cough. âRed-eye whiskey, Bones?â
âI remember you telling me it was his favorite. Not one of mine.â McCoy took the visitorâs chair and poured them both another shot. He sat looking down, swirling the whiskey along the sides of the glass.
âSpit it out, Doctor.â
âI just had a visit from Petty Officer Tikolo,â McCoy said.
âHowâs she doing?â
âWithout jeopardizing patient confidentiality, I can say that sheâs better than she has a right to be.â
âAs the captain of this ship, I have a right to know about crewââ Kirk began, but McCoy cut him off.
âI know, Jim. Youâre the captain. Iâm the chief medical officer. That means I have to balance priorities. Iâm tryinâ to thread a needle, here.â
Kirk settled back in his chair. âThread away, Bones. Tell me what you can.â
McCoy leaned casually on his right armrest. âYouâre aware of her situation.â
âOf course.â About a year ago, a Romulan bird-of-prey had violated the Neutral Zone, established after the Earth-Romulan War, and had attacked a series of Federation outposts established to keep an eye on the zone. The Enterprise had destroyed the Romulan shipâlearning, in the process, that the Romulans had developed cloaking technology that, despite some flaws, was more effective than anything in Starfleetâs bag of tricksâbut not before the Romulans had vaporized several of the outposts.
Miranda Tikolo had been assigned to Outpost 4 for just over a year when the attacks came. A skilled pilot, she had been flying a cargo run between Outposts 3 and 4 when the Romulans struck. Witnessing the destruction of the outpost and her crewmatesâand, via her instruments, the pitched battle between the Enterprise and the Romulansâshe had shut off all the shuttleâs systems and drifted in space, hoping not to be noticed. Once the battle was over, she had hailed the Enterprise . They had picked her up, astonished to learn that there was even a single survivor from Outpost 4.
Tikolo had been appreciative, and had enjoyed her time on board the starship. When Starfleetâs medical personnel cleared her for duty, she requested assignment to the Enterprise, which the captain had gladly approved. She had been part of the security detail for seven months now, and Kirk was happy with her performance.
âGiven what she went throughâall those hours in the dark, alone, floatinâ in space, watchinâ her crewmates killed right in front of herâitâs no surprise that she continues to have some psychological scarring. Those scars donât go away.â
âBones, are you saying thereâs a problem?â
âI wouldnât call it that, exactly. Sheâs been havinâ nightmares. I think they were prompted by that Ixtoldan battle cruiser accompanying us on this trip. Sheâs only had a glimpse of it, and while it doesnât lookmuch like a Romulan bird-of-prey, I expect sheâs conflated the two in her mind.â
âShe canât expect to serve on a Starfleet vessel and never encounter an alien ship,â Kirk said.
âIâm sure she doesnât. And I should add that I donât believe sheâs a danger to herself or anyone else. Itâs just that the bad dreams bothered her enough that she felt it necessary to tell me about them. Itâs classic survivorâs guilt, Jim. I can say that I understand, butââ
All at once the captain understood what his friend was asking. âDoctor McCoy, you are oversteppingââ
âNo, Iâm not. The crew knows about Tarsus IV. Tikolo needs someone she looks up to. She needs an Uncle Frank.â
Finally Kirk said, âOkay, Bones. As soon as I get a chanceââ
The bosonâs whistle announced a call from the bridge, and Uhuraâs voice followed. âCaptain,â she said.