Standard disclaimers apply
Sam and Jim Kirk were known at the Academy for quite a few things.
Jim, the twin every one either ignored or ridiculed, was the rowdy twin that had zero to no sense of responsibility. When either incoming or current cadets heard that the elder twin was studying in the command track, the common reactions were disbelief and scoff. After all, how could a blockhead with such a low sense of duty be a good captain? There were even some of the Admirals in Starfleet that scoffed at the idea, despite Jim's stellar scores and genius level I.Q.
Sam, the female and younger of the twins, was the quiet twin that was over-protective and far too perceptive. Although it was widely known that Sam was pursuing the engineering track with a minor in xeno-linguistics, it was the assumption of many that the Kirk twins had gotten their tracks confused.
Both twins had lost count of how often they were told by both their colleges and their advisers that perhaps they would be more successful in the track their twin was pursuing. Before the Narada incident, no one in their right minds had realized that the twins knew exactly why they had chosen their specialties as Command and Engineering, respectively.
But it wasn't till midway through their third year of the five year mission aboard the Enterprise that the reason this was so came to light . . .
Mid-way in the 3rd year of the Enterprise's 5 year mission . . .
"Sam," James T. Kirk's voice rang throughout the engineering deck as the Captain called for his twin over the communication system of the ship, "I need you and Scotty to come to the transporter room. We've found some delicate equipment that can't be transported to engineering. It was almost torn apart being brought aboard the ship." Sam, sensing the undertones in her twin's voice, asked through her personal communicator:
"Jim; is this equipment what I think it is?" In a solemn voice that Scotty had never heard from their Captain, Jim answered his sister:
"Why do you think I insisted that you remain has an engineer on the Enterprise? Besides me, you're the only person in Starfleet that could identify it." Speaking in a tone of voice Scotty had never heard from Sam before, she responded:
"Jim; in order to make sure I don't make assumptions on the devise, I need you to get my PADD and open the file marked '4-TAR-H.' I also need you to make sure that Spock is there. If he feels my distress through our mate-bond, he's sure to be knocking some heads." Sighing, Jim answered in a strangely weary voice:
"Sam; if this is what we both suspect it is, Spock won't be the only one knocking heads." Sam, in full S.A mode, said softly:
"J.T.; do yourself a favor and wait till it becomes necessary. I know you. If this machine is what we suspect, you'll not only become emotionally compromised, you may kill someone without realizing it." Jim, also in full J.T. mode, said:
"I know, S.A. That's why I'm counting on you to keep me in check."
Transporter room, same day . . .
Jim had waited till both Spock, his brother-in-law and First Officer, had arrived with Sam's PADD, after Sam with Scotty. Although Sam and Spock were, by all accounts, married, they still needed to keep up the pretense that they weren't emotionally involved. Although Jim had told the Admiralty about his new connection to Spock, his clout within Starfleet had allowed him to keep both Spock and Sam aboard the ship, provided they were professional and stayed in separate quarters. Although on paper, they were following the rules, everyone on the ship knew that it was just a pretense to make sure the Captain's bosses were happy.
Once Sam had gotten there, she quickly got to work. Opening her file named '4-TAR-H,' Sam quickly and effectively compared the machine to the schematics she'd swiped from Kodos on Tarsus IV the day before the massacre at the square. Despite her hope that she'd never see the abomination again, Sam knew before she'd even started, that this was the machine.
The machine Governor Kodos had used to mutate the crops and destroy the ecosystem on Tarsus IV.
