This was going to be the hardest conversation that she’d had since the swap.  Janice paced around her cabin for a few seconds to compose herself.  She tried to find the words to explain the radical change in circumstances in her life.  They should know, of course.  They were the closest thing she had to family.  The view screen flickered into life, revealing the aging matriarch of the Kirk family.  “Hello, mother.”  She said simply and waited for the reaction.

“Well, it’s about time.”  Celeste Kirk said to her wayward child.  “One of your friends at the academy mentioned, your change, I was surprised that you didn’t find time to tell me about this yourself.”

“I’m sorry, mother.  Starfleet put me under all kinds of tests, I had to prove who I was, prove that I was still fit to command my own ship.  There was no personal time.  I had to call you though.  There may not be time later, once the news is announced publicly.  I’m not sure how much I can say, but take Peter and Marie and her family and get them out of the major population centres, go to dad’s old log cabin in Iowa.  Stock up on food and water, get Joseph to fix that old generator up, you’ll need that.”

“What is going on?”  Celeste asked her older daughter.

“We’re going to war, mother, with the Romulans.  Promise me you’ll get the family to safety, they’ll need your strength to get through this.”

“Oh, we’ll be fine.  I’d like to spend a few moments talking to my new daughter, now that I have two rather than two sons.”

“I’m fine, mother.  Things just happened, I’ve had to adjust, but I’m still the same person.  Now I have my eye on a cute guy, the crew’s accepted me, I have girlfriends to chat with and share ship gossip with.  I spent considerable time with a counsellor, I recommended to Starfleet to allow me one onboard so the crew can take their concerns to them rather than Bones, so he can concentrate on the medical side of things.  Sandy really helped me adapt to the little things, the subtle changes of vocal tone and stance to accentuate my femininity and beauty. ”

“Well you certainly have those.  How is your crew dealing with the change?”

“To be honest I think they like this me more.  I don’t think the boys see me as the hot headed impulsive control freak I was; I’m more self-assured and confident.  I find ways to let them showcase their abilities rather than bark orders at them.”

“You’re adapting?  Are you getting your monthly visitor?”

“It was freaky the first time, but I’m used to it now.  I’ve even been thinking about having children one day.  After all those brief romances, now I want to find that lasting relationship with a man I can fall in love with more and more each day.”

“I should hope so too.  Doctor’s are nice, as are lawyers.  As I said to your sister, marry a man with ability and talent.  As much as I love Peter, I’d like more grandchildren to spoil rotten.  I know you, always putting your career first; you’d breastfeed in the middle of combat if you had to.”

“Well I hadn’t thought of that, but I guess I have these for a reason.  I think the boys would be rather unsettled by it.”

“I’m sure they would be.”  Celeste laughed.  “I’ll get the family to safety; my weary old bones still have some strength in them yet.”

“Take care of yourself as well mother.”

“You too dear.”

Spock emerged from the bedroom.  “You did what you had to do.”

“Broadcast on an unsecured channel?  Potentially put my mother, sister, brother in law and nephew at risk?”

“It was necessary, and logical.  If we are to assume that this is a Romulan weapon that is still being tested then we must make sure that they are forced off of their timetable onto one of our devising.”

“I never thanked you, for believing in me, when all others did not.  You know me far better than anyone else, even my family back on Earth.”

“You are my friend.”  Spock replied.

“You’re like my best friend, older brother, teacher and guru all wrapped up in one.”  I rely on you Spock, for the sake of the ship.  I know you still have doubts about me, my readiness for command.  I’ve gone through so much, everything I knew has changed and I still have so much to learn about whom I am, but I know that with you and Bones and Scotty and the others supporting me then I can do the best that I can to be the captain of the Enterprise.”

“As your first officer you have my loyalty and as your friend you have my respect and as your guru I have this advice for you.  Stop doubting yourself, you are Janice T. Kirk, captain of the Enterprise, you are the captain of this ship, your doubt will only lead to second guessing yourself and in the heat of combat we cannot afford that delay.”

“Always finding the one weak spot.”  Kirk smiled.  “That’s why I love you for being so open and honest with me.  When I lost myself, you were there to guide me back.  You held my hand when I needed it and now you offer me advice when I need it.  The Romulans will strike, clean and fast.  They will try to use surprise.”

“Yes, but the new sensor net being built around Earth can detect these particles.  Thanks to the Raj device we can combat them before they become a threat.  We’ve augmented the shields with power from the phaser banks and tripled the yield of the photon torpedoes.  Enterprise is a warship, as much of one as she can be anyway.”

“I want a four shift pattern in place on critical ship functions: Command, Engineering and Astrophysics.  I don’t want people getting tired on duty.  We can draw crewmen away from secondary systems to cover.”

“I’ll inform the crew.”  Spock replied.  “Captain, about a matter of a personal nature.”

“You can tell me anything Spock.”

“It is about Dr. McCoy.”

“What about Bones?”

“He has what you might term a crush, on you.”

“He has?”  Kirk was taken aback.  She had no idea he felt the same way about her as she did about him.”

“And your blush response indicates that you have feelings about him too.  May I suggest that the two of you initiate a mating ritual?”

“A what?”

“I believe you refer to it as a first date.”

“Me, on a date?  With Bones?  A date?  Me?  On a date?  With Bones?”

“That was the general context of my statement, yes.  I find the human mating rituals to be a most perplexing and complex event.”

“Well I’m not going to let you watch.”  Kirk blurted out.  “I mean, I mean I’ll talk to him.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to be somewhere that isn’t here.”

Uhura opened her cabin door.  “Captain, what is it?”

“Big drama, Nyota.  Spock told me that Bones has feelings for me.”

“That’s great, isn’t it?”

“He just blurted it out.  No warning, no time to compose myself.  Now he knows I have a crush on Bones and it just felt so awkward talking to him about it.  Not like when I talk to you or Christine.”

“Well that’s understandable; I’d feel awkward talking to Walter about Hikaru.”

“Have you made him ask you on a date yet?  We’re practically at war.  Maybe I should get Spock to have a word with you.”

“You dare!”  Nyota said with a giggle.  “I would die of embarrassment.”

“I think I did.”  Janice giggled too.  “Poor Spock, I shouldn’t make fun of him, he’s the best officer I’ve ever served with and in a way he’ll always be my best friend, except when it comes to talking about guys.”

“It’s the eyes.”  Nyota said after a moment.  “He has the deepest eyes; they’re portals into a world we can never really know, only glimpse for a few moments.”

“Should I tell Christine that she has competition?”

“No, I’m over that, I had a mild crush on him when I first met him, but we’re just good friends now.  We perform in the ship’s band every other night; did you know he teaches music for beginners?”

“Yes, he mentioned something to me a while back and Christine gives me a full report every time I visit sick bay.”

“I think maybe you should visit sick bay now and get yourself a date.”

“Maybe.”  Janice smiled.  “It’s so nice to talk to another woman about these things.”

“That’s why we have girlfriends Janice, so we can share intel about guys.  We’ve all had our share of bad dates in the past.  Sometimes you just don’t click with a guy but you know a girlfriend he might like, so you fix him up with her.  Of course then you can to spend hours listening to her as she talks about her perfect first date with him, but it’s worth it if it makes her happy.”

“I suppose I’d better get going.”  Janice stood up.  “I don’t have to be on duty for another hour and I always pop into sick bay before anyway, so it won’t look too suspicious if I’m a little early.”

 Bones was doing inventory when the captain arrived.  He looked up.  “Doing the rounds?”

Kirk nodded.  “It’s that time of day again.  Well actually I thought I’d be a little early for a change.  I thought that maybe we could talk.  We never seem to talk much these days.”

“Well before we talked about duty and women.  Now I’m not saying I can’t talk about men with you, but I understand from Nurse Chapel that you spend time with her and Lt. Uhura doing that sort of thing.”

“Not as much as you probably think.”  Kirk replied, feeling the guy craze gripping her soul in its vice-like grasp.  “Mostly it’s just hair care and make up.”

“Does Chapel still have that ridiculous crush on Spock?”

Kirk looked sharply at Bones, before softening her face.  “She’s in love.  I can’t say anymore, I’m sworn to triple secret silence.”

“Well good luck to her.”  Bones replied.  “If anyone can crack that cold Vulcan shell of his then it’s her.”

“What about your crust?”  Kirk asked.  “I hear that maybe I’ve already cracked it.”

Bones shuffled on his feet for a few seconds.  “Where did you hear that?”

“Does it matter?  Ask me on a date will you already.”

Bones suddenly saw Janice for the first time.  A beautiful woman who has a smile as beautiful as the sun emerging from an eclipse.  “Ok then.  A date it is then.”

Kirk grinned and hugged Bones.  “How come this feels so right?”

Bones kissed Janice and for a moment the rest of the universe vanished.  Finally they broke apart and he looked deeply into her eyes.  “My place, after your shift?  I promise to be a perfect gentleman.”

“A perfect gentleman?”  Kirk asked with a smile.

“An almost perfect gentleman?”  Bones smiled back, happier now than he’d been for years.  “It’s a date.”

“Our first date.”  Kirk smiled again.  She felt like there were butterflies in her stomach and the guy craze had vanished.  She thought that she might really be in love.”

Kirk took her seat on the bridge and Spock wandered over.  “Anything to report Spock?”

“No captain.”  He wandered over.  “Your smile would suggest that you took my advice.”

“A lady never kisses and tells.”  She said in reply.  “Is the Raj device working perfectly?  I’d hate for the scientific and medical technologies to develop an incompatibility suddenly.  Perhaps you and Nurse Chapel can examine the device after the end of your shift?”

“I’m sure she will provide an adequate medical opinion of the device.”  Spock replied.

Janice thanked Bones as he pushed her seat in for her.  “I think they’ve made a special effort.”

Bones nodded.  “I had a word with the galley crew; they’ve rustled up a few special items.”

Janice smiled when a yeoman wheeled in a trolley of chilled champagne.  “Is that 2203?”

Bones looked at the label.  “Yes, a rather fine year if I do say so myself.”  He popped the cork and poured Janice her glass first, then his own.  “To charming company.”

Janice clinked her glass with his.  “Is there a menu or have you already chosen for us?”

“I took the liberty of choosing the soup course.”  Bones replied.  “A gentleman never presumes to tell a lady what she likes, but I know for a fact how much you enjoy mulligatawny.”

“I’ve never had it before in my life.”  Janice replied.

“Your palette has.  I accessed Dr. Lester’s file when she first came on board, I noticed that we had the same fondness for mulligatawny soup.  It’s odd the things that stick in your mind, isn’t it?”

“Well since you’ve gone to all this trouble, the least I can do is give it a try.”  Janice looked at the bowl as it was placed in front of her.  “It smells nice enough.”

“Try it.”  Bones said.

Janice cautiously sipped the soup, it tasted wonderful.  “This is incredible.  If it hadn’t been for you I’d never have thought to try this.”  She sipped another mouthful.  “I think Christine might get a certain Vulcan that we know and love in her grasp tonight.  I asked her and Spock to give the Raj device a once over.”

“He should relax more.  He could use the love of a good woman.”

“Oh, is that how you see me?”  Janice said playfully.  “A pick me up for the soul.”  She watched Bones squirming for a second before letting him go off her hook.  “Just teasing, if anything your tenderness is making me more and more attracted to you.  I’ve never noticed how warm and loving you really can be.”

“Me neither.”  Bones replied.  “I’ll always be your friend Janice, but I want to be so much more than that.”

“So there’ll be a second date then?  You’re awfully confident.”

“A second date and a third and a fourth.”  Bones took another sip of champagne.  “I’d give you the sun and the moon if they were mine to offer.”

“The sun and the moon?”  Uhura giggled as she listened to the juicy details of the date.  “From anyone else that would be corny.”

“You had more luck tonight than I did with Spock.”  Christine sighed.  “If I took my uniform off and did the dance of the seven veils he wouldn’t notice unless he wanted to ask me a question about the medical functioning of the Raj device.”

“Maybe you should just confront him, let him know you have feelings for him?”  Janice suggested.  “That method got me a doctor, just as mother hoped for.”  Janice saw the looks on the others faces.  “We spoke earlier; I had to tell her about the situation.  She’s the only one who can get the whole family organised.”

“Sounds like my mother.”  Nyota said.

“Mine too.”  Christine replied.  “I need another glass of wine.”

“I think I drank enough before.”  Janice replied.  “Did I tell you?  He walked me back to my cabin and he didn’t want to go in, even though I asked him to.”

“Why the hell not?”  Nyota asked.

“He’s a romantic at heart.”  Janice said to her junior officer.  “He says it’s treating a lady right.  I didn’t mind, we kissed before he left.  One of those long lingering kisses that keeps going for a few seconds after you part.”

“Oh, don’t talk to me about first date kisses.”  Nyota poured herself more wine.  “If he tries to eat your face you know he’s just going to disappoint you later on.”

“Too little though and you have to wonder if he’s really the one.”  Christine sighed.  “Of course you have to get him to kiss you first.”