Still, as he thought about it now, it struck Kirk that there had always been something mysterious about Nyota Uhura. For all her outward warmth, she was a very private individual. He had come to think of her as a trusted colleague, even a friend, though more casually than he was with Spock or McCoy, or than she was with Sulu and Chekov. Yet on reflection, there was still a great deal he did not know about her personal life.

His first reaction had been disbelief that Uhura could be involved in anything connected to the vacuum flares—anything on the level of a cosmic mystery this great. But was that simply because he had always taken her for granted? What depths might she possess that he had never discovered?

Starfleet Academy

“I need to take the Enterprise out.”

Superintendent Chandra studied Kirk patiently from behind the neatly organized desk in his office. “Already?”

“You’re aware of the apparent connection of the vacuum flare phenomenon to past Enterprise missions,” Kirk said. Chandra nodded. “Captain Spock and I believe that a former member of our crew aboard the Asimov could provide a vital insight, and it would be faster to rendezvous with them in the Enterprise than to call them back to Earth.”

“And this can’t be done over subspace?”

Kirk paused. “It could be… involved. We have a tentative idea of a connection, but it might take extensive discussion and analysis, working together, to determine what it means.”

“Hmm.” Chandra nodded as he thought it over. “That sounds reasonable. Sending the Enterprise under Captain Spock is a sensible approach.” The senior admiral’s gaze pierced him. “But why do you need to be there?”

Kirk hesitated, which Chandra took as an answer. “I have accepted the nature of your arrangement with Admiral Morrow. I understand your position that your skills are still useful in the field. Some of us take more comfortably to administration than others.” Chandra gestured around him at his office, adorned with paraphernalia of his family, the Academy, and San Francisco, all conveying the sense of a man securely nested in his place.

“But I accepted it with the understanding that you would find a reasonable balance between your Academy responsibilities and your occasional special assignments. I am not convinced you have been sufficiently dedicated to that balance, Jim. You are taking field assignments that do not require your presence, when you should be back here concentrating on your commitments as commandant.

“Particularly now, with the tensions surrounding the Warborn cadets. It was largely at your urging that we accepted them, after all. You have an obligation to see this through.”

“I understand that, sir. But this shouldn’t take more than a few days—”