"Resolution"
By Coral
Disclaimer: Star Trek in all its forms belongs to Paramount.
The festive lights lit up the Recreation Deck in a way that
seemed in keeping with the mood. The small "bulbs" were
a variety of colours, and they twinkled merrily. Their
colourfulness was nicely rivalled - though not quite surpassed -
by the colourfulness and variety of the clothing and the crew.
Some of the Enterprise crewmembers were stood around, drinks in
hand, talking hard among themselves, whilst others coupled up and
danced to the soft music playing over the comm system in this
room.
To one side stood Spock and the ship's First Officer. The two had
gravitated to each other naturally as the crew became looser from
a combination of the drinks and the mood. Number One, Captain
Pike's XO of some years now, stood in stark contrast to everyone
else, as she had come in uniform. She had very, very few off-duty
clothes, and it was rumoured among the junior ranks that she
slept in her uniform - if, indeed, she ever slept at all. Her
attire was drawing the attention of the rest of the crew, but she
barely noticed. Despite claims that discrimination by gender had
been wiped out, it was still unusual for a woman to be in a
command position, especially so high up on one of the
Federation's flagships. On top of this, she was one of the best
in her ield, and this meant that she often attracted attention.
Coupled with her unusual childhood circumstances and the fact
that she was a complete enigma to most people on the crew, it
seemed that she had been dealing with unwanted attention for most
of her life.
She'd managed to miss the Captain's patent New Year Party every
year that she had served on the ship so far. The first year, the
whole affair was called off after a quarter of the crew were lost
in battle that morning. The second year, she had ended up in
sickbay at death's door after a disastrous away mission earlier
in the day. Boyce had had her fixed up by lunchtime, but he
strictly forbade her attendance. The third year, she had
contrived to give herself an away mission, taking Spock, herself
and a Vulcan Yeoman to the next system over in a shuttlecraft.
And so it had been, year after year, excuse, excuse, excuse.
But not this time. She frowned slightly, and tried to concentrate
on what SPock was saying yo her, something about the illogic of
the whole situation. His voice faded from her mind as she
recalled the last week, when the Captain had quietly assigned
other people to her place on the landing parties. She'd had her
annual check-up five days ago and, however well Dr Boyce may have
tried to disguise it, she knew she'd been given a 'pre-hype', a
preventative hypospray.
And so she was here. She almost wished she *were* stuck in
sickbay, for all the "fun" she was having. At least
that second year, she'd had a fascinating discussion with the
recently-assisgned Nurse Chapel.
She heard footsteps and looked up to see Captain Pike in front of
her, drink extended to her. She regarded it with a grimace.
"You know I don't drink, Captain," she pointed out, a
hint of iciness in her tone.
He grinned boyishly. "It's non-alcoholic, so don't worry.
And call me Chris - we're off-duty, after all."
Reluctantly, she took the proffered glass and took a sip,
wondering what to say next.
After an uncomfortable moment, she was spared the effort as Chris
asked, "Care to dance?"
"Cap-Chris, I do *not* dance."
"Aw, come on. It's New Year - everyone can dance at New
Year. Besides, it's only ten minutes until midnight."
Number One looked around, hoping for Spock to rescue her. But no
such luck - the half Vulcan had vanished silently during the
command duo's exchange.
With a resigned look she put the glass down on the nearest table
and took the hand Chris extended to her.
"Lighten up - no need to look as if you were heading to your
own court-martial." The tone was light and jovial and, at
it, she lightened up a little.
She hadn't been exaggerating when she said she couldn't dance -
dancing skills were not exactly an essential part of a First
Officer's job. However, the ability to learn quickly *was*, and
in five minutes time, at least she wasn't stepping on Chris' toes
anymore, or falling over her own feet, even if she did lack
flair.
"Have you never celebrated New Year before?" Chris
asked, now that he could dance without having to worry about the
safety of his feet.
"No," she replied tersely - not through annoyance, but
because she was still trying to concentrate.
"2 minutes!" someone shouted, and the crew gathered
around the viewscreen. Being so far out from Earth, the footage
was actually last year's, but that didn't dampen anyone's
enthusiasm or make the excitement any less palpable. The Captain
and First Officer drifted over to join them as the shout of
"One minute!" came, followed shortly by, "30
seconds!" At this the rest of the crew started shouting out
the number. Unexpectedly, Number One felt the excitement infect
her, and she too joined in the noisy countdown.
"10!"
"9!"
"8!"
"7!"
"6!"
"5!"
"4!"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!"
Around them, couples and friends started hugging and kissing, and
Number One gasped as Chris kissed her lightly on the lips. She
watched him, surprised, as they all joined hands and sang
"Auld Lang Syne".
Then she made a Resolution, without even realising it. Sometime,
before next year, she would feel that kiss again....
~End~