EDGING FORWARD: JIM KIRK AT STAR FLEET ACADEMY

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER FOUR: EDGING FORWARD

PART 4 (Read part one HERE)

After Ruth Warrick left Star Fleet, Jim Kirk drifted slightly. Under a new instructor, his grades in literature class dropped to a “C,” and his friend Ben Finney noticed a marked change in demeanor. “He just wasn’t there – kind of sullen and withdrawn. And losing some ground in his studies,” he recalled.(1) That summer Finney encouraged his friend to sign on for a Star Fleet sponsored exercise aboard the U.S.S. Republic. The Republic was headed to the planet Axenar on a treaty mission to exploit the Fourth Quadrant Fleet’s recent victory there under Captain Darius Garth. As was common in those days, many promising cadets served short tours on Star Fleet vessels to give them practical, hands-on experience, as well as to indoctrinate them to the emotional rigors of deep space travel. The Republic was a highly sought after assignment, with over 200 students signing up for a slim seven spaces to be filled. After studying Garth and his tactics for the previous two years, the idea of seeing his hero in person was an immensely exciting possibility to young Jim Kirk.

Kirk signed on for the Republic, hoping to score a berth with Finney, already posted as a training instructor. Although it is likely untrue, Finney later claimed he pulled strings to get his friend the coveted assignment headed to Axenar. If it were the case, he may have wanted to reconsider. An incident during the four-month mission aboard the Republic ruined Ben Finney’s career and drove a wedge between the two friends for the rest of their lives. (2)

Ben Finney was one of Jim Kirk’s closest friends until an incident on the U.S.S. Republic split them apart.

Given the practical rank of Ensign, Jim Kirk boarded the Republic on January 19^th, 2252. This was Jim Kirk’s first space voyage since witnessing the mass murders on Tarsus IV. More than five years had passed since those awful days, but as the ship pulled out of space dock he couldn’t help but think about those 4000 souls who were put to death almost in front of his eyes. Finney was already a space veteran, having previously served a two-year stint on the U.S.S. Merrimac before returning to Star Fleet as an instructor. During the voyage he took Kirk under his wing, tutoring his friend in small details of daily routine, ship’s protocol and general operation. “I learned as much about the practical operation of a Star Ship from Ben Finney as I ever did from anybody,” Kirk said years later. “He was a superb teacher.”(3) Finney was an outstanding officer, a trifle rigid in his demeanor according to some shipmates, but a possible candidate for command in the coming years. He was ambitious for his own ship, and had opted for assignment to the Republic in spite of the impending birth of his first child. A month into the voyage a sub-space message announced the arrival of his daughter, and Finney surprised his friend James with the announcement that she was to be named Jamie, after the future captain.

After a fortnight in space, the Republic arrived at Axenar, where peace negotiations were stalled following Captain Garth’s victory. Training in diplomatic protocol was a necessity for rank officers, and both Finney and Kirk were being groomed for quick motion up the chain of command. The young ensign was assigned to an observation detail, to watch and comment on the daily negotiations between Axenar and the Federation.

Beginning in February, Jim Kirk spent every day attending the peace conference and listening to the stop and start of ideas, proposals and counter proposals, and then filing the dry status reports his job required. At first, the impasse at the negotiating table was maddening to the young man so used to his own long-held attitudes and opinions. Gradually, however, his training in philosophy and sociology began to form a nascent idea in his mind. On the journey to Axenar he had spent most of his free time studying the history of the race. He initially saw the opposing delegation just as historians had portrayed the Axenarians; a proud, sometimes haughty group, prone to impulsive actions and intractable positions. It was this pride, he eventually reasoned, that was keeping negotiations from moving along a path to peace. The Axenar delegation clearly did not respect the Federation diplomats assigned to barter the treaty that they would have to sign. They had accepted defeat to Garth and his fleet, but their pride would not allow them to countenance the indignities of submitting to the dictates of men that they considered inconsequential.

After weeks of filing irrelevant daily reports, Jim Kirk took another chance. Risking severe reprimand, he stepped outside his rigidly defined clerical voice to make a bold suggestion that changed the course of the conference:

       “It is my opinion that Axenar will be increasingly rigid in their resistance to future negotiations with the Federation delegation as it is now constituted. Years could go by before any concrete treaty is achieved. They do not respect their adversaries in this face-off. I am recommending that Captain Garth himself take an active hand in the discussion. The man who defeated their forces is also the only man they are capable of trusting or understanding.”(4)

Darius Garth, the prototype for all star ship commanders who came after. Jim Kirk met Garth on two occasions, once under very difficult circumstances.

Garth, who was still patrolling the sector with the Fourth Quadrant Fleet, was called in by Ambassador Klaus-Sh’iar over the objections of the senior UFP delegates. Within just a few days, several difficult hurdles had been overcome, and a framework to allow Axenar into the Federation was in place. Garth had another important achievement on his resume and Ensign Kirk was awarded the Palm Leaf of Axenar for his observation and initiative. At the end of the mission on Axenar, the young ensign even got to meet Garth, who stood for two hours in a receiving line shaking hands with every member of the Republic crew. “What a thrill that was,” Kirk wrote to his brother. “Garth whispered to me: ‘keep changing the rules, son.’”(5) It was a directive that Jim never forgot, and one of he most closely followed commands that Garth ever uttered.

On the return trip to Earth Ben Finney appeared proud of his friend, but secretly fumed a little at Kirk’s achievement. He was three years ahead of Jim, a seasoned officer hoping to use the mission as a springboard to greater things at Star Fleet. While he had served onboard the Republic with workmanlike efficiency, Jim Kirk had taken what amounted to a meaningless stenographer’s job and turned it into a decoration from the local Ambassador. Finney was ashamed of almost wishing that he hadn’t recommended Kirk for the assignment.(6) What happened next solidified his anger, cost Finney his chance at command and nearly destroyed the Republic and all on board.

(Read part five HERE) 

1) Transcript of psyche evaluation of Ben Finney, Taurus rehabilitation colony, 2270, declassified 2345

2) In his psyche evaluation of 2270, Finney insisted that he had been betrayed by Jim Kirk after having “moved heaven and hell” to get him the assignment.

3) Notes for proposed autobiography, 2290. Kirk made at least three attempts to write an autobiography between 2270 and 2290. None of the three made it past the planning stages.

4) Notes from daily log filed by Ensign James T. Kirk, Axenar Peace Conference, February 16th, 2252

5) Letter to Sam Kirk from Jim Kirk, March 24, 2252

6) Testimony of Ben Finney, court martial trial, January, 2268