"We won't be able to discuss the next section tomorrow," the captain said apologetically. "Star Fleet has directed us to retrieve a historian and cultural observer and tomorrow we'll be approaching the planet."
Elle frowned. "Did he disappear or something?"
"We haven't heard from him in over six months," Kirk said. "We have to determine if he's died or gone native."
"Oh. I hope he's okay."
"So do I."
Elle bit her lip. This sounded familiar. "So, where are we going?"
"A solar system with two Class-M planets. One is called Zeon and the other is called Ekos. They-"
"John Gill is a Nazi!" Elle blurted, and pressed a hand to her mouth.
Kirk's eyes widened. "What?"
"I hate this episode. You can't go down there."
He placed his hands on her arms gently. "Calm down, Elle, we're not there yet. Tell me what's going on, please, one step at a time."
She took a deep breath. "Right. Okay." She told him as much as she remembered about the episode and finished with, "So if you could retrieve him without having to go down there and get beat up, that'd be nice."
"Trust me, I don't want to do that either," Kirk assured her.
They adjourned to a conference room and the captain called the senior officers. Elle recounted what she remembered from the episode.
"The first priority is to find John Gill and remove him from the Ekos' influence," Kirk said. "From there, we can get him to retract his statements, and hopefully return the Zeons to their homeworld."
"I will never understand humans," Spock said. "How could a man as brilliant, a mind as logical as John Gill's, have made such a fatal error?"
"He didn't watch Spiderman," Elle volunteered. "Wait, no, not Spiderman. That other quote."
Uhura smiled faintly. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"That one."
McCoy frowned. "A man who holds that much power, even with the best intentions, just can't resist the urge to play God. We need to run stricter psych profiles for anyone who's going to observe or blend in with a native culture."
"The non-interference directive is there for a reason," Spock agreed.
"Be that as it may, our first priority is to get Gill and these two civilizations out of this mess, first," Kirk said, redirecting the conversation.
They discussed a plan of action but Elle didn't really hear it. She was still caught by what McCoy had said.
"Elle?"
She looked up from the table. Everyone was standing, ready to leave. "Huh?"
"Did you think of something else, lass?" Scotty asked.
"Am I playing God?" Elle asked, hating how her voice wobbled. "Because I know, everything's different because of me. I have..." She thought about Khan and her mouth went dry. She thought about the Romulans and the Klingons and time travel and everything that would happen in the future. Her stomach twisted. "He ruined two planets," she said, "what if I accidentally ruin the whole galaxy?"
All the adults shared a glance and everyone but Kirk and Uhura filed out. Uhura gave Elle a hug and held her hand. Kirk sat across from her. "Why do you think you'll ruin the galaxy?" Kirk asked. "Are you basing your knowledge on the Nazi party?"
"No," Elle retorted instantly. "I would never."
"What's your motivation then?"
"To help you," Elle replied. "I just want to help. Like you guys help others."
"Would the ends justify the means?" he asked.
Elle frowned. "Like, doing something bad because it would work out okay later?"
He nodded.
"I don't think so," Elle said, biting her lip. She thought about the Prime Directive. "Wait, something bad like, by the rules, or bad, like, morally?"
He quirked a smile. "Morally."
"I wouldn't do that. You can't base stuff on bad morals." She was only a teenager, but she'd seen enough of her own planet's corruption and decay based on greed and selfishness that she never wanted to end up like that. "That's what's wrong with Gill."
Kirk leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I trust you not to ruin the galaxy," he promised, his smile warm. "You're a very self-aware young woman and as long as you don't lose that, you'll be okay. And whatever ultimately happens to us, that's not your fault, okay?"
She nodded.
"Good girl. And, as Mr. Spock would say, because the timeline has been changed, how do you know you know enough to predict the actual future events?"
Elle blinked. "Uh... I don't?"
"There we are then." He held out a hand to help both women stand. "Let's go stop some Nazis."
Of course Elle couldn't be on the bridge during this point, so she wandered down to the yeoman offices and plopped onto a beanbag and tried to distract herself with watching tv on her PADD. They were Star Fleet officers, they'd handled it in the show, they could handle it in real life.
She ate a lot of junk food that day, trying to keep her nerves under control.
Finally, the away team beamed back up, John Gill in the center, and Kirk obtained permission to open mediations with the Ekos and the Zeons.
"All in all, a success," Kirk said, as the senior officers and Elle enjoyed a midnight dinner.
"You got punched in the face by a Nazi," McCoy grumbled.
"Yeah but I punched him, too," Kirk said, satisfied.
"You're a regular Captain 'Murica," Elle told him dryly.
Kirk grinned. "I always liked those comics."
"That explains so much," McCoy drawled, rolling his eyes.
"That means Spock is Tony Stark," Elle realized. "Noice."
"Don't start," McCoy said. "I don't want to be a superhero."
Elle started to laugh. "Wait, no, you'd be Hank McCoy from the X-Men. That's so perfect, oh my goodness."
Kirk and Chekov sniggered.
McCoy's eyes narrowed. "Who is that?"
"A doctor," Elle said innocently.
"Hmph."