PLOT

[leonard h. mccoy]

There was very little that impressed Leonard McCoy during his life. There had been Trill that he'd met once when a first year at Mississippi University, the sight of a fleet of Starships at spacedock in orbit above Earth on their last mission, and now the sight of his newly rebuilt sickbay. His sickbay. Though it did not look that different from when he had first seen it prior to its destruction by Nero, back then it had not been his and now it was. Even less than life had been able to impress him, he'd been able to impress himself even less, but now no matter how much of this he owed this to the dynamic Captain Kirk who had managed not only to save the Federation, but also the Enterprise and its crew, he had to admit he had done a pretty good job of being stand-in Chief Medical Officer during the encounter. There had been deaths, that was unavoidable given the amount of damage that the ship had taken, but he had saved far more people than most would have thought possible.

Being a ship's CMO was not all just battle-field triage however, most of it was actually very similiar to being a doctor in an Earth hospital. There was regular check-ups for the crew, vaccinations to be given out and even babies to deliver. Though most doctors joined Starfleet for the new space diseases to discover and cure, and the excitment of treating patients while being fired on by Klingon Birds of Prey, it was the regular doctor bits that he enjoyed the most. He'd never wanted to be anything more than a doctor, not a spaceman, not a scientist just a guy who bandaged kids' knees and gave out lollipops. Right, maybe not kids he did not much like kids but that sort of old country doctor work was what he missed. So being tasked with ensuring that the entire crew recieved up-to-date vaccinations prior to leaving spacedock was right up his alley. Plus being able to stick Kirk with a hypospray was always fun.

He headed towards his desk and turned on the shipwide intercom, "Attention crew, this is Doctor McCoy. All crew need to report to the medical bay for vaccinations prior to our departure. I have a list and I'll be checking it twice, so get in here before we launch."

// Open //

[nyota j. uhura]

Nyota had made her way down to the first level when she heard the voice of McCoy over the intercom system. She had almost made it to the exit, deciding that she would check with Spock before reporting to Kirk for any further developments on things that needed to be completed before launch, when she decided that getting her medical check done now would be one last thing on the to-do list.

Turning on her boots, her dress skirt swaying a bit, she headed down to medical bay. It wasn't one of her favorite places to be, med bay, for although Uhura was a strong woman when it came to almost every aspect of Starfleet, the human body and taking care of it's sickly needs was something that didn't exactly spell out fun for her. Still, it was necessary and Nyota was all about getting this accomplished that needed to be.

It wasn't long before she arrived at her destination, and seeing that the doctor was not in the lab she headed toward his office. The door was open and so she strode in, hands behind her back as she nodded towards McCoy.

"Medical Officer McCoy, I trust I'm in capable hands. Truth be told this is not my favorite part about going up into space."

[leonard h. mccoy]

McCoy nodded, gesturing towards a chair. The hyposprays were not that painful, at least compared to the old needles that doctors had used up to a few decades ago, and other than a quick run through with a medical tricorder there was no real checkup to be done. All of the old crew had been declared fit for duty by Starfleet after their debriefing from the Romulan encounter and now it was just a case of updating their medical shots before the ship got underway. Sitting on a chair of his own McCoy rolled across the smooth and gleaming floor of the Medical Bay, slowing himself with his legs as he approached her.

"Yeah well it's no picnic for me either. Starfleet could have sent a vet to give out all of these shots," the Chief Medical Officer said grousing. The truth was he did not really mind it, and the more normal and traditional aspects of being a doctor were what he preferred over triage with countless wounded and dying crew around him, or being faced with the sort of weird diseases that aliens were known to have. This was regular doctor work, and as a stitch in time saved nine, it would hopefully prevent him having to do more work later.

He pressed the first one up to her shoulder and pressed. There was a hiss as the contents of the hypospray were ejected into her bloodstream. Like all hyposprays he was able to just treat her through her uniform, as opposed to the old needles where you had to find a vein and inject it right into the skin. He was going to make a joke about giving her extra shots just so she did not come down with some Vulcan diseases that had yet to be transmitted to humans, but he decided against it. He liked the young Lieutenant Uhura, she had stood up to Kirk on a few occasions and he always found that amusing. Her taste in men could not be that bad if she had turned down Jim on a few occasions.

That and unlike Jim he knew to keep his private life, and opinions, separate from his duties.

[nyota j. uhura]

Nyota had always wondered why the doctor was so close with Kirk. Unlike his friend, McCoy was very practical in his methods and always excelled at getting things done correctly and in a timely fashion. Perhaps it was the old saying that opposites attracted and maybe this was why the two had such a dynamic friendship. Uhura looked over to the cabinet housing medical supplies for the crew's routine check-ups. She remained straight as a statue even as she took the seat McCoy motioned towards.

Shots were different now than they had been before. Uhura remembered receiving her entry shots upon joining Starfleet, but she was slightly relieved when the doctor never mentioned that she needed to have her veins exposed. Unfortunately, although the shot was administered through clothing, Uhura could feel the injection as tingles emulated through the upper part of her arm. Closing her large almond eyes she tried as hard as she could to not show any pain. It was hard enough doing a man's job in a man's profession, but the last thing she needed was to show any signs of physical apprehension.

Turning towards the doctor at the end of the first shot, Uhura tilted her head so that her long black ponytail tilted slightly. "Ah, but then what would you have done with all of your free time?" She said this with a smirk in regards to his comment about a vet taking over his "shot" duties, and then turned her gaze toward her arm. Although she couldn't see it, she was sure that it was turning red and for some reason it had a sudden itch accumulating at the injection site.

"How many shots are we required to get? I would like to have some feeling in my arm in case someone needs physically assaulted later in the day. Speaking of, your best friend the Captain tried to squander in dirty men's magazines earlier today. If he mentions it you can let him know I sent them to the burners."

[leonard h. mccoy]

McCoy grinned, "Don't worry I have a stock in sickbay. A five years space voyage, even the crew not as... energetic, as the captain is going to need some kind of realse of tensions. Granted a certain amount coupling will go on, but not all of us have a green blooded pointed eared companion to keep our idle hands busy."

Beyond that he said nothing for a second as he pressed the next to hypo-sprays to her arm one after the other. He then rolled away on his chair and put the sprays down on the silver tray and that down on the counter, then he picked up the small silver cylinder that was the scanning bit of the medical tricorder. Not much larger than a woman's tube of lipstick painted silver, it sent the information to the tricorder, or when in Sick Bay directly to the ship's computer. Rolling back to Uhura he began to hold it a few inches from her body, moving from her head to her toe.

"Just be glad that he has to wait until we're out of communications range of Starfleet Command before Kirk orders all female crew's skirts shortened three inches and institutes topless Tuesdays," the doctor said deadpan. No matter what anyone said about Kirk, this was going to be a very interesting mission. Not only did Kirk have a remarkable skill at getting into trouble, but he also had a certain panache with interpersonal relationships that ensure that everyone either loved him or hated him. With Jim there was no middle ground.

[nyota j. uhura]

Nyota could feel her face scrunch up slightly as the remained of the injections were administered. Closing her eyes seemed the easiest thing during this uncomfortable procedure, for she knew that if McCoy could see her eyes then he would be well aware of her discomfort. She did, however; open them at his comment about his own stock of magazines as well as the mention of Spock. Although Uhura was one of the first officers to make it known how important work was, she had not seen Spock much of late.

"Very funny, McCoy, although I must say I'd like to keep my hands busy with Kirk at times. Not in a way he'd enjoy, of course, but I do hope that at some point in the next five years I'll be able to have a go at him as my personal punching bag...ow," she said in regards to the final shot given before the doctor rolled away. The skin on her upper arm was tender but it was nothing she wouldn't be able to handle.

It wasn't that she didn't admire some qualities about Kirk, but the way he swept through Starfleet and gained the rank of Captain was astounding in both an irritating and impressive way. Of course he was good looking, funny and charismatic, but that was all the reason to stay away from him. The Captain had a way of taking the work ethic goal out of those he encountered. Fortunately, Spock valued duties just as much as she did, and Nyota couldn't help but smirk to herself as she thought of him.

"The funny thing about that is that the majority of the female crew would fancy such requirements. Maybe you're right to be his right hand man, McCoy...he might be a great wing man for you."

The thing about the doctor was that he was extremely intelligent, good-looking and completed the work he needed to have done on time. In many regards he was a model officer and it was amazing that he had remained that way despite his close friendship with the Captain. Regardless of her irritation with Kirk, she trusted that he was a decent individual, especially when he was in the company of good friends she respected. Truth be told, Uhura was greatly looking forward to this five year mission and what it would bring.

[leonard h. mccoy]

As the scanner reached the top of the officer's head McCoy pulled it back from her and rolled again over to the side of the room where he brought up the results on the computer. It showed a silhouette of Uhura's body, beneath which was her name, rank and Starfleet serial number along with a variety of medical facts about her (blood type, race, gender, age). With a few punches at the screen her pulled up first her blood flow, which appeared as red and blue lines within the silhouette, and then her bone structure which replaced the lines. Shutting the screen down he stood up, and announced to her what she most likely already knew, "You are officially medically fit to serve aboard the Enterprise."

"As for being Jim's wingman, I don't think it works that way. Maybe you haven't noticed, but once a woman looks at him they don't really pay much attention to anyone else in the room," he said, "Besides I've already got one ex-wife, I don't need another."

Walking over to the counter where he had put the hypo-sprays he picked the tray holding them up and walked over to a device that he began to feed them into. There they would be cleaned, refurbished and prepared for reuse. He glanced at the African American officer and added, "If you see that walking pointy eared rule book, tell him he needs to come and get his oil changed. Everyone gets their shots."

[nyota j. uhura]

Nyota waited patiently as the doctor turned his attention towards other technologies that would give him a better idea of her health. It was unnecessary as she had previously been cleared for the initial Enterprise mission, and not to mention she was a crew member who took her physical health seriously. Not only did Uhura eat healthy but she worked out six days a week. It wasn't about needing to look physically fit but rather feeling it. Still, it was nice to hear that everything had checked out once again. Smirking, she replied to the doctor.

"You realize I would have served regardless of what your screen told you, right?"

Uhura smiled and stood up from the chair, stretching a bit as she did so. It had been an early morning and the day had been filled with many events that fell into categories not dealing with relaxing. It was unfortunate that her constant worrisome brain kept her from relaxing like the majority of the crew, but she felt that if things needed to be done there was no time like the present.

"Point taken," she said in regards to his comment about having an ex-wife. It was something Nyota couldn't fathom, her parents still together after all of these years. Then again, the idea of marriage didn't seem like an idealistic one, at least not right now in her life.

She walked towards the door, glancing at a poster with health information printed on it. "I'm not a messenger, but given your efficient injection skills and the fact that I enjoy your company I will make sure to pass the message along. You won't get a reaction out of him but you can have an internal smirk during his checkup. Spock despises these medical procedures, skipped out last time by placing a blocked information grid in the old chief's system. You didn't hear it from me.

Nyota smiled, turning to leave from the office when she stopped herself and spun back to face the doctor. "Oh, and McCoy...in terms of being Kirk's wingman, I never mentioned marriage. If he's good for anything it's getting what he wants, giving what they want and then taking his leave. The crew list is full of beautiful women. Try and enjoy yourself.

Although she was only second to Spock in adhering strictly to the rules, Uhura did understand the need for happiness. Disgusting as it was, the happiness men enjoyed the most was the company of women and although she hated to admit it Kirk was the perfect person to make that happen for himself or his friends. The good doctor would be in for a surprise, for upon looking up many of the crew's profiles she found that a lot of the girls would need some fun to keep them entertained.

[leonard h. mccoy]

"Try and enjoy myself?" McCoy had to laugh, "I'd tell you the same thing, but you're dating a Vulcan."

He doubted that he would actually end up dating. As the Chief Medical Officer he was basically everyone's doctor, and people needed their doctor to be a little bit removed from the dating scene. No crewperson, no matter how attractive, wanted McCoy hitting on them knowing that he would soon be looking at them naked as part a medical check-up. Dating, it complicated everything. Besides what waas the point of it? He would eventually find out that he was totally incompatible with pretty much everyone anyway. The only reason that Jim and him got along was that they did not have to see each other naked, or share the same shower. Speaking of Jim, he still had not gotten cleared for duty.

McCoy headed over to the screen and cleared Uhura's profile off, so that anyone else coming in would not spot her private medical information, "Besides Lieutenant I'm a bitter old man. I don't have the energy you kids all have."

Keeping up with Jim Kirk back in the Academy had been something of a chore in and of itself. The Captain had an appitite for carnal pleasures of all sorts that had boggled McCoy's mind and seemingly defied any sort of medical science. Had Kirk been human, and though he claimed to be McCoy had his professional doubts, he would have pickled his liver, caught some form of alien sexually transmitted disease, been locked up for public rowdiness and probably died of food poisioning. If Kirk ever revealed to McCoy that he had a painting of himself in his closet that was aging instead of him, the doctor would believe it.

"Did you need anything else?" he asked. Some crew needed space sickness pills for the first few days on a starship as their body adjusted to the slight differences between a planet's gravity and the artificial gravity aboard the ship. Often they were nervous about asking for them, seeing that as some kind of acknowledgement that they just did not do good in space. McCoy, to his own surprise, was one of the lucky ones who had no need for them.

[riley j. rand]

Despite the fact that she had just broken long standing federation rules by leaving the presence of the Captain before being dismissed, it wasn't what was on the young Yeoman's mind. The fact that she would still have to spend the eight weeks aboard the ship before being allowed to leave, however, was. Eight weeks with that, how wretched. Although as she reached her room after the long walk of thinking it over, the world didn't seem quite so against her. In fact, it was practically impossible to get a minute alone with the captain when desired, if she avoided it like the plague she'd be just fine.

Grabbing her Personal Access Display Device or PADD from her bed, she glanced at it's readings. New updates on the ships progress and a new message flashed at her from it's screen. She had been planning on sending a new message to her family with the news she would be returning sooner than planned. An estimated three months would suffice. Two months on the Enterprise, then one on a return trip back to Earth, but before she could formulate the exact words to say, curiosity took her over and she touched the corner with the flashing red text.

"All crew need to report to the medical bay for vaccinations prior to our departure."

It was a printed report of what announcements had been made. "I still need to get those, don't I.." she mumbled to herself. With a sigh she grabbed a binder and allowed her long toned legs, the calves of which were still tucked in nicely to her new boots carry her back out of the room. Tossing the durable PADD back onto her bed before the door could close with a small woosh, she walked with a renewed purpose down to the sickbay.

As she walked, she used her fingers to brush her bouncy blonde hair up into a ponytail, securing it with the binder she had grabbed. Now, perhaps looking a little bit more professional despite the short skirt, she entered through the doors only to find the lab fairly empty. She did, however notice another young woman in red standing in the doorway to what she assumed was the Doctor's office.

Placing her hands behind her back she took her time in approaching them, feeling as she was a bit of an intruder on the ship. Most of the crew had been through their own trials with the Nero incident which Rand had not, and although it would take time to form new bonds, she was afraid as soon as those bonds would form her two months would be up and she would be gone. Better to stay somewhat secluded she thought as she finally made her way next to the other woman. Showing a smile rather than interrupt any conversation she looked back and forth at the two of them.

[nyota j. uhura]

Dating a Vulcan. It was strange but Nyota somehow always forgot the fact that Spock wasn't a human, or at least not a full human. Yes, he had pointy ears and tried to portray himself as void of emotion on the outside, but there was something about him that made her overlook such things. Not that it mattered that he was Vulcan, for this had no bearing on her feelings for him. Indeed it was only a factor that those close to him enjoyed because they were able to use it as an on going joke.

"I don't want to hear it, McCoy. You aren't that old. No excuses." She smirked as she said this, her hand on the frame of the door as she watched the doctor clear away her medical information off of the computer screen. "No, no I think I should be fine. Thank you, doctor," Uhura replied knowing what he was referring too.

Nyota was about to leave when she realized another crew member had appeared in the doorway. They had never met face to face, but Nyota had gone over the crew list with Spock a few days previous and recognized the face of the girl, mostly because Spock had made a comment about how she would be working closely under the Captain. That would be interesting for her . . .

"Lt. Uhura," she said extending her hand to the crew member behind her. [i]"I recognize you from the crew list but I'm sorry to say I don't have a name to go with the face."

Nyota took it upon herself to try and remember as many names as possible. With five years on the horizon, it seemed a good idea to have a solid amount of knowledge about the people she'd be working alongside. Unfortunately, her extreme work habits left little room for getting such things done as she would like.

"Looks like you have another crew member to torture before the mission begins, Doctor. I'm kidding, of course, Doctor McCoy tried to make the pain numbing injection as painless as possible. How's that for an oxymoron?"

[leonard h. mccoy]

McCoy was about to continue his argument with Uhura, shooting back that the ship was hardly as full of young, attractive women as she seemed to think it was, when Yeoman Rand entered Sickbay. Instead he limited his rebuttal to a glare, and nodded at his fellow officer as he turned his attention towards the captain's young assistant. Had he felt like arguing with Uhura more, and ignoring Rand's prescene, the doctor would have pointed out that his was a perfect example of how he did not "stand a chance". As Kirk's assistant she would be in close proximity to the Captain and unless she was already in love with Spock, who shockingly enough seemed to be the other heart stealer aboard the ship, so it was not like he was even going to enter into her thoughts romantically. Not that that was even what he wanted, he was almost ten years older than the yeoman, and the only reason he was thinking about any of this was because of Uhura's order to, as she put it, "have fun".

McCoy grunted as he readied the hypo-sprays for Rand, "Don't listen to her. She's just being baby. These barely hurt at all. Besides with this you'll be cleared for the full five year mission, so it's a small price to pay."

He gestured to the seat in which the lieutenant had been sitting in moments ago. For his part he sat back down on the rolling chair from which he had conducted Uhura's examination and picked up the silver tray holding the hypo-sprays. Seated he was shorter than either of the female crewmembers, and thus had to force himself to look away from their very bare and very nice legs and up towards their... no past that bit too and up to their faces. He cocked his head to the side and grinned, "Sooner you're done it, the sooner you can get back on the bridge or any of the other much more exciting place you have to be yeoman."

Turning his attention to Uhura he added, "And thank you for the advice. However I think it's a little late to teach this old dog new tricks. I'll leave the assignment you mention to Jim."

[riley j. rand]

Returning Uhura's friendly gesture with her own hand, Riley accompanied it with a smile. The name was familiar as she had heard it throughout her preparations for joining them aboard the bridge. Spock, Uhura, Chekov,.. Kirk. Were they all so young? Not that she could really say anything, she was only 25 herself. "Its nice to meet you. I'm Riley Rand, but I may have to start going by Janice with how many mistake me for a boy." she answered, looking over to the doctor with the smile still on her face. "Getting my uniform and making it through some of these checkpoints have been a little.. difficult."

"Looks like you have another crew member to torture before the mission begins, Doctor. I'm kidding, of course, Doctor McCoy tried to make the pain numbing injection as painless as possible. How's that for an oxymoron?"

With a light laugh Rand looked back toward Uhura. She appreciated how friendly the rest of the crew seemed to be. Perhaps she could live with an overly friendly captain if she had others to share the burden with. But, then again she had already broken a rule and she doubted the captain would allow her to stay on after such an odd first encounter.

"Don't listen to her. She's just being baby. These barely hurt at all. Besides with this you'll be cleared for the full five year mission, so it's a small price to pay."

"I'm sure it isn't much worse than getting stitches" she answered with a still ever persistent smile. "I broke my leg camping once, real bad and my grandpa actually sewed the skin back together for the long trip to the hospital. Moving forward and taking a seat in the chair the Doctor had designated for her. Here though, her smile faltered as she considered what else the doctor had said. The full five year mission. Would it be out of place to simply mention that she would not be with them for more than the two months she had to? No, it would probably just bring up questions of why and bring down the somewhat cheery mood.

It was when the doctor was addressing Uhura again that she spoke up, unable to help herself from interjecting the small question. "Jim?" She asked, wondering what they were talking about. "And you of all people should know, Doctor. You're hardly an old dog." More like respectfully experienced she thought. Just because he was, what? 28 or 30? According to his looks at least. He was simply on a ship where the average age must have been no larger than 26 excluding outliers.

[nyota j. uhura]

Uhura remained in the doorway with her arms folded as she leaned up against the door frame. It was rare, if ever, that she was not at attention in an upright position exuding only the finest of posture, but in this instance she let her guard down and was actually enjoying some conversation that didn't involve linguistics. Hearing McCoy tell the new girl in the room that the hypo-sprays were nothing at all made her smirk. For a tough woman it was the only thing she ever truly dreaded about being in Starfleet.

Well, Riley after the doctor's visit you're going to be pretty much set for clearance so the crew thinking you're a boy will go away, at least for a short while.

She couldn't imagine what it would be like working with Kirk all of the time. It would probably consist of bringing him a drink with a low cut shirt and a seductive wink, but in the end he would be ready at a moment's notice for the smallest of problems. How he managed to multitask the strangest of life elements was beyond her.

Ah, someone who agrees with me McCoy. Maybe you should starting listening to me more often.

It was a known fact that the majority of the time Uhura disagreed with Kirk's opinion. It wasn't always her true feelings but rather the sincere need to make him feel like he wasn't always right. McCoy, being Kirk's good friend, would tend to side with the Captain even if he knew it would mean and earful from the Communications Chief later on.

Jim. Well, he's an interesting sort of guy, Riley. You see, not only will Jim make sexist comments, take serious moments and turn them into happy hour, break the rules, screw around...both figuratively and literally, manage to pull escape plans out of his ass and seduce you into sleeping with him, but he's also your Captain. When you tell people you're working under Kirk, be sure to remember that most everyone will find this to be a literal comment.

[leonard h. mccoy]

"Now look Lieutenant," McCoy began, feeling some need to stick up for his friend who was not here to do so himself. The fact was nearly everything that Uhura said was true, though when you said it in the order she did it came out making the Captain look like some dundering idiot who thought with his pants first and his head second. Yes Kirk had a healthy libido, McCoy was certainly not going to deny that the Captain had a habit of winding up with beautiful women taking him to bed, but that was hardly the only thing that defined him. Kirk was good, probably the best, and he would either have one of the greatest careers in Starfleet, or one of the shortest. McCoy pointed a hypo-spray at Uhura, waiting for Rand to get into place so he could administer it. He continued, "Kirk saved this whole damn ship, Hell he saved the whole Federation. And yeah he's not an emotionless Vulcan, ruled by logic, but a man with certain tastes. Some captains drink Andorian ale, some collect historical novels. Jim just, enjoys women."

"He's young, he's single, it's hardly a crime," McCoy said before adding, "And it's exactly what you told me to do. Plus Jim knows the line, he's not going to cross it with a member of the Enterprise's crew."

Turning to Yeoman Rand he nodded, "Well if you've got a scar where the stitches went in I can take a look at that and see if I can't get rid of it. Starfleet's given us some cutting edge regeneration technology that I wouldn't mind trying out."

Plus he would not mind getting to look at her legs. What? He silently cursed Uhura for putting these thoughts into his head. He was a doctor not a Romeo, and there was no way he was going to get through an entire week of having to administer shots if he kept feeling like a damn schoolboy anytime an attractive woman came by. It was not professional, and if there was one thing he took seriously it was being a doctor. Nurse Chapel could have done the shots, but she was too busy being the ship's new counselor.