All of Me

"How dearly I hate thee ... men of Earth. You have vexed me throughout eternity on the playing fields of the Infinity. A game, my forever foes, one we have played so many times before. A board, changing with every turn of our unchanging struggle. The Prize? Ah, there's the mystery.

Characters

 * James T. Kirk
 * Spock
 * Leonard McCoy
 * Montgomery Scott
 * Hikaru Sulu
 * Uhura
 * Pavel Chekov
 * Armand St. John
 * Narhal
 * Susna
 * Djinn

Summary
The Enterprise has tracked down an Orion ship that has been raiding colonies along the Eerina V sector. Kirk and an away team have beamed over to the Orion ship and are attempting to capture it from it's captains: Narhal and Susna. While Kirk fights Susna, Narhal attempts to activate the vessel's self destruct system in order to protect the secrets of their planet and take the Enterprise down with them. Kirk is able to overpower Susna and knock Narhal out of the way before he is succesful.

Back in Sickbay, Dr. McCoy asks Kirk exactly what the point of this mission was. Kirk explains that while Orion has been claiming neutraility, their pirate ships have been raiding outer colonies for years. When these ships face capture, they self destruct while the Orion government dismisses them as rogues. If they were able to capture one intact, it would help to prove Starfleet's suspicions that these vessels are not as rogue as the government claims. McCoy tells Kirk that someone else should be leading these missions and he shouldn't always put his life on the line, but Kirk retorts that he wouldn't ask his crew to do anything he wouldn't do himself. Uhura then contacts Kirk to inform him they have recieved a message from Starfleet Command. Kirk proceeds to the bridge in order to take it.

Admiral Fitzpatrick orders Enterprise to proceed to Pollux II at best possible speed in order to assist Armand St. John with whatever assistance he requires to saveguard his newest discovery. Kirk informs the Fitzpatrick that he has a brig full of Pirates to deliver to Gelb VII and asks why he doesn't send a closer ship. The Admiral explains that St. John specifically requested that Enterprise be sent and that given his past discoveries, the Federation wants every possible courtesy to be extended to St. John. While Kirk and McCoy wonder why St. John would request that they be sent, Spock tells them he believes he is the reason. Spock and St. John attended the academy together and St. John once claimed that Spock was the only person in the Federation capable of understanding his brilliance. Kirk has Spock give a full report given on St. John. Spock classifies him as both the most brilliant and mercurial men he has ever met and. He is also concieted and prone to violent emotional outbursts. Wondering why such a brilliant man could behave this way, Spock did some research into St. John's past. His parents were succesful and affluent socialites who were ill-equipped to raise their son. He grew up with a sucession of nannies all of whom he resented. Though his parents gave him every material thing he asked for, he was only to gain their attention through tantrums. Though his parents disapproved, when he reached the age of consent, he enrolled in Starfleet Academy. St. John considered Spock to be his only friend at the academy, though Spock would frequently chastise St. John for the irresponsible shortcuts he would use during research. When one of these experiments caused extensive damage to the campus, St. John was expelled from the academy. He briefly worked in the family buisness, but found even less sucess there. Soon thereafter, he founded the research facility on Pollux II, considered to currently be the most advanced in the Federation. There is some contraversy surrounding the facility as St. John abandoned his experiments on transwarp drive once something else caught his fancy. The Federation however is convinced whatever discovery he has made is worthy of their attention.