Daughter of the Stars

Emotionally Compromised

Stardate 2258.42

It was several minutes before Jim and a man, who was soaked head to toe, were brought to the bridge by Security.

Spock approached the group, Sala a bit off to the side and behind.

"Who are you?" Spock asked, addressing the man who was wearing soaked clothing.

"I'm with him," He muttered, pointing to Jim.

"He's with me," Jim answered at almost the same time.

"We are traveling at warp speed. How did you manage to get aboard this ship?" Spock asked.

"Well, you're the genius, you figure it out," Jim said snidely.

"As acting Captain of this vessel, I order you to answer the question."

"Well I'm not telling, acting Captain. Wait, did, that doesn't frustrate you, does it? My lack of cooperation? That doesn't make you angry."

"Are you a member of Starfleet?" Spock asked, focusing his attention on the unknown man once again.

"I, yes. Can I get a towel, please?" The man asked.

"Under penalty of court martial I order you to explain to me how you managed to beam aboard this ship while moving at warp."

"Well-."

"Don't answer him," Jim interrupted.

"You will answer me," Spock insisted.

The man thought on his words for a moment before speaking, "I'd rather not take sides."

"What is it with you, Spock?" Jim asked, stepping forward, and thus closer to Spock, "Your planet was just destroyed, your mother murdered, and you're not even upset."

"If you are presuming that these experiences in any way impede my ability to command this ship, you are mistaken."

"And yet, you are the one who said fear was necessary for command. I mean, did you see his ship? Did you see what he did?"

"Yes, of course I did."

"So are you afraid or aren't you?"

"I will not allow you to lecture me about the merits of emotions," Spock said, his tone beginning to grow quite agitated.

"Then why don't you stop me?"

"Step away from me, Mr. Kirk."

"What is it like not to feel anger? Or heartbreak? Or the need to stop at nothing to avenge the death of the woman who gave birth to you?"

"Back away from me."

"You feel nothing! It must not even compute for you. You never loved her!"

At that moment Spock let out a scream of rage as he threw a punch at Jim, likely shocking everyone. He then began to throw Jim about the bridge, throwing punches as he went.

Jim made attempts to block Spock's punches but only succeeded so much. He was thrown back against a console, and attempted to get up, only to have more punches thrown at him. Jim was pushed back onto the console once more, only this time Spock grabbed at his throat to choke him.

"Spock!" Sala yelled, her stoic facade faltering, "Let him go! Spock!"

"Spock," Sarek, who was still on the bridge, said firmly.

By now, Sala had moved in-between the two men who were just fighting. She was making the effort to push Spock off of Jim.

"You had vowed that you would not let your emotions take control of you again!" Sala reminded, as she continued to push.

This seemed to break through to Spock, as he looked at his hand before releasing his grip on Jim's throat.

Jim coughed loudly as he attempted to replace the lost air into his lungs.

Spock took a step back from Jim as Sala briefly put her hands on the sides of Jim's face, checking to see if he was okay.

"Hey, Sala," Jim muttered in a breathy voice, almost acting as if he wasn't being choked just seconds ago.

Spock turned to look at his father before looking at the ground.

Spock walked over to McCoy before breaking the silence that had fallen on the bridge, "Doctor, I am no longer fit for duty. I hereby relinquish my command, based on the fact that I have been emotionally compromised. Please note the time and date in the ship's log."

With that, Spock left the bridge, his father following shortly after him.

Silence blanketed the bridge once more before it was broken by the unknown man that had boarded the ship with Jim.

"I like this ship!" He exclaimed, "You know, it's excitin'."

"Well, congratulations, Jim. Now we've got no Captain and no goddamn first officer to replace him," McCoy muttered.

"Yeah, we do," Jim muttered in reply before moving to sit in the Captain's chair, surprising most the bridge crew aside from Sala and Sulu.

"What?"

"Pike made him first officer," Sulu explained.

"Yes. I was first officer only until Jim returned aboard the ship," Sala further explained.

"You gotta be kidding me," McCoy said, exasperated.

"Thanks for the support," Jim replied almost monotonously.

Uhura moved to stand next to the Captain's chair before she spoke, "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Captain."

"So do I."

There was a brief silence on the bridge before Jim pressed a button on the Captain's chair, engaging a ship wide audio transmission.

"Attention, crew of the Enterprise. This is James Kirk. Mr. Spock has resigned command and advanced me to acting Captain. I know you were all expecting to regroup with the fleet, but I'm ordering a pursuit course of the enemy ship to Earth. I want all departments at battle stations and ready in ten minutes. Either we're going down, or they are," Jim paused, "Kirk out."

Jim pressed the button again, officially closing the channel he was speaking on.

"So now what is our plan of attack, Captain?" Sala asked.