Aboard the Penthesilea

AN: I only got one review, but I decided to post a new, much longer chapter anyway. Thank you BigFan, for your review. But I may delete this story and start a new one with the Scyrans in it if I don't get more reviews with this chapter. Not trying to threaten! Anyone who will want to read chapters after this one if I debunk it here can ask and I'll email them to whoever wants them.

In case anyone was wondering, Arsinoe's name is pronounced AR-SIN-OH-AY.

Warning: Spock acts very out of character in this chappie. Enjoy!

Chapter Two: Men and Boys

Nyota Uhura moaned contently as she felt the artificial sun of the Holo-deck warm her skin. Though the transition from The Enterprise to The Penthesilea had been a strange and difficult one, Uhura had had no trouble getting used to the wonder of the Holo-deck. She almost cried when she learned she would be able to visit a perfect virtual recreation of her favorite places from now on. Right now she was off-duty and happy to recreate the cruise she and her family took along the Nile when she was seven. She didn't re-create her parents—that seemed wrong, somehow—but she did re-create everything else and was now enjoying the lounge-chair by the ship's pool under the faux Eqyptian Sun. How long had it been since she had worn a bikini? Ages. It made her feel sexy, but only when no man saw her in it. Now she had the chance to feel that way again.

Only to have that feeling crushed when she heard the tell-tale sign of the arc appearing. She lifted her head up and saw Yeoman Rand entering in a blue one-piece bathing suit, sarong, and sandals.

"You don't mind me joining you, do you?" Janice asked Nyota, "My family took me on the cruise down the Nile when I was young, and I always wanted to know what your experience was like."

Uhura smiled. "Come on over and sit down. You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

This was not just the Communications Officer being nice. Uhura was the most senior female Officer aboard the ship, the only female Chief Officer and only regular girl on the bridge. Constantly being around men could be so tiresome, especially given the attention she'd been receiving lately from the Captain and Ensign Chekov. She was overjoyed when she found out that the gender line-up among the Scyrans was a practical opposite of the Enterprises and she greatly enjoyed working with more women. But still, she missed the company of human women as well. Having Janice with her was a blessing.

"How're you adjusting to our new crewmates?" Uhura asked her friend as Janice laid down on the lounge-chair beside her.

"The Scyrans? I'm still getting used to them, to tell you the truth," Janice said, "I mean, there are the downsides, like, I thought I was getting hit on too much by the Enterprise men, but now I've got not just alien men but alien women hitting on me as well."

From anyone else, this would have been bragging, but Uhura knew the Yeoman too well. She hated it when people flirted with her, she was only comfortable when she initiated the flirtation. Otherwise, it pissed her off.

"But on the bright side, they brought families aboard this ship, who are incredibly fun to be around, and are very helpful," continued Janice. "I guess I like them when they're not hitting on me, though I noticed how differently they act when they're off-duty than when they're on-duty."

"Do they remind you at all of Mr. Spock when they're on-duty?" Uhura inquired.

Janice laughed. "Yes, actually! I mean, obviously they've got a sense of humor, but other than that, the way they talk and stand when on-duty is total Spock. But you know, I think I like that. The ship could use that to combat the Chekovs and Rileys of the crew."

Uhura nodded. "Yes, well, despite Dr. McCoy's problems with him, Mr. Spock is a good Officer to have around."

"Nyota, if you don't mind me asking, did you ever have a thing for Spock?" Janice asked.

The Communications Officer started laughing. "Yes, and at one time, I was the closest thing that Vulcan ever had to a girlfriend."

"What happened?"

Uhura sighed. "I realized it was pointless, that he was too ingrained in the Vulcan philosophy to ever have a normal relationship with a woman. The only way he'll ever possibly come close to having romance in his life is if he falls deeply, head-over-heels in love with someone so much that he can't resist. He didn't feel that way about me, which was okay, I never got to the point where I felt that way about him. I don't see that ever happening to Spock anyways. It was perfectly amicable and I love him as a friend, though I know Spock has more than his fair share of admirers among the Enterprise crew."

"Yeah, poor Nurse Chapel," Janice replied, shaking her head, "But I hear she's trying to move on with McCoy now. They've had coffee together a couple of times, at least."

Uhura smiled. "Good. She's such a lovely person and she and Bones would make a good match. What about you, Janice, have you ever crushed on Mr. Spock?"

"No, which is weird, because he's the only guy from the Enterprise besides the Captain that hasn't hit on me. Usually I love guys like that. But I don't feel that way about him which is a shame because I think we'd make a decent match, don't you?"

"Now that I think about it…. You were always the least emotional person on the old crew, so I guess so. Ha! It's an interesting idea, to say the least." Uhura then realized she was in the presence of a kindred spirit. "You know, I've been getting some extra attention recently too, but not from the Scyrans."

"Then who?"

"From the Captain and Chekov," replied Uhura, "Both of them have been going out of their way to spend more time with me and I've caught both of them giving me bedroom eyes when they thought I wasn't looking."

"Well, does it bother you?"

"I don't know," Uhura mused, "They're both attractive in their own way. The Captain has his manly authority bit, and Chekov has his boyish mischief. Sometimes I enjoy it and sometimes I wish they would stop."

"Well, with each you'd have an entirely different relationship dynamic. Both would present problems when it comes to power, but off duty Chekov would still probably act like a love-sick puppy-dog while Kirk would be more like a Don Juan. Of course, you should always marry the man, but the boy is always good for fun and flings." Janice stated, kicking her sandals off her feet.

"I just don't know how I feel about romance in Star Fleet," Uhura explained, "Like you said, there's the whole power dynamic thing, along with all the issues that come with mixing your personal and professional lives. I mean, if it ended badly, you'd still have to see that person every day."

"You know, it's so unfair how much easier it is for men in Star Fleet than it is for women. I mean, it's okay for the guy to hit on the girl and everyone sees that as normal and the girl is stuck living near him, but since girls in Star Fleet are already seen as less feminine, if we were to hit on guys in Starfleet, we'd be seen as aggressive bitches. A superior male officer can hit on a female officer and then everyone assumes she's sleeping her way to the top, a superior female officer hits on a male officer and everyone sees her as a vamp. If a female officer hits on an equally ranked male officer, everyone assume she's just planning to become another Star Fleet wife. And then there's the fact that those old male admirals still see women in service as either nymphomaniacs or lesbians. I mean, how long ago was it when the feminist movement began? And we still have to put up with this bullshit?"

"I know," Uhura agreed. "I wish we could just put aside feminism and not have to fight idiocy like this, but we can't because double standards like that still exist. I mean, I'm a feminist and proud of it, but I do wish I didn't have to even know I am one."

"You know, I mentioned feminism to one of the Scyran Officers, and this guy started laughing. He couldn't believe that in a society as advanced as ours feminism was still a relevant cause and not just a societal norm. Apparently the Scyran society sprung up because women were enslaved on their planet so the women had an uprising with a bunch of male slaves and took over half the planet. Scyran men actually like a lot of matriarchal customs because their experiences with patriarchal societies were so traumatizing. I wonder how the Scyrans would react if they found out about some of the double standards we have to put up with."

"They're going to eventually, and I doubt they'll like it," Uhura sighed. "They already seemed pretty shocked by our uniforms. But they're reasonable people, they'll adjust."

"No doubt their views on gender will take a lot of our superior officers by surprise. You know it's totally normal for their men to wear dresses and makeup?"

Uhura laughed. "Yeah, I noticed! It really caught me by surprise at first, but you want to hear the weird thing? I'm even getting used to that."

"Me too!"

The two of the women dissolved into peals of laughter.

Captain James T. Kirk stayed perfectly still, afraid any movement on his part would offend his Hostess. It wasn't easy, though, staying still in the kneeling position. Beside him was the ship anthropologist, Lieutenant Greeley. Jim watched as the Colonel, dressed in a flowing blue dress held a long, lit match up to the bowl of incense and lit it. Next to her was the similarly-dress miniature version of herself, her daughter Arsinoe, who continually drew a fistful of spices from a bowl and threw them into the air. The urge to sneeze was almost overwhelming. Kirk tried to focus on the big, beautiful statue of the two green women in front of them.

"Blessed Mother Heloise, who gave us our strength and with it our freedom," said the Colonel, "Caroline, Daughter of Heloise who gave us our goodness, accept these offerings from your life-long servants, Minerva and Arsinoe Hippolyta and our esteemed guests, Captain James Tiberius Kirk and Lieutenant Danica Greeley."

Minerva and Arsinoe proceeded to chant nonsense words as if they were in a trance, but after ten minutes, the stopped abruptly. Arsinoe stopped throwing the spices and they both turned to look at the Captain and Lieutenant, smiling.

"That, my friends," said the Colonel, "Is one of the more traditional worship rituals for the Goddesses Heloise and Caroline. We do not usually do traditional rituals, in our religion our people usually make their own private ways of worshipping the deities. We feel it improves our relationships with the divine."

Kirk finally could not help it, he sneezed several times, violently.

"I'm sorry, the spices make you sneeze if you're not used to them," remarked little Arsinoe. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to the captain.

"Thank you, Princess."

"No, no, no, I'm 'Little Sister Arsinoe' or just, 'Arsinoe' or 'Little Sister.' I don't want to be called Princess or Your Highness or anything like that!"

Kirk laughed and patted her on the head. "You're a lot like your Mother."

Colonel Minerva smiled. "I really don't care if she goes by her royal title or not. I refuse to go by mine because this is a military environment. I'm only crowned princess on Pyroscyra, not aboard the Penthesilea."

"Your ritual was absolutely beautiful, Colonel," Lieutenant Greeley said, "I truly enjoyed witnessing it, it will be great for my report."

"Why not visit in on one of our Priests or Priestesses in one of the temples instead?" Minerva asked, getting up from her kneeling position. "Not that we mind you observing us, it's just that you would have gotten a much more authentic view of our traditional rituals that way."

"The clergy are still busy assembling the temples, and I couldn't wait to get started, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, we Scyrans like company," replied Minerva, "I just hope you'll get what you need out of it."

"Actually, if you have any literature regarding your religion, that would be great," ventured Greeley.

Minerva looked at Arsinoe. "Precious One, why don't you go get your old Deities handbook from your room? I'm sure that will be a great deal of help to Lieutenant Greeley."

"Okay Mama!" Arsinoe scurried off and returned seconds later with an old book with a beautiful cover depicting nine beautiful women and three handsome men among the clouds.

"This will tell you all the basics," Arsinoe informed Greeley as she handed her the book.

"Thank you, Arsinoe, I promise to take very good care of it and return it to you the second I'm done."

"You can keep it." Arsinoe replied.

Greeley smiled. "Oh, aren't you the sweetest little girl. If there's anything I can ever do for you, Arsinoe, just tell me. I owe you a favor."

Just then, Colonel Minerva's communicator beeped. She picked it up and turned on the microphone and screen. The figure of Second Lieutenant Qamra appeared.

"Colonel Minerva, there was an incident in the Omega Bar. Two high-ranking Star Fleet Officers got in a fight and a couple of Scyran officers were involved."

Minerva felt her heart sink. She was afraid of something like this. "You're saying Star Fleet Officers fought against our own Officers?"

"No Madam, The Star Fleet Officers were fighting each other, and then two of our officers got involved somehow. The sides were not exactly clear."

"Is the situation under control now?"

"Yes Colonel, we have contained all of the people involved, taken witness testimony. The Officers who fought are awaiting you in separate cells in the Brig."

"You put them in cells? Was that really necessary?" Minerva asked.

"They would not stop trying to harm each other. We need you down in the security bay immediately. We're having trouble questioning them."

"Who are the arrested Officers."

"Dr. Leonard McCoy and Commander Spock of Star Fleet, Major Calix Petra and Captain—I'm sorry—Junior Captain Selene Rhoda of the Scyran Army."

"Spock and Bones?" Kirk asked in surprise.

Minerva felt terrible. The last thing she needed when forming relations with the Star Fleet crew was to have a brawl break out and have two major Star Fleet Officers arrested a week and a half into their mission. Those Officers being best friends with the Captain didn't help, either. She groaned. "Okay, I'll be down there soon. Minerva out."

She turned to the others. "Lieutenant Greeley, I hate to ask this, but could you watch Arsinoe while the Captain and I see to this matter?"

"Oh, I would love to!" Greeley replied. "What time should I put her to bed in case you're not back until late?"

"Twenty-two hundred hours."

Minerva crouched down and gave her daughter a big hug. "I need to go take care of something, okay? Promise to be a good girl?"

"Yes, Mama, I promise."

Minerva kissed Arsinoe. "Good girl. I love you."

"Love you too, Mama."

"Come on then, Colonel, let's see what is going on right now."

Lieutenant Qamra was there to greet the Colonel and the Captain when they arrived at the security bay.

"They all seem to have quieted down. Both Star Fleet Officers appear to be intoxicated in some way."

"Are you sure both Star Fleet Officers are intoxicated? Not just Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock too?" Kirk asked, sure he had heard the Lieutenant wrong. Mr. Spock didn't drink. No Vulcan drank.

"Yes Sir. We weren't sure why they were acting so strangely, Scyrans don't drink."

"Neither do Vulcans, Lieutenant!" Kirk said sharply, "I refuse to believe that my First Officer had a single alcoholic beverage. You must be mistaken."

"Well, maybe he didn't, but he claims he's had a lot to drink. My knowledge of Vulcans is extremely limited, but I had heard they were incapable of lying."

Kirk refused to believe that. Obviously Spock had become inebriated some other way and merely believed he had gotten drunk. Drinking was something that he would never do.

"Whatever caused their current state, we need to talk to them anyways," Minerva interjected. "I'll see the suspects now."

She turned to Kirk. "Captain, I believe right now that you are emotionally compromised. I think you should wait and calm down before you face the Officers. I promise I'll get to the bottom of this. Just wait here."

"Fine." Kirk knew she was right and despite his indignation over the situation, was going to do the rational thing.

Minerva entered the brig to find four of the cells inhabited by a person each. A Vulcan man to her left, a Scyran woman next, a human man after that, and a Scyran man to her right.

Minerva looked at them all in dismay. She was embarrassed, but she actually had a greater acquaintance with the Star Fleet Officers in the brig than the Scyran Officer Rhoda. She knew Petra and Rhoda worked in Engineering, but she didn't spend as much time in the Engine rooms as she used to. But she had once been Petra's lover, though they had parted way amicably years ago. She had had a check-up with McCoy, been there when he examined her daughter, and had talked to him several times when security officers were wounded. Spock she saw as her fellow First Officer though she technically outranked him. They worked together a lot being two of the most senior Officers on board. She had taken a great liking to both him and McCoy, and now she had to interrogate them. Spock was lying on the bench in his cell with his head in his hands while McCoy sat slumped over with his head between his knees.

"Alright, I'm going to talk to you all one at a time, get all of your stories. You're going to all tell me the truth, and you're going to tell me every little detail. If you're all good and I get a clear story, I'll let you all out, but I want a concrete story. You're to answer every question as truthfully as you possibly can. Commander Spock?"

Spock looked up, revealing a face marked by greenish bruises and said in a slurred tone. "Oh, no!"

"Commander Spock, since you are the highest ranking Officer, I am going to start with you." Minerva pulled a chair up to face him and looked at her info-pad.

"Mr. Spock, are you intoxicated?"

"Yes." Spock said, his speech suddenly no longer as slurred.

"Do you know how you became intoxicated?"

"Yes."

"How did you become intoxicated?"

"I drank a lot of alcohol."

"Your Captain is under the impression that Vulcans do not imbibe alcohol, is this correct?"

"It is."

"You are a Vulcan, correct?"

"Negative." Spock had a smile on his face, like he was hoping for an emotional reaction to this answer. He did not get one.

"If you are not a Vulcan, then what are you and why have you represented yourself as such in the past?"

"I am half-Vulcan on my father's side and half-human on my mother's side. I was raised on Vulcan and live by their code of logic."

"So you identify more with your Vulcan heritage than with your human heritage."

"I identify completely with my Vulcan heritage."

"Then if you identify as a Vulcan, and Vulcans do not drink, then how did you come to imbibe alcohol, let alone enough to cause this state of inebriation?"

"I have been seized by illogical feelings so I indulged my human side and did something illogical."

"So you got drunk because you felt more human?"

"I felt illogical human things and wanted them to go away. Everyone says alcohol makes you feel different, so I took the logical course to feel different."

"But you just said you acted illogically, so how could it have been the logical course?"

"I thought it was the logical course because my human side was interfering."

"But now, in an inebriated state, you have a greater grasp of logic than when you were sober?"

Spock smiled and waved his finger at her. "You think you're smarter than me, don't you?"

"I know I am at the moment. But I do not think my intellect is greater than yours when you're sober."

"You're really pretty. Even when you broke my neck and my leg, I thought you were pretty, you know that?"

"I fail to see how that is relevant." She had no clue what was going on in his head, but it was her job to get it out.

"I don't know if it is or not. But, you know, just because I don't feel emotions doesn't mean I can't appreciate a pretty girl."

"Let's move forward. How did the fight start?"

"Well, I saw the Doctor and Nurse Chapel sitting together and I went over to sit with them and talk."

"Were you drunk at this point?"

"Yes."

"Alright, and what happened next?"

"Well, McCoy started getting mad at the things I was saying."

"What were you saying?"

"I don't remember, but I think it had something to do with how I never wanted Nurse Chapel."

"And then what happened?"

"Well, he started saying things that made me mad, that I couldn't love, that I was as cold and morally corrupt as a Klingon, that being Vulcan meant I had no soul, that my father was a computer and that I had no right being around regular people. So then we started fighting."

"And how did the Scyrans get involved?"

"Well, they came over and said we should stop, that anyone was capable of love, and that they were in love and then the man started saying how he used to be in love with this other woman and it had ended well and there was no need to fight over it. Then I said his current mate and the other woman he mentioned were disgusting and McCoy yelled that the two Scyrans were freaks and so they got mad and we all started fighting and then we got held by security."

"Who was the former girlfriend that you called disgusting?"

A green blush appeared on Spock's cheeks. "You. I was mad and I said it in anger. I was mad at him, mad at myself, mad at McCoy, mad at Chapel, mad at you, and mad at all the Scyrans."

"Why were you mad at me?"

"Because you're a Scyran."

"And why are you mad at Scyrans?"

"Because I've been losing my logic ever since you people came along."

Minerva sighed. "Thank you for your honesty, Spock."

Minerva interrogated the rest of them and pieced the story together. Apparently Nurse Chapel had been in love with Spock, who didn't care for her, and she had moved on with McCoy who did. Spock, inebriated, started taunting Chapel and McCoy about it, which led to the war of words which led to the fight. When she finished interrogating them all, Spock sobbingly apologized for calling her and Rhoda disgusting and McCoy apologized for calling the Scyrans freaks.

"Alright, Rhoda and Petra, since you are Scyrans and my officers, I am going to sentence you to boot shining and dish washing duty for the next week and a half. Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock, though I am technically your Commanding Officer as well, I do not think at this point in the merging of our crew that it would be appropriate for me to issue disciplinary action against you. Instead, I will leave that to Captain Kirk. Now, excuse me."

Minerva left the brig and found Kirk waiting for her. She handed him her info pad. "Here's an account of everything that went down. I punished Rhoda and Petra but I'm leaving Spock and McCoy's discipline to you. Spock says that he has started experiencing illogical human feelings and blames it on my countrymen and I."

"Maybe he should be re-assigned given his prejudices."

"No. This is just a phase. Spock is an invaluable part of the crew whatever his current prejudices. Besides, he's drunk, he probably has no idea what he's saying. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go home to my child."

"That's fine, Colonel, thank you."

Minerva left and Kirk entered the brig. He didn't bother with any formalities. Instead, he marched up too Spock's cell and demanded, "Spock, what in Hell is going on with you?"

"Nothing, Captain, just trying to put my human side away."

"Spock, you and McCoy are both forbidden from imbibing any alcohol from this point out, you are both on house arrest for a week and Spock, you will be spending an hour a day with Counselor Stevens and be under the watchful eye of Colonel Minerva for as long as I see fit."

"Aw, Jim, that's just cruel."

"You insulted an entire race, including their crown princess, that has allowed us access to incredible technology, a race the Federation is desperate to have diplomatic relations with, and I want to know why. You are not yourself and I want to know what is happening with you. Now, have fun spending the night in the brig."

Kirk opened the doors of everyone's cell but Spock's and then left abruptly, seething in anger.