The Stars Above Us

"I thought we talked about this, Jimmy. If you can't behave, you can't be on the ship, you know that," Chris said. She looked at her dad and gave him a shrug. It wasn't that she didn't behave, it was just that she had a ton of energy and not a lot of places to focus it. The chief engineer on the USS Olympus kept her from doing anything. He bitched about having a kid near his warp core... and the computer system... and the shuttle bay. In short, the man complained to the captain anytime she was anywhere near engineering, so she had to find other stuff to do, it wasn't always good but not outright bad either. "It's not my fault, dad. I just wanted to get a look at the new propulsion system and Becker flipped out. I didn't even touch anything this time," she said. "Look, kid. You can't hang out in engineering, it's dangerous," he told her. "Life's dangerous, it doesn't matter where you are," Jim countered. "That's very true," Chris conceded. "But you still can't play around in engineering. I mean it. Becker complains enough as it is." "Fine," the eleven year old huffed. He was the second officer on the ship, there wasn't much she could do about it. "Good, I got something for you to do, anyway." Jim sat up straighter and waited. "You know Doctor Boyce went on leave. Turns out that a close friend of hers and his wife passed away and left their son in Pippa's custody. He's about a year older than you but he's never been on a ship. I need you to help him out, show him around, tell him the real rules, keep an eye on him." "You want me to babysit the new kid," she sighed. "Not babysit, just help. Can you do that for me? Kid lost his parents and he's moving to a starship, you know what that's like," Chris sighed. Jamison Tabitha Kirk -or Pike, depending on who you ask and how you look at it- had the worst luck in the known universe. Her biological father, Lieutenant Commander George Kirk, died two minutes after she was born fighting some crazy Romulan. Her mother, former Lieutenant Winona Kirk, and her brother, George junior, died in a fire when Jim -as she prefers to be called- was four. And Lieutenant Commander Christopher Pike took custody of her, per her mother's will. Apparently, Chris and her dad went to the Academy at the same time. They were a year apart but still managed to become friends. So close, in fact, that George asked Chris to take care of his family if anything happened. So, Jim's been with Chris for the last seven years on ships or in San Francisco. If she had to pick which one she likes more, it would definitely be being out in the black... just not with Lieutenant Commander Becker around. "Please, Jim? If not for me, do it for this kid. He could use a friend right about now," he said. Guilt trips are so mean and her dad knew he had her. "Fine, I'll do it. When does he get here?" "I told you that it'd be over before you know it, Lenny. Now, here we are." Jim heard one of the ship's senior medical officers and Chris' old friend, Doctor Philippa 'Pippa' Boyce, tell a boy about Jim's age. The kid looked absolutely mortified to be on a shuttle. He was holding Pippa's hand as they stepped out of the small craft, his knuckles were white and his face was green, Jim couldn't decide if it was funny or sad. "Yea, on a ship in the middle of nowhere. If the Klingons or the Romulans don't kill us, something else will," the kid muttered. "This place is actually pretty safe. Light cruisers are well armed and shielded," she couldn't stop herself. A pair of pained hazel eyes looked at her. "I have aviophobia. It means fear of dying in something that flies. Considering that my parents died in a shuttle crash I have every right to that feeling," the kid said in a thick southern accent. Georgia, if Jim had to guess. "My folks are dead too. It sucks, I'm sorry. Welcome to the club," Jim said with a shrug. "That's not your dad?" Hazel eyes asked, looking at Chris who was standing behind her. "Legally, he is. Biologically, not so much. People say I look like him but I don't see it. Maybe it's because I take after my father and they could've passed for brothers. I don't know. It's not that important anyway. I'm Jim." "Umm… McCoy, Leonard McCoy," the kid said. "Well, McCoy, Leonard McCoy, it's been bestowed upon me to help you get used to this place. You may be new to space but I'm a veteran. I was even born out here," she told him. "Really?" he asked, looking her up and down. "Emergency shuttle on the edge of Klingon space. It was all very dramatic… at least, it sounds that way on the logs. Come on. I'll show you around while the adults talk. Might hack the food synthesizers for ice cream. You like ice cream, right?" "Yea. I like ice cream. Who doesn't?" the twelve year old said. "Well, that settles it," she declared and gently grabbed his arm. "Later, dad and Miss Pippa." "Behave, children," Chris called. "We will," they both answered before the door closed. "Mostly," Jim muttered. "You get into a lot of trouble, don't you?" Leonard asked. "Not a lot. I'm just curious," she told him. "Curiosity killed the cat," he said. "'Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly.' Arnold Edinborough." When he gave her a look, Jim smiled. "I read a lot." "That's T'Nel, she's nice. Lets me hang out in the biology lab. That guy over there, Hastings, is the most badass security officer on the ship. And that guy in blue, that's Nurse Jack Pryor. You'll probably see him a lot because he works with Miss Pippa. And…" "Do you ever stop talking?" Leonard snapped at her. "Of course I do. If you want me to stop, all you gotta do is ask," she told him. "Would you?" he grumbled. "Yea. Sure," Jim said. They sat together in the recreation room and just stared at each other, their ice cream forgotten. It was one of those times that Jim wished she could read minds. She really wanted to know what this guy was thinking. "How many other kids are on the ship?" Leonard asked after about five minutes. "Fifteen. The youngest is four, the oldest will be sixteen in about a month," she answered. The joys of a year long science mission, families were authorized to tag along. "How does school work around here?" "By intelligence, not age. I'll graduate by the time I'm thirteen. Misses Tannin will test you," Jim sighed. "Okay," he whispered. "You know where my room is?" "You're in the CMO's quarters on the port side of deck four," she said. He raised an eyebrow. "When facing forward, port is the left side of the ship." "Oh. How do I get there?" Leonard asked. "Take the turbolift up to… You know what, I'll just show you," Jim said as she pushed herself up. She didn't check to see if he followed her. At this point, she didn't care. Playing babysitter was already starting to bore her and his attitude was getting on her nerves. She gets that his parents died but it's not her fault. Jim showed him to his room and told him that she'd be there to show him where school was before she let Miss Pippa's quarters. She sighed. Why did she agree to do this? "It's not you," a voice said behind her. "He's still in shock. This will take some time to get used to." Jim nodded at Miss Pippa, who gave Jim's cheek a light pat. "Don't give up on him, sweetie."