Space: The Final Frontier | Star Trek

Chapter 14

Being back in the city of San Francisco, where Starfleet Headquarters was located, was a welcomed change from being in space. Of course, I always loved heading out for a new mission on the USS Enterprise and spending time on the ship with all of the crew but after a while, in space, you really start to forget what's it's like to be back on Earth. It was nice to be able to relax, let my guard down a little, and take a few days to just recharge.

It was a little strange sometimes seeing the crew off of the ship though because we were all very different people when we didn't have a life or death scenario job to do. When I had gotten back after my very first Starfleet mission I had tried to do some of the things I had enjoyed doing before but they just weren't as fun anymore. Needless to say, joining Starfleet turned me into a completely different person; so much so that I had to kind of rediscover who I was.

Bones also made things a little difficult as well. When we were on the ship things were easy because we were in a professional environment. It allowed me to forget about trying to figure out what we actually were together and just focus on my job. Back on Earth, however, things weren't so simple. 

Sitting at the bar of a local place that was popular among Starfleet cadets and officers, I swirled the remaining whiskey around my glass and sighed. While it was nice to relax and do whatever you wanted for a while, it did also manage to get a little boring after a few days. Once you got a taste of something as amazing as space exploration, it was hard to find something to measure up to that kind of excitement. 

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I turned to see Jim taking a seat next to me. His face was sort of puffy and he looked like shit. "You've looked better," I told him as he ordered a drink from the bartender. 

"Thanks." he huffed as he ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"I mean, you've also looked worse," I added for good measure, hoping it might make him feel a little better. "What happened?"

Jim groaned as his drink was placed down in front him. Grabbing the glass, he downed the liquid in one gulp before answering. "Spock is what happened. That pointy-eared, Vulcan asshat filed the damn report about what happened on Nibiru; about how we violated the Prime Directive when we decided to interfere with the volcano."

"That's the thing about being Captain. It was a team decision but you get all the blame when it goes wrong." I took a small sip of my whiskey. "I'm sure everything will be fine. In the end, no one got hurt and no planets got destroyed." 

"You don't understand." Jim raised his hand and pointed at his glass, signaling for a refill from the bartender. "She's gone. Pike took the Enterprise from me. They're sending me back to the academy." 

My eyes widened upon hearing the news. "Jim, that's awful! What...what will happen to all of us? What will happen to the Enterprise?"

Before Jim had a chance to answer, another body appeared at the bar and pulled up a seat next to us. Recognizing the white Starfleet uniform, I looked up to see Pike staring back at Jim and I. "How did you find me?" Jim questioned the former Captain.

"I know you better than you think I do." Pike leaned his walking cane against the stool he was sitting on. "The first time I found you was in a dive like this. Remember that? You got your ass handed to you."

Jim's face scrunched up as he began to faintly recall that night four years ago. "No, I didn't."

Pike cocked a brow. "You don't?"

"No, that's not what happened." Jim denying the fact that he had gotten the shit kicked out of him, which he had.

Pike smirked. "That was an epic beating."