Captain Christopher Richard Pike

"That's always a risk," Jim admitted, his voice low but not from uncertainty. "It is a question I must ask myself every moment Spock is not at my side. My regret, were something to happen to him, would be entire. Possibly out of proportion considering the other crimes Nero has committed. But I also must trust. Trust in Spock's analysis and instincts. Trust that the Narada cannot act against herself, while part of her is here. Trust that she would not request what she has if her sole intent was to destroy us, and that her goals will stall whatever Nero's may be.

"What I must weigh, therefore, is which regret is more likely: that I did not act, or that I acted in haste?"

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It was an interesting venture into Jim's mind. Though he hardly agreed with Jim's methods, he could see a conviction as strong as his own and could respect that. "Your trust seems to be a near-endless well spring, something I can't fathom." It was the more suitable reply to what cycled through his head that Jim seemed to just be waiting to be taken advantage of.

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It is true that he would not risk his Spock lightly. Nor would, from what I have seen of his mind, his Spock allow a situation to persist if he felt his James T. Kirk were endangered by it.

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There was a hint of a smile under Jim's raised eyebrows. "I can certainly see how it seems that way," he agreed. "And why it would be impossible for you to accept. I don't think it would serve me well, in your world. Unless I'm much mistaken."

But the fact was that he sat here, outnumbered, threat not perhaps imminent but quite real. Trust, under intelligent regulation, was what allowed him to do so.

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What he would allow, and what Spock would do on his own, may be entirely different things. Pike pointed out; Spock had done his own acting against his own orders in the past, though rare it was.

"It wouldn't." Pike agreed easily enough, "You would have been dead a long time ago."

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Jim took this truth with a smile and a shrug. "Then I suppose it's a good thing I don't live there," he said. He sobered slightly. "No, I'd be an entirely different person. I don't think I would like that person, Christopher. But I daresay he wouldn't like me, either." He liked Pike, though, which in some sense struck him as odd though in others it felt quite as natural as when he liked anyone else worthy of respect. There was an intensity about him that intrigued him, though it was a dangerous thing as well. There was something hard and cold about that icy blue gaze that was a warning to all. But there was more to Pike than that. More to this Spock, too. And Jim had always been committed to seeing that. "We'd all be fools not to recognize that our choices are, to a large extent, bound by our environments."

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"Of course." Pike agreed with that readily enough. "The one I know from my universe is intelligent, cunning, and swift like yourself. He is also incredibly dangerous, has a penchant for blood and knives, and would sell his own child to get farther in his career. He's a skilled navigator, but ruthless in his desire for my chair."

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"The one from the universe I visited is ambitious as well, from what I know," he said. "Just as every Pike I have ever met has had some quality of intelligence and leadership that is readily recognizable. I suppose what we all share is the ability to exist in all the worlds we have yet seen, adapting in our own ways. Whether we like it or not."

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"So it would seem." Pike nodded. "The choice involving the Narada and its crew is not yours to make, or mine, but only that of the very man they took and tortured. Should be interesting to see what he chooses."

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It was a fair point, and Jim knew it. Though he was well aware that if he were Jim, Spock and Bones would already have been at his door, questioning his capacity to make such a decision. As much as he resented any such implication--as badly as he had reacted to it, in the past--he was aware of the value of the regulation. Of checks and balances.

"I'm a little too close to the matter to choose such a neutral word as 'interesting,'" he said. "But I take your meaning."

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"It has been an intriguing lesson to sit back and watch not only one but two different styles of command since I've come to this universe. Now they seem to be coming head to head." It was imply that he was waiting to see which one won.

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"Is it that obvious?" Jim asked evenly. "I will say only that you have not seen me in command. Not in any but the most tangential sense. Though... I can't say I don't hope there is something to learn, by it."

It worried Jim. What they would decide. What the consequences of that decision were. What his own position meant, should he be given the chance to be proven wrong. He glanced at Spock for a moment.

"You would not sacrifice Spock, I think, had yours done as mine decided," he said quietly, fixing his eyes back on Pike. "Not unless it became a matter of life and death for you and the rest of your crew."

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"My Spock would not have been so foolish, but if he had chosen to do so, I wouldn't destroy the Narada or its crew. I would be waiting for an opening to be able to retrieve Spock and then I would destroy the ship, or convinced him to finish the deed." It would have been easy to send Spock in and watch them fall beneath his hands.

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Jim nodded. "Reasonable, under the circumstances described," he allowed. "Spock assures me he is making progress, in his own way. And I will protect his ability to do so, until such time as it becomes untenable and he must be retrieved."

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That moved Spock to speak again.

"And if he must be retrieved? What then, James T. Kirk?"

What force was this captain without a ship prepared to bring to bear?

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He fixed his gaze, serious and resolved, on Spock.

"Then I will make my own bargain with the Narada. I will find a way there. And find a way back, with Spock."

If worst came to worst, he would gamble on Jim's unwillingness to kill them both.

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"You seem convinced that the Captain will chose revenge over your advice." Pike said with interest. "Do you believe he would go so far as to even destroy your Spock?"

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"I'm not at all convinced of that," Jim said, refocusing on Pike. "But I'd be a poor commander, indeed, if I refused to consider the possibility. I don't think Jim will go so far. But neither can I assume that his choices are mine."

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Spock slanted a look at his captain.

What do you think of his words?

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He has his ways and remains firm to them. Little more can be said, or asked. I have a feeling that there will be a show down between the two beliefs, though, and it will not end well. Pike spoke like a man holding a spades-high royal flush, sure of himself and the outcome.

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Jim glanced between them, noting the silent communication only because he was getting familiar with the practice himself.

"Anything you want to share with the rest of the class?" he asked jauntily.

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I'm growing lazy here. If Jim was capable so easily of picking it out. "No, not particularly."

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Jim was unaware of Pike's concern, but the fact remained that Jim had good instincts and a newly-formed bond, the benefits of which were in the forefront of his mind.

"Okay then," he said. "Anything else I can answer for you? Before I give you those uniform specs, that is."

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He was not so concerned - more fascinated.

"You often speak to your Spock in such a fashion?"

There were no other humans, in his experience, who were capable of it - bonded or not. And he had rarely been able to speak to Vulcans about it.

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