The Mysteries of James T. Kirk

A.N. Here's the second chapter. Hope you like it…


Chapter Two: Lying Appearances

"The difference between the impossible
and the possible lies in a
person's determination."

~ Tommy Lasorda ~


Spock had been staring at the Captain's body for the past five minutes. His body was unmoving and tense, but his mind was moving at a rapid speed. He was searching for an answer to the problem that had just been placed before him.

As First Officer of the Enterprise, he had been currently placed in command of the ship. It would've seemed completely normal because, for the Captain, it was completely normal to always be gallivanting across every planet they came across. And finding new ways to somehow get hurt in the process.

However this time Spock was in command, not because Jim was hurt and recuperating or evading a boring shift, but because he was dead.

And the crew had no idea that their Captain had just died underneath their noses. The very same Captain who had become a hero to not only the crew members on board, but to the billions of residents of Planet Earth.

Spock steeled himself and walked closer towards his captain's body. That is yet another person whom I've lost within the confines of space. He thought.

Taking another breath he grabbed a hold of the captain's wrist steadily searching for a pulse.

Even though Spock knew that Dr. McCoy would've done the same action once Jim's heart stopped beating, Spock had to reassure himself of the Doctor's diagnosis. Because surely a man like James T. Kirk, who had survived countless of other, more dangerous missions, wouldn't die from a simple researching assignment.

Behind him Dr. McCoy sighed, "I know Spock. I checked dozens of times for a heartbeat once his readings failed." He paused before whispering "I can't believe it either."

Spock turned towards the doctor, "How?" He asked letting go of Jim's cold wrist.

"He didn't exactly come back with a few simple cuts and bruises, Spock." Dr. McCoy said exasperatedly. "Several major internal organs were bruised, not to mention the internal bleeding. He had a concussion and didn't even recognize me before we put him under the medications. The blood loss was the icing on the cake."

"Jim has survived much worse, Doctor. How is this time any different?"

"I don't know." Dr. McCoy exploded suddenly. "Everything was going fine until we noticed that his oxygen readings were going down." McCoy chuckled humorlessly. "He had an allergic reaction to the local plants on Gamma Trianguli VI. He went into anaphylactic shock. To top it all off, his heart went into cardiac arrest. By the time we pulled out the paddles his lungs had collapsed. It was multiple system failure, multiple system failure, Spock!"

Dr. McCoy clenched his fists to calm himself down before continuing. "I was barely sewing his stomach back together when the machines sounded out the alarm for the lack of oxygen in his system. Both of his lungs collapsed, followed by the massive heart attack. It happened so fast."

He sat down on a chair near the door. "One moment Jim's stats were looking normal, and the next they were extinct."

Spock stood there frozen.

"The press is going to have a field day." Dr. McCoy moaned and placed his head into his hands. He laughed half-heartedly. "God, I need a drink."

A few minutes passed in silence.

McCoy sighed once more when he noticed that his First Officer (not captain, never captain) was in the Vulcan equivalent of a human shock.

"So what's the next step?" Bones asked in order to break his First Officer out of his reverie. Not that he would ever admit to it, Bones grumbled to himself.

Spock stood up straighter and clasped his hands behind him, fixing Bones with an even stare. "I believe we should investigate the Captain's body before announcing his death to the ship. I want a fully detailed report to give the admiralty."

"What good will that do, Spock?" Bones asked surprised that Spock would ever suggest an autopsy on their proud captain. It was a known fact amongst the Enterprise that Vulcan's treasured life. Having a Vulcan as their First Officer made sure of that fact. Especially when said Vulcan doesn't pulverize their enemies in a fight and instead gave said enemy a nerve pinch.

"I believe that it will also help grieving members of the Enterprise, once the news spreads, to know exactly what caused their Captain's death." Spock elaborated.

Dr. McCoy rubbed his face before standing. "Fine!" He moved towards the still body in the center of the room; he refused to name the body Jim. Doing that would only make Jim's death more final. "I'll do the autopsy myself." He griped allowing some of his frustrations with Jim to seep into his tone.

Why would the Captain of a Federation ship need to go planet side on a routine mission? McCoy thought to himself. Then again only Jim would break regulation in such a minor manner. I know how absolutely dull it could get on the bridge.

"Please." Spock added in a thankful tone and bowed his head before moving to leave the room.

Bones grabbed his arm and Spock froze until he noticed exactly where the Doctor had grabbed him. The Doctor pulled his sleeve once before saying, "I will call you once I have everything finished." (1)

"Very well," Spock said pulling away from the doctor and out of the room.


A few minutes later found Spock back at the 'center' of attention of the whole bridge crew.

Spock crossed his arms and kept his eyes focused on the stars that flew by on the large window before him. More minutes passed and Spock found himself feeling displeasure at being the crews center of attention. Unlike the Captain, Spock would rather work from the shadows than sit in the spotlight.

"It is Federation policy that every crew member be fully attentive to their respective stations." Spock finally allowed himself to say. He watched out of the corner of his eye in satisfaction as everybody turned back to their respective stations. Nyota, however, gave him a sympathetic smile as she turned back to her station.

Hours passed in tense stillness as everyone's questions continued to build in their minds. The crew members could only wonder why their captain's condition was being held such a secret.

After the end of the 3rd standard hour rumors began to travel amongst the engineers (behind the Chief Engineer, Scotty's, back of course) that the Captain wasn't as alright as they hoped he would be.

Following the end of the 4th standard hour rumors began to spread towards the nurses and doctors amongst the Medbay as they noticed their inability to visit a certain floor of the Sickbay.

The end of the 5th standard hour revealed the spread of rumors amongst the rest of the crews as they wondered where their brave Captain was.

By the end of the 6th standard hour the bridge crew was no better as they grew curious about the reason First Officer Spock was still seated on the Captain's prized chair. They knew that it would be around this time that the Captain would sneak out of Sickbay and act like everything was normal. Followed by Dr. McCoy a half hour later who would then hypospray the Captain with every sedative known to man and drag the Captain back to Sickbay.

The fact that no one had seen the Captain except Commander Spock, Dr. McCoy, and possibly Nurse Chapel since the Captain's disappearance behind Medbay doors had everyone worried. Even more worried than they had been at the Captain's hurt emergence when he was beamed back onboard.

At the end of the 7th standard hour the Enterprise crew was almost on the verge of rioting and bursting their ways through the Sickbay doors. They were only stopped when the sound of Dr. McCoy's voice echoed through the hallways and rooms of the Enterprise.

"Commander Spock, please report to Sickbay at once."


Spock arrived at sickbay much faster this time. He silently listed reasons as to why he would arrive at Sickbay faster, and then made his way to Dr. McCoy's office. He put down his strange behavior as wanting to be efficient at knowing exactly what killed Captain James T. Kirk. The causes for his death would be considered important information to the admiralty.

He also ignored the part of his mind that informed him that the reason he arrived so quickly was because he wanted to know exactly what caused his Captain's untimely death.

Spock entered Dr. McCoy's office to find him using an antique microscope to inspect a slide. The Vulcan cleared his throat in order to reveal his presence.

When McCoy looked up Spock noted that the doctor's face was much more relaxed and peaceful than the last time Spock had visited Sickbay.

"Ah, Spock," McCoy stepped away from the microscope. "Come take a look at this."

Spock moved towards the microscope to find a human skin cell looking perfectly healthy.

"Now look at this one." McCoy said excitedly as he pulled the slide out and placed a different one in.

This one had a mutated human skin cell which had decayed.

Spock moved away and turned to the Doctor. "I fail to see how this is relative to the Captain's death."

McCoy pulled the healthy human skin cell and said, "I took this sample from Jim before he was to be beamed down to the surface of Gamma Trianguli VI. It has become a routine for me since that mission at Rho Sigma." McCoy paused when he noticed Spock's blank stare.

"You know that mission where he caught that strong allergy to one of the local plants and it left him covered with that weird orange rash for a week."

Spock nodded remembering the Captain's horror and embarrassment. The Captain had refused to leave his room and it took the joined effort of Lieutenant Sulu, Dr. McCoy, and four security personnel to pull the dismayed captain out of his quarters and onto to the Bridge for his shift.

McCoy took a deep breath before continuing. "I've made sure to give Jim a strict physical before every single mission. Thereby giving me a sample I can use to examine any mutations that might've happened to Jim. Hence making it easier for me to know if any mutations, allergies, et cetera was caused by each mission."

He shook the sample of the healthy skin cell for emphasis as he continued. "This is a sample of Jim's skin cell before the mission. I used it to check Jim's DNA to make sure that there were no mutations occurring at that level."

"Starfleet Policy," Spock interrupted knowingly. "Every officer of the ship is to be inspected monthly for any mutations in DNA which can be caused by radiation amongst other things."

Spock stood up straighter and looked McCoy in the eye. "The Captain's last official DNA check was two standard weeks ago." Spock informed raising an eyebrow. "Does the Captain have knowledge of your unofficial physicals, Dr. McCoy?"

"Of course not." McCoy scoffed. "I wasn't going to let him know when he gives me enough trouble when it comes for his official physical."

"I must ask, Doctor, as to how you manage to give the Captain a physical before every mission without his knowledge." Spock asked his mind moving to find out how the Doctor could possibly give the Captain a physical so quickly.

"I don't give him a full physical, Spock." McCoy replied. "But as I prep Jim for his missions, by giving him the antibiotics he needs, I manage to take samples of his skin and hair cells. Not to mention that I take his weight and height, plus his heartbeat and oxygen levels with a single wave of my tricorder."

Spock stared at the doctor, amazed at his ingenuity. "And the Captain has no knowledge of your tests?"

McCoy's eyes held a mischievous look as he replied. "Nope."

"Doctor, though I find this conversation interesting, I must inform you that I do not see the point of your tirade." Spock said when it seemed to him that McCoy's statements had no logical reason. "Why should it matter to me that you give the Captain an unofficial physical before every mission?"

"Remember the mutated cell."

Spock nodded once more.

"That's Jim's as well…after the mission."

"So the Captain was radioactively poisoned." Spock said following McCoy's line of reason.

"That's what I believed at first." McCoy answered before pulling out a padd. He clicked on a file which showed a picture of the Captain's DNA. "This is the Captain's DNA before going down to the planet. He was perfectly healthy before he beamed down, beyond healthy, in fact. There was nothing I would have considered wrong with him. But when you look at this…"

The Doctor pulled up a different file on his padd, this one showing the same DNA sequence, the only variation was that this one was mutated. "This is the DNA I took from the Captain's body right after you left earlier today."

Spock stared at the doctor for a minute. When McCoy failed to clarify the rest of his findings Spock replied, "I still fail to see your point, Dr. McCoy."

"To any biologist this would seem to show the signs of radiation sickness."

"A perfect example."

"Exactly!" McCoy exclaimed. "But it's almost too perfect. It was an almost textbook copy. So I took a closer look." He touched the screen of the padd twice making the image zoom in. "Look at it now."

Spock took the padd from McCoy's hand. His eyebrow rose higher as he noticed what McCoy was getting at. "But that's impossible."

"I know. It's an exact replica of something you would find off a textbook of mutated cells. It was as if somebody had manufactured the DNA to purposely mutate this way." McCoy said as he took the padd from Spock and pulled out another file. He then handed it back for Spock's inspection.

This file showed a picture of a blood cell.

"When I found that out I went back into the operating room and took this sample from the blood that Jim lost when we were operating on him. But it's different from this one…" He pulled out another clear sheet and showed me a different blood cell.

"This is from the blood test that I gave Jim just yesterday, not nearly enough time for his blood to change so rapidly." McCoy explained.

Spock frowned. "Dr. McCoy, what you are suggesting is outlawed by almost every civilized planet in the known universe. Even the Romulan Government has outlawed this." Spock remarked before asking, "Are you suggesting that someone cloned the Captain?"

"I was surprised too, and since cloning has been outlawed by every civilized planet there have been measures taken to assure that someone hasn't been cloned. We have a machine here, onboard the Enterprise, that has been created exactly for this purpose. And I ran both samples through it. Here are the results." McCoy said as he placed a small pack of papers in my hand.

Spock gave the doctor his padd back before quickly skimming through the packet.

"So the Captain was cloned, but where and when?" Spock thought aloud. "The planet Gamma Trianguli VI has no such technology. They have barely begun developing quick transportation, not so different from earth's cars in the 1920s. They cannot possibly have the technology that could clone such a complex being as a human."

Silence enveloped the two men.

"But it's our only hope at finding Jim alive, Spock." McCoy finally spoke up.

Spock took a deep breath. "We are on route towards New Vulcan in order to keep appearances to Starfleet that everything is normal on the Enterprise. If we turn back now…"

"Then they'll know something is off." McCoy grunted putting his hand on his chin.

They stood silent once more until a new voice entered the conversation startling both men out of their deep thoughts.

"How about you let me take care of the admiralty and we head back to Gamma Trianguli VI to find the real Captain?"

Spock and McCoy turned to the door to find Lieutenant Uhura standing there with crossed arms.

"How'd ya get past the guards, Uhura?" McCoy hissed as he pulled Uhura into his office and locking the door behind her.

"I used my feminine whiles." Uhura smirked uncrossing her arms.

"Uhura…" Spock began in a disapproving tone.

The lieutenant waved him off with her hand. "Just teasing, I just informed them that Dr. McCoy had called me down to Sickbay."

"I believe that's called lying, Lieutenant." McCoy mused as he gathered the papers up in his hand and placed them back in the Captain's impressive record.

Uhura chuckled and then turned her eyes to Spock. "So how about it? I think that I could get the admiralty off the Enterprise's back for at least a few days or so. I've done it for the Captain enough times to know how to do it again."

"You've been able to hold off the nine or so members of the Admiralty off of Jim's back for more than a few minutes?" McCoy exclaimed. "Uhura, I believe you've shown a different light on yourself today. I'm afraid to say I'm almost proud of you."

Uhura chuckled again before continuing. "Well, Spock, what do you think?" She asked a hopeful look on her face.

Spock raised an eyebrow before opening his mouth to say, "Our orders where to investigate the plant life on Gamma Trianguli VI and then head over to New Vulcan. According to Captain Kirk, there were to be no deviations from this plan."

He paused at seeing Uhura's face fall and the Doctor getting ready to open his mouth.

"However, if Starfleet where to give us new orders to return to Gamma Trianguli VI" Spock added, "we would be forced to deviate from Captain Kirk's orders and return to said planet."

He nodded at both Uhura and McCoy, fighting the urge to smile at their shocked faces, before unlocking the door and returning to the Bridge.


Spock sat stonily in the Captain's chair.

To say that he was feeling the Vulcan equal of 'irritation' would be a fair guess.

To say that he would rather be at his quarters meditating would be another fair guess.

"Commander Spock…" A young woman's voice began forcing his attention to switch from the screen and towards a young blonde yeoman.

"Yes, Yeoman Rand?" Spock said when the yeoman ceased speaking. (2)

She shuffled on her feet for a few seconds before beginning. "Umm…a couple of the bridge crew members were wondering on the Captain's condition. I was wondering if you or the Doctor would be clarifying the Captain's condition…"

She was interrupted by a cough behind her.

Spock turned away from her and face Nyota who was holding a padd in her arms. "Yes, Lieutenant Uhura?"

She smirked and passed the padds over to him. "We've received new orders from Starfleet, Commander."

At her statement the bridge crew's attention immediately fixed on the trio.

"We've been ordered back to Gamma Trianguli VI to reinvestigate the flora and fauna. We are to make our way there as soon as possible." She explained crossing her arms.

Spock read over the continents of the padd and had to admit that Nyota's work was becoming convincing. Her job as communications officer made sure that she was always fabricating excuses for the Captain's many breaks in protocol.

"You are correct, Lieutenant Uhura." Spock turned to Chekov and Sulu. "Lieutenant Sulu, Ensign Chekov we have our orders. We must return to Gamma Trianguli VI at once."

Sulu and Chekov looked at each other unsurely. Where was the Captain? Even though they had followed Commander Spock's orders before, the First Officer was currently acting out on orders that had not been given out by the Captain. Surely the Commander would run the orders through the Captain first, correct?

But as Spock continued to stare ahead they were forced to follow orders, and so they turned the ship around.

Because surely the Commander would inform the ship if anything had happened to the Captain. The Enterprise was so loyal to the Captain that the commander would be forced to inform the crew members of any problems that had to do with the Captain's health.

But the two men couldn't help but shiver as they felt the feeling of an omen hanging above them, much like an ax held above a neck during an execution.

The Captain had to be alright. The Enterprise crew thought simultaneously, even though most had no idea of the true condition of their captain.

He just had to be…


A.N. Hope you enjoyed.

1. Vulcan's are touch telepaths and it is (with my little knowledge of Vulcan anatomy and Physiology) rude and/or overbearing to have skin to skin contact.

2. Yeoman Janice Ran was Captain Kirk's official yeoman (in other words his assistant/secretary/etc…) in the Original Series.

Review please…