Science Officer Mr. Spock stood at his post aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701. The time was 6:36 AM, and the Vulcan was not tired, though he had risen at 5:00 as usual that morning, and gone to bed at 11:30 the night before.

How's it going, Spock? The Captain asked, walking over to him.

How's it going. A Terran greeting of Earth origin, meaning approximately the same as How are you', Spock remembered.

I am well, Spock replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. Unfortunately, it seems that we will not be able to reach Kalri IV for 4.26779 hours as the nuclear power being held in the quadrant -

Spare me the lecture, Spock. He replied, It's 6:30. Time to be in bed, not to be lectured on nuclear physics.

Spock raised an eyebrow. Technically he had not been lecturing - only explaining to the Captain why they would be delayed. He pondered asking why humans had this strange need to repel knowledge, but concluded that the Captain was in what humans called a bad mood because of his lack of rest, and thought better of it.

His eyes again flew to the screen, but there was nothing new there. He did note, however, that the Enterprise had rotated about .3944 meters, and this gave Spock a slightly different view of the stars. He began calculating the distance to the nearest one when Lieutenant Uhura interrupted him.

Just look at the stars! They're so beautiful...... just think, Spock, of how far away we are from anything, out here among the stars......

Spock again raised his eyebrow. Beauty was a term not commonly used among Vulcans, but he knew from experience that human females used it quite commonly to describe any number of things. He glanced again, quickly, at the stars, but was unable to find any beauty there.

Lieutenant, beauty is a human concept. I am unable to understand your meaning.

Uhura laughed, though Spock could find no humour in what he had just said. Many humans found comicalness in the strangest things and places. Spock had a very hard time understanding them.

The Captain said, and Spock turned,When did you say we would reach Kalri IV again?

4.2779 hours, Captain, Spock responded, wondering why he was being asked to repeat this information.

Captain Kirk nodded. Report back here in four hours - you're off duty until then.

Four hours and 16 minutes, captain,He responded, and Captain Kirk nodded.

Spock would have questioned the captain's motive for doing this, but again decided that this was not a good idea. He might as well meditate before beaming down to Kalri IV to study the plant life.

While walking to his quarters, Spock contemplated Kalri IV. He knew that it was a small, primitive planet with few inhabitants, but harbored many rare types of plants. These were what the U.S.S. Enterprise was there for, to examine the plants and see if there were any that had not yet been recorded. He knew that Kalri IV was the second youngest planet in a galaxy consisting of only five planets, each numerically labeled.

Spock lost his train of thought as he reached his quarters, and the grey door whooshed open in front of him.

His room was plain, almost exactly the same as it had looked when he had moved in. Spock did not see why the other crew members cluttered up their rooms up with decidedly useless disarray.

He sat down on the small, Federation-standard chair near his bed and began to meditate.