Aviophobia (Leonard McCoy)

14. Bad Decision

Time in San Francisco had passed slowly since they arrived there a few days ago.  Time probably wasn't actually passing any more slowly that it normally did, Kate was just ready to meet with Pike and see if she would finally be able to get off the Enterprise.  The longer that she waited, the more unsure she grew, but she knew it would be the best thing in the long run.  Being away from Leonard would give her peace of mind a chance to let her heart heal, while being away from Jim would mean her career record would look more legitimate.  Any way she spun it, it was a good idea to get off the Enterprise, but there was a small part of her that was afraid Chris really would approve the transfer.  Her best friends were on the Enterprise, and it would be difficult to leave them.

This is how Kate spent the few days waiting to meet with Chris.  Waffling back and forth on if she really wanted to leave the Enterprise or not, while trying to get life in her small apartment back in order since it had been so long since she had been in it.  Nyota visited a few times, but they both had a lot of other things on their minds at this point so there wasn't much that was said between them and it was mostly sharing meals with each other so that they wouldn't pass the whole day alone.

The day finally came for her to meet with Chris and her stomach was alive with butterflies.  At this point, she knew she still wanted to transfer off the ship, but she was less confident now that she was about to walk in to his office and discuss this face-to-face.  She knew that he was going to see through her lie about not wanting Jim to be her captain, and she wasn't sure what she was going to say.  She just knew she didn't want to admit that she was requesting a transfer to get away from a man she had fallen in love with.

She knocked on Chris's door timidly and he called out, "Come on in, Kate," so she opened the door with smile on her face.

She greeted him, "Sir, it's been too long since we've seen each other.  You look so much better than the last time I saw you!"

Chris laughed and said, "Well, the last time I was still recovering from everything that happened on the Romulan ship, so I should hope so."

She laughed as well and said, "It's nice to be back on the planet again, too.  Flying is not as terrible as I thought it would be, but we've had a couple close calls in the few months I've been on board, so it's nice to know the ground beneath me is pretty solid right now."

Chris nodded and seemed to be thinking of something else as he said, "The reports Jim and Spock have been sending back have been interesting.  You all have not had any shortage of adventure have you?"

Kate shook her head, "No, we certainly haven't.  In fact, it feels like as soon as we stop one thing, another thing starts right up."

Chris nodded to himself and said, "Well, let's not keep you waiting any longer.  Why do you want to transfer off of Star Fleet's flagship vessel, while you are serving as one of two chief medical officers?"

Kate hated that he worded it that way.  No matter what she said, it was going to sound childish.  It was an honor to work on the Enterprise, and she knew that.  She shook her head and admitted, "When you word it that way, I know how ridiculous it sounds for me to request a transfer, but consider if you didn't know Jim and me."

Chris sat back in his chair and nodded as he said, "Okay, I'll humor you.  I don't know you and Jim.  Explain it to me."

Kate sighed, feeling like he was just playing with her, and said, "Jim and I joined the Enterprise at the same time.  Between everything that happened, there aren't any real clear records as to when our positions changed.  What it looks like, is that Jim became captain of the Enterprise and I became a chief medical officer right around the same time.  Anyone who looks closely into that will be suspicious of why it happened that way."