AN: Yes, Nyota is a disgusting little swot. She would never have made it as far as she did otherwise. I mean, "Lietenant Uhura is unmatched in xelolinguistics", from a Vulcan? It's pretty much like a Nobel prize, as far as I'm concerned.
As usual, I own nothing.
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It was Nyota's last class of the year with Spock, and once again, she wanted to go and see him afterwards. She seemed to be always wanting something from him. She really hoped she didn't bother him too much, since she'd never be able to tell, of course, and he probably wouldn't tell her either, since it seemed he considered helping her a part of his teaching duties. She wasn't certain at all that other teachers would view it that way if she approached them with her request, and she was grateful he did. But today, she was going to test his magnanimousness jut a bit more.
"Sir, may I speak with you?"
"Yes, Ensign Uhura?"
"I was thinking that...well that constant practice is really the best way to do good in subspace transmission analysis, much as it is in languages, and that the two months that await me out of the Academy...well, I run the risk of loosing much of the auditory sensitivity I've cultivated in the past year if I don't hear a single subspace transmission during that time. It would make the year seem like a lost work. Only partly, of course, since of course the information I received in your courses I'd still have, but...well it really is much like languages. When you don't talk one for a while, you stop hearing the subtle differences, and I'm afraid it could be the same in this case, and it could take me a rather long time at the beginning of the next academic year to get back on track..." She realized she was rambling and tried to get back on track. "So, anyway, what I wanted to ask is, do you have some anomalous subspace transmission recordings you could perhaps upload to my PADD so that I could practice over the summer?"
"I am quite certain that I will be able to find something appropriate, however, not on a moment's notice. When are you leaving?"
"After the exams, sir, in two weeks."
"Very well. I shall contact you before then and provide you with the required materials."
Definitely no thanking him this time. She didn't even really hesitate – she was getting good at this. "Have a good day, sir," she said instead and left the classroom.
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On his way to his office, Commander Spock thought about Ensign Uhura. He adjusted his estimate from the last semester. He was now 89 per cent certain she would make an exceptionally good communications officer. While he still hadn't had the opportunity to hear her speak any of the languages she studied, he watched her in applying her theoretical knowledge and she did excellently. Her logic was good enough to impress even him, and in the fields which weren't her forte, like physics and sciences in general, she was willing to learn, while keeping herself efficient. He remembered her apologetic air when he'd finally let het know that he had the right introductory science books for her. "I feel a bit stupid, asking a physicist for something which has such an unscientific target audience, but I really do not have the capacities to study the equations and theoretical principles. My schedule is too busy for that, as sorry as it makes me feel. I'm sure I would find it very interesting if I could allow myself to get into it, even though my talents have always laid elsewhere." He'd explained that it was illogical to feel stupid about an extremely logical decision, and she clarified she meant she was asking an over-qualified person, that surely one of the cadets specializing in astrophysics could recommend her a book like that and she wouldn't have to waste his time. He considered that thought and replied that a cadet would be hardly qualified to know what exactly it was she needed for subspace transmission analysis, and so he actually was the ideal choice to turn to. That seemed to satisfy her.
It was also the first time he had ever heard her use the phrase that she felt some way. Other cadets did it often enough, in classes, when they used intuition to come to conclusions. She always presented perfect reasoning instead. And on this particular occasion when she talked about feeling, Spock thought that even pure Vulcans would understand, even though they would not phrase it that way. She belied she acted in a less than perfectly logical manner, that was why she 'felt stupid'. That was something every Vulcan to which this ever happened could sympathize with. Not that any of them would ever admit to it publically, of course. But then, he was her instructor. Exposing your faults in reasoning to your teachers so that they may correct them was an entirely logical thing to do.
Which brought him to anther point: it was now proven beyond reasonable doubt, as humans would say, that Ensign Uhura was exceptionally culturally adaptable. Since the beginning, she acted very much in accordance with the Vulcan norms around him, and now, after les than a year, she had almost perfected her manner. Such a skill was invaluable to a communications officer.
And now she wanted to practice subspace transmission analysis over the summer. He decided to devote more time to the task of selecting the right materials than he ordinarily would. Because in her case, he could be confident that the work would not be wasted.
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A week later, Nyota was studying for her Xelatian exam, her hopes of not actually hating the language gone for some time already. In the midst of her frustration, the computer interrupted her: "Incoming video message from Commander Spock." She raised her head from her PADD. "Receive," she replied, moving in front of the screen. And there he was, sitting at the desk in his office. "Good afternoon, Ensign Uhura. I'm sending you two subspace transmission recordings attached, for your independent study. Contact me personally or by video call during my office hours, there are things I need to discuss with you further."
Raising her eyebrows, Nyota downloaded the files, checked in the mirror that she looked presentable, and turned back to the computer. "Video call to Commander's Spock Office," she stated clearly, and waited just a couple of seconds for her call to be received.
"Good afternoon, Ensign," he greeted her again.
"Good afternoon, Commander Spohkh."
"I realized we have not established how much material you need. How often do you want to practice?"
"I haven't really thought about that, sir, but as often as possible."
"Once a week, as you did during the school year?"
"Honestly, I was thinking more along the lines of once per day, for a shorter period of time, like on one recording."
"That would require a large amount of material."
"Oh, you don't have to get me so much, sir! Whatever you have will be fine! I can listen repeatedly to the same ones, perfecting my understanding of the anomalies I hear..."
"You could do that, but it would be less effective than having various recordings."
She hesitated. She hated, hated being a bother, but she was talking to a Vulcan, and nothing but plainly stated truth would do: "Yes, it would, sir."
"I will try to get as much material for you as possible. Come to my office before you leave for home and I will transfer it to you PADD."
"Thank you, Commander." There was no question this time.
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She did stop by his office the day before she was scheduled to leave, just as he had instructed her, and found him waiting for her.
"Ensign Uhura," he greeted her.
"Commander Spohkh," she returned.
"May I have your PADD, please?"
She handed him the device, and he started transferring materials from his computer. "What I upload now will last you for some time, but not the whole of the holidays. I will send you additional materials as I come across them during the summer."
"I don't want to bother you too much..."
"I would have been searching for materials for my next year's course anyway. I will simply record more of the interesting transmissions."
"Very well, then," she fell silent, and he handed her her PADD. She still didn't move. Something occurred to her, but it would be almost impertinent to ask.
"Anything else, Ensign?"
"Well, I was wondering...I mean, I thought of something else to ask of you, but I really do not want to bother you too much, and this really is stepping over that line, so..." Way to go, Nyota, she told herself. You pride yourself on your clarity of expression, especially when talking to Vulcans, and this is what leaves your mouth?
"Allow me to be the judge of that," he said emotionlessly – of course – making her feel even worse. "What did you want to ask?"
"Well, if you're going to be contacting me anyway, with the recordings...would it be too much to ask you to call, instead of just sending a message? That way, I could actually consult my conclusions with you and make sure I don't spend the entire summer just confirming some wrong deductions...I promise I wouldn't take too long, just share what I deduced from my analysis...but it's still a lot to ask of you, and another thing is, my family lives in Adis Ababa, so you couldn't actually call during the office hours, that's the middle of the night there..."
"Office hours do not matter much during the summer. Adis Ababa has ten hours difference from San Francisco, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then I could call when it is the morning here and evening there," he paused. "I cannot state with any certainty how often I would be able to contact you, but can we establish that I would be calling at 1800 hours Adis Ababa time, if I was to call, and that you'd be prepared to receive the call?"
"Oh, that would be just perfect! It's really enough – more than enough – if you just call when you have some new transmission to send me, and I will try to be brief."
"Then we are agreed."
"Thank you so much, sir." What he promised was definitely way beyond the scope of normal teacher duties.
"It is not that much trouble for me to give several minutes of my time few times a week to a promising student who is willing to learn," he clarified, yet he acknowledged the thanks. He just seemed to think it was unnecessary profuse, but in this, she simply couldn't agree with him. It was more trouble than most teachers would have taken, Vulcan, human, or from any other species.
"Have a nice summer, Commander Spohkh."