Fic : STXI : Entanglement : Chapter 1
Chapter rating: PG
Standard disclaimer: Star Trek is sadly not mine. I use it only for amusement.
Chapter one
Cadet Nyota Uhura sprinted up the steps of the physics hall, desperately clutching her bag. It was the first week of the first semester of her first year at Starfleet Academy, and she was late for class. Nearly twenty minutes late, actually. Her roommate, an Orion named Gaila, had brought three boys to their room the night before. The noise of them coming in had awoken her around 02:00, and she had pretended to sleep for the next hour and a half. What's the point of having a code word, she wondered, if your roommate doesn't care if you watch her get it on with three guys at once? They needed to set a few more rules.
As a result, Nyota had slept through her alarm, woken at 08:10 for her 08:00 Celestial Mechanics class, and was very grateful that her cousin Nidal had persuaded her to cut her long hair and wear it natural as an incoming cadet. The afro was low-maintenance and kept her head a little warmer on chilly September mornings before the fog burned off. San Francisco was more different from Kenya than she had anticipated.
She reached the top of the steps, charged through the door, and bounced off a soft wall in a cadet uniform. It made a quiet "oof." She stumbled and dropped her bag, and the armful of PADDs the other cadet was carrying clattered to the floor.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She started to retrieve some of the PADDs that had scattered across the lobby.
"It was an accident," replied the other cadet in a voice that seemed far too steady, considering he had just dropped at least twenty... Uhura looked at the PADD in her hand. It had her name on it. In fact, it was the paper she had turned in the day before for her Intermediate Phonology class.
"What's this?" She looked over at him.
He stood up and leveled his gaze at her. "I am a teaching assistant for Xenolinguistics, and I just finished marking these essays."
Uhura couldn't help but stare a bit. His full height was impressive, at least six feet, and he was long and lean in a very attractive way. His pale skin contrasted his straight black hair, but she saw he had dark bags under his eyes. It was him! The only Vulcan in Starfleet, and he had just graded her introductory essay. Which she had elected to write in Vulcan. He looked at her, expecting her to speak. "Oh."
Suddenly she remembered herself. "I'm sorry, I really have to go, or Professor Pickett will rake me over the coals." She set the PADDs she had collected on the stack beside him, grabbed her bag, and raced off down the hallway.
XXXXX
Uhura's Phonology discussion section met for the first time on Tuesday of the next week. She arrived half an hour early, using her first time of quiet all day to look at her essay, which Commander Xiu hadn't returned until Monday. The prompt had been to describe their history and aspirations as related to linguistics, and to write it in any Federation language other than Standard or their first language. Nyota had grown up speaking five Earth languages and learned Vulcan at a young age, but she figured it counted. She had addressed it in her essay, at any rate.
The Vulcan TA had made only a few marks on the assignment, she was surprised to discover. There were a few minor grammatical anomalies, and a phrase he had marked as "human idiom, meaningless in Vulcan." At the end, Commander Xiu had made a longer comment, and at the very bottom, below the grade, the TA had written a final note: "Exceptional work for a first-year."
Uhura beamed at the PADD. From a Vulcan, that was a very sincere compliment, practically gushing even. She finished reading the comments, and was getting out her problem set when the door opened. She turned, expecting to see a classmate. Instead, she made eye contact with a surprised Vulcan. He quickly composed himself, and she stood at attention.
"You are here for the Intermediate Phonology discussion section?"
"Yes." She felt a blush prickle up her neck under his intense gaze. "Cadet Nyota Uhura, sir."
"I am not a superior officer. There is no need for formality." He came into the room and set his satchel in the corner.
"Sorry. I haven't figured this all out yet." She sat back down heavily.
"You are a first-year. It is normal." He moved to write on the board:
Phonology Discussion
TA: Fourth-year Cadet Spock
She made a note of it. She hadn't known many Vulcans, but Spock seemed different. His eyebrows had lifted when he came in and saw her, something she had never seen another Vulcan do. And he seemed a little nervous, as he puttered (to the extent you could call it that) around an the front. It was deliberate, but she sensed tension, a desire to keep busy. She wondered if it was because she was there early.
"Thanks for your comments on my paper."
He glanced up. "It was very well-written, though the language is perhaps not suited to the emotional components of your thesis."
"You're fluent in Vulcan, aren't you?"
"It is my first language."
She expected him to ask something of her, like when she had learned it. But that was in her essay, and Spock simply went back to what he was doing. Small talk didn't seem to be working.
"So if you're in Xenolinguistics, why were you leaving Physics so early the other day?"
"I am not majoring in Xenolinguistics. I spent Thursday night working on my thesis project in subspace mechanics."
"So you're a Physics major?"
"Yes. And computer science. I also felt it prudent to minor in linguistics, and the faculty find me useful."
There was a pause before Uhura spoke again. "Is it weird for you, being the only Vulcan here?"
"I do not understand your question."
"I mean, don't you get lonely for familiar faces, or anything?"
Spock looked thoughtful for a moment. "No. However, I often visited this region as a child. My maternal grandparents reside in Vancouver."
That was legitimately surprising. How did he have family on Earth? Extremely few Vulcans lived here, and they preferred equatorial Africa. "Your grandparents chose to live in the Pacific Northwest? Isn't that cold for them?"
He studied her a moment. "No. My grandparents are human and claim to enjoy the climate."
That one took a bit longer to sink in. "But ... you don't?"
"The climate is irrelevant. I am here to learn."
A gaggle of other students came in, giggling and chattering. They were older, and Uhura didn't know them well. She sighed, and went back to her work. There would be plenty of time to get to know Spock. She decided to arrive early every week.
Standard disclaimer: Star Trek is sadly not mine. I use it only for amusement.
Chapter one
Cadet Nyota Uhura sprinted up the steps of the physics hall, desperately clutching her bag. It was the first week of the first semester of her first year at Starfleet Academy, and she was late for class. Nearly twenty minutes late, actually. Her roommate, an Orion named Gaila, had brought three boys to their room the night before. The noise of them coming in had awoken her around 02:00, and she had pretended to sleep for the next hour and a half. What's the point of having a code word, she wondered, if your roommate doesn't care if you watch her get it on with three guys at once? They needed to set a few more rules.
As a result, Nyota had slept through her alarm, woken at 08:10 for her 08:00 Celestial Mechanics class, and was very grateful that her cousin Nidal had persuaded her to cut her long hair and wear it natural as an incoming cadet. The afro was low-maintenance and kept her head a little warmer on chilly September mornings before the fog burned off. San Francisco was more different from Kenya than she had anticipated.
She reached the top of the steps, charged through the door, and bounced off a soft wall in a cadet uniform. It made a quiet "oof." She stumbled and dropped her bag, and the armful of PADDs the other cadet was carrying clattered to the floor.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She started to retrieve some of the PADDs that had scattered across the lobby.
"It was an accident," replied the other cadet in a voice that seemed far too steady, considering he had just dropped at least twenty... Uhura looked at the PADD in her hand. It had her name on it. In fact, it was the paper she had turned in the day before for her Intermediate Phonology class.
"What's this?" She looked over at him.
He stood up and leveled his gaze at her. "I am a teaching assistant for Xenolinguistics, and I just finished marking these essays."
Uhura couldn't help but stare a bit. His full height was impressive, at least six feet, and he was long and lean in a very attractive way. His pale skin contrasted his straight black hair, but she saw he had dark bags under his eyes. It was him! The only Vulcan in Starfleet, and he had just graded her introductory essay. Which she had elected to write in Vulcan. He looked at her, expecting her to speak. "Oh."
Suddenly she remembered herself. "I'm sorry, I really have to go, or Professor Pickett will rake me over the coals." She set the PADDs she had collected on the stack beside him, grabbed her bag, and raced off down the hallway.
XXXXX
Uhura's Phonology discussion section met for the first time on Tuesday of the next week. She arrived half an hour early, using her first time of quiet all day to look at her essay, which Commander Xiu hadn't returned until Monday. The prompt had been to describe their history and aspirations as related to linguistics, and to write it in any Federation language other than Standard or their first language. Nyota had grown up speaking five Earth languages and learned Vulcan at a young age, but she figured it counted. She had addressed it in her essay, at any rate.
The Vulcan TA had made only a few marks on the assignment, she was surprised to discover. There were a few minor grammatical anomalies, and a phrase he had marked as "human idiom, meaningless in Vulcan." At the end, Commander Xiu had made a longer comment, and at the very bottom, below the grade, the TA had written a final note: "Exceptional work for a first-year."
Uhura beamed at the PADD. From a Vulcan, that was a very sincere compliment, practically gushing even. She finished reading the comments, and was getting out her problem set when the door opened. She turned, expecting to see a classmate. Instead, she made eye contact with a surprised Vulcan. He quickly composed himself, and she stood at attention.
"You are here for the Intermediate Phonology discussion section?"
"Yes." She felt a blush prickle up her neck under his intense gaze. "Cadet Nyota Uhura, sir."
"I am not a superior officer. There is no need for formality." He came into the room and set his satchel in the corner.
"Sorry. I haven't figured this all out yet." She sat back down heavily.
"You are a first-year. It is normal." He moved to write on the board:
Phonology Discussion
TA: Fourth-year Cadet Spock
She made a note of it. She hadn't known many Vulcans, but Spock seemed different. His eyebrows had lifted when he came in and saw her, something she had never seen another Vulcan do. And he seemed a little nervous, as he puttered (to the extent you could call it that) around an the front. It was deliberate, but she sensed tension, a desire to keep busy. She wondered if it was because she was there early.
"Thanks for your comments on my paper."
He glanced up. "It was very well-written, though the language is perhaps not suited to the emotional components of your thesis."
"You're fluent in Vulcan, aren't you?"
"It is my first language."
She expected him to ask something of her, like when she had learned it. But that was in her essay, and Spock simply went back to what he was doing. Small talk didn't seem to be working.
"So if you're in Xenolinguistics, why were you leaving Physics so early the other day?"
"I am not majoring in Xenolinguistics. I spent Thursday night working on my thesis project in subspace mechanics."
"So you're a Physics major?"
"Yes. And computer science. I also felt it prudent to minor in linguistics, and the faculty find me useful."
There was a pause before Uhura spoke again. "Is it weird for you, being the only Vulcan here?"
"I do not understand your question."
"I mean, don't you get lonely for familiar faces, or anything?"
Spock looked thoughtful for a moment. "No. However, I often visited this region as a child. My maternal grandparents reside in Vancouver."
That was legitimately surprising. How did he have family on Earth? Extremely few Vulcans lived here, and they preferred equatorial Africa. "Your grandparents chose to live in the Pacific Northwest? Isn't that cold for them?"
He studied her a moment. "No. My grandparents are human and claim to enjoy the climate."
That one took a bit longer to sink in. "But ... you don't?"
"The climate is irrelevant. I am here to learn."
A gaggle of other students came in, giggling and chattering. They were older, and Uhura didn't know them well. She sighed, and went back to her work. There would be plenty of time to get to know Spock. She decided to arrive early every week.