Visitors

V

While Camari was with Jim, Mac'hla had taken a moment to speak with her former Commander.
"I do hope your quarters are satisfactory." she said, folding her arms behind her back.
"They are."
Mac'hla nodded and stepped into the room. She wasn't going to initiate a conversation if it wasn't wanted, so she waited to see if Spock said anything.
"We have not spoken in over a year." Spock said as he ran his finger across a bookshelf.
"Indeed not. I regret not contacting you." Mac'hla agreed.
"Regret is illogical."
"Maybe so."
The vulcans stared at each other, not sure what to say. There was too much to say.
"How is T'Ve?"
Mac'hla raised an eyebrow, surprised that that was his first inquiry, "She is well."
"You seem hesitant to speak." Spock observed.
"As do you."
Again, silence.
"If you have any questions or concerns, Captain, my quarters are on deck four.  There is a diagram of our ship's layout available to you on your computer, should you need it."
"Thank you Captain."
Mac'hla turned stiffly and left the room, frustrated by her inability to say what she wanted to say. But even if she could, where would she start?
They strode next door to where the Admiral would be staying. Mac'hla had chosen quarters right next to each other for the Admiral and Captain to stay... they knew them well enough to know they would spend most of their time together, making it most logical for them to be close by.
Camari sat across from Jim on a sofa, the two in a jovial conversation.
"Captain, you never told me your first officer was so charming!" Jim remarked.
Camari flushed, "You're too kind, Admiral."
Mac'hla raised an eyebrow, unsure if they were flirting with each other or simply talking... knowing both of them well, either possibility would make perfect sense.
"Indeed, she is." Mac'hla agreed, "Commander, will you excuse us for a moment? There is a matter I must discuss with Admiral Kirk."
"Of course," Camari said, standing gracefully, "I was meaning to get back to the bridge, I'm sure the cadets are out wreaking havoc and I need to check our security systems to make sure everyones where they're supposed to be."
"Thank you, Miss Rushim."
As Camari walked by she leaned over to whisper in Mac'hla's ear.
"He's so hot."
Mac'hla rolled their eyes and waited for Camari to leave. They had something very important to discuss with their former Captain.
"Come, sit down." Kirk said, patting the seat beside him. Mac'hla obliged, sitting stiffly at his side.
It wasn't that Mac'hla was uncomfortable– in fact, quite the opposite. Vulcans by nature sit very stiffly and perfectly-postured, but Mac'hla found that oftentimes people were unnerved by this and so she actively made her sitting more lazy and slightly slouching. With Jim, she knew that she could sit how she found comfortable without making him uncomfortable or nervous.
"You received my message?" he asked.
"I did, yes. You should not have sent me the report, sir. It is protected by Stafleet, and if anyone finds out that you sent it–"
"It's not like they're going to punish me, Maggie. Rear admiral, remember?"
"Sir." Mac'hla said, almost exasperated, "Rank does not justify breaking regulation."
"God, you sound like Spock." Jim muttered, "You know that's not what I'm saying. I'm trying to say that my decisions are mostly regarded as the right ones– when an Admiral deems something important, it is regarded as such. I know you well, Misses Tirok, and I wouldn't trust anyone else with this information."
"Sir, legally I am obligated to report this... I do not make the rules, I just follow them."
Jim scoffed, "No you don't."
Mac'hla was silent for a moment, "...I acknowledge them."
"Alright, so how about you acknowledge them but don't follow them in this case? You know, like you have a tendency of doing? No one needs to know, and you know that if I did this five years ago, you would have–"
"Blindly followed and allowed you to persuade me into doing the wrong thing? But somehow it would work out because when it is you it always seems to?"
Jim smirked, "It's good to see that some things never change."
"Sir?"
"You still interrupt people." he chuckled.
She looked down at her hands in her lap, "As I said, things always seem to work out with you... and you are Rear Admiral, and I should trust you."
"Right! See?" You're learning!" he teased.
"You are making this difficult."
"Okay, back to the point." Jim said, quickly redirecting the conversation before Mac'hla changed their mind, "You received the report. What are your thoughts?"
"I think it is suspicious that a Klingons vessel would appear on Betazed– there has been no hostility between the two planets. The cruiser was meant to observe and record data, in other words, spy on Betazed. The Klingons are clearly searching for information, but as for the reason, I am unsure."
"I can't imagine why they would be there either. Betazed, while a valuable member of the Federation, has nothing that the Klingonss would want."
"You know as well as I how easily deceived the Klingons can be." Mac'hla said, absently rubbing her massive bat'leth scar through her uniform, "Perhaps they think that they have something they need."
"We'll have no way of knowing unless we can get a closer look at the cruiser. If we can get access to the recorded data we could possibly pin-point what exactly they were looking for."
"What are you suggesting, sir?" Mac'hla inquired.
"When you deliver us to Betazed, you will be remaining in orbit until our conference is over to bring us back to the starbase. I suggest that you send a landing party down to investigate."
"The wreckage will be heavily guarded– there would be no way for us to get to it."
"Unless you were Betazoid guards... or you at least looked like them." Jim said, a mischievous glint appearing in his eyes.
"And how exactly do you suggest that we 'look' like Betazoid guards, sir?"
"Well, your lovely second in Command was telling me about her little hobby of developing methods of temporary genetic modification to influence one's appearance. Doctor Chapel used to do the same thing, way back when."
Mac'hla remembered the time her genomes had been messed with to make her look human for a mission to an Earth-like planet. She had never been so disgusted with her appearance in her life. 
"She is quite talented with it." Mac'hla agreed, "But do you truly believe it is logical to do this? You are putting my crew at risk– if they get caught, they could be court-martialed and potentially lose their rank, or worse, they could become injured or die. I am not sure if that is a risk I am willing to take."
"Maggie," Kirk said desperately, "This isn't a matter of simple curiosity. This is a matter of protecting Betazed from whatever the Klignons are trying to do. I promise you, if anything happens, I will take the fall. It was my idea, after all. I will do everything in my power to ensure that your crew is safe."
Mac'hla stared at him, "This is most illogical."
"Sometimes, all you can do is embrace the illogical"
Mac'hla shook their head, "I will never understand you, sir."
He laughed, "To be honest, I don't either half the time. It's what makes me so charming."
Mac'hla looked at him, and for a moment they were no longer in the guest quarters on The Revival.
They were in their lab on the Enterprise. Before everything happened; back when they were just a young Ensign who had hardly seen anything other than their little corner of the Universe.
Though it had only been about eight years since she first met Kirk, it seemed like just yesterday.
Sitting next to him, Mac'hla felt free of the stress and burden of being a Captain. She felt like a child again.
Next to James, everything was okay.