Genesis
Ch. 01: Return to Delta Vega

Three days later, the Enterprise took off for her first five-year mission. Jim should have been excited, but he wasn't. In fact, the ideal term to describe his situation would be 'emotionally compromised'. But if the crew noticed, they didn't comment. Most were still thankful to be alive after the Nero incident, and after Jim had ushered them safely through that hailstorm, they believed that they were relatively safe in his hands. Emotionally stable or otherwise.

Now, ten minutes before his shift was set to start, Amanda decided to be sick on his pristine yellow uniform. A mixture of disgust and horror played out on his face as he set the child down on his bed and hurriedly rid himself of the rank uniform. Not having much time, he took out a spare and dressed, before he took a washcloth and scrubbed at Amanda's messy face. The child was feverish and her ivory face was flushed with heat.

Jim cursed under his breath. This was exactly why he had been reluctant to take a three-year-old on a starship. But who could he have left her with? His mother? Not likely. He scooped Amanda up off of the bed, and after making sure that she wouldn't vomit again, he hurriedly carried her down to Sickbay. A gentle whoosh of the main doors welcomed him inside, and his eyes were assaulted with an overtly sterile white.

"Bones? Bones!" Quickly, Jim was able to locate his friend. He had his PADD in front of him as he reviewed the medical files of the entire crew.

"Damn it, Jim, what is it? Can't you see that I'm busy?" Bones hissed. He threw his PADD down and whirled his chair around to face the Captain and the small child.

"Bones, I need you to watch Amanda for me." Jim forced the words out, even as he realized that he only had three minutes until his shift started. "She's sick and I already lost one shirt and I'll be back for her as soon as my shift is -,"

"Damn it, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a babysitter! Sickbay is not a daycare." Bones was about to turn back to his work.

Jim frowned. "C'mon, Bones. Think about it. If she's sick in front of the crew, it could lead to a chain reaction. Then, the entire Bridge crew will be in Sickbay and you'll be inundated with cases of the flu."

Bones sighed, knowing that Jim was correct and not wanting to admit it. "Fine."

"Thank you so much! I promise I'll be back for her as soon as my shift is over." Jim handed her over.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." But Bones had already seated the kid on his lap as he turned around and went back to his work. Secretly, Jim knew that Bones missed his own daughter. This would be good for him, he decided.

Jim checked the time on his PADD, only to find that his shift had started five minutes ago. All of that hard work had been for nil. Well, not exactly. At least he knew that Amanda was somewhere where her needs would be cared for as they arose. And she wouldn't be sick in front of the crew. That was one nasty chain reaction he did not want to witness. He slid his PADD into his back pocket and entered into the Turbo Lift, selecting the Bridge.

A few seconds later, he arrived. Everyone was seated at their respective stations. Jim slid in undetected and collapsed back into his Captain's chair, crossing his legs over one of the arms. When he cleared his throat, Communications Officer, Lt. Nyota Uhura, turned to face him. He had never much liked her and he could tell from the look on her face that the feeling was very much mutual. She uncrossed her long legs, rose out of her chair, and walked over to him.

"Captain, so nice of you to finally join us." There was a hint of malice in her voice that was not undetected, but he let it slide. It would be counterproductive for him to pick a fight with her. "Did you oversleep again?"

Did she honestly think that all he was good for was sleeping around and making more work for the rest of the crew? Yes, actually. "No. Not at all, Lieutenant. Was there a reason you came over here?"

Her mouth drew into a thin line and he hoped that he had hit a nerve. "Yes, sir. I intercepted a distress call from Delta Vega. The call was in Vulcan, sir."

Kirk raised one eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Quite sure, sir." Uhura answered.

Jim snatched the PADD out of her hand and read over the exact details of the distress call. After Vulcan had been sucked into a black hole, Spock estimated that there were little more than ten-thousand left in existence. This made it hard for him to believe that a colony, or even just one, would choose Delta Vega, of all planets, to settle on. In fact, it seemed quite… illogical.

"Do we have any idea how the Vulcans could have made it to Delta Vega? It seems rather illogical to settle on such a… prehistoric planet. Ninety-nine percent of it is still frozen solid." Jim said.

"I'm impressed, Captain. You actually listened in the Academy. Once." Uhura chuckled at her own joke. She didn't realize that Jim had first-hand experience with Delta Vega.

"Mr. Spock." Jim turned to him, not wanting to deal with Uhura anymore. "Any ideas?"

"After Vulcan was sucked into the black hole, few were able to escape. Because they were not expecting an attack, those who did most likely had primitive means of travel. Delta Vega is the farthest they could have gotten."

"And they would be stranded there until the Federation has the means to rescue them?" Jim asked.

Spock stared at him blankly. Finally, he nodded. "Yes, sir. And in an unforgiving climate such as the one on Delta Vega, their chances of survival are below 15.2%."

"Mr. Sulu, set course for Delta Vega. Warp two." Jim leaned back in his chair as he watched Sulu set in the new coordinates and force the ship into warp.

The subtle sounds of the Enterprise seemed to swallow him, and he couldn't help but feel incredibly small within her. It felt like forever since Pike had died, but, in fact, it had only been one week – three days if you wanted to count the days that he was in the ground. His stomach still churned at the memory. He could still see him walk around the Bridge, his back erect with the pride of commanding a brand-new starship. That pride was wonderfully addictive.

Jim sniffled as he felt tears start to rear their ugly little heads. Fuck this. The one time that he felt even the smallest inkling of affection toward someone, and they had been brutally torn from him right when he needed them most. Now, he would be away from Earth for five years and was a single father with a three-year-old daughter. As it turned out, he didn't need the Kobiyashi Maru test to feel fear. All he needed was one adorable three-year-old child.

Not even realizing that Lt. Sulu had drawn into orbit around Delta Vega, Jim was startled out of his silent reverie by a calm, assured hand on his shoulder. He nearly leaped out of his skin and shed it off, for fear that it would burn him. The hand clenched a bit and after a brief surge of pain, he felt a wave of condolence, sympathy, love… it was all fleeting, and by the time he realized it and was able to discern them, the hand vanished.

"Captain." Spock's voice washed over him. Unintentionally, he felt a shiver chase down his spine. A cold sweat broke out on his calloused skin. "We have arrived at Delta Vega. It is time to beam down and assess the situation."

"Of course, Mr. Spock." Jim offered him a weak smile. "Lt. Uhura, call down to Sickbay. I want to have Dr. McCoy beamed down as well. We can assume that the Vulcans are injured, can't we, Spock?"

Spock looked Kirk over. "Undoubtedly, sir."

Jim looked contemplative for a moment. "Maybe we should have Nurse Chapel beamed down as well, with the emergency surgical kit. On second thought, send her down as well, Lieutenant."

Uhura looked them both over. It was like she could see something that Kirk couldn't, but he did know that he didn't like that look on her face. "Whatever you say, Captain."

Jim couldn't take it anymore. "And we'll have a talk about your attitude when I come back."

Uhura blinked, astonished, as if she thought he was too stupid to notice her obvious ill-will toward him. "Excuse me?" She hissed.

"Unless you want me to embarrass you in front of the rest of the crew, I think you heard me just fine."

"You… You can't…" Uhura stuttered off.

But Jim and Spock had already donned their equipment. Jim smirked at her, mouthing that 'Oh yes, yes I can'. And then, that smirk morphing into a smile, he said, "Energize."