James T Kirk: The Next Generation

Friend or Foe

Jim Kirk looked down at the unmoving body of Captain Ben Maxwell, and then back at Spock. When last he had seen Spock, the Spock he had left behind over a hundred years in the past, they were nearly the same age. Now they were many years apart in age, which was as tangible in distance as if they were separated by bridges through time.

"Yes Jim," Spock said, and as if reading Kirk's expression, he said, "I too understand the awkward circumstance of our meeting again at last. The brief conversation we shared via the holographic emitters was fascinating; however, seeing you like this, face to face, was not something I was prepared for."

Kirk smiled at his old friend.

"I have learned about some of your experiences since my disappearance all those years ago, thanks to S'vath," Kirk began to say. "I just wish I had been there, been here, oh hell who knows what to call it, and I'm sorry I wasn't. I should have sought you out when I first reached this time three years ago. There was so much that I missed, so much you could have told me."

"Jim, as I have gotten older," Spock said as he came over to Kirk, "I have come to a point in my life where I now can say that things happen for a reason."

Kirk almost had to do a double take upon hearing Spock's words.

"That doesn't sound like the Spock I knew a hundred years ago," Kirk said, as the two men stood before each other. "If Bones had said something like that, back then, I'm pretty sure a sentence populated by an illogical or two would have been your response."

"To be sure," Spock said, "after the other Jim Kirk, the one who I had known after your Transporter accident, had disappeared into the Nexus and we thought he had been killed, the good doctor and I maintained a friendship."

"I am glad to hear that you two remained friends," Kirk said.

"What you don't know," Spock continued to say, "is that I actually, for lack of a better word, died many years ago. As most Vulcans do near their death, if they have the time to do so, they transfer their living spirit, their Katra, into the mind of another so that it can be transferred back to Vulcan."

"Let me guess; McCoy was that person?" Kirk asked.

"Yes indeed, he was," Spock said, in a soft tone. "After I returned to my own existence, I came to realize that apart of him, apart of who and what McCoy was, stayed with me. I am quite sure it was that essence of McCoy that gave me, over a time, a new perspective on life, so much so, that even my relationship with Sarek became more strained."

"Fascinating," Kirk said.

Spock lifted an eyebrow at Kirk's use of that word.

"My point is," Spock finally said, "I believe that there are events in life that will happen for reasons we can never really know; logic is not the only answer."

Kirk found it odd hearing Spock say such things, because, after listening to what S'vath had to say about the friction between he and his father, Kirk didn't see too much differences in their outlooks on life.

"Spock," Kirk finally came back with, "I have spent a good deal of time these past few days with your son, S'vath. I find him to be a most," Kirk searched for the best word, "complex individual. What you have just told me makes me believe that the two of you are not as far apart as you both might think, in your views of life."

"Ahhh," Spock said, "I surmise that S'vath has told you about Sybok, my half-brother."

"Not everything, but he told me enough," Kirk said. "He told me that Sybok believed that the truths of existence couldn't only be found with logic; that somewhere in the mix emotions played a bigger part. If McCoy affected you as much as you say did, then isn't that the kind of emotionality Sybok was talking about; and couldn't you see how a young impressionable person like S'vath could take to it?"

"Fascinating," Spock said softly.

Kirk's communicator beeped and then he raised it up and flipped it open.

"Kirk here," Kirk said into the communicator.

"Sir," Nog's voice replied, "what is your situation?"

"Not much to report yet Commander Nog, please standby," Kirk replied back, and then he shut the communicator. Then he looked at Spock. "Why are you here Spock, and with the Romulans no less."

"You might say that we have a mutual goal with the Romulans," Spock told Kirk.

"Spock," Kirk interjected, "I know that I've been out of circulation for quite sometime, but from what I can tell, the Federation and the Romulans are not allies in this time, though they are heading in that direction."

"That is quite correct," Spock said. "The mutual goal that I speak of is of a more specific one. I have been on Romulas for nearly three decades trying to sow peace between the Romulan and Vulcan cultures. I have made some progress, and have done so with help from my growing contacts in the Romulan military structure. In fact, it is through those contacts that I have been able to track certain elements in Starfleet that are directly involved with the threat against your life."

"Alright," Kirk said, "I can see where this is leading. Have they asked for the technology of this ship, the Diamond, in exchange for helping with my situation?"

"Not precisely," Spock replied, "however, they do wish for its destruction, which now," Spock said as he looked over at Maxwell, "I can understand."

"Why," Kirk asked, "why do you and the Romulans want it destroyed?"

Spock went back over to Maxwell and kneeled down, as did Kirk. Maxwell was alive, but just barely.

"Just as you beamed over," Spock explained to Kirk, "I was finishing my mind-meld with Captain Maxwell. Jim, in order for Maxwell's mind to control the functions of this ship, as well as those of the four support vessels, his mind had been prepared by most unorthodox means."

"What do you mean by that?" Kirk asked.

"Each of those support vessels," Spock continued to explain, "has their own energy levels that must be maintained, as well as the energy levels on this ship. From firing weapons, to movements through space, every aspect of each of these five ships is controlled by Maxwell's mind."

"So his mind was trained," Kirk concluded.

"No Jim, his mind was not trained in the traditional sense," Spock countered, "his mind was fractured, splintered if you will, into five distinct personalities."

"Are you saying that in order to control the USS Diamond, and its four support ships, someone would have to be a schizophrenic? Why not use a Vulcan, or another species with higher mental capacities?"

"Because," Maxwell said, as he opened his eyes, "they needed someone who would not be held back by over active restraint."

"We've stopped you," Kirk said to Maxwell.

"With help from the Romulans," Maxwell said, with indignation in his voice. "You're as much as a traitor as your Vulcan puppet master."

"You were trying to destroy the Defiant, and kill my friends," Kirk said right back at Maxwell.

Suddenly Spock keeled over in pain, grabbing his head as he did so.

On the Defiant…

S'vath was monitoring the tactical data at his post when suddenly he began to experience a piercing pain in the center of his mind. And then he realized that although his body was moving, standing up from his post on the bridge of the Defiant, the will to move and stand was not coming from him; someone else was in control of his mind!

Deep Space Nine…

A man stood on the upper level of the Promenade. The loud noises of the reconstruction of the destroyed areas of the space station could be heard in the distance. The man was dressed in civilian attire, and he looked out the massive viewing platform and watched as the wormhole opened, and then closed. He looked down at the ground as he felt a rubbing sensation and saw dark colored cat that meowed up at him.

The man lifted up the cat and held the now purring animal in his arms.

"Yes I know," the man, Gary-7, said to the cat. "Hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer."

Continued…