"Captain, an unidentified vessel has appeared on long range sensors," Sulu announced.

"On screen, Mr. Sulu," Kirk replied.

It was the next day, and Kirk had been thinking a lot since his talk with McCoy. He had considered actually taking his advice and talking to Spock, but decided against it. Instead, he was going to wait a few days and see how he felt about it then. So he sat there, on the bridge, trying (unsuccessfully) to forget that Spock was there.

"It appears to be a small, unarmed ship bearing 72 mark 30. No life signs aboard," Spock gave his analysis of the approaching ship.

"Good. Lieutenant Uhura, open—"

Suddenly, the whole ship was thrown violently forward. Spock—who had moved to stand next to Kirk—found himself grabbing the Captain's chair in a vain attempt to remain upright.

Coincidentally, Kirk's hand landed right on top of his. They both looked up, and for a second their eyes met. Stunned, they froze. Spock felt himself blushing, the blood rising to his cheeks. Fascinating, he thought, for this was not the first time he had experienced the feeling. Then, he suddenly realized that we was actually blushing. He quickly tried (and failed) to neutralize his facial expression. Meanwhile, Kirk was trying to break his gaze away, but the task was a lot more difficult than he thought. Thankfully, Sulu was the one who finally jerked him out of his reverie.

"Captain, they seem to have caught us in some sort of tractor beam!" he shouted over the noise.

Then the turbulence died away as quickly as it had begun.

Everyone finally regained their footing and hurried to their stations.

"Damage report," Kirk said briskly, having regained his composure once more.

"Minor damage to decks 3 and 4, engines at full stop," Sulu answered.

"We are being held in a tractor beam of unknown composition," Spock said from across the bridge, studying the screen in front of him in an attempt to forget the incident he'd just shared with Kirk.

At the sound of his voice, the Captain turned to look at Spock. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped.

"Spock, are you alright? You look a little.... green," he said in a concerned tone.

Kirk's question—of course—only served to make Spock blush even more.

"I'm fine, Captain," he answered shortly, quite annoyed with himself and a little puzzled as to why Kirk seemed to be paying more attention to his first officer than the potential threat of the unidentified ship.

"I don't know, Spock, I think you'd better stop by sickbay, just in case."

Spock paused and was about to argue, but decided that there were more pressing matters demanding the Captain's attention right now. He simply nodded and left the bridge.

Then, Kirk turned his attention back to the problem at hand, and his now very confused crew.

"Mr. Sulu, what is the status of that ship?" he asked, business-like once again.

"It's holding position at 10,000 kilometers, dead ahead," Sulu replied.

Kirk paused for a moment, then turned in his chair. "Scotty, can you get us out of here?"

"I'm trying, Captain, but the engines aren't responding," he said, pushing different buttons on the console in front of him. "The tractor beam's too strong."

"Warp drive?" Kirk inquired hopefully.

"Offline, and the dilithium crystals are draining." Scotty turned to face the Captain.

"We're locked up tight."

"Alright, Scotty—everyone, meet me in the briefing room in ten minutes," he decided, then headed toward the turbolift himself.

-------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Spock was on his way to sickbay. When he got there, he paused awkwardly in the doorway, realizing he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing there. He stood for a second to regain his composure. Then he remembered that he had pretty much been ordered here by the Captain, so he didn't really have a choice.

McCoy saw him as he entered and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Spock, shouldn't you be on the bridge?" he asked, wondering if the Vulcan's sickbay drop-ins were going to become a regular occurrence around here.

"I was sent by the Captain. Apparently, he thought I looked... unwell," Spock reluctantly replied.

"Well then, we'd better take a look," McCoy decided, never one to miss an opportunity to tease Spock. He gestured to one of the biobeds, and, after raising an eyebrow, Spock complied.

"I can assure you, Doctor, there is nothing wrong with my physical condition," he stated after lying down.

"Mmm-hmmm," McCoy muttered as he fiddled with some equipment.

Over the course of the next half hour or so, McCoy performed a routine medical examination on Spock, but of course, he found nothing out of the ordinary. As he was nearing the end of his procedures, Kirk arrived in sickbay.

Spock had been patiently lying down (at least, as patiently as a Vulcan can be when Dr. McCoy was involved). His relatively fast Vulcan heart rate was being tracked on the screen above the bed, a steady beep that indicated he was alive.

But, as soon as Spock saw the Captain walk in, his heart rate suddenly leaped to well above a normal Vulcan's.

McCoy whipped around at the sudden acceleration of the beeping noise, but before he could confirm what he had just heard, Spock had already swung his legs off the bed and stood up.

The sound instantly died away, leaving only silence in its wake.

Spock stood by the bed, fighting hard to control the blush he could already feel across his cheeks.

McCoy cleared his throat after a moment and said, "Well, Spock, you're perfectly healthy. You're free to go now."

He had a strong suspicion about what had just happened, but he didn't think Spock would take too kindly to being informed about it in front of Kirk.

The Captain—still standing in the doorway—looked from one man to the other. He had the distinct feeling he was missing something here.

"Yes, well, Spock—oh, and you too, Bones—if you're finished here, please report to the briefing room; Scotty thinks he's found something."