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.
McCoy and Tatiana both stared in horror as Kirk and Spock disappeared. “What the hell’s going on?” McCoy shouted as two bald figures in silver robes approached them.
“Doctor McCoy, Lieutenant Nivka, Welcome,” the robed figures announced in unison.
“Talosions or is it Vivians?” McCoy gasped.
The two bald figures glanced at each other. “We are not Talosions or Vivians. We are a combination of both the Talosions and the Vivians. We are the Talvivians. We were banished from Talos years ago.”
“And just what were you banished for?” McCoy asked warily.
The Talvivians looked at each other. “We were banished because the Talosions and Vivians thought our experiments were too cruel. You see we test different species for emotional responses. We are curious for we have no emotional responses.”
McCoy shivered as he remembered the cruelty of the Vivian experiments. He had almost lost his life to one such experiment. McCoy folded his arms across his chest. “So, you resort to kidnapping to get beings for experimental purposes. In other words you want to see what makes an emotional being tick?” McCoy asked in disgust.
The Talvivans looked at each other. “Yes, Doctor, that is the idea.”
Tatiana came and stood quietly next to McCoy. “How are you going to test us?” She whispered.
The Talvivians replied in unison. “You and Doctor McCoy are here only to observe. Kirk and Spock are the ones to be tested. If they pass all of the tests you will all be free to go.”
“And if they don’t?” McCoy growled.
“You will all be destroyed just as Vulcan Science Vessel was.”
Tatiana tilted her head to one side. “Just what do you want from Kirk and Spock?”
“We want to see a Vulcan react emotionally. When we probed Kirk’s mind we noticed he and Spock were close friends. This friendship did not correspond with the information that we possessed on Vulcans and this inconsistency intrigued us. We wanted to see what Spock’s reaction would be if we were to endanger Kirk’s life. We wanted to see if Spock could be forced to lose control of his emotions.”
“But Spock is half human,” Tatiana replied.
“That makes the game all the more interesting. We want to see which side of Spock will control the other.”
McCoy rolled his eyes and sighed. “Great. Our lives are hanging on Spock’s emotional responses.”
Spock found a faint pulse as he gently lifted Kirk’s head so he could breathe easier. The gurgling sound in the back of Kirk’s throat had diminished slightly as Spock held tightly on to Kirk’s hand to take his mind off of the pain. For Spock knew that humans found this gesture comforting. Spock shivered as he patched up Kirk’s wound with a strip torn from his shirt. It was an illogical act, for Kirk would be dead soon.
Closing his eyes Spock relived Kirk’s last telepathic contact with him. Spock had been surprised for it had been much stronger than the mind meld. The mental images had seemed so real that it was as if he and Kirk had been living in another dimension. Spock closed his eyes and recalled one of the more poignant memories. Kirk had stood before him laughing.
“Don’t be afraid, Spock,” Kirk laughed, “Follow me.”
Spock raised an eyebrow. “I am not afraid, Captain. Fear is a human emotion.”
A smile quirked on Kirk’s lips as he replied, “Of course, Spock.”
Spock had reluctantly followed Kirk as he ran in front of him and pointed, “Look there’s me as a child,” Kirk sighed. “My childhood was not a happy one.”
Kirk and Spock watched as a small boy clinched his fists to his side. In vain he tried to control his anger, as an older boy pushed his shoulder.
“Come on, Jimmy, admit it. Your father doesn’t care about you anymore than mine does for me. He’s gone away in space and he probably has a girl in every port.”
That did it. Kirk summoned up all his pent-up frustrations and smashed his fist into the soft flesh of the boy’s face. Together they went down punching, gouging, and throwing dirt. The other boys gathered around cheering. A good fight was an age old preoccupation of school boys that Kirk indulged in with relish. Suddenly Kirk felt himself yanked into the air. “That will be enough James,” a firm voice commanded.
Blood ran from Kirk’s nose and mouth as he was escorted into a small, white room. A smiling, young nurse approached Kirk, “Well, jimmy, you’re here again. You’ve got to stay out of trouble, or you’ll be sent to military school.” Kirk hung his head as the nurse dabbed at the blood on his face. “I know how you feel. My father was away in space too and I too got made fun of and I like you I also lost my temper. However, as soon as I started to control my temper things got better.”
Kirk smiled into her blue eyes. “Thanks Sarah, by the way how did my tormentor fair?”
The nurse laughed. “He looked a lot worse than you.”
Kirk grinned. “Good.” Kirk turned to face the door as it clicked open.
“Jimmy?” Kirk’s smile faded when he saw his mother’s worried face. “Oh honey, you look awful.” Kirk’s mother whispered as she searched Kirk’s face for damage.
The nurse sighed. “Well, Mrs. Kirk, at least he didn’t lose a tooth this time.”
Kirk’s mother smiled gratefully in the nurse’s direction. “Thank you, Sarah. I’ll take him home now.”
Together Kirk and his mother walked out into the sunlight. Kirk looked down and scuffed his feet in the dirt. “I’m sorry mom.”
Kirk’s mother slowed her stride. “I know, Jimmy.”
Kirk shook his head. “Mom, you don’t know. That boy insulted dad and you too.”
Kirk’s mother smiled. “Jimmy, you’ve got to learn to curb that temper of yours. After all a star-ship Captain has to maintain discipline at all times.”
Kirk stared at his mom. “You read my essay?”
Kirk’s mother nodded. “Your teacher showed it to me. It was very good.”
Kirk grabbed his mother’s hand. “You’re not hurt, or surprised that I want to go into space are you?”
Kirk’s mother smiled. “No, I’m not hurt or surprised.”
Kirk grinned up at her. It was his father’s grin. “I’m glad mom. I never ever want to hurt anyone, especially you.” Kirk said as he smiled into the eyes of his mother that were full of unconditional love. Tears rose up in young Kirk’s eyes, though he hardly knew why.