Kirk materialised on the transporter pad of the Enterprise.  “Thank you Mr. Kyle.  It’s good to be home again.”

“It’s good to have you back safely, captain.”  Lieutenant Kyle replied.  “Mr. Scott is in conference room one.”

“Yes off course.”  Kirk replied and looked at Spock.  “Scotty obviously wants to debrief us as quickly as possible.”

Spock nodded.  “Obviously something urgent has come up that requires our immediate attention.”

Kirk sashayed out of the transporter room, following behind Spock as he had longer legs than she did.  “I wonder what it is.”

“Perhaps Starfleet has provided Enterprise with covert intelligence?”  Spock mused.

“I really could use a long shower.”  Kirk mumbled and felt her hair.  “I really need to wash that Klingon ship our of my hair.  It’s all greasy and it smells of gach.  I think I’m getting split ends too.”

Lieutenant Hadley was talking to Lieutenant Lemli about the war, when suddenly the Captain and the first officer walked past.  They both stood at attention until they passed.

“The captain did not look happy.”  Hadley said quietly.

“Three days on a Klingon ship and I’d look that upset too.”  Lemli replied.  “Have you heard the rumour?”

“What rumour?”

“About the captain and Dr. McCoy?”  Lemli continued.

“No, what about them?”

“I was talking to Philippa Lovecraft and she was there in sickbay when Nurse Chapel and Dr. McCoy were talking about it.”

“Well I never.”  Hadley said slowly.  “I guess it fits though.  About the captain being attracted to men.  Makes sense now that she’s a she.”

“We never talk about anything other than ship gossip.”

“We should start some gossip of our own.”

“Philippa’s pregnant with my child.”

“That’s great.”  Hadley said and clapped Lemli on the back.

Scotty, Bones and Lieutenant Leslie were waiting in the conference room when the captain and first officer arrived.

Kirk saw how tense the three male officers looked.  “Stand at ease, before you get a hernia.”

“Captain.”  Scotty said after a moment.  “There’s been a shipment from star base 23; a long-distance shuttle pod brought it here.  As far as we can tell there’s no Lifesigns on board.”

“You think it’s a bomb?”  Kirk asked.  “Relax; it’s something I requested a while back.”

“As acting chief officer I have every right to ask what’s in that crate, captain, until I hand command back to you.”

“Of course you do.  They’re uniforms.  Specifically women’s uniforms.  It’s about time we got some trousers, don’t you think?”  These dresses may do for normal everyday situations, but they’re hardly practical for combat, especially if the ship is boarded.  I don’t know about you but I find it hard to do karate when my hem’s so short you can see my…dignity…when I sneeze.”

Kirk was glad to be finally backed in her own quarters.  She’d scrubbed and soaped and washed until she was sure that all trace of that Klingon ship was off of her.  Then she dressed: underwear, a thin vest and then her new uniform.  A simple white and grey one-piece outfit that hugged her figure nicely, accentuating it perfectly but not provocatively.  The over-sized belt buckle was a nice touch as were the small cluster stars on the collar.  She fastened a phaser belt around her waist and made sure that it was set to stun.  Then she adjusted her hair and applied a simple make up to cover up the visible signs of aging.  She was not getting any younger and crow’s feet were starting to form in the corners of her eyes.  She then pulled on her boots, they were a modest two inch heel and came only half way up her shin and far easier to walk in that the old ones, although she had to admit that the taller heels did make her legs look better, but as with all compromises you lost as well as won.  Finally she felt ready to face the world again and she left her room, only to bump into her beloved Bones.  “Hi there.”

“Hi there.”  Bones replied.  “You look, is that the new uniform?”

“Yes, those dresses were nice, but hardly appropriate for combat.”

“I think you look nice whatever you wear.”

Kirk giggled like a schoolgirl with a crush.  “You old dog you.  If I didn’t have to be on the bridge I’d invite you into my room.”

“Oh, well, perhaps I could give your tonsils a thorough examination.”

Kirk wanted that, but she had to put duty first.  “Tonight, after my shift’s over.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”  Bones replied and smiled.

“Oh what the hell.”  Kirk said and threw her arms around her man.  They kissed and her body felt like it was on fire with passion.  She moved backwards and fell onto the bed, he landing on top of her, his body pressed against hers, she felt her heart pounding in her chest and all thoughts of duty left her head as she was consumed by thoughts of pleasure and joy.

Uhura was showing off her new uniform to Sulu and Chekov.  “It’s much more comfortable and practical too.”

“The beige really brings out your eyes.”  Sulu said as he gawped at Uhura’s figure.

“Starfleet command is revising all ship uniforms?”

“That’s what they said when they delivered this.  You boys will get yours soon enough.”  Uhura walked back over to her console just as the captain walked onto the bridge.  “No message from Starfleet command yet.”

“I didn’t think there would be.”  Kirk replied.  “Put me through to captain Koloth, please Lieutenant.”

“Connecting now, captain.”  Uhura replied.

Koloth’s face filled the screen.  “We’re ready to get underway Kirk, have your helmsman plot course to follow in attack formation.  The Romulans attacked a little under two minutes ago.  We’re now at war.”

Kirk nodded.  “Understood Koloth.  Kapla!”  She found the Klingon word for success difficult to say and hoped she’d pronounced it correctly.

Koloth smiled.  “Kapla!  Kirk.  Today is a good day to die.”

As soon as communications cut out Kirk looked at Spock.  “They may have a death wish but I intend to keep my crew alive if I have anything to say about it.  Set ship to yellow alert, we’re on a war footing from now on.  Now get some rest, I’ll want you refreshed and ready to take your watch.”

Spock nodded.  “All departments confirm war footing.  We have yellow alert through out the ship.”  He headed towards the door.  “I’ll take over my shift in exactly six hours.”

Kirk nodded and waited as the rest of the bridge crew changed over too.  Lieutenants Arix and Farrell took the navigation and helm respectively and Lieutenant M’ress took Uhura’s place at the communications console.  Lieutenant Kyle was at the engineering post and lieutenant commander Brooke was at the science console, she was a recently arrived crewmember, a noted physicist in her own right but she wanted to pursue a career in Starfleet and so had to make do with a more general application of her intellect.  She was Spock’s protégé in some respects, half human and half Andorian.  Her ice blue skin was at odds with the grey uniform she wore.

Koloth looked at the view screen then his first officer.  “The humans will not give their lives for us, the same way we would give their lives for us.  Yet I have seen them fight with as much ferocity and guile as any warrior.  They are a complex species; they have the hearts of Klingons but the minds of Vulcans.”

“You doubt their loyalty to the Empire?”

“Their loyalty is to the Federation, I am no fool, and I would kill them if they said otherwise.  I trust the Federation to honour its pledge as allies.  No, it is just a pity they are not Klingons, I would have taken Kirk as my mate if she were one of us.”

Bones sat in his chair and counted the seconds down until the end of the shift.

Chapel rolled her eyes.  “If you’re that love sick, why don’t you just make an excuse to pay a visit to the bridge and see that she’s alright.”

“No, I’m fine.”  Bones replied.  “Is it that obvious?”

“Well you’re smiling like a teenage boy in love for the first time, you’re irritable, distracted and you’ve twice called me Janice.”  Chapel put her hands on her hips.  “If I didn’t know better I’d be insulted.”

“I’m sorry.”  Bones replied.  “I guess I’m just not used to feeling this way.  I’ve been in love before, but not like this.  Have you ever been in love with someone who’s your best friend, you’re most trusted colleague?”

“Just once.”  Chapel replied.  “Roger Corby.”

“Oh yes.”  Bones replied.  “I remember now, it was five years ago, more or less, wasn’t it?”

“He was dead a long time before that, what I saw was just an echo of the man I loved.”

“Still, I guess you know how I feel.”

“Yes, she talks about you all the time.”

“Does she indeed?”

“When are you going to ask her to marry you?”

“We’ve only had one date.”

“I knew I wanted to marry Rodger the moment I met him.  Circumstances just got in the way.  I’d have married him like that if he’d asked me to.”

“Janice, she thinks about marriage too?”

“What woman doesn’t?  The connection, the completeness of being in a relationship, finding the one man in the universe that completes you, makes you whole.  We could all be dead tomorrow, doctor, and never know the tenderness of the embrace of the man I, we love.  To be loved, that’s all any of us really want, isn’t it?”

Bones let Chapel’s slip go.  Damn that green-blooded Vulcan for not seeing what was in front of his cold-logical eyes.  “We’re meeting tonight, after our shift.”

“Don’t wait too long.”  Chapel said sadly.  “Don’t put it off.”

“Yes, well I think we should get back to business, nurse Chapel.”

“Of course.”  Chapel replied.  “I do have a request.  You’re going to have your hands full if we suffer a heavy assault.  I want you to train me in some advanced surgical techniques.  You know the sort of things I mean, you’re going to need all the hands you can get if the wounded start piling up.”

“Fine.”  Bones agreed.  “I was going to suggest it anyway.  I can draw some crewmen from the pool to serve as triage and first aid.  You’re going to be my shadow, watching what I do at all times.  It’s the only way to learn that works.  When you’re ready you’ll be performing the operations and I’ll be beside you to offer support and advice.  One day you might even sit your MD’s exams.”

They passed into the Romulan neutral zone.  Everything was quiet, no radio chatter, no ships in the area.  Nothing.  It was too quiet in Kirk’s opinion.  But as they were now on radio silence from now on she couldn’t share her suspicions with Koloth.  Instead she only had her acting first officer’s judgement to consult.  “Lieutenant commander Brooke, I want a constant passive scan, full ship’s rotation.”

“You suspect a trap too, captain?”  Brooke asked.  “I detect no signals or particles of any kind.”

“Keep scanning.”  Kirk said softly.  “They’re out there, they have to be.  If I was in their shoes I’d have a fleet waiting, cloaked and ready to strike us amidships.  The only question is: can we detect them before they de-cloak?”

Brooke was about to reply when suddenly she picked up multiple energy reading.  “Something off our port side.”

“Red alert.  Shields to maximum.  M’ress, send coded signal to Koloth, say the phrase: Sword of Kahless.”

“At once, captain.”  The feline officer purred before sending the message.  “Koloth send back the word Stovokor.  Whatever that means.”

“It’s the Klingon afterlife.”  Kirk mused.  “We’re on our own now.”  She watched on screen as the Klingon ships all cloaked at once.  They’re going up and over them, we have to pull away, make it look like we’re running.  Wait though, not yet, give them time to get clear.  Steady, steady, break now, hard starboard, maximum impulse.”

“Romulans are following us.”  Arix replied.

“Orders, captain.”  Brooke asked.

“Steady as she goes; make it look like we’re running for our lives.”  Kirk watched as the Klingon ships de-cloaked behind the Romulan fleet and opened fire, crippling many and destroying a few ships entirely.  “Good, good.”  Kirk smiled.  “Bring us back around.  Draw us level with the nearest Romulan ship.  “We’re going to board her and take their cloak.”