It was so heavily backlogged. Messages, paperwork, reports, news - all of it was backlogged. Kirk had holed himself up in his office, trying to get through it all. Okay, the paperwork was at least not seriously backlogged and he saw Spock's hand in that. Spock was good at that sort of thing, even if Kirk wasn't entirely surprised to see some things
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He leaned back in his chair, slumping. It was a topic that never failed to drain him of everything. "What can you tell me about the ship following us? I'm going to have to talk to Starfleet about it."
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He offered a smile.
"The Narada is a hybrid, of sorts. She's made up of different ships, different technology, that, because she's sentient, she's found a way to integrate herself. She can literally consume material and improve herself in the process. Psychologically and emotionally, she's a child, rapidly maturing into her own autonomy. In the time I've spent with her alone, she's moved from blind following of orders to the acknowledgment that she is her own being and her decisions--and therefore the consequences of those decisions--are her own."
Jim found that significant. She was undeniably dangerous, but there was hope, there, too. For what, Jim did not know. But adaptation was key.
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"Do we know what she is? No ship's ever been able to do something like that. Even the Enterprise still needs to be repaired by engineers, upgraded... hell, even the human body can't fix everything about itself. You're telling me she's accepting her own consequences... but does she still follow Nero's orders as her captain, or because she wants to?"
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"She might not even care we exist when Nero's off the ship as well. Only focused on his safety. She's not beyond damaging us... the Enterprise is going to need a new coat of paint thanks to her striking out at us," That had been in one of the reports. "She could go after more than us to prove she means business. In her full size..."
His fingers twitched. It almost felt like he could feel the tattoos on his left arm. "She destroyed eight ships without so much as a twitch in her systems. It took ramming her with a medium sized cruiser to do that kind of damage to her that she might back off."
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"No one's saying she's not dangerous," he said. "She might be one of the most dangerous things we've ever seen. But she's also aware. And to me, that means we have to be extra careful in taking steps against her. If we have any chance of convincing her not to move against us, we've bought time. And put safeguards in place in the meantime. If she's really as dangerous as all that, as difficult to defeat, then we don't lose anything by trying diplomacy."
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"That's what I'm saying. She's too powerful to deal with with strength. What we need to do is show her options. Show her what we can offer her, and Nero. Show her she's got potential elsewhere. She's able to create an entirely new body for herself. Is there any reason she needs to be a ship? How much of that is her identity, and how much has she moved past it? She has options. And she needs to know what they are--especially those that are acceptable to us."
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He smirked, just a little. Maybe they could work with this.
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A tiny bit of professionalism went out the window when he asked, "...so what's it been like?" A gesture up and down Jim's new body.
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He raised an eyebrow at the other question. "Which part? Sitting down to pee is not as weird as you might think, once you get used to it." He smiled. "But really--I don't feel any different. Just... well, physically smaller. Less strong. More wardrobe choices."
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