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‘Why did the Captain let me live?’ the mirror version of Spock asked McCoy, grabbing the Doctor by his arm.
He was sick of the landing party illogical behaviour and not having all the facts. The time of play had ended and now he decided to finally uncover what was really going on.
So, he pushed McCoy against the wall and initiated the mind-meld.
‘Our minds are merging, Doctor. Our minds are one.’
As forced melds always are, it was messy and violent, and the doctor didn’t seem to want to comply, but it was of no significance. It was not the first time Spock used his Vulcan abilities to his advantage, and it probably will not be the last. He had had enough experience in navigating disorganised and resisting human minds.
‘I feel what you feel. I know what you know.’
There, the memories revealing the mystery. So, a paralel universe, that explained a lot. The Captain’s unusual decisions, the landing party’s suspicious actions, the fact that Spock was still alive despite the perfect opportunity to eliminate the threat to Kirk’s command, that his version of Captain so obviously believed the First Officer was posing.
But then, suddenly, another thought surfaced. A very brief one, unclear and covered in layers of confusing emotion. Nonetheless, he caught it.
‘Because, apparently, Jim loves even this damn bearded version of you.’
Spock immediately broke off the connection, experiencing something equivalent to utter disgust in Earth terms. He took a step back, looking at the Doctor. This Science Officer was definitely more expressive than his equivalent, McCoy noted, as his frowned eyebrows and narrowly open mouth clearly indicated confusion for a short moment.
But after a few seconds, Spock managed to make sense even of that. If what his Captain Kirk felt towards him could be described as deep distrust, hostility, and perhaps even hate, then it would be only logical to assume that the opposite to that would be love.