Sitting in his office, sorting through the various PADDs that had been dropped on his desk during the day, gave Leonard a chance to get off his feet. It was a sad statement on his life that paperwork had now developed a certain appeal. Christine wandered in to join him, pulling up a chair close to the desk and placing her coffee on top. Leonard gave her a glare as she took her seat and went back to sorting through the PADDs.
"I don't suppose you stopped by to help me go through all this," Leonard said as Christine picked up her cup and took a small sip.
"Nope. Just here to keep you company while I have a well-earned break. I don't know if you've heard, but my boss is a bit of a hard ass," Christine teased with a smile. "Even more so as of late because of this condition he has."
"Probably shouldn't be taking a break, then," Leonard said, grinning back. "Might get you into trouble with him."
"Yeah, I probably will, but I'll take my chances," Christine laughed. "He's in his office and won't notice that I stepped out."
Shoving aside the PADD he had been looking at when she'd arrived, Leonard said, "Take a look at this one since you're here."
"I believe I said I was on break," Christine reminded him as she picked up the PADD. "You're not getting me to proofread Ensign Harper's reports. I am not the Chief Medical Officer. And it's not even his job, come to think of it. You should just dump it back on him and get him to make the changes himself."
"I have every intention of doing that," Leonard replied as he reached over to grab her cup. Christine batted his hand away and moved the cup just beyond his reach. She made a tut-tut sound before saying, "No coffee for you. I could get you some tea if you like."
"No thanks," Leonard replied. "I'm all tea'd out at the moment."
"So, if you are going to pass the PADD back why do you want me to read it?" Christine asked as she blew on her coffee. It was still quite hot.
"To highlight a few of the mistakes," Leonard told her. "Make some notes if you have to, save me from having to do it all for the kid."
"You're being too nice," Christine stated as she took a sip of her coffee and started to read the page in front of her. "I am staggered by the number of mistakes I've seen. Are you sure that he actually made it through the Academy?"
"Maybe he's got some really good blackmail material." Leonard smirked as he grabbed another PADD to review. A moment later, the look that flickered across his face as he read the words on the small screen caused Christine to stop her own review and ask him if he was okay.
"I'm not sure if I am reading what I think I am reading," Leonard muttered distractedly in return. "I mean, how would this even get on my desk?"
Christine reached over and took the PADD in question out of his hand to have a look for herself. "Let me see that."
After briefly scanning the words, she stated firmly, "I'm going to call security. They absolutely need to know about this."
"Not like they're going to be able to do much about it," Leonard said, looking a little pale. "I have no idea where it came from, let alone how it got on my desk."
"Still," Christine replied, "they can take action. It can't be ignored."
"Maybe it can," Leonard offered feebly. "It could be someone's idea of a joke, you know."
"If it is then it's not a funny one," Christine stated.
"I guess I agree that it wasn't, at that," Leonard said. He rubbed a hand down his face. "I had better notify Jim," he muttered, more to himself than Christine. "If he gets wind of it via security, I'll never hear the end of it."
"This is not something to be taken lightly, Bones," Jim stated as he took in the PADD in front of him. "This has the potential to be a huge fucking deal, and you are being much too damn calm about the whole thing."
"Do I look like I am taking anything lightly?" Leonard demanded as he gestured towards his door where Lieutenant Andre "Red" Copoka from security was standing.
"You don't appear to be acting all that concerned," Jim shot back, struck by the lack of reaction from the normally volatile doctor.
"I could try cowering beneath the desk if it would make you feel better," Leonard snapped.
"That will not be necessary," Spock said, standing in the corner behind Leonard's desk, just out of view of the doctor. He was in his usual pose, standing ramrod straight with his hands folded neatly behind his back.
"And who invited him?" Leonard asked with a jerk of his head in the Vulcan's direction.
"No one," Spock stated calmly. "I was there when you contacted the Captain and accompanied him to your office. Any concerns over the safety of any member of this crew are as relevant to me as they are to the Captain, after all."
"I don't think this is a time for arguing," Jim intervened before Leonard had a chance to respond. "I know you are looking for someone to take it out on, Bones, because that kind of message can hit hard, but Spock is not that person."
"I wasn't going to argue that," Leonard said defensively. He hadn't even raised his voice when asking. "I simply wondered why he had come. Shouldn't somebody be on the bridge, you know, commanding the ship?" He gave a general wave around the room as his finished his query.
"The Enterprise has been left in Commander Scott's more than capable hands," Spock informed the doctor.
"It's a wonder that he and the entire bridge didn't try to come down," Jim added. "Your comm got everyone's attention."
"Guess it's not every day a crew member contracts you during a shift to let you know that a threat against their life has been left on their desk," Christine said in a calm voice that had Jim spinning on his heel to look at her.
"I can't say that it does." Jim smirked, feeling a little calmer about the note now that it had had time to sink in.
"More accurately, the note is a threat against the unborn child," Spock pointed out, not letting the inaccuracy of the question slide. "There is no direct threat against Doctor McCoy. Harm to him would be incidental."
"Oh, great, I get to be collateral damage in a death threat," Leonard snapped. "Every boy's dream."
"There's no need for the sarcasm, Bones." Jim gave a little laugh. "I'm sure Spock didn't mean that in any way that downplays the harm that could come to you if this person were to actually follow through with their threat."
"Indeed, I did not," Spock said, rocking a little on the balls of his feet. "The note, itself, is a threat against the child. The wording does imply that there will at least be injury to the doctor, given that the author of the note is insistent that the child cannot be allowed to be born. It would be difficult to ensure that without Doctor McCoy coming to some sort of harm. "
"Please, Spock. Never go into any career that requires you to offer comfort to anyone," Leonard stated with a little shake of the head. "You suck at it."
The comment earned him a quirk of the eyebrow, but no argument.
"I am sure that all the Captain and Commander want is for you to be a little more circumspect in your conduct for a little while, until we have a chance to assess the validity of the threat," Lieutenant Copoka stated from his position closer to the door of the doctor's office. "It is the most prudent approach when we don't know who is behind the note."
"That is exactly what I meant," Jim said, folding his arms over his chest. "I may have just worded it a little differently."
"Given the abrupt end to the note itself, either the PADD was included by accident or the inclusion was deliberate, but done before the message could be completed satisfactorily. Perhaps an opportunity to leave the PADD in Doctor McCoy's office, without it being traceable, arose earlier than expected." Spock appeared to be trying to keep the conversation focused on the threat itself. His familiarity with the two men probably made him aware of the potential for a long discussion on exactly what the Captain had said. "Cowardly," Leonard muttered as he leaned back in his chair. "Got an issue with me? Say it to my face."
"That would be less than ideal," Spock responded. "While it would allow us to know the identity of the individual making the threat, it would also give that person a chance to act out the same. It would have been helpful if they had signed the note."
"But those who make threats are rarely helpful like that," Jim added. "Let's hope that there is information on the PADD itself that will help identify the culprit."
"Hopefully, though one of the problems with being on a ship like this is the surprisingly large number of people who know how to wipe the things clean," Lieutenant Copoka said. "Doesn't work as well as it does for the general population."
"Hell, I even know how to do it," Leonard groaned. He was currently studying the ceiling and trying to avoid thinking too much about the whole situation.
"You do?" Jim asked, quite surprised to hear his friend admit that.
"Yes, moron," Leonard said with a roll of his eyes as he sat forward in his chair. "You insisted I needed to know, though you never did give a reason why."
"I did?" Jim was further surprised to learn that. "I assume that I was slightly inebriated at the time."
"Just a tad," Leonard replied with sarcasm dripping off of each word.
"Gentlemen, before this conversation gets off track, we need to address how to best keep Doctor McCoy secure," Lieutenant Copoka reminded them. He may not have spent as much time in the company of the Captain and the doctor, but he had heard of their reputation for arguments that got out of control. They were almost as bad as those between the doctor and the Commander.
"Well, you could just give me a phaser and I'll shoot anyone I think might pose a threat to me." Leonard spread his hands out in front of him in a non-threatening manner and adopted his most innocent expression. That earned a blink from Spock, a groan from Jim and a burst of laughter from Christine.
"Please tell me you mean to have it on stun," Christine snickered. "Otherwise, we could end up a crewless ship."
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