Fic: Observations, Ch 262
Serving under Commodore James Tiberius Kirk will be a markedly different experience. Already there are several points where he plans to diverge from his former command style as captain. I anticipate that it will be some time before we are able to optimize the Enterprise’s performance to carry out all duties at our personal standard of efficiency.
The observations I have made these past five years concerning command and crew dynamics may or may not apply to our new situation. It has been noted that the incoming crewmembers look forward to working with myself and the commodore. They take confidence in the fact that our relationship is marked by implicit trust, candor, and an intimate, intuitive knowledge of each other’s thought processes. None of these qualities had been present when I first served with the commodore, nor could I foresee such developments taking place. However, the effort I made to understand Commodore Kirk and the extensive data I gathered on his character, supplemented by our day-to-day interactions, led to this. This, despite the fact that he and I have few characteristics in common.
How did this happen? At times, I feel I still do not know him. At times, I wonder how I lived so long without him. How is it possible that this man represents the very depth of space and the diversity of life that exists in this universe?
I remember our beginning. I remember the long road we took, the high price we paid to get here.
I have no regrets. There can be none, when life has gifted me with so much that is good. Though I have looked into the abyss and seen the face of evil, though I have despaired and grieved and sorrowed, though there have been times when I was lost, I do not look back to remember bitterness and evil. Such sentiments lead to blindness, the inability to marvel at the beauty of light burning in darkness.
All good things must come to an end.
I will live. We will continue. Our journey will change.
I’m going to miss this.
I will fulfill my duties as First Officer to Commodore Kirk, as a Science Officer in Starfleet, and as a Vulcan in the Federation.