Kirk

It's been more than two Earth days since the shuttlecrafts left their mother ship at the space station above Beta-Census 2. Foolishly, the smaller ships have little food preserves and the crews aboard each of them haven't been able to contact each other or Starfleet. The communication is down for unknown reasons; they've assumed there was too much interference from something in the Beta-Census station.

James Kirk is hungry. Second of all, he's angry. Third, he's unsure of what Starfleet is going to do when they find out what happened to the USS Enterprise.

Luckily—or perhaps unluckily—for him, Starbase 6 is within view and the shuttlecraft will dock within minutes.

"Well Jim, here we go," Bones says to him with little emotion.

"Here we go indeed. Do you think they're going to charge us with anything?"

The doctor draws back slightly. "They'd damn well better not. We haven't done anything wrong, Jim. I think that's what you're forgetting."

Kirk has the basis of an argument, but he decides not to make it.

The starbase which the crew of the Enterprise had gotten to know so well must realize they're here. A tractor beam has locked onto each craft and is pulling it in to a docking position.

"They will not reduce you from your status as captain," Spock informs Kirk.

He turns around to look at the Vulcan. "I know. I'm not as worried about that as you two think I am."

"You're worried about that ship, aren't you?" Bones asks.

Kirk has an urge to say 'bingo', but decides against it. "I'm not worried as much as…." He can't find the right word. He has too much pride to admit a lot about his feeling toward leaving the Enterprise, so he would rather drop the subject. "Leave it, Bones. Alright?"

The doctor shrugs. "Fine. At this point I'm more interested in talking about what we're going to do down there. Like eat."

"I had forgotten about the human characteristic of being easily influenced by the desire for food," Spock comments.

"I'd like to talk about eating too, Bones," Jim says, ignoring his first officer. "But I'm afraid we're going to have to discuss a few things with the Starfleet authority first."

The shuttlecraft has landed successfully and the door is opened by a bay docking officer who ushers the group of them out. No one says anything, despite the questions undoubtedly going through their minds, until they're inside the station itself.

They are greeted by an empty hallway. Kirk assumes he is supposed to go to Starfleet Command to report what happened to the Enterprise, but he's surprised no one is there to meet them.

"James Kirk."

He looks to the other end of the hall. Two men, both admirals, are approaching him and the others.

"Admirals," he says with a respectful nod, not knowing either of their names.

"I'm Admiral Exoden," the tall, older one on the right says. "Where's your ship? You weren't supposed to arrive back here yet, and we haven't gotten a message from you for a few days."

"That's a long story. We would have to explain it somewhere more convenient than a hallway."

"Very well, Captain, but we are supposed to have something to tell the rest of Starfleet as soon as we get back, so a short description would be appreciated."

Jim takes a deep breath. "Two new officers I had aboard the Enterprise, named Michelle Varn and Weslen Reves, were from a colony on Beta-Census Two. Their colony is trying to win a war and they wanted the USS Enterprise to do it. When they set the course to a space station, we couldn't get it off and were forced to evacuate."

He has a feeling he's going to have to give that description many times.

Admiral Exoden takes a moment to respond. "Accepted, Captain. I will relay the information to the authority and we will consider this in more detail in the morning. For now, you and your crew can find quarters and stay in this base."

"Thank you, Admiral."

McCoy

"You know that if I stay in captain position, they'll assign me to a different ship. A ship that isn't the Enterprise. They might put me in an Excelsior Class ship, or an Intrepid Class."

"I guess I've considered it. I don't like the idea too much either, but it's better than havin' no ship, right?"

"Of course." Jim lies on his back, his arm behind his head. "I never thought the journey to go where no one has gone before would lead to the destruction of my ship."

McCoy sighs. He's getting slightly tired of the fact that all Kirk can talk about is his ship. He's wondering if it would be better to go talk to the Vulcan.

"Jim, stop thinking about it. You're making this too hard on yourself."

"I'm not making it anything. I have no control over this." His tone isn't sharp or impatient; he's merely stating the facts.

"Well, Jim," Bones says after a moment of silence. "I'm about ready to turn in. You?"

"Same," he answers simply.

"Maybe they'll talk about reassigning us tomorrow."

"Probably," he says.

Bones stands up and heads for the door. "G'night, Jim."

"Good night, Bones," Jim replies.

Out in the hall, McCoy encounters Mister Spock.

"What are you doing?" he asks the Vulcan, who seems to be in a deep train of thought.

Spock looks up to him. "I was intending to speak with the captain."

"Jim's going to bed." He jerks his head to the left, indicating he wants Spock to follow him as he heads back to his quarters. Spock glances back at the captain's door before walking after McCoy.

"Jim seems pretty distracted ever since he left that ship, doesn't he?" Bones asks.

The first officer pauses, taking a moment to respond. Bones interprets this differently than Kirk probably would.

"Oh, right. You Vulcans aren't perceptive enough to realize something like that. On that subject, I was going to ask you how you feel about losing the Enterprise. But that was a stupid question. You feel nothing at all, do you, Vulcan?" Bones is actually aware that what he's saying is far from nice, and that Jim would get after him if he were here, but sometimes he can't help himself. And he wants to see Spock's reaction.

Spock stops walking with a sigh. McCoy stops and turns to look at him.

"You realize, Doctor, that you bring up this subject very frequently, correct?"

"Well…yes."

"Do you realize that I might not be interested in having this conversation?"

Bones isn't quite sure how to answer. Usually the Vulcan just takes the insults, not tries to stop him.

"Forget it, Spock," he says, feeling a bit bad. "I'll see you tomorrow at the meeting." He waits for him to respond, but gets nothing. Rolling his eyes, McCoy leaves Spock standing there and retires to his quarters.

Kirk

The meeting with Starfleet turns out to be longer than Kirk would like. The entire bridge crew was required to attend, and having Mr. Sulu, Mr. Chekov, Scotty, Lt. Uhura, Spock, and the captain all recount what happened in various levels of detail can take a very long time. The relief Jim gets before the meeting is over is that now Starfleet knows enough about the Beta-Census 2 dilemma to resolve it. It gives him hope, that just maybe, they can get to the Enterprise before it's reconstructed. Unfortunately, the back of his mind is telling him that they've already started to take the ship apart.

"We will gather the information for your reassignment within the next few days," Admiral Exoden says. "This may surprise you, or you may have already considered it, but more than likely, you will not all be appointed to the same ship."

Jim exchanges glances with Spock.

"Sir," he protests, "surely it wouldn't be difficult to get the bridge crew assigned together? And the medical officers?"

"More so than you might think. We don't have a ship right now that has the entire command crew absent."

Kirk shakes his head slightly, then nods in acceptance, knowing there's little to do.

"Any more statements to be made?" one of the officials asks.

No one replies.

"Very well. Meeting adjourned."

There's the sound of chairs sliding on the floor as everyone stands up to leave. Kirk keeps his place, holding onto McCoy's and Spock's arms to keep them from leaving.

"Spock, what's the likelihood of all three of us getting assigned to the same ship?" he says once the others have left.

Spock cocks his head in the gesture he makes when calculating something. "Eight point three percent."

Jim sighs. "Well, there you go. We probably won't get to be in the same ship. If not, we will probably only see each other about once an Earth month, most likely less."

Bones nods. "That isn't great. We can only hope that eight percent happens."

"Eight point three, Doctor," Spock corrects him.

"Oh, leave it, Spock," he retorts.

"I suppose we'll find out tomorrow," Kirk says to keep the two from arguing. "Or possibly later today. Until then, we can go back to our quarters and pretend nothing happened."

He starts to leave the room. Bones and Spock follow, but he lets the two go ahead and leaves the door to close behind them.

He sighs and turns around, leaning against the door and staring at the wall opposite him. He loves being a starship captain, but he can't imagine traveling the universe without Spock and McCoy at his side.

"Jim."

Kirk pushes away from the door and looks to his right. He can't help but smile when he sees who said his name.

Christopher Pike is standing at the other doorway to the room, looking neither happy nor displeased, as usual.

"I heard what happened," Pike says as Kirk walks over to him.

"Quite frankly, I'm tired of talking about it," Jim admits.

"Well, you're not done until you've talked to me," he says. "How about a drink?"

Pike

As usual, the bar is rowdy and smells of alcohol and smoke, with the quiet music from the corner being nearly drowned out by other noises.

"You know, there's more to a bar than women and beer, Jim," Pike says, watching the younger man eye a blond woman a few seats away.

Jim looks over to him. "There is?"

He hides his amusement, saying, "When you're not alone, yes."

Jim doesn't respond and merely stares into his half-full glass.

"You really liked that ship, didn't you?" Pike asks, knowing the answer.

"Do I really need to answer that?" he says, taking a swig of his beer and glancing back to the blond woman.

"You did the right thing by letting it go, Jim. You saved your crew, and now Starfleet can act as necessary to deal with whatever violence could arise at Beta-Census Two."

"My crew," the captain repeats, almost bitterly. "They won't be my crew much longer, Admiral. I probably won't get reassigned with Spock, much less the rest of the crew."

"Listen, I know this is stressful for you, but I'll see what I can talk Starfleet into as far as getting you your crew. Right—"

"You will?" he says hopefully, his eyes lighting up as though he were a decade younger than he actually is.

"I'll try," Christopher reminds him. "That doesn't mean I'll succeed. Right now, you're just going to have to buck up and deal with what you have. It could have turned out a lot worse."

"That's true," Kirk agrees, draining the rest of his beer.

"The Enterprise was a great ship. She served me well, and clearly did the same for you. But you'll find another. There are other ships in our fleet and you'll learn to appreciate whichever you're assigned to."

"Thank you," Jim says, something Pike can't remember hearing him say quite honestly before.

"Well, I can't stay, Jim. Admirals have more work to do than captains, I must admit. You can stay here." He stands up from his barstool and says, "Enjoy yourself." He has started to walk away when he decides to say, "But I advise you leave before you do something irresponsibly stupid."

Kirk

It's about when Kirk gets back from the bar, when afternoon would touch evening—were it Earth—that the doors to the captain's quarters open to reveal a young Starfleet ensign. She's holding the small, transparent screen that will contain Kirk's reassignment.

"Captain Kirk?" she says as he comes to the door.

"That would be I."

"Uh, I have the information of the ship you are appointed." The girl seems nervous talking to him, but he's not quite sure why. "Sir," she adds.

"Yes, go on," he says, smiling slightly to try to make her feel more comfortable. It doesn't seem to work. Regardless of the woman's reaction to him, his mind is leaping at the possibilities of his reassignment. He hopes, beyond caring what class ship he gets or anything else, that he's there with Spock and McCoy.

"You are assigned the USS Encounter," the ensign reads from the screen. She looks up. "NCC-2740. It's a Constitution Class ship. Its construction was completed not long ago, if I remember correctly."

"Thank you," he says. "Do you have any others' assignments on there?"

"Yes."

"Can you find the names Leonard McCoy, Spock, and Nyota Uhura?"

She looks back to her device and scrolls through a few. "Yes. Leonard McCoy is assigned to the USS Sentinel. Nyota Uhura is assigned to the USS Encounter. I don't have a Spock on here. Anything else, sir?"

"Montgomery Scott, Hikaru Sulu, and Pavel Chekov."

"Chekov, Pavel… USS Encounter. Hikaru Sulu is appointed to the USS Triton. No Montgomery Scott."

"Alright. That's all I need. Thank you."

She smiles anxiously and leaves.

The door closes behind her. Jim stares at it, not focusing on it at all, and says, "Damn it."

Spock

Spock is attempting to get his mind off of reassignment. He's telling himself that he should not care if he's appointed to a ship different from James Kirk's, but he knows that isn't true. He actually has a hard time imagining being anyone's first officer but Kirk's, nor does he want to imagine it.

Spock considers the chance of actually never seeing Jim again after they part ways—that is, if they end up on separate starships. It is certainly possible, in a galaxy this size and an organization as wide-spread as the Federation. Honestly, the idea makes him want to quit Starfleet altogether, and yet he knows that if he were to get a different ship from Captain Kirk, he would accept his duty, say his farewells, and continue as whoever's first officer he became.

The doors to his room open. "The damn eight percent didn't happen, Spock," Jim says as he takes a step into the room and leans against the wall.

Spock raises an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"I didn't get reassigned with Bones."

Spock is unsure what to say—a situation he doesn't like, but ends up in a lot around humans. In his fluency with words in such situations, he says, "It was eight point three percent, Captain."

Kirk sighs. "Irrelevant. I'm not assigned with Bones, Spock! I guess you don't relate to that a lot, but you still understand it."

"I assume the doctor knows?"

"Yes. We talked. He'll be on the Sentinel and he won't be terribly pleased about it. I'm now captain of the USS Encounter." He shakes his head. "That doesn't sound right at all. 'James T. Kirk of the USS Enter—Encounter.' I can't even say it right when I'm trying to."

Spock allows himself a moment to be curious as to what it would be like to let emotion show so easily. Make it so obvious and open that he's angry, or confused, or upset, or even cheerful. The thought actually evokes a level of discomfort in him.

Kirk tightens his jaw, as though he's holding back words, then says suddenly, "I really want to be on the same ship as you, Spock."

It takes the Vulcan a moment to realize why saying that seemed to be hard for him. But he sometimes forgets that even humans can find emotion hard to put into words.

He wonders whether or not now is a time to let his emotional guard down, but considering what he has just thought about it, he only says, "That makes sense. We have been on many missions together, and it is natural for a human to feel more comfortable near to those he is accustomed to being around. You'll eventually feel otherwise, Jim."

Kirk closes his eyes for a moment, as though embarrassed or amused, then opens them, saying, "Spock, no. That's not what I'm talking about. You know that. I mean… I mean you're my friend, and despite what Bones says about it, you return that feeling."

Spock supposes it is slightly futile to hide emotion around someone who already knows what he's feeling, but he sees little reason to change now. "You are right, Captain. But I'll hold to what I said: you will eventually feel otherwise."

"Well, anyway," Kirk says more brightly, "let's assume we do get assigned to the same ship. It's a Constitution Class, so I imagine it won't be too hard to get used to. We'll probably be put on the same sorts of missions as before, so it won't be that different without the Enterprise."

"One would assume."

Jim smiles. "Why are you so quiet, Spock?"

He's rather caught by the question aimed directly at him and, depending how he decides to answer, his thoughts. It takes him several seconds to respond. "I—I don't know, Captain."

Kirk chuckles. "I figured you would say that."

The door opens behind the captain and he turns around as Spock stands up.

"Mister Spock?" asks the man in the doorway.

Jim jerks his head over toward Spock.

Spock goes up to the door and Kirk stands aside for him. "Yes?"

"I have your reassignment, sir." Spock notices Kirk's right hand clench into a fist in anticipation. The man continues. "You are assigned to the USS Triton."

Kirk

"I'm impressed, actually," the man says absentmindedly as he scrolls through the list to look at other names. "There's been a lot of controversy about you, sir, being assigned to the USS Encounter. I'm surprised they chose the Triton instead."

Undoubtedly, Kirk decides, that would be Pike's argument. He's grateful that the admiral tried to convince Starfleet to put Spock in a different position, but aggravated that he didn't succeed.

"Very well," Spock says evenly. Kirk is amazed, and utterly unsurprised, that there's isn't a trace of a reaction in Spock's expression.

The man steps away and the doors close. Spock turns to Jim. "That is that, Captain."

"You're going to have to stop calling me that," Kirk says with a hint of forlornness in his voice. "I may be a captain, but I'm not your captain anymore."

Spock looks to the floor and says nothing.

In the desperation of getting out of a rather awkward situation, Kirk says, "Alright, well, we'll probably set off tomorrow. We might as well leave the goodbyes for tomorrow and turn in."

Spock nods, again, saying nothing. Kirk is beginning to wonder what's on his mind.

Captain's Log stardate 2373.2. This is my first entry from the USS Encounter. I have not actually seen the ship yet, but will shortly after this log is completed and I have met with the members of my old crew one more time. My first mission aboard the Encounter will be to investigate the Beta-Census 2 colony and determine if anything should be done there. I will be taking most of the journey alongside Thomas Drakely of the USS Venture.

Kirk hands off the recording device and continues to the place he and the bridge crew decided to meet.

He sees the medley of blue, yellow, and red uniforms as he approaches them and can't help but smile sadly. For some reason—probably his being a captain—they have all been waiting for him, and are talking amongst themselves until Scotty speaks.

"Captain! You're a bit late, you know."

Jim realizes, in a moment of stupidity, that he had never asked again for what ship Scotty was assigned to. "Mr. Scott, what ship—"

"The USS Encounter," he says, beaming.

Kirk grins, but the expression fades as he turns to Mr. Sulu, McCoy, and Spock. "I suppose this is goodbye, then."

"It's been a great pleasure being your lieutenant, Captain," Sulu says. "I hope we get to work together again in the future."

"I do too," Kirk says quietly, patting Sulu's shoulder. He turns to McCoy. "I'm going to miss you, Bones."

McCoy looks somewhat surprised, not as though he didn't know that, but more as though he doesn't know how to respond. "Well, Jim. Yes. We'll meet up again before long, I'm sure. I'll be working with Christine, at least, but it won't be the same without you."

"Thanks, Bones. I have a feeling I'll be hesitant to meet my new medical officer."

"At least I won't have a captain who's so damn accident-prone," Bones points out with a slightly amused expression. "I might get a little free time."

Kirk smiles, knowing the doctor doesn't really mean it.

Now it's Spock. Jim has been dreading his farewell with Spock, just because he feels like he won't get enough of a reaction out of the Vulcan for it to feel genuinely final. And yet, he doesn't want this to feel like the end. He just doesn't want remember a failure of a conversation with his best friend right before they part ways, probably for almost a year.

"Spock," is all he says at first, wanting the Vulcan to start the conversation for once.

"We have served together for quite some time, Capt—Jim."

"I know," Kirk says. "I grew up never quite finding my place. Being on the Enterprise with you, Bones, the rest of my crew… that changed it. The feeling of solidity never left after that. I hope I don't lose it now."

Spock stands, silent. Kirk assumes he's unsure of what to say after an emotional statement like that. Trying to change the subject, he says, "You've been so quiet lately, Spock. What's on your mind?"

"I would rather not discuss it here," he says without looking at Jim.

"Well, we're not going to get another chance, are we?" He takes Spock's arm and drags him away from the others. He knows he should probably be reporting to his new ship by now, but he doesn't want to rush away from any members of his old crew. "What is it, Spock?"

"I assure you, Captain, it is quite irrelevant. I have merely been considering something. It should not be a concern."

"Spock…." Kirk sighs. "Friends confide in each other, you know," he says, trying to tempt the Vulcan into talking. "Even if it feels strange at first."

"Captain," Spock says, his subtle expression suggesting he would like to not be in this situation, "I've been considering Doctor McCoy's words."

Oh, no. "When?"

As Spock begins talking, his tone starts to reveal that he's actually quite aggravated that he's going to admit this, but he speaks anyway. "The night we returned to this base. McCoy acted as though he wanted to speak with me in the hall, and yet one of the first things he brought up was that Vulcans are unperceptive in human emotion… and most of anything else. He also said, as he has before, that we do not feel anything. I know that to be quite untrue, but I have been pondering what he said ever since."

Damn you, Bones. You think Vulcans are unperceptive? "What, is he beginning to convince you you don't feel?"

"No, Captain. It is more that I don't want…. I am beginning to not want to seem that way." Kirk notices that Spock's dialogue is getting steadily more formal, which he interprets to be because he's uncomfortable. "I have had the choice, many times throughout my life, to choose to be human instead of Vulcan, and yet I have treaded the thin line in between. It is an interesting privilege to be in both worlds, but also a difficulty."

Jim is silent for a long moment. He doesn't know how to tell Spock that it's a decision only he can make, because he knows Spock is already aware of that.

"Why have I chosen to make this emotionless mask, Jim? Why have I chosen to be Vulcan?" The questions are not delivered in a pleading way, but the expression in Spock's eyes suggests that this struggle goes far beyond Bones's words.

"Spock, I…." He trails off, not wanting to irritate the Vulcan by saying something exceptionally unhelpful. "Spock—"

"James Kirk! Captain," a woman calls from across the room. She jogs up to him and Spock. Judging by the fact that she's wearing blue and has two silver bands across each of her sleeves, Jim guesses that she's his new first officer, Commander Emara.

The sharp-faced woman continues, "The USS Encounter has docked and everyone is aboard already. We are waiting for you, Captain. There's another ship docking in just a few minutes, so we need to leave her soon."

She stands, waiting. Kirk knows he isn't going to get to finish his conversation with Spock. Although the woman waiting for him would be nice, it's going to keep him from any privacy with the Vulcan.

Kirk would like to cuss, but doesn't to keep the impression he creates for professional purposes. "It appears I need to go," he says, turning back to Spock. "I guess… bye, Spock."

"Goodbye, Jim," Spock says, retaining emotionlessness again, probably more out of habit than choice. And yet despite it, Kirk can tell the Vulcan is unhappy, and he can't help but return that dissatisfaction with Starfleet's decision.

Kirk gives a slight wave to the other two friends he's leaving behind, and a small expression directed at Bones.

Then he gestures for Uhura, Scotty, and Chekov to follow him and First Officer Emara as they head to the USS Encounter. He tells himself, as he walks away, not to look back.

McCoy

Bones watches Jim, Lt. Uhura, Mr. Chekov, and Scotty as they disappear around the corner of the long hallway. He hopes it isn't too long until he sees Jim again. Or the others, for that matter.

Mister Spock is looking after the departing crew with a slightly raised eyebrow, more as though he's thinking about integers instead of his separation from Jim.

"Well, Mister Spock, it looks like this a goodbye between us too."

Spock turns to him. "Indeed, Doctor."

McCoy tries not to get exasperated by the Vulcan's emotionless delivery of the line. "It's been a… interesting experience going on missions with you," Bones observes. "You're a good first officer. I think, uh…." He breaks off, not quite willing to say what he was planning to. "I hope we'll meet up again soon."

"Returned, Doctor. Now I really must go. The USS Triton was scheduled to leave this station at the same time as the Encounter. I would prefer not to be late."

Bones resists the urge to sigh at Spock's insufferable sense of duty. He considers saying more, but doesn't get to as, with a slight nod, Spock leaves for the docking station of the Triton.

Mr. Sulu looks at McCoy. Then he shrugs and starts after Spock.

McCoy is left standing there, alone, in the middle of the long, cement-floored hallway. He envies Kirk for getting to have Scotty, Chekov, and Uhura all on his ship with him. For Bones, it's just Christine.

He goes to the turbolift that will take him the USS Sentinel. He knows Chapel will be there waiting for him, but the thought of a captain other than Kirk commanding him is somewhat depressing. Or, he can't help but admit, a first officer other than Spock.

The ship is in the Sovereign Class, with a dark gray hull, a deflector plate attached almost directly to the saucer, and two thin warp nacelles. It's a lot longer than the Enterprise, though not as wide. The massive letters and numbers on the saucer read: NCC-17331. Its body is directly connected to the saucer, which makes it look very different from the NCC-1701. Strange though it is, it seems to Bones like a more… formal ship, less homely. Not, he tries to tell himself, that he was particularly emotionally attached to the Enterprise. He realizes that's a kind of Vulcan-ish thing to think.

The communicator on his belt beeps. He grabs it and flips it open. "Doctor McCoy here."

"We're prepared to beam you in, sir," says an unfamiliar voice.

"I'm ready," he replies.

Kirk

He has to admit it: the USS Encounter is a beautiful ship. He can tell it's new as well; its hull is a light gray, like the Enterprise's had been, but with a more metal-like sheen. It's smaller than his old ship, probably a middle-weight cruiser. Everywhere that on the Enterprise was blue, (the lights along the warp nacelles, the deflection generator, the lighting around the saucer) is a light green. Kirk notices, upon sight, so many tiny differences between the two ships; the support pylons are shorter, the saucer is very slightly more oval shaped, it has more window screens, and so on. It makes him realize just how well he knew his beloved Enterprise.

The interior of the ship, when he reaches it, is so strikingly similar to the Enterprise that he gets a sensation of nostalgia. The Encounter has new technology the other ship didn't, which makes Kirk bitter for some reason. Visually attractive and technologically advanced as this ship may be, it is not the Enterprise, nor will it ever be.

Jim tries to keep Pike's words about growing fond of a different ship in his head, but he keeps finding things in the Encounter that he doesn't like very much.

"It's an honor to have you as our captain," his first officer says as they exit the transporter room and head for the bridge. "We have heard a lot about your experience and skill aboard the USS Enterprise."

Kirk nods, not entirely sure what to say.

"I admit I know very little about you," Emara says, "but I think you'll grow to like this ship."

"It is quite impressive," he says honestly, though his tone suggests more than he's actually feeling.

They enter the bridge and start to take their respective positions. Thankfully, despite the fact that this ship is newer than the Enterprise, all of the stations are in the same location.

Kirk sits down in the captain's chair, which is stiff from lack of use, and prepares for the journey to Beta-Census 2.

"Reverse impulse engines, Mr. Sul—oh. Uh, I'm sorry, what's your name?" Damn habit.

The man turns around. Jim is surprised to see that he has pointed ears and slanted eyebrows. "Mr. Senvik, sir."

"Ah, you… must be a Vulcan."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, reverse impulse power, Mr. Senvik."

Uhura

Nyota listens to the captain record a log as she continues familiarizing herself with the controls on the Encounter.

Captain's Log stardate 2372.8. The USS Encounter is nearing the space station on Beta-Census 2 after our brief rendezvous with the USS Venture. We hope that we have arrived before the…before the completion of the reconstructed Enterprise, but are also assuming we can deal with the warship if it comes.

Uhura glances behind her at the visual. She can see the glow of the Beta-Census star, which is now significantly bigger than the other small dots of light on the screen.

While the Encounter approaches the solar system at warp speed two, slowing as they continue over the outmost asteroid belt, Uhura thinks back to the conversation she had with Mister Spock just before the captain came up to say farewell to him.

"It seems ill-fated that we're getting separated now, doesn't it? The others and I will be away from Mr. Sulu and yourself, and all of us will be away from Dr. McCoy." Uhura doesn't really expect a response, or at least not one suggesting what Spock really thinks about the situation.

"It is hardly ill fate, Lieutenant. I am assigned to my ship, you and the ca—Kirk to yours. It is perhaps more interesting to observe that this may be the last time we are all in one place together."

Spock seems distracted, despite his over-technicality in his words, and Nyota wonders why, though she knows she'll never get an answer out of him.

Regardless of her curiosity, she can't help be smile at his complete Spock-ness. "It was more of a comment, Mister Spock, than an analysis of our future meetings."

"I see," he replies, his eyebrows slightly raised, almost as though he were amused. Then he remains silent.

"Mister Spock," she carries on, not quite willing to let the conversation drop, "do Vulcans desire to see others when they're not around them? I mean… do they miss people?" She thinks of Spock's close—though subtle—friendship with the captain.

He bristles slightly. "Vulcans are not as terribly different from human as you seem to think. We feel; we just do not show it."

Nyota frowns. "I didn't mean to insult you, I was just curious."

Spock, seemingly unaware of what she said, is looking surprised. Uhura's not sure why, and isn't entirely willing to ask. But when she sees that Captain Kirk is headed their way, she decides to wrap up the conversation and says, "It was nice having you as our first officer. I think it won't be quite the same without you." She realizes, as if Spock's technicality is wearing off on her, that of course nothing would be the exact same as it was with him as first officer; purely because he wasn't first officer. She hopes he doesn't point this out.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," is all he says.

It's good enough for her.

Right as Uhura finishes her thought train, something bright flares on the visual. She looks up and sees several small spacecraft lined up in a semicircle near the planet Beta-Census 2. They're vaguely rectangular, just with a pointed front, with two warp engines sticking out parallel to the sides. They're facing another set of spaceships, a fleet of considerably larger ones, though they look more primitive.

"Lieutenant Uhura, open communication with the Venture."

She adjusts the frequency of her communication waves and sends them to the USS Venture, which is only now passing over the asteroid belt. "Hailing frequency open, sir."

"Captain Drakely," Kirk says, "are you seeing this?"

"Activating visual now," the voice replies. There's a pause, then, "What the…. Is this face-off between this alien species and the Beta-Census colony?"

"It seems that way," the captain replies. "At least that space station seems inactive. Alright, I'm going to try to communicate with the humans in the crafts. Kirk out."

Uhura cocks her head, having never heard the captain say 'Kirk out' to anyone but his crew members, and shuts the frequency off. She supposes he said it because, since he has so few of the crew members he's familiar with aboard the Encounter with him, he's willing to just say it to anyone. It reminds her how… out-of-element they are in this ship.

Kirk

There's no stand-off between the aliens and the humans' ships anymore; someone started firing, and chaos ensues from it. The small ships made by the inhabitants of Beta-Census 2 are not well equipped for battle. It seems their warp nacelles are particularly prone to blowing up, and they don't have a very large array of weapons. The only thing they have to their advantage is their quantity.

"Uhura, can you open a channel into those ships?" Kirk doesn't turn around to look at her, but can hear the clicking of her switches.

"No, sir. It doesn't seem they can even receive the signals."

"Great," he mutters sarcastically. "I see no point in contacting the aliens; it isn't as though we can just tell them to back off and expect them to do so."

"Not necessarily," Commander Emara contradicts. "You could attempt to threaten them. We do have superior weapons, according to the sensors."

Kirk has to admit she has a good point. "Alright. Lieutenant, open a channel to the alien vessels."

"Channel open, sir."

"You're probably going to have to activate the translator. Universal," he adds. "This is James T. Kirk of the USS Enter—Encounter. The USS Encounter," he repeats, irritated that he got the name wrong again. "We have two different forms of weaponry that are fully activated, though not aimed on your ships. State your motives in this battle."

A voice comes back, although it comes out slightly garbled at first as the translators start to become active. "These life forms have trespassed in our solar system. They did it long ago, but it was only truly a concern of ours when they took to space once again. We now intend to drive them out. You will not interfere. This is our dispute, not yours." Because of the alien's low-pitched, mechanical voice, there isn't any emotion in its lines, but Jim can guess that they fully anticipate not being interrupted.

He's about to continue, to see if he can't talk any sense into the creature, but just then the Encounter shakes from some sort of energy wave.

"Commander Emara, what was that?" he demands, gesturing for Uhura to shut the communication off.

His first officer checks her scanners. "That was a blast from some sort of weapon. It looks like the shot hit the Venture."

"Where did it come from?"

"There's another ship directly behind us. It looks like it just came from that space station."

Kirk's breath catches in his throat for just a moment before he swallows it down and orders coolly, "Contact the Venture and see what their damage report is, Lieutenant Uhura. Mr. Chekov, opposite degree visual."

The visual flickers to a different view. Behind the two ships, the Encounter and the Venture, is another ship, a large, bulky mass of dark gray material. It takes Kirk a moment to recognize it.

But he does.

It was the USS Enterprise.

Except it isn't anymore.

Upon the recognition of the vessel, Jim's hands clench into fists so hard his fingernails dig into his palms and they begin to hurt. He doesn't care. Seeing the Enterprise so mutilated and… altered… It's purely infuriating to him. It's like being forced to leave a house, a home, one day, and upon finally getting back… All that's left is a warped skeleton. With six guns added in.

They've kept the Enterprise's main build: its saucer, its warp nacelles, and its almost cylindrical body, but have changed almost everything else.

The nacelles have been positioned down on either side of the body, and the front deflector dish has clearly been changed into a giant phaser bank. It's glowing red now, while most of the other numerous guns placed on various places above and below the Enterprise's saucer glow blue.

Considerable bulk has been attached to the saucer and body: large, dark gray plates that aren't completely smooth surround any area that doesn't have a weapon. The words and numbers on the saucer have been covered by such plates, and instead painted there are two letters, a number, and a word in a language Kirk doesn't understand: BC-2 Lanchekar.

Captain Kirk is surprised at how much he wants to punch something, break something. He feels like it's entirely his fault that they've ruined the Enterprise, and he hates that feeling of blame.

The Lanchekar shoots at the Venture again. Jim pulls his mind out of his fury at what they've done and realizes: the ship that used to be the Enterprise is starting to fire on them. With what he can assume by looking at the warship, it's going to damn near impossible to block a hit from the thing, and damn near impossible to damage it.

USS Encounter

The aft phasers are being prepared in the Encounter, but the Venture is having difficulties from the hit it took to its shield near the shuttle docking bay. The BC-2 Lanchekar is powering up its frontal phaser generator, and aiming it at the Venture. Meanwhile, the photon torpedoes and disruptor-like weapons on the saucer are beginning to pepper the ship's deflector shield, weakening it by the second.

The command crew of the Encounter is trying desperately to get a hit on the Lanchekar, attempting to protect the Venture, a considerably older ship, but is having no success. The phasers are hitting the larger ship's hull, but it's taking no damage.

The captain inside the Encounter is familiar with this feeling. This feeling of helpless uselessness is far from unacquainted with him; that fact just makes the situation no better.

The Venture has managed to ready its aft torpedo bay and fire at the Lanchekar. The bulky warship takes the hit on the front of its saucer, which actually causes some damage. This is a lesson to the Encounter and its crew, as it soon sends its own torpedo at that very place. There's a violent and silent explosion and piece of the metal plating around the Lanchekar snaps off into space, revealing the light gray coloring of the USS Enterprise.

The warship activates its impulse engines. They flare unnecessarily brightly as they attempt to function, then the ship shoots forward, straight for the Venture and the Encounter. The former deals with this with some amount of expertise, swinging to the side and letting the warship pass. The Encounter, with all of its crew members being fairly new to the recently-built starship's controls, is not as fortunate. The captain gives the order for evasive action, but one of the helmsmen is too slow in reacting; the Lanchekar crashes into the Encounter's right warp nacelle, leaving a deep, blackened scratch on the new ship's exterior. The war machine takes no damage, hitting the Encounter's saucer as well and rendering one of the decks useless without so much as a scratch to its own hull.

The Venture closes in for an attack, but its timing is horrible. It fires its phasers several times, hitting the Lanchekar's rear weapon bay, but accomplishes nothing. The dark ship slowly turns itself around. Finally seeing a tactical advantage it may have, the Venture begins to split in two, its saucer separating from its body. The saucer section gets away, but as the warship completes its 180 degree turn, its deflector-plate phaser finishes drawing power and fires on the Venture's body. The entire thing blows up, utterly silent, and sends the three ships around it—one only being a saucer—rocking from the energy blast.

When the flame dies, nothing of the second half of the USS Venture remains.

Chekov

Chekov goes pale. He has just witnessed, as the rest of the bridge crew has, the destruction of a vessel—or rather, half of one—with a single shot. With one shot, the entire ship was blown up and hundreds of people were killed. The shot wasn't particularly well-aimed, but it was so powerful it destroyed the Venture's body within seconds. Pavel knows instantly that if the Encounter is hit anywhere on its hull by those giant phasers, it will be destroyed without a second chance.

Captain Kirk is breathing heavily, probably from stress and apprehension. He's staring at the visual, his expression stiff and unreadable.

Beside Chekov, the Vulcan named Mr. Senvik is calm and unaffected by what just happened. His indecipherable expression, his dark eyes, and his dark hair remind Chekov of Spock. It's only his considerably different features and the fact that he has facial hair that sets him apart.

"Captain," Lt. Uhura says shakily, "should I try to contact the… the Lanchekar?"

At first Kirk doesn't answer. He's still watching the screen unwaveringly, where the side of the old USS Enterprise and the saucer of the Venture are visible. Then he says, pulling himself out of whatever thought train he was in, "Yes. Figure out who's commanding that bastard."

Before Uhura gets the signal open, a hailing frequency enters the Encounter from what's left of the Venture.

"Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk, do you read me?"

"I hear you, Drakely," Kirk answers.

From what Chekov can tell of the other captain's voice, he's shaken from the deaths of so many of his crew. Chekov can't blame him. He can't imagine feeling like all that blood—figuratively, considering the deaths were instant and probably painless—is on his hands. It reminds him why he doesn't want to be a starship captain.

"Our sensors are telling us it's possible that the ship could be destroyed if we hit it with a phaser beam, right into that—whatever—that used to be the deflector. It might cause an explosion large enough to destroy the entire ship."

Kirk frowns, looking surprised. "I would be hesitant to do that if I were you. You don't know who all is on that ship, and you don't know how big the explosion would be."

"That's the only problem. My science officer and I are assuming that the explosion would be enough to destroy whichever ship is close enough to hit it."

The captain shakes his head, even though Drakely can't see him. "No. Besides, your ship might get blown up before you can even fire. We don't know how long it takes for that phaser cannon to prepare itself."

"Well then I'd better not waste any time. I'm going to try to hit it. I advise you get far away from here. Will you transport as many members of my crew as possible to your ship before I try this?"

"I refuse," Kirk says. Chekov is surprised; he almost feels like the captain is condemning the other crew members to death. But he also realizes Kirk's motive: he thinks that if he refuses to transport the crew, Drakely will decide against his idea.

"Kirk, we don't have another choice. Just get my crew to your ship and let's end this."

"Captain, these people don't need to die," Kirk says firmly. "You can't destroy that entire ship, no matter what the hell they've done to it. You might end up killing not only their whole crew, but yours and possibly mine as well."

Drakely doesn't respond. Instead, the captain's chair beeps. Kirk presses the button to answer and the voice of the female transport officer, whose name Chekov doesn't know, says, "The Venture is using our transporter. It looks like they're beaming in twelve people or so."

Kirk hits the button again to shut off the communication. "Don't try this. It's a terrible idea, Drakely," he says insistently. "It'll never work."

Regardless, the transporter officer reports that another twelve people are being beamed in. Up on the visual, the saucer of the Galaxy Class ship is heading toward the Lanchekar, positioning itself directly in front of it….

Chekov realizes the ships are nearly off the screen now. He looks down at his controls to fix it, but Lt. Uhura is already adjusting it. He watches the screen as the phaser banks on the front of the Venture start to glow.

"Mr. Senvik," the captain says, his voice sounding panicked, "reverse warp engines. Get us away from here."

"Yes, sir," the Vulcan answers calmly. Despite his laid-back tone, Senvik works quickly to back up the Encounter, probably because they don't have time for anything but speed.

The warp power sends the Encounter shooting backward as the captain says, "Transporter room, try to lock onto the coordinates of as many people from that ship as you can. Get them in here before Drakely fires his phasers."

"Trying now, sir."

Chekov watches in anxious fear as the Venture fires its phasers. The laser never hits the war machine as a shot from the Lanchekar hits the front of the helpless Venture. The saucer section of the ship explodes and is gone within instants.

Pavel looks back at the captain in horror. Kirk's eyes are closed; Chekov assumes he never even saw the ship blow up.

"Transporter room," Kirk says slowly without opening his eyes, "how many did you get?"

The voice of the woman is choked. "Six, sir."

Kirk

The Encounter is now facing the ruined Enterprise alone. Just judging by the looks of them, the three guns on top of the Lanchekar's saucer and three below, along with the standard photon torpedoes, are all prepared and are slowly being aimed at the bridge of Kirk's ship.

"Sir, I'm getting a communication signal. The captain of the Lanchekar wants to talk to you."

"Put it on audio," he snaps, though the vehemence isn't directed at Uhura.

"There's a visual as well," she adds more quietly.

"On screen."

The visual turns on as a man starts talking. The background behind him is similar to the way Jim remembers it; it's still the Enterprise's bridge, which is probably why it takes him a while to actually notice the man speaking. "You have little choice except to surrender or die, Captain…" Surprise registers on the man's face. "Kirk."

It's Reves. He looks different from the last time Kirk saw him, though it has been only a few days. He appears almost as though he's aged, though it's only because he looks tired and unkempt. He also seems to have hints of a constant kind of anger in his eyes.

"I was not here with the intention of violence," Jim says through gritted teeth, "if you hadn't fired on that ship, something more reasonable might have been negotiated between us. But seeing as you have now destroyed an entire crew of people, you will have the Federation of Planets to deal with, regardless of what you do to me. It would actually be more reasonable if you were to leave me alone. That way, you could at least have the deaths of only one starship crew on your hands, not two."

"But you are an intelligent man, James T. Kirk," Reves spits, "and you would not let this go untouched. If I leave you alive, you will ruin my plan and make our war more difficult."

"You've done that on your own," Kirk interrupts, "by making the Federation your enemy. You can't expect to be able to fight Starfleet any better than you can fight the first inhabitants of the Beta-Census solar system. You know our power, don't you?"

"Then what do you suggest I do, James Kirk?" Reves challenges.

Kirk remains silent. His mind isn't working fast enough to come up with a reply.

"Rather what I thought. What you fail to realize is that I have the power of your old starship, as well as the additions we've put on. We have created a war machine, and it cannot be matched by any of your Starfleet vessels."

"Where's Varn?" Kirk demands suddenly.

Lieutenant—or rather, Captain Reves tenses. "Dead. She died only just before you intervened. Her ship—was one of the first to be destroyed."

The communication signal ceases. There's no dramatic speech, no warning, no nothing. The visual and the audio are suddenly off, and Kirk knows that it's nothing Lieutenant Uhura has done.

"Turn the visual back to our anterior," he orders. The screen turns back to the view in front of the Encounter.

The Lanchekar must be powering up its main phaser cannon again. The red dish is glowing slightly brighter than a moment ago. Noticeable, but subtle.

"Prepare phaser banks," the captain orders. "Fire at the points that seem the weakest. And for god's sake, Mr. Chekov, evasive action."

"Captain," First Officer Emara protests, aghast, "wouldn't it be wiser to surrender?"

"Commander Emara," Kirk says emotionlessly, "if there is one thing you should learn about me…. It's that I never surrender."

Captain's Log stardate 2372.1. It seems an ill-suited time for me to record a log, but I have little to do as the battle between the Encounter and the ship that used to be the USS Enterprise, renamed the Lanchekar, persists. The main reason for my entry is that, should my vessel be destroyed and my new crew killed, some record of what happened should be preserved. The BC-2 Lanchekar is a warship nearly undefeatable by our Constitution Class cruiser, and I have issued a brief distress call to the other ships in the region, but there has been no response.

The Encounter takes a hit to its deflector. The shields were broken a few moments ago; since, the warship's weapons have been spraying shots at various places on the smaller vessel.

The bridge shudders hard enough Kirk has to clutch his chair to keep from being thrown off of it.

"Damage report, Mr. Scott," he orders through his communications panel. Scotty went down to engineering some time ago, fearing that he would be needed there before he would be needed in the bridge.

"We're hangin' on, sir. Our engine power is spluttering; it seems we've taken a few hits too many to the nacelles, but otherwise we're still capable of that evasive action the helmsmen keep demanding. The Encounter can take a few more hits than the Enterprise, I think. Not that I'm growing fond of it, of course, sir."

Were he in a more lively situation, Kirk would smile. This time, he only says, "Not our concern right now, Mr. Scott. Thank you." He clicks the communication off.

The bridge jerks again. Kirk tenses, wondering how long the Encounter can hold on at this rate.

"Captain," says the cool voice of Mr. Senvik, "the opposing ship has hit both of our photon torpedo tubes. I do not believe any more of them are able to be fired."

Kirk wants to swear. The only successful, damaging hits they've had on the Lanchekar have been with the photon torpedoes. To have them deactivated now….

Suddenly the visual turns to a different view and communication signals enter the Encounter.

"You have time to surrender, James Kirk," Captain Reves says. "It is still an option."

He stands up and says with a stubborn pride only James Kirk can conjure, "I will not."

"Then I will destroy your vessel. It shall only take one shot."

The visual returns to the view of space and Jim notices that the red deflector-phaser is glowing brightly. It's about to fire.

"Helmsman," he says to Senvik, "can you swing us to the right in time?"

"I cannot," the Vulcan says. For the first time, a small portion of emotion is hinted in his tone. "They seem to have a tractor beam on us, locking us into place."

Kirk stares at the visual, suddenly realizing that this is going to be the last thing he ever sees. He turns to face his new crew, glancing at each of their faces, some familiar, some unfamiliar, and says, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Captain," Emara says, her voice laced with fear, "why can't you surrender?"

"I could have," he admits, his voice quiet and low. "But if I tried now, it would be too late."

He looks back to the screen. The phaser is glowing brightly enough now he knows it's only seconds away from firing. He wants to close his eyes, but refuses to hide from the death he has condemned himself and his crew to.

The shot is fired. There's a huge explosion in front of the Encounter, forcing it backward about a kilometer. Something dark and fast-moving sails into view of the visual, then whips away off the left-hand side.

"Mr. Chekov," Kirk says, startled, "track that moving object with the visual. Magnify."

"Yes… sir," Chekov answers distractedly.

The visual locks onto the object and follows it as it loops back and fires at the Lanchekar. It's a starship with the number 80106 on its saucer. Kirk doesn't recognize that number, but he assumes this is a ship answering their distress call.

The shot at the warship is well-placed: it hits the back of its left nacelle. With another eruption of fire, the nacelle bursts into multiple pieces that float beside the Lanchekar's body. The cumbersomely sized ship tries to turn to get a shot on its new assailant, but the other ship is far too agile. It circles around, getting closer to the war machine and firing continuously. It sweeps up above the ship, facing upward, and fires its aft phasers down near the Lanchekar's bridge. The Federation ship is fired on, several times, but that hardly slows it down. It does a backflip, pointing its frontal phaser array at its opponent's underside and fires at the saucer. The shot must have hit an unprotected section of the ship, because there's a flash of an almost electric-like light and the warship goes still.

The starship backs up and rises slowly, across the Lanchekar from Kirk's ship, and turns its saucer to face the Encounter. Kirk cannot help but wonder who is commanding this ship, and cannot help but be impressed.

Now that the energetic ship is finally still, he can read the words on its saucer above the numbers he has seen a moment ago: USS Triton.

"Sir."

He turns around to look at his communications officer. She's grinning. "Yes, Lieutenant Uhura?"

"I'm getting a communication frequency and an offered visual. Should I put them on?"

"Of course," he replies.

She clicks a button. "Activated, sir."

"What a pleasure it is to see you, Captain."

Kirk stares at the visual. He knew this was what he was going to get as soon as he saw that ship name, but there are still questions spinning through his mind. "Spock. Spock, why are—how…." He shakes his head. "Where's your captain?" he asks almost condescendingly.

A tiny hint of a smile plays on Spock's lips. "In my own opinion, I am looking right at him. However, if you mean the rightful captain of this vessel, he is here in the bridge with me, just standing aside. He confessed he is new to being a starship captain and admitted he was aware of my superior experience. When I offered to answer to your distress call and attempt to deal with the situation myself, he accepted."

"You arrogant bastard," Jim says, trying to hide his smirk. "Why didn't you respond? You reacted, but I had no warning you were coming."

Spock frowns as if this should be blatantly obvious. "If I contacted you, Captain… Kirk, I would have alerted the enemy vessel of my presence."

"Good point. Speaking of that vessel… Commander Emara, scan the Lanchekar and see what it's still capable of after the attack from the Triton."

She turns to her screens and scans the enemy ship. "All of its upper weapons are still functional. However, its lower ones are disabled and it's incapable of motion."

Kirk raises his eyebrows. Somehow, Spock and his logic managed to render the Lanchekar almost disabled with only a few shots.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, Mister Spock," Kirk says, turning back to the visual, "I have some threatening to do." The Vulcan nods and Jim gestures for Uhura to cut off the visual. "Mr. Senvik, prepare all phaser banks and aim at the Ent—Lanchekar. Don't fire. Lieutenant Uhura, contact it again."

"Aye, aye, sir," she replies.

Reves responds to the signal, but doesn't offer a visual. "Are you attempting to threaten me, Captain Kirk?"

"I am," Jim answers, somewhat conversationally. "Reves, you're outnumbered. You've been outmaneuvered, and we could do that again. You're also outgunned. What are your odds?"

The man makes a growling noise. "Low. But you are a heartless man, Kirk. You realize, and yet refuse to react to, the fact that we can't win this battle, this war, without the Lanchekar. You try to destroy it and the people who have died trying to protect its construction will have done so in vain."

"Those men and women died trying to end your so-called war. Give up my—your ship, and we can convince the aliens to leave you alone without any more violence."

There's a sigh from the other end of the communication. "You are right, Captain. But I am unsure that you can actually convince them to stop."

Jim raises an eyebrow. "You're just going to have to trust me."

A long pause meets his sentence. "Prove that I can."

The captain hesitates. "Mr. Senvik, lower shields and disengage all phaser banks."

"But sir," Senvik says with some confusion in his voice, "that is illogical. We do not know that the phaser on our opponent's ship is dysfunctional."

"Follow your order, please, Mr. Senvik," Kirk says firmly.

The Vulcan raises his eyebrows and turns back to his controls.

"Lieutenant Uhura, contact Spock and tell him to do the same."

Frowning, she nods and does so. After a moment, she turns back with a small smile and says, "He says that is highly illogical. But he's going to do it anyway."

Kirk sits back on his chair and waits. After a moment he says, since the channel is still open, "Do you trust me well enough, Captain Reves?"

A frustrated sigh meets his question. "I see no reason I should, but I do. Very well. You may do as necessary to this vessel. Can you transport my crew to your ship? I have only about a hundred people."

Kirk tenses. Last time he had that request, he failed and the weight of hundreds of deaths were indirectly on his shoulders. And yet he knows he has far more control over the situation this time, so he says, "Yes. It will take some time, but it's possible."

Spock

Spock waits in the bridge of the USS Triton. He knows Kirk will handle the rest of what needs to be done, but his mind is still assessing the logically negative possibilities of what could happen. So far, there is a comfortably few amount.

"Spock, we've got the rest of Reves's crew. We're ready to deal with those alien life-forms."

"Accepted, Captain. Now how… exactly, do you intend to do that?"

"Well, in case you haven't checked your visual, the battle seemed to have slowed considerably. I actually believe they were depending on us to display the outcome. From what I can tell, and what the few communication signals between their vessels can tell, they believe that if we are destroyed, then the Lanchekar has had a victory. If it has, they would think that the humans can defeat them. As of right now, it appears we have won."

"But if it doesn't…" Spock says, catching on to Kirk's plan immediately.

"Exactly," the captain says slyly.

Strangely, Spock is having a hard time resisting the temptation to smile.

"Make something blow up," Kirk continues. "Shoot a photon torpedo as I activate my phasers. We're going to have to synchronize this perfectly. As soon as the explosion goes off, shut down all your power."

"Lieutenant," he orders Mr. Sulu, "prepare a photon torpedo. Whenever you're ready, Captain. Kirk."

"Ready. On three." The countdown proceeds and the shots are fired simultaneously. There's an explosion as they connect and it engulfs the space between the two ships.

"Lieutenant," Spock orders the engineering officer, "shut off all main power, deactivate engines, and keep shields lowered."

"Yes, sir," she says.

"But Captain," Spock says, turning back to the visual, "are you going to beam aboard the Enterprise?"

"Not the Enterprise," the captain corrects, an emotion Spock doesn't immediately identify twisted into his voice. "The Lanchekar. But yes. And I'll take Scotty with me."

Spock nods. "Is your power off now?"

"It is, and I'm going to get ready to beam in soon."

"Captain, I must say, this is an unanticipated stroke of intelligence."

"Why, Spock. I would take that as a compliment, except I'm not fond of that word 'unanticipated'. You should have a little more faith in me." He smiles before saying, "Kirk out."

Scott

"How do the engines look?"

"Well, about how you would expect, sir," Mr. Scott reports. "One of them is completely gone, so not well."

"Can you still get this thing to move?"

"I can't imagine why not. Surely, sir, you don't think the lack of an engine can slow me down, do you?"

The captain smiles. "I would never jump to such an unfounded conclusion."

It's kind of hard for Scotty to be on the bridge, despite his outwardly positive mood. It feels so much like he's on the Enterprise, the real Enterprise, and yet he isn't. The ship has been converted into the kind of weapon Starfleet would hesitate for years just to make. It's a hideous mess from the outside, and seeing it that way almost makes him feel like he's looking at a tortured friend. There is only one Enterprise. That's the hardest thing for him to think about.

"Engines—engine is operating well enough, Captain," Scott says distractedly. "You can turn this thing around now."

"Very good, thank you, Scotty." Kirk, who seems to have also been in a state of nostalgic thought about the ship, pulls himself out of it and goes to Mr. Sulu's usual post. He adjusts the controls until the ship turns around, which is evident by the revolving of the visual angle. "Lieu—Oh, damn, she isn't here." He stands up and goes to the communication officer's place. "Scotty, take the helm."

Mr. Scott seats himself in the chair and stops the ship's turn once it's facing the line of alien ships.

"This is—" Kirk stops himself. He clicks the communication off and says to Scotty, "What do I call myself? I shouldn't be Kirk, since he's supposedly dead in the disabled Encounter."

"Reves," Scotty answers. "Just call yourself Reves."

He nods once. "This is, uh, Weslen Reves of the BC-2 Lanchekar," he says, making his voice lower pitched to try to sound more like Reves. "It is a display of this vessel's superiority that I have destroyed two—" his expression tightens "—three Federation starships. After witnessing that, are you willing to attempt to fight me?"

For a moment there's no reply. Scotty watches the captain, who's cringing, probably thinking he's failing this terribly.

"We are not," the gravelly voice responds slowly. "We will back down."

"That is wise," the captain says, his voice hinting his relief. "We have done you no harm. We can coexist in the same solar system without incident, but should you choose to attack us again…."

"We understand," the alien snaps. "You can have your peace, human. We will keep it."

Without another word, Kirk flips the signal off. He swivels to chair so he can look at Scott. "That's that."

"Yes it is, sir," he replies. "Now what are we going to do with this thing?"

"Ah yes," the captain says, his tone saddening. "My Enterprise."

"There's… no hope of taking it back to Starfleet and having them fix it, is there?" Scotty says, his question sounding more like a meek statement.

Kirk shakes his head. "They went too far for that. But we can't leave it in the hands of the Beta-Census Two colony. And it's no use—no use to us. So I can only say we should destroy it."

"It seems a shame," Scotty says, "but I guess it's not really the Enterprise anymore."

"No. My Constitution cruiser is gone, and it's time we both let that go." Kirk runs his hand along the back of his captain's chair. He stares at it for a long time, probably thinking of all the things that have happened right here within the last few years, and wishing, like Scotty is, that he didn't have to leave it. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," he replies sadly.

"Computer," Kirk says, turning toward the science officer's position. "Prepare automatic destruction."

"Prepared," replies the computer voice.

"James Kirk, Captain. Destruct sequence one, code one-one A." He looks to Scotty.

"Montgomery Scott, Chief Engineering Officer. Destruct sequence two, code one-one A-two B."

"Destruct sequence 3, code one B-two B-3."

The computer responds, after approving each code, "Destruct sequence completed and engaged. Awaiting final code for one-minute countdown."

The captain closes his eyes and says, "Code zero zero zero. Destruct. Zero."

Kirk

The Lanchekar is destroyed within moments. Mr. Scott and Kirk were beamed out of it and the two vessels backed away as the old ship's saucer blows up, followed by the rest of its body. It pains Jim to see the destruction of his Enterprise, or what used to be his Enterprise, to the extent that he refuses to watch the visual as the Encounter turns away from the remains. He decides, in the dullness of his thoughts after the incident, that about the only two people who can cheer him about it are Christopher Pike and/or Leonard McCoy. He resolves to seek one of them out after he's back to one of the Starbases. Until then, he'll distract himself as best he can.

Captain's Log stardate 2374.9. The conflict at Beta-Census 2 has been resolved. The loss of the USS Venture and its hundreds of crew members is weighing on many of our minds now, but the colony on the planet, as well as my ship and the USS Triton, have been spared. We now are headed back together toward Starbase 6, again in need of repairs.

"You know, Mister Spock, I must admit I'm impressed with your starship-flying capabilities," Jim acknowledges through the intership communication.

"I only conceived the maneuvers," Spock says with his logical modesty, which Kirk actually likes better than the slight arrogance he was noticing before. "It was Mr. Sulu who actually carried them out."

Kirk smiles. "I should have known. He is a very good helmsman, isn't he?" He can hear the quieter voice of Mr. Sulu say he's flattered, sir.

"That is of your opinion," the Vulcan says, "but I will concede that his steering was suitable for the requirements of the situation."

"You know, Spock?"

"I do know him. We are well-acquainted."

Kirk rolls his eyes good-humoredly and says, "That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then, Captain?" he asks, his face devoid of expression but his dark eyes glinting with humor.

"You know, I was going to say I'm glad you're a Vulcan. But considering what you just said, I think I'll say this: I am very, very glad you're both."

Spock gives him a small, hesitant smile. Then he cocks his head and says, "Jim?"

"Yes."

"I have neglected to tell you, but I probably should: they have scheduled the construction of the NCC-1701 – A."

Kirk stares at him. "You're kidding."

"Sir, Vulcans do—"

"Not kid. I know. But no, Spock, seriously?"

"Unreservedly earnest, Captain."

Jim Kirk grins. "That's the best thing I've heard all year."

Spock frowns. "Really?"

Kirk thinks of the time he heard Spock wasn't dead. "No. Second best, without a doubt." He narrows his eyes. "Why were you waiting until now to tell me that?"

"Well, I only learned it shortly after leaving the docking station at Starbase 6," Spock says slightly defensively. "They contacted me because they assumed you were too preoccupied to be spoken to."

"Well next time, tell me immediately. It would improve my mood astronomically."

"I hope, Captain, that there is not a next time."

"Hm," Kirk says. "Excellent point." There's a small lull in the conversation, and then he says, "Well, it'll take us years to get back to a starbase while going this acceleration, so let's speed up a bit. Warp factor two, Mr. Senvik."

Spock shrugs and says, "Warp factor two, Mr. Sulu."