Much Ado About Vulcan (A Spock Love Story) - COMPLETE

Authoritative Measures and Unwanted Friendships

Just a quick note before this chapter. I am changing the canon a slight bit (i.e, in the film, the crew set off for Vulcan after this Chapter, but I am waiting roughly 3 weeks until they set off. I'm just doing this for the purpose of the plot that I have planned.) With that said, here we go. :)

(Also, if you spot any typos, please tell me so I can change them x)

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"James. T. Kirk. Step forwards."

The loud voice of the Academy President echoed around the large amphitheatre, and I winced to myself at his harsh tone. I was stood up, dressed in my formal blue Starfleet uniform, along with countless other students. We had been called together for what had been mysteriously named a 'Public Announcement.' My eyes scanned the large crowd, the mass of students blurring together in a sea of red yellow and blue, until I focused on Jim. He had that cocky smile plastered onto his face, and he seemed perfectly at ease with himself as he stepped forwards, out of the throng of over 500 students, to stand and face the council by a podium. He knew exactly what was about to happen.

As ashamed as I was to admit it, I hoped that he would leave my name out of his confession. Yes, I fucked around with the Kobayashi Maru, by the looks of it, I did it well, but that didn't mean that I was ready to face the consequences. Meddling with a standardised test was a serious business, and one that the administration certainly didn't take lightly. I didn't want to be expelled from Starfleet only weeks before my final exams...

I felt a firm pressure on my left hand, and turned my head sideways to see T'yonga, her green face turning paler by the second. She had grabbed my hand with such force that it was a wonder my fingers didn't fall off but I just squeezed back harder.

Neither of us wanted Jim to leave. As much of an arsehole as he was, he could be sweet, nice, friendly.

And he had, to my knowledge, been entirely faithful to T'yonga. Something that, in my time knowing boys, was very rare these days.

"An incident has occurred today that concerns the entire student body. Academic immorality by one is an assault on us all. It will. Not. Stand."

The auditorium was silent. The midday sun beat down on us, and I felt a drop of sweat run down my back, though from the heat or the stress I wasn't sure. Jim's Kobayashi Maru test had only been this morning, but the Academy had wasted no time in gathering the entire student body to witness Jim's public humiliation. For a split second, I wondered how Spock had reacted to Jim beating the test. A small burst of satisfaction ran down my spine as I imagined him, open mouthed and furious, watching as his test, a test which he had spent years perfecting, be beaten by a rugged farm-boy with a Southern lilt. I hid a smirk at the thought. It served him right.

"Cadet Kirk," The President continued, facing Jim with a stare that would make lesser men wilt, "Evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to regulation 17.43 of Starfleet Code. Is there anything that you would like to say before we begin?"

Jim cleared his throat, the sound echoing in the deafening silence of the large arena. All eyes were on him, and I couldn't shake the feeling that he was absolutely loving it.

"Um... yes." He said. His voice was loud. Clear and confident in the deafening silence of the arena. "I believe that I have the right to face my accuser directly?"

The President seemed slightly taken aback by the question, but nodded nonetheless. There was a shuffle as, from the masses of Cadets on the other side of the stadium, a distinct figure clad in a blue uniform, not so different from mine, took a large step forwards. His face was pure thunder. I assumed that to the rest of the student body, he looked entirely calm, completely composed, but I knew him too well. I saw the telltake quirk of the innermost third of his left eyebrow, the tiny wrinkle that was beginning to form in the indent of his forehead.