Learning Human Nature

Summary: Spock has noticed Cadet Uhura and wishes he knew more about how human inter-act "romantically."
Rating: NC 17- nudity, sex
Pairing(s): Spock and Uhura
Feedback: reviews welcome.
Characters: Original characters - Uhura's father, Vernon Uhura; her sister, Kendra; her sister's lover, Max; a friend, Gabriel and the Vulcan, Sunval.
Author’s notes: This is my first fanfic. I hope you enjoy it. Story takes place 2 years before the movie begins.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek, Star Trek fandom or any of the Star Trek characters portrayed in this story nor did I receive any financial compensation for writing this story.

Learning Human Nature
Chapter 7 Bon Voyage

With only two days till official start of the summer six-week holiday, Uhura knew she could avoid Spock till time for her to leave. She still had one exam in astro-physics scheduled of 0800 in the morning. She hoped she would pass but as she had no inclination to study at all since she returned to the dorm, she either knew the material or she didn’t.

She hadn’t heard from Spock either. And that nearly broke her heart. But she was determined to be patient and see what happened next. She dreaded the exam the next day. She was in astro-physics with Jim Kirk and she didn’t know if she could face him without bursting into tears.

She admonished herself to “Get a grip Uhura.” But it wasn’t working very well. She didn’t know if she even had a career in front of her and she was beginning to assume that she didn’t have a lover either.

Every time she started to think about him she felt so depressed she almost felt sick. Great state to be in for maximum academics, she thought. She envied Spock who was she suspected immune to this kind of angst. Or at least to compartmentalize logically.

She turned on her PADD to see if she had any messages. There was a message from her mother which she ignored. The next one, from her sister in Paris, was flagged “urgent.” She opened the message and read.
“We’ve rented a house in Sardinia for four weeks. Max is bringing a friend from school (Gabriel – ooh, la, la) so you won’t be able to shut yourself up with your books like you usually do. We’re going to play bridge till we drop and you’re the 4th. See you in a couple of days. Max says get your lovely ass over here. Let me know which flight to meet. Love you, Kendra.”

She resolved to be strong and make the best of this. She had such a wonderful family and had always felt loved and supported. She was made of strong stuff and she would just have to bear this and get through it. The people that loved her would still love her no matter what. She heard the familiar sound of laughter in the hallway outside her door. When it opened, her bubbly room mate Gaila bounced in all smiles and three sheets to the wind.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you in days,” she said taking off her clothes as she sat down on her bed.
“I know, I’ve been busy,” Uhura replied. “You OK?”
“I’m fabulous. I’m done with exams, I turn in my final project tomorrow and Kirk asked me to go with him to shoot pool tomorrow night. So I’m excellent.”
“That’s great,” said Uhura with little conviction.

“I know you don’t like him, but he’s really ok once you get to know him,” Gaila offered in Kirk’s defense.
“Just not my type.” She answered. But her mind screamed, ‘Oh please don’t let him even bring up my name.’
“No kidding,” said Gaila. “I think his ears are all wrong for you.” Uhura froze on the spot.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, right. Honey, it’s OK to have the hots for teacher. Lots of girls do” Grabbing her robe from a hook on the back of the door, she added. “But I think he likes you too. I’ve watched him watch you.”

Uhura felt the color rise in her cheeks. Was her attraction to Spock known to everyone?

Still laughing Gaila headed into the bathroom and Uhura dropped down on her bed and pulled the privacy divider closed. She put her head on her pillow and wished for sleep to come and take away the sadness and worry that permeated her brain. Why hadn’t he called or messaged her? Her last thought before sleep was of Spock.

It was late when Spock returned to his quarters. He had finished all but two stacks of student papers to be graded. And he seriously considered letting his grad student take care of those in the morning. If he timed everything right he could be on a ship and somewhere past Saturn before dusk tomorrow.

He needed to find a way to focus and think this through. He knew he had handled everything wrong. But the longer the time between when he walked off and left Nyota standing there alone and his not communicating with her, the easier it was to keep silent.

It was logical that discontinuing the relationship was in the best interests of both their professional lives. Nepotism and fraternizing were often a source of difficulty in institutions like Starfleet. If they stopped now perhaps, with Kirk’s continued silence, both his and Nyota’s careers might be saved.

But part of him, he supposed the human part, questioned if logic was the appropriate path to the solution of this problem. More conflict.

His Vulcan inclination was to discontinue the relationship with Lt. Uhura immediately and without fanfare or explanation beyond the obvious. And so the two sides of Spock fought one another for control.
Uhura would hate him for it. But even that might make it easier in the long run, he pondered. Let her go on and find a human mate.

It was logical that if she were no longer infatuated with him she would be more likely to do that. Or was that just a cowardly way out?

It was all his fault he knew. Not only was he a higher ranking officer, he was also her instructor. Both positions gave him leverage that could be applied to her in unscrupulous ways. He needed to think… Was he guilty of using some subconscious authority over her? Did she feel pressured in some way to seek him out? Had he misinterpreted the past three days completely?

He knew that regardless of what he did now, he had already caused Nyota pain. He had imagined the look on her face as he walked away from her and felt shame that he had lacked the courage to look at her.
A sense of deep sorrow rose in him and he closed his eyes. He tried to breathe deeply and shut his mind off from it; to push it down deep enough for him to bear. How he wished that moment that he never allowed himself to become involved with her.

She checked her messages before going to her exam but there were none from Spock so she closed the PADD and vowed not to check again until she was finished with her exams and long gone from San Francisco. At this point she willed herself to stop thinking about him and start concentrating on her exam or she would fail.

The classroom was full of students taking the test, including Jim Kirk. She had dreaded seeing him but he only made brief eye contact with her as he walked past to his seat. Afterwards, he left with a crowd of students including Gaila and never looked Uhura’s way. She wondered if he had said anything to anyone about what he’d seen between Spock and her but had no way of knowing. As soon as she had completed her test, she headed to the dormitory.

Uhura packed lightly and was on the shuttle to the commercial Terranair terminal by 1500 hours. She boarded the craft and sat back in the deep wedge seat to await lift off. They would exit Earth’s gravity field and fly just above the atmosphere for 14 minutes before landing at Orly Field outside Paris. The craft was full of students and faculty making connections in other parts of the world. She could identify at least 12 Terran languages being spoken in the cabin from Farsi to Italian.

She tried to listen in on the conversations but Spock kept invading her thoughts. The misery of wondering what had happened continued to plague her. Could he really have just washed his hands of her so lightly? After what they had experienced in his quarters she just couldn’t believe he was such a… such a cad!

Coming from someone like Jim Kirk that behavior would have been predictable. But from Spock? For the first time since he had walked away from her, anger began to rise alongside the pain. How cold he do that to her? She didn’t deserve it.

She had no idea that she’d fallen asleep. The gentle descent and pitch of the ship woke her. Before she could really get oriented they were landing. She hurried along with the other passengers departing the craft and into the mass of humanity filling up the lines in customs. She stepped through the electroport and the uniformed handler nodded her through.

“Nyota!” her sister called her name across a causeway that led away from the arrivals port. She was waving madly and standing with the handsome Max, Kendra’s love of some years now. Uhura waved back and forced a smile on her face. In minutes they were all together and after hugs and kisses all around they walked toward the terminal exit. Kendra slipped her arm in Uhura’s.

“Well you look exhausted. Were your exams terrible?”
“They were hard,” answered Uhura.
“I guess you’re glad to have a break.” She kissed her sister again and squeezed her arm. “We’re leaving from here to catch a land train to Italy. Gabriel is already there. In fact his parents have the villa across the bay from ours. So we’ll see him tomorrow. You’re going to really like him.”
“I’m sure I will.” She offered a weak grin and leaned her head against her sister’s cheek. She was glad to be here. The protective embrace of her older sister had healed many wounds in her life. She only hoped that this one would heal before it killed her.

The bullet train was smooth as glass and fast. So fast that by dusk they were pulling into the train station in Rome. The three travelers grabbed their bags and picked up the shuttle to Porto Torres on the island of Sardinia.


She looked out the window as they drove along and wondered if she could possibly feel any lower than she did right then. She felt empty and vacant and didn’t hear her sister’s question.
“What? Sorry. I was zoning out.”
“I said, did you hear from mother? She said she messaged you but didn’t hear back.” Uhura remembered seeing a message from her mother but hadn’t responded.
“No I don’t think I remember hearing from her. What did she want?”
“She was just wondering how you were I think.” She studied Uhura’s face in the dark of the car. “Are you OK? You don’t seem yourself.”
“Just really, really tired.”
“You sure?” her sister asked.
“Yes, I’m sure.”

Spock slept some on the voyage to Vulcan. But not much. He didn’t sleep more than two or three hours a night normally and could go days without sleep if necessary. But the sleep he did have on the ship was full of troubling images fleeting and rough around the edges. He awakened with the feeling he hadn’t slept at all and his head ached. He needed to find the time to meditate and cleanse his mind of all this. If he could.

He credited Jim Kirk with having some real character in offering his silence about his affair with Uhura. But Spock knew it was only a matter of time before other people knew about it and sooner or later it would get to the higher echelon of authority, most of whom might not take it as lightly. He silently cursed himself for letting this happen. He knew better. Had considered all this before hand and then ignored it completely. And now he feared he had hurt Uhura deeply with his silence.

He took a shuttle craft from the terminal to his parents’ home in the mountains. His father was sitting on the expansive stone structure attached to their home. He walked out onto the large deck and waited for his father to look up from his work.
“Spock!” he rose from his chair and the two men walked toward one another. “It is very good to see you again.” They stopped a distance apart.
“It is good to see you as well father.” Spock looked toward the open door to the inside. “Is mother here?”
“Yes, she’s sleeping. Though I’m sure she will be very pleased to see you when she awakens. Are you well? Will you want food?”
“I am well enough. But I wish to speak to you about an important matter.”
“Of course Spock. Please sit.” He gestured toward a chair beside the one he had been sitting in. The two sat down and Spock took a deep breath.
“Father, I have broken several Starfleet regulations and though I have not been charged with any infraction, I may be suspended from Starfleet at any moment.” Sarek kept his steady gaze on his son, narrowing his eyes the slightest bit.

“Spock, I am shocked at this news. I never imagined this. Are you certain you have done so?”
“Yes. I am certain. And I deeply regret much of what I’ve done.” Spock’s father stared out over the mountain range beyond and was silent for a moment.

“I only ask this as a matter of information, not as a judgment…. Have you committed a capital crime or are you a fugitive from the authorities?” Spock lifted his eyebrow before replying.
“I am neither a fugitive nor a criminal. But I have broken the rules.”
“Then as I know you to be a man of integrity, you must have had good reason.”

“I wish I knew if that was true.” Spock replied quietly.
“You said you regretted much of what you have done. But not all?”
“Not all. I broke the regulation regarding fraternization with a junior officer. And I regret that in so doing, I have compromised another. A woman, who was innocent of any wrong doing.” Sarek sat up and peered into Spock’s face intently.

“Spock you know I do not judge you, you must make your own way. But I am surprised at this.”

“I am surprised myself Father. I have tried to allow logic to rule my life and to keep my emotions in check. Yet even knowing I was violating Starfleet regulations I could not seem to help myself.”

Sarek’s face showed little as he sat back in his chair.
“Ah. I suppose I should have expected your human character to respond to a human woman. It would be only natural. I had thought you would be able to control that part of yourself.”

Spock felt a flush of embarrassment, but he continued by saying, “On the contrary. I found I was unable to suppress my feelings for a Lieutenant who was also my student.” Sarek was still for a moment, remembering his own fitful years of struggle to understand humans and his own attraction to a human woman whom he had married. And whom he loved.

“Spock, do you intend to continue to be involved with her?” Spock looked down, choosing his words carefully, speaking quietly.
“I believe the wisest course of action is to terminate my relationship with the Lieutenant.”
“Do you intend to continue your service with Starfleet?”
“I hope to complete my term of commission,” then added “If I am not asked to leave.” His father replied almost casually.

“You will not be asked to leave. Starfleet is full of people who are more than willing to look away from a situation like this rather than have a scandal. But you must break it off with this woman as long as she is your student at the Academy. Of this I am sure.” Spock nodded in understanding.

After what he’d done to her, he was fairly certain that Lt. Uhura was going to take care of that part herself and he would be unable to blame her if she did.