Disclaimer I don't own it, I just like to play around…
Chapter Eleven
Nyota really hadn't meant for it to become quite such a regular thing, the going to Spock's office after class. But she found she had something to ask the lieutenant after every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the following weeks. She reasoned it was because she was so eager to get through her translation of Ha-kiv t'Verat; what she didn't acknowledge to herself was that she might not have been quite so motivated if not for the need to find things to discuss with Lt. Spock. After class she lingered in her seat; Jon, Ling, and Sarah didn't comment anymore. She and Spock walked to his office, and she got used to late lunches.
Nyota spent quite a bit of time searching for an original copy of Ha-kiv t'Verat, but had yet to find one within her reach. There was one privately owned in Japan, and the recently constructed Vulcan culture museum in Egypt seemed to have at least part of a copied manuscript. But she was surprised to even find these on Earth, considering it was a rare, ancient Vulcan text. She began to despair of ever finding a copy.
And then it happened. She was at the library ("The Academy does have a physical library; you know that, Nyota, right?" Dr. Ferrous had said. It had sort of slipped her mind as a possible solution, she had to admit.), sorting through the online catalogues. She thought it was just silly that she had to go to the library in order to use a clunky old desktop computer; why couldn't she have access to this remotely from her PADD? But the young librarian, who had introduced himself as Marcus, seemed eager to explain; it didn't look like he got many students in looking for help.
"Mostly it's a security thing. We don't allow access to our records on rare manuscripts off site. It helps us keep track of who's looking at the information." That explained the Spanish Inquisition she'd had to endure about her project before he would let her start searching. "It would be too easy for criminals to access valuable information about whereabouts."
He recommended looking at their wider network of catalogue information, leaned over Nyota's shoulder to scan her results, and pointed one out. She noticed he was standing a bit closer than strictly necessary and tried not to smirk. "There, try Oteru University. Egypt has a big interest in Vulcan culture, and they have a strong language department."
Nyota clicked on the link and started exploring. Librarian Marcus (as she had dubbed him) remained over her shoulder, seemingly drawn into her project because of the nature of her search. She was surprised by how difficult it was to find what she wanted, even with a search function on their library. "It must be under security there, too," Librarian Marcus muttered as he pointed out a promising trail. "We've only gotten this far because we're on a library computer." It was almost a full half hour later when she spotted a link marked Ha-kiv t'Verat.
"Aha!" Marcus whooped.
"Wait, I've found these before. Sometimes they're just general information about how rare it is and how no one has a copy…" Nyota said hesitantly.
"Yes, but were they part of a library catalogue?" he asked, reaching around her to take control of the touchpad, slide the pointer over, and click.
Nyota held her breath, and then both of them broke into grins as they read. Oteru University had a full manuscript and a fully detailed copy available to students.
"Yes," she exclaimed. Marcus held up a hand and she high fived him with a laugh.
"Success," he agreed.
"But does that also mean students at Starfleet Academy?" Nyota wondered aloud, hovering the mouse over the words "available to students." What a vague statement.
"We may have to pull some strings," Librarian Marcus mumbled, deep in thought. Nyota thought she saw a spark of challenge in his eye. "Do you have any leverage?" he asked her.
Trying not to giggle at his sincerity, she pondered the question. "I don't know if it matters, but Lt. Spock is helping me. He's—"
"—half Vulcan, yeah. Hmm," Marcus nodded.
"And I was born in Kenya. My mom might have connections in Egypt from her work in the Kenyan government."
"That's good," he said. "They might let you see it as a citizen of the United States of Africa…"
"I'll talk to her. Can you contact Oteru U?"
"That I can," Librarian Marcus replied. "I'll get on it, and I should be able to find your email to let you know. Or would you give me your number?" He looked at her slyly.
Nyota chuckled. "Sure, Librarian. I'll give you my number." She took his proffered comm and put her number in, then thanked him.
"That's what I'm here for, though most people forget," he grinned. "I'll talk to you later."
"Yeah. Let me know when I can send my own request," she said, and left to go tell her professor the exciting news.
**
Nyota bounced on her heels as she waited outside the door. "Enter," she heard from the calm, sedate voice within. The door whooshed open and she rushed in grinning.
"I found it!" she exclaimed. Spock, who was sitting at his desk with his laptop open before him and his hands resting on either side of it, blinked. "I think I can get the manuscript!"
"Good," he nodded simply. "When will it be in your possession?"
"Well, I don't know," Nyota said, shifting on her feet, her grin fading. "We still have to get it from the University that has it. But it took so long to find it, I'm so excited."
Spock was not excited. She wanted him to be excited; he was killing her buzz.
"Let me know when you have it, and we can begin working with it," he told her. Nyota frowned.
"Yeah, I will. I'm going to go tell Dr. Ferrous. I'll see you later, Lieutenant," she said and spun on her heel to leave again.
Spock tilted his head. Her emotions had changed quickly in the time she had stood in his office and he suspected it was because of him. Had he handled it incorrectly? He did not fully understand the connection of excitement with success. Indeed, he was fairly sure he had not experienced what humans called excitement, because he never felt compelled to celebrate in such a demonstrative way. But his perfectly practical, sensible responses had apparently not satisfied the cadet. He was quite sure she would not have left so quickly if he had shared her enthusiasm.
He decided to find a compromise in which he could make sure she maintained her enthusiasm. It made her smile quite appealing.
**
Nyota ran across campus to the language building, letting her excitement build again. She knew Ferrous would appreciate the discovery.
On her way upstairs she met her bio professor from freshman year, Prof Cormier. She knew she and Dr. F were close friends, and assumed she had come from his office.
"Hey, Prof Cormier," she said as they met on a landing.
"Hi, Nyota," she nodded. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, and the young teacher kept walking downstairs even though Nyota paused. She watched the professor continue downstairs curiously, but shrugged and bounded up towards Dr. Ferrous' office.
He let her in right away, but in the second before he saw it was her, Nyota saw concern on his face. Had something happened with Prof Cormier? But when he saw her, his face broke into a grin.
"Nyota! What's up?"
"I found it! You were right, I went to the library and there's a copy in Egypt I might be able to get."
"Yes!" Ferrous laughed, clapping his hands together. "Nice job! Where is it exactly?"
"Oteru University. The librarian has to send a request and then I can send one, and hopefully they'll let me work with the copy they have."
"That's great, Nyota. You can work through all those uncertain parts with Lt. Spock."
Nyota nodded. "Can I mention the two of you are helping me when I ask to use it?"
"Of course, although his name will probably be more helpful than mine," Ferrous shrugged. "I doubt they'll know me in Egypt, but with their interest in all things Vulcan, they may have heard of Spock."
She nodded and sat down in the chair across his desk. "I can't tell what he thinks of me," she said frowning. "Sometimes I think it's just because he's Vulcan, but sometimes he seems really distant."
"It's probably just his Vulcan heritage," Ferrous assured her. He knew Nyota's need to be liked; this was why he had introduced her to Spock in the first place. "Just because he's professional doesn't mean he doesn't like you," he smirked.
"It's not like he doesn't like me," Nyota mused, "it's more like he doesn't care."
Ferrous shrugged. "I wouldn't say he acts like he's having fun when Prof Cormier and I spend time with him, but he still seeks out our company."
Nyota nodded. "Hmm. I just feel bad sometimes, because it's like he gets no enjoyment out of life."
"I wouldn't say that, Nyota," Ferrous frowned. "You have a lot to learn about other species if you think that just because he doesn't express enjoyment the same way as us means he is unfeeling."
Nyota nodded again thoughtfully. "I suppose that's very true," she agreed quietly. Suddenly she stood up. "Sorry, Dr. F, I have to go. I'll see you on Tuesday."
She left his room pensively and quickly retraced her steps back outside, across campus, into the Bio building, and to Spock's office. She hesitated, but the door had already recognized her presence and chimed within.
"Enter," came his voice again. She bit her lip and walked in.
"Hello again, Lieutenant," she half smiled. His face was impassive, but she felt a ghost of curiosity.
"Cadet," he nodded.
"I, umm…Sorry I left so quickly. You weren't excited, so I left, but…I meant to ask you about the alphabet."
She had come back; he felt he would never understand human impulsiveness. He gestured that she should sit.
"Do you have the time on hand? Is it okay if I stay?" she asked, hesitant.
"I am not doing anything that cannot be postponed. If you would like to stay and talk about the alphabet we will be working on, you may." Nyota smiled and sat. Spock paused momentarily before adding, "I did not congratulate you on your accomplishment of finding the document. Good work."
Nyota grinned and Spock felt a satisfaction in it. "Thank you, Lieutenant." He nodded. "So your bet is on it being written with the classical alphabet, right?"
"If they have one of the original documents, yes. That is the alphabet Vulcan used during Surak's time, and if your hypothesis about its age is correct, then it will be written with those characters."
"I've really only worked with the media alphabet. Is it very different?"
"In many ways, yes. But you should be able to…make the leap," he said with a tilt of his head.
"You used an idiom!" Nyota noted, amused. "I don't know that I've ever heard you use one before."
Spock's eyebrow raised and she tried not to giggle. "Perhaps that is because we mainly speak in Vulcan," he suggested.
"Oh, I forgot," Nyota said, wrinkling her nose. "We can switch back. I always assumed you didn't really know…Is there a word for idioms in Vulcan?"
"'Idiom' has become the accepted word by necessity since contact with Terra. And to the contrary, I am perfectly capable of understanding most idioms, having grown up with a human mother and having spent eight years, nine months, and seventeen days on Earth."
"Oh, well, excuse me," Nyota said, eyes sparkling. "But that does not explain why you've never used one in class, where you only speak Standard."
"In class I am explaining scientific concepts, which do not require idioms for clarity," he said matter-of-factly.
"Well, neither did what you just told me," Nyota reasoned. She was starting to feel a sneaking suspicion that he had used it only for her benefit, but she wasn't sure she should trust it.
"I see that my use of an idiom has sidetracked our conversation unnecessarily; I will cease the experiment."
This time Nyota did giggle; Spock experienced the same satisfaction and amusement he had last time, but the feeling was too brief.
"No, don't," she grinned. "I want to see if I notice it every time. I don't think I use them that much, because I have to translate so often to other languages."
"Indeed you use them quite often, Cadet," he disagreed. "You have used two in this visit to my office."
"Really? Okay, then, I will try to use fewer and you can try to use them without my noticing," she grinned.
"Is that a challenge, Cadet?"
"Yes, Lieutenant, I think it is."
***
A/N Why Egypt? I'm not really sure. I wanted it to be in Africa and I've always thought Egypt's a pretty cool place. So why not? Also, I sort of love Librarian Marcus. I'll warn you, we're going to see more of him…
I hope their banter is as satisfying for you as it is for me, haha! I'm sorry for the long delay; one more busy week, but I think this coming weekend I will finally have some more time! Thanks for sticking around. Reviews make my day!