Death is imminent. That is a common fact, something that every creature is conscious of. It is a place everyone will go, whether they wish it or not, because no one has ever escaped it. The Chinese Emperors were unable to do so, and even today it was impossible to live a long, full life; true, one could be cryogenically frozen, but that was not truly living. It was simply hibernating.

Everyone knows it, but it takes courage to accept it. No healthy, mentally sane man looks forward to dying. No. Achilles didn't. Not even Mr. Spock or Captain James T. Kirk. But they still knew how to face it down. Both had escaped death on numerous occasions, sometimes even outside of their knowledge, but despite that, Kirk was positive he was going to die today. Right now.

He was at point-blank of a Laser A-92. A deadly weapon from afar, a clear cut path at close range. Yep, Kirk knew where he was going next. At least, he had an abstract idea after he had died saving the Enterprise and her crew from Kahn.

He glared at the man, brilliant blue eyes sparking in a furious blaze. All that could have been said was in that glare, but still it wasn't enough for Kirk, and he opened his mouth to spew out one final insult. "You will never be anything like your brother."

The pale face twitched. The trigger was pulled.

And Kirk found himself on the ground with a face full of feces- because of all the places Admiral Pike's brother could have picked for a final showdown he chose a manure farm in Iowa. Kirk coughed and tried to expel what he could from his nostrils, mouth, and eyes. Green flashed alongside the high-pitched whirs of the guns.

"Who-?"

A sickening crunch.

Kirk flinched at the thought of what the noise was, but spun around the same. In a split-second his gun was flipped into his hands, set to stun, and he was staring at the woman who had already done his work.

She stood, long-haired, blue uniform, a bit of blood streaked across her cheek, brown eyes staring down the late Admiral's brother. He cowered beneath her gaze, nose bleeding. "Stay down," she commanded. She cast back the briefest of glances to Kirk and asked, "Are you alright, Captain?"

He was a bit at a loss for words- had he ever seen this woman before? "Where's Spock?" was all he could come up with.

"I have just arrived."

Kirk saw his first officer step into the barn, looking entirely out of place amongst the poop. Then he checked himself. Maybe Spock belonged here. "What took you so long?" he demanded, heart still pounding from his brush with death.

"Excuse me, Captain, but seeing as you are in perfect health I am shifting priorities to take the offender into custody." The Vulcan headed to where the woman stood over said offender. "Well done," he praised. "You work under Dr. McCoy, correct?" A brief nod. "I shall take over from here. Please aid the Captain in his return to the Enterprise."

"Yes, sir."

She slowly lowered her gun, glanced from Spock to the man, and then scurried over to where Kirk was trying to stand without touching any of the brown dump. "Any wounds, Captain?" she asked, voice professional.

Kirk, on the other hand, was near panic. "No, no, thank you, no." He turned on his heel and sped out of the farm. The woman trailed after him, unsure. "Scotty! Scotty!" he shouted at the skies. "Beam us up!"

The woman tentatively called the Enterprise from her wrist. "Please prepare to receive the Captain in medical bay," she spoke into the receiver. It flashed twice, and they were suddenly flushed into small streaks of light, flying up to the magnificent Enterprise.

Just as she had requested, Dr. McCoy and one other from his team were prepared to receive them. Bones bustled Jim away. The other medical worker paused, glancing around. He scratched his head, unsure, chills running up and back down his spine, hair standing on end. "Um, Captain-," they were gone. He backed out of the room. He dismissed it as a mistake on Bones' part and scampered off after the pair, reciting his duties in his mind.

The room was empty, save for the silence of white.


A quick exhale of breath, a hand running through short, black hair. "God knows what this man will do next," a woman muttered to herself. She touched something on the screen and puffed it out until it filled the entire screen. Spock. "But you… I know just what to do for you." Her slender fingers pressed down a button, causing it to glow orange. "Mia, you performed well. Please come up her to receive your next orders."

Once she heard a response form the girl she let up on the button. Her golden eyes grazed the screen, watching Spock in the elevator of the Enterprise, on the way to the bridge. A woman stepped in beside him.

The eyes lit up in recognition. "Uhura?" They narrowed, watching the two display a momentary kiss of affection. "With the half one…"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Mia!" The eyes flicked away from the screen and rested on the long, dark-haired woman. "You performed your mission flawlessly, thank you. Captain Kirk should be feeling some detrimental effects, some detrimental emotion. Loneliness. Desperate for companionship. Needing truth. This is where you come in."

Mia nodded, awaiting orders. "You have a week off from all duties. But at the end of this week, you must board the Enterprise, befriend Kirk, and kidnap Uhura, the communication specialist, of sorts."

"Yes, ma'am."

A smile. "Thank you, as always. If it is at all possible, please accomplish this within a month. If not, call in and inform me of the current situation. If we must abort, we shall."

Mia shuffled a bit, uncomfortable, and then asked, "Why Uhura, with all due respect?"

The woman motioned to the screen and played back the scene in the elevator. "And then we'll have the one we need. You must befriend Kirk to learn what circumstances will force Spock into the playing field."

Mia nodded, again. "I shall do it to the best of my ability, Commander."

"Thank you. You are dismissed until the end of the week. If you have any questions before then, you know where to find me."

The young Mia bowed and then exited the room. The golden eyes turned back to the screen for half a second, and then switched it off.