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It was a tricky situation that Spock was in. The more time that passed, the more the Bridge crew was doubting the story about Kirk. And with McCoy equally out of sight, the rumors were beginning to fly faster than the Enterprise at warp six. Spock had killed both Kirk and McCoy. Kirk had died back in Romulan territory and Spock had killed McCoy to insure his silence. Kirk and McCoy had been kidnapped by the Klingons. The variations seemed to be endless. They did all add up to one thing - Spock occupying a chair that he would never be allowed to keep if Imperial Starfleet knew that Kirk was gone.
The source of many of the grumblings could be traced very easily to Gary Mitchell. Spock supposed he should be grateful that Mitchell's following was small or there might already have been an attempt to overthrow his Captaincy and install Mitchell in the command chair. So far, Spock had even successfully fended off the call to make Mitchell the First Officer on the grounds that Spock was already filling that slot and was only Acting Captain until Kirk was able to return to the Bridge. He knew that argument was growing weaker with each passing day and would need to be addressed again before long.
Much as he disliked the thought of contacting Imperial Starfleet, Spock knew that realistically he would need to have McCoy give out the news that the Captain was dead and then? Then, as he had once heard Scott remark, the chips would fall where they would. But the step had to be taken while McCoy still lived or the chips would fall very badly indeed.
The messages that Nurse Chapel received were a bit puzzling, but she carried out the orders in them without question. No-one noticed that there was one hour without minimal coverage in Sickbay. That made it very easy for her to assign tasks to those few that were there that would keep them far away from the isolation area.
With those steps taken, when the door to the isolation unit unsealed for the first time in weeks, the only ones present to witness the event were Chief Engineer Scott and Nurse Chapel. When McCoy stepped out of the area, Chapel critically took in his appearance. Far too thin, but otherwise, McCoy was looking more like himself than he had the last time she'd seen him. Since the doctor was already known to forget things like eating when he was in the midst of a project, the weight loss didn't surprise her, though the amount of it did.
The Captain stepped out behind him, oddly enough, holding a very content tribble. Chapel almost didn't recognize it as the same sickly one that McCoy had taken into the rooms with him. Indicating the tribble, McCoy handed Chapel a PADD.
"Remove that one from our test subject inventory, Chris. The Captain's taken a shine to it. There's a couple dozen waiting for you in the room back there though. Pick out one of them and label it as the designated breeder. That one will not be used for any experiments - period."
Pausing, McCoy looked back over to Kirk before continuing. The exchange between them was nothing new, but one thing did puzzle Chapel. Why was Scott was beaming like one of his warp drives had just managed to give birth? On further consideration, she decided she would probably rather not know and turned her attention back to McCoy.
"The Captain and I have some business we need to attend to. When I get back, you can tell me how badly M'benga has screwed with my systems while I've been busy."
"Yes, Doctor. I'll see to the tribbles right away."
Once she was out of hearing range, Scott was grinning even broader.
"Can the two of you give me a couple of minutes to get to the Bridge first? I've been putting aside a minor maintenance call just so that I would have a reason to be there when you arrive."
That seemed to amuse Kirk greatly and he nodded.
"Bones and I are going to stop by my cabin and drop Gwen off first, so that should give you plenty of time."
As Scott moved off - practically ran - to the turbolift, McCoy gave a chuckle.
"Like a kid that was told they could open a present early. Of course, I have to admit I'm rather looking forward to this myself, Jim. Thanks for waiting until I was recovered enough to attend."
"Hell, after the amount of time that my recovery took, what was a couple more days?"
Opening the door to his quarters, Kirk stepped in and took a deep breath before looking around for a good place to put the tribble.
"Just remember that if you feed her extra treats, she's going to give you a few extras right back."
"I remember. Feed a tribble too much and you get a slew of tribbles. On the plus side, that other incident pointed out a flaw in our ship's ventilation systems that could have been exploited by something far less benign than tribbles."
The turbolift doors opened and Scott stepped out. At Spock's inquisitive glance, he held up his toolkit.
"Nothing wrong, sir. Just a wee bit of standard maintenance needed on the Science station."
"Very well. Carry on, Mister Scott."
Scott moved over to the console and positioned himself, but not in the best location to do the work. He arranged things so that he would have the best possible view. He saw Uhura giving him a curious look and just gave her a smile that made her curiosity grow stronger. She was considering leaving her station to question him when she received an alert for a priority message. Once she had the details, she shifted to face the Captain's chair.
"Captain Spock, we have orders coming across from Imperial Starfleet Command. The orders are sealed, sir. Only Captain Kirk will be able to open them."
This was a situation that Spock had feared would come up. It appeared the deception would be ending sooner than planned now, but ignoring Imperial orders was not an option. Facing forward as he considered what to do next, Spock didn't notice that the turbolift doors were opening as he spoke.
"I will contact Doctor McCoy and see if the Captain is well enough to receive the orders."
The measured drawl coming from behind was enough to startle even the Vulcan.
"No need to call me later, Spock. You can ask me right now."
The entire Bridge was silent as Spock turned around, coldly furious and ready to have McCoy thrown into the nearest booth for discipline. Before he could speak, Spock's eyes saw the impossible and totally illogical sight of Captain James T. Kirk walking out of the turbolift as casually as if he had only stepped away for a few minutes. As the doctor watched Spock's skin tone fade to a very pale green, he wondered if he might get to witness a Vulcan fainting.
For his part, Spock found himself grateful that he had been sitting down at the time. This couldn't be happening. Had Doctor McCoy created a clone somehow? He dismissed that thought impatiently. Not enough time had passed. His mind was still whirling as Kirk approached the chair.
"Thanks for keeping the chair warm for me, Spock. Lieutenant Uhura? I believe I heard that orders were coming across?"
"Yes, Captain. Shall I forward them to your ready room?"
"That will be fine. Scotty?"
"Aye, Captain?"
"Finish up whatever you're working on and head back to Engineering. No telling what the orders are and I want us to be ready to go."
"Aye, sir."
"Mister Spock - Doctor McCoy? Accompany me to the ready room. Mister Sulu, you have the conn."
Nothing was said until the three men were alone in the ready room, but Spock's gaze kept going to Kirk as if he expected to see through whatever trick was being played at any moment. One thing that should have uncovered a fake Kirk was the code for unsealing the Imperial Starfleet message, but the Captain moved to the computer and quickly typed in his code followed by the vocal recognition. It took all of them aback when the connection proved to be live instead of a recorded message. Even more of a surprise was that the person on the other end with Pike.
"Not that it isn't good to see you again, but aren't you supposed to be recovering?"
"I think you've lost track of how much time has passed since you left me behind. I spent nearly two weeks finishing up my recovery, but I came back to Headquarters at a good time. You were right about the Admiralty being decimated by Khan and Marcus. I've taken over Marcus' position as head of Starfleet operations. Now - who all is in the room with you?"
"Congratulations, Admiral. Doctor McCoy and Mister Spock are here with me."
"Excellent. I do need to inform you that Mitchell will need to be reinstated to the First Officer position, but he doesn't need to be present for this briefing."
A glance told McCoy that having to turn First Officer back over to Mitchell didn't set well with either Kirk or Spock, but now wasn't the time to discuss that. Going by rank and seniority, the position was Mitchell's by rights. Of course, out in the black, rank could still be gained by blood. Trouble being that McCoy didn't trust either Mitchell or Spock and he didn't think Kirk really did either. That thought went into the background as Pike continued.
"First - what is the status of Admiral Marcus?"
"Dead. He and his ship vaporized in the Hobus system's star's gravity well."
"Excellent. Also, that was a good call on claiming the Augments were a difference species. While I don't think that the Klingons fully believe it, it was plausible enough to prevent war from breaking out over their attempted sabotage."
A smile came across Pike's face as he leaned on the table in front of him.
"I suppose I should begin this by saying that the Enterprise is yours again, Jim. Fully. I have no idea how you managed to pull it off, but the Emperor was contacted directly by Empress N'alea. She said your actions showed good faith by our Empire and, in turn, our Emperor has acknowledged that the Romulans that attacked Earth were rogues acting outside of her authority. In other words? The war between our two Empires is over except for the ceremonies and the paperwork."
"That's good news - right?"
"Excellent news. Since this is a secure line, I can tell you the war wasn't anything either side could really afford at this point in time, so having an honorable way for both sides to call it off is something to celebrate. You and the Enterprise are going to be handling diplomatic duties and, in all? It will take about a year and a half."
Kirk tried not to wince, but the thought of that didn't have a lot of appeal. Pike noticed and chuckled.
"It won't be that bad, son. Once all the wording has been agreed on, the treaty will be signed in the presence of the Klingon Emperor. Three representatives from each Empire will be there as representatives to witness the signing and it has been requested that the three representatives from the Terran Empire be yourself, Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov. The reason that the three of you were requested by name? That is a story that I want to be told over several glasses of Romulan Ale once you return to Earth."
"You provide the ale and we'll provide the story."
"That's a deal, Jim. After the treaty is signed, you will be reporting back to Earth and your crew given shore-leave while the Enterprise undergoes an upgrade. Then? You're getting the big one."
Kirk's breath caught and he leaned forward slightly.
"The long-range exploration into unknown space?"
"That's the one. Everyone wanted it, but the Emperor has made the call to give it to the Enterprise in acknowledgement of service rendered to the Terran Empire."
Part of McCoy was as excited as Kirk by the prospect, but part of him was caught on the length of time that mission was expected to last.
"Five years in space . . ."
Pike laughed at the tone in McCoy's voice.
"I'll arrange it so that when you come back to Earth, you can spend your downtime with your sister rather than getting stuck at the hospital. By the way, that's an interesting pit bull that you have disguised as Joanna's nanny. I don't suppose you'll let me in on how you were able to let her know when it was safe to return Joanna to the Institute?"
"You're right. I don't suppose I will."
Pike's laugh at that comment puzzled Spock. He had never understood why Pike allowed Kirk and McCoy so much leeway. He was even more confused when McCoy broke out in laughter himself. From their expressions, Kirk and Pike were also unsure what McCoy was laughing about. It was finally Kirk that asked.
"Care to explain what's so funny, Bones?"
"Khan and his damn anti-war bunch of Augments. Things didn't go their way, but damned if they didn't manage to bring about peace any way."
Laughing as that sank in, Kirk clapped a hand on McCoy's shoulder.
"With one important distinction, Bones. Peace without the Augments as the overlords maintaining it."
"That reminds me, Leonard. The Klingons have sent words along that the two Augment prisoners died during questioning, but before dying, they confirmed that the majority of the Augments were on the ship with former Admiral Marcus and doubtless died with him."
"Nothing I'll lose sleep over, Admiral."
"Didn't expect you would. Well, gentlemen? Get some rest. You're expected at Starbase 5 in three days time and will be remaining there until further notice. Take the time to resupply and get your crew in order. Which reminds me - you have a Lieutenant Wallace onboard?"
"Had. She was one of the causalities during our encounter with the Vengeance."
"One less problem to deal with then. Jim, do you have any problem with Mister Spock retaking back the position of Science Officer?"
"None, Chris."
"Good. I'll speak with you again once you dock at Starbase 5. Pike out."
As the screen went dark, both Kirk and McCoy turned their attention to Spock.
"Any problem with taking the Science Officer position, Mister Spock?"
"None, Captain. I acknowledge the orders from Admiral Pike."
Rising from his seat, Spock paused, then spoke again.
"I am still uncertain of exactly what has occurred that has returned you to the Captaincy. Regardless, as I acknowledge that you at the helm of the Enterprise is far preferable to the option of Mitchell taking over command, welcome back, sir."
"It's a long story, Spock. Maybe we'll tell it to you someday. Dismissed."
Once Spock left the room, Kirk turned to McCoy.
"Asked for by name. Impressive, Bones. Sounds like you and the Klingons got along pretty well."
"Better than expected - then again, I'd never been around Klingons before. Guess I'll be around them a helluva lot more over the next eighteen months."
Getting up himself, Kirk gave McCoy's shoulder a squeeze.
"Come on, Bones. Who knows? It might be fun. But for now? Let's get the ship on her way to Starbase 5 and then you and I are going to do a little catching up."
Responding to the slight tug from Kirk, McCoy got up as well.
"Catching up? Jim, we just spent weeks in isolation together."
"That doesn't count. Most of the time, one or the other of us was dead. Not to mention, we didn't have Gaila with us at all."
"Oh. That kind of catching up."
"Yeah, that kind, Bones. You good with that?"
"Paraphrasing something you said once? Best damn offer I've had in a long time."