Standard disclaimers apply

Meeting of the Senior Crew of the Enterprise . . .

Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Spock, Scotty, and McCoy all sat in the conference room of the Enterprise in a stupor. Had their Captain, the one who loved the Enterprise's crew like his own family, really say that? And why the hell was Engineer Kirk here anyway?

"Jim," began McCoy, "why the hell are you handing over control to Scotty? Isn't Spock the next in the chain of command?" Clearing his throat, Kirk explained:

"That is why Sam is here; she is as involved in the situation as I am." Nodding in a clear indication to continue, Jim said:

"Bones; this is a part of our lives that we never wanted to face again. I mean, who would want to remember starvation, terror, and such a deep self-loathing that you wish you could disappear?" Uhura, stunned that the Captain was showing such depth, asked:

"What happened to you both, Captain? What is it about this EMM that has you both so terrified?" Jim, nodding to his sister, stood back as Sam took over the explanation.

"The EMM, short for the Ecological Mutagenic Machine, is a piece of technology we are well acquainted with. After all, I was the person that gave Starfleet the original schematics." As the senior crew tried to recall where they'd heard of that devise before, Chekov was the first to realize its' significance.

"That is the machine that caused the genocide on . . ."

"Tarsus IV," Sam nodded as she responded to Chekov's alarm. Panic appeared on McCoy's face; why hadn't he ever heard of this?!

"You both have a lot of explaining to do! How the hell could both of you never tell me that you were both part of that hellhole?!" Surprisingly, Jim interrupted, saying:

"Bones; we couldn't tell you even if we wanted to. Starfleet had forbidden us from informing anyone due to what we did on Tarsus IV. Its' what exempted us from the Ethics class and what kept us from telling any of you." Spock, concerned for his brother-in-law and bond-mate, asked:

"Did any of these roles endanger either of you?" Suddenly, surprising everyone, Jim and Sam broke out in laughter that bordered on hysteria.

"Spock," answered Sam after she'd calmed down, "our very existence on Tarsus IV endangered us. Even if we'd only been trying to survive, we would not have been safe." Uhura, frustrated and curious at how they could be so instrumental during Tarsus IV, asked:

"What did you both do that was so important?" Suddenly, like they'd exchanged an unspoken conversation, Sam stepped back and Jim took over the narrative. As Jim told the back-story of J.T. and S.A., the legendary leader and engineer that had done what adults twice their age had refused to do, their closest colleagues respect for them skyrocketed beyond the stars. Spock, although he understood the facts of the story well enough, still found it hard to believe that the adults of Tarsus IV could be so illogical as to allow a pair of 14 year old fraternal twins to save them.

"Spock," Sam spoke as Jim finished the story, "I know that look. You think that our actions were illogical and reckless. Although I agree about the reckless part, I cannot in good conscious call our actions illogical." Seeing Spock was about to interrupt, Sam held up a hand and continued:

"You must understand that we'd been under a state of duress in the colony for three months before the massacre had even taken place. The so-called adults of the colony were desperate for answers." Sighing in frustration, Jim continued, saying:

"By the time the massacre had occurred, Kodos already had about 3/4ths of the adults under the false assumption that his way was the only way. Never mind that the majority of the 4000 people killed were children and the elderly. When you've been eating rations for three months that wouldn't sustain an officer three hours . . . well, your sense of right and wrong becomes skewed to 'how can I survive?' " Spock nodded in understanding; after all, logic required serenity and if that serenity was lost, instincts kicked in quicker and sooner.

Almost like a silent agreement had gone through, Scotty told everyone to head back to their stations, as they had work to do to prep for the retrieval, and disposal, of the EMM by Starfleet.