"I find the plot of Cinderella to be illogical," Spock told her. "The manner in which the stepmother treated the main character was counter to her goals. Had she embraced Cinderella as her own, she would have benefited from that relationship."
"That's sorta true but she had no guarantees that the girl she got saddled with after her husband's death would actually include her. When you can't control something, you destroy it," Jayme chuckled. "You are aware that Humans are only logical when we want to be, right? Especially when dealing with things like social status and royalty."
"Social status is not important," her husband said as they walked through the Arts District in New Aberdeen on Aldebaran III after they saw Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. The Enterprise was getting some routine maintenance at the shipyard and the crew was given a few -much needed- days of shore leave.
"Isn't it, Osasu Spochkh?"
"The emphasis you place on my honorific implies that you disagree, Okosu Jayme."
"I do disagree. Ignoring the Narada Incident, if I walked into a room and said 'Hi, I'm Jayme,' nobody would care. But if I walked into that same room and said 'I'm Jayme, wife of Spock, son of Sarek of the house Surak of clan Hgrtcha,' people would fall all over themselves for my attention. Vulcans know the status of our family and most of the Federation knows our house and clan because of Solkar making first contact with Earth. I have a better example; your brother is a prince. A Vulcan prince. What sense does it make for a society like ours to have royalty?"
"It is an honorary title that denotes his linage," he smiled. Royalty on Vulcan isn't a recent thing by any stretch of the imagination but it was recent enough that there are still people who have some pull thanks to nothing more than heredity.
"But it is a title. And an illogical one at that since Sy gets more done as your father's son than he does as Prince of Gol. My point is that there was a time in Vulcan history where Sybok's maternal ancestors were more important than others simply based on their blood. As a matter of fact, it's the same with all the prominent families on Vulcan, including ours."
"Our family has done much for the Vulcan people."
"And for the Federation, however, would our family have had the same opportunities if we were anyone else? If we weren't House Surak do you think your father or T'Pau would have as much pull as they do? Would they have even chosen the paths that they did?"
"I chose my own path," Spock pointed out.
"You are an anomaly among our family, including me. Hell, I went to the VSA and did the diplomacy training before I joined Starfleet, but that is part of my point. Do you think that I would've been allowed to train with the Vulcan Ambassador if he wasn't your dad?" Jayme smiled.
"No," he said. "If Sarek were not the ambassador, you would not have been permitted. And had he not been son of Skon, son of Solkar, he would not have chosen to follow the path that he did. Furthermore, had it not been for our family's status, it would have been difficult for you to become a Vulcan citizen as well." Spock thought about it for a moment. "I must concede to your argument; social status does indeed matter."
"Sooooo, Cinderella's stepmother wanted her name to mean something but she was too old to marry the prince so she tried to ensure that one of her daughters did. She could enjoy the status that comes with being the mother of the princess because being the stepmother of the princess isn't quite the same. Still illogical but not overly so," she sighed.
"Agreed," Spock nodded. They were quiet for a few minutes before he looked over at her. "You are singing the song in your head."
"I can't help it," Jayme chuckled. "It's Possible. For a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage."
"You are not a plain anything and I am not a prince," he said with a smile.
"For the world is full of zanies and fools," she sang quietly, "who don't believe in sensible rules. And won't believe what sensible people say. And because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes keep building up impossible hopes, impossible things are happening every day."
"Only because you make impossible things happen, my lady."
"Giving me too credit, my lord."
"Why is it that we can't even go on leave without some crazy bullshit happening?" Bones groaned as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Life sucks then you die. Move your hand," Jayme sighed. He had a nice sized bump but he was otherwise okay. "You'll be fine."
"That your professional opinion?" her friend grumbled.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is," she told him. Jayme wasn't remotely in the same league as Bones when it came to medical stuff but every Starfleet officer knew basic first aid. Some, like Spock, knew a bit more than just the basics.
"Where are we?" Bones asked. They'd were having brunch together in a little café in a quiet part of New Aberdeen when they found themselves unable to stay awake. Jayme vaguely remembers some voices before she blacked out. The three woke up with no idea where they were or why.
"I do not know but I believe we are still in New Aberdeen," Spock said as he looked around. He heard something at about the same time that Jayme got this feeling that someone was watching them.
"Do you hate the Federation, Humans, Vulcans, a combo or none?" Jayme asked their captor without even looking.
"What makes you think it's any of the above?" a voice, with a distinctly British accent, asked. The stranger stepped into the light. "Please forgive my associates and I for the manner in which you were brought here. I assure you, no further harm will come to you."
"Excuse us if we don't believe that," Bones said.
"He's not gonna hurt us," she said, pulling her eyes away from the blue eyes and the sharp cheekbones to look at her best friend. "If they wanted us dead, we would be. Right, Mister…?"
"Harrison. Commander John Harrison. And you are quite correct, if we wanted you dead, we would've killed you already," the man said, introducing himself.
"Doesn't actually make me feel better," Bones sighed.
"It wasn't meant to. What does Section Thirty-one want with us?" Jayme asked. Harrison's eyes lit up and she knew she hit pay dirt.
"Section Thirty-one is a myth, Jim," Bones said.
"Actually, Leonard, it is not," Spock replied.
"They sent me to liberate the Jordani Research Station on Vorti Prime. Almost had me convinced that they were trying to kill me. Almost," she added.
"It was a test, which you passed," Harrison said.
"And now you want something from us?" Bones asked.
"No, I have something for her, if she wants it," Harrison told them. "She can't keep secrets from Mister Spock and she prefers not to keep them from you. We're saving her the trouble of having to repeat this conversation later."
"You drugged us and dragged us here to give her a gift?" Bones rolled his eyes. "Must be some gift."
"It is," Harrison said before he activated a small holographic interface. He started a video and the three officers watched a man and a woman as they walked together. Out of the shadows an older man appeared, talking to the pair.
"I know that voice," Jayme muttered. "I know all three voices."
"You should," Harrison told her. "It's not finished." The video continued. The younger man moved to protect the woman but it was too late, the old man stabbed the younger one in the throat before doing the same to the woman.
"When was that taken?" she asked.
"Three days ago," Harrison told her. "The woman is…
"Denyse Eames," Jayme muttered. "And the younger man is Erich Molson. This was on Tammeron?"
"Yes. Captured on the security system near their home," Harrison said.
"Is he still in the sector?" Spock asked as he manipulated the images.
"We believe so," Harrison said.
"He'll wanna watch the fallout," she whispered as she looked at the bodies. Getting stabbed in the neck like that was a cruel and painful way to die. Nobody deserved that, especially not Den and E. "What do you need from me?"
"Only a handful of people know what you know about him," Harrison said. "Eames and Molson make five and six. We need you to help us get him before he completes his list."
"Is that what Admiral Marcus told you to say?" Jayme asked. The Section 31 agent gave her a look. "Of the eight admirals that I personally interact with; Barnett thinks Thirty-one is trying to kill me, Archer is an idiot coasting on the legacy that Jonathan and Stella left him, Lei doesn't know shit about intelligence, Komack can't stand me and he would never ask for my help, both Johnson and Paris are very careful about what they do since they're women and Starfleet is still very much a boy's club, and I see Pike every day. That leaves Marcus."
"He thought you might've figured it out," Harrison smiled.
"Are you trying to say that Admiral Marcus, the commander of the fleet, is a Section Thirty-one agent?" Bones asked with wide eyes.
"That is precisely what they are saying, Leonard. I was apprehensive when I heard Jim's initial thoughts on the matter, however, her logic is quite sound," Spock said. "Admiral Marcus would have, no doubt, joined Section Thirty-one earlier in his career and continued that work after he was promoted. As the commanding officer of Starfleet, no one would suspect that he was also a member of a black ops organization."
"He told me that it wouldn't take much to convince you but Doctor McCoy would be difficult," Harrison said.
"So, how do we do this?" she asked Harrison
"You're not seriously considering… whatever this is," her best friend said. "What about the Enterprise and Pike and…?"
"The Enterprise's shore leave is being extended. As far as the crew knows, there are some additional upgrades being installed on the ship," Harrison said. "Admiral Marcus will personally speak with Admiral Pike to inform him of the real reason for the delay."
"When do we leave?" Jayme asked.
"As soon as you're ready," Harrison told her.
"I didn't agree to this," Bones said. "I don't even know what the hell is going on. This guy showed up, kidnapped us, showed you some holos of an admittedly horrific murder and now you're ready to run off on a mission because he says that that's what Marcus wants. That's crazy, Jim, even for you. So, please, tell me what the hell I'm missing?"
"This," she manipulated the first holo, "sweet looking old man, when you ignore the blood on his sleeves, is Arnold. Arnold is better known to the citizens of the Federation as Kodos the Executioner."
AN: Jayme is singing parts of Impossible: It's Possible from Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.
Harrison is not Khan in this story. Cumberbatch did a good job and the comics fill in the plot hole about his appearance but there really was no reason why he couldn't have just been Section 31. Is he good, is he bad, is his just a loyal agent? I'm not telling yet.
Eames and Molson are the only canon names we get, aside from Jim, Riley and Leighton, of the Tarsus survivors who could ID Kodos.
And before anyone asks, Paris is Commodore Paris from STB. Her uniform has admiral's bars on it in the movie, so I'm making her an admiral. Traditionally, 'commodore' is the title for any officer assigned to command more than one ship at a time, so that's what I'm going with as an explanation.
