Standard disclaimers apply

Jim and Sam had always hoped that their past wouldn't come back to haunt them. Yet, as Sam glanced at her twin and co-leader of their group on Tarsus IV, she knew that Jim knew. He knew that the past had come to haunt them.

Sam, knowing she needed to stem off the crisis about to occur, touched her bond-mate; through their bond, she was able to tell Spock of the turmoil she knew her brother was experiencing. Spock, although curious about how this antiquated machine could cause such shock to his brother-in-law and his own mate, kept his intrigue to himself. After all, he needed to remove Jim from the situation before things turned ugly.

"Jim," the shell-shocked, pale Captain turned to his First Officer as if in a trance, "we are needed on the bridge." Sam cringed; that was the last place Jim needed to be in right now; being in command would push Jim even further into his J.T. mode.

Sam saw the signs, even if Jim tried to hide it. After all, she herself was slipping into her S.A. mode. Mentally, Sam was already calculating how to re-wire the genetic mutation machine, or EMM (Ecological Mutagenic Machine) for short, to make it inert, as she'd done on Tarsus. If she hadn't taken that risk, three times, there wouldn't have been as many survivors as there had been when Starfleet arrived.

After all, the machine had been mutating the colonists as well as the food.

Bridge of the Enterprise, three hours after the discovery . . .

Uhura, Chekov, Sulu and Spock were all confused at their Captain's behavior. Ever since the discovery of what Sam Kirk had identified as an EMM (which none of them, besides Spock, had a clue what it stood for), Jim had been acting like they were on high alert: tense, eyes scanning everything, and fully aware of his surroundings. It was like he was expecting an attack at any time; which made no sense because they were in neutral territory.

Everyone on the bridge was almost as tense as the Captain, noted Uhura at her communication post. She hadn't even realized how Kirk's carefree attitude had loosened everyone on the bridge during their down-time between attacks.

Chekov was confused, to say the least. The Captain was not supposed to be nervous; everything was running perfect and smooth. There had been zero attacks within the last three hour journey to the closest Starfleet base.

"Captain," announced Sulu, "we are docking at the Star Base 40 in twenty minutes." Kirk nodded before saying in a voice dripping with authority:

"Patch me through to the highest commanding officer on the base, Uhura. I will take the call in my office." This stunned the crew; Kirk wasn't known for keeping secrets from his crew.

"Sir?" questioned Uhura; this behavior was confusing her!

"That's an order, Uhura." Kirk softened at her confusion, and explained: "The existence of the EMM is classified information, Lieutenant. I shouldn't even speak of it with any officer lower than an Admiral, but all Captains are under orders that if they locate any machine that they suspect is an EMM, they are to bring it to a base and speak to the highest ranking officer of the base immediately."

"I understand, Captain." As Uhura patched Jim through to his office, Spock pulled the Captain aside, asking in a whisper of concern:

"Captain; if this EMM device is so deadly, why did you have Engineer Kirk examine it?" Frowning, Jim explained to Spock in a whisper:

"She is the person with the original schematics; she has been given authorization by Starfleet to examine any devise suspected of being an EMM." Shock permeated Spock's mind; how had his bond-mate been the source of such dangerous information?

Spock, like many of the science officers, knew exactly what the Captain had been referring to when he mentioned the EMM. Its' ability to mutate ecosystems through altering the DNA structure of plants was the stuff of legends. However, despite their fascination with its' scientific capabilities, they all knew that the Ecological Mutagenic Machine was the root of one of the largest tragedies of the 23rd century. This tragedy was taught in every ethics class at the Academy; one that Spock suddenly recalled both Kirks had been exempted from, despite the protests of their peers.

"Look, Spock," explained Kirk, "By sheer luck, the base has Admiral Pike aboard today for an inspection. If you want to understand how she has the schematics, you'll have to ask her." Too stunned by the sudden revelation to respond, Spock simply gave a curt nod before the Captain spoke with Admiral Pike in this office.

In Captain Kirk's office . . .

"I was hoping you'd have better news for me, Jim. You know that the Admirals back on Earth have been itching for a chance to force you off the Enterprise, right?" Eyes steely at the very true statement, Kirk nodded before adding:

"Sam and I have a plan that will keep them off our backs till we can remove the EMM from our ship and into the proper authorities in Starfleet." Brow raised, Pike waited as Jim explained, "She and I agree that Spock is too close to the issue to be unbiased about the situation, which is why I will have Scotty take the role of Captain till we have dealt with the entire mess." Pike, impressed by the maturity Jim was showing, said:

"That's not like you at all, Captain. Why would you willingly give control over to Scotty? And at such a crucial time?" As soon as Pike had finished the question, Pike was further astounded to see a face on Jim he hadn't seen since he'd rescued the Kirk twins from Tarsus IV. Stunned, Pike could only whisper, amazed:

"J.T.?" Jim merely nodded in response to the question. "I'm amazed, Jim. All this time . . . no wonder you took the command track." A look passed between the two men, not of subordinate and commander, but of equals. For Jim was Pike's equal in his authority over men. The only difference is Jim had led his group by fighting for their lives; Pike had led his ship by giving them a fighting chance.

"So; I assume Sam is S.A.?" As Kirk nodded, Pike swore:

"Damn; no wonder she's an engineering genius. She practically saved that planet three times!" After they'd recalled a bit more of the old times, Pike agreed to the change in command; however, it came at a cost.

Both Kirks had to tell the Senior Command of the Enterprise the reason for the switch.