Please imagine Joanna McCoy becoming a pen pal to a Federation officer operating in deep space.
When her 8th-grade teacher announces the program she jumps at the opportunity to join. She knows almost nothing about her Father, but she knows he works for the Federation and he works in deep space. She’s sure there can’t be that many people working there. She might get paired with him. She might be able to find out something about him–some tidbit that would explain why her mother has never allowed them to see each other.
(She doesn’t tell her mother she’s getting a pen pal. It just never comes up.)
She has to write the first letter and it will be sent to a random officer. She keeps it simple: a bit about her studies, the weather on Earth, how she hopes the officer is doing well and is getting plenty to eat. She signs it “J.M.” just in case.
After sending it out, it takes a week for her to get a response. She’s disappointed to see that the letter is from some science commander named “Spock.” It’s not her Father. She’s so upset that she almost doesn’t read the letter. But then, she does.
Spock writes succinctly and formally. He gives little away, but there’s still something about his letter that leaves her feeling…lonely. She decides to write back. She asks him if he likes his job.
They begin to send a series of letters, one or two a week, for months. She learns a lot about this strange Commander Spock. He really does love his job. He often writes pages and pages about the latest phenomena the Enterprise has encountered. He tells her of his favorite music he’s been listening to, and of some of the stories of the Vulcan people.
She tells him it’s hot today in Georgia, and that she wishes she could study whatever she wanted. She tells him about the garden in her backyard and about riding horses. She tells him about the songs she’s been listening to and how sometimes laying in her backyard at night she’s pretty sure she can see which star the Enterprise is traveling by. She tells him a girl in her class has been bullying her again and that sometimes she isn’t sure if her Mom is actually listening to her or not
There’s a long delay after that letter.
When Spock writes back again, he apologizes and explains he needed advice to respond to her last letter. He has been told that pen pals often share intimate details of their lives and so he will respond accordingly.
He says he learned this from Doctor McCoy.
The rest of the letter is a blur of Spock commiserating over his own difficulties in talking to his father. But she’s still repeating the words Doctor McCoy over and over again in her head.
Her Father knows Spock. Spock knows her Father. Even goes to him for advice when little girls like “J.M.” have troubles.
Now she just has to decide what to do with this information.
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