"You've got to be kidding," he told her as they left the Mayweather building.
"But Bones… doesn't it bother you that nobody has ever beat the test?"
He rolled his eyes, "It's the Kobayashi Maru. Nobody ever beats it, let alone goes back for seconds or thirds."
The Kobayashi Maru scenario is a no-win test that command-track cadets take. The claim is that it's used to make an assessment of a cadet's discipline, character and command capabilities when facing an impossible situation, there's no real solution and Jamie just couldn't let that fly. She took the test twice already and failed it twice but this time she had an idea.
Jamie looked at her fiancé, "I not exactly like everybody else, but you know that. I don't believe in no-win situations… hell, my whole life has been an exercise in surviving impossible shit. Please, Bonesy, it's tomorrow morning and I want you to be there. I could beg but you'll do what I want anyway because you love me and because I do that thing with my tongue that you like." Jamie looked at him and watched the smile cross his features, she had him and he knew it.
"You're gonna be the death of me. Fine, I'll be there," he told her begrudgingly.
Jamie smiled, "I will see you later, I gotta talk to Gaila." She gave him a kiss and jogged towards Hernandez Hall.
After her birthday trip to Disneymoon –yea, her friends rock- things at the academy ramped up. After months of playing, Sulu finally won the assassination game; she can't believe that they were the last two and that he 'killed' her but she thought it was better him than someone else. Officially, Jamie was done taking credits and spent the last months taking tests, working on getting the Enterprise in orbit –it's currently at Starbase One- and racking up hours on short tours on different ships; Bones even went on a few himself. Jamie and Gary had a close call on the Farragut and a bunch of people died. Fortunately, the pair saved the ship and the captain was impressed, Jamie heard that he tried to get her for tactical on his ship but Pike beat him to it.
Jamie sat with Gaila and went over the feasibility of her plan, "You're really gonna do this?" the Orion asked.
Jamie nodded, "It's not unbeatable, I know it's not. I just have to do it the right way."
Gaila had moved into the same building as Jamie and Bones since she got married. Uhura hated her new roommate, so she often popped in at Gaila and Gary's apartment, usually when he was off planet.
"Hey guys." They both looked up at the linguist, who looked defeated,
"Ny, what's wrong?" Jamie asked as her friend sat down between them.
"I was in the long range sensor lab tracking solar systems and I picked up an emergency transmission." Jamie and Gaila waited for her to continue, "It was from a Klingon prison planet, one of their armadas was destroyed, forty-seven ships. I swear it was the Romulans. I tried to tell the officer overseeing the lab but he ignored me."
That's not good. Jamie thought about what that could mean for the Federation. Neither the Romulans or the Klingons were on the list of her favorite species but if she had to pick, at least the Klingons were about honor and respect.
"You tell Spock?" Gaila asked.
Uhura shook her head, "No, he's working on a project with his astrophysics class. I didn't want to bother him with this."
"Did you record it?" Jim asked. Uhura nodded and punched in the commands on her PADD. Jamie and Gaila listened to the recording and sure enough, it was the Klingons fighting against Romulans. Jamie would have to mention it to Pike in the morning, and she told Uhura as much.
"Thanks, Jamie," Ny said as she squeezed her hand.
"Anytime."
The next day, Jamie sat in the command chair of the 'USS Horizon', the simulated bridge used for the KM. "Captain, we're receiving a distress signal from the SS Kobayashi Maru. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet command has ordered us to rescue them." Jamie nodded at Uhura just as Bones spoke up from his spot at tactical.
"Two Klingon vessels have entered the neutral zone and are locking weapons on us," he told her.
In the current KM scenario, the cadet patrols the Klingon Neutral Zone when the ship receives a distress call from the Maru from inside the Neutral Zone. If the cadet attempts to aid the Maru, Klingon cruisers attack. The computer ensures that it is impossible for the cadet to save both the Maru passengers and their own ship.
"Bones, Kelso, you're gonna have to do exactly what I tell you," the doctor looked at her and nodded but didn't say anything as the bridge flickered. Jamie looked at him and smirked. She rattled off commands and the team on her 'bridge' got to work. "Okay, Bones. Fire now. Uhura alert medical and the transporter rooms, we're gonna start beaming people over." Evacuation of the other ship was underway as they kept the enemy ships distracted. Unfortunately, the Klingons were down but not out.
Uhura looked at her, "All the Maru's crew is onboard, Captain." Jamie looked at Kelso as the Klingons started firing.
"Get us outta here, helm."
Jamie stood up, "So, we aren't dead and the crew of the Kobayashi Maru is safely on-board the Horizon. I think it's safe to say we won." Jamie looked up into the observation window, Pike and Spock were among the officers there. She wasn't surprised to find an 'invitation' to Barnett's office before she even got of the building.
"Kirk, this is a preliminary evaluation before any official charges are brought forth. Do you have any questions before we begin?" Jamie looked at Barnett, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. In the room with them were Pike, Spock, and Commander Yin, the test's administrator.
"What exactly am I being charged with, sir?" she asked the admiral.
Barnett looked at her, "Evidence has been submitted suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct; that you somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine in the programming code, changing the conditions of the test. In academic vernacular, you cheated. Commander Yin, Lieutenant Commander Spock?"
Jamie looked at her half-Vulcan friend, "You? Spo… Sir, you know me. You honestly believe I cheated? Tell me which regulations I broke. Tell me what the subroutine actually did, sir."
Yin attempted to speak but Spock beat him to it, he looked at her, "There was no outright violation of any regulations. The subroutine eliminated the uneven parameters of the test, making the simulation realistic as opposed to unbeatable. Cadet Kirk still had to employ a feasible and decisive plan to complete the test." Jamie could tell that Yin was not happy, the commander spoke up.
"That's cheating," Yin growled.
Jamie looked at him, "No sir, it isn't. It was still within regs."
Pike smirked, "Thinking outside the box."
"I don't have a box, sir. I would've died a long time ago if I did." Pike and Barnett smiled at that. Jamie took a breath, "The test is a cheat within itself, it's designed to be unwinnable; a no-win scenario. The problem with that, especially for me, is that there's always a way and the last thing we want to do is teach new captains to give up before they begin."
Spock looked at her, "You failed to understand the principle lesson. You of all people should know, Cadet Kirk, that a captain cannot cheat death. Further more you have failed to define the purpose of the test. The purpose to experience fear, fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear and maintain control of oneself and one's crew."
Jamie looked at him, "You mean because of my father, he the captain of a starship for twelve minutes, he saved eight hundred lives including mine. Despite what most people seem to think, he won, even in death. My mother made it, most of his crew made it and I'm still here, so he won. Commander Spock, you've seen me in action, you are well aware that I'm capable if maintaining control when the odds are against me. That test in an insult to someone like me. I've walked away from real no-win scenarios and sticking me in a simulator with a reset button is a slap in the face. You want to charge me, go for it but I didn't break any of the rules and I know fear better than anyone in this room. It's not the absence of fear that makes you a good leader, it's what you do in spite of that fear that counts."
Pike smiled at her and looked at the admiral, "She didn't violate any regulations, sir. And she does have a point, more than one, actually. Furthermore, Kirk is one of the best programmers at the academy; she could've done this without anyone noticing. She was obvious on purpose." At least Pike got it.
Apparently, so did Spock, "I must concur with the captain, sir."
Yin, not so much, "Of course, George Kirk's daughter is allowed to do what she wants." Jamie raised an eyebrow and looked at Barnett. The admiral looked at Yin.
"Please tell me that you didn't file charges because of who her father is, Commander. I understand why Spock would have an issue with how she took the test but you haven't said anything except to call her a cheater. She's at the top of her class, slated to graduate as a lieutenant commander. Do you have any idea of what you almost did? Stand fast, Yin." Jamie looked at Yin and shook her head.
"The 'Kirk curse' lives. Didn't I tell you, Captain? It's all about my name, heaven forbid I save the world or something," she muttered the last part. Pike gave her a sad smile.
Barnett looked at her, "After hearing your testimony, I will not forward charges, Cadet Kirk. You and Spock are free to go." They both stood at attention before leaving his office.
Bones, Uhura, Brax, Kelso and Gaila were waiting when they got outside. The Orion looked at her, "Well?"
Jamie shrugged, "I'm not in trouble and Yin is biased, I don't even want to know what Barnett is saying to him in there."
Spock looked at her, "Kirk, I…"
She held up her hand, "You were just doing your job. No big deal." Just as she said it, the campus-wide alarm sounded.