leandraholmes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
leandraholmes) wrote2010-06-18 09:48 pm
leandraholmes) wrote2010-06-18 09:48 pm
Entry tags:
A Pragmatic Theory of Truth - 11/25
Title: A Pragmatic Theory of Truth
Chapter: 11 of 25 (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10)
Word count: 1723 (~ 55,000 in total)
Authors:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
petbubble and leandralocke
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG - NC-17
Summary: One and a half years before the destruction of Vulcan, Spock meets an extraordinary young cadet during a lecture at Starfleet Academy. Their initial encounter is brief but intense, and affects both of them in ways they could never have imagined.
Authors' notes Thanks toblueeyed_secret for beta-reading.
This is our first multi-chapter Spock/Uhura fic, but it has been completed for a while. We are currently already working on follow-ups, so there's no need to worry that this might never be completed. We're just editing it chapter by chapter and having it beta-read now and should post a new chapter every few days.
The story is also online at Fanfiction.net
Chapter 11
It had been almost three days since she had picked up the transmission about the Achilles. Almost three days since she had accompanied Commander Spock to the Admiral's office to report what she had heard.
Luckily the transmission had been automatically recorded on her PADD because the thin tendrils of fear and worry that had started off in her spine had spread and, try as hard as she might, she hadn't been able to fully focus on the conversation and had mostly let Commander Spock take the lead. She vaguely remembered the Admiral being calm yet complimentary and thought he even might have thanked her for reporting it so promptly. She also thought that she might have been awarded some extra class credits because of this, but again wasn't 100% sure.
Since then she had tried, really tried to focus on her studies and normal Academy life, but instead had found herself listening for any news of the Achilles, anything at all that might put her mind at ease. She had even found herself flicking through subspace channels during her free time, trying to pick up any transmissions even though she knew that Starfleet had restricted all channels. The worry for her childhood friend Lela that she had initially felt on hearing the news still remained, like a malevolent monster that gnawed at her insides.
As she sat at her desk in the dorm she tried again to tell herself that there was nothing to worry about, that Lela - and the rest of the Achilles crew - would be fine. That no news was good news. None of this put her mind at rest even though she tried to trick herself into believing that she was okay and coping.
The sound of the door being opened interrupted her thoughts, and a second later she saw her roommate enter the dorm, nodding her head to the rhythm of a song she was listening to through her one-piece earphone, humming along. She stopped abruptly, however, as she caught sight of Nyota, and her expression changed from cheerful to worried within a second. Taking the earphone out and putting it on her nightstand, she kicked off her shoes and walked over to her friend.
“Gee, Nyota, you look horrible,” she said, her tone not teasing but sympathetic, as she sat down on the edge of Nyota's bed. “You're still worried about your friend, huh?”
“I’m fine Gaila, really,” Nyota replied, forcing a bright smile. The last thing she wanted was for people to feel sorry for her; even – no, especially - those close to her. How was she supposed to be a good, effective Bridge Officer if people thought she would fall apart at the smallest thing. And it was a small thing. So what? A starship wasn’t contacting Starfleet Command. Didn’t mean that everybody on board was- . Stop it! Get a grip, Nyota.
Taking a steadying breath she continued. “Oh, and thanks for the compliment. So – how’s things with Rob Wesson going?”
Gaila regarded her with a frown on her pretty green face, and it was quite obvious that her concern wasn't for any amorous adventures with cadet Robert Wesson but for her friend. Then she smiled slightly and reached out to pat Nyota's lower arm in an affectionate gesture. “Okay, if you ever do want to talk, I'm here. But maybe you're right: better focus on more pleasant things right now.” The somewhat devilish grin that spread on Gaila's features then indicated that she had something very pleasant to talk about indeed. “He's like THE best kisser ever!” she said and her eyes lit up even more. “Well okay, aside from Patrick, Ngaroh, Gustav and maybe Javier. But... we just made out in the guy's locker room. Oh and forget I ever called him chubby. He's all muscles, really. So firm and hard and...” She started fanning her face with her hands and batting her eyelashes.
Nyota smiled at Gaila as the Orion began to chatter about Rob and his great kissing technique, but suddenly found her mind wandering. She knew that Gaila was trying to support her, and normally she would be joking and teasing her friend about her prolific make-out sessions. At the moment though, she just found it difficult to concentrate.
Half-paying attention, she shifted in her chair to look out of the window. Although it was still early evening, and the skies were mostly clear, Nyota stared up beyond the wispy clouds as if she could see into space. Chewing her bottom lip, she was only faintly aware that she had started tapping her fingernails on the desk top, initially in a random pattern before becoming aware of a rhythm in the taps.
...tap-tap-tap...taaap-taaap-taaap...tap-tap-tap...
What the hell? Why was she tapping Morse Code? And why was she tapping out an old, historical distress call? No – I will not let this rule me. I cannot... Staring at her fingers as though they were possessed, she felt her stomach clench with then still unspoken worry and suddenly slammed her hand down on the desk.
“Hey... hey! Earth to cadet Uhura,” Gaila said loudly, waving one hand in front of Nyota's face. But instead of appearing annoyed she just sighed, and a very tender expression showed on her features. “Okay, distracting you with my romantic conquests doesn't work either. So.. tell me what you want me to do because I hate seeing you all mopy and pensive.”
Hearing the concern in Gaila’s voice caused Nyota to wonder whether she was doing the right thing by trying to deny her feelings. If she was honest, the past few days had passed in a daze. She’d tried to concentrate on her studies to take her mind off things; to make sure she didn’t mope, but the uncertainty of the current situation and lack of contact from the ship had been more than she could realistically manage. She’d been pushing herself so hard that she only just realized that she hadn’t eaten, hadn’t wanted to eat for almost 48 hours.
Sighing softly, she swiveled in the chair and lifted her feet onto the bed next to Gaila. “Yes – it’s Lela. I didn’t tell you everything though. We’d booked a subspace window to speak the night before...before Starfleet lost contact, and I- ,” feeling her voice crack a little, she took a couple of deep breaths before continuing. “I canceled. I canceled on her to study, Gaila, and now she’s...” Lowering her head Nyota tried to slow her breathing, feeling nauseous.
“Oh, oh my,” Gaila said and sighed with sympathy. She laid one hand on Nyota's shin and patted her leg soothingly. “But you couldn't know this would happen. And besides... hey, look at me,” she said softly, leaning forward a bit more and reaching for one of Nyota's hands. “These things happen all the time, ships losing contact. And most of the time nothing bad happens. I know everyone is worried because of the Klingons that were near, but they don't even have to have anything to do with it. It could be just technical difficulties blocking their system. And even if Klingons are really holding them hostage you don't have to jump to the conclusion that they'll do anything to the crew. They know damn well that any violation of the treaty in the Neutral Zone could cause an interstellar war. And not even they are that stupid, are they?”
Feeling Gaila’s hand gently squeeze hers, Nyota looked up into her friend’s face and nodded. Rationally she knew that Gaila was almost certainly right. The Klingons were aggressive and liked to pose and posture, but they also knew that they couldn’t handle an all out war with the Federation. It was likely that a shipwide failure in the communications array had caused the lack of contact, but although this went someway to calming her, she still felt as though her insides were knotted.
The guilt she felt from canceling the window with Lela would continue to be there until she knew for certain what had happened to the ship, and though Nyota knew there was no way she could have foreseen the events that had happened, she still felt that she had let her childhood friend down in some way.
“You talk sense there, girl. You do. Thank you.” Squeezing her friend’s green skinned hand, she smiled a little, though she knew without having to look in a mirror that there were still worry lines on her brow.
“I know,” Gaila replied with playful smugness. “I may not look it but I am kind of smart, too.” She winked and squeezed Nyota's hand a bit more tightly, resting her chin on her roommate's outstretched legs. The Orion's need to express her affection in a highly physical way may have been awkward to many people, but Nyota was used to it by now.
“So, do you wanna do something to get our mind off things then? We could either watch some holos or go dancing or... study, if you must?”
Feeling a little better than she had an hour or so ago, Nyota grinned as she moved a curl from Gaila’s face. She knew her friend didn’t totally understand how she was feeling, but the Orion was perceptive enough to know the right things to say to start to help.
“Okay, one holo, which I get to choose. The one you made me watch last time gave me all kinds of weird dreams,” chuckling a little at her friend’s rueful expression, Nyota continued softly. “Besides I have to study for the exam tomorrow. The History of the Federation isn’t just going to creep into my brain is it? The exam’s hard enough without you distracting me all evening.”
“Just good I took that one last semester already,” Gaila chuckled and got up from the bed to set up their entertainment for tonight.
There was still a knot of worry and guilt inside Nyota, but at least she'd get some distraction for a while and knew chances were high that she would be able to concentrate on her studies. And maybe even sleep for at least a few hours tonight.
~ TBC ~
Chapter 12
A/N: This time just a shortish one, since the next is gonna be longer. We’ll post that one tomorrow or Sunday though.
Chapter: 11 of 25 (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10)
Word count: 1723 (~ 55,000 in total)
Authors:
petbubble and leandralockeGenre: Romance
Rating: PG - NC-17
Summary: One and a half years before the destruction of Vulcan, Spock meets an extraordinary young cadet during a lecture at Starfleet Academy. Their initial encounter is brief but intense, and affects both of them in ways they could never have imagined.
Authors' notes Thanks to
blueeyed_secret for beta-reading. This is our first multi-chapter Spock/Uhura fic, but it has been completed for a while. We are currently already working on follow-ups, so there's no need to worry that this might never be completed. We're just editing it chapter by chapter and having it beta-read now and should post a new chapter every few days.
The story is also online at Fanfiction.net
Chapter 11
It had been almost three days since she had picked up the transmission about the Achilles. Almost three days since she had accompanied Commander Spock to the Admiral's office to report what she had heard.
Luckily the transmission had been automatically recorded on her PADD because the thin tendrils of fear and worry that had started off in her spine had spread and, try as hard as she might, she hadn't been able to fully focus on the conversation and had mostly let Commander Spock take the lead. She vaguely remembered the Admiral being calm yet complimentary and thought he even might have thanked her for reporting it so promptly. She also thought that she might have been awarded some extra class credits because of this, but again wasn't 100% sure.
Since then she had tried, really tried to focus on her studies and normal Academy life, but instead had found herself listening for any news of the Achilles, anything at all that might put her mind at ease. She had even found herself flicking through subspace channels during her free time, trying to pick up any transmissions even though she knew that Starfleet had restricted all channels. The worry for her childhood friend Lela that she had initially felt on hearing the news still remained, like a malevolent monster that gnawed at her insides.
As she sat at her desk in the dorm she tried again to tell herself that there was nothing to worry about, that Lela - and the rest of the Achilles crew - would be fine. That no news was good news. None of this put her mind at rest even though she tried to trick herself into believing that she was okay and coping.
The sound of the door being opened interrupted her thoughts, and a second later she saw her roommate enter the dorm, nodding her head to the rhythm of a song she was listening to through her one-piece earphone, humming along. She stopped abruptly, however, as she caught sight of Nyota, and her expression changed from cheerful to worried within a second. Taking the earphone out and putting it on her nightstand, she kicked off her shoes and walked over to her friend.
“Gee, Nyota, you look horrible,” she said, her tone not teasing but sympathetic, as she sat down on the edge of Nyota's bed. “You're still worried about your friend, huh?”
“I’m fine Gaila, really,” Nyota replied, forcing a bright smile. The last thing she wanted was for people to feel sorry for her; even – no, especially - those close to her. How was she supposed to be a good, effective Bridge Officer if people thought she would fall apart at the smallest thing. And it was a small thing. So what? A starship wasn’t contacting Starfleet Command. Didn’t mean that everybody on board was- . Stop it! Get a grip, Nyota.
Taking a steadying breath she continued. “Oh, and thanks for the compliment. So – how’s things with Rob Wesson going?”
Gaila regarded her with a frown on her pretty green face, and it was quite obvious that her concern wasn't for any amorous adventures with cadet Robert Wesson but for her friend. Then she smiled slightly and reached out to pat Nyota's lower arm in an affectionate gesture. “Okay, if you ever do want to talk, I'm here. But maybe you're right: better focus on more pleasant things right now.” The somewhat devilish grin that spread on Gaila's features then indicated that she had something very pleasant to talk about indeed. “He's like THE best kisser ever!” she said and her eyes lit up even more. “Well okay, aside from Patrick, Ngaroh, Gustav and maybe Javier. But... we just made out in the guy's locker room. Oh and forget I ever called him chubby. He's all muscles, really. So firm and hard and...” She started fanning her face with her hands and batting her eyelashes.
Nyota smiled at Gaila as the Orion began to chatter about Rob and his great kissing technique, but suddenly found her mind wandering. She knew that Gaila was trying to support her, and normally she would be joking and teasing her friend about her prolific make-out sessions. At the moment though, she just found it difficult to concentrate.
Half-paying attention, she shifted in her chair to look out of the window. Although it was still early evening, and the skies were mostly clear, Nyota stared up beyond the wispy clouds as if she could see into space. Chewing her bottom lip, she was only faintly aware that she had started tapping her fingernails on the desk top, initially in a random pattern before becoming aware of a rhythm in the taps.
...tap-tap-tap...taaap-taaap-taaap...tap-tap-tap...
What the hell? Why was she tapping Morse Code? And why was she tapping out an old, historical distress call? No – I will not let this rule me. I cannot... Staring at her fingers as though they were possessed, she felt her stomach clench with then still unspoken worry and suddenly slammed her hand down on the desk.
“Hey... hey! Earth to cadet Uhura,” Gaila said loudly, waving one hand in front of Nyota's face. But instead of appearing annoyed she just sighed, and a very tender expression showed on her features. “Okay, distracting you with my romantic conquests doesn't work either. So.. tell me what you want me to do because I hate seeing you all mopy and pensive.”
Hearing the concern in Gaila’s voice caused Nyota to wonder whether she was doing the right thing by trying to deny her feelings. If she was honest, the past few days had passed in a daze. She’d tried to concentrate on her studies to take her mind off things; to make sure she didn’t mope, but the uncertainty of the current situation and lack of contact from the ship had been more than she could realistically manage. She’d been pushing herself so hard that she only just realized that she hadn’t eaten, hadn’t wanted to eat for almost 48 hours.
Sighing softly, she swiveled in the chair and lifted her feet onto the bed next to Gaila. “Yes – it’s Lela. I didn’t tell you everything though. We’d booked a subspace window to speak the night before...before Starfleet lost contact, and I- ,” feeling her voice crack a little, she took a couple of deep breaths before continuing. “I canceled. I canceled on her to study, Gaila, and now she’s...” Lowering her head Nyota tried to slow her breathing, feeling nauseous.
“Oh, oh my,” Gaila said and sighed with sympathy. She laid one hand on Nyota's shin and patted her leg soothingly. “But you couldn't know this would happen. And besides... hey, look at me,” she said softly, leaning forward a bit more and reaching for one of Nyota's hands. “These things happen all the time, ships losing contact. And most of the time nothing bad happens. I know everyone is worried because of the Klingons that were near, but they don't even have to have anything to do with it. It could be just technical difficulties blocking their system. And even if Klingons are really holding them hostage you don't have to jump to the conclusion that they'll do anything to the crew. They know damn well that any violation of the treaty in the Neutral Zone could cause an interstellar war. And not even they are that stupid, are they?”
Feeling Gaila’s hand gently squeeze hers, Nyota looked up into her friend’s face and nodded. Rationally she knew that Gaila was almost certainly right. The Klingons were aggressive and liked to pose and posture, but they also knew that they couldn’t handle an all out war with the Federation. It was likely that a shipwide failure in the communications array had caused the lack of contact, but although this went someway to calming her, she still felt as though her insides were knotted.
The guilt she felt from canceling the window with Lela would continue to be there until she knew for certain what had happened to the ship, and though Nyota knew there was no way she could have foreseen the events that had happened, she still felt that she had let her childhood friend down in some way.
“You talk sense there, girl. You do. Thank you.” Squeezing her friend’s green skinned hand, she smiled a little, though she knew without having to look in a mirror that there were still worry lines on her brow.
“I know,” Gaila replied with playful smugness. “I may not look it but I am kind of smart, too.” She winked and squeezed Nyota's hand a bit more tightly, resting her chin on her roommate's outstretched legs. The Orion's need to express her affection in a highly physical way may have been awkward to many people, but Nyota was used to it by now.
“So, do you wanna do something to get our mind off things then? We could either watch some holos or go dancing or... study, if you must?”
Feeling a little better than she had an hour or so ago, Nyota grinned as she moved a curl from Gaila’s face. She knew her friend didn’t totally understand how she was feeling, but the Orion was perceptive enough to know the right things to say to start to help.
“Okay, one holo, which I get to choose. The one you made me watch last time gave me all kinds of weird dreams,” chuckling a little at her friend’s rueful expression, Nyota continued softly. “Besides I have to study for the exam tomorrow. The History of the Federation isn’t just going to creep into my brain is it? The exam’s hard enough without you distracting me all evening.”
“Just good I took that one last semester already,” Gaila chuckled and got up from the bed to set up their entertainment for tonight.
There was still a knot of worry and guilt inside Nyota, but at least she'd get some distraction for a while and knew chances were high that she would be able to concentrate on her studies. And maybe even sleep for at least a few hours tonight.
~ TBC ~
Chapter 12
A/N: This time just a shortish one, since the next is gonna be longer. We’ll post that one tomorrow or Sunday though.
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