"Starfleet hearing on the matter of the death of Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise," the computer declared.
Silence fell over all the officers crammed into the small, usually much more sparsely populated, courtroom in the Earth Starfleet headquarters. Even the small portion of the crew of the Enterprise present could barely fit. In the well, in the witness' chair, sat Mr. Spock, no doubt staring at the presiding officer - a greying old woman - with his usual air of stony indifference as the computer listed off his credentials. A lot of good they would do him, Dr. McCoy thought with grim determination.
As soon as the computer was done, Spock hesitantly began, "I was very close to Captain James Kirk," the declaration sounded unnatural in his emotionless monotone, "I was his first officer for nearly five years, and a legacy officer from under Captain Christopher Pike. I served under Captain Kirk loyally for that time and saved his life on many occasions, all recorded."
The presiding officer cut in, "That's all very nice, but you are not on trial - your character is irrelevant. This hearing is on the matter of Captain James T. Kirk's death, we are aware you were present at the time, could you tell us what occurred?"
He straightened himself in the chair and nodded, "The captain and I beamed down to Tamarin V on a routine visit. Almost immediately after our landing, we received a call from the Enterprise saying it had been called away to deal with an emergency. After consulting with Captain Kirk, I gave permission for them to depart.
"Soon after, we were accosted by a party of locals who accused us of committing a crime and escorted us to a city of theirs for execution - it is well recorded that the locals of Tamarin V punish many crimes with death. They executed Captain Kirk first and only after his death did the Enterprise return into orbit. I immediately called for them to transport us on board, and they did so, but the captain was already dead."
"Thank you, Commander Spock," the presiding officer said once he was done, "Lieutenant Uhura," - she stood - "You are the communications officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise?"
She nodded, "I was on duty while Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk were on Tamarin V."
The presiding officer waved her forwards and she replaced Mr. Spock in the well.
"What happened - according to your own experience?"
"As soon as we entered orbit of Tamarin V, Captain Kirk told Mr. Spock to beam down to the planet with him and Lieutenant Scott, the 2nd Officer, to take the helm while they were away. They left the bridge and only a few minutes later we got a distress call about a stolen craft in a nearby solar system.
"On Lieutenant Scott's orders, I contacted the captain to ask him what he wanted us to do, with him still on the surface. Mr. Spock answered and said that we could answer it and pick them up when we returned. It didn't sound like there was anything unusual going on down there at the time and we were out of range until we got back."
"What happened when you returned to Tamarin V?"
"We called down to tell them we were in orbit and Mr. Spock demanded that we beam them up immediately and have Dr. McCoy on standby. We did as he said."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Uhura." she said, "Dr. McCoy, you are the head doctor of the U.S.S. Enterprise and treated Captain Kirk upon return to the Enterprise?"
He stood and answered, "Yes. I have also petitioned to testify on the psychological competency of Commander Spock."
"Very well. First the results of your examination of Captain Kirk." she waved him into the well.
He took the witness chair and began, "I was called down to the transporter room and saw Spock beam up with Jim in his arms, as far as we could tell he was unconscious. We rushed him down to sickbay and ran all the tests we could. Everything was unresponsive, so we decided to try and revive him. We got his body functioning mechanically, but we still couldn't get any signs of life. As a last resort, I called in Mr. Spock from the bridge to attempt a Vulcan mind probe to see if Jim- Captain Kirk was already brain dead or if there was any chance of getting him back.
"Spock came down from the bridge - where he had assumed captaincy and already announced the captain's death to the crew - but he refused to do the mind probe. I had to shout at him to finally get him to do it because he kept insisting that Jim was dead. It turns out he was, but for all we know he could have still been alive the whole time Spock refused to check. Once we knew he was dead, I examined the body for cause of death, and I couldn't get anything, it was as if everything had just been shut off, like a light switch."
The presiding officer nodded, "Now, you wanted to address Commander Spock's psychological competency?"
"Yes," Dr. McCoy answered, "Based on my observations and knowledge of both his individual character and general psychology, I believe that Commander Spock's response to the death of Captain James T. Kirk indicates larger psychological problems, which would impede his ability to captain the U.S.S. Enterprise. Though we lack solid evidence because of the circumstances of Captain Kirk's death, I have been lead to believe that Mr. Spock had a hand in it.
"Until the hearing today, he has refused to tell anyone what happened on Tamarin V, responding violently whenever I - a personal friend of the captain, and I thought himself as well - tried to find out, and his explanation today was lacking. He never even said what Captain Kirk was supposedly executed for on Tamarin V. Most damning, he nearly refused to help me determine if Jim was alive, possibly preventing us from giving him the care he needed before he was beyond repair and in fact announced Jim's death long before it was medically confirmed. The day after Jim's death, I found him rifling through his quarters, trying to find Jim's final orders to secure his place as captain-"
There was a roar of outrage and disbelief as the assembled crowd gradually registered just what was going on.
The presiding officer silenced them with a sharp bang, "We will reconvene tomorrow for the hearing on Commander Spock's competency to become Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise."