Ground Work

Strange New Worlds 10 rejected story
Series: TOS

Ground Work
by Ragua

October 17, 2244

I’ve had tough years before, but I swear, that Jimmy Kirk is going to be the death of me. I realize sixth grade boys are more likely to behave like squirrels chasing each other around a tree trunk than sane and normal human beings, but this young man is certainly setting records for undisciplined behavior!

Today in class I turned my back for just a moment, and the next time I looked around, he was leaping from desk to desk, sword-fighting with my meter stick! He was supposed to be working with his group as they finished their project on To Kill a Mockingbird. Needless to say, the group had to present its poster of Scout Finch without young Mr. Kirk in attendance.

It’s difficult not to lose my temper with the boy; when I witnessed his antics today, I threatened to snatch him baldheaded. Luckily, I know his family well enough not to expect any repercussions for my unprofessional loss of temper, and he knows me well enough to take me at my word. He’s a goodhearted young man, and I do hate to curb his high spirits, but there are some days when I wish his parents would lock him up like Boo Radley.

###

December 3, 2244

Another exhausting day at Riverside Intermediate. Jimmy again. I had to pull him off another boy, Jed Horan, at recess. Apparently, Mr. Horan became irritated with one of his female classmates and called the young lady an extremely inappropriate name. Jimmy demonstrated his disapproval of Jed’s language physically.

I told Jimmy that while his chivalry was impressive, violence does not solve the problem. He was perfectly respectful, but I could see that he did not agree with my philosophy. I made him promise that he wouldn’t start fights anymore, regardless of the situation. The young man may be squirrelly and impulsive, but I know he will keep his word. He has a very strong sense of honor.

December 4, 2244

A strong sense of honor he may have, but young Mr. Kirk is not above using it for his own purposes! Deirdre Fornell, the girl whose reputation Jimmy defended yesterday, was apparently quite grateful for his noble defense of her good name. I caught the two of them kissing today!

Now I’m not such an old prune that I’d begrudge two starry-eyed eleven-year-olds a bit of oat-sowing, but really! There’s a time and place for everything, and the coat closet at lunch is not it!

###

February 24, 2245

I may have made a breakthrough with Jimmy Kirk today. Once again, I had to send him out of class--he was attempting to walk along the row of desks in the back of the room while balancing three books on his head. He might have made it, if I had not distracted him by expressing my outrage at an elevated volume. The crash was so loud it brought Mr. Kopeckne from the room next door!

Once I got the rest of the class back on task, I went out for what has become our regular hallway discussion. Usually Jimmy is sincerely repentant, but still maintains a bit of a spark. Today he was listless and sullen. Before I could even open my mouth to chide him for his behavior, he asked, “Are you going to tell me I should be more like Sam, too?”

For a moment I was at a loss. Sam who? Then I realized he was speaking of his older brother, who is home from university this week.

“Why should I expect you to be like George Samuel? You are two entirely different people!” I told him. He seemed most startled at my response. “What I expect, young man, is for you to behave in an appropriate manner. And you are perfectly smart enough to know what is--and is not--acceptable behavior for the classroom! But for some reason, you choose to engage in behavior that you know to be inappropriate.” By this point, he was staring at me with luminous eyes. He may have been on the verge of tears, but I pretended not to notice. Boys are very touchy about such things, and anyway, once you have them at or near tears, it is time to change tack.

“Jimmy, you have a tremendous amount of potential,” I said to him. “I see it everyday. But until you see it for yourself, and start attempting to reach it, there is very little I can do but prevent you from disrupting the education of the other children.”

Normally, I am not so frank with students, but Jimmy Kirk is an exception. By now I know he is both intelligent enough and intuitive enough to take the words exactly as they are meant. And I think it worked. Instead of the cheeky grin I normally get after our hallway discussions, young Mr. Kirk merely looked at the ground and said, “Yes, ma’am.” Then he went back into the classroom where he worked diligently--and silently!--for the rest of the day.

###

March 31, 2245

It has been nearly a month, and I still cannot believe the change in Jimmy Kirk. From classroom terror to model student in less than 30 days, when, in January, I despaired of the young man ever becoming housebroken. He still has his wild moments, but now just a word will set him back on-task.

Can it really be as simple as allowing him to be himself? To refuse to compare him to his older brother? Obviously his parents must be making such comparisons at home. Why else would he have made that resentful accusation last month? Why do parents do things like that? It never ceases to amaze me how very stupid intelligent, well-educated people can be when it comes to their own children. One always thinks they’d know better, and yet they so rarely do.

I will make a point of mentioning Jimmy’s unique personal qualities and his outstanding potential to the Kirks at parent conferences in May.

###

May 2, 2245

I have just learned that the Kirks will be moving away. They have made plans to be part of the colonization effort on Tarsus IV. Obviously it’s a wonderful opportunity, but I will miss Jimmy. True, there is only a month of school left, but in a town the size of Riverside, former students often come back to visit their old teachers. I was looking forward to seeing the boy continue to excel in his studies. His older brother was more book-smart at the same age, but Jimmy has a spark of genius and creativity that cannot be taught--or even reined in, for that matter. With qualities like that, there’s no limit to what a promising youngster might achieve.

I made sure to tell him so, right there in front of his parents. “I’m expecting great things from you, Jimmy,” I said to him.

He was so embarrassed and so pleased, but all he said was, “Yes, ma’am.”

###

June 6, 2246

Such terrible news today! Half the population of the Tarsus IV colony has been killed--four thousand people murdered by the governor of the colony himself! According to reports, there was a catastrophic food shortage, and rather than wait for relief efforts, the governor, a man named Kodos, instituted martial law and had half the colonists executed!

Information has been extremely limited. Many in town have been trying to learn if the Kirk family survived this massacre, but no word as yet. I have been tempted to contact George Samuel, who is still at university, but I’m sure the young man is overwhelmed as it is.

I hope that Jimmy is among the survivors. I just can’t imagine that promising spark extinguished.

###

October 12, 2246

Jimmy Kirk came by after school today to say hello. It’s the first I’ve seen him since he and his mother returned from Tarsus IV. Of course, everyone in town knows the details by now. Jimmy and his mother survived the massacre, but his father did not. The two of them came home to Riverside and are now living with her family. Still, it was reassuring to see the boy in the flesh, so to speak. It was also startling to see how much he has grown in just a year and a half! Jimmy will never be tall, but he seems to be filling out quite well. I doubt he’ll ever go through that gangly awkward period so many teenagers have to face.

The visit was a very pleasant one. Jimmy seems so much more mature and grounded, and at such a young age! I guess it’s not surprising: witnessing mass murder would affect one regardless of age. I find it very encouraging that young Mr. Kirk is handling the situation with such gravitas, while refusing to allow it to influence him in a negative way. He told me that he has plans to enter Starfleet Academy as soon as he is eligible. At first I was a bit startled that the young man would want to go back into space after his experiences, but in retrospect, it seems a very apt fit for his personality.

I made Jimmy promise to keep me informed on his progress.

###

August 15, 2250

Jimmy Kirk came by school today, just as I was beginning to set up my classroom for the new year. Even though he must have hundreds of things to do before he heads out to Starfleet Academy, he took the time to help me rearrange the desks and put up bulletin boards. Looking at him, I find it amazing to think that he is the same young man who once set fire to the lunch room attempting to show friends that his model of the Friendship 7 was, indeed, spaceworthy.

I made sure to keep our interaction free of emotion. Jimmy seems so excited and enthusiastic that there is no point burdening him with maudlin sentiment. And anyway, according to Jeanette over at the Sonic Burger, the teenage girls here in town are already supplying an overabundance of tears on behalf of Jimmy’s departure. Of course, if Claudia at Gibson’s Drug is to be believed, the fathers of each and every one of those young ladies will be more than happy to see the back of young Mr. Kirk.

Of course I would never tell Jimmy such a thing. I told him that we were proud of him, and that I expected him to keep me informed.

###

May 25, 2254

Such a disturbing piece of news today I can hardly credit it! The Riverside Clarion is always a font of information regarding the whereabouts and what-have-yous of former townsfolk, so it is no surprise that they have been a fairly reliable source on the career of Jimmy Kirk. Until today, I would have said that Jimmy’s performance at the Academy was stellar--no pun intended, of course. However, this morning’s latest bit of news has thrown me for quite the loop.

Apparently, Starfleet Academy has some sort of final exam which no one ever passes. (For the life of me, I can’t understand the purpose of an exam which students are expected to fail, but there it is.) Now, our Jimmy took this exam and, for the first time in Academy history, defeated the computer simulation. I can’t describe the pride I felt on reading that! But in the very next paragraph, my faith was dashed to the ground. How did Jimmy manage such a feat? By cheating!

According to the Clarion, Jimmy snuck into the facility and reprogrammed the simulator the night before the test. I was flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe the boy would do such a dishonorable, dishonest thing! And even more shocking, rather than expelling the young man, as any upstanding citizen would expect, Starfleet Academy gave Jimmy a commendation for creative thinking!

I am astounded, utterly astounded. One would have thought that an institution such as Starfleet Academy would have higher standards. Or more integrity! It defies explanation.

I will certainly have words with young Mr. Kirk when he comes to visit his family this summer.

###

October 23, 2264

You’ll never believe who came to visit me this afternoon: Jimmy Kirk! Or rather, Captain James T. Kirk, the youngest Starfleet officer ever to command a starship!

There I was, sitting in the recreation room, listening to Mrs. Appleby go on about her lumbago yet again, when three young men in Starfleet uniforms showed up at the door. At the time, I was just happy their presence silenced my hypochondriacal companion, but when the orderly showed them over to our table, I could hardly believe my eyes. Little Jimmy Kirk, sporting a captain’s uniform!

And do you know, that cheeky young man had the audacity to give me a kiss, right there in front of God and everybody in the Prairie Acres rec room! I let him know, in no uncertain terms, that his captain’s rank and my own advanced years were no excuse for inappropriate behavior! Thankfully, his companions behaved with far more propriety.

Leonard McCoy, who is to be the Chief Medical Officer on Jimmy’s ship, was a very polite young man. Southerners have such courtly Old World manners, and Dr. McCoy managed to be both charming and yet refreshingly direct in his frankness. Mr. Spock, a Vulcan, will be Jimmy’s science officer. Obviously, as his culture dictates, the young man was quite reserved, but he, too, was most courteous, if in an understated manner.

In actuality, I really can’t say much against Jimmy’s manners, either. However impertinent, the peck on the cheek was just Jimmy being Jimmy. For the remainder of the evening, the young man behaved as admirably as ever I could have imagined. Jimmy had made dinner reservations at Brimley’s Steak House, and I was to be his guest of honor. It was all quite overwhelming, I can assure you.

I can’t remember when I’ve had such a fulfilling experience. Jimmy and his friends were perfect gentlemen, displaying equally as much interest in the mundane goings on here in Riverside as I’m sure I showed in their upcoming mission. I was a bit concerned that they are to be gone for five years, but Dr. McCoy assured me that such lengthy missions are not unusual.

I must say that my worries were much allayed after becoming acquainted with Jimmy’s friends. While complete opposites in temperament and personality, both Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock display a levelheadedness that will help keep Jimmy out of trouble. Just the kind of companions I would have hoped for that wild young man. And such great potential for their futures!

As ever, I made Jimmy promise to keep me informed, and he said, “Yes, ma’am,” with no cheekiness whatsoever.