Free Star Trek: The Original Series: The Shocks of Adversity by William Leisner

held his gaze for a second or two longer than necessary
     before saying, “I believe you remember Lieutenant Stiles, Doctor.” Seventeen months
     earlier, while the Enterprise was engaged alternately in the pursuit of, and evasion from, a Romulan bird-of-prey,
     the former Enterprise navigator had accused Spock of being an enemycollaborator due to his nonhuman heritage. “However, on the rare occasion when I’ve
     had to deal with illogical, prejudicially-based attitudes,” Spock continued, turning
     back to N’Mi, “I have always managed to negate the biases of those individuals, and
     prove myself worthy of their regard.”
    “I suppose there are always such difficulties where beings from different worlds come
     in contact,” Laspas said.
    “But the rewards for working through those difficulties are, I believe, more than
     worth the effort,” Kirk said.
    “Hear, hear,” McCoy immediately interjected, though he avoided looking at either Spock
     or Kirk as he spoke.
    Before the captain could continue, he was interrupted by the whistling signal from
     his communicator. “I beg your pardon,” Kirk said to Laspas as he stood up and moved
     away from the table to answer. “Kirk here,” he said once he had pulled the device
     out and opened it.
    “Scott here, Captain,” Kirk heard the distinctive burr of the chief engineer from his communicator. “I apologize for interrupting your meal . . .”
    “But I’m sure you wouldn’t do so if it wasn’t something serious.”
    “Aye, and it is serious, sir,” Scott said. “We’re not going to have a functional warp drive for at least six weeks, sir.”
    “Six weeks?” The captain turned his face briefly toward Spock, awash with emotion.
     “That is not acceptable, Mister Scott.”
    “Believe me, sir, I don’t want to accept it, either. But the pylon supporting the
     starboard warp nacelle took critical damage during the Taarpi’s attack. If we were
     to attempt to go to warp in our current state, the nacelle would be sheared right
     off.” Were that to happen, the uncontrolled warp field collapse would rip the Enterprise ’s hull to pieces.
    Kirk drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Scotty . . . when you say six weeks . . .”
    “I mean six weeks, sir,” Scott affirmed. “If we were at a starbase, with a dedicated crew of specialists working round-the-clock
     shifts, we might be back in shape in two, two and a half weeks. But we’re talking
     about multiple EVAs to work on the exterior of the ship, of the kind we’re really
     not equipped for. Out here, left to our own devices with no other support . . .”
    Kirk’s face turned ashen as Scott trailed off, and Spock understood the reason for
     the physiological response. Even in the best of circumstances, extravehicular activity
     carried extreme risks. And although every person aboard the Enterprise had undergone Starfleet’s required micro- g training and its basic engineering courses, only a very limited number of crew members
     could reasonably be expected to perform such critical exterior repairs withany level of proficiency. In Spock’s judgment, Scott’s estimate of six weeks, rather
     than being overstated as was often the chief engineer’s wont, may have in fact been
     overly optimistic.
    “Understood, Mister Scott,” Kirk finally said. “When we return to the ship, Mister
     Spock and I will stop by engineering to go over the details. Kirk out.” The communicator’s
     hinged antenna clacked shut, and for several seconds, Kirk stood stock-still and silent,
     his eyes unfocused and unseeing, lost deep in thought.
    That silence filled the dining hall as all eyes fixed on Kirk. Finally, McCoy broke
     the wordless lull with a low, concerned “Captain?”
    That was all it took to spur Kirk, causing him to rein back his emotional reaction
     to Scott’s report. “I’m sorry, Commander Laspas.” Kirk gestured to Spock and McCoy.
     They both stood, and the Domain