Chapter 7 – Observing Reactions

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Nyota Uhura looked at her chronometer. She was over 20 minutes late for her lunch date with Spock. Well, she had warned him that she might run late. She had her communicator with her. If he was worried, he would have called.

It wasn't like she hadn't made other men wait a lot longer in similar situations. But this was Spock and it was probably a bit cruel to leave him with nothing but 'observing human social interactions' to keep him occupied. She regretfully cut her shopping short – plenty of time for more tomorrow – and headed toward the lounge. Next time, she'd warn him to bring some papers to review.

Uhura entered the lounge and scanned the room, looking for Spock…and froze. Kirk and McCoy were standing there staring like two deer in headlights and Spock was locked in a Vulcan ritual embrace with an incredibly beautiful woman whom she had never seen before.

Part of her wanted to turn on her heel and run back to her quarters, and a larger, and much more primitive part wanted to march over, smack the woman into next week and drag Spock out by one pointed ear. She pushed both of those aside. She was a grown woman and a Starfleet officer. She did not do scenes. More importantly, she reminded herself, she was a trained analyst and the data in front of her was inconclusive. Even if this woman were an old lover, Spock had been nothing but pointedly polite and correct when interacting with the students he knew to be her former lovers. She would not do less.

Still, it was difficult to keep her conflicting emotions from showing as she advanced toward them. By the time she was halfway there, Spock and the woman had disengaged and upon seeing her, he had turned toward her and tucked both hands firmly behind his back. Definitely looking worried, for a Vulcan of course.

She had just opened her mouth to ask what exactly was going on, when Kirk sniggered. She might be less than happy with Spock right now, but the look she shot Kirk would have made a Klingon warrior cringe.

Spock had raised a hand (almost defensively, she noted), "Nyota, this …"

But he was cut off as other woman stepped in front of Nyota and raised her hand in the ta'al. Her expression was so perfectly Vulcan that Uhura stopped speechless.

"Peace and long life," she said in Vulcan, adding in somewhat stilted Swahili, "beloved of my brother." A nd then, so quickly Uhura almost thought she'd imagined it, the woman winked at her before returning to her placid expression.

Nyota looked at Spock, who had raised a single eyebrow. To her trained eye, he looked somewhat embarrassed. Well clearly something odd was going on - she knew he didn't have a sister. But she was too happy to care. Whoever this woman was, her relationship with Spock was clearly not of the romantic variety. Not only that, but Spock had obviously told her about the two of them (which would make her a first) and told her enough that the woman had learned a phrase in Swahili to convey her approval.

Nyota didn't know what was going on, but she was willing to play along. She lifted her own hand in the ta'al.

"Sochya eh dif, il t'Spock."

"Wait," Kirk said. Something he had learned in Vulcan language class was jumping up and down in his head, trying to get his attention. "Remind me what 'il' means?"

"Female relative - it's most often translated 'sister'." the woman said helpfully, a half-smile playing on her lips.

"Your sister?" Kirk exclaimed, staring at Spock. "You saw me trying to pick up your sister and you just sat there and watched?"

Spock shrugged slightly, both eyebrows going up. "The operative word is 'trying'. You're chances of success were negligible. And it seemed the perfect opportunity to finally observe your reactions when faced with a situation in which you could not succeed."

To be continued….

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So we know she is not actually his sister, but I did say I would probably have some fun with the fact that Kirk doesn't know that. ;-)

(Sorry to anyone who was hoping for a cat fight, but Uhura is a class act. I'm a professional, and don't write professional women who act like teenagers.)

Now, I have a question for my readers. I had originally planned to tie this up in the next chapter with just enough explanation of who Selina is and how Spock knows her. And maybe a teaser for a sequel.

The problem is that in the course of writing this, the characters have sort of taken on a life of their own. There are plot bunnies (and some jack rabbits and maybe one March Hare) jumping around in my head and reminding me that

(a) We all know Kirk took the KM twice because he can't stand admitting defeat. (Although Selina is unlikely to be hackable).

(b) The ship wil be at the station at least a week yet for repairs.

(c) Nyota and Selina really need some time to shop together or have a girls' night out to discuss their favorite Vulcan.

So do I end it here, a nice tight story that accomplishes my original intent, and maybe write a sequel. Or I do I continue adding to this story? What is usual convention for this community?