driftfleet | The Way to a Blue Fish's Heart...

Entry tags:

The Way to a Blue Fish's Heart...

Who: Blue Fish crew and visitors
Broadcast: Maybe some accidental, but not overall
Action: The Blue Fish kitchen
When: All Day, Feb. 7

[It had been a rough month for a lot of the Blue Fish crew. From blenders to family members and lost friends and blocked credits, they'd been soldiering on through a lot. And while Jilly was new enough to have skirted by most of the drama, she was keenly aware of the underlying stress of her crewmates. She wants to help.

Sometimes, though, words aren't enough...and so she sets about taking advantage of her augment to the best of her ability. For the past month she's been collecting recipes from the datary and experimenting with the supplies provided by the Atroma. And, in the days leading up to the 7th, she quietly recruits Beverly for a pair of extra hands with some Station grocery shopping and behind-the-scenes planning.

It's not announced, but on such a small ship it's hard to miss that something is going on that day. Forgoing her usual trip to the Station for job hunting and people watching, Jilly gets up extra early and sets the kitchen in motion. Recipes are taped up on the cabinets, ingredients are gathered, and so begins a marathon of food.]

[Between the combined forces of Jilly and Beverly, the two "cooks" for the Blue Fish will be setting out food all day as a bit of a much needed holiday for their crew (and any visitors who stop by). Volunteer as a taste-tester, grab food on the run, help clean dishes between baking bouts, or simply sit and relax with your crew mates. Food therapy is a go.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Heh, he probably would. But it would probably be fun because of it.

_{[ He grins at the thought of said doctor's outrage, and he moves to sit where Beverely indicated. He grows a bit more serious as he settles and works open the front of his jumpsuit, presuming she would want to do a physical and listen to his heart and lungs. ]}

I suppose I should preface the examination with - I died and got brought back via a blood transfusion from a super soldier.

_{[ Might as well just lay it out, right? He didn't necessarily like talking about it, but Beverely was going to be acting as his doctor, so she should know these things for his own safety, just in case. Bones would be proud of his sudden self-preservation instinct, he was sure. ]}

Ah... [She holds up a hand to stop the undressing.] That's not necessary. I actually have a tricorder... a "special gift" from Atroma.

[But then there is something more concerning than unnecessary stripping. She frowns. They are definitely not from the same timeline then, something she was already suspecting. In some ways, though, it's a relief: even if he returns with memories of her, most of what she knows of his future will most likely be null and void anyway.]

A super soldier? Do you mean one of the Augments?

[How different is his timeline anyway? He looks too young to have found the Botany Bay yet...]

Edited 2016-02-09 03:30 (UTC)

_{[ He relaxes at the mention of a tricorder, something familiar that he understands. He glances to her, and while there is not shame in his look, there is definitely a touch of discomfort. He is unsure how much of her world is like his own, how much was changed in the split of the timelines if she is from another one, or his own. In some ways it does make things easier if she is different - they can speak, and not risk altering each other. ]}

Khan, to be specific.

_{[ He rubbed his chest, over his heart, as if checking that it was still beating. ]}

Bones - that is, McCoy - did it. There wasn't any other way I would have come back from what happened otherwise.

And what did happen, if may I ask?

[In the meantime, she's taken up her tricorder - very different looking from what he's familiar with of course - and started scanning, now that she's been warned about the differences in his blood.]

_{[ There's a moment as he gathers the words to explain this. Even now it still sounds crazy to his own ears, and he lived it. ]}

The ship was in danger - one of the fuses had come loose in the engine core. I went in, kicked it back into place, and got saturated with radiation when it did. I made it into the decontamination chamber, but the process took to long. I died before I could be pulled out to receive treatment.

_{[ So literally minutes, Beverely. ]}

Bones had been running experiments with a sample of Khan's blood, and he figured out that Khan's blood had amazing regenerative properties beyond what we already suspected from interactions with him. He put me into cryogenic stasis while Spock and Uhura detained Spock, and I was given the transfusion. Or at least that's what I'm told.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital on Earth, personally.

[Lowering her tricorder, Beverly stares for a moment at Kirk. It's not the part about Augmented blood having regenerative powers that throws her - though that is a surprise, definitely, but then... it's not as if humanity has been particularly keen to pursue any studies on such a thing.

No, what's throwing her is how what he's saying parallels what happened to Spock in her timeline. Only substitute ancient Vulcan mysticism for Khan's blood.

Her compassion far outweighs her fascination and surprise however, and she rests a hand on his forearm.]

I'm sorry... I can't imagine what that experience must have been like for you, but I am glad Dr. McCoy was able to save you.

[The Federation just would not be the same without Jim Kirk. She sits, placing the tricorder on a nearby table, and pulls her stool closer to Kirk.]

Captain, I must tell you, we are not from the same timeline. In my universe's history, it was Spock who sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise, only to be seemingly miraculously resurrected by an ancient Vulcan ritual. And none of that happened until both you - or rather, the other you - and Spock were much older.

_{[ He meets her gaze, determined not to be afraid or ashamed of what had happened. He had saved his crew. That was something to be proud of, even if his own foolish decisions had brought them to that point in the first place. It could be argued they might have ended up there anyways, but Kirk had always thought he would have seen the trap so much sooner if he hadn't let his grief and his anger cloud his judgement quite so much. It was something he had been trying to work on, especially during his frustrating recovery.

He reaches up and touches her hand in thanks for her kindness, though he had not been looking for sympathy. Still, it felt good to have someone else know here. ]}

I feared as much. I've heard as much from Spock too - though it was more like yours told mine and mine told me.

_{[ Yes, that is as confusing as it sounds, Bev. ]}

The way my timeline came about is that Old Spock - yours, I'm assuming - accidentally created some sort of temporal worm hole with red matter, and ended up sending not only himself but a Romulan mining ship back in time, where it attacked and destroyed the U.S.S. Kelvin.

[The Kelvin... that name doesn't ring any bells for her. In her reality, it was simply another ship in the fleet, serving admirably no doubt, but with no fame attached to its name. Clearly, it means something to Kirk, though she is more concerned with Spock's fate. Presumably his efforts at reunification were not successful. Won't be successful. And -]

I've never heard of red matter. What was he trying to do with it?

To stop the Romulan sun from exploding and destroying Romulus. According to him, he was to late, but the red matter detonated and it created that space-worm hole and dropped both him and Nero through - well, Nero before him. Time travel is strange.

_{[ He let out a breath, wondering if he needed to say this, to explain
what had happened to so drastically change his world and separate it from
hers. But he thought he should - get the rough bits out of the way. ]}

I suspect the other rather large difference between your dimension and mine is that Vulcan still exists.

[That's...

Give her a moment Kirk. It's hard to say what to focus on: the fact that Romulus will be in danger of being destroyed in the near future or the fact that Kirk's Federation has lost one of its central home worlds. She can't help but think of every Vulcan she's ever known, most especially of Dr. Selar, and how they might not exist in his universe.

And then, perhaps this won't be so easy to avoid the contamination of timelines after all. If they do remember what happens here, there is no way she could stand by and not warn someone about Romulus' impending disaster: if they acted now, perhaps they could at least evacuate to a new home world. Yet if that were to happen, what would become of this Kirk? Then again, all evidence seems to point to the idea that no one will remember their time in Drift Fleet.

She closes her eyes and rubs her temples with a sigh.]

Spock. I can't even imagine what he's going through right now. Or any of them. [Her eyes fly open again with a sudden thought.] Did Sarek...?

_{[ When he speaks, his voice is a whisper. ]}

He hurt so much...

_{[ He remembered the mind meld that Old Spock had put him through, to
show him, to make him believe. Even though what he had received was but a
fraction of the depth of the Vulcan's pain, it had speared him to his core.
It had made what he did to Spock to gain the Enterprise all the
harder, but sometimes hard choices had to be made. ]}

Sarek and most of the Vulcan's elders that made up their cultural core made it. Spock saved them - my Spock, that is. His mother... didn't. Around 10,000 Vulcans made it off the planet or already were off when it was imploded. They've recolonized on a new planet since then, so they'll recover - in time.

Old Spock - that is, your Spock - is heading that effort, actually.

Amanda...

[Amanda is long dead in Beverly's world but there she got to live a full and happy life with Sarek. And he... how devastated he must be, when it already ate at him so much that he never told her how he truly felt about her.]

I knew Sarek. And Ambassador Spock as well, but... I knew Sarek better, probably more than he ever would have wanted me to know, for I saw the depths of his pain, everything that Vulcans try so hard to control.

_{[ Kirk nodded quietly. ]}

I only saw a little, through a mind meld I shared with Old Spock, and I can't imagine what it must be like for them, having to star their entire race over. From updates we've gotten they're doing well though.

_{[ He looked to her, rubbing the back of his neck briefly. ]}

And that, Doctor, is why I hate time travel, among other things.

I don't know a Starfleet officer who doesn't, to be honest.

[Standing, she picks up the tricorder again and resumes her scanning.]

But it sounds as if you have suffered worse than most. I'm sorry for that.

_{[ He shook his head. ]}

Don't be. My life hasn't been easy, but it made me what I am. I'm sorry for what happened to Vulcan, for Pike's death, for the people that died because of Khan and Marcus, for the mistakes I made, but I wouldn't choose to be anything other than myself. So now all that's left is walking forward with my head high and being better than I was before.

_{[ His fists clench against his thighs for a moment before he relaxes
them. ]}

Hope I just live up to your expectations of Jim Kirk.

You don't have to. You're not him, you're you, and you have your own triumphs and failures and life to live. Whatever expectations I have, they're my problem, not yours.

[Not so big on the destiny, this one. Besides, selfishly, she's simply relieved to have another member of the Federation here, even if he is from a parallel universe.]

_{[ He smiles at her gratefully for that, as selfishly happy as she is
to have someone else from the Fleet to talk to, even if they might be
separated by realities and years. It was a little bit of home, and that was
all that mattered. ]}

So, tell me what it's like in the future - how far have you guys gotten out in the universe?

Well, the Federation itself is about 8,000 light years across, with over 150 member planets. We have made contact with the Gamma Quadrant and since I've been serving on the Enterprise we've made perhaps... twenty-five first contacts.

_{[ There's a moment as he imagines those new figures, a please smile
curling his lips. The Federation would certainly make strides, wouldn't it?
That he would be helping it reach that expanse, well... it filled him with
a sense of pride. ]}

Sounds like you and yours have been doing good work then. Though I should count myself lucky to have you aboard here. I had to admit, it's... easier with someone Fleet here, even if we don't come from the same time-frame.

Don't I know it. I haven't seen another Starfleet officer in over six months and Julian... Dr. Bashir was only here for a couple of months. Otherwise, there hasn't been anyone else. So selfish as it might be, I was very pleased to see you.

_{[ He almost winced when she told him that. He couldn't imagine being
away from anyone he knew - really knew - for that long. But the way it
sounded he might be in for that kind of long haul. But, as they had both
just said, they weren't quite all alone anymore. There were shared
experiences between them, even years apart, and it was enough. ]}

All right, doctor, how am I looking?

_{[ Bring it back around before they got weepy on each other. ]}

And before you prescribe anything, I should probably mention I have allergies.

_{[ A lot of them. He knew it had to be an endless headache for Bones
that his Captain couldn't be treated with a fair number of medicines.
]}

[Yes. Feelings, we can avoid those for now.]

You're perfectly healthy, no side effects from the... implant.

[Augment seems particularly not a good thing to say in this case.]

But for future reference, what sort of allergies? I presume you mean to certain medications?

_{[ He's thankful for the tactful response. Seems Beverely has a
somewhat better beside manner than Bones - or maybe that's just when he's
with him. ]}

A lot of medication, actually. My, ah... transfusion unfortunately did not take care of that particular part of my physiology.

[Beverly nods, then looks around for a moment. Ah! Here we are! She picks up a pad of paper and a pen and hands them to Kirk.]

Maybe it'll just be easiest then if you would write them all down for me?

_{[ He takes it and recalls a familiar dance he had gone through with
his own ship's doctor. Though he doubted she had the skills of Beverely, it
was nice to have back ups, just in case. ]}

It's going to be quite the list, and I'm not sure Bones has managed to test them all. From what I've experienced, it's safe to assume I'll suffer some kind of side-effect from anything you give me that isn't pretty generic.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject