Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Orders
The U.S.S. Enterprise had only six months left on her second mission under Admiral James T. Kirk. They were making their way back to Earth in a long, slow arch. The entire crew was on edge, wondering what the future held for each of them.
The Communication panel beeped. It was the incoming data packet from Star Fleet Headquarters in San Francisco. When she opened it Lt. Nyota Uhura gasped softly; The Permanent Change of Station orders had arrived. She could tell by the subject title and by the addressee. Drat, they were encoded so she couldn’t even peek. There was nothing she could do but download the large file onto a data disk and send it to the Yeoman’s Office. She called Yeoman Tonia Barrows over and told her to hand carry this disk to her Chief ASAP.
Barrows took the disk and headed for the turbo lift. Adm. Kirk said to her. “Yeoman, how soon until we get our orders in our hands?”
She stopped abruptly; “How did you know, sir? It supposed to be, well, a secret.”
“Honey,” he said looking at her with his hazel eyes dancing; “This ain’t my first rodeo. The orders always arrive about this time on a mission. Besides the HQ packet alarmed our Communications Officer, if it had been bad news she would have alerted me, ergo; you are holding our individual orders.” He smiled pleased with himself. “How soon until we get them?”
Tonia hated to speak for Chief Garcia but she hazarded a guess; “The staff should have theirs by 1600. The rest will be released between then and 0800 tomorrow, sir.”
“I see.” He replied. “Where did you put in for?”
“The J. F.X. McIntyre; I’m interested in medicine.” She cast a glance at Doctor McCoy who was lingering on the Bridge, by Mr. Spock’s station. The Admiral dismissed her with a nod and she departed.
Kirk turned to his friends. “Gentlemen, senior staff meeting in conference room A at 1600. Ms. Uhura, will you inform Mr. Scott and be sure to be there yourself.”
“Aye, aye, Admiral.”
Conference room A was ready when they stepped in. There was fresh coffee and tea along with light refreshments on the credenza. A few moments after Kirk and his friends were seated, Chief Yeoman Geri Garcia brought in the change of station orders. She handed each person one folded paper copy and a data disk.
When she was done, she stood at attention and began to speak; “Don’t…”
“Don’t loose the disk; it contains our futures, aye, aye, ma’am.” Kirk, Scott, Uhura and McCoy chorused. Personnel specialist had been giving the same speech since the advent of the order’s disk.
McCoy added; “Thank you, Chief, you and your people did a great job setting this spread up in a hurry.” He smiled at her. She blushed and said you’re welcome on her way out the door.
Spock cast his eyes up to his ancestors. Len raised his eyebrow and gave him a quick half smile.
Jim laughed. “I seemed to be loosing my touch. Bones, what charm do you have over our yeomen? Bones just shrugged. Kirk clapped his hands together. “All right, down to business. I guess I’ll go first.” He fished his glasses out of an inner jacket pocket and opened his orders with a flourish. “Star Fleet Academy, I‘ll be head of the Tactics and Strategies department. Well, at least it’s not a desk job at HQ this time and Lonny promised me there will be some time off planet. Mr. Spock, you go next.”
“Star Fleet Academy - Tactics Instructor. It seems, Admiral we shall still be working together.”
McCoy went next. “Piper Memorial, also in San Fran. Guess I’m destined to follow that guy from one end of the universe to the other.” he grumbled, but none of his friends bought it.
“Dr. Piper was a great man; you could do worse than follow him.” Lt. Uhura chided. She stroked her cheek where Piper had repaired a nasty gash. Scotty reached up and took her hand. He leaned over and kissed her now unblemished cheek.
“Aye,” He said. “Ol’ Piper did fine work. Lass, it’s your turn.”
She reluctantly drew her hand from his. “The Academy - Communications and Linguistics. I’ve already been talking with Captain Brown. I’ll be mostly working as a Comm. Officer with occasional instructor duties.”
Scotty opened his envelope. “Not San Francisco. Jupiter Station, the great space dock. I’ll be supervising the upgrades to my wee bairnes and passing on what I learned out here to the dirt-siders and stay-at-homes.”
Kirk said, “I’m sure you’ll be home on the weekends.”
“If I don’t get caught up in a problem and loose track of time.” Scotty replied.
“Don’t worry, honey. I’ll make sure you come home to Momma.” Her smile was velvet over steel. “Besides, Jim, if Monty isn’t there I will have you to keep me company.”
Jim felt flush; “A-a- are you sure?” He looked at Scotty. “Are you both, sure?” His eyes were large daring to hope. Scott nodded and gave him a big warm grin. Nyota took his hand.
Sulu cleared his throat. “Ahem, I’m going to be a flight instructor at the Academy. After five years, I’m going to be in the same solar system as my wife. Janice is a transporter chief on Jupiter Station. She’ll make sure Mr. Scott makes it home in one piece and on schedule.”
“Yes, but who will ride herd on Jim? I’ve got other duties to attend to, not better, just other.” Ny asked.
“Kevin Riley…” Sulu answered.
“Riley!” Kirk interjected.
Sulu chucked; “Kev and I have kept in contact. There’s an Enterprise Survivors’ Group, ya know. He’s going to be your personnel aide, Admiral. He’s so proud, he’s about to bust.”
“My god, little Kevin Riley will be responsible for me.” Kirk shook his head. How different from when they met on that refugee ship and Riley was the small boy who clung to Jimmy Kirk. “I wonder -- why didn’t I get another female yeoman?” He looked pointedly at Ny and Scotty.
Sulu spoke up; “Janice may have mentioned to some friends at the HQ Personnel Office, that women could be a distraction for, ah, ah, Alpha males, such as yourself and besides…”
“Besides it’s hard to run a department, when I’m busy beating off willing women with a stick. Poor Kevin will just have to run interference for me.” He smiled and glanced over that Nyota and Scotty. This ‘Alpha’ male had his pride.
“If you’ll excuse me, sir?” Sulu asked.
“Sure, dismissed.” The remaining friends broke into two groups. Jim, Monty and Nyota sat at one end of the table with Spock and Len sitting at the other.
“T’hy’la,” Spock took his lover’s hand. “I sense that you are not completely happy with our coming assignments. Could it be that you do not wish to share accommodations with me once we arrive back to Earth?”
“Naw, shug. In fact, pretty much the opposite. I had been planning us to live on my family farm out in Georgia.” McCoy paused.
“I remember.” The Vulcan prompted.
“Well, my cousins have been living there ever since I left Earth umpteen years ago….
“Fourteen years, four months and twenty-seven days.” Spock interjected.
“Any way, my cousins don’t want to move, seeing as they’ve lived in the house fourteen years, four months and twenty-seven days, it feels like home to them.” He shrugged. “I wanted to show it to you. Walk through the fields, pick peaches, set down by the lake and look at the stars, like we did when we were kids.” He sighed and waited for Spock to say something. Len peered up at his lover’s face. “You don’t seem as upset, as I reckoned you’d be.”
Spock stroked Len’s hand to soothe and distract him. “I would not be upset, just because our plan has been upset. I am, after all, Vulcan.” McCoy scowled. “I do understand and I admire you for not casting you family out in to the proverbial snow. As it happens, I, too, have cousins on Earth.” He looked a bit smug. //Forgot that, didn’t you, beloved. // “I wrote to my mother’s niece, Rebecca Grayson. I expressed concern that after spending most of my adult life, all of my possessions, fit into an officer’s stateroom. Rebecca reminded me that she is a real estate agent. She said there was a perfect little house on Lombart Street in Old San Francisco, completely furnished. She thought I could be happy there.”
McCoy’s eyes narrowed; “You, you were planning to buy a house without me!”
“On the contrary, I am planning to buy a house for you, for us. I did remember you caretaker cousins. You make mention of Janet every Christmas when she sends her famous Spice Peaches in the ‘Care’ package. I speculated that perhaps she and her family would not want to leave the farm; however, I told my cousin that I could not definitely decide on the house until we saw it together.” Spock inclined his head in supplication.
McCoy ran his thumb slowly over the back of the Vulcan’s hand; “I reckon San Francisco ain’t all bad. The view is nice, the food is good. I won’t have to use the Bird-forsaken transporter to get to work and, of course, you’ll be there.”
“Yes,” Spock whispered, “I will.” He held up two fingers.
“Then that’s where I want to be, too.” Leonard crossed fingers with his T’hy’la’ and sealed the deal with a Vulcan kiss.
FIN
The Communication panel beeped. It was the incoming data packet from Star Fleet Headquarters in San Francisco. When she opened it Lt. Nyota Uhura gasped softly; The Permanent Change of Station orders had arrived. She could tell by the subject title and by the addressee. Drat, they were encoded so she couldn’t even peek. There was nothing she could do but download the large file onto a data disk and send it to the Yeoman’s Office. She called Yeoman Tonia Barrows over and told her to hand carry this disk to her Chief ASAP.
Barrows took the disk and headed for the turbo lift. Adm. Kirk said to her. “Yeoman, how soon until we get our orders in our hands?”
She stopped abruptly; “How did you know, sir? It supposed to be, well, a secret.”
“Honey,” he said looking at her with his hazel eyes dancing; “This ain’t my first rodeo. The orders always arrive about this time on a mission. Besides the HQ packet alarmed our Communications Officer, if it had been bad news she would have alerted me, ergo; you are holding our individual orders.” He smiled pleased with himself. “How soon until we get them?”
Tonia hated to speak for Chief Garcia but she hazarded a guess; “The staff should have theirs by 1600. The rest will be released between then and 0800 tomorrow, sir.”
“I see.” He replied. “Where did you put in for?”
“The J. F.X. McIntyre; I’m interested in medicine.” She cast a glance at Doctor McCoy who was lingering on the Bridge, by Mr. Spock’s station. The Admiral dismissed her with a nod and she departed.
Kirk turned to his friends. “Gentlemen, senior staff meeting in conference room A at 1600. Ms. Uhura, will you inform Mr. Scott and be sure to be there yourself.”
“Aye, aye, Admiral.”
Conference room A was ready when they stepped in. There was fresh coffee and tea along with light refreshments on the credenza. A few moments after Kirk and his friends were seated, Chief Yeoman Geri Garcia brought in the change of station orders. She handed each person one folded paper copy and a data disk.
When she was done, she stood at attention and began to speak; “Don’t…”
“Don’t loose the disk; it contains our futures, aye, aye, ma’am.” Kirk, Scott, Uhura and McCoy chorused. Personnel specialist had been giving the same speech since the advent of the order’s disk.
McCoy added; “Thank you, Chief, you and your people did a great job setting this spread up in a hurry.” He smiled at her. She blushed and said you’re welcome on her way out the door.
Spock cast his eyes up to his ancestors. Len raised his eyebrow and gave him a quick half smile.
Jim laughed. “I seemed to be loosing my touch. Bones, what charm do you have over our yeomen? Bones just shrugged. Kirk clapped his hands together. “All right, down to business. I guess I’ll go first.” He fished his glasses out of an inner jacket pocket and opened his orders with a flourish. “Star Fleet Academy, I‘ll be head of the Tactics and Strategies department. Well, at least it’s not a desk job at HQ this time and Lonny promised me there will be some time off planet. Mr. Spock, you go next.”
“Star Fleet Academy - Tactics Instructor. It seems, Admiral we shall still be working together.”
McCoy went next. “Piper Memorial, also in San Fran. Guess I’m destined to follow that guy from one end of the universe to the other.” he grumbled, but none of his friends bought it.
“Dr. Piper was a great man; you could do worse than follow him.” Lt. Uhura chided. She stroked her cheek where Piper had repaired a nasty gash. Scotty reached up and took her hand. He leaned over and kissed her now unblemished cheek.
“Aye,” He said. “Ol’ Piper did fine work. Lass, it’s your turn.”
She reluctantly drew her hand from his. “The Academy - Communications and Linguistics. I’ve already been talking with Captain Brown. I’ll be mostly working as a Comm. Officer with occasional instructor duties.”
Scotty opened his envelope. “Not San Francisco. Jupiter Station, the great space dock. I’ll be supervising the upgrades to my wee bairnes and passing on what I learned out here to the dirt-siders and stay-at-homes.”
Kirk said, “I’m sure you’ll be home on the weekends.”
“If I don’t get caught up in a problem and loose track of time.” Scotty replied.
“Don’t worry, honey. I’ll make sure you come home to Momma.” Her smile was velvet over steel. “Besides, Jim, if Monty isn’t there I will have you to keep me company.”
Jim felt flush; “A-a- are you sure?” He looked at Scotty. “Are you both, sure?” His eyes were large daring to hope. Scott nodded and gave him a big warm grin. Nyota took his hand.
Sulu cleared his throat. “Ahem, I’m going to be a flight instructor at the Academy. After five years, I’m going to be in the same solar system as my wife. Janice is a transporter chief on Jupiter Station. She’ll make sure Mr. Scott makes it home in one piece and on schedule.”
“Yes, but who will ride herd on Jim? I’ve got other duties to attend to, not better, just other.” Ny asked.
“Kevin Riley…” Sulu answered.
“Riley!” Kirk interjected.
Sulu chucked; “Kev and I have kept in contact. There’s an Enterprise Survivors’ Group, ya know. He’s going to be your personnel aide, Admiral. He’s so proud, he’s about to bust.”
“My god, little Kevin Riley will be responsible for me.” Kirk shook his head. How different from when they met on that refugee ship and Riley was the small boy who clung to Jimmy Kirk. “I wonder -- why didn’t I get another female yeoman?” He looked pointedly at Ny and Scotty.
Sulu spoke up; “Janice may have mentioned to some friends at the HQ Personnel Office, that women could be a distraction for, ah, ah, Alpha males, such as yourself and besides…”
“Besides it’s hard to run a department, when I’m busy beating off willing women with a stick. Poor Kevin will just have to run interference for me.” He smiled and glanced over that Nyota and Scotty. This ‘Alpha’ male had his pride.
“If you’ll excuse me, sir?” Sulu asked.
“Sure, dismissed.” The remaining friends broke into two groups. Jim, Monty and Nyota sat at one end of the table with Spock and Len sitting at the other.
“T’hy’la,” Spock took his lover’s hand. “I sense that you are not completely happy with our coming assignments. Could it be that you do not wish to share accommodations with me once we arrive back to Earth?”
“Naw, shug. In fact, pretty much the opposite. I had been planning us to live on my family farm out in Georgia.” McCoy paused.
“I remember.” The Vulcan prompted.
“Well, my cousins have been living there ever since I left Earth umpteen years ago….
“Fourteen years, four months and twenty-seven days.” Spock interjected.
“Any way, my cousins don’t want to move, seeing as they’ve lived in the house fourteen years, four months and twenty-seven days, it feels like home to them.” He shrugged. “I wanted to show it to you. Walk through the fields, pick peaches, set down by the lake and look at the stars, like we did when we were kids.” He sighed and waited for Spock to say something. Len peered up at his lover’s face. “You don’t seem as upset, as I reckoned you’d be.”
Spock stroked Len’s hand to soothe and distract him. “I would not be upset, just because our plan has been upset. I am, after all, Vulcan.” McCoy scowled. “I do understand and I admire you for not casting you family out in to the proverbial snow. As it happens, I, too, have cousins on Earth.” He looked a bit smug. //Forgot that, didn’t you, beloved. // “I wrote to my mother’s niece, Rebecca Grayson. I expressed concern that after spending most of my adult life, all of my possessions, fit into an officer’s stateroom. Rebecca reminded me that she is a real estate agent. She said there was a perfect little house on Lombart Street in Old San Francisco, completely furnished. She thought I could be happy there.”
McCoy’s eyes narrowed; “You, you were planning to buy a house without me!”
“On the contrary, I am planning to buy a house for you, for us. I did remember you caretaker cousins. You make mention of Janet every Christmas when she sends her famous Spice Peaches in the ‘Care’ package. I speculated that perhaps she and her family would not want to leave the farm; however, I told my cousin that I could not definitely decide on the house until we saw it together.” Spock inclined his head in supplication.
McCoy ran his thumb slowly over the back of the Vulcan’s hand; “I reckon San Francisco ain’t all bad. The view is nice, the food is good. I won’t have to use the Bird-forsaken transporter to get to work and, of course, you’ll be there.”
“Yes,” Spock whispered, “I will.” He held up two fingers.
“Then that’s where I want to be, too.” Leonard crossed fingers with his T’hy’la’ and sealed the deal with a Vulcan kiss.
FIN
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
We Three Sons of Fereginar
ALL:
We three sons of Ferenginar
Working in an outer space bar
Wormhole gateway, what a great way
Customers from near and far
O, here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here just the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
QUARK:
Gold press latinum - I’ll take
In bars or slips. Money I’ll make
Drinks to swallow, try a holo
Waiting for my big break
O, here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here all the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
ROM:
Common sense is I how I get by
Though my brother would deny
I repair things, common and rare things
And I’m Leeta’s number one guy!
O here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here all the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
NOG:
With Sisko’s help I joined Star Fleet
Adventure and ladies, I thought, pretty neat
Learning, dealing; fighting, healing
Until the Cardy’s were beat
O here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here just the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
ALL:
Living here we seen some strange things
Shifters, soldiers, gamers and Klings(on)
Females in clothing, ships exploding
Emissaries, gods and kings
O here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here all the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
We three sons of Ferenginar
Working in an outer space bar
Wormhole gateway, what a great way
Customers from near and far
O, here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here just the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
QUARK:
Gold press latinum - I’ll take
In bars or slips. Money I’ll make
Drinks to swallow, try a holo
Waiting for my big break
O, here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here all the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
ROM:
Common sense is I how I get by
Though my brother would deny
I repair things, common and rare things
And I’m Leeta’s number one guy!
O here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here all the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
NOG:
With Sisko’s help I joined Star Fleet
Adventure and ladies, I thought, pretty neat
Learning, dealing; fighting, healing
Until the Cardy’s were beat
O here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here just the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
ALL:
Living here we seen some strange things
Shifters, soldiers, gamers and Klings(on)
Females in clothing, ships exploding
Emissaries, gods and kings
O here we are on Deep Space Nine
Bajorians come here all the time
They seek Prophets, we seek profits
Either way it’s just divine.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
BROKEN HALLELUJAH
I offer up this doggerel verse
To a cold uncaring universe
In hopes it will find it’s way to you
I loved baby from the very start
You boiling blood , your cold, Vulcan heart
Your warm eyes made me sing the Hallelujah!
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
I searched for a crack in your disguise
I found you strong, I found you wise
I found you could care and what duty meant to you
And when you played upon your lyre
Like that baffled king with his soul on fire
I smiled and softly whispered Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
We courted using argue and flirt
Then we moved on to comfort and hurt
And when we touched I knew you knew, too.
Our love was hotter than the stars
We kept it secret this love of ours
A private and a holy Hallelujah!
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
I thought I knew what love was about
But I wasn’t ready to come out
I thought you felt the same way, too, yeah
I said I’m not ready, no debate
You cried; I thought you were my soul mate.
You left. I wept a broken Hallelujah.
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Now I sing this lonesome song
Please come back, Darling I was wrong
I’m ready now to commit to you
But I’m too late, you ran to Gol
To purge your feeling one and all
There’s nothing left but this broken Hallelujah.
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
To a cold uncaring universe
In hopes it will find it’s way to you
I loved baby from the very start
You boiling blood , your cold, Vulcan heart
Your warm eyes made me sing the Hallelujah!
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
I searched for a crack in your disguise
I found you strong, I found you wise
I found you could care and what duty meant to you
And when you played upon your lyre
Like that baffled king with his soul on fire
I smiled and softly whispered Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
We courted using argue and flirt
Then we moved on to comfort and hurt
And when we touched I knew you knew, too.
Our love was hotter than the stars
We kept it secret this love of ours
A private and a holy Hallelujah!
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
I thought I knew what love was about
But I wasn’t ready to come out
I thought you felt the same way, too, yeah
I said I’m not ready, no debate
You cried; I thought you were my soul mate.
You left. I wept a broken Hallelujah.
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Now I sing this lonesome song
Please come back, Darling I was wrong
I’m ready now to commit to you
But I’m too late, you ran to Gol
To purge your feeling one and all
There’s nothing left but this broken Hallelujah.
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
FANG GIRLS
It was the day after “The Day of the Living Dead”. Nurse Christine Chapel took a deep breath, at last, the rush was over. There were only three patients left on the ward and the medical records for the all wounded had been updated. Who knew maybe she could actually sleep tonight?
The door swished open and Chris smiled. Her relief, Lt. Nancy Levi, had arrived accompanied by Lt. Commander Siobhan Fitzpatrick of Security. Nancy was petite with a mane of dark wavy hair and big brown eyes. Her admirers said she was voluptuous, Star Fleet said she was on the verge on being overweight.
Siobhan wore the standard uniform for Security a red shirt and black pants. She was tall, muscular with a panther’s grace. She also had a panther’s bright green eyes. Her short hair was copper red, this month.
Nancy inclined her head towards the Chief Medical’s Officer’s door. “Is he in there?” She wet her full lips nervously.
Christine nodded. Nancy tried to straighten her uniform. She tugged down and it exposed too much cleavage, she pulled up and her black over-tights hove into view.
“Stop fidgeting.” hissed Siobhan. “Let’s get this over with.”
The three ladies strode over to Doctor McCoy’s office. Nurse Chapel rang the bell. They heard a muffled “Come in” and the door slid open.
Commander Leonard H. McCoy looked haggard. The bags under his eyes looked like a matching set of luggage. There was a patch on his left jaw where he missed shaving this morning. He smiled when he saw his guests. “Ah, the three graces. What can I do for you lovely ladies?” He stood.
“It about yesterday.” Chris began “We want to thank you.”
“Thank you for saving our lives.” Nancy gushed. “And thank you for exposing your - yourself for our sakes.” Her cheeks were flush and her dark eyes sparkled.
“You’re entirely welcome.” McCoy bowed and spread his hands wide. “Please, don’t mention it.”
Christine said; “Commander Fitzpatrick told us that you deliberately chose to come to our defense. You chose the danger.”
McCoy looked sharply at the Security Chief. She explained. “I was on duty when the Captain debriefed you. I couldn’t help but overhear.” She ran her hands through her short hair. “I only confirmed what they already knew, when Lt. Chapel asked. I told Chris and Nancy that you recognized them and deliberately raced to saved them for the, er, zombies. I didn’t volunteer information and I won’t.” She looked at him levelly and smiled.
Nancy piped up; “None of us will! Doctor McCoy you‘re ….”
“A tired ol’ country doctor drowin’ in paperwork, Nancy darlin’” He favored her with a lopsided smile and she gazed at him enrapted with adoring puppy-dog eyes.
Chapel cleared her throat. “Nance, I’m going off duty now. Make sure our healer/hero isn’t here past 1800. He needs his beauty sleep. Call Mr. Spock if you have to.” She took Nurse Levi’s arm and they left McCoy’s office.
Siobhan and Christine left Nancy to the Beta watch and departed Sick Bay.
Siobhan laughed; “She’s got it bad.”
“But good.” Chris agreed.
“So hero worship or obsession? Whatta think?“ asked Si.
“Nance has a serious case of obsession. I know all the symptoms, all to well.” Christine said.
“Well, why not. McCoy is a handsome doctor.” Fitzpatrick smiled dreamily.
“A single doctor.” Chapel amended.
“A Southern gentleman with a honey-dripping drawl.” Fitzpatrick up the stakes.
“A thousand watt smile with blue-eyes to die for.” Chris threw in.
“Not to mention a angst-ridden hero with a tragic secret.” Siobhan pointed out.
“Ah, the enticing musk of danger.” Christine sighed and fluttered her eyelashes. She caught Si’s eye and they were reduced to a fit of giggles.
“Should we tell her who the real president of the Leonard H. McCoy fan club is?” Si wondered.
“No,” Chris said softly, “let her dream. Besides everyone is entitled to some secrets.”
FIN
The door swished open and Chris smiled. Her relief, Lt. Nancy Levi, had arrived accompanied by Lt. Commander Siobhan Fitzpatrick of Security. Nancy was petite with a mane of dark wavy hair and big brown eyes. Her admirers said she was voluptuous, Star Fleet said she was on the verge on being overweight.
Siobhan wore the standard uniform for Security a red shirt and black pants. She was tall, muscular with a panther’s grace. She also had a panther’s bright green eyes. Her short hair was copper red, this month.
Nancy inclined her head towards the Chief Medical’s Officer’s door. “Is he in there?” She wet her full lips nervously.
Christine nodded. Nancy tried to straighten her uniform. She tugged down and it exposed too much cleavage, she pulled up and her black over-tights hove into view.
“Stop fidgeting.” hissed Siobhan. “Let’s get this over with.”
The three ladies strode over to Doctor McCoy’s office. Nurse Chapel rang the bell. They heard a muffled “Come in” and the door slid open.
Commander Leonard H. McCoy looked haggard. The bags under his eyes looked like a matching set of luggage. There was a patch on his left jaw where he missed shaving this morning. He smiled when he saw his guests. “Ah, the three graces. What can I do for you lovely ladies?” He stood.
“It about yesterday.” Chris began “We want to thank you.”
“Thank you for saving our lives.” Nancy gushed. “And thank you for exposing your - yourself for our sakes.” Her cheeks were flush and her dark eyes sparkled.
“You’re entirely welcome.” McCoy bowed and spread his hands wide. “Please, don’t mention it.”
Christine said; “Commander Fitzpatrick told us that you deliberately chose to come to our defense. You chose the danger.”
McCoy looked sharply at the Security Chief. She explained. “I was on duty when the Captain debriefed you. I couldn’t help but overhear.” She ran her hands through her short hair. “I only confirmed what they already knew, when Lt. Chapel asked. I told Chris and Nancy that you recognized them and deliberately raced to saved them for the, er, zombies. I didn’t volunteer information and I won’t.” She looked at him levelly and smiled.
Nancy piped up; “None of us will! Doctor McCoy you‘re ….”
“A tired ol’ country doctor drowin’ in paperwork, Nancy darlin’” He favored her with a lopsided smile and she gazed at him enrapted with adoring puppy-dog eyes.
Chapel cleared her throat. “Nance, I’m going off duty now. Make sure our healer/hero isn’t here past 1800. He needs his beauty sleep. Call Mr. Spock if you have to.” She took Nurse Levi’s arm and they left McCoy’s office.
Siobhan and Christine left Nancy to the Beta watch and departed Sick Bay.
Siobhan laughed; “She’s got it bad.”
“But good.” Chris agreed.
“So hero worship or obsession? Whatta think?“ asked Si.
“Nance has a serious case of obsession. I know all the symptoms, all to well.” Christine said.
“Well, why not. McCoy is a handsome doctor.” Fitzpatrick smiled dreamily.
“A single doctor.” Chapel amended.
“A Southern gentleman with a honey-dripping drawl.” Fitzpatrick up the stakes.
“A thousand watt smile with blue-eyes to die for.” Chris threw in.
“Not to mention a angst-ridden hero with a tragic secret.” Siobhan pointed out.
“Ah, the enticing musk of danger.” Christine sighed and fluttered her eyelashes. She caught Si’s eye and they were reduced to a fit of giggles.
“Should we tell her who the real president of the Leonard H. McCoy fan club is?” Si wondered.
“No,” Chris said softly, “let her dream. Besides everyone is entitled to some secrets.”
FIN
Saturday, October 23, 2010
ZOMBIES IN SPACE!!!
It was lunchtime for the Alpha watch aboard the Starship Enterprise. Commander Spock and Doctor McCoy were having a private discussion concerning their burgeoning relationship.
"I'm sorry Spock. I know how much it offends you, but I won't - I can't give up eating meat." Leonard shook his head with a sad smile.
"Leonard, you should know as a physician that humans do not need to eat meat in order to survive. In fact, my mother has lived many productive, satisfied years as a vegetarian." The Vulcan countered.
"Yeah, yeah I know. Most folks are happy that way, but my metabolism is different." Len wagged an eyebrow. "It runs a little hot. I just need a some red meat once in a while."
"When" Spock quipped "under the full moon?"
McCoy opened his mouth to answer, when the red alert claxon sounded. Spock, McCoy and everyone else in break room three scrambled out the door to their duty stations or tried to; the corridor was blocked by the shambling walking corpses of several security officers who had died from a mysterious virus due to a poorly decontaminated shuttle.
"Back inside!" Spock ordered. In the rush to reenter the room , he didn't notice that McCoy was still out in the hall. He was busy opening an emergency phaser storage locker and handing out weapons.
Spock rushed to the comm panel on the wall and hit the button; "Spock to the Bridge. Captain Kirk, what is the situation?"
"Spock, where are you?" Kirk asked.
"We are pinned down in BR3. We have hand phasers."
"Good. Spock listen this is important. Set the phaser to full. You must disintegrate the …. Well for lack of a better word… zombies. Any lesser setting and they will only catch fire."
"Is that not effective, Captain?"
"Hell no! These things can't die and they don't feel pain. If you set them ablaze, then you have a flaming zombie coming after you." Kirk gave a wry chuckle. "Not an improvement really."
"You speak from experience."
"Yeah. And Mr. Chekov's idea of blasting their legs off didn't stop'em it only slowed them down." There was a loud thump audible over the speaker. "I gotta go. Good hunting and good luck. Kirk out."
Spock addressed the crew men with him. "All of you heard how to defeat these unfortunate creatures…."
"Creatures?!" Riley interjected. "They are our crewmates. That's Jeffry Combs and Ally Mitchell out there."
"A valid point, Mr. Riley. While Mr. Combs was one of the original stricken officers., Mr. Mitchell was alive and well this morning at shirt change. I suggest we proceed with caution. Phaser on full. We will attempt to reach Engineering and the Auxiliary Control."
Meanwhile, Doctor McCoy had his own problems. He has stepped out in corridor ahead of the group and was trapped out there. He ran to the right heading for the Biology Lab to warn the occupants and to use the contents of the lab to find a solution.
His long legs fairly flew down the hall ahead of the slow zombies. Len growled. He hated zombies. He was about ten feet away from the lab when he heard screams and he looked down a side passage; Nurses Chapel and Levi were cornered by a pair of late red shirts. He charged towards them. His growl became a full fledge roar as he leapt. His finger changing into claws, his mouth turning into furry steel-trap jaws as he soared. Landing his transformation complete; he attacked the zombies. He held on to a shred of humanity long enough to yell out "Run!"
Spock and his group broke to the left. The phasers were affective, but firing on full drained the batteries fast. Lt. Reynolds tossed her empty weapon aside and in desperation pulled the pin on a handy fire extinguisher. Whoosh! It enveloped the zombie in a cold of sub-zero gas. The zombie froze.
Spock noted this. "Good work. Lieutenant." he remarked as they raced to the Jefferies tube. "You have discovered another weakness. We will share this information with Mr. Scott when we reach Engineering."
They were nearly to their goal when the late Security Officer Black reached up from the deck and bit down on Med Tech Gonzales' leg. "Mother fucker!" He screamed. "Help! Get him off me!"
Spock dispatched the zombie. Then he turned to gun on Gonzales. "I'm truly sorry, but the contamination cannot be allowed to spread" He aimed his weapon at the unfortunate man.
"WAIT, WAIT!!" He pleaded as he pulled up his pants leg to reveal the mangled remains of his prosthetic leg.
Reynolds reached for the intercom by the door and the door slid open. They tumbled in and the door snapped shut. "I didn't know it could do that." She said in relief.
Scotty smiled. "I do have a few tricks up my sleeve."
"Such as knowing that we were outside?" Spock ventured.
"Aye, we have the tricorders we repaired in the Small Instrument Shop. With these beauties, tis easy enough to tell whose knockin' at our doors." He sighed. "I just wished I knew away to defeat the poor bastards."
Commander Spock described the fire extinguisher's affect. Scotty grinned.
"What is so amusing, Mr. Scott?"
"What is very cold, Mr. Spock?"
"Any number of things."
Scotty cut him off before the Vulcan began listing cold thing. "Space! Space is bloody cold."
"Yes, three Kelvin. That should be sufficient to immobilized our late comrades. We must contact the Captain."
"Agreed. Space them!" Kirk said, "but how can we do that? He slapped his palm on the arm of his command chair. "The shuttle bay, if we can get them in the bay, we can open the doors and out they go into the final frontier."
"But how can we get them there without putting ourselves in more danger?" Scotty asked.
M/T Gonzales raised his hand. Spock acknowledged him with a nod. "They can't tell living matter from artificial." He put his mangled leg up on the table where the Bridge crew could see it. "Chekov and Riley have remote controlled flyers."
"They are for piloting practice."
Riley explained. "And besides we can't get to them. They're in our quarters."
A slow smiled crept over Kirk's face. "What about the scutters?" he asked.
Scotty caught Spock's eye. Kirk hated robots, even dumb as dirt scrub computers modules -- the scutters. He sighed. He knew his newest toys were going to make the ultimate sacrifice. "Very good, Captain. Mr. Spock and I will set about programming the poor wee scutties, now."
In the end it turned out that the zombies would only chase the robots if they had crude mannequins in uniforms mounted on them. Ensign Chekov used the ship's internal sensors to find undead. Lt. Uhura coordinated with all sections to release the scutters and draw the zombies to the shuttle bay.
A tense hour of drag-stomp and whir later they were all there. Some zombies impaled on their unstoppable prey. From the observation booth, Kirk and Spock watched. "Fifteen, my god Spock. Fifteen of our crew turned into living dead."
"Thirty-two, actually, Captain. Only fifteen `survived' to make it here. In the course of defending ourselves we destroyed seventeen of them."
James T. Kirk nodded gravely. "Into the deep, we commit these bodies. Lord had mercy on their souls." With that he pushed the button and open doors.
Ponderously the great doors rolled open; star light, slowly illumining the great bay. As the air escaped, it screamed out the gap, growing fainter as the gap grew wider. All things in the area were drawn out with the screaming wind; loose tools, hidden bottles of contraband liquor, robots and zombies all rushed out to the deep, dark vastness of space.
Only after the doors were closed did Kirk and Spock realized that they didn't know where Doctor McCoy was. They called his name over the intercom and received no reply. Fearing the worst, they asked the computer for his location.
The computer informed that Doctor McCoy was on C deck, section 6. The friends hurried there. They rounded the corner and froze.
They were face to face with a canine-humanoid beast with steel-trap jaws, mottled brown on dirty yellow fur and blue eyes. It/he crouched there gnawing on the thigh of a decapitated zombie. The head had been torn from the body.
"Bones." Jim whispered in disbelief. His phaser trained on the cannibalistic creature.
"Doctor McCoy," Spock said levelly, "The crisis is past. We need our ship's physician now." He hoped that the call of duty would restore his lover's sanity.
It was that need and Spock's voice that brought Leonard back. He stood and gave a long laughing bark that chilled his listeners. As the echo faded he stood clad in the tattered remains of his gore stained uniform.
"Jim." he exclaimed in a husky voice. "Spock!" he tried to appeal to them both. "Let me explain."
Speechless, Kirk took a step back. He had a white knuckled grip on his gun.
The Vulcan sensed no danger from the -- what? He must know. Clamping down on his fear, he inquired lightly; "So you are a werewolf, after all, Doctor?"
"Naw, you green blooded hobgoblin, don't you know a were-hyena when you see one?" He tried to smile reassuringly. Realizing that his mouth was still bloody, he wiped it with his ragged sleeve.
"W, w, were, were, were-hyena!" Jim all but shrieked. "Good God, Bones. I thought I knew you." He fired hysterically. Bones moved slightly and the deadly beam scorched the bulkhead beside him.
"Tell ya what, Jim. Why don't we get away from this mess and let me change… ah, get cleaned up and I'll explain it to y'all."
"From the other side of a brig force field." Kirk snapped.
"If that's what makes you feel comfortable, then sure." Len tried to make reassuring gestures with his hands. Kirk stared at them and McCoy saw that they were red with zombie blood.
Spock volunteered to escort the good doctor back to his quarters and then to the brig. Kirk agreed.
Sonic-showered and pajama clad, Leonard H. McCoy sat calmly behind the security screen. He had refused to wear the blue jumpsuit, claiming it sawed into his family jewels. And as he could turn into a bone-crunching beast, Spock agreed to let him wear issue pajama's instead.
Leonard started; "I told you, Spock my metabolism is different and that I had to have red meat once in a while." He shrugged. "Dammit, Jim. I'm sorry. Look we all have some secrets."
"Some secrets" Jim snorted, "some secret!" Kirk laughed hysterically. "You're a ghoul. A human flesh eating, mighty morphing monster."
"Dead flesh eating." McCoy corrected him.
"Dead flesh" Kirk acknowledged. "Like that matters."
"It matters, a lot. It sure as hell mattered to those zombies."
""You ate Crewman Carstairs!" Jim cried in disgust
"He was going to eat Christine and Nancy, alive." McCoy replied.
"Perhaps, Doctor McCoy, we would feel more comfortable if you explained how you became a ghul." Spock tried to get the interview back on track.
"It's hereditary. I was born a ghoul, but didn't start changing until I reached adolescence. A ghul, g-h-u-l, a desert spirit like a genii, found my ancestress who had been buried alive, rescued her and took her for his bride. All their male descendents are ghouls, g-h-o-u-l-s." He paused to take a sip of water.
Jim jumped in still flabbergasted. "But you're a doctor, your father was a doctor." He shuddered.
"I have a mother, you know." McCoy said coolly. "And yes there are a lot of doctors in her family tree. Doctors and undertakers. In the days of yore, undertakers were considered `unclean', so it was perfect job for us ghouls. As life got more civilized, it became harder to keep quiet, but fortunately we don't need to feed or change that often."
Spock observed; "However, feeding gives you vitality. That is why in so many planetside situations you are the most vulnerable member of the landing party, because you refrain from partaking of human flesh."
"Yes, I resist my urges. Unlike some people on the other side of a force field." Len muttered.
"He's dead, Jim." Kirk quoted. He didn't know whether to be ironic or frightened. "You act all upset when a crew member dies. I'll bet you're just waiting to get them to the autopsy room for a little bedtime snack."
"I regret the death of each and every crewmember. I strive to defeat death and feel the loss deeply. I resist, Great Bird knows, how I resist, but once in a great while, before someone is cremated, I take nourishment."
"And what if he does?" The Vulcan inquired. "Think about the whole man and your history with him. Is Leonard H. McCoy in fact an award winning doctor that other starship and base commanders have tried to poach from you? Does he do his job above and beyond the call of duty?" Been a friend, steadfast and loyal?
"
"Yes, yes, and dammit yes!" Kirk was forced to concede. "Although, after today, I may rely a little more on Med Tech Gonzales. He can really think on his feet, er, foot."
"So, Jim, are you letting me outta here or outing me?" Bones wrung his hands.
"One thing first, tell me about zombies."
"Hate'em, can't stand the unnatural, trice damned things. This is only the second time in my life I've had the misfortune to encounter `em, and they always make me loose control. Hell, food should not walk around. And when they attack the people I care about, I fight back as best I can -- with tooth and claw." Len's blue eyes blazed. He dared Kirk to challenge him.
Instead, Captain Kirk slapped the panel and released the force field. "This is a lot to take in." He shook his head. "Gentlemen, I need a drink, probably more than one. Would you care to join me?"
FIN
"I'm sorry Spock. I know how much it offends you, but I won't - I can't give up eating meat." Leonard shook his head with a sad smile.
"Leonard, you should know as a physician that humans do not need to eat meat in order to survive. In fact, my mother has lived many productive, satisfied years as a vegetarian." The Vulcan countered.
"Yeah, yeah I know. Most folks are happy that way, but my metabolism is different." Len wagged an eyebrow. "It runs a little hot. I just need a some red meat once in a while."
"When" Spock quipped "under the full moon?"
McCoy opened his mouth to answer, when the red alert claxon sounded. Spock, McCoy and everyone else in break room three scrambled out the door to their duty stations or tried to; the corridor was blocked by the shambling walking corpses of several security officers who had died from a mysterious virus due to a poorly decontaminated shuttle.
"Back inside!" Spock ordered. In the rush to reenter the room , he didn't notice that McCoy was still out in the hall. He was busy opening an emergency phaser storage locker and handing out weapons.
Spock rushed to the comm panel on the wall and hit the button; "Spock to the Bridge. Captain Kirk, what is the situation?"
"Spock, where are you?" Kirk asked.
"We are pinned down in BR3. We have hand phasers."
"Good. Spock listen this is important. Set the phaser to full. You must disintegrate the …. Well for lack of a better word… zombies. Any lesser setting and they will only catch fire."
"Is that not effective, Captain?"
"Hell no! These things can't die and they don't feel pain. If you set them ablaze, then you have a flaming zombie coming after you." Kirk gave a wry chuckle. "Not an improvement really."
"You speak from experience."
"Yeah. And Mr. Chekov's idea of blasting their legs off didn't stop'em it only slowed them down." There was a loud thump audible over the speaker. "I gotta go. Good hunting and good luck. Kirk out."
Spock addressed the crew men with him. "All of you heard how to defeat these unfortunate creatures…."
"Creatures?!" Riley interjected. "They are our crewmates. That's Jeffry Combs and Ally Mitchell out there."
"A valid point, Mr. Riley. While Mr. Combs was one of the original stricken officers., Mr. Mitchell was alive and well this morning at shirt change. I suggest we proceed with caution. Phaser on full. We will attempt to reach Engineering and the Auxiliary Control."
Meanwhile, Doctor McCoy had his own problems. He has stepped out in corridor ahead of the group and was trapped out there. He ran to the right heading for the Biology Lab to warn the occupants and to use the contents of the lab to find a solution.
His long legs fairly flew down the hall ahead of the slow zombies. Len growled. He hated zombies. He was about ten feet away from the lab when he heard screams and he looked down a side passage; Nurses Chapel and Levi were cornered by a pair of late red shirts. He charged towards them. His growl became a full fledge roar as he leapt. His finger changing into claws, his mouth turning into furry steel-trap jaws as he soared. Landing his transformation complete; he attacked the zombies. He held on to a shred of humanity long enough to yell out "Run!"
Spock and his group broke to the left. The phasers were affective, but firing on full drained the batteries fast. Lt. Reynolds tossed her empty weapon aside and in desperation pulled the pin on a handy fire extinguisher. Whoosh! It enveloped the zombie in a cold of sub-zero gas. The zombie froze.
Spock noted this. "Good work. Lieutenant." he remarked as they raced to the Jefferies tube. "You have discovered another weakness. We will share this information with Mr. Scott when we reach Engineering."
They were nearly to their goal when the late Security Officer Black reached up from the deck and bit down on Med Tech Gonzales' leg. "Mother fucker!" He screamed. "Help! Get him off me!"
Spock dispatched the zombie. Then he turned to gun on Gonzales. "I'm truly sorry, but the contamination cannot be allowed to spread" He aimed his weapon at the unfortunate man.
"WAIT, WAIT!!" He pleaded as he pulled up his pants leg to reveal the mangled remains of his prosthetic leg.
Reynolds reached for the intercom by the door and the door slid open. They tumbled in and the door snapped shut. "I didn't know it could do that." She said in relief.
Scotty smiled. "I do have a few tricks up my sleeve."
"Such as knowing that we were outside?" Spock ventured.
"Aye, we have the tricorders we repaired in the Small Instrument Shop. With these beauties, tis easy enough to tell whose knockin' at our doors." He sighed. "I just wished I knew away to defeat the poor bastards."
Commander Spock described the fire extinguisher's affect. Scotty grinned.
"What is so amusing, Mr. Scott?"
"What is very cold, Mr. Spock?"
"Any number of things."
Scotty cut him off before the Vulcan began listing cold thing. "Space! Space is bloody cold."
"Yes, three Kelvin. That should be sufficient to immobilized our late comrades. We must contact the Captain."
"Agreed. Space them!" Kirk said, "but how can we do that? He slapped his palm on the arm of his command chair. "The shuttle bay, if we can get them in the bay, we can open the doors and out they go into the final frontier."
"But how can we get them there without putting ourselves in more danger?" Scotty asked.
M/T Gonzales raised his hand. Spock acknowledged him with a nod. "They can't tell living matter from artificial." He put his mangled leg up on the table where the Bridge crew could see it. "Chekov and Riley have remote controlled flyers."
"They are for piloting practice."
Riley explained. "And besides we can't get to them. They're in our quarters."
A slow smiled crept over Kirk's face. "What about the scutters?" he asked.
Scotty caught Spock's eye. Kirk hated robots, even dumb as dirt scrub computers modules -- the scutters. He sighed. He knew his newest toys were going to make the ultimate sacrifice. "Very good, Captain. Mr. Spock and I will set about programming the poor wee scutties, now."
In the end it turned out that the zombies would only chase the robots if they had crude mannequins in uniforms mounted on them. Ensign Chekov used the ship's internal sensors to find undead. Lt. Uhura coordinated with all sections to release the scutters and draw the zombies to the shuttle bay.
A tense hour of drag-stomp and whir later they were all there. Some zombies impaled on their unstoppable prey. From the observation booth, Kirk and Spock watched. "Fifteen, my god Spock. Fifteen of our crew turned into living dead."
"Thirty-two, actually, Captain. Only fifteen `survived' to make it here. In the course of defending ourselves we destroyed seventeen of them."
James T. Kirk nodded gravely. "Into the deep, we commit these bodies. Lord had mercy on their souls." With that he pushed the button and open doors.
Ponderously the great doors rolled open; star light, slowly illumining the great bay. As the air escaped, it screamed out the gap, growing fainter as the gap grew wider. All things in the area were drawn out with the screaming wind; loose tools, hidden bottles of contraband liquor, robots and zombies all rushed out to the deep, dark vastness of space.
Only after the doors were closed did Kirk and Spock realized that they didn't know where Doctor McCoy was. They called his name over the intercom and received no reply. Fearing the worst, they asked the computer for his location.
The computer informed that Doctor McCoy was on C deck, section 6. The friends hurried there. They rounded the corner and froze.
They were face to face with a canine-humanoid beast with steel-trap jaws, mottled brown on dirty yellow fur and blue eyes. It/he crouched there gnawing on the thigh of a decapitated zombie. The head had been torn from the body.
"Bones." Jim whispered in disbelief. His phaser trained on the cannibalistic creature.
"Doctor McCoy," Spock said levelly, "The crisis is past. We need our ship's physician now." He hoped that the call of duty would restore his lover's sanity.
It was that need and Spock's voice that brought Leonard back. He stood and gave a long laughing bark that chilled his listeners. As the echo faded he stood clad in the tattered remains of his gore stained uniform.
"Jim." he exclaimed in a husky voice. "Spock!" he tried to appeal to them both. "Let me explain."
Speechless, Kirk took a step back. He had a white knuckled grip on his gun.
The Vulcan sensed no danger from the -- what? He must know. Clamping down on his fear, he inquired lightly; "So you are a werewolf, after all, Doctor?"
"Naw, you green blooded hobgoblin, don't you know a were-hyena when you see one?" He tried to smile reassuringly. Realizing that his mouth was still bloody, he wiped it with his ragged sleeve.
"W, w, were, were, were-hyena!" Jim all but shrieked. "Good God, Bones. I thought I knew you." He fired hysterically. Bones moved slightly and the deadly beam scorched the bulkhead beside him.
"Tell ya what, Jim. Why don't we get away from this mess and let me change… ah, get cleaned up and I'll explain it to y'all."
"From the other side of a brig force field." Kirk snapped.
"If that's what makes you feel comfortable, then sure." Len tried to make reassuring gestures with his hands. Kirk stared at them and McCoy saw that they were red with zombie blood.
Spock volunteered to escort the good doctor back to his quarters and then to the brig. Kirk agreed.
Sonic-showered and pajama clad, Leonard H. McCoy sat calmly behind the security screen. He had refused to wear the blue jumpsuit, claiming it sawed into his family jewels. And as he could turn into a bone-crunching beast, Spock agreed to let him wear issue pajama's instead.
Leonard started; "I told you, Spock my metabolism is different and that I had to have red meat once in a while." He shrugged. "Dammit, Jim. I'm sorry. Look we all have some secrets."
"Some secrets" Jim snorted, "some secret!" Kirk laughed hysterically. "You're a ghoul. A human flesh eating, mighty morphing monster."
"Dead flesh eating." McCoy corrected him.
"Dead flesh" Kirk acknowledged. "Like that matters."
"It matters, a lot. It sure as hell mattered to those zombies."
""You ate Crewman Carstairs!" Jim cried in disgust
"He was going to eat Christine and Nancy, alive." McCoy replied.
"Perhaps, Doctor McCoy, we would feel more comfortable if you explained how you became a ghul." Spock tried to get the interview back on track.
"It's hereditary. I was born a ghoul, but didn't start changing until I reached adolescence. A ghul, g-h-u-l, a desert spirit like a genii, found my ancestress who had been buried alive, rescued her and took her for his bride. All their male descendents are ghouls, g-h-o-u-l-s." He paused to take a sip of water.
Jim jumped in still flabbergasted. "But you're a doctor, your father was a doctor." He shuddered.
"I have a mother, you know." McCoy said coolly. "And yes there are a lot of doctors in her family tree. Doctors and undertakers. In the days of yore, undertakers were considered `unclean', so it was perfect job for us ghouls. As life got more civilized, it became harder to keep quiet, but fortunately we don't need to feed or change that often."
Spock observed; "However, feeding gives you vitality. That is why in so many planetside situations you are the most vulnerable member of the landing party, because you refrain from partaking of human flesh."
"Yes, I resist my urges. Unlike some people on the other side of a force field." Len muttered.
"He's dead, Jim." Kirk quoted. He didn't know whether to be ironic or frightened. "You act all upset when a crew member dies. I'll bet you're just waiting to get them to the autopsy room for a little bedtime snack."
"I regret the death of each and every crewmember. I strive to defeat death and feel the loss deeply. I resist, Great Bird knows, how I resist, but once in a great while, before someone is cremated, I take nourishment."
"And what if he does?" The Vulcan inquired. "Think about the whole man and your history with him. Is Leonard H. McCoy in fact an award winning doctor that other starship and base commanders have tried to poach from you? Does he do his job above and beyond the call of duty?" Been a friend, steadfast and loyal?
"
"Yes, yes, and dammit yes!" Kirk was forced to concede. "Although, after today, I may rely a little more on Med Tech Gonzales. He can really think on his feet, er, foot."
"So, Jim, are you letting me outta here or outing me?" Bones wrung his hands.
"One thing first, tell me about zombies."
"Hate'em, can't stand the unnatural, trice damned things. This is only the second time in my life I've had the misfortune to encounter `em, and they always make me loose control. Hell, food should not walk around. And when they attack the people I care about, I fight back as best I can -- with tooth and claw." Len's blue eyes blazed. He dared Kirk to challenge him.
Instead, Captain Kirk slapped the panel and released the force field. "This is a lot to take in." He shook his head. "Gentlemen, I need a drink, probably more than one. Would you care to join me?"
FIN
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