Story [Star Trek] Reminiscences at a Pivotal Crossroad. S/U et al. WIP.

by WarmNyota

Disclaimer: Borrowing for fun and with love.

Characters: Spock is the chronicler, and his family and friends, and colleagues make an appearance, as does the wonderful Nyota.

Note: Thanks to the invaluable beta assistance of divapilot -- smoothing out all the rough edges.

~

#1

It is nearing time to submit an application for continuing in the active service in Starfleet, versus embarking on a new arena of interest. I must admit that each has its advantages and drawbacks. I am curious about a new endeavor in diplomacy, but the familiar also beckons.

It is understandable that at such times, one is compelled to reflect upon prior experiences for commonalities and hints as to the optimal choice.

Any avowals by friends and colleagues that there is a hint of nostalgia in such a practice, at least for me, are unwarranted.

I believe the best place to begin is at the mid-point of my secondary education, where thoughts of eventual career paths inevitably begin.

__++

 

Yes, that will be nice to see.

 

Warm thanks for the invaluable beta/lookovers by divapilot and Mira_Jade



~~

#2

Two classmates of mine had always known their path of academic interest. T'Riana was gifted in the healing arts, particularly in the aspects of empathy and restoring balance and serenity. Solin intensely pursued astrophysics, theoretical and observational. I too delved into this area of study, as well as computer programming and the basic sciences.

We were in many of the same courses, and since we were proactive in our assignments, doing these efficiently and creatively, we found it easy and pleasant to interact with one another after classes concluded for the day.

"Well," T'Riana assayed one afternoon in mid-term of the 3rd quarter of classes. "I've put in my application for Healer Training at the University of Shi'kahr. The deadline is coming up for the Vulcan Science Academy. I was perusing their database. I saw Solin's name there, but not yours?" She favored me with an inquiring glance.

Solin's tone was decidedly curious. "I would have expected you to have turned your application in at the beginning of term."

I told them plainly: "I have not done so, precisely for the reason that I am preparing to submit it elsewhere."

"Indeed?" Solin asked. "Where would that be?"

"Starfleet Academy." I replied.

They gazed at me in amazement. I had not divulged this to them earlier for I had been weighing the decision and had only recently finalized it in my own mind. Naturally, my parents were the only ones who knew of this choice, perforce.

"I can well imagine your parents had a lot to say about that." T'Riana commented, her voice contemplative.

"My parents' reaction was all that you might expect."

Solin frowned. "Your mother was pleased, and your father not so much." He surmised in a blatant understatement.

"I am still resolved to carry it out, nonetheless." I said. "I mean no disparagement to the Academy on-world, but I believe my scholastic strengths and vocational potential can be fully realized in a different broader milieu."

T'Riana reflected: "I'm sure your father will come to see that, as well. He has had fascinating and unique professional and personal experiences in the diplomatic field."

I gave a cursory nod but did not share her sanguine opinion.

 

nice discussion about Starfleet Academy. Spock - like his father and mother - makes different choices

 

Thanks to my beta-duo for helping me spruce up and make my post ready for prime time
~
#3

I contemplated the varying moods which had underpinned my leavetaking for Terra and Starfleet.
I concluded the variances sprang from the nature of the relationships involved.

My parents saw me off at the spacedock.
Father's farewell ... how can it be described? A particular tension underscored his decorous and suitable expressions.
Mother's warmth countered his aloofness and the tenor of her mind across our filial bond was all it had ever been. She reminded me to contact Timothy and Gretchen, my cousins, when I arrived, and to be sure to spend leisure time socializing with them as well as visiting Aunt Sondra and Uncle Dalton on academic breaks.

I promised her I would do so, as well as comm Father and her at least twice monthly.
She embraced me quickly, not lingering for the sake of onlookers and passersby, but still unable to resist indulging in an overt gesture of affection.

My parting from T'Pring, which had taken place formally a week prior, had not held even a modicum of gentle affirmation.

We had undertaken the Koon'ul as children, but as we matured, the depth and quality of our connection did not progress much past a cursory and superficial level.
I had mentioned this in curiosity to T'Riana wondering if perhaps it was a consequence of my blended heritage. She had raised an elegant brow as if to say: "I doubt it." Her opinion of T'Pring was no secret.
"She is frosty and unbending," T'Riana had told me upon one occasion.

As I ventured forth, I knew that I would be encountering persons of many and diverse backgrounds and temperaments. I would be less than honest if I did not admit to a certain anticipation...

+++

 

Thanks to my indispensable betas, as always.

~

4

Ms. Tricia Waters, the Dean of Academic Affairs, established a rotating roster of instructors to enable those to find a niche, which they would either continue to occupy until receiving tenure or transition out of after so many terms (if they wished to enter the exploratory branch of Starfleet). Course instructors were assigned based upon individual preference as well as acumen.

She assigned me to the Computer Department, in which I worked closely with Gavin Soames, who created software codes as a form of relaxation.

She also designated me to take over for Dr. Cordelia Mathews in Xenolinguistics.
In this latter course, the diversity of students would be broader than in computer sciences, as to academic strengths and career paths.

"Mr. Kendall Landor was Dr. Mathews' assistant," Dean Waters said. "Do you wish to keep him in that capacity or make another selection?"

"I do not believe that will be necessary," I responded, "At least not in the immediate future."

She nodded in approval, and I took my leave.

+++

 

T'Pring, ICE-queen. And nice to see him working in the computer department and Xenolinguistics. Cordelia nice name

 

Got the green light for this in my beta convo. So have to post.

~~

5

Mr. Landor proved to be a colleague with several confounding aspects, some of which seemed on the face of things to be mutually exclusive.
For instance, he would handle his assigned tasks, such as sylabus organization and essay grading, with efficiency once he began; the expression "once he began," being the operative phrase. He would frequently wait until the interval ran out on when an item needed to be completed. It would turn out to be satisfactory, but I failed to understand the propensity to procrastinate.
If something delayed his ability to complete on time, then what?
His commentary on student projects was unfailingly encouraging and insightful; however, he had a tendnecy to add emoticons like smiling faces, ironic tongues, and winking eyes.
As it seemed to lead to a heightened rapport with the students, I did not comment verbally.

After three semesters, we had gotten acclimated to one another.
An opportunity came for him to transfer to a Commodore's staff, as a scheduler.
He declined, saying that working in my department was much more interesting.

The waiting list for Xenolinguistics got longer as time progressed. I finally capitulated to Dean Waters' suggestion and added another course session for the week, this being for a longer duration two times weekly. The original course was only an hour long, but it was held three times a week.
When this second course opened up, the student load for the first one grew lighter.

As I perused the roster for the second one, a name caught my attention, of a Communications major highly commended by Professor Suarez--Nyota Uhura.
Little did I know how significant she would turn out to be to me personally, nor how impressed with her I would become, in turn.

++++

 

Observing as always

 

Thanks to my super duper betas for their unfailingly astute suggestions.


~~

#6

I was currently absorbed in essay evaluations. Of these, Mr. Landor had voiced an opinion, which I agreed with completely.

"There are those goof offs who will never take assignments seriously; the extra compulsive students who go above and beyond; and those who fall somewhere in the middle. Of these, I find the most interesting the ones you think aren't grasping anything until you read their answers and extrapolations. They don't grandstand but are quietly, unobtrusively, above average."

I had pondered his observations. "Where do you think, for instance, Ms. Uhura falls on this continuum?"

Mr. Landor's eyes had gleamed appreciatively. "Oh, she's definitely blatanly excellent, but she's not obnoxious about it!" He had grinned.

No, that she certainly was not.

Those occasions when she took advantage of my office hours, she always started with a courteous apology for intruding, followed by astute questions and even more strikingly insightful theoretical applications and implications. To be frank, these discussions were invariably invigorating. I thought with no small amount of irony that the same could not be said of my conversations with a recently arrived colleague from Sri Lanka, Ms. Leila Kalomi. She possessed a graceful poise and had large, dark eyes with amber highlights. She was articulate and vivacious, and she often (for lack of a better word) fawned. She ... gushed effusively. While Ms. Uhura had a lively cadence and could also be described as ebullient, she did not ... grate upon the nerve. Her manner was unfailingly courteous. I found her lithe yet elegant appearance more to my taste, as well.

Hmmm. It was a fascinating comparison.

+++

 

Thanks as always to my superb betas for helping polish this post, making the words flow better.

~
#7

Captain Christopher Pike had been my academic advisor during my own student days. He had been offered the captaincy of the Enterprise when its construction was complete, and he readily accepted the post. He approached me and asked if I would like to be his second-in-command in lieu of continuing in a purely academic position. I felt honored and did not need to deliberate long before answering in the affirmative. The potential for unique and momentous discoveries and opportunities for first contact were aspects that I found particularly compelling in this decision. I apprised Dean Waters of this fact. She congratulated me and confessed that the faculty would miss having me amongst its members.

When I communicated this to my parents, my father's reaction was reserved, but Mother's was unmitigated in pride and gratification. With a subtle smirk, she commented that this would necessitate even more of a separation from T'Pring.
"I am sure that particular implication never crossed your mind," she remarked.

I cocked a quizzical eyebrow. "That hardly entered into the picture, of course."
She merely laughed softly and changed the topic of conversation to other matters.

++++

 

Pike sure is a nice person. And for T'Pring: good to be away from her.

 

Things progress sweetly, in a friendship context, burgeoning into more...


#8

My professional and personal connection with Nyota seemed to develop simultaneously and did not strike me as bewildering or irrational, as to the how or why of the latter.

Informal talks gave way to shared evening meals. She sought refuge from irritating and frustrating encounters in my office, being able to find the respite and serenity necessary to work on her assignments. We gave one another gifts, based upon no special or obligatory occasion, but simply by knowing the other's preferences and tastes.
She presented me with a chess set with a unique and attractive workmanship, of polished wood. I gifted her with a miniature painting of the Aurora Borealis because I knew she was enthralled by the magnificence of such displays.

Nyota's participation in the spring choral concert was excellent. Her vocal range was exceptional, and she lent a deep emotiveness to the ballads she selected. She informed me she was learning the Vulcan lute, and I offered to assist her with her lessons, which she gladly accepted.

When Nyota made the acquaintance of a medical resident, Graeme Carlisle, with whom she enjoyed musical concerts and museum excursions, it inexplicably caused me no small measure of disquiet.

+++

 

Got the green light for this post

#9

Mr. Landor took a position in Curriculum Development for the Department, working directly with Dean Waters. I was pleased to give him a positive recommendation. This left a vacancy, which I needed to fill.

Nyota was on a very short list of viable candidates. I explained to her that I felt she was the most qualified and that I believed we would work exceptionally well together.

"Oh! I would be honored! Thank you!" she replied with unmistakable pleasure, then she frowned. "Does that mean we have to stop ... our informal discussions and impromptu lute lessons?"

"I do not see any reason why one should conflict with the other," I answered, and her happy smile returned, making her luminous eyes even more radiant.

The prospect of spending even more time with her was one I did not find unpleasant, in the slightest.

+++++

 

Nyota has other friends but Spock will be the one for her

 

Thanks to my wonderfully helpful betas, once again

~~~~
#10

T'Riana contacted me and asked how things were progressing for me professionally and otherwise. "Has your father softened in his attitude?" she inquired, out of concern over the family tension.

"He is...resigned, I believe the word is. There is nothing that can be done to undo the current circumstances, so he merely accepts it."

A subtle frown knit her brows. "He does not commend you for your accomplishments, either," she observed.

"My mother is the one who has that particular purview," I answered ruefully.

I told her of my pleasure in working with Nyota, and T'Riana's keen sense as a friend and healer picked up on the nonverbal nuance.

"I believe there is something stirring there ... something that never awoke for T'Pring."

"This need hardly be said," I replied, and her eyes lit with amusement.

I disconnected from the communications array, with the sudden realization that my informal talks with Nyota had more depth and ease than any I had attempted with T'Pring. I would frequently think of topics I wished to share with Nyota and recall how our conversations were enlivened by her lively, warm ebullience.

***

Nyota's concentration suffered during the summer term, due to the unexpected passing of her paternal grandmother. She lived on Martinique, I learned, a lush tropical island that Nyota's family often enjoyed visiting.

I offered Nyota my condolences, yet I felt conflicted when I recalled that physical comfort was oftentimes expressed on such occasions. The desire to offer such a gesture was strong, to be frank, but I refrained. Such a strong stirring of empathy was intriguing, and I puzzled over the cause.

Her eyes glowed with appreciation at my sincere words of commiseration.

"I'll never forget what my cousin Kiana told me. She says that she believes there will come a time when tears of grief will be turned to tears of joy, when arms that were empty will be full again. Isn't that lovely?" Nyota's melodic voice took on a dreamy note. "I could tell she wasn't just saying it to make me feel better, even though it did."

"I am pleased that you were able to find solace," I told her. "Do you believe that you will need to take personal leave?"

She considered for a long moment and then answered: "Thank you for the offer, but I think work, especially that I enjoy, is the best 'therapy.'"

++++

 

work and Spock of course