Story [Star Trek 2009] [Mod's Tropes Challenge] Strange Exchange (Body Swap, Kirk/Spock)

Author: Laurethiel1138

Title: Strange Exchange

Fandom: Star Trek 2009

Note: Response to The Mods' Trope Challenge. My trope was the Body-Swap Trope - better known as the Freaky Friday Flip. I started out wanting to make it a humorous romp with Kirk as the central character, but Spock somehow commandeered the thing. I don’t know if it’s because of my serious disposition, or my tendency to veer toward sesquipedalian loquaciousness, but there you have it.

Disclaimer: Not mine. I’m just borrowing the toys to play in the sandox.

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Kirk straightened his suit at the end of a very tense away mission on the moon Organa IV orbiting around the giant gas planet in the Aldebaran system. Fleetingly, and not for the first time, he thought that the original human settlers must have had an entrenched sense of humour, to name the thing after one of Earth’s most enduring science-fiction sagas. Not that the galaxy had evolved in precisely that fashion – after all, fan as he was, Kirk had never found any indication of Vulcans in a galaxy far, far away – but there you had it.

The negotiations to settle the trade dispute around the mining of the gas giant had gone about as smoothly as in the Old Republic of that tale, that is to say, at a snail pace as they sought to strike a balance between a profitable exploitation and maintaining the system’s equilibrium. It wouldn’t do to upset gravitational forces in the name of profit, and Kirk had had enough of one planet imploding on his watch to stomach more disasters of that scale.

All in all, though, they had come to an agreeable compromise, and the gas mine would soon be built around the orbital platform Spock and he now stood on, ready to be transferred back to the ship.

“Kirk to Mister Scott. Two to beam up,” he said, glad to be back on the Enterprise at last.

“Right away, Sir. I’ll have ye up in no time,” was the chipper answer from his Chief Engineer.

The last thing he felt before dematerialising was a sudden shaking of the orbital station, and then all he knew was darkness.

***
Kirk opened his eyes in the Teleportation Bridge, only to find Uhura launching herself at him and kissing him soundly. Past the first few seconds of shock, he backpedaled and sputtered in a strangely deep voice, “Uhura, what are you doing?”

“Uhura?” she answered, puzzled. “Spock, are you alright?” she went on, looking at him inquiringly.

Wait, is she talking to me? Kirk wondered. But.. I’m not Spock... Or am I? Kirk looked down at his hands, two startlingly pale hands encased in the blue sleeves of the Science Division, and started to panic.

He turned around, dreading what he would find, and found his body staring at him with a familiar tilt of the head, an eyebrow raised, asking a simple one-word question.

“Captain?”

Kirk lifted his hand to his ear, hoping against all hope that his fears wouldn’t be realised. As he felt the telltale point at the top, he uttered, with dread lacing his voice, a question of his own.

“Mister Spock?”

“How... fascinating,” his body answered in a typical Spock mannerism. But this proved to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back, and, overwhelmed, Kirk did the only thing he could do. He fainted.

***
Spock was somewhat perturbed about the quite unexpected result of the latest teleportation, and he could not deny that it brought back unpleasant memories, yet he was nothing if not rational, and he knew panicking would not serve in the present situation. So he brought his Vulcan mind to bear on mastering this new body – not an altogether hard task, considering the feebleness of human passions compared with the throes of Pon Farr – and started to rattle orders here and there before kneeling down to haul his body in his arms to carry it and James Kirk’s psyche to the Medical Bay.

Nyota came along and followed him in the corridors and turbolifts of the ship.

“Spock,” she began nervously, still unaccustomed to the fact that Kirk’s body would act with her beloved’s behaviour, “I swear I didn’t know, or I wouldn’t have kissed you... I mean, him,” she said, pointing at his body.

“It is of no consequence, Nyota. I can hardly fault you for wanting to greet me in whatever manner you saw fit, and you could not have predicted the unexpected results of our teleportation. As far as I am concerned, you kissed me, though I didn’t feel the act in a physical way.”

“Still,” she answered, “I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t want to kiss you right now. This,” and she gestured to indicate Kirk’s body, “is entirely too strange, and I don’t think I could bring myself to kiss Kirk’s lips, regardless of who inhabited his body.”

“No offense taken, I assure you. And I’ll do whatever is in my power to swiftly bring the situation back to its original parameters. We won’t be in this quandary long.”

Meanwhile, they had arrived at the Medical Bay, where they were greeted by a very disgruntled Doctor.

“So there you are, then. I always knew that someday all this scrambling and unscrambling of atoms would wreck havoc in our lives, but do people listen to me, for a change? No!” Doctor McCoy said as he directed Spock to lay his body down on a Biobed to which a full diagnosis station was attached. “And begging your pardon, Spock,” he added, “but I don’t see how you can take the situation so calmly.”

“To repeat what I said in a previous occasion,” Spock began, “I assure you, Doctor, that if a solution might be found through the wringing of hands and the pacing up and down the hallways, then I should gladly submit to this requirement. As it is, I must endeavour to find an answer to that riddle, and find a way to restore us to our proper bodies.”

Spock held up a hand to forestall other critiques. “I have already scheduled an appointment with Mister Scott to discuss the situation. In the meantime I have forbidden anyone from using the Teleportation Bridge, and ordered all planetary transport to be done by shuttle. As for the latter, I have an old friend to contact on New Vulcan to whom I plan to submit a few theories.”

Obviously furious, but nonetheless in full possession of his professionalism, the good Doctor started to run a series of tests. It appeared that there was nothing wrong, physically, with Spock’s body. To be absolutely sure, he also ran a series of tests on Kirk’s body. Everything seemed in order, except, of course, the puzzling matter of the strange exchange of minds.

“If I may suggest one more thing, Doctor,” Spock said. “It may be a good idea to keep my body under sedation for the time being. As you may know from your studies, the Vulcan physiology is quite powerful, and the constitution of the Human mind may not be equal to containing all its impulses. I would prefer that the Captain’s mind would not be subjected to those, and sedation seems the most efficient way of achieving this result.”

Spock saw the Doctor’s reluctance to comply with his suggestion, but the man was nothing if not fair in his assessments, and ultimately nodded, indicating his accord. Satisfied, Spock did not belabour the point and let him go on with his tasks.

***
“So you’re saying that our Teleportation Bridge is not faulty in this matter, Mister Scott?” Spock inquired as they pored over all the data available from the various external sensor arrays and black boxes of the teleportation room.

The chief engineer looked at him strangely, and Spock assumed it must be passing strange to see Kirk’s mouth form around the Vulcan way of speech. But Mister Scott had seen many a weirder happening in their explorations (not to mention the strange story of Admiral Archer’s puppy or the unfortunate Tribble incident), and he was nothing if not adaptable. Businesslike, the Scotsman answered with his characteristic brogue.

“Exactly, Sir. I did go through all the wee data I found in these yon black boxes, and, far as I ken, our machinery functioned normally, with nary a glitch in the system. No’ that I really expected tae find anything, mind ye. A high-maintenance lass the Enterprise may be, but I’ve ne’er let her doon yet.”

“Very well. I did not expect our systems to be at fault. But our report to Starfleet needs to be exhaustive, and I could not discard the possibility, however remote it might be.”

“I hear ye weel. Any road, ‘tis nae hurtful tae check if everything’s alright, just tae be sure. All we need tae do, at present, is tae isolate the unknown variable in our equation.”

Spock then indicated that the mining platform had shaken badly before the dematerialization characteristic of the teleportation process, and shared with Mister Scott his concern that a phenomenon linked to this event had caused the strange exchange of minds. Indeed, when he thought about it, the close call almost made beads of sweat appear on Kirk’s spine, for he remembered well the fateful day when he had lost his mother, and he did not care to repeat the experience, or to leave others to share the same grief.

So they went through yet more data, this time associated with a sudden burst of gas from the planet’s surface, the same explosive mushroom which had shaken the platform. After long minutes of research, Mister Scott brought his attention to an anomaly in the sensor readings.

“See there,” he said, “that spike in Omega rays?”

Spock nodded, wishing the engineer to continue.

“Weel, I do think that, happening as it was at the exact same time as yer transportation, it did scramble yer atoms enough to mix yer minds. I canna say that ‘tis the exact reason, mind ye, but ‘tis as close tae an explanation as I can find now.”

“Very well. Please continue your research in that vein, Mister Scott. And as a reference, could you also go through the Enterprise’s backlogged data from the destruction of Vulcan? I would wish to know if the same phenomenon is responsible for my mother’s disappearance.”

Mister Scott’s face acquired a grave expression as the full import of Spock’s request was made known to him, and, dourly but not without feeling, he promised to work double duty on the matter to bring it to a positive conclusion.

Thus free of any remaining questions, Spock was then at liberty to pursue the most likely solution to their current predicament.

***
Though he was in Kirk’s body, Spock nevertheless engaged his communication from his own office. The one he would be speaking to would take it all in his stride as he had lived through many upheavals in his time. It was Spock’s hope that together they could bring about a swift resolution of the current problem.

The connection was promptly established, for Spock had taken care and calculated exactly the moment when his interlocutor would be free, and had also taken the opportunity to rest in the meantime. Human bodies demanded an inordinate amount of rest compared to Vulcan ones, and Spock privately wondered how humanity had managed to accomplish so much with so little time to be truly efficient.

“Ah, Kirk,” his interlocutor began, “I was expecting Spock to be on the other end of the communication.”

“It is indeed Spock. The Captain and I had an encounter with Omega Rays whilst teleporting.”

“How... interesting,” his other self said, rising his brow in an altogether eerie imitation of his own expression. “And you have called me to help.”

“Indeed, Elder. I do not trust to repeat the encounter with the Omega Rays, and I would attempt a version of the mind meld to restore our minds to their proper bodies, but I am wary of this Human shell I am inhabiting, and do not know how it would answer if I initiated the contact. As you are familiar with both our psyches and species, it was only logical to call upon you for help.”

His other self steepled his hands over his mouth in an almost Human expression of reflection before answering, “It is a very difficult technique, and I am glad you did not attempt it on your own. However, I do think I can help you, but I will need some time to tie up loose ends here on New Vulcan, as the Humans would say. Based on your current position, I estimate I could be with you in a week.”

“It is acceptable,” Spock said. “I will send you all the data we have gathered on the matter in the meantime, and will await your prompt arrival in due time.”

***
Spock received his other self in the Enterprise’s Docking Bay, in Kirk’s body no less, and had he been fully Human, he would have been impatient for this wretched week to be over. As it was, he was merely eager to be back in his own skin and resume normal operations.

The Elder walked down the ramp, and, after a traditional exchange of welcomes, inquired about the week’s events as they started on their way to the Medical Bay.

“I cannot say it has been a good week, as Humans would put it,” Spock answered. “I have attempted to continue the ship’s mission, but I must admit it has been difficult. Try as I might, I can never fully imitate the Captain’s manners, and there were moments when I thought a particular exchange with planetary authorities would not end well at all. As it is, I can only say that I am glad I was not put in the position to converse with Starfleet Command, for then I would have had to explain our woes. It is enough that I must enter them in our log once the situation has been resolved.”

The Elder nodded at that juncture, having anticipated such a conundrum, and said, “It is as I expected. And the Captain – or should I say your body – has been kept in sedation all this time?”

“Indeed. Though I must say that the good Doctor has not been overly happy at the prospect. I may inhabit a Human body at present, but anyone could have heard his mutterings about ‘blasted green-blooded hobgoblins’”

The Elder almost smiled. “It seems that, whatever the time stream, some things do not change. I will be glad to see the Doctor again, though he may not be the Doctor I knew.” He continued, “And I suppose I shall have to explain a few things to the Captain, to explain why I can be in the same room as you. I have an apology long overdue.”

The Doctor, as grumpy as ever, received them in the Medical Bay, and, after yet more mutterings, accepted to terminate the sedation on Spock’s body so that they may proceed with the mind meld.

The two bodies laying side by side, the Elder stepped between the beds and lay his hands on both foreheads, unleashing the full power of the Vulcan mind in this most dangerous of procedures. It felt like two vortexes seizing him, threatening to rip him to pieces as he extracted the minds, piece by piece, and put them back in their rightful bodies.

After long hours, though, the last fragments were put back in place and, exhausted, he slumped into a chair to recuperate as his two friends opened their eyes.

***
The following evening, after the Elder Spock had left, Kirk found Spock in the Observation Desk, contemplating the stars shooting past the ship.

He went to stand beside him and began, “I would have liked to be there to see you managing the situation, Spock. I am sure there were some fun moments of you trying to act like me so that our contacts wouldn’t know the difference.” Being Kirk, he couldn’t resist placing a well-aimed jab. “But I am sure the crew will be more than glad to share the details, even if I have to pull rank for it.”

Spock made to answer, but Kirk silenced him. “In all seriousness, though, the apology your other self gave me for having mislead me at the beginning of our acquaintance got me thinking.

“I already said as much to Uhura, but I need to tell you that, however much I might have had intentions toward her once upon a time, from the moment I knew she was with you, those intentions turned to ashes. And acting on them now, even unintentionally, was wrong in about a thousand ways I can name, and then some.”

Spock nodded, acknowledging Kirk’s statement, though he felt such clarification was unnecessary. It would have been illogical to presume otherwise when both Nyota’s actions and the Captain’s behaviour indicated that they esteemed each other only in terms of professionalism and camaraderie.

Kirk went on, however. “It has also come to my mind that I also owed you a long-overdue apology of my own, for the way I took command of the ship on our first outing. I of all people knew how it felt to be an orphan, and I shouldn’t have provoked you. My only excuse, if it can indeed be one, is that we were running out of time and I didn’t know how to get through that thick logical skull of yours. Flatly, Spock, I am sorry.”

Spock closed his eyes and gathered his hands at his back, the only outward sign of emotion the Vulcan allowed himself. But Kirk soon smiled when, a few seconds later, Spock opened his eyes, turned toward him, and said, “Apology accepted, Captain.”