Captain James T. Kirk
USS Enterprise NCC-1701
C/O Starfleet Operations
Earth Central


STARFLEET DIPLOMATIC COURIER, CODED SECURE
George Samuel Kirk, Jr.
Bioagricultural Industries, Kirk Inc
Deneva Central
17 Junque St.
Deneva, UFP

Dear Sam 12

Dear Sam,



Hello, Sam. I know this letter will not reach you at the
normal time; I'm sure you can figure out why.  Everything
here is starting to come together and the ship is running
smoothly.  I finally stopped itching from Bones' practical
joke and Spock was the loveliest shade of green from the
special dye McCoy put in his beard inhibitor.  I tried
really hard not to laugh when my First Officer walked onto
the bridge and asked me if it was permissible to challenge
our Chief Medical Officer to ritual combat.  Fortunately,
McCoy came right behind him with the chemical to get rid of
the dye.  Spock didn't have to suffer long and it will do a
lot to endear him to the members of the crew. I caught his
eyes smiling, a little.

It is hard to believe how fast the time has flown while
we've been out on the edges of Federation space.  Everyone
thinks that I like the times when we are fighting, making
land fall, or meeting new species the best.  They're wrong.
I like this the best.  I can almost feel space move past my
skin, like I'm the ship instead of in this ship.  I make us
run maneuvers just to feel the Enterprise handle.  True,
unless inertial dampers are offline, we don't really feel
the turns and roles.  So, sometimes, I take them offline and
make us go through maneuvers with the dampers impaired.
Everybody needs to feel how we roll, or turn, and learn to
adjust.  

I ordered maneuvers yesterday in zero gravity.  All I told
the crew was sometime in the next 24 hours, they would have
a challenge to their skills.  I had to give myself away
though, because I made the pool off limits and I had Scotty
change all the showers to sonics only, no water.  Then,
right in the middle of beta shift, I cut the gravity to all
of the crew decks.

I spent the next two hours touring the ship in null gravity.
I flew. Ahhhhh.

The crew performed excellently and I'm very proud of them.
No one got stuck floating up in the middle of nowhere; no
one threw up, and no one put their resignation on my desk
today.  I'm going to continue to do that intermittently for
every single shift, until I am certain that hulled, without
gravity, and without light, this entire crew can do what
they need to, to survive.  

When I first started doing this, I could see the crew look
at me like I was a little crazy.  Some of the other Starship
Captains kidded me about my drills.  I know you already
heard about the U.S.S.  Justice.  She was in a skirmish with
the Klingons and had a breach in her hull.  She lost her
gravity controls and her inertial dampers.  Six members of
her crew died from the hull breach; 72 members of her crew
died in the aftermath because they were not able to operate
quickly in zero gravity.  I will not have that on my ship.
So, we drill.

I got a letter from Mom.  All of our cousins descended on
her at the farm and it sounded like they had a great time.
Uncle Innis got remarried to Aunt Dot, yet again.  Those two
are going to drive the entire family crazy one day.
Everyone knows they love each other, and everyone knows they
can't live together for more than two years.  Speaking of
can't live and love together, I sent another letter to
Carol.  I asked her if she was ready to tell my son who his
father was.  I am waiting for her answer.

You know what my problem is, Sam?  I always seem to pick the
female equivalent of me, obsessive, driven, and duty bound.
The one time I was willing to give up Starfleet was for
Carol and my son, and she didn't trust me enough to try to
make it work.  Now, when I think about asking someone to
come with me, or wait for me, I realize that I have no more
right to ask them to give up their career, then they have to
ask me to give up mine. I wouldn't know what to do with a
woman without a career. I've never really spent any time
with a person like that. It must be very rewarding to be at
home with your children, but I have difficulty relating to
that idea.

I'm so happy that you found Aurelan, Sam.  I have given up
believing there's anyone like that out there for me.  So, I
will settle for what I can get.  But, if I make it back to
Earth alive at the end of this mission, I'm getting married.
Don't ask me who; I have no idea.  But, I am going to tell
someone, "I do", as soon as I hit the dirt.  I might ask her
name first. I'm kidding, of course. At least I think I am.

What is Peter up to these days? His last letter said he was
too old for the action figures any more and was now "curious
if I had come across any interesting archeological artifacts
he might have". What are you putting in that boy's juice? He
is a lot smarter than you, so he must take after his mother.
Ha ha. 

I also got letters from Sammy. He wants me to call him
Samuel now. Spare me. I can remember when I told everyone to
call me J-Man and I wore a ponytail halfway down my back.
Damn, I think I was eleven when I was "The J-Man". I was one
tough dude, for a whole six months until Mom and Granpa had
enough, then I was Jimmy again. It is hard to believe how
good our life was. It still is good. I believe that. I do.

I'll be diverting the ship to Deneva the next time we are in
the quadrant, or you and Aurelan can meet me at the nearest
Starbase. I want whatever time we have left to be spent
seeing each other as much as possible. Okay?

I Love you,

Jim







March 26, 1999
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