Most days James T. Kirk couldn't believe that he was the captain of the Enterprise. He had gone from a genius level offender to a genius level Starfleet cadet to nearly being suspended to the captain of the newest and most beautiful starship in Starfleet's arsenal. Oh, and he saved the Earth. Not too bad for a farm boy from Iowa. Despite it being a month since the Narada incident, Jim still walked the halls of the Enterprise in awe, marveling at the fact that she was all his. But in that month there were still days that he missed travelling the world and always having something new to see.

Today was unfortunately one of those days. The crew of the Enterprise had been assigned to a deep space experiment involving silkworms and their ability to produce silk in their new environment. It wasn't his area of expertise; he could've easily read up on it in a couple of hours, and as the captain of the ship he probably should've read up on it, but now he was stuck looking out into the dark abyss from the main bridge while several dozen of his scientists studied a bug.

If anyone noticed Jim's bored expression, they didn't comment on it. The bridge was quiet, save for the occasional beeping from the science station and the soft purr of the warp reactor core. Jim was slowly nodding off, slightly regretting the softness and comfort of the captain's chair, when a different beeping pierced the silence. Jim sat up straight in his chair just as Nyota said, "Captain, I'm picking up a distress beacon from a Starfleet ship."

Jim frowned. "Way out here? I didn't realize Starfleet had any other ships this far out." He turned to his First Officer whose long fingers were already looking for the answer to the question that Jim was surely going to ask. "Mr. Spock?"

Spock looked up from whatever he found. "Seven years ago Starfleet assigned the USS Sydney, a long range science vessel, to an eight year deep space mission involving planetary geosciences. The crew was small, only numbering 450, and is expected to return to Earth in six months. That is the only Starfleet vessel reported to be out here Captain."

Jim nodded. "So we can safely assume that the distress call is from the USS Sydney. Lieutenant, can you determine how long the beacon has been active?"

Nyota shook her head regretfully. "Not from here Captain."

"Hmm." Jim sat in his chair thoughtfully before pressing a button for the intercom. "Bones!"

"What Jim!" Bones snapped irritably. "I'm kind of busy here!"

"I need you on the bridge," Jim said before cutting off communications and preventing any of Bones's grumbling. "Mr. Chekov, plot a course to intercept the Sydney. Lieutenant Uhura, try to establish communications with them. We don't know how long that beacon has been active for but there might still be someone over there who can answer."

"Yes Keptin."

"Yes Captain."

A few seconds later Bones stepped onto the bridge. "What Jim?" he repeated with a little less snap.

Jim grinned brightly as he turned around to look at his friend. "Ah Bones! Perfect timing!" Bones rolled his eyes. "We're on our way to intercept a distress call from a Starfleet science vessel."

Bones just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "And?"

"And…there may be casualties Bones," Jim said in an obvious tone.

"I'm not getting a response to our hails," Nyota reported.

"We're coming up on the Sydney now," Sulu said.

As he ended his sentence a smaller and much older starship came into view in front of them. The entire bridge gasped. The ship had been ripped apart by something. The main hull had several holes in it and pieces of debris floated peacefully around what remained of the ship. Jim's face grew grim. "Bones, Lieutenant Uhura, you're with me." Jim took a second to press a button on the arm of his chair. "Hendorff, meet us in the main shuttle bay."

"Yes sir."

"Spock, you have the con."

Jim was just about to walk off when Spock stopped him. "Captain, it is highly unlikely that there are survivors."

Jim nodded. From the look of the ship it was very unlikely that anyone survived the attack, but that wasn't enough for Jim. "Maybe so, but I'd rather be sure than leave someone stranded out here. We also need to find out who attacked that ship and why."

"Then I should be the one to lead a search party," Spock insisted, although Vulcans didn't insist; they merely stated strongly.

Jim grinned. "Perhaps, but we're still conducting our experiments on the silkworm and as the Science Officer it's only logical that you remain on board and continue to monitor their progress while I lead the search party."

Spock stared at him. It was true that it made more sense for him to stay on board the ship but he could also tell by Jim's smirk that he really just wanted off of the ship. Instead of arguing though and wasting what might be precious time, Spock nodded. Nyota offered him a small smile and a light brushing of his fingers before following Jim and Bones off of the bridge.

Hendorff was already waiting for them in the shuttle bay when they arrived. Jim indicated to one of the younger pilots who immediately jumped to attention. "The USS Sydney released a distress call but we don't know how long it's been active. We're going to fly over and Lieutenant Uhura, I want you to go through their logs and see if they recorded anything to indicate who attacked them. Hendorff, stay with her. I'll go through the ship with Bones to see if there are any survivors. Set your phasers to stun. We don't want to kill any survivors by accident," he tried to joke. "Understood?" They all nodded. "Good. Let's go."