No More Hiding - A Spock (Star Trek) Fanfiction

Chapter 9: Long Flight

 I sat in the shuttle reading my Padd. I was waiting for the crew to arrive so we could go to the Enterprise. I looked up from my Padd to see Spock walk in. He, too, was looking down at his Padd. He marched over to his seat and promptly sat down, which happened to be right in front of me. "Hello, Spock," I said with a smile.

 Spock looked up from his Padd and turned completely around in his seat. "Hello, Penny," he said with a small smirk. "It is unfortunate you must sit behind me. I would much rather you sit beside me."

 "Yeah, well, I am not a commanding officer, so," I said in a humorous tone.

 Spock just nodded and turned his attention to the shuttle door. Captain Kirk walked in with a grumpy look on his face. He sat one chair down from Spock. Bones followed him and sat right beside me.

 "Status report, Mr. Spock," Kirk said as he sat down.

 "The Enterprise should be ready for launch by the time we arrive," Spock said with a nod.

 Kirk nodded. "Good, good."

 "Captain," Spock suddenly blurted out, "Thank you for requesting my reinstatement."

 "You're welcome," Kirk said with a smile.

 "As I am again your First Officer, it is now my duty to strongly object to our mission parameters."

 Kirk smiled once again. "Of course it is."

 "There is no Starfleet regulation that condemns a man to die without a trial, something you and Admiral Marcus are forgetting. Also, preemptively firing torpedoes at the Klingon homeworld goes against -"

 "You yourself said the area's uninhabited. There's only gonna to be one casualty. And in case you weren't listening, our orders had nothing to do with Starfleet regulation."

 "Wait a minute. We're firing torpedoes at the Klingons??!" Bones asked.

 Spock ignored Bones. "Regulations aside, this action is morally wrong."

 "Regulations aside, pulling your ass out of a volcano was morally right," Kirk snapped. "And I didn't win any points for that."

 "Whoa, Jim, calm down," Bones said while holding a medical device up to Kirk's head.

 "I'm not gonna take ethics lessons from a robot!" Kirk snapped at Bones.

 This whole time I was just laid back in my seat, eyes flying from one person to the next as they spoke.

 "Reverting to name-calling suggests that you are defensive and therefore find my opinion valid," Spock quickly put in, obviously annoyed at the situation.

 "I wasn't asking for your opinion," Kirk said.

 Bones placed a circular device on the side of Kirk's face. "Bones. Get. That. Thing. Off. My. Face," Kirk growled.

 "Captain, our mission could start a war with the Klingons and it is, by it's very definition, immoral. Perhaps you should take the requisite time to arrive at this conclusion for yourself," Spock said.

 Kirk looked as if he was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a beautiful, blond woman.

 "Captain Kirk," the woman said. All of our eyes flew up to the woman. She gave a smile. "Science Officer Wallace. I've been assigned to the Enterprise by Admiral Marcus. These are my transfer orders," she said in a British accent. She handed her Padd to Kirk and he scanned it over.

 "You requested an additional science officer, Captain?" Spock asked in a confused voice.

 "I wish I had," Kirk answered. I rolled my eyes. Kirk looked back down at the Padd. "' Lieutenant Carol Wallace. Doctorate in applied physics specializing in advanced weaponry.'"

 "Impressive credentials," Spock said.

 Carol looked at Spock. "Thank you."

 "But redundant now that I am back aboard the Enterprise," Spock said looking at Kirk.

 "And yet, the more the merrier," Kirk said. He turned to Carol. "Have a seat, Doctor."

 She smiled at him. "Thank you," she said as she sat in between Kirk and Spock.

 I watched as Spock just stared at her.

 I sighed. This is going to be a long flight...