Don't Look Away

Chapter 1

"The Gem Cannot be Polished without Friction, nor man

Perfected without trials."

Chinese Proverb

It was mid-way into Alpha shift and Jim sat in the Captain's chair metaphorically twiddling his thumbs. He looked around at his Alpha crew again and saw that they were very busy doing their assigned duties. Mentally he sighed. He was bored; yes indeed, extremely bored. Since this mission had started everything on board ship had been quiet, predictable and sane. Not to his liking, he admitted ruefully to himself. It was not in him to be happy with routine and sameness on board the ship; he liked, nay, he loved action! It was an admirable trait in a starship Captain, but one which Bones deeply disapproved of. Bones liked nothing better than a quiet, peaceful life aboard ship, with no crew injuries, no galactic crisis, no having to patch up the Captain from an away mission gone wrong, or from an angry alien life form who took exception to whatever Jim was doing at the time.

Aaaaand speaking of the Georgian devil himself, Bones came walking in through the lift door with his usual mid-morning Sick Bay report. "Hey Bones." Jim looked at him with relief; at last, someone to distract him.

Bones looked at him knowingly, reading Jim like an open book. "Morning, Captain." He grinned, blue eyes gleaming. "Anything interestin' out there, Jim?" He motioned to the large view screen.

Jim turned hazel eyes, with, it must be admitted, a bit of desperation in them, on him. "Nothing, Bones, and I do mean nothing." He turned to Spock. "Anything we should check out on the scanners, Mr. Spock?"

"Nothing, Captain."

"See Bones? Nothing."

Leonard patted the broad gold shoulders consolingly. "Enjoy it while you can, Jimbo. Things will change soon enough. They always do."

As if on cue, Uhura turned to the Captain. "Sir, there is message for you and Dr. McCoy from Admiral Boyce. He requests you take it in your Ready Room."

Jim turned in his chair, surprise on his face. "From SFM for me also, Uhura?"

"Yes Captain. Admiral Boyce specifically asked for both of you."

"Very well, Lieutenant. Pipe it to my Briefing Room. Dr. McCoy and I will be there in a minute."

"Aye, Captain."

Spock came up to the Captain's chair. "I do not understand why Admiral Boyce would not include me in his message to you and Dr. McCoy, Captain."

Bones smirked. "Well, Spock. Since he's SFM, he's more my Admiral than yours."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I was unaware that the Admirals of Star Fleet "belonged" to anyone in particular, Dr. McCoy."

"Well, that goes to show ya, Spock. Now you know."

Spock turned puzzled eyes to Jim. "Captain?"

"He's teasing you, Spock," Jim said grinning, and pulled Bones, who was having way too much fun, away and dragged him to the Briefing Room.

The big comm unit in the middle of the table always stayed on. Admirals were wont to call at all hours of the ships' day or night for any reason and they did not like to be kept waiting. The message transfer from Uhura's board happened instantly. Admiral Boyce's genial face came on. "Good morning, Captain, Leonard."

"Admiral. Always a pleasure, Sir. What can we do for you?" Leonard glancing at Jim saw that the golden gleam in his hazel eyes was back. The Captain's boredom had been banished with the promise of something to do.

"I have a mission for you and the doctor, Captain. I ran it by Admiral Nogura and he's signed off on it. Admiral Komack was reluctant at first, but I convinced him." The serene look on Dr. Boyce's face tickled Jim. Komack was a royal pain under almost every circumstance, and the fact that Dr. Boyce had gotten the best of him gave him a warm fuzzy feeling in his command heart and soul.

"Of course, Admiral Boyce. We're at your disposal."

"We had a request from the planet Beta Niobe Prime, Captain, Doctor. They have sent out feelers about joining the Federation. They've had warp drive for two generations, and although the Federation has made tentative overtures to the planetary governors for a meet and greet, they've always either ignored or rebuffed us. Now it seems they've changed their minds. They've requested a visit and they're very adamant that it's purely an informal first contact. They haven't said they're ready to join, only that they're willing to talk about it."

"Why Medical, Admiral?" Bones leaned forward to ask.

"According to what they've told us, they'd like the Federation to assess their readiness to join us in several areas, Medical being one of them and Diplomacy the other. That's where you come in, Captain."

"Me?" Jim asked. "I'm no diplomat, Admiral."

"Exactly," Boyce said. "Diplomats talk and talk and say little, what we want is for you to talk and say a lot. Say what you will, Captain, you've accomplished great things with planetary governments. You don't have the reputation for having a silver tongue for nothing. "

"Well, thank you, Admiral. I do my best." Jim grinned.

Bones snorted softly. "Just what is it we're supposed to accomplish down there?"

'Impress upon them the advantages of belonging to the Federation; first rate education for their children, the latest medical advancements, Star Fleet protection, travel opportunities, trade with other worlds, etc. You know the drill, Captain. From what I understand, the Beta Niobians have a history of isolationism, but now it seems they're beginning to reach to others outside their solar system."

"And what is Medical's role in this, Dr. Boyce?" Bones asked.

"Your role is really the more important, Leonard. The Beta Niobians seem to be more interested in Medical than anything else we have to offer. Maybe it's because they are humanoid and very similar to humans in their anatomy. So you're basically going to observe their Medical facilities and offer your expertise and encouragement if they ask. You can also tell them about the level of medical advancements we have in the Federation, the exchange of medical information we're enjoying with hundreds of worlds, and answer any questions they may have."

"When do we go, Admiral?" Jim asked.

Boyce toggled his comm. I've sent coordinates to your board, Captain, and the file of information we currently have on Beta Niobe, you'll get that also, Leonard. I want you to start immediately. You'll leave Mr. Spock in charge of the ship, Captain. He's to orbit the planet while you're down planet; we can't be too careful. Humanoid or not, this is an unknown civilization after all and we're not about to leave you and Dr. McCoy, two of Star Fleet's greatest assets, alone on a planet we know very little about. Oh, and you will take security down with you, Captain. According to what we know, having an entourage accords you status on Beta Niobe. Be sure the security team is not in their red shirts, they're just part of your entourage. We don't want to alarm the planetary high ups. And by the way, you will need the universal translator implants. The Niobians are humanoid, but their language is very different from Standard. I'm sending you the their language algorithms we have on file for your universal translators.

"Yes, Sir."

"I think that's all for now. You should reach Beta Niobe in a couple of days. Bring yourselves up to speed with the information I've sent you. Dr. McCoy, your medical credentials are impressive, so make sure the Niobians know all about them. They seem to be very status conscious."

To Jim's amusement, Leonard flushed. In spite of his prodigious medical knowledge, accolades, medals, and impressive medical credentials, Bones was the most modest of men. He never felt that he was somehow special and receiving the recognition he so richly deserved made him very uncomfortable.

"Yes, Admiral," Leonard said grudgingly.

Boyce exchanged a knowing glance with Jim over the comm. "Let me know when you're in orbit around Beta Niobe, Captain. We'll speak more then. Boyce out."

Jim leaned back in his chair. "This should prove to be an interesting away mission, Bones. A new planet and its people is always something to look forward to."

Leonard grunted. "Yeah, I guess."

"Bones! It'll be great, you'll see." Jim clasped him on the shoulder. He looked down at his padd. "I think we'll take Giotto, Lt. Bardoli, and Lt. Carver as security." He looked at Bones. "How have Bardoli and Carver performed in the field, Bones? Any reports from Lt. Commander Giotto? Any injuries?" Being a security officer was a high risk business, but Giotto trained his men well, and kept a close eye on them.

Leonard checked his medical records. "No, there's nothing negative about them from Giotto, their performance reviews are good and no injuries. I'm sure I would have heard if there were any concerns about either of them. "

"Good. It sounds like his mission could go south quickly if we're not careful. We'll have a full briefing in the morning. Giotto, Spock, Bardoli, Carver, you and me. I want us to go over the information the Admiral gave us very closely. An isolationist and status conscious civilization that suddenly wants contact with the Federation sounds an alarm in my gut," Jim said.

Leonard nodded. He had learned through the years of serving with Jim, never to discount his gut feelings. Jim had an acute atavistic sense of danger and also a well-developed sense of when things were "not quite right." His crew, and even the ever-logical Spock who didn't believe in "gut feelings", had learned early on to pay attention when Jim's internal radar pinged.

"I'll have a report for you in the morning, Jim, and I'll also touch base with Frank about the two officers and have that as well."

"Thanks, Bones." Jim stood and stretched. "Guess I better get back to the bridge and finish off the paperwork Janice brought me early this morning." He grimaced and Leonard smiled in sympathy.

"It seems as if I just turned them all in and here they are again. It's the quarterly reports for all the departments so I have to go through them with a fine tooth comb or else I'd let Spock do them. He seems to enjoy paperwork for some reason. If I felt that I could ever finish with it, it'd be different, but it's never ending. Fleet paperwork keeps multiplying, just like tribbles."

Leonard laughed. "I know Jim. I have my own to deal with, probably not as quite as much as you do, but SFM always has to have every single report in triplicate. It's a pain. At least you have Spock and Janice to help you. I have me, myself, and I to do it all, so put on your big boy briefs and get to it. If you don't do them now you'll have to do them when we get back and there'll be a backlog for you to get through."

"I know it," Jim sighed. "Alright Bones, when you're right you're right. I'll go do them." Jim frowned, thinking about what Bones had just said. "If Medical paperwork is getting to be too much, I can assign a part time yeoman to help you, Bones. I don't want you bogged down with all that, your time and expertise are too valuable to spend it doing paperwork. "

"Thanks Jim. I'll let you know if it's getting to be too much. Appreciate the offer though."

"Just let me know. Do you want to meet for dinner later?"

"Yeah, that'll be good. See you in the mess."

Jim went back out to the bridge. "Spock, you have the con. I'll be in my Briefing Room working on those reports. Also, notify Lt. Commander Giotto, Lieutenants Bardoli, and Carver that there will be a briefing at 09:00 tomorrow. I also need you and Dr. McCoy to be there."

"Aye, sir."

Jim pivoted on his boot heel to go back to the Briefing Room and said over his shoulder, "Spock, please ask Yeoman Rand to bring me a sandwich and salad. I'll work through lunch and maybe I can finish those reports by this afternoon."

"Yes, Sir. I'll see to it."

Jim worked steadily through the small mountain of padds until he reached the last one. He gave a sigh of relief as he signed the last one. He looked at his chronometer and saw that Alpha shift was over. It had taken all afternoon to finish his entire quarterly reports; he needed a shower and a change into more comfortable clothes before he met Bones for dinner. He went back to the bridge and logged out of Alpha shift, greeted his Beta shift crew and headed for his cabin. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, he commed Bones that he was on his way to the mess. He stopped on his way to knock on Spock's door to see if he'd like to join them, but there was no answer; he was probably already eating dinner.

He stopped at the door of the mess which was, as usual, filled with Alpha shift off duty personnel. He saw that Bones was already there with Spock as he made his way to them, stopping to chat and greet his crew members. That's why Jim almost always ate in the crew mess, it kept him connected with his crew and his people always enjoyed any attention from their Captain. He also made it a point to alternate his bridge duty shifts for the same reason.

He made his way down the food line, picking choices that Bones would not grouse about and sat down.

"Captain," Spock said politely.

Bones glanced at his tray and nodded, eating at his own grilled chicken salad. "You're doing better with your food choices, Jim," he said approvingly.

"I'm trying, Bones," Jim sighed. Ordinarily when Jim was not at home and enjoying his mother's delicious cooking, he cared little what he put in his mouth. Bones had sat him down not long ago, after a particularly stressful mission, and pointed out to him how when he was stressed he tended to avoid food, and when he was happy he tended to over eat, especially sweets. All he asked, Bones told his Captain, was for Jim to be more mindful about his eating habits, and this Jim was trying to do.

Conversation became general. Jim brought Spock up to speed about Admiral Boyce's new orders and the planned mission to Beta Niobe Prime. Spock nodded when told that security would accompany him and Bones. "It's a wise and necessary precaution, Captain, with a new planet and a new civilization that has been singularly isolationist until now. One has to wonder why the sudden change in policy. To my knowledge, Klingons and Romulans are not interested in that area of space; there is nothing of any great value in the area and politically the planet is unimportant."

"Yes, that's what Admiral Boyce briefing notes said, but the Federation doesn't want to turn down overtures from planets that want to join us, although the sudden change in their policy is odd," Jim mused. "By the way, Spock, I'm going to forward those to you. If you see anything of note in them let me know right away."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough when we get down there," McCoy sighed. He hated away missions, had always hated them. In his opinion, they seldom led to anything good, and the hazards always outweighed the good, as far as Jim was concerned. There was never any keeping Jim on board the ship even though Command discouraged the Captains accompanying most away mission teams. These orders from Admiral Boyce were the exception rather than the rule."

"I hope, Doctor, that you will read the briefing notes most carefully. It may be that what the Beta Niobians seek will have more to do with your area of expertise than with the Captain's," Spock said, and steepled his fingers together. "I suggest that you carry a full medical kit with you as well as your medical data padd."

"I was gonna do that anyway without your sayin' so, Spock, so don't you talk like I don't know my business." McCoy growled and frowned fiercely at him. "

"Gentlemen," Jim warned before Spock came back with a rejoinder. "Enough. We'll talk about all this tomorrow morning at the briefing.'

"Yes, Captain." Spock's smooth baritone was unperturbed.

"Okay, Jim." Bones bit his lip, but said nothing more.

"Very well, Lieutenant. Pipe it to my Ready Room. Dr. McCoy and I will be there in a minute."