Star Trek - The Autobiography of James T. Kirk by David A. Goodman

Author:David A. Goodman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Titan

“We’ve entered standard orbit,” Sulu said, as the familiar image of Starbase 11 spun on our forward viewscreen. He, at least, was pleased to get the job of helmsman. When I spoke to him, he thought I was going to fire him; most ships needed a department head for astrosciences, but not the Enterprise. Spock, as science officer, was more than capable of handling that job as well, and Sulu had felt extraneous. He had ambition to command, and being a bridge officer was the faster route.

Spock had shown no emotion when he got the news that he was first officer. He said only that he would “endeavor to fulfill the job requirements satisfactorily.” And Bailey was doing fine as navigator. Those positions were filled, but by the time we got to Starbase 11, there were two more openings.

Alden, my communications officer, was leaving the ship. He wasn’t sleeping or eating, and Dr. Piper determined that he was suffering from a stress disorder caused by trauma. Gary had relieved him on the helm about ten minutes before we’d gone through the barrier. Piper thought that Alden somehow blamed himself for what happened to Gary, that if he’d stayed at the helm, it would’ve been him who’d been changed, even though there was no basis for believing that. I approved Piper’s recommendation to give Alden a medical rest leave. It was a loss, but Uhura had already been filling a lot of Alden’s shifts, and it was reasonable to promote her to the position. Alden’s leave wasn’t the only bad news Piper was going to give me.

“Jim, I’ve decided it’s time to retire,” he said. Piper was a veteran, which is what made him valuable in one sense, but was often at a disadvantage when dealing with the unknown. He said the experience with Gary had hit him hard; he had been focused on the physical health of his patient, but had offered no prognosis on his mental health. I’m not sure that any of us could’ve changed the outcome, but Piper especially felt that the situation had gotten away from him. I wished him the best, and felt a little bad about how quickly I moved to get his replacement.

As luck would have it, McCoy wasn’t far away; he’d been posted to a planet, Capella IV. It was a primitive society that was, however, aware of the Federation. As such, under the Federation Charter, Starfleet was permitted to provide limited aid. McCoy had been stationed there to offer medical assistance. It wasn’t long before I was facing his crabby expression on my viewscreen.

“I’ll take it,” he said. I laughed.

“I haven’t offered anything yet,” I said.

“I don’t care. The Capellans are warriors, have very little technology, and even less medicine. They think the sick should die. They want nothing to do with doctors. So if you can get me out of here, I’ll happily clean bedpans.”

I was able to extricate McCoy from Capella, and he would end up joining us well before the refit was finished.

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