InsaneJournal

"I was thinking," Jim said as he handed Bones a glass of something amber colored liquid he had picked up down on Fornax, "that we ought to see about doing more for the travelers. Entertainment wise. Spock would hate this idea, but I don't care." He tapped his glass against the other. "Let's hope this doesn't burn out esophagus." Jim grinned.

Bones nodded. "I think we need to do more. While I appreciate their help in the medbay, you know I do, I'm running out of room for more doctors. My trainees who deserve better assignments have no where to grow to. I don't need them all. You know I also enjoy annoying Spock, so what kind of ideas do you have?"

He took a sip of his drink finally and nodded appreciatively. "You know I can take anything. This is good."

Jim took a sip and made a face, but it wasn't as jarring as he expected. Rye whiskey from a small distillery on a planet he'd never visited before was always a gamble. "Well, now I know we're not a cruise ship, but I'm wondering if we should assign some kind of activities director."

"Starting to feel like a cruise ship, though," Bones noted, half of his drink now gone. "Got anyone in mind?" he asked. "We've got quite a few ambitiously loud folk that could do that kind of job well."

Jim shrugged. He didn't have anyone specific in mind but he was sure they could figure it out eventually. "Well, depends on if we want to put a traveler in charge or if I should requisition someone from Command. Or, maybe I should just ask Spock if he'll do it."

Bones choked on his drink and looked at Jim like he'd grown a second head. "You do that and I'm walking out of an airlock."

He did consider requisitioning instead of naming someone on board. He sighed and shook his head. "I suppose a traveller may not be the best choice. They all come from such different places, unless it was someone from future Starfleet, I suppose. At least they'd understand what kind of activities we have access to."

He laughed. "Well, why not? It could be fun. Can you imagine what Spock might think constitutes as fun activities? Maybe I'll even get him a little hat." He sipped the drink again and shook his head. "I'm kidding though, really. I'll probably send a request off to command and see if they've got any ideas. I'd just rather figure out a way to keep everyone busy, especially all of them who aren't working."

Bones looked at him like he was crazy. "A cranky Spock is not good for anybody. You know that. That human temper of his, you never know when it's going to strike." But it made him chuckle all the same. Spock's pouts of anger were just as funny as they were scary. "I do agree they need more to keep them busy. I'm running out of jobs, and I can't be the only one."

"We're running out of jobs, period, for them, especially when they want to work on the ship and train and not in the mess or in the lounge or what have you." Jim sighed and shook his head. "I'm not going to lie - and you better not repeat this to Spock, understand? - but this is getting to be more overwhelming than not."

"I would never fuel Spock's ego. I have better things to do with my time. And there's nothing worse than a smug Spock."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't disagree. And let me guess, the Federation still has no idea what's causing the anomalies?"

Jim shrugged. "The Federation has a team of scientists working on it, but it's on a volunteer basis. Most people don't want to give up what they're already working on. I don't blame them, really, but it still makes things difficult for us."

"Yeah. Is there anything to stop us from working on it? We have plenty of travelers anxious to get home with science skills. Could we set up our own lab?"

Jim rubbed his jaw and thought about that for a long moment. "Now there's an idea, Bones. Do you want to get that figured out? Maybe some of the travelers working under you?"

Bones nodded and leaned back, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. I have a good enough staff I can promote a handful of them and have more than enough coverage to not always be in sickbay. A change of pace would probably do me some good."

He thought about it another moment and chewed on his lip. "Do you think Starfleet would willingly give us what they already know, or would we be expected to start from scratch?"

"I'm sure if I asked nicely, they'd give it to me. And maybe ask Admiral Pike for his help too. I'd bet a large sum of credits that they wouldn't say no to him at all." Jim grinned. "So I'll do that and you do what you just said and we'll see if we can do what Starfleet can't do yet."

"That's true. I'd do anything Pike told me to. That is, anything that didn't put his health in jeopardy." He smiled and rubbed his chin. "I'll be picky about my team, though. I'll need to send out applications and pick my team based on their responses."

Jim clapped a hand on McCoy's shoulder. "You do anything you need to do, Bones, all right?"

"Yes, sir," he said with a grin. "I shouldn't be this excited about this, should I?"

The captain shrugged. "You can be excited about anything you want to be excited about, Bones."

Bones gave him a look, but only shrugged. "I'll get it started early next month."