Disclaimer: After thirty-five chapters, it's still not mine.
Wow…No one believes he's dead…well, almost no one, anyway. Maybe it's kind of like King Arthur. He's so much larger than life that no one can believe he'd really die, and so must be sleeping on an enchanted isle somewhere, until Britain needs him again. So…if you'd like to place Kirk on the Isle of Avalon, I give you leave to do so, while I quietly tie up the last bits of my story.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
In the aftermath of his death, Kirk left a very stunned bridge crew behind him. Stunned, and regretful.
"We should have seen it," McCoy said grimly. "We were worried about whether he was trustworthy, and he was out planning kamikaze runs! He asked us to trust him. But we just couldn't see it."
"It was hardly a predictable move on his part," Spock pointed out.
"We should have seen it," McCoy repeated.
"Yeah, but…one week ago he was a pirate," Sulu said. "And none of us believed he could change that much in such a short time."
"He didn't change, really," Uhura said, eyes glistening. "He was a captain all along, only we didn't know it. And neither did he."
"We should have known. I should have known," McCoy said savagely. "He told me he wanted to be a starship captain. But instead of looking at that and seeing that he wasn't really so bad, I have to look at it and see a way to figure out his codes. And then on the bridge today…and because of it all he ends up getting himself killed."
"Oh no, Doctor, don't look at it that way," Uhura told him. "Don't look at it as him dying because of you, or because of us. Look at it as…him dying for us."
It was a good point, but it hardly settled the issue. The conversation undoubtedly could have continued, and maybe it would have been healthy if it had, from a psychological standpoint. But the efficient running of starships doesn't always take psychology into account. They couldn't spend all morning on guilt, or even on grief. Even if the Orions no longer needed consideration, starships don't run themselves. Especially when you have twenty pirates wandering your halls.
They had to stand down from red alert. They had to run a check of departments and systems, something regulations required after all red alerts, even if there hadn't been any battle. They had to log and note certain events. They had to run Kirk's codes through various ship's functions to determine what each did until the system could be reprogrammed. Spock directed it all, a somber presence at the science station. Sulu, Chekov and Uhura stuck to their stations. McCoy lurked, unwilling to leave just yet.
The administrative duties proved to be the most trouble after all. The Sharks, in the end, were rounded up with almost remarkable ease. As had been predicted, once Kirk was removed the Sharks lost all organization. O'Riley might have done all right as leader given a little time to settle in, but he wasn't given that time. Thrust into a sudden crisis, he didn't have Kirk's flare for command, or his ability to think on his feet. Gray armed his security guards in the armories and they rounded up the Sharks in twos and threes. The brig cells were filled to capacity. Carl and Charlie had more company than they knew what to do with. It wasn't very happy company though.
"The damned fool sold us out," O'Riley growled, a fuming presence against the back wall of the cell. "He got himself killed and left us to land in a penal colony."
"He died to save the ship," Reeves pointed out, without much conviction, from his position on the end of one bench.
"And if he had stuck to the plan like he was supposed to, he wouldn't have had to!" O'Riley snapped.
Most of the crowded cell murmured and muttered agreements. Death had done nothing to reconcile them to Kirk's failure to sell the ship to the Romulans.
"He got weird ideas since we came here, really weird ideas," O'Riley went on. "If he'd kept his priorities straight, we wouldn't be in this mess. He'd be alive and we'd be rich. We'd have millions. But no, that swaggering, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood has to throw it all away, then go off and get himself killed on some crackbrained scheme—"
"Shut up." Harry Mudd stood up from his seat in the corner, pushed past two or three pirates, and crossed the cell to glare at O'Riley in unbridled fury. "Shut up, and don't ever let me hear you say anything against Jim again!"
O'Riley shut up. And in that moment, Harry completely redeemed himself of any and all disloyalty he'd ever shown to Jim Kirk.
The rest of the ship was at least as unsettled as the pirates, though in a less confrontational way. Starfleet was more somber, reflective, and saddened. They were also throwing themselves into the work of getting the ship straightened out, which, as Chekov noted, would at least make for a smoothly run ship. Of course, they were also worrying about something besides the money. McCoy left the bridge to grab a sandwich late in the morning, and to get a look at the state of the crew.
"They're shell-shocked," was McCoy's professional opinion, as he informed the bridge crew upon his return. "Even though they haven't used shells in war for centuries, the principle is still the same, and they've got it. Jim really hit home with them. We've got a crew of 400 people who'll be doing some soul-searching for awhile."
"Four-hundred, twenty-two," Spock said calmly, standing near his station.
McCoy blinked. "What?"
"422 crewmembers involved in soul-searching. Our current number is 423. I of course except myself."
McCoy looked at him for a long moment. "Of course," he said finally, in a tone that hardly betokened agreement.
Spock looked away.
After a moment, McCoy shifted and went on. "There's, ah, there's something in particular I've been thinking about…the crew has too, in fact, and, well…what are we going to tell Starfleet about all of this? About Jim?"
"I am going to tell them that Jim Kirk was the leader of the Sharks, and proceed with a narration of the events of the past week," Spock said evenly. "In short, the truth."
Chekov shifted uncomfortably, aware that Sulu and Uhura both had expressions of displeasure. They were all seeing something wrong with this plan, and Chekov would bet that it was the same thing McCoy and others of the crew had seen.
"Well…that's a bit of a problem, Spock," McCoy went on. "Because, see, the crew's been thinking, and…the Sharks were all over the update channels before we got to the Palladium system. The news programs were painting their leader as, alternately, Captain Hook or Jack the Ripper. We tell Starfleet what happened, they're not going to want much of the story out. I mean, we know how it all happened, but it won't look very good for the public to know that pirates were in control of a starship for a week. So Starfleet'll abridge the story, but enough will get out to report the death of the leader of the Sharks. And the reporters will love it. They've set up the whole story with Jim as the villain, and they're dying to end with the hanging of the pirate. And see, that's the problem, because that's how the story'll get told, and that's how Jim'll be written down and remembered. It won't matter that he saved the ship, and the dream won't make any difference. He'll be remembered as the villain, and it isn't right."
"An unfortunate situation," Spock said noncommittally. "I hardly see what can be done about it though."
McCoy licked his lips, and everyone could tell that he felt this was the harder part. "Well, see, it's all a matter of what we do and don't tell Starfleet on the first report. If we tell them that Jim Kirk saved the ship without letting slip that he was also the leader of the Sharks, he'll be a hero overnight. The update channels will run with it, and by the time it gets out that he was also the Sharks' leader they'll have built him up so high to the public that they can't make him the villain. They'll be forced to present it as the pirate-turned-hero, instead of as the ruthless pirate getting justice, you see?"
Spock successfully zeroed in to the heart of the matter, which had been buried under fine sentiment and noble idea. "You are asking me to lie to Starfleet."
"Only to distort the truth a little, " McCoy countered, "and only for a little while. We'll explain the whole thing to Admiral Nogura afterwards, and I'm betting he goes for it. And even if he doesn't, the whole crew's in agreement and they can't court-martial all of us."
"It is a risk nonetheless," Spock noted.
McCoy met his eyes, deep blue ones to deep brown ones. "Can't we take a risk, for once? For Jim?"
Spock looked away.
"Come on, Spock, it's in a good cause," McCoy urged. "And it's not a big thing, really…"
"Your arguments are not logical, Doctor," Spock said crisply.
McCoy very nearly recoiled. As it was, his face darkened into a scowl and he glared at Spock. Glares matched by the rest of the bridge crew. Ironically, the same glares they had given to Kirk when he had first arrived on the bridge. Spock ignored the glares just as steadily as Kirk had. No one had anything to say. The subject, apparently, was closed.
"I believe it is time we contacted Starfleet," Spock noted. He crossed the bridge and sat down in the center chair for the first time in seven days. He appeared perched there, barely seated, certainly not settled. If it was possible to sit in that chair without making a dent in the seat, Spock was going to do it.
Chekov found that Spock looked far more unnatural there then Kirk ever had. Which he didn't find at all surprising. Merely sad.
If Spock was thinking of chairs, he didn't show it. "Lt. Uhura, contact Starfleet Command, Admiral Nogura's direct line, please."
Uhura frowned, but she responded with "Aye, sir," and complied.
For a week long-range communications had been blocked by one of Kirk's codes, but with the lifting of the codes had come a lifting of that ban. Soon they had reached Admiral Nogura's secretary, and with a minimum of trouble were put through to the Admiral himself.
Nogura seemed pleased to receive the call. "Mr. Spock, I am frankly relieved to hear from you. We were beginning to entertain grave concerns about the status of the Enterprise, after so many days with no reports."
"Communications were inoperative for some time," Spock said without inflection.
Nogura nodded. "I did consider that possibility. I trust you've solved the problem."
"One could say that."
"I see. Now, ah, where's Captain Lowell?"
"The Captain is unfortunately incapacitated at present," Spock responded.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Nogura said, apparently sincerely.
"Dr. McCoy maintains that he should be fine."
"Good, good, glad to hear it. Now, how is your mission proceeding? What information we have been able to gather is of course sketchy at best, and in some instances quite wild. For instance, one report located you near the Romulan Empire. Unconfirmed, naturally, but—"
"We were."
Nogura's eyebrows rose. "Hardly seems like a necessary place to go when chasing down pirates."
"Indeed. But when hijacked by pirates, there is no telling where one may go," Spock said blandly.
Nogura's eyebrows went up even farther. "Hijacked by pirates?"
"We have had an eventful week," Spock said calmly. A vast understatement, that.
"Perhaps you should elaborate," Nogura hinted.
Spock nodded curtly. "We came upon and engaged the Sharks seven days ago. It was in this encounter that Captain Lowell was injured and subsequently entered a coma. After the battle we were boarded. The pirates managed to hack into our computer systems and thus gain control of the ship. We were then taken to the Romulan Empire, engaging one crew of criminals in battle en route. Upon reaching the Romulan Empire the plans for selling the Enterprise could not be carried out. We continued traveling for another day, when we encountered the Orion Syndicate. It was in the middle of this encounter that we were able to regain control of the ship. The Orions were destroyed shortly afterwards. That was earlier this morning."
There was a brief pause. "That's…quite eventful, all right," Nogura said finally.
And heavily abridged, Chekov observed. Didn't even mention Kirk. But they'd come around to the leader of the Sharks soon enough. And that was exactly how he would be remembered too, Chekov noted with deep resentment.
The conversation was progressing.
"I must say, that's very impressive work," Nogura commented. "The Orion Syndicate is hard to beat."
The muscles in Spock's jaw tightened very slightly. "The defeat of the Orion ships was not brought about by any member of this crew. The destruction of the Orions and therefore rescue of this ship and all aboard was brought about by the self-sacrifice of one Jim Kirk."
"A non-crewmember?" Nogura frowned in puzzlement. "Why was a non-crewmember aboard?"
Here it came, Chekov thought in resignation.
Except that it didn't come, because Nogura didn't give Spock a chance to respond. "Though now that I think about it, you do carry civilians fairly often, don't you? Most starships don't, but staying in the Federation as you are you're far more likely to be carrying passengers at any given time. Well, it was very unfortunate things came about that way. What did you say his name was? We'll naturally make note of his sacrifice."
Until they realized the real reason he was aboard.
"His name was Jim Kirk," Spock answered.
"Jim Kirk…" Nogura repeated slowly. "Odd, that name sounds familiar…" Realization dawned. "We had a Jim Kirk at Starfleet Academy some fifteen years back. Probably not the same one though."
So he had gone to Starfleet Academy. All things considered, Chekov felt no great surprise.
"Actually, it is very likely the same individual."
"It does sound like something he would have done," Nogura mused. "A good lad, Jim Kirk. I always thought it a shame…I had a feeling he could have been a fine officer." Nogura sighed. "Well, I'm sorry to hear of his death."
Spock's only response was a single nod. Chekov felt irrationally irritated at this meager response. Leave it to a Vulcan to not even care.
"Well," Nogura said briskly, "the Orion pirates are of course our secondary concern. What about our primary pirates, the Sharks?"
"The Sharks have been captured, and are presently under guard in the brig. Their number is twenty-five," Spock answered.
"Excellent. And the leader of the Sharks, do you have him?"
There was a collective intake of breaths all around the bridge. There was no collective release.
"The leader of the Sharks is dead," was Spock's only answer.
Nogura frowned. "That's unfortunate, that he'll never stand trial for his crimes. Did you at least manage to identify him?"
Chekov reflected that, in all likelihood, Spock was the only one visible on Nogura's screen. Only able to see Spock's expressionless face, he probably believed everything was fine. Had he been able to see McCoy's murderous glare at Spock, Sulu's stiff-lipped anger, Uhura's trembling hands, or Chekov's own mutinous expression, Nogura might have realized differently.
"It was a simple matter to obtain the identities of most of the Sharks," Spock said slowly, "as we interacted with them all for a week. Their leader…" Spock hesitated for just a heartbeat, then went on, "was also aboard the ship, but the other Sharks referred to him simply as 'cap'n.' We have not yet determined if they know his name."
Nogura accepted it. "Pity, but as he is dead it makes little difference regardless. I commend the entire crew on your excellent work. I'll expect a full report as soon as possible, of course. Command out."
The viewscreen faded to star-studded blackness. No one spoke. All eyes were on Spock, no one quite believing what had just been said. Spock glanced around the bridge, his gaze eventually coming to rest on McCoy. McCoy's expression was one of wonder, the expression of a man who had found something new and strange, and only just realized that it was good too.
"Your arguments were not logical, Doctor," Spock said carefully, "but they also were not without merit."
"Why, Spock," McCoy said quietly. "You do have a heart."
Spock's eyebrow shot up. "Really, Doctor, after having me in your medical care for the last three years, you remain unaware of this most basic fact of Vulcan anatomy? I find this quite disturb—"
"Sure, Spock. Sure," McCoy interrupted, with a lop-sided smile. "Whatever you say." Then he turned and strolled to the turbolift. It really was time he got back to Sickbay.
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Gurney Halleck: Those are rather far-fetched theories. And I'm kind of tempted to dance around it and say that sometimes stories can be far-fetched, but…well, there's no real point in doing that, is there? See above, I believe it was Uhura who commented on how much he did or didn't change. Glad you liked the chapter though!
Emp: S'okay about missing chapters, I'm still behind on several stories…heh heh.
Mzsnaz: "Phoenix from the flames," beautiful image. Not quite applicable in this case, but a very nice image. Glad the McCoy line was so well received. Is the suspense settled yet?
MySchemingMind: Nope, can't keep Kirk in the brig for long, as was shown in…the fifth movie, I think it was. As to whether Kirk would have a back-up plan…I'll be honest here, it worries me that you think he would. Not worried about you, worried about the story. Because…no. He didn't. He's pushed to the very end of desperation here, all other plans are infeasible, he's kind of on his back-up plan when he sacrifices himself. And that's just the way the story is, the entire novel, in a lot of ways, has been targeting this end…so I'm standing by Kirk's death as necessary. But you write such wonderfully insightful reviews, it worries me a little if you don't see that… But on the other hand…it's gotta be more believable than that he wouldn't have a back-up plan to get out from under a bridge, right?
Ael: That's Jim. Noble. Isn't that why we love him?
Unrealistic: Yeah…I killed him. But I had to, it's not my fault! And…"fuzzy and sad," really? I had hoped it would be.
Sallylouvoodoo: Oh, I'm glad you liked the ending! Definitely the goal: after an entire novel of slowly evolving characters, in the last climax Kirk is finally the Kirk we all know and love. And as to the "quarrelsome ducks" line…lol!
Hanakin222: Physically impossible? Now wait, just because he's Kirk doesn't mean he's immortal…but I know what you mean, really. And as to what I was thinking: if Kirk's transition from pirate to captain was going to be complete (and that's pretty much been the aim of the entire book), it had to end with self-sacrifice. So it did.
MickeyLeek: Can't lower shields, remember? Although that would be the best guess for how to get him out of it. And it's not quite over, as you can see from this chapter, and the fact that there's another one coming.
Njong: I'm glad you've been enjoying the story! So you predicted my ending, eh? Good for you! It kinda had to happen, is my feeling on the matter. And there is more coming, like an epilogue. I promise some fuzzy feelings before the end.
Beedrill: Congratulations on the promotion, lol! "A most appropriate death." Thank you, thank you, thank you! Exactly what I was going for; it had to end with Kirk dead, but I wanted to make sure I sent him out the right way. And I'm so glad you liked the speech, I was afraid that was going to become preachy. Ah yes, the Spock and McCoy convo…Spock's little hesitation, finally making a very subtle Spock acknowledgment that he really kinda likes Kirk too. And The Chair…[bounces] yes, yes, YES! [virtual hug] I'm SO glad you commented on that! You exactly got what I was trying to do with that! Also what I was trying to do putting the replies first…can't end with a very dramatic scene and then go straight into replies, it didn't feel right. And it's not quite the end…
Eve: I'm glad you like the story! It's always nice to find out there's other people following it. Not quite the ending yet…you'll know it when it comes.
Crazy Elleth: Now there's my feelings on the matter: "the only end that makes sense." Are you sure you don't believe it, at least a little bit?
Samantha: Still feeling like the Romulan Commander, eh? Good, that's a continuing thing, I think. Chekov finally came around…too late, but it had to happen at last. And another note on the command chair, which Spock doesn't sit in…glad you caught that. Good analysis on Spock, that's his primary difference from our universe Spock all throughout—no Kirk to help pull him out of his cold Vulcan shell. "He was a captain." Yeah…that does pretty much say everything…
'Tis all. Just one chapter to go…can't believe it's almost over…sniff. Well, never mind that now, you go on to reviews while I see about that last chapter.