The Reality of Illusion-Star Trek Original Series Adventure

Unconditional Love

Spock felt his stomach churning as he if were falling and even though a thick, swirling darkness surrounded Spock he could still feel Kirk’s terror. Spock tried to project thoughts of calm, but Kirk could not or would not receive them. Then the churning stopped and Spock was alone.

Spock blinked his eyes. He was apparently in some sort of hospital room. A spotlight shone on a stone slab in the middle of the room. Spock looked up as Kirk slowly entered the room. He wore a long, blue robe and his eyes glittered as he stood before Spock. Kirk took Spock’s hands and turned his palms upward. He then closed his eyes as he placed his hands over Spock’s.

“Spock,” Kirk whispered.

Spock drew back in surprise.

“Spock,” Kirk laughed, “Don’t pull away. We can communicate telepathically now. We don’t need words anymore.”

“Fascinating,” Spock thought, “This is stronger than the mind meld.”

“Yes,” Kirk replied. “It is a gift, which I give you my brother, my friend.”

Spock closed his eyes as images of Kirk’s life and thoughts unfolded. His hopes, fears-his very essence were all revealed to Spock in the blink of an eye.

In return Kirk felt the pain of Spock’s childhood. He felt Spock’s loneliness and desperation as Spock fought to control his emotions.

“Spock, it’s alright,” Kirk whispered in Spock’s mind. “I’m here to tell you good-bye Spock, my brother-my friend.”

Spock gasped as he opened his eyes. Kirk lay unmoving on a stone slab and a woman in a long, white, robe asked,” Are you ready, James T. Kirk?”

Kirk nodded and answered back. “Yes, the purification of James T. Kirk will let me rest. I will go to the house of mirrors and all the vile images in my mind will shatter.”

The woman then pulled out a knife from within her robe and plunged it into Kirk’s side. Before Spock could protest he found himself immersed once more in the swirling darkness. When he opened his eyes Spock found himself in a room lined with mirrors. Each image reflected a torment that Kirk had suffered. As the images rolled out in front of Spock he felt a rage that no Vulcan meditation could sooth, boil up inside him.

Spock felt a slight tremor in the foundation of the house of mirrors and braced himself as the shaking increased. The noise of the tremor grew louder and louder as each mirror began to shatter. Shards of glass flew everywhere as Spock ducked to protect himself from the flying glass projectiles. Then as quickly as the tremors started they stopped and the house of fear and pain was gone. Spock looked around and spotted Kirk lying on a grassy slope near his feet. A mournful sound filled the air as the remains of the house of mirrors fell into a giant abyss.

Spock brushed the glass out of his hair and knelt beside Kirk. “Jim?” Spock whispered.

The woman in the long, white robe suddenly reappeared before Spock. Blood dripped from a knife she held in her hand as she raised the knife above Kirk’s body. Spock rushed towards her and knocked the knife out of her hand as he crouched in a self-defense position. The woman ignored Spock as she started out once more for her intended target-Kirk.

Spock tackled the woman towards the ground as his strong, slender fingers closed around her throat. Like a snake she slithered out of his grasp and then she drug Kirk’s limp body through the remaining glass shards towards the abyss. Without hesitation Spock rushed towards her and as Kirk’s tormentor tumbled over the edge of the abyss, Spock made no move to catch her. Spock watched her body as if twisted and turned until she was out of sight and then he bent his head down. His emotional response was humiliating and like so many times before Spock felt unworthy to be a Vulcan. Gently he walked over and lifted Kirk’s battered body from the pile of glass it rested in. Kirk’s body lay at a grotesquely twisted angle and a small trickle of blood ran from his mouth. Spock stood over Kirk like an avenging angel and then he knelt down to where he placed Kirk and even though logically Spock knew Kirk wouldn’t have a pulse his human half desperately searched for one anyway.