The BLTS Archive - Dear Th'y'la:  This Is Difficult
by S.R. Benjamin (phil@temples.com)

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Paramount owns Star Trek.

If you are 18 or younger, or m/m sex offends you, read no further.
For the rest of you, I hope this adds a bright note to your day. The
topic is a clash between Spock and Admiral Komack.  (This work is
based on numerous sources, most prominent among them canon and a scene
from Full Circle by Killashdra.)

P.S.  Even though Spock is boarding a Sh*ttlecr*ft, only the name is
mentioned, and the rest is left to the imagination.

S.R. Benjamin, blushing that a sh*ttle was even involved, however
discreetly.

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Coded transmission for Captain James T. Kirk, retinal scan required.
Origin:  Seattle, Washington, Terra.


Dear Th'y'la:

This is difficult.  In your last letter you expressed surprise that
Admiral Komack and I had exchanged sharp words at Spacedock while
waiting for our respective ships.  This is illogical.  When you
commented on Admiral Nogura's neutral--at least outwardly--reception
of our news, you also immediately expressed your concerns about how
Komack would respond. You were wise to wonder.  I do not believe
Komack has ever reconciled himself to what he considers your
insubordination in diverting the Enterprise to Vulcan against his
orders, especially since he feels disgraced by the subsequent events
with T'Pau which occurred so publicly.

You should be aware of my exchange with him, as it will help you
adjust your strategy.  Prepare yourself, Jim.  The rumors about his
behavior when he consumes alcohol are true, and the results are
unsavory.

I had entered the Spacedock canteen to purchase apple juice, and as my
chit was being debited, I heard a soft voice behind me say, "I hear
that's not the only Terran good you partake of."

When I turned, Admiral Komack was right behind me.

"Let's talk awhile, Commander," he said.  "I'd like to know how your
pretty boy snatched the Enterprise out of Nogura's hands."

"I would not know, Admiral," I replied.  "It is quite possible that he
earned it."

This may not have been the most suitable opening with which to build
rapport.  I had heard, Jim, that the nephew of Admiral Komack was
scheduled to become rated on the design if I refused the Captaincy, as
Komack and Nogura must have known I would.

Komack motioned me to a table after purchasing his whiskey, and we sat
down.  I tried initially to mend the earlier breaches between you and
him.  I told him, "Admiral, I am aware that Captain Kirk defied orders
in diverting the Enterprise to Vulcan.  It was not revealed at that
time, but in fact he was acting based on a life-and-death situation,
as T'Pau subsequently made clear.  Therefore, I respectfully submit
that your assessment of Kirk's actions may be unnecessarily harsh."

Komack rejected this information outright.

"Cut the crap, Commander.  Don't give me any of this 'life-and-death
matter.'  If it was truly a matter of life-and-death, why is there
absolutely no mention of it in the medical records or the ship's log?
Life and death my ass.  That's just a coverup.  What's real is this:
it is impossible to command the Fleet in the face of willful
insubordination.  Kirk should have been stripped of command.  Instead,
he is lauded as a hero.  And don't get me wrong, Commander, but I
wasn't impressed with his 'It's Spock or Starfleet' gambit in Nogura's
office three months ago.  There are rules about fraternizing with
fellow officers, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let his arrogant
attitude and his flaunting of his relationship with you compromise the
integrity of the service, no matter what Nogura says."

He stopped to gulp his drink, and looked quickly around the canteen to
observe that we were not within earshot of anyone.  He leaned toward
me and sneered, "What a travesty: Interview Live, and Maxine Walker,
star extraordinaire, enshrining Spock and Kirk as the heros of Earth
and Starfleet".  He had consumed all of his whiskey, and his face was
turning white.  Suddenly, he glared at me and his mouth twisted.  He
spat, "An arrogant prick and his cocksucking XO.  The Fleet is going
to hell in your hands, and I will not tolerate that!"

I cannot reconstruct the chain of logic which led me to confront
Komack, Jim.  Indeed, his characterization of me was essentially
accurate, if vulgar.  In part, I responded to the fact that you
insisted to Komack and Nogura that we serve together, putting your
career on the line, even before we had settled anything between us.  I
wished to counter his petty bureacracy, the lack of perspective, the
visciousness. He attacked what we are to each other.  He said you
should be stripped of command.  He is a man desperate to control, or
rather to subjugate, at any cost.

So I recounted to him a story, quickly, as the first call came for
boarding the U.S.S. Spotted Hawk for Seattle. I leaned closer to his
sneering face and replied, "Admiral, your approach reminds me of a
statement once attributed to a President of the North American
continent of Terra.  He said about one of his subordinates, 'I want
the man to kiss my backside.  I want his penis in my pocket.'"

Komack was looking at me with an expression both calculating and
predatory.  I am convinced that he wishes to destroy you, Jim.  So I
continued, "Between you and Kirk, Admiral, there remain but a pair of
small problems.  His penis is not for your pocket, but for me, and he
will never kiss your ass.  Nor shall I, for that matter."

He was staring speechless as I rose quickly and left to board the
Spotted Hawk.  I am not sure if my father would approve of my approach
to diplomacy.

But diplomacy is based on common ground, which is nonexistent here.  I
do not believe that there is anything to be gained by placating a
cruel bully.  It is better to draw a line and defend it.  You and I
will have trouble from Komack later regardless of the approach we
employ.  My encounter actually changed little, as his course was set
before our clash.  For these reasons, I thought you might wish to
obliquely inform Admiral Nogura about Komack's unprofessional and
insubordinate behavior in his criticism of the Admiral's decisions.
Someday we will need an ally high in Starfleet, probably sooner than
we anticipate.  I trust Nogura, for all of the harshness he must bring
to his commanding role in the resolution of conflicting interests and
responsibilities.

I would like to write to you of other, more palatable things, but I
hear my aunt stirring in the kitchen, and we have planned a long day
of errands to prepare her house for the winter.  Perhaps your presence
at Fleetcom will become less essential during the next day or two, and
it will still be possible for you to join me here.  There is a large
antique bed in my room, much too imposing for my lone body during
these late nights when the plains lie dark beneath a sky whispering
snow.  My aunt made a ribald comment the other day about newlyweds and
kitchen tables, and then shook her finger at me and said, "Don't you
get any ideas, youngster!"

But you should see it, Jim.  Thick solid warm pale wood with a trestle
made of a single block of oak, sturdy as the Enterprise. . .and my
aunt takes an hour-long walk every day, at the insistence of her
physician.  Say you will come, Th'y'la.


Spock
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The End