Chapter 2 - Discussing the Merits

Spock was standing with his hands behind his back beside the captain's chair. All was peaceful on the bridge, an ensign came up to Kirk with a routine order on a padd. Kirk signed it with a flourish, and when Spock suddenly spoke he looked up at him.

"Captain, I believe there is still time for you to reconsider your decision to bring the creature to Starfleet base."

"A bit late for that, don't you think? Why are you so insistent that we get rid of her?"

"Our mission is to seek out new civilisations. This planet did not have a civilisation in any sense of the word. No buildings, no writing, no vehicles, no science community or organised religion."

"All true. But intelligent beings all the same. They learned to speak our language in only three days, all of the flock. They investigated us as much as we investigated them."

"I can not question that their language ability is beyond what we have encountered before. But as they themselves told us, this is because they are so enthusiastic about new things that it gives great status to come up with a new language. The whole species seemed to me to be fatally neofiliac."

"Yes, they loved anything that was new, I agree. They even admitted themselves that this was probably why they had, as you said, no civilisation. Any large project only goes out of style before it's finished."

"And this would be the reason why they don't weave textiles, have buildings or write anything down. We did see them make crude tools and sometimes gather isolating materials to sleep on. They would rate no more than AA on the Richter scale of culture. Their way of life is very primitive, and I believe the species is not at all ready to be introduced to Starfleet. We are violating the prime directive."

"Don't call her primitive so she can hear it, she would get mad at you. They don't consider themselves primitive but very advanced humans, although they have advanced in another direction. You have to admit that their intelligence is intact and did not shrink when their skulls shrank."

"Yes, captain, I admit their analytical skills are admirable and indeed of better quality than in many earth humans, but they do not put them to good use. They use their minds for flock intrigues, coming up with new fads to follow and to tell which food is good to eat."

"Aha! Now we come to the root of the problem, don't we? Tell me, Spock, honestly, do you not think Starfleet could benefit from having a troop of chemical analysists working on the ships? Detecting everything with their four nostrils? These creatures have already save the lives of three men. The first from eating a fruit that would have been poisonous to him, the second after walking through a shrubbery contaminated with parasitic bot larvae, and the third from getting insulin shock. A very useful trait, I think."

"I think it is an invasion of privacy to have a creature monitoring the chemical composition of every crew member."

"Is that why you won't let her lick you? She has had a taste of everyone else already, you know. As she said herself, many substances are not airborne and cannot be smelled. Of course she will keep following you about because your chemical set-up is different from the rest of the crews. Believe me, Spock, she won't rest until she's had a taste."

"In that case, I will have to trust that her neofilia makes her give up the pursuit. It's getting old."