A Different Kobayashi Maru

Summary: Spock knows the woman Jim is trying to pick up. He thinks observing the attempt will be fascinating. Spock/Uhura, Kirk/OC/McCoy

Rating: T, primarily for McCoy's tendency to cuss

Disclaimer: I don't own Trek or any of the characters. They just keep invading my imagination.

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Chapter I – Passing Time

Spock sat down at a table in the space station lounge. He normally preferred remaining on board and working on his own research during leave, but he promised Nyota that he would meet her here for lunch. She appeared to be late. This was quite unlike her under normal circumstances. However, she had warned him that she had not had an opportunity to shop in months and might well run late. Apparently accepting certain illogical behavior without complaint was a necessary aspect of being in a relationship with her. It seemed a reasonable sacrifice.

"I hate drinking alone this early in the day. This seat taken?" Doctor McCoy had appeared at the other end of the table.

"I am waiting for Lt. Uhura to complete her 'shopping expedition'."

"Ah, then trust me, you might has well have some company to pass the time." McCoy said, sitting down.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "She warned me that she might take more time than expected, but I doubt she will be much longer. She is already 3 minutes, 27 seconds late."

"Why Spock, I never figured you for a romantic - counting the seconds until she appears." McCoy said with a grin. "Seriously, if you think she is going to arrive soon, you still have a thing or two to learn about earth women. By my estimation, you have a snowball's chance in hell of seeing her within the next half hour."

"A snowball's chance…?" Spock decided to set aside puzzling over the idiom. "But she is not planning to purchase anything. This activity is apparently called 'window shopping', and while she seemed unusually pleased with the prospect of pursuing it, I fail to see how such an illogical activity could sustain her interest for long." Spock's statement was so innocently sincere, McCoy almost felt sorry for him.

"Just trust me on this one Spock. And be grateful she's sensitive enough to your Vulcan sensibilities that she didn't ask you come along and hold her purse for her."

Spock tilted his head slightly to one side, looking vaguely puzzled. "But Lt. Uhura does not carry a purse..."

He was interrupted by a low whistle from McCoy. "Now her purse, I'd gladly carry." McCoy was staring at the woman who had just sat down at the bar a short distance in front of them. She was tall, with shoulder length dark glossy hair, slightly exotic, but finely chiseled features and a figure that would make most men's hearts beat a bit faster.

"Doctor, I will never understand the human tendency to..." Spock started, but looking over, he did the Vulcan equivalent of a double-take and then stared fixedly at woman. Then the edges of his lips turned up ever so fractionally.

"Spock, you've surprised me twice today." McCoy chortled. "What human tendency was it you don't understand?" he teased.

"It is not what you surmise Doctor." Spock said slowly, "I believe I know her."

"You know her?" McCoy asked.

"Yes," Spock said. "And I think what is about to transpire should adequately pass the time until Lt. Uhura arrives." He sat back and folded his arms over his chest, nodding in the direction of Capt. James T. Kirk, who had just swaggered into the lounge and was making a beeline for the beautiful woman at the bar.

"This should be fascinating."

…to be continued

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Author's Note: A lot of fics seem to be writing Uhura as very serious, with a nearly Vulcan attitude. But a women can be highly intelligent and extremely accomplished while still enjoying certain frivolous 'stereotypically feminine' things. Uhura enjoyed beautiful things and shopping in TOS and she was perfectly comfortable being smart, tough and/or warm and 'girlie' as it suited her. That's one of things that made her more than a foil for the boys or a flat character like many TOS females. (And quite possibly it's one of things that drew Spock's interest, even if he wouldn't admit it – in my experience only people with certain ego problems are primarily attracted to those extremely similar to themselves).A

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