jim and Marvick have been corresponding since that tour she took of ASDB. She and Spock were working on the new sensors for the Enterprise. "What about the other stuff?"

"That's easy. You can't be a captain if you don't lead. Getting offered a command position is a big deal, Jim. When you go up for your assignment after that, that's something that will be considered. You could get a spot on a ship any day," he told her.

"Would you go with me if I took it? I'm sure I get to pick some of my staff."

Bones smiled, "Depends on the offer I get."

After a week of conversations with her husband, a few with her dad and another one with Spock, Jim decided that taking the command position would be the best option. Bones decided that he was going with her. Being in and around Starfleet as long as they have, they both know better than to pass up a joint assignment. He also made it a point to remind her, repeatedly, that he could literally be assigned anywhere in the fleet because everyone needs medical but she wasn't going to get this kind of offer again if she passed it up. The deal they made with each other is that he gets to pick the next orders.

Now, they were on Ajilon Prime, the only class-M planet in the Ajilon system. Situated on the edge of the Archanis sector in the Beta Quadrant, right next to the Klingon/Federation border. Jim's assignment was to take command of Tananda Bay Station. Soon, she would be in charge of the one hundred and six men and women –not counting Bones and Gaynor- stationed at the base and charged with the safety of the nearby colony.

"I still can't believe you wanted me for your XO," Gaynor said as they –and Bones- got off the shuttle.

"Well, we may not be best friends but we trust each other," she shrugged.

"Nervous?" Bones asked.

"No," Jim said. He gave her a knowing look. "I'm a little nervous."

"You'll be fine," her husband told her.

"I can't be fine. I have to be good," she sighed.

"You're already good," Gaynor said. "It's annoying." Jim looked at her XO. "What? It is."

Bones chuckled, "I hate to agree with him but he's right, Jim. You got this."

"Lieutenant Commander Kirk," a voice called. Jim looked up, and up, and up some more at the tall dark gray officer in front of her. "I'm you're yeoman, Dex."

"Dex?" Gaynor asked the officer as they started walking.

"My name is Scleanxmefdexlan. The only human who could pronounce it without much difficulty was a sweet girl I met at a linguistic conference two years ago. She spoke better Tyrellian than some natives. Anyway, Dex is simpler," the tall man told them.

"Scalea… you're gonna have to teach me that, Dex," she smiled. "I'm Jim Kirk. This is Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Gaynor."

"Sirs," Dex said with a nod. "Commanders, I have temp quarters set up for you. You'll move into the CO's Quarters after Broad leaves tomorrow. The XO already left, so Lieutenant Gaynor can move in today. We'll make a quick trip the armory to get your sidearms, everyone carries a weapon on station as per HQ. I've gathered all the files you asked for and I have a schedule for you to personally observe every department at some point in the next two days."

"Sounds like fun," Bones mumbled.

"Who knows, could be," Jack chuckled.

"Word of advice, don't be too much of a hard ass… I think that's the saying you humans use. When word came down that Broad was leaving, people threw parties," Dex told them. "He's that much of an asshole."

"As long as everyone does their jobs, they should be okay. If they don't, they'll have to deal with me before it ever gets to her," Gaynor said. "She's the nice one unless you mess with her family."

"You learned that the hard way," her husband whispered.

"I'm just lucky that I didn't get in trouble," her XO told Bones.

"Could've but I honestly didn't see the need," Jim shrugged. "Long story, Dex."

"I hope to hear it one day," he said as they got to a building. "Welcome to the Bay."

"Attention to Orders." Everyone in the room stood at attention and looked at Commander Broad, the officer Jim was to relieve. He picked up a PADD to read the orders. "'To Commander Stanley Broad, Commanding Officer, Tananda Bay Station, you are hereby requested and required to relinquish your command to Lieutenant Commander Jamison Kirk, First Officer, USS Constitution. Stardate twenty-two fifty-three point one-nine-three. Signed, Admiral Oryss th'qelass, Chief of Starfleet Operations.' Computer, transfer all command codes to Lieutenant Commander Kirk. Voice authorization: Broad-nine-one-seven-two-four."

"Transfer complete. Tananda Bay Station now under command of Lieutenant Commander Kirk," The computer told them.

"I relieve you, sir," Jim told the other officer.

"I stand relieved," Broad said with a nod.

Jim glanced over at her husband as the weight settled on her shoulders, she was now the commanding officer for a Starfleet Station.

"Nice office, darlin'," Bones said when he stepped into the room.

"It'll get the job done," she chuckled. It'll probably do more than that since it was so big. The advantage of being on the ground instead of on a ship, there was more space. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just checking on you," he told her as he sat in the chair across from her and picked up a holo of them from a few years ago. "I like this one."

"You're bored," Jim smiled.

"A little. Medical is on a normal shift rotation, I don't start working until tomorrow."

"Lucky you. I've been buried in work since Broad turned over command. On the plus side, Dex is pretty cool," she said with a chuckle.

"I know. He's the one who let me in here. Had a nice conversation."

"About what?" Jim asked as she typed.

"His family," Bones smiled. "His little boys are here, wife too. She works at the school in the colony."

"That is the advantage of ground assignments. Unfortunately, they may have to leave soon," she sighed. "The brass is worried about the civilian compliment attached to this station. I'll do what I can to keep them around but if the Klingons show up…"

"It's game over."

"Yep," she sighed. "Did I do the right thing, Bones? Taking this assignment. I thought it was a good idea but now I'm not so sure."

"I think so. It might not feel like it now but I'm sure it will. And look at the bright side, I'm here."

Jim chuckled, "You are always the bright side."