The first encounter. As always, reviews are appreciated. Let me know what you like and don't like :)
II.
Her name meant the word 'star' in her native tongue; she grew up believing that her destiny, her life, was meant to be among the very objects that she is named for. Hot summers at her family's compound were spent outside, under the stars with an old constellation map in one hand and a telescope in her other. Antares was to the north, Vulcan was to the west, Gemini to the east, Orion to the south…
Her mother was an ambassador, her father a professor. They encouraged her inquisitive nature. They cultivated her curiosity. She learned to appreciate and want to discover new and foreign cultures; absorbing new languages, deciphering unknown ones, learning new customs, and sharing her own. Nyota Uhura was a unique child who grown to be an eccentric young woman.
But, when she had informed her loving parents that she had enlisted in Starfleet, they were confused. They had assumed she would pursue a career in intergalactic politics, perhaps an Ambassador to Vulcan, or a professor in linguistics. Starfleet was a military institute, changed by a disastrous attack by a group of Romulans nearly twenty years earlier. The peaceful mission was now twisted in a mission of defense. The galaxy was on edge and her parents knew this, yet no matter what they said, Nyota was determined to enlist.
She was a year into her studies at Starfleet and her parents had not disowned her yet, much to her relief.
" You're more nervous than usual." Her Orion roommate remarks from her bed. She's in nothing but her undergarments, lying on her side, resting her head on her propped up hand – a state of dress she preferred over wearing the constricting cadet issue uniform. Her name was Gaila and they had been roommates for a year; she was on the engineering track, focusing on computer analysis and Nyota was on the communication track, focusing on xenolinguistics.
" Why do you say that?" Nyota asked, as she looked herself over in the mirror. Gaila chuckled.
" Because you've recited the Vulcan phonetic system twenty times, styled your hair five times, smoothed out the wrinkles to your uniform ten ti—"
" Okay! " Nyota turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay, I get it. Maybe I am a little nervous." Her roommate smirked. " And not for that reason." Gaila's smirk fell from her red lips. " He's the most respected professor in my track and the most rigorous of them all. The passing ratio of his class is less than forty-five percent. Forty-five. "
She stressed each symbol of forty-five. It was not a joke – the end of year pass/fail statistical report for the school proved it in pure black ink on white paper (or illuminated blue on liquid crystals, depending on your preference). No one who went into his class managed to make it out of there with more than an eighty percent passing grade. With that thought back into her mind, Nyota turned around, finger-combing her ponytail nervously. " I have a flawless student record. I have never failed. I have never received anything less than a ninety-eight percent. I am considered a gifted genius among my peers. If… If I fail this class… I don't know what I would do with myself."
" I've failed a class or two and I'm still here." Gaila said idly as she looked at her nails. First, with her hand outstretched, than closer. Her manicure was chipped on her left index finger; that definitely will need to get fixed. " Starfleet passes anyone with a working brain." She was obviously referring to Cadet Rogers and his posse of dimwits. Tall, brute, and barely passing his classes. Known for causing a lot of off campus fights that, outside the rumor mill, never get reported. Starfleet Academy had a high success rate, but it was entirely due to how complex the institution was. Anyone could get in, but on the contrary, everyone didn't get into xenolingistics and no one simply enrolled in the command track. They were hand picked.
" Failure means I loose the Enterprise." Uhura whispered to herself, a frown on her face. " I want the Enterprise."
" You and everyone else." Gaila rolled onto her back and stretched. Nyota rolled her eyes in response, finally leaving her mirror to grab her PADD from her bed.
" Don't bring any boys here." Nyota warned before the door slid close. She didn't see Gaila's smirk on her otherwise placid face.
ooo
Nyota Uhura was a meticulous person. She kept schedules, checklists, notes, and reminders. Being unprepared was considered to be a weakness, a fault in an individual who does not care enough for their own advancement. In short, Nyota Uhura was what the student body would call, 'a nerd' or in worst cases, 'a teacher's pet'.
She denied every accusation.
But arriving to her new class fifteen minutes earlier than the report time, with a PADD in hand, over viewing her notes on the class and its instructor spoke otherwise to those who were watching. With a deep breath she closed her eyes stepped into the classroom. The automatic door slid closed behind her and she opened her eyes to see a Vulcan, her new professor, standing at the podium reviewing his syllabus. If he heard her enter, which she was positive he did, he sure did not act like someone entered the classroom.
After a moment of silence from her instructor, Nyota stood there and contemplated her options. She could introducer herself, but he seemed as if he was busy. She could also find a seat, but maybe he had them assigned and probably would have been intrusive. Perhaps, she should leave and then come back when everyone else would report. Yes, that seems like a better idea. So, she turned around, and—
" The proper protocol is to acknowledge your professor once you step into his or her classroom." The smooth, velvet, voice of the Vulcan froze her in her spot. " Walking around of said classroom without saying a word is not only against Starfleet Academy regulation two three point zero six, but also… rude. " Damn.
Nyota cleared her throat and turned around, " I'm sorry, Professor. I did not mean to intrude. I just thought that you were busy and—"
His eyes were still fixated on his PADD, " Any humanoid with an average hearing capability can hear that door open. I do not take kindly to cadets who prefer to fool around." With a swipe of his finger on his PADD, he looked up at Nyota, " Nor do I find it agreeable when cadets insist on arriving fifteen minutes and fifty two seconds earlier than the scheduled report time. You, cadet, will not win any brownie points in this class. I do not partake in… favoritism." Shit. " Since you are here, please find a seat. Class does not start for another eighteen minutes and thirty two seconds."
Stunned and ashamed, she slowly walked to the rows of desks that rose up the second observation floor. Nyota usually sat in the front, but considering that this guy, no, professor seemed to have interpreted her early arrival as an attempt at 'brownie points', she decided to walk up the steps to the third to last row. Sitting down, she took out her PADD and began to pull up her review notes from another class. Uhura did not dare look up at him.
The silence that had consumed the room was deafening.
It wasn't long after when the small group of cadets began to arrive in the classroom. Not many people took the class and it was obvious that the reputation the class, and teacher, received from the rumors began to take fruition in the class. The cadets avoided the first two row, sitting around Uhura, all nervously silent as they tried to avoid looking the instructor directly. Then, without a word, he stepped from behind his podium; hands clasped behind his back, and began his introduction.
" Good afternoon, cadets. I am Lieutenant Commander Spock and I shall be your instructor in Advanced Subspace Relay Networking. I know that you have been familiarized with the rumors surrounding my classes, and I will admit to you that many of them are, in fact, true." A cadet gasped, another shrieked. Spock ignored them, " I do not tolerate cadets who are lazy, cadets who assume that arriving to class fifteen minutes earlier will give them a passing grade," Uhura sank in her seat. " Nor do I tolerate cadets who believe that because they have had a consistent academic career prior to my class that I will subject myself to their ego.
" If you arrive late to my class, you have failed my class. If you deliver your assignment late, you have failed that assignment. If you are caught cheating in my class, I will use all my authority to make sure you are removed from this program, put on academic suspension, and appear in front of an expulsion review board. I do not tolerate cadets that take advantage of others or myself.
" Now, my class can be easy if you choose to make it so. If you put fifty percent, you will receive a fifty percent. If you put in hundred percent, you will receive hundred percent. You are in my class because you are the best among your peers – I expect nothing less of you all."
Fuck.
Nyota Uhura closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. In her mind, the Enterprise was floating farther and farther away and no matter how much she reached, yelled, and screamed for it, it was not ever coming back. She was going to fail his class.
ooo
Spock had recognized her the moment he looked up from his PADD at the podium. His photogenic memory was impeccable, partly due to his Vulcan genes, and remembering individuals was easily done without much effort. It had helped greatly as his position as an Academy instructor. To say that he had not heard of her after seeing her arrival would have been a lie. Spock knew that Cadet Uhura was highly accomplished in her chosen field. Perhaps a genius, if one was use flattery to describe her aptitude.
But, when you first lay your eyes upon her, genius is not the first thought that comes to mind. She were those individuals that mislead others; she looked like a flirt, probably pursuing an administrative career, and hoping to marry a captain. But once she opened her mouth, the previous impression shatters and a new one is put in place. Nyota Uhura was not an ordinary human being.
She intrigued him…. She was an enigma to him.
How far could he push her potential?
