Among the Elite

Kobayashi Maru

At the time I hadn't realized that meeting S'chn T'gai Spock would lead me to being a professor at the Starfleet Academy or that this seemingly emotionless husk of a man would be able to feel emotions even deeper than I had ever imagined. After graduation we begin teaching and within a few years Spock and I are two of the top professors at the academy. Spock's classes are coveted by those who wish to be captains and I have a waitlist for those who wish to study Exolinguistics.

As I grow older I noticed my emotions became less and less apparent. Not through any fault of Spock or myself, but I have noticed I am more likely to be taken seriously by those around me if I live up to the Vulcan standard of little to no emotion, except when I am with Spock. He seems to share this notion as well, the two of us letting out all of our emotions from our days during our rather heated sections; either between classes or at the end of the day. One night, after our passions have ended, I notice that Spock is still a little preoccupied. "Still thinking about that Cadet trying the Kobayashi Maru?"

"This James Kirk seems to think that he will be able to pass the test the third time he attempts it."

"He is headstrong and confident."

"He is reckless and ill-prepared. He will not be fit to be a captain until he can understand that sometimes there are no-win scenarios."

"You know that and I know that, but maybe he just wants to believe that there is always a way."

Spock sighs and smirks over to me, "you know, sometimes you sound almost human."

"And sometimes you sound almost Vulcan."

We chuckle a bit, it's odd that taunts from our childhoods were now phrases we used with love and affection toward one another. "Uh, if you don't have anything else to do, I would find it pleasurable to have you there with me tomorrow."

"Of course, even though there is no logical reason for me to be there."

"Of course there is a logical reason for you to be there. You are the partner of the programming professor, I think that is more than a logical enough reason for you to be there."

"I would love to be there," I smiled over to him.

As I smile over to Spock he smiles back before kissing me and placing a hand on my cheek. Even though people think being a Vulcan is an existence with no emotion, love or joy. But what Spock and I have is quite the opposite. Maybe it's due to our human lineage or maybe we would feel this passion and fire even if we were fully Vulcan? There is no way of knowing since no Vulcan we know speaks of private matters. The way Vulcan couples act around another I'm honestly amazed there are any children on Vulcan.

The next morning we get up bright and early to watch yet another Cadet try and fail the Kobayashi Maru. Spock has programmed the simulator to be unbeatable. He and I have even given it our best attempts only to fail ourselves. The crew is made up of other Cadets all in the same year, serving as crew members for the simulation. One of my most promising Cadets, Nyota Uhura, is serving as a crew member and from her tone she thinks Cadet Kirk is wasting everyone's time, "we are receiving a distress signal from the U.S.S. Kobayashi Maru. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them."

Kirk turns around in his chair, "Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them, Captain."

I roll my eyes as the simulator begins to beep and another Cadet on the mock bridge begins to speak, "two Klingon vessels have entered the Neutral Zone and our locking weapons on us."

"That's okay," Kirk shrugs.

"That's okay?" The Cadet turns back to his fellow student.

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

The Test Administrator is standing next to me, watching the simulation, "did he just say, 'don't worry about it'?"

I shake my head and cross my arms, "he doesn't seem to be taking this simulation seriously."

The Cadet continues to inform Kirk of what's happening, "three more Klingon warbirds decloaking and targeting our ship." He then turns back to Kirk, "I don't suppose this is a problem either."

"They're firing Captain," another Cadet alarms Kirk.

Kirk gestures to Uhura, "alert Medical Bay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship."

"And how do you expect us to rescue them when we're surrounded by Klingons," Uhura gestures toward the screen serving as the display window of the bridge, before crossing her arms, "Captain?"

Kirk then turns to Uhura, "alert Medical."

Alerts on the mock bridge begin to blare and a cadet gives Kirk an update, "our ship is being hit. Shields at 60%."

"I understand," Kirk reaches next to him and pulls out an apple.

"Well, should we, I don't know, fire back?"

"No," Kirk takes a bite of his apple.

"Of course not."

The system then seems to have a glitch, something that is uncommon for the simulation, but not out of the ordinary for a simulation of this size, considering we can run the high tech program a few times a day. The power on the mock Bridge goes off, causing confusion for not only the crew of Cadets, but the test Administrators as well. It doesn't take long for the power to come back on, it isn't until now that Kirk seems to see the need to give his team actual orders, "aim photons. Prepare to fire on the Klingon warbirds."

"Jim, their shields are still up."

"Are they?"

The cadet looks over the panel in front of him, "no, they're not."

"Fire on all enemy ships. One photon each should do. Let's not waste ammunition."

"Target locked and acquired on all warbirds." One of the Cadets gets ready to fire, "firing." I watch, with what I can only describe as rage, as each of the simulated Klingon warbirds is shot and explodes. "All ships destroyed, Captain."

"Begin rescue of the stranded crew." Kirk stands up, "so we managed to eliminate all enemy ships, no one onboard was injured, and the successful rescue of the Kobayashi Maru crew is underway." Kirk takes another bite of the apple as he turns to the window.

I drop my arms to my side as I whip around to face Spock, "how the hell did that kid beat your test?"

Spock looks at me, just as shocked as I am, as is everyone else in the room, "I do not know."