The Original Series
Season 4 Episode 2 Unrequited Love
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.
Note: This episode is partially inspired by an undeveloped episode of Star Trek and partially inspired by real life as I once had a close friend end our friendship after I fell in love with her and she was unable to reciprocate.
Voiceover: Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, and its five year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Captain Kirk, Mr Spock and Dr McCoy beamed down to a moonlit planet. The trio landed on a beach near a wrecked ship. The ship appeared deserted except for a semi-conscious, dark haired woman in one of the cabins. Dr McCoy examined her with his medical tricorder to find her uninjured, though very weak and both starved and dehydrated. It was immediately decided that she should be beamed up to the ship and confined to sickbay.
The woman opened her eyes and saw Captain Kirk. She smiled and lost consciousness once more. When she regained consciousness, she found herself lying in bed. She raised herself slowly. Standing near her bed were three men. Two wore blue and the third gold. One had interesting pointy ears.
"How do you feel?" asked one of the men dressed in blue.
"Better, thank you"
"My name is Doctor Leonard McCoy. This is Mr Spock and Captain Kirk. We are on the Starship Enterprise."
The woman nodded. "Thank you for rescuing me".
"You're welcome".
For the men dressed in blue she felt merely gratitude but she felt a rush of emotion towards the man dressed in gold, the one the doctor had referred to as "Captain".
"May I stay on the ship?" she asked hesitantly.
"Until you feel stronger, certainly".
"Oh" she felt an ache, not a physical one but an emotional one, and a sense of loss. She didn't want to leave the ship. She pulled herself together. "Thank you Doctor".
The man the doctor had called Mr Spock raised an eyebrow and the woman blushed. Had he noticed her hesitancy?
The Captain came to her side and took her hand. "What is your name?"
"Miranda Cairns".
Her heart beat fast as she heard the Captain's voice. Dr McCoy looked at the scanners but made no comment.
"Welcome aboard the Starship Enterprise. Don't worry. You may stay as long as you like. I'm not in the habit of evicting passengers from my starship".
Miranda smiled at him. "Thank you Captain"
You're welcome"
Captain Kirk and Mr Spock left the sickbay. Miranda crossed her arms under her head and lay looking at the ceiling.
"I need to give you a sedative" said Dr McCoy's voice.
"I understand Doctor".
"Captain was it wise to give her permission to stay on the ship?"
The Captain met Spock's inquisitive look. "Why do you ask Mr Spock?"
"It's clear that the young lady is…" Spock hesitated "attached to you".
The Captain was silent, pondering for a minute. "Asking her to leave the ship would not have been kind."
"That is true Captain".
"Besides as the ship was wrecked and she appears to be the only survivor, I cannot send her back to the planet".
"Very well Captain".
A week later Miranda was discharged from sickbay and given her own quarters along with a red yeoman's uniform. She had begged Dr McCoy to ask the Captain if he could employ her to work on the Enterprise. McCoy agreed and the Captain explained the situation to Starfleet and obtained permission.
Miranda was content with her new life. Being by nature generous, she believed that if you truly loved someone, you put their needs above your own. As such she made no declaration of love to Captain Kirk, recognizing that it would put him in a difficult position as Captain of the ship and her employer. She instead worked hard at her position as yeoman, and whenever she felt a rush of emotion towards Captain Kirk she said only that he was the best starship captain she had ever worked for, and expressed her gratitude towards him for saving her life and for employing her. While a little hurt to see him romantically involved with other women, she did not possess a jealous nature but instead felt as though she had something in common with the women. Just seeing the Captain regularly, living and working on his ship made her happy. She did not ask for reciprocation unless he could give it.
Captain Kirk however found the situation more difficult. While he cared about Miranda as he would about any other human being and as a member of his crew, he felt nothing romantic towards her. He did acknowledge and appreciate her efforts to control her obvious passion for him and a part of him was flattered but as time went by guilt and awkwardness began to make their way into his mind. Jim was by no means malicious or resentful by nature but this was a situation he had never before encountered. Sure he had many ex-girlfriends including Helen Noel but none had worked for him or lived in close proximity to him on the same ship. He would run into them from time to time and in the case of his ex-girlfriends he had once had feelings for them and that had helped. Now he was the unwilling object of another person's romantic passion, a passion he could never reciprocate. He didn't know how to deal with the unconscious bursts of feeling which threatened to drench him in torrents like a waterfall. He did know that Miranda was unaware of how things looked from his perspective though he did not believe this was due to self-absorption, as she obviously accepted completely his inability to return her love for him. He avoided taking her with him as part of the landing party lest her unrequited love should distract one of them and put either of them in danger from some unknown alien. Finally, he summoned Doctor McCoy and Mr Spock to his quarters for a private meeting and to ask their advice.
Jim knew what he must do. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on Yeoman Cairns' door and was immediately admitted to her quarters. The look of joy her physiognomy betrayed made Captain Kirk feel guilt and sympathy but he proceeded nonetheless. He sat beside her and attempted to tactfully explain not just that he couldn't return her affection, but how hard it was for him to have someone around him who had other expectations of him, Jim immediately regretted using the word expectations, as this made Miranda start and her eyes fill with tears. Miranda hastened to reassure the Captain that she expected nothing from him. She admitted that her feelings for him ran much deeper than friendship but that she was willing to keep them under control as far as she could, though it wasn't easy she acknowledged with reluctance.
It was an odd moment. The Captain held Miranda in his arms as her legs trembled with nervousness. He was almost fatherly in his manner. This prompted Miranda to confide in him how close she was to her Dad and how it broke her heart that her Dad was now over sixty. She and her Dad lived on different planets and though she was in touch with him, she had chosen to stay on the planet where she grew up, at least until the shipwreck happened. Although she knew she could try to return to her father's planet, she didn't want to leave the Enterprise which had become like home to her. The Captain held her as she sobbed. He waited patiently without saying a word. Although a part of him wished he had Spock's ability to mind meld, it seemed unnecessary to do so since he could read her behaviour, body language, and words almost perfectly.
"Where can I go?" Miranda asked finally.
"I discussed that with Mr Spock and Dr McCoy and we came up with a solution."
Miranda looked at him and waited patiently.
"Before I became Captain of the Enterprise, there was another Captain, Christopher Pike. He is currently…" The Captain hesitated, not wanting to mention Talos IV or the law that prevented anyone going there. "He is currently in convalescence after suffering an accident."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"We can warp you back in time to when Christopher Pike was captain of the Enterprise. You will like him. Mr Spock served under him for many years before he met me so it is not as though you are leaving the Enterprise and Spock or at least a younger version of him will be there. I can send our Spock with you and he can give Christopher Pike a letter from me explaining the situation and then return to our time."
Miranda considered the Captain's words. While she was heartbroken at the prospect of leaving Captain Kirk she knew the current arrangement was unfair on him and his solution seemed a generous one.
She threw her arms round Captain Kirk and hugged him. "Thank you Captain".
Although Miranda agreed with Captain Kirk's decision, she nevertheless struggled. The pain of parting threatened to overwhelm her leaving her emotional, fragile, and often teary. She did her best to act normally and cover up her feelings for Captain Kirk's sake. She also didn't want to be a subject of the crew's gossip. However, Captain Kirk, Mr Spock and Dr McCoy all saw the truth and were concerned, in particular Doctor McCoy who worried that she would fall into depression. At last Mr Spock went to visit her and was admitted to her quarters.
While Miranda felt no passion for Mr Spock, she respected and liked him, feeling towards him the same gratitude that she felt towards Doctor McCoy. Spock sat next to Miranda just as Jim had done and explained all about being half Vulcan and the Vulcan mind meld.
"Doctor McCoy and Captain Kirk think that a mind meld would be of help to you."
Miranda hesitated. "I don't want to forget the Captain completely."
Spock assured her that she wouldn't. "I can attempt to soothe your somewhat intense emotions but I promise I will not make you forget the Captain or your affection for him. I will just make the feelings more manageable."
When Miranda continued to hesitate, Spock asked, "You trust me don't you?"
"You're the Captain's best friend. Of course I trust you. May I close my eyes?"
"Of course."
Miranda closed her eyes. Spock put his fingers on her face and gently initiated the mind meld. Miranda was tense at first but relaxed quickly. True to his promise, Spock sought only to soothe, nothing more. He soothed both her love for the Captain and her distress over her Dad growing old. Before he broke the mind meld, Miranda thought to him;
Thank you Mr Spock
You are welcome he thought back before breaking the meld.
Spock's mind meld appeared to have resolved both Miranda and Captain Kirk's situation. Nevertheless, Miranda still thought she should keep her promise to join Captain Pike's crew instead. While she still felt sadness, it was no longer intense heartbreak. She also had new feelings of sanguinity regarding joining Christopher Pike's crew. Before stepping onto the transporter with Mr Spock, she thanked both Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy, and gave the Captain a final farewell hug. Both felt a mutual friendly affection towards one another now which meant there was more of a sense of balance.
The future Spock explained matters to both his past self and to Captain Pike. Captain Pike took Captain Kirk's letter and read it. He then held out his hand to Miranda.
"Welcome to the Enterprise. I am Captain Christopher Pike".
"Thank you Captain."
Spock took out his communicator and signalled to Scotty across time that he wished to be warped forward in time.
The end.