An interesting beginning to a story! It is set in the future, after many of the Enterprise crew have retired, and the ship itself is set to be decommissioned. Spock has a daughter, T'Prett; a son, Selik; and an estranged son (with a human mother), Stack, otherwise called Theron St. John. Some event shared between Kirk and Spock (somehow related to Stack) has kept them apart for years. When the chapter ends, Kirk is waiting in Spock's quarters to meet him, and McCoy is about to explain to T'Prett about her half-brother's history.