Star Trek: Kindred Spirits
by Font Bookfarthing
It watched the tiny vessel called Enterprise move silently through space... growing closer.
Inside the starship, the voice of the first officer broke the silence on the bridge. "Captain, there is something curious on sensors."
Kirk turned his chair slightly in Spock's direction. "What is it?"
"Unknown. An object," the Vulcan replied, keeping his eyes on the viewer at his station, "with what appears to be an unstable mass."
"Unstable how?"
"It appears to be expanding and contracting... and at regular intervals."
"Location?"
"On this course it will be approximately one light year off our starboard bow in two minutes."
"I have it, sir," Sulu offered.
"Approach course, Mr. Sulu. Bring us to just within visual range."
"Aye, sir."
The Enterprise almost imperceptibly changed course, and gently glided to a halt still some distance from the object.
"On screen," Kirk ordered.
And suddenly they all saw... a lump. A very large and distant lump. It was roughly the size of the Enterprise's deflector dish, and it remained quite still in the cold vacuum.
"It," Kirk began as he scrutinized the object, "doesn't appear to be expanding and contracting now."
"It has apparently ceased its pulsations," Spock confirmed.
"Could it be an asteroid?"
From his scanning station, Spock had already dismissed this possibility. "Negative. It is not composed of any known form of mineral."
"Is it organic at least?"
"I have been unable to determine."
Kirk looked at the thing on the screen. It resembled a giant rotting fruit more than anything else. "Well it certainly looks organic."
Spock rose from his station and approached the railing, hands clasped behind his back. "Scanning complete. It is not metallic. It is not composed of living tissue. Sensors are unable to determine its composition. It is a totally unknown material."
"Can you at least tell me if that thing's natural or not?"
"Negative. Sensors are unable to make that determination."
Kirk turned back to the screen. "What about its basic shape? It certainly doesn't appear artificial."
"Agreed. However, it is relatively simple to simulate a seemingly random structure such as this. Therefore its organic shape cannot tell us for certain that it is indeed organic."
The captain frowned in frustration, "So the only thing you can tell me is that you don't know what it is?"
"Correct."
Kirk rose from his chair and began to pace, eyes never straying from the object on the screen. He let out a sigh. Pacing wasn't helping. He sat back down. "Lieutenant, open a channel."
"Hailing frequencies open, sir," Uhura responded.
"This is Captain James T. Kirk representing the United Federation of Planets." A pause. "We extend greetings. Can you receive our transmission?" He turned to Uhura.
She shook her head, "No response, captain."
Kirk stroked his chin, struggling for some other option.
He stepped over to the front of the helm and navigation stations. "All right... bring us to fifty kilometers distance."
"Aye, sir."
Maneuvering thrusters gently pushed the Enterprise forwards, slowly approaching the object. However, before they could reach the fifty kilometers distance, the object began to drift directly away from them at precisely the same speed.
On the bridge, significant glances were exchanged. "Well, it's detected us, at any rate," Kirk exclaimed.
"So it would appear," Spock answered.
The captain turned back to Sulu, "Hold position."
"Holding position, sir."
And a moment later, the object halted as well.
"Unquestionable," Spock put in. "It has detected our presence." He turned back to his viewer. "I am still detecting no scanning beams of any kind." He stood erect again. "The question now would seem to be whether it is responding to a program, natural instincts, or... intelligence."
Kirk nodded his agreement, "Yes." And after a pause for further thought, "All right, gentlemen," he began, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, "let's try getting creative here. Mr. Spock, the running lights. Shut them off. And then I want you to flash them once, then twice, three times, then five and then seven. Then wait."
Spock sat down, programming in the requested sequence. "Ready to proceed, captain."
"Go," Kirk whispered.
All eyes were on the screen in anticipation. "Sequence now complete," Spock announced. They waited. The object sat totally still. And then another object suddenly expanded out from nowhere next to the one they had been observing. And then it disappeared. And then it re-appeared ten more times before disappearing altogether, leaving only the original.
After a pause, Kirk let out his breath, "Eleven," he said with some satisfaction.
"Indeed," Spock confirmed. "It knows. It is either intelligent, or has been programmed by intelligent beings."
And then it began to move. "It's heading directly for the ship," announced Ensign Chekov.
"Shield up!"
Sulu read off its diminishing distance, "Twenty kilometers. Fifteen. Ten. It's slowing, captain. Seven... five... four... three... still slowing. One kilometer. Point five." There was a pause. "Holding at point four kilometers, sir."
They all gazed in anticipation at the object. "Who's turn now, I wonder," Kirk said aloud.
The alert suddenly shattered the quiet. "Intruder alert, captain!"
Kirk shot a glance at the object to be sure that it wasn't invading the ship somehow. But it was still some distance away. "Location?"
"Deck four. Main corridor."
"Security, clear that area. Have Dr. McCoy meet me there. Spock, you're with me." The two of them dashed off the bridge.
As they emerged from the turbo-lift, they were greeted by Mr. Leslie on his security shift, and Dr. Leonard McCoy. Leslie looked on with intense interest.
"Where is it?" Kirk asked.
"Right down there," McCoy pointed. Kirk followed his finger, and just around the curve of the deck was a much smaller version of the object still outside the ship. It appeared to be floating in the middle of the corridor, brown against the pink and green lit walls.
"It must've transported this over from the main body," Kirk said.
"Considering the display we witnessed from the bridge, captain," Spock began, "I suggest that this has not so much been transported, as simply... moved. Inter-dimensionally."
Kirk's neck snapped around to face his science officer. He scowled in contemplation at what Spock had suggested. He jerked a finger in the direction of their visitor, "You're saying that this thing... is somehow existing... outside of our three dimensions?"
"I believe it is."
Kirk's jaw dropped open and his scowl increased as he shot a glance back at the object before them. Was it possible? "Is it safe to approach that thing?" he asked, not taking his eyes off their visitor.
"It has only shown curiosity so far."
"No sign of hostility then," Kirk said, half trying to convince himself that it was safe.
Spock did not respond. McCoy however, felt it was time to speak up, "No more sign of hostility than an Aldeberan mouth-plant until some unsuspecting insect wanders into it."
Kirk spared him a quick glance, "I'll bare that in mind, Bones."
And he slowly stepped up to the floating intruder. It was roughly spherical, about two feet wide, and simply hovered there. Almost instinctively, Kirk reached out a hand, and... very lightly... touched it.
It immediately shrank into nothing, vanishing.
"I think you might'a just poked it in the eye, Jim," McCoy suggested.
Kirk raised his eyebrows innocently, shrugging his shoulders. "Sorry," he added lamely. He dropped his arms uselessly against his sides, not knowing quite what to do next.
A moment later it reappeared several feet away.
Kirk turned to face it, but did not approach. "Can you understand us?"
The alien remained stationary.
"Well," Kirk went on, almost to himself. "I'm not sure how you want us to proceed." He paced back and forth in front of it for a moment, then turned back to the others.
"Spock!" he said with sudden enthusiasm. "Do you think you could try a mind meld with this thing? Direct mental contact seems to be about all we've got left."
Spock hesitated for just an instant before replying, "Very well."
He pressed his hands together lightly as he stepped towards the hovering mass. He reached out his hands... slowly, not wanting it to startle it. And, to the surprise of Dr. McCoy, the entity allowed Spock's gentle touch. The Vulcan squeezed his eyes shut as his mind merged with that of the alien.
And it was alien.
Different thoughts.
Different ways of thinking.
Spock sought out the similarities to try to make sense of the memories he suddenly possessed.
And instantly it was gone, almost ripped from him. He staggered back, nearly stumbling as though he had been slapped. Kirk jumped forwards, catching his science officer by the arms.
"I'm all right, captain," Spock protested lightly, letting himself be led a short way away.
McCoy's medical scanner was instantly at work, confirming that there were no ill-effects.
"What happened?" Kirk asked.
"It is an intelligent life form. That much is certain. It is at home in space. And it is alone. Beyond that, I cannot be certain."
"What happened to break off communication like that?"
Spock was still a bit dazed, "The entity itself terminated contact. I..."
Kirk prompted him on, "What, Spock?"
"I believe it was somehow... dissatisfied with me. I believe I experienced... emotions."
"Are you sure?"
"I have not had much firsthand experience with emotions. But I would say that what I sensed was close to... confusion... or disappointment."
At that moment the creature began to move slowly towards them. Mr. Leslie drew his phaser. Kirk held out a hand to hold him back. "No," he whispered. And he moved to stand at the front of his colleagues. He stood erect in the middle of the corridor... making sure the entity would approach none but him.
And then it did.
It made contact. Direct mental contact.
Suddenly Captain Kirk knew and understood simple four dimensional physics...and even the beginnings of the controversial fifth spatial dimension. Space, time, everything! It was all so simple. And then it instantly began slipping away, like a dream upon waking.
In that meld he had known more than he ever had before. Perhaps even more than any other human being ever.
Kirk stepped back as the entity itself moved a few feet away, and then shrank into nothing, vanishing. His colleagues surrounded him in concern. Kirk continued to look at where it had just been, a smile of wonder on his face. "It wants more. It wants to..." he shook the right words out, emphasizing each one, "It wants to show me something." He looked up to the ceiling, "Out there," he said, almost breathlessly.
#
McCoy stood nearby "helping" the captain get into his space suit. "Jim, are you sure you wanna do this?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the bulkhead. "You don't know what that thing out there might want with you."
Kirk shook his head, "Bones, that 'thing' could grab me or anybody else off this ship as easily as you or I could pick up a two-dimensional being from his flat world."
"Well, maybe. But that doesn't mean you have to go along with it!"
"Bones, I'm going. That creature out there is an intelligent life form. And we're on a mission to seek out new life. What do you want me to do? Back out now that it's here... waiting for me?"
"Ah, well..." was the closest McCoy would get to admitting defeat.
Kirk smiled at his friend, then pulled on his helmet and stepped into the airlock.
#
He stood silently in the small room, waiting for the last of the oxygen to pump out, and the space doors to open. Here, with his breathing the only sound, he had to admit some slight trepidation. If something were to go wrong... even if that alien were benevolent... it was so enormous, it was like an elephant trying to communicate with an ant. One over-enthusiastic step... and that would be the end of it for whatever they had to say to one another.
The doors opened. The alien remained motionless as it waited for Kirk. It was almost as though it wanted to make sure that it didn't frighten the tiny human away. Perhaps it was aware of some interpretation of its own of the elephant and the ant scenario.
Kirk fired his tiny thrusters, drifting closer to the giant creature. Out here, it appeared enormous, caught in the lights from the Enterprise, for they were light-years from the nearest star.
Slowly he edged closer to the alien entity, whose origin was still a total mystery. Had it been born in space? Had it journeyed here from some distant world? Or had it a home in the forth dimension totally unknown to the three dimensional entities?
He was mere feet away now. And the entity seemed to be undulating slightly, expanding and contracting, as though it had some form of respiratory system... but in space? And it looked somehow beautiful. A totally alien intelligent life form. Over the years, Kirk had met many different forms of life... but for the most part they resembled basic human form... never appearing too alien.
He gently fired his breaking thrusters, bringing him to a stop a mere arm's length away. Somehow, reaching out to touch it here in space, in its own territory, seemed much more daunting than it had back in the safety of the Enterprise corridor. He looked up through the face-plate of his helmet to see the "top" of his space companion. It was huge. And who knew how much of it existed outside the third dimension? Large though it appeared, perhaps this was merely the equivalent of the top of a human finger sticking itself into these three dimensions.
And then it took him!
Suddenly Kirk saw only chaos! Shapes and undefined images whirled and coalesced before his startled eyes! His heart pounded heavily in his tiny, suddenly fragile little chest!
And gradually, or had it been instantly, he was able to recognize the Enterprise. Only now he could see all of her. The entire thing. Inside every room. It was almost as though she were translucent. And at the same time, inside out. As if Kirk were larger than the starship, and outside... beyond... words utterly failed to express what he was seeing. Both inside and out.
What a flimsy, skeletal-looking open vehicle his beloved starship was. But somehow, she was even more awe-inspiring this way. He could see absolutely all of her. All of her graceful beauty.
As he continued to gape at the wonders before him, he then noticed space. Not the dull blackness populated by a few distant pin-pricks of light. But true space! In all four dimensions!
He could see the stars. True stars. Gigantic whirlpools of energy spewing out unfathomable amounts of power. And, perhaps it was only an impression, there was life there too, integral to the overall pattern.
His companion swam into view at that point. It was colossal! It had... protrusions of some kind as large as whales. Its main body was the size of an enormous building. And still Kirk couldn't make out its entire body. Then their minds joined for what Kirk somehow knew would be the final time.
The alien had no Earthly form of name. It was from a very ancient race which had prospered in a distant part of the galaxy long ago. And now, at the very end of their reign, it was the last one. Nearly five hundred years ago when they first knew that they were a species with no future, the few who remained had gone to the stars. In all of their time, they had never encountered others even remotely like themselves. Others who cared for the same things they did. Others who, in their spirits, always needed to strive and to know.
But it was not the quest for knowledge alone which drove them. Not like the cold, heartless being with whom it had first joined minds back on the ship. But others who cared, with passion! Who were more alive while taking part in the quest! Who embraced new life in whatever form it took, and the truth wherever it may be found.
And now in its last moments of life, it had accomplished what its entire race had dreamt of, but had been unable to accomplish in their two billion years of existence. It had contacted a kindred spirit!
For that one brilliant moment, it was more content than any of its race had ever been. And in the next... it knew no more. It died fulfilled beyond what it had allowed itself to hope for.
Kirk found himself slowly floating towards the bridge of the Enterprise, and then his feet lightly touched the floor. It was as though he had suddenly switched off the viewer in the middle of a particularly good novel. The real world emerged just as solid, yet lacking the flavor of where he had just been. And for a moment he was quite disoriented to exist only in three dimensions.
His relieved crew enthusiastically greeted him. But Kirk barely paid them any attention beyond the minimal courtesy, as they helped him off with his space suite. He saw the three usual dimensions as flat. Plain. He tried to look again for the fourth. Yet it continued to elude him, like a floater in his eye, always drifting just beyond his vision every way he turned. He almost felt trapped. Yet at the same time, he felt more at one with things, and especially with the being who had just given him this marvelous gift.
Eventually he noticed that his crew was still expectantly looking at him. And he finally felt he could put it into words. He turned to face the screen as he spoke, "It just wanted to know that we're out here. It just wanted to..." he almost quivered as he searched for the right word, "...to know." His sense of awe, of discovery put a radiant smile on his face. The kind of smile he hadn't had since his first mission into space all those years ago.
They scanned the area for several minutes to be sure the entity was no longer present, and then continued on their way.
#
Later, alone in his quarters, Kirk reflected on the now dead, and now extinct life form. And he hoped that when his own time came, he could die with the knowledge that he had lived a full and useful life... accomplishing something worthwhile.
Time would tell.