Shift Change (#23, The Drabble Bin)

Spock swivels in the captain’s chair to face the science station where his stand-in has been working steadily for several hours. Up to then, the skeleton bridge crew had been taking advantage of an uneventful evening shift to catch up with a myriad of projects which always seem perpetually behind schedule. And for once, Spock had been current enough with his own work to enjoy a relatively peaceful hour in which to recalibrate himself.

But when a steady beeping had started up, the bridge fell into a stiff moment of silence until Spock turned around.

“Mr. Stermer?” he prompts now, keeping his tone only mildly curious.

“Ship’s sensors have picked up a trail of ion particles indicative of an energy propulsion… but the pattern is unknown to our library, sir.”

Spock has already patched the analysis into the data padd resting on the chair arm. As he reviews the details, he requests of the helmsman, “Engage long-range scan of the area.”

“Scanning now.” A moment later, Spock is informed, “Something’s out there, all right.” The helmsman sounds frustrated. “I don’t understand, why didn’t we pick up on it earlier?”

Spock assumes the question is rhetorical—for now. “What type of vessel, Lieutenant?”

“I don’t know. Scan is inconclusive on the structure.”

Stermer interjects with a hint of excitement, “Mr. Spock, the new medico-scanner from last month’s upgrade has something. The object appears to be composed of biological materials.”

Not a ship, then, but more likely a sentient being, thinks the Vulcan.

The helmsman remarks ominously, “Whatever that thing is, it’s just at the edge of our range—and isn’t going anywhere.”

Ah yes, Spock has been through enough of these scenarios to know what to do next. He presses the comm button on the chair. “Bridge to Captain Kirk.”

The reaction is almost immediate, although Jim’s voice is faintly groggy. “Kirk here.”

“Captain, you are needed on the bridge.”

Sharper response now. “What is it, Spock?”

“At this time, we cannot be certain… but perhaps we are about to encounter a new lifeform.”

“On my way.”

Spock makes the next call. “Dr. McCoy.” After a moment of silence, he tries again. “Dr. McCoy.”

McCoy’s familiar grumble crackles through the speaker built-in the chair. “What’s the emergency? Jim roll out of the captain’s chair again? No, wait,” McCoy’s voice falls to a murmur, “he’s not on duty tonight.”

As usual, McCoy’s penchant for guessing what’s going on rather than to just ask is as amusing as it is unnecessary. “Doctor,” he interrupts, “I forwarded readings to your terminal. If you would—”

A sigh. “I’ll just come up there.”

Years ago, Spock might have been surprised by this pronouncement. Still, he does take a moment to remind McCoy, “Your presence is not required.” As he finishes that statement, the turbolift door on the second-level opens to deposit Kirk onto the bridge looking somewhat wind-blown (as the man had no doubt rushed through his grooming routine) but with a lively spark to his eyes that indicates the man holds no ill will for being rousted suddenly from sleep.

Jim has already bounded down to the captain’s chair by the time Spock fully turns in his direction with the greeting, “Captain”.

“Do we have a visual? Magnify the main viewscreen,” Kirk orders the navigator on duty.

A loud harrumph comes through the speaker. “Obviously Jim’s already there!”

Jim starts to say something at Spock but seems to change his mind, leaning across the chair to comment instead, “Bones, good, you’re awake.”

“And on my way, Captain,” rejoins McCoy, “so don’t you dare start the party without me!”

“I highly doubt anyone else except Dr. McCoy would describe our current circumstances as a party,” Spock quips after the doctor has disconnected the call, but following some seconds of studying Kirk and his change in posture, the Vulcan realizes that remark may not be entirely accurate.

Jim has taken to staring at the viewscreen with his hands on his hips and an undisguised look of anticipation. The man’s mutter of the private musing, “I wonder what it wants,” is even more telling.

“Start with the standard transmissions of greeting,” Kirk tells the officer at Communications before glancing at Spock.

Within that glance is a simple request, and Spock easily recognizes what it is: a sudden urgency to hear the facts they have gathered so far and to launch the adventure ahead of them. By the time McCoy arrives on the bridge, Jim will be quite eager to entertain and debate suggestions on a next course of action, at which point the doctor will no doubt jump in and contribute his share of opinions.

All of this and more comes to Spock’s mind in a nanosecond and is acknowledged. He vacates the captain’s chair, then, to take his customary position at Kirk’s side.

The entity, quiet for now, still lingering unobtrusively at the boundary of the ship’s range likely does not know the stirring it has caused aboard their ship, but Spock is very much aware. This is why a Starfleet officer serves on a deep-space assignment, why one chooses to transverse uncharted territory seeking the unknown.

For Spock personally—well, if he cannot have peace for the duration of even a singular shift, then he will settle for a unique kind of uproar that he, against all odds, has grown accustomed to and oddly fond of.

And thus, with his captain’s undivided attention, he launches into his report.

-Fini

Stay With Me (#29, The Drabble Bin) – from December 29, 2023
An Ominous Setting (#28, The Drabble Bin) – from May 4, 2021
Beyond the Call of Duty (#27, The Drabble Bin) – from September 24, 2020
Have You Heard…? (#26, The Drabble Bin) – from September 20, 2019
Who Wants to be a Doctor? (#25, The Drabble Bin) – from May 13, 2019

Shift Change (#23, The Drabble Bin)

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