Summary:
When McCoy is temporarily assigned to an all-Vulcan ship, he learns some things about himself, about Spock, and about Vulcans that enable him to grow and change and become an even better man.
In McCoy's absence, Spock comes to appreciate the doctor more and to better understand that his function on the Enterprise is not limited to his work as a physician.
Dr. Leonard McCoy snorted as he sat at his desk in sickbay, reading his latest orders. Starfleet Command had ordered that he be temporarily assigned to a Starfleet science vessel, to assist with their research into a new treatment for blood disorders. The kicker was that the science vessel in question was crewed entirely by Vulcans.
The Enterprise had discovered a database of medical knowledge possessed by the Fabrini just a few months before, which had the potential to revolutionize treatment for a number of conditions. Thanks to the Fabrini cure for the fatal blood disorder xenopolycythemia, McCoy was the only person in the Federation who'd survived that disease. The Vulcans had great hopes—in their restrained Vulcan way—that the knowledge the Enterprise had gained from the Fabrini would be just as useful in formulating treatment for a similar blood disorder in Vulcans.
McCoy enjoyed medical research, but he liked the hands-on experience of treating actual patients better. Still, the idea of adapting the treatment that had cured him to save others was tempting, if only he didn't have to spend six months on an all-Vulcan ship to do it. The idea of spending half a year as the only human on a ship with a bunch of pointy-eared walking computers gave him chills ... and not the good kind.
Being one of the captain's best friends did ensure that he always had Kirk's ear. Maybe Jim could get him out of this. McCoy turned off the computer on his desk and made a beeline for the captain's quarters.
He pressed the chime and was admitted readily. Kirk was seated at his own desk, probably reading those very orders that McCoy wanted to talk about; the captain waved him to the chair on the other side of his desk and said, "Looks like you've seen your new orders already. I was just about to come find you, to discuss them."
McCoy glowered at him. "I want to know which nincompoop thought posting me to an all-Vulcan ship would be a good idea!"
Kirk smiled placatingly. "You saw the orders; they come from Admiral Westervliet—the admiral who supervised our handling of the problem with the Fabrini—so he knows what we do about the Fabrini database.
McCoy sighed. "An admiral. I might have been able to talk you out of it, but if this comes down from an admiral..."
Kirk leaned forward in his chair. "Bones, think of the research possibilities! Here's your chance to really dig into that Fabrini knowledge, to find cures for people who have diseases like the one you had."
McCoy frowned. "But why do I have to go to the Salk for that? Spock and Chapel both know at least as much about the Fabrini database as I do; why can't I do the research with them?"
"Of our people, only Spock knows much about Vulcan blood disorders, and several researchers on the Salk are experts on them. Plus, we only have one Vulcan on the ship. When the time comes to test whatever you come up with, the Salk will have plenty of people to donate blood for testing. Surely you can't plan an entire research program on a Vulcan disease with a single Vulcan for your test subject, especially considering that he's a hybrid and may not be typical."
McCoy sighed. "No, you're right; this research should be done on the Salk. But six months! Jim, if I have to spend six months as the only human on an all-Vulcan ship, I might go completely nuts."
Kirk smiled. "I have more faith in you than that. If anyone goes nuts, it'll probably be the crew of the Salk."
"Hrmph," McCoy said, "I can see I'm not gonna get much sympathy out of you."
Kirk shook his head. "It's a great opportunity, Bones, not just for the research but also to broaden your horizons. Vulcans are our staunchest allies, and they can be wonderful people; it's about time you appreciated what they have to offer. I think doing medical research in their company may be just what the doctor ordered."
McCoy glowered at Kirk. "This doctor ordered a case of bourbon to go with me, to keep me some kind of company on a ship full of people who pretend they don't have feelings."
Kirk smiled. "Don't worry, I'll comm you whenever we're in range, and I bet Scotty and Chapel will, too. And look at it this way: maybe you'll understand what Spock has lived with, every single day of the past nineteen years."
McCoy shook his head. "After nineteen years, you'd think he'd be more human."
The annunciator chimed, Kirk said, "Come," and the door slid open as Spock walked into the room.
He nodded at McCoy and said, "My felicitations on your latest research opportunity, Doctor." He pulled up a chair and sat beside McCoy.
McCoy scowled at Spock. "If you think it's such a great opportunity, why don't you go to the Salk, and I'll stay here?" He turned and looked at Kirk. "Come to think of it, why didn't Starfleet order this for Spock instead of me?"
Kirk smiled wryly. "I'm afraid that's my fault. Westervliet made noises about following up the Fabrini knowledge on a science vessel, and I made it clear that I couldn't do without Spock, not for any amount of time. I pointed out that we had fourteen science labs and a full complement of scientific experts here on the Enterprise, so we were fully capable of putting the Fabrini knowledge to good use. I didn't realize that Starfleet was especially interested in a cure for Vulcan blood disorders, or I'd have known we couldn't keep it in-house."
Stung, McCoy frowned at Kirk. "But you didn't tell him you couldn't do without me."
"The admiral didn't mention you! But really, while I, personally, will miss you, I think the Enterprise can limp along with only doctors M'Benga and Sanchez and our stellar nursing team for a few months. We're scheduled to investigate several planets for possible colonization, and we'll be deep into Federation territory, far from both the Klingons and the Romulans." Kirk shrugged. "New planets are never completely safe, but if two doctors and the nursing team can't handle a few scrapes, sprained ankles, and allergies, your training program isn't as good as I think it is."
McCoy sighed. "M'Benga and Sanchez are both excellent, or we wouldn't have 'em here, and Chapel is almost a doctor, herself. But I like feeling settled, damn it; I don't want to change ships."
Kirk smiled. "I'm glad you're so attached to the Enterprise that you don't want to leave her, but it'll only be for six months, and it really will be a great opportunity for you."
McCoy looked at Spock. "Did you just come to gloat over my leaving, or did you have something to say?"
Spock stiffened. "I am acquainted with several of your new colleagues and thought you might find an analysis of their virtues and failings to be useful in becoming acclimated to your new post."
McCoy smiled. "That's nice of you, Spock. Yeah, I would like to know more about the people on the Salk. What can you tell me?"
Spock relaxed slightly. "I am well acquainted with Rumek, the chief science officer, as the two of us attended the same ShiKahrian school and studied the same subjects. He was the second-best Vulcan scientist of our generation, and he had his choice of positions."
McCoy cocked his head to one side. "Who was the best scientist of your generation?"
Spock raised a brow. "I was, Doctor," he said, in a tone of voice implying that this was common knowledge and needed no discussion. "Rumek joined Starfleet not only because of the opportunities it offers for scientific investigation but also because he is a true proponent of IDIC, and he welcomed the opportunity to further his acquaintance with other peoples, especially with humans. Although he accepted a posting to an all-Vulcan vessel, he will be eager to make your acquaintance, Doctor, and to work with you."
McCoy sighed. "I'm guessing that's not gonna be true of all the Vulcans on the Salk."
Spock shook his head. "It will not. I know of no one on that ship who is actively prejudiced against humans, but not all of them are as tolerant of differences as a Starfleet officer should be, any more than all human officers are."
Spock's dark eyes looked slightly sad, and McCoy was reminded that Spock probably had personal experience with this, from his time growing up on Vulcan as a known hybrid.
Spock went on, "Although it shames them both as Vulcans and as Starfleet officers, first officer Golvon and scientist V'Lor are among the less open-minded personnel. However, you will find that Captain Jaarvik and scientists Sulek and T'Bel have the attitudes that one would wish for in Starfleet officers. And you will find that although Sulek and T'Bel are not of Rumek's caliber, they are very able scientists, nonetheless."
McCoy smiled. "Thank you, Spock. I appreciate knowing who to be extra careful with and who I can relax around."
Spock inclined his head. "I wish your time among my people to be a pleasant one. You should also take these." He held out two small rubber bands.
McCoy took the bands and looked at them curiously; they were so small and so nearly the same color as his hands as to be almost invisible while he was holding them. He looked back up at Spock. "Little rubber bands? Why on earth would I need little rubber bands?"
Spock's eyes crinkled at the corners, which probably meant something if you could read a Vulcan's minute facial expressions. "You will not need them on Earth, Doctor, but you will on the Salk. When you beam aboard, protocol dictates that you be formally welcomed by several senior officers, all of whom will give you the Vulcan salute. They will expect it from you in return, and failure to perform it would be seen as an insult, as a deliberate rejection of Vulcan customs. I am aware that you find the necessary gesture insuperably difficult, but if you band your fingers into position before beaming aboard, you should be able to avoid a social misstep during your first moment aboard the ship."
McCoy looked at Spock, unsure how to react to this. "Are you doing this to help me, or are you doing this so I don't embarrass you?" As Spock opened his mouth to reply, the doctor added, "And don't tell me that Vulcans don't get embarrassed, because I don't believe it."
Spock stiffened. "Make of my motives what you will, Doctor; I have done what I came here to do." He stood and swept from the room.
Kirk sighed. "He was trying to be nice to you, you know. You could have met him halfway."
McCoy frowned. "I can't read Spock the way you can, so I didn't know what he was trying to do."
Kirk looked annoyed. "Then your time on the Salk will be well spent, won't it?"
Feeling resentful, McCoy stood up. "Well, I don't have time to dawdle; I've got to order my research equipment to be delivered to the Salk, pack my personal stuff, and leave instructions for M'Benga."
The evening before McCoy left, Christine Chapel and the rest of the nursing team threw him a going-away party in Main Rec. Most of the crew was there, and McCoy was touched by how many people had turned out to see him off.
Uhura—accompanied by Spock on his lute—serenaded him with a song she had composed for the occasion, Chapel had baked an enormous cake that was enjoyed by one and all, and several of his friends even brought small gifts, most of them of the liquid variety.
Then the party quieted down for a moment, and the entire room watched as an orderly and two nurses put on a farcical skit that purported to show McCoy's first few days on the Salk. The end of the skit showed the doctor frothing at the mouth as Vulcan withdrew from the Federation in high dudgeon. The only people not laughing by the end were he and Spock. Of course, Spock never laughed, but McCoy didn't see anything funny in the skit. He supposed it was a lot easier to laugh if you got to stay on the Enterprise.
McCoy had expected to put up with a lot of ribbing from his friends during the party; what he hadn't expected was that so many people would take him aside to offer advice.
Scotty brought him a drink and said, "Ya keep complainin', but is six months on a Vulcan ship really that high a price to pay for yer life? Ya weren't just a mite sick with that disease; ya were dying, mon."
McCoy grimaced. "Who says I should have to pay any price? The treatment that cured me came from the Fabrini, after all."
Scotty looked stern. "The basic knowledge came from the Fabrini, but didn't I hear that yon Vulcan spent three weeks in the lab without eating or sleeping while he worked out how to adapt the Fabrini treatment to the human body? Or didn't anybody tell ya that?"
McCoy blinked. "No, I didn't know that. Huh. You think maybe he has a heart after all?"
Scotty pursed his lips disapprovingly. "Spock has a heart the same way you have a brain: neither of you always uses 'em when other people want you to, but you do have 'em, and good ones, too." He frowned at McCoy, then left to refill his glass at the bar.
After Scotty had been swallowed up by the crowd, McCoy was still contemplating what the Scotsman had said when Uhura found him and drew him aside. She smiled warmly at him and told him how much they would all miss him, then switched gears on him. "And if you'll listen to the communications officer for a minute and not just the friend, I have some things to tell you."
McCoy had been hoping to do without any more well-meaning advice from people who got to stay on the Enterprise, but he could never say no to Uhura. "What is it?" he asked gruffly.
"Captain Kirk runs a tight ship in many ways, but he lets his senior officers speak more freely than many captains do and a LOT more freely than would be considered normal on a Vulcan ship. You've gotten into certain ... habits ... of speaking that we all understand, here on the Enterprise, but if you keep those habits on the Salk, you could end up in the brig."
McCoy laughed sourly. "The brig might be the best place for me, because then I wouldn't try to strangle anybody."
Uhura pointed a finger at him. "And that's the kind of thing I mean. You can say that here, and everybody knows you're joking, but most Vulcans don't have Spock's sense of humor or his patience with human foibles. Say that kind of thing on the Salk, and they'll think you're insane, and I don't mean Spock's tolerant 'oh, those crazy humans' attitude, I mean literally insane."
McCoy goggled at her. "You think Spock is PATIENT with human foibles?"
Uhura frowned at him. "Way more patient than you are with Vulcan foibles. And just think ... he's served on this ship for fifteen years and was at the Academy for four years before that. Could you take nineteen years among Vulcans? You're not sure you can even stand six months!"
"Nineteen years," he repeated to himself, trying to wrap his mind around what such a length of time as the sole human on a Vulcan ship might do to his soul. Then the music changed to dance music, Nurse Kwan came and asked him to dance, and he lost himself in the music and movement for the rest of the night.
The next morning, McCoy reported to the transporter room, to be beamed over to the Salk. Only Kirk and Spock were there to see him off, and the captain explained that half the ship had wanted to be there, but the transporter room couldn't hold them all. Kirk had found it easier to prohibit non-essential personnel from the transporter room entirely than to draw a line between who'd be allowed in and who wouldn't.
Kirk looked at McCoy. "The captain has one last order for you, and then the friend wants to say good-bye."
McCoy chuckled. "Okay, put on your captain's hat and say what you have to."
Kirk regarded him seriously. "You've been focusing on your individual reaction to your new orders, and I've let you do that, so that you'd have time to adjust to them. But now that you're about to leave, I also want you to remember that you're not just going to the Salk as Leonard H. McCoy, you're not just going to the Salk as a human on a Vulcan-crewed ship, you're also going to the Salk as a representative of the Enterprise. And as always, I expect the very best from Enterprise crew, on this venture as on all others. And I'm not just talking about your research skills, which I know you'll exercise to the fullest, but about your attitude and your willingness to conform to local custom."
Kirk gave McCoy his sternest captain's look. "I don't want the word 'hobgoblin' to cross your lips once you leave this ship. Don't compare any of the Vulcans to computers, and don't mention their ears. Talk about green blood only in the context of your research into Vulcan blood disorders." Kirk relaxed a bit and smiled. "Make me proud, Bones."
McCoy scowled. "Why should I conform to their customs? I'm not a Vulcan!"
Spock spoke up. "And yet you regularly exhort me to conform to human customs because I serve on a predominantly human ship." He tilted his head to one side as he regarded McCoy. "I expect illogic from you, Doctor, but not hypocrisy."
McCoy swallowed. "I guess ... I guess I never thought of it that way before." He looked at Kirk. "I'll try, Jim. I will try."
Kirk smiled. "That's all I ask, Bones, is that you give it your best shot. I know if you're really trying, your best shot will be a good one."
McCoy looked dubious for a moment, then his expression firmed, and he nodded.
Kirk said, "And now for the friend." He wrapped his arms around the doctor and gave him a quick hug, then stepped back. "I hope you have a good time delving into the Fabrini medical research, and I hope you make lots of friends on the Salk. I'll miss you, Bones, more than I can say."
McCoy nodded. "I'll miss you, too. It's gonna be a long six months."
Spock raised an eyebrow. "I believe you will find, when adjusting to life among strangers, that work can be an antidote to loneliness and can also provide a bridge across our differing cultures."
McCoy looked curiously at Spock. "I guess you'd know about that, wouldn't you? I'll bear that in mind."
Spock raised his hand in the Vulcan salute. "Live long, Doctor, and prosper."
McCoy put the tiny rubber bands around his fingers, which forced them into the right position, then raised his hand in the Vulcan salute. "Same to you."
The doctor injected himself with a hypo of tri-ox compound so that he'd be able to breathe properly on the Salk, then mounted the steps to the transporter platform. Spock energized the transporter, and McCoy disappeared from the Enterprise in a shower of sparkles, then materialized on the transporter platform of the Salk.
His first sensation was a blast of heat, and he had to brace himself at the onslaught. Of course the Salk was kept at a temperature that would be comfortable for Vulcans; he should have worn his short-sleeved uniform shirt. McCoy immediately began sweating, and he hoped that human sweat didn't smell bad to Vulcans, because he was probably going to be sweating constantly for the next six months.
McCoy was met by three Vulcans, and normally, all he would have seen was three Vulcans. But Spock had told him about the people he would meet, and after that conversation, he'd studied their pictures and service histories in Starfleet records so that he could match names to faces and have some idea of whom he was dealing with.
Captain Jaarvik was a medium-sized Vulcan with short, tightly-curled black hair. His facial expression was perfectly blank, as it often was in Vulcans, and yet McCoy didn't find it as off-putting as he sometimes did, maybe because Spock had told him that Jaarvik was an unusually open-minded Vulcan.
Science officer Rumek would be his supervisor during the next six months and was also the friend that Spock had mentioned. He was the same age as Spock but had a much beefier physique that reminded McCoy of a football player, for all that he doubted Vulcans would be caught dead playing football. He wasn't smiling—McCoy would have been astonished if any of the Vulcans had smiled—but something about his face was more relaxed than the others, and McCoy felt smiled at.
The third Vulcan was T'Bel, a petite Vulcan woman barely five feet tall. Her black hair was cut in a short, spiky style that was probably supposed to be practical and easy to care for, but the result was to make her look adorably elfin, even though her face was so calm and composed as to seem nearly severe.
All three Vulcans raised their hands in the Vulcan salute, and Captain Jaarvik told him to live long and prosper. McCoy raised his own hand, his fingers held in place by the rubber bands, and was glad that Spock's foresight enabled him to return the correct gesture. "Same to you," he said.
Rumek's mouth didn't change shape, but his eyes crinkled in the way that eyes did when people smiled, and McCoy thought the science officer was probably laughing on the inside, at receiving such a colloquial and informal response to his people's usual greeting. Well, McCoy was who he was, and Rumek had better get used to it.
Captain Jaarvik stepped forward and said, "I am Captain Jaarvik, and these are my science officer, Lieutenant Commander Rumek, and our foremost expert in Vulcan blood disorders, Lieutenant T'Bel."
McCoy stepped down from the transporter and smiled. "I guess you know that I'm Dr. Leonard McCoy. I'm usually chief medical officer on the Enterprise, but for the next six months, I suppose I'm one of Rumek's researchers."
Rumek said, "Your equipment has already been delivered. We have set aside a laboratory for your sole use, so that you may work in a room whose life support settings approximate human norms in their temperature and oxygen content."
Was Rumek just being logical, or was he trying to be nice? McCoy couldn't quite tell, but having his own lab that he could set to his own temperature was such a relief that he smiled brightly. "Thanks, Rumek; I appreciate that." He didn't just need a lab, though; he also needed a place to hang his hat. Trust a Vulcan to talk about his lab before talking about his cabin. He looked at Rumek and asked, "And where are my quarters?"
Rumek seemed surprised, in a low-key Vulcan way. "Do you require rest already? Has the day not just begun?"
McCoy laughed and said, "Naw, I don't need to sleep yet; I just thought I'd feel more settled if I knew where I'd be bunking."
All three of the Vulcans took a step back, and McCoy was puzzled for a moment, then realized it was because he'd laughed. They'd accepted his smiles, but he guessed that a laugh must look like a veritable explosion of emotion to people who were used to Vulcan norms. He sighed to himself and thought that it was going to be a very, very long six months.
"'Feel' settled?" Rumek repeated, as he tilted his head to one side and looked curiously at McCoy. He blinked for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. "If that is what humans require, then I will escort you to your quarters. This way." The beefy Vulcan left the transporter room, and McCoy nodded to the others, then walked quickly to catch up to him.
Story continued in next post
When McCoy is temporarily assigned to an all-Vulcan ship, he learns some things about himself, about Spock, and about Vulcans that enable him to grow and change and become an even better man.
In McCoy's absence, Spock comes to appreciate the doctor more and to better understand that his function on the Enterprise is not limited to his work as a physician.
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Physician, Heal Thyself
by Corylea
Physician, Heal Thyself
by Corylea
Dr. Leonard McCoy snorted as he sat at his desk in sickbay, reading his latest orders. Starfleet Command had ordered that he be temporarily assigned to a Starfleet science vessel, to assist with their research into a new treatment for blood disorders. The kicker was that the science vessel in question was crewed entirely by Vulcans.
The Enterprise had discovered a database of medical knowledge possessed by the Fabrini just a few months before, which had the potential to revolutionize treatment for a number of conditions. Thanks to the Fabrini cure for the fatal blood disorder xenopolycythemia, McCoy was the only person in the Federation who'd survived that disease. The Vulcans had great hopes—in their restrained Vulcan way—that the knowledge the Enterprise had gained from the Fabrini would be just as useful in formulating treatment for a similar blood disorder in Vulcans.
McCoy enjoyed medical research, but he liked the hands-on experience of treating actual patients better. Still, the idea of adapting the treatment that had cured him to save others was tempting, if only he didn't have to spend six months on an all-Vulcan ship to do it. The idea of spending half a year as the only human on a ship with a bunch of pointy-eared walking computers gave him chills ... and not the good kind.
Being one of the captain's best friends did ensure that he always had Kirk's ear. Maybe Jim could get him out of this. McCoy turned off the computer on his desk and made a beeline for the captain's quarters.
He pressed the chime and was admitted readily. Kirk was seated at his own desk, probably reading those very orders that McCoy wanted to talk about; the captain waved him to the chair on the other side of his desk and said, "Looks like you've seen your new orders already. I was just about to come find you, to discuss them."
McCoy glowered at him. "I want to know which nincompoop thought posting me to an all-Vulcan ship would be a good idea!"
Kirk smiled placatingly. "You saw the orders; they come from Admiral Westervliet—the admiral who supervised our handling of the problem with the Fabrini—so he knows what we do about the Fabrini database.
McCoy sighed. "An admiral. I might have been able to talk you out of it, but if this comes down from an admiral..."
Kirk leaned forward in his chair. "Bones, think of the research possibilities! Here's your chance to really dig into that Fabrini knowledge, to find cures for people who have diseases like the one you had."
McCoy frowned. "But why do I have to go to the Salk for that? Spock and Chapel both know at least as much about the Fabrini database as I do; why can't I do the research with them?"
"Of our people, only Spock knows much about Vulcan blood disorders, and several researchers on the Salk are experts on them. Plus, we only have one Vulcan on the ship. When the time comes to test whatever you come up with, the Salk will have plenty of people to donate blood for testing. Surely you can't plan an entire research program on a Vulcan disease with a single Vulcan for your test subject, especially considering that he's a hybrid and may not be typical."
McCoy sighed. "No, you're right; this research should be done on the Salk. But six months! Jim, if I have to spend six months as the only human on an all-Vulcan ship, I might go completely nuts."
Kirk smiled. "I have more faith in you than that. If anyone goes nuts, it'll probably be the crew of the Salk."
"Hrmph," McCoy said, "I can see I'm not gonna get much sympathy out of you."
Kirk shook his head. "It's a great opportunity, Bones, not just for the research but also to broaden your horizons. Vulcans are our staunchest allies, and they can be wonderful people; it's about time you appreciated what they have to offer. I think doing medical research in their company may be just what the doctor ordered."
McCoy glowered at Kirk. "This doctor ordered a case of bourbon to go with me, to keep me some kind of company on a ship full of people who pretend they don't have feelings."
Kirk smiled. "Don't worry, I'll comm you whenever we're in range, and I bet Scotty and Chapel will, too. And look at it this way: maybe you'll understand what Spock has lived with, every single day of the past nineteen years."
McCoy shook his head. "After nineteen years, you'd think he'd be more human."
The annunciator chimed, Kirk said, "Come," and the door slid open as Spock walked into the room.
He nodded at McCoy and said, "My felicitations on your latest research opportunity, Doctor." He pulled up a chair and sat beside McCoy.
McCoy scowled at Spock. "If you think it's such a great opportunity, why don't you go to the Salk, and I'll stay here?" He turned and looked at Kirk. "Come to think of it, why didn't Starfleet order this for Spock instead of me?"
Kirk smiled wryly. "I'm afraid that's my fault. Westervliet made noises about following up the Fabrini knowledge on a science vessel, and I made it clear that I couldn't do without Spock, not for any amount of time. I pointed out that we had fourteen science labs and a full complement of scientific experts here on the Enterprise, so we were fully capable of putting the Fabrini knowledge to good use. I didn't realize that Starfleet was especially interested in a cure for Vulcan blood disorders, or I'd have known we couldn't keep it in-house."
Stung, McCoy frowned at Kirk. "But you didn't tell him you couldn't do without me."
"The admiral didn't mention you! But really, while I, personally, will miss you, I think the Enterprise can limp along with only doctors M'Benga and Sanchez and our stellar nursing team for a few months. We're scheduled to investigate several planets for possible colonization, and we'll be deep into Federation territory, far from both the Klingons and the Romulans." Kirk shrugged. "New planets are never completely safe, but if two doctors and the nursing team can't handle a few scrapes, sprained ankles, and allergies, your training program isn't as good as I think it is."
McCoy sighed. "M'Benga and Sanchez are both excellent, or we wouldn't have 'em here, and Chapel is almost a doctor, herself. But I like feeling settled, damn it; I don't want to change ships."
Kirk smiled. "I'm glad you're so attached to the Enterprise that you don't want to leave her, but it'll only be for six months, and it really will be a great opportunity for you."
McCoy looked at Spock. "Did you just come to gloat over my leaving, or did you have something to say?"
Spock stiffened. "I am acquainted with several of your new colleagues and thought you might find an analysis of their virtues and failings to be useful in becoming acclimated to your new post."
McCoy smiled. "That's nice of you, Spock. Yeah, I would like to know more about the people on the Salk. What can you tell me?"
Spock relaxed slightly. "I am well acquainted with Rumek, the chief science officer, as the two of us attended the same ShiKahrian school and studied the same subjects. He was the second-best Vulcan scientist of our generation, and he had his choice of positions."
McCoy cocked his head to one side. "Who was the best scientist of your generation?"
Spock raised a brow. "I was, Doctor," he said, in a tone of voice implying that this was common knowledge and needed no discussion. "Rumek joined Starfleet not only because of the opportunities it offers for scientific investigation but also because he is a true proponent of IDIC, and he welcomed the opportunity to further his acquaintance with other peoples, especially with humans. Although he accepted a posting to an all-Vulcan vessel, he will be eager to make your acquaintance, Doctor, and to work with you."
McCoy sighed. "I'm guessing that's not gonna be true of all the Vulcans on the Salk."
Spock shook his head. "It will not. I know of no one on that ship who is actively prejudiced against humans, but not all of them are as tolerant of differences as a Starfleet officer should be, any more than all human officers are."
Spock's dark eyes looked slightly sad, and McCoy was reminded that Spock probably had personal experience with this, from his time growing up on Vulcan as a known hybrid.
Spock went on, "Although it shames them both as Vulcans and as Starfleet officers, first officer Golvon and scientist V'Lor are among the less open-minded personnel. However, you will find that Captain Jaarvik and scientists Sulek and T'Bel have the attitudes that one would wish for in Starfleet officers. And you will find that although Sulek and T'Bel are not of Rumek's caliber, they are very able scientists, nonetheless."
McCoy smiled. "Thank you, Spock. I appreciate knowing who to be extra careful with and who I can relax around."
Spock inclined his head. "I wish your time among my people to be a pleasant one. You should also take these." He held out two small rubber bands.
McCoy took the bands and looked at them curiously; they were so small and so nearly the same color as his hands as to be almost invisible while he was holding them. He looked back up at Spock. "Little rubber bands? Why on earth would I need little rubber bands?"
Spock's eyes crinkled at the corners, which probably meant something if you could read a Vulcan's minute facial expressions. "You will not need them on Earth, Doctor, but you will on the Salk. When you beam aboard, protocol dictates that you be formally welcomed by several senior officers, all of whom will give you the Vulcan salute. They will expect it from you in return, and failure to perform it would be seen as an insult, as a deliberate rejection of Vulcan customs. I am aware that you find the necessary gesture insuperably difficult, but if you band your fingers into position before beaming aboard, you should be able to avoid a social misstep during your first moment aboard the ship."
McCoy looked at Spock, unsure how to react to this. "Are you doing this to help me, or are you doing this so I don't embarrass you?" As Spock opened his mouth to reply, the doctor added, "And don't tell me that Vulcans don't get embarrassed, because I don't believe it."
Spock stiffened. "Make of my motives what you will, Doctor; I have done what I came here to do." He stood and swept from the room.
Kirk sighed. "He was trying to be nice to you, you know. You could have met him halfway."
McCoy frowned. "I can't read Spock the way you can, so I didn't know what he was trying to do."
Kirk looked annoyed. "Then your time on the Salk will be well spent, won't it?"
Feeling resentful, McCoy stood up. "Well, I don't have time to dawdle; I've got to order my research equipment to be delivered to the Salk, pack my personal stuff, and leave instructions for M'Benga."
#
The evening before McCoy left, Christine Chapel and the rest of the nursing team threw him a going-away party in Main Rec. Most of the crew was there, and McCoy was touched by how many people had turned out to see him off.
Uhura—accompanied by Spock on his lute—serenaded him with a song she had composed for the occasion, Chapel had baked an enormous cake that was enjoyed by one and all, and several of his friends even brought small gifts, most of them of the liquid variety.
Then the party quieted down for a moment, and the entire room watched as an orderly and two nurses put on a farcical skit that purported to show McCoy's first few days on the Salk. The end of the skit showed the doctor frothing at the mouth as Vulcan withdrew from the Federation in high dudgeon. The only people not laughing by the end were he and Spock. Of course, Spock never laughed, but McCoy didn't see anything funny in the skit. He supposed it was a lot easier to laugh if you got to stay on the Enterprise.
McCoy had expected to put up with a lot of ribbing from his friends during the party; what he hadn't expected was that so many people would take him aside to offer advice.
Scotty brought him a drink and said, "Ya keep complainin', but is six months on a Vulcan ship really that high a price to pay for yer life? Ya weren't just a mite sick with that disease; ya were dying, mon."
McCoy grimaced. "Who says I should have to pay any price? The treatment that cured me came from the Fabrini, after all."
Scotty looked stern. "The basic knowledge came from the Fabrini, but didn't I hear that yon Vulcan spent three weeks in the lab without eating or sleeping while he worked out how to adapt the Fabrini treatment to the human body? Or didn't anybody tell ya that?"
McCoy blinked. "No, I didn't know that. Huh. You think maybe he has a heart after all?"
Scotty pursed his lips disapprovingly. "Spock has a heart the same way you have a brain: neither of you always uses 'em when other people want you to, but you do have 'em, and good ones, too." He frowned at McCoy, then left to refill his glass at the bar.
After Scotty had been swallowed up by the crowd, McCoy was still contemplating what the Scotsman had said when Uhura found him and drew him aside. She smiled warmly at him and told him how much they would all miss him, then switched gears on him. "And if you'll listen to the communications officer for a minute and not just the friend, I have some things to tell you."
McCoy had been hoping to do without any more well-meaning advice from people who got to stay on the Enterprise, but he could never say no to Uhura. "What is it?" he asked gruffly.
"Captain Kirk runs a tight ship in many ways, but he lets his senior officers speak more freely than many captains do and a LOT more freely than would be considered normal on a Vulcan ship. You've gotten into certain ... habits ... of speaking that we all understand, here on the Enterprise, but if you keep those habits on the Salk, you could end up in the brig."
McCoy laughed sourly. "The brig might be the best place for me, because then I wouldn't try to strangle anybody."
Uhura pointed a finger at him. "And that's the kind of thing I mean. You can say that here, and everybody knows you're joking, but most Vulcans don't have Spock's sense of humor or his patience with human foibles. Say that kind of thing on the Salk, and they'll think you're insane, and I don't mean Spock's tolerant 'oh, those crazy humans' attitude, I mean literally insane."
McCoy goggled at her. "You think Spock is PATIENT with human foibles?"
Uhura frowned at him. "Way more patient than you are with Vulcan foibles. And just think ... he's served on this ship for fifteen years and was at the Academy for four years before that. Could you take nineteen years among Vulcans? You're not sure you can even stand six months!"
"Nineteen years," he repeated to himself, trying to wrap his mind around what such a length of time as the sole human on a Vulcan ship might do to his soul. Then the music changed to dance music, Nurse Kwan came and asked him to dance, and he lost himself in the music and movement for the rest of the night.
#
The next morning, McCoy reported to the transporter room, to be beamed over to the Salk. Only Kirk and Spock were there to see him off, and the captain explained that half the ship had wanted to be there, but the transporter room couldn't hold them all. Kirk had found it easier to prohibit non-essential personnel from the transporter room entirely than to draw a line between who'd be allowed in and who wouldn't.
Kirk looked at McCoy. "The captain has one last order for you, and then the friend wants to say good-bye."
McCoy chuckled. "Okay, put on your captain's hat and say what you have to."
Kirk regarded him seriously. "You've been focusing on your individual reaction to your new orders, and I've let you do that, so that you'd have time to adjust to them. But now that you're about to leave, I also want you to remember that you're not just going to the Salk as Leonard H. McCoy, you're not just going to the Salk as a human on a Vulcan-crewed ship, you're also going to the Salk as a representative of the Enterprise. And as always, I expect the very best from Enterprise crew, on this venture as on all others. And I'm not just talking about your research skills, which I know you'll exercise to the fullest, but about your attitude and your willingness to conform to local custom."
Kirk gave McCoy his sternest captain's look. "I don't want the word 'hobgoblin' to cross your lips once you leave this ship. Don't compare any of the Vulcans to computers, and don't mention their ears. Talk about green blood only in the context of your research into Vulcan blood disorders." Kirk relaxed a bit and smiled. "Make me proud, Bones."
McCoy scowled. "Why should I conform to their customs? I'm not a Vulcan!"
Spock spoke up. "And yet you regularly exhort me to conform to human customs because I serve on a predominantly human ship." He tilted his head to one side as he regarded McCoy. "I expect illogic from you, Doctor, but not hypocrisy."
McCoy swallowed. "I guess ... I guess I never thought of it that way before." He looked at Kirk. "I'll try, Jim. I will try."
Kirk smiled. "That's all I ask, Bones, is that you give it your best shot. I know if you're really trying, your best shot will be a good one."
McCoy looked dubious for a moment, then his expression firmed, and he nodded.
Kirk said, "And now for the friend." He wrapped his arms around the doctor and gave him a quick hug, then stepped back. "I hope you have a good time delving into the Fabrini medical research, and I hope you make lots of friends on the Salk. I'll miss you, Bones, more than I can say."
McCoy nodded. "I'll miss you, too. It's gonna be a long six months."
Spock raised an eyebrow. "I believe you will find, when adjusting to life among strangers, that work can be an antidote to loneliness and can also provide a bridge across our differing cultures."
McCoy looked curiously at Spock. "I guess you'd know about that, wouldn't you? I'll bear that in mind."
Spock raised his hand in the Vulcan salute. "Live long, Doctor, and prosper."
McCoy put the tiny rubber bands around his fingers, which forced them into the right position, then raised his hand in the Vulcan salute. "Same to you."
The doctor injected himself with a hypo of tri-ox compound so that he'd be able to breathe properly on the Salk, then mounted the steps to the transporter platform. Spock energized the transporter, and McCoy disappeared from the Enterprise in a shower of sparkles, then materialized on the transporter platform of the Salk.
His first sensation was a blast of heat, and he had to brace himself at the onslaught. Of course the Salk was kept at a temperature that would be comfortable for Vulcans; he should have worn his short-sleeved uniform shirt. McCoy immediately began sweating, and he hoped that human sweat didn't smell bad to Vulcans, because he was probably going to be sweating constantly for the next six months.
McCoy was met by three Vulcans, and normally, all he would have seen was three Vulcans. But Spock had told him about the people he would meet, and after that conversation, he'd studied their pictures and service histories in Starfleet records so that he could match names to faces and have some idea of whom he was dealing with.
Captain Jaarvik was a medium-sized Vulcan with short, tightly-curled black hair. His facial expression was perfectly blank, as it often was in Vulcans, and yet McCoy didn't find it as off-putting as he sometimes did, maybe because Spock had told him that Jaarvik was an unusually open-minded Vulcan.
Science officer Rumek would be his supervisor during the next six months and was also the friend that Spock had mentioned. He was the same age as Spock but had a much beefier physique that reminded McCoy of a football player, for all that he doubted Vulcans would be caught dead playing football. He wasn't smiling—McCoy would have been astonished if any of the Vulcans had smiled—but something about his face was more relaxed than the others, and McCoy felt smiled at.
The third Vulcan was T'Bel, a petite Vulcan woman barely five feet tall. Her black hair was cut in a short, spiky style that was probably supposed to be practical and easy to care for, but the result was to make her look adorably elfin, even though her face was so calm and composed as to seem nearly severe.
All three Vulcans raised their hands in the Vulcan salute, and Captain Jaarvik told him to live long and prosper. McCoy raised his own hand, his fingers held in place by the rubber bands, and was glad that Spock's foresight enabled him to return the correct gesture. "Same to you," he said.
Rumek's mouth didn't change shape, but his eyes crinkled in the way that eyes did when people smiled, and McCoy thought the science officer was probably laughing on the inside, at receiving such a colloquial and informal response to his people's usual greeting. Well, McCoy was who he was, and Rumek had better get used to it.
Captain Jaarvik stepped forward and said, "I am Captain Jaarvik, and these are my science officer, Lieutenant Commander Rumek, and our foremost expert in Vulcan blood disorders, Lieutenant T'Bel."
McCoy stepped down from the transporter and smiled. "I guess you know that I'm Dr. Leonard McCoy. I'm usually chief medical officer on the Enterprise, but for the next six months, I suppose I'm one of Rumek's researchers."
Rumek said, "Your equipment has already been delivered. We have set aside a laboratory for your sole use, so that you may work in a room whose life support settings approximate human norms in their temperature and oxygen content."
Was Rumek just being logical, or was he trying to be nice? McCoy couldn't quite tell, but having his own lab that he could set to his own temperature was such a relief that he smiled brightly. "Thanks, Rumek; I appreciate that." He didn't just need a lab, though; he also needed a place to hang his hat. Trust a Vulcan to talk about his lab before talking about his cabin. He looked at Rumek and asked, "And where are my quarters?"
Rumek seemed surprised, in a low-key Vulcan way. "Do you require rest already? Has the day not just begun?"
McCoy laughed and said, "Naw, I don't need to sleep yet; I just thought I'd feel more settled if I knew where I'd be bunking."
All three of the Vulcans took a step back, and McCoy was puzzled for a moment, then realized it was because he'd laughed. They'd accepted his smiles, but he guessed that a laugh must look like a veritable explosion of emotion to people who were used to Vulcan norms. He sighed to himself and thought that it was going to be a very, very long six months.
"'Feel' settled?" Rumek repeated, as he tilted his head to one side and looked curiously at McCoy. He blinked for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. "If that is what humans require, then I will escort you to your quarters. This way." The beefy Vulcan left the transporter room, and McCoy nodded to the others, then walked quickly to catch up to him.
Story continued in next post
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I was astonished and pointed out that -- as far as we know -- Spock is the only Vulcan on a ship of 429 humans, so the meaning of Spock's behavior is very different from the meaning of McCoy's behavior. Making fun of majority characteristics is very different from making fun of minority characteristics. Just translate Human and Vulcan into white and black or male and female or straight and gay, and it should be obvious that having a majority group member make fun of a minority group member is really horrible, whereas when the minority group member makes fun of the majority group member in response, that's defending oneself.
The guy is basically a saint. A really smart, wildly competent saint. Not that I've been in love with him for the past 47 years or anything. 
