Jim was certainly not dreaming, and the look on Number One's face said as much.

"Soon after you. Took this long to get the Okay from Command to let you know."

Pike didn't want to sit on it for as long as he had, and even though Jim came back the same way, Command still decided to throw up more red tape than anyone thought possible to obtain the proper permissions.

Eventually, Pike let Jim go, "We should start eating before all this gets cold..."