*shrug* still don't own Star Trek but I've come to accept that

Episode 1-3 Where No Man Has Gone Before

Saya was in a rec room watching Spock and Kirk play 3D chess. they had been informed of a distress signal from a vessel that Spock had explained to her went missing for over 2 centuries. 'It will be fascinating to have something from close to my time. I wonder what it is.' she thought to herself as Kirk watched the monitor near them again. "Your move, Captain." Spock informed Kirk.

Kirk distracted said "We should have intercepted by now. The Bridge said they'd call."

Saya smiled at how eager Spock seamed "I'll have you checkmated your next move."

Kirk laughed saying "Have I ever mentioned you play a very irritating game of chess, ?"

"Irritating? Ah, yes. One of your Earth emotions." Spock said in his teasing manner. Saya had to work hard not to laugh.

Kirk made a move that clearly Spock didn't expect "Certain you don't know what irritation is?"

"The fact one of my ancestors married a human female" Spock said as he looked over the board. Saya decided she would have to ask.

"Terrible having bad blood like that." Kirk teased. Saya was unsure of how her question would be received due to the comment so she figured it was best for when they were alone. She wondered if it was human or female or what combination of reasons for that to be so stated.

Kirk and a man named Kelso discussed the items size and options of what to do with it on the monitor Kirk had been watching before. Saya was looking forward to seeing whatever they found and was eager to follow Spock and Kirk to the transporter room.

Scott was in the transporter room and gave Saya a big friendly smile. She waved slightly to him and stood a little behind Spock as usual. She always stuck close so as to not get lost but out of the way. almost like a shadow since she often stayed in corners and away from the area of notice.

"Old-style ship recorder that could be ejected when something threatened the ship." Kirk said

Spock responded "More like destroyed the ship in this case. Look at it. Burnt, pitted."

"Let's hope its tapes are intact. We'll feed it through 's computer." suddenly it started beeping and a light flickered on the top of it.

"It's begun transmitting, sir." Scott said.

"Flash the Bridge. Put all decks on the alert." Kirk said as he left with Spock on his heals and Saya on Spock's heals.

They got on the turbolift and a man she had met once or twice called "Hold it, Jim." as he ducked between the closing doors to get in.

Kirk smiled "getting into shape?"

"Yeah, well i figured you weren't on the bridge. Kelso's voice sounded a little nervous. Well, uh, you finish the game?" Mitchell said.

"He played most illogically. His next move should have been the rook." Spock said as Kirk made the throat cut sign behind him. everyone filed off the turbolift before Saya and she was glad that she was pretty much ignored by everyone.

Uhura had said that she exuded a 'leave me alone' presence so most did. Uhura had also said that she would never find love if she kept it up at which point Saya told Uhura that she never wanted love again… unless it was with someone like who didn't play games and said things straight out and was logical. As soon as she said it she turned bright red and Uhura started teasing her. Saya hoped Uhura would leave it but guessed she wouldn't.

Saya was lost in thought and missed some of the interchange but guessed it was simple stuff so didn't worry. Kirk address the whole ship "This is the Captain speaking. The object we encountered is a ship's disaster recorder, apparently ejected from the S.S. Valiant two hundred years ago."

Spock spoke up "The tapes are burnt out. Trying the memory banks."

Kirk paused as he listened to Spock then continued "We hope to learn from the recorder what the Valiant was doing here and what destroyed the vessel. We'll move out into our probe as soon as we have those answers. All decks, stand by."

Mitchell spoke up "Uh, Department heads, sir. You wanted everybody on the Bridge before we left the galaxy."

everyone did their standard check in but the last one caught her attention. Dr. Dehner said "Psychiatry, Captain. My assignment is to study crew reaction in emergency conditions." Saya determined that was one she wanted to stay off the radar of.

Spock got something from the recorder and commented on interest in how the crew reacted if it was an emergency on the recordings. Mitchell flirted with the Dr. who slapped him down easily with skill. "Walking freezer unit." Mitchell commented to Kelso.

"Decoding memory banks. I'll try to interpolate. The Valiant had encountered a magnetic space storm and was being swept in this direction." Spock said

"The old impulse engines weren't strong enough." Kirk commented.

"Swept past this point, about a half light year out of the galaxy, they were thrown clear, turned, and headed back into the galaxy here. I'm not getting it all. The tapes are pretty badly burned. Sounds like the ship had encountered some unknown force. Now, orders, counter orders, repeated urgent requests for information from the ship's computer records for anything concerning ESP in human beings."

Kirk asked Dehner how she was on ESP and she said she was rated rather high. He then rephrased to ask what she knew of it. she told him that there is fact to it but it is quite limited.

"Severe damage. Seven crewmen dead. No, make that six. One crewman seemed to have recovered. That's when they became interested in extrasensory perception. More than interested, almost frantic about it. No, this must be garbled. I get something about destruct. I must have read it wrong. It sounded like the captain giving an order to destroy his own ship." Spock kept relaying.

Saya stopped listening at that point. Working on the puzzle to attempt to control her own fear she only tuned into what was going on around her when Spock said "Deflectors say there's something there, sensors say there isn't. Density negative. Radiation negative. Energy negative."

Saya knew that when you put all the facts together and remove the impossible what is left no matter how unlikely had to be truth. the ship had been destroyed. they encountered something that killed 7 but one came back to life. she didn't think it was through medical miracles. the captain tried to destroy his own ship and researched ESP in humans. her best guess is a human wound up with massive ESP abilities and since power corrupts she could guess that the person corrupted.

Kelso said "Whatever it is, contact in twelve seconds."

Kirk gave the command "Gravitation on automatic." then 2 consoles blew up, one very near Saya. "Emergency stations. All decks on fire alert. Neutralise controls. Kelso, put it on manual. Any radiation? Anything?"

Spock answered "Negative!" before Kirk commanded "Helmsmen, take us out of here." Saya saw Dehner go down then Mitchell. "Helmsmen!" Kirk hollered before taking over the controls. "Lateral power!" Saya watched Spock take Kirk's spot and an eerie calm overtook her, she was still fighting to stay upright and not bang her head on anything but it seemed as if everything was in slow motion. The ship veered off and Kirk orders "Take damage reports."

Spock barked out "Damage control reports, all stations!" and started processing the reports as Kirk checks on Dehner. The eerie calm left her. Saya ignored most of what was going on and concentrated on keeping herself calm and out of the way. she didn't know how they managed emergencies so well but she guessed part was due to practice.

Spock was looking over medical records and Saya watched reading what she could quickly before Dehner came in saying that it was damage to the body's neural circuit. Kirk asked about her and she said she was fine and Mitchell was as well, except for his eyes.

"it's an ESP connection." Saya softly said as Spock said "I think we've found that answer, Doctor."

"You mentioned that tests show you have a high degree of extrasensory perception. So do the records of the others. Gary Mitchell has the highest esper rating of all." Kirk explained.

"lf you're suggesting there's anything dangerous" Dehner defended.

"Before the Valiant was destroyed, its captain was frantically searching for ESP information on his crew." Spock stated.

"Espers are simply people with flashes of insight."

"Are there not also those who seem to see through solid objects, cause fires to start spontaneously?" Spock asked. 'ESP has gotten that far!' Saya thought. she still tended to think much in her time.

"There's nothing about it that could possibly make a person dangerous." Dehner defended again.

Saya tuned out the conversation thinking that if it got powerful enough it would be quite dangerous. Kirk left to check on Mitchell and Saya watched Spock wondering what they had gotten themselves into.

Spock was watching Mitchell's access to the library and actions "He's reading even faster now than just a few moments ago. Is that Gary Mitchell, the one you used to know?"

"Put a twenty four hour watch on the Sickbay. Fullest possible range of examinations and tests." Kirk said. Saya decided that unless she was told to do something she would continue to read her text on Vulcans. she did not feel up to the true studying she was supposed to be doing and she needed the distraction.

They went to the briefing room and Saya sat in her customary spot behind Spock. Kelso was telling them about something Mitchell knew but shouldn't have and Dehner came in apologizing for being late saying she got caught up observing Mitchell. "Our subject is not Gary Mitchell. Our concern is, rather, what he is mutating into." Spock said and Saya wondered how much mutation human genetics could do. she would have to ask Spock about getting books on genetics since they always had fascinated her and probably had expanded quite a bit in information.

Dehner started into Spock "I know those from your planet aren't suppose to have feelings like we do, , but to talk that way about a man you've worked next to for years is worse than" Thankfully Kirk told her it was enough but she was persistent. "I don't think so. I understand you least of all. Gary told me that you've been friends since he joined the service, that you asked for him aboard your first command."

Kirk reminded her it was his job to listen to all reports even unpleasant ones and Spock brought up unusual powers. Dehner said he could control autonomic reflexes and read fast and it might be considered unusual. Scott reported the bridge controls going crazy by themself and Spock said he could see Mitchell on his screen smiling each time it happened as if the ship and crew were almost a toy for his amusement. Saya remembered seeing that. it scared the daylights out of her.

Kirk asked Dehner if she had noticed the abilities and she confirmed she had but defended not mentioning it by saying no one had been hurt and that he could be a wonderful forerunner of a new better kind of human. Saya thought she was crazy. sure it could be good but the likelyhood is it ending in disasters.

Kirk asked for Sulu's input and he said "If you want the mathematics of this, Mitchell's ability is increasing geometrically. That is, like having a penny, doubling it every day. In a month, you'll be a millionaire."

"In less time than that, he will have attained powers we can't understand and can't cope with. Soon we'll be not only useless to him, but actually an annoyance." Spock injected.

Kirk reminded all to not talk about this with the crew. Saya wondered if she shouldn't have heard it all. Spock voiced his concern "We'll never reach an Earth base with him aboard, Jim. You heard the mathematics of it. In a month he'll have as much in common with us as we'd have with a ship full of white mice."

Kirk asked for recommendations not warning and Spock obliged "Recommendation one. There's a planet a few light days away from here. Delta Vega. It has a lithium cracking station. We may be able to adapt some of its power packs to our engines."

Kirk asked about if they couldn't and Spock told him it was the only possible way to get Mitchell of the ship. Kirk did not want to strand Mitchell there but Spock told him his only other choice was to kill Mitchell while he still could. Kirk got quite angry at the idea and told Spock to leave. Spock told him it was his only other choice assuming he made it while he still had time.

Kirk upset said to Spock "Will you try for one moment to feel? At least act like you've got a heart. We're talking about Gary."

"The captain of the Valiant probably felt the same way, and he waited too long to make his decision. I think we've both guessed that." Saya had goosebumps at the meaning of Spock's words. Kirk ordered course to be set for Delta Vega.

Saya watched the whole thing with concern and sadness. Once Kirk left Spock followed. "It's going to hurt Kirk no matter what choice he makes." she commented. Spock looked at her a moment and instructed her to stay in her quarters until he came for her. She could see the concern in Spock. Gently tapping his hand as he dropped her off and went to walk away she said "Thank you for always lookin out for me even though you have many other responsibilities as well."

Spock felt her fear well controlled and her concern. but mostly he felt from her in that small contact, care and support. As he went to again inform her it was his job she grinned "Yeah, I know it's your job but you do it quite well and I know you could totally half ass it and no one would really notice. I'm glad you don't." Spock walked away thinking about the strange woman.

Saya went to her room and worked on her art project for a while. she was trying to make a replica Vulcan Lute from random materials she had been provided with. after a while she switched to reading the vulcan book she had been told about.

She was interested in knowing the pointed ears helped with hearing. she wondered if she could get hers to mimic that so she could increase her hearing range. She read about their telepathic abilities and wondered at the implications. thinking she remembered the mind meld and guessed that must be part of it. she would have to ask Spock about how it manifested and if it was controllable or constant.

Reading about the altered location of the heart she wondered what an anatomical model would look like. She decided she would have to see if McCoy could give her an image or diagram or something. She wondered what it was like to be able to control uncontrollable systems in her body. she figured she would accidentally kill herself if she was able too and chuckled finishing the last section of the book.

"that gives a lot of information but nothing on their culture. I wonder if there is anything on that I could read." she said to herself. she was trying hard to be calm as she worried about Spock, Kirk and the others dealing with something that had more power than it should.

She quickly searched the libraries but couldn't find anything to clearly be what she wanted so she left it and started playing with the Vulcan Lute Spock had gotten for her. She had figured out how to play the little tune from 'Sound of Music' and was humming and singing some of the time. She switched to Brother John' again singing along.

Switching between the 2 she enjoyed singing as she played but couldn't help worrying about how long the landing team had been away.

Spock and Kirk returned to the Enterprise. Kirk notified Spock that he wanted Mitchell's service record to end with dignity as he didn't ask for what happened to him. Spock admitted he felt for Mitchell as well. With a smirk, Kirk remarked that maybe there's hope for Spock after all before asking where was. When he was told she should still be in her room he sent Spock to check on her and bring her back.

Spock walked to Saya's quarters and heard an unfamiliar tune and her singing. He paused a moment with a flicker of a smile on his lips before knocking. " , may i come in?"

The music stopped and he heard her say 'Open', He walked in to see her with the Vulcan Lute in lap and grinning at him. "I am very glad you are ok ."

She moved to put the Lute down as he responded "Yes, it was a close thing but we made it. You are to join me back on the bridge." Spock answered.

Getting up she looked at him closely and noticed a slight green discoloration. Getting close to his face she examined it "Do you have a bruise?" She asked with concern, curiosity and wonder.

"Yes." Spock answered simply as they started walking back to the bridge. "What music were you playing and singing?" He asked partly out of curiosity and partly to change subject.

"You could hear that? I didn't know…"

"My ears are more sensitive than a human's."

"Oh! Yeah, i remember reading that. Um, I was playing a tune from 'Sound of Music' a musical in my era… Actually it's more from my mum's era. And 'Brother John' a simple tune taught to new musicians that originates from mexico… Well did." She tried to explain.

"You played it by ear?" Spock asked.

"Yeah, don't have sheet music to read and sadly i'm not sure I remember how to read it anymore."

"If you require I would be able to teach you within your capabilities." Spock said as they stepped off the turbolift onto the bridge.

"I would appreciate it though I do not know how skilled I will be." She said quietly with a smile. Seeing Uhura as they passed she saw the mischievous look Uhura gave her. Giving her a reproachful look she heard Uhura say quietly "You have to tell me later"

Taking their seats Spock could infer what Uhura was wanting to know but said nothing as he did his logging work and occasionally watched Saya read out of the corner of his eye.

*END*