Life and Weather

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of the characters appearing in the Star Trek universe owned by Paramount Studios and the Roddenberry Estate. This fictional work is made for love, not made for profit.

A/N: I love Spock, Nyota and the entire Star Trek universe. The idea for this story came from a picture I saw that will be explained in a future A/N.

Summary: Spock and Nyota, while still at the Academy, receive an unusual assignment that forces them to rely on each other.

Chapter 1: Good Flying Weather

December 21

"Computer, lock door!" Christopher Pike paused for a second waiting for the sound of the seal being activated on his door. He preferred the voice command and computer confirmation response system used on starships, but currently that system was too expensive for use on campus administrative buildings. This morning he thought that the expense could be worth it. At least no one had penny-pinched his request for the expensive new lock that had been installed only a week ago. It was a level five titanium single-user lock. Level five! The only people with level five locks were people with level five security clearance and that meant the highest echelons of Starfleet Intelligence. Just the thought gave him a little chill. He had been perfectly happy with the level three-plus security clearance assigned to Starfleet captains.

"Need to know" classified information routinely came his way. Of course, there was the usual amount of confidential information that automatically came with the captain's job—personnel files, secret mission assessments, deathbed confessions from those who wanted to cleanse their souls. Up to now the most uncomfortable secrets had been the unsolicited true scuttlebutt regarding his fellow Federation officers. Infidelity, substance abuse, xenophobia—the usual stuff. But this secret was on another level.

Pike looked at the package on his desk and fingered it hesitantly. Pandora's box had already been opened so his current reluctance served no real purpose. Taking a deep breath he opened the package and turned it upside down dropping the contents onto his desk. Three digis scattered out onto the center of his desk along with a handwritten note that explained their purpose. The red digi was his; the green was designated male and the blue was designated female. Pike picked up the red digi. The mini- sized unit was a specialized electronic device that provided secure voice and text communications, as well as information storage and retrieval. He knew that the information contained on his digi would be the name of the male and female chosen for the mission. Usually on a mission like this he would choose his own team, people he could trust. But that had been one of the conditions—they got to choose.

As soon as Pike punched in his code a familiar face appeared on the screen. They had chosen Spock. Pike felt his stomach drop and his jaw tighten as he looked at the face of his young protégé. The sick feeling roiling in his stomach was an unnecessary reminder that his relationship with Spock was both personal and professional. The Vulcan's rigid demeanor, solemn intelligence and naive directness elicited Pike's paternal side. He had big plans for the young Vulcan, plans that would be dead in the water if this thing went bad. Pike reigned in his misgivings and moved ahead, scrolling to the next entry. Immediately Pike shifted forward in his seat as the face of Cadet Uhura appeared on the screen. What the hell was going on? The choice of a third-year-cadet made no sense to him.

Cadet Uhura was not in any of his classes, but he knew of her reputation as a serious and gifted student. The young woman had taken a few language courses with Spock and now worked with him as his teaching assistant. Pike knew that the young officer had a crush on the cadet, even though Spock didn't seem to realize it himself. This was one of the few things that worried him about Spock. Despite his human-Vulcan genealogy Spock seemed to have minimal awareness of the land mines of human behavior. A crush on his TA was definitely one of those land mines. Out of all the Starfleet personnel available for this mission, why these two? Having personal feelings about a fellow officer on a high-risk mission was a problem. It affected your judgment, your skills and your ability to survive. Pike suddenly began to reevaluate the plan. What had he gotten these two young people into? He was the one who had brought this matter to the Federation, promised them that they could pull it off. He had been eager to do this. Old loyalties and long-ago promises had drawn him into this, while new loyalties and current responsibilities now set off little warning flares in his head. Momentarily thoughts of Spock and Cadet Uhura pushed everything else out of his head.

He paused for one last moment to contemplate all that was at stake, rubbed his hand across his forehead and then braced himself. Despite his personal feelings, there was no turning back now. "I am crossing the Rubicon," he mumbled to himself. He pressed Spock's number on the interdepartmental intercom unit. "Commander Spock. I'd like to see you in my office ASAP."

As usual Spock was the first on his floor to arrive. Upon his arrival in the morning it was his practice to leave the lights off in the hallway and to leave his door open so that his office light could partially illuminate the corridor. He found that although many officers rose early to participate in physical training before reporting to work, 0600 was a little too early to be at their desks in an academic setting. The civilian staff arrived even later than the officers and then spent significant time chatting, eating or loudly commenting on their perusal of numerous unauthorized computer sites. When he was alone he was spared these distractions. Spock found the quiet and stillness of the empty building to be conducive to intense concentration and he was able to work very productively during this time of the day. With the winter break only three days away, his colleagues had been spending even less time in the office, consequently allowing Spock to accomplish 18 percent more than usual.

Because he was routinely alone in the building for at least an hour before others arrived, he found it unusual to be summoned to Captain Pike's office at 0615. Spock considered such an early and unexpected invitation to be a harbinger of something out of the ordinary. He immediately made his way down the hall to Captain Pike's office. "Sir, you wish to speak with me?"

"Yes, Spock. We have to make a last minute recruiting trip. A VIP recruit."

Spock was relieved to hear the mundane nature of the assignment. "VIP, Sir?" Spock quizzically raised his left eyebrow.

"Yes," Pike responded. "Very important person. We need to make an impressive showing with the Academy's best. That means you and your teaching assistant, Cadet Uhura. I want to show that we have the best instructors and best students of any of the service academies."

"Are we going off planet, Sir?" Spock asked.

Pike's heart rate increased slightly. Was he not selling this the right way? Why was Spock, who was staunchly dutiful in following orders, now asking questions? "No. We are not going off planet. Why do you ask?"

Spock looked away from the captain in an effort to mask his discomfort. "Although Cadet Uhura has successfully recruited cadets of many different species in the past, I have been told that my Vulcan demeanor is not beneficial in recruiting Terran candidates to the Academy."

"What? Who told you that, son?"

"You did, Sir. During our trip to Los Angeles you said that I needed to loosen up or our recruits would enroll in 'Podunk U.' to get away from me. After much research, I later determined that there was no institution of higher learning with that designation," Spock looked at his superior officer.

Pike smiled and shook his head. The memory of his casual, teasing remark slowly began to return to him. "Maybe Los Angeles was not the place to showcase your skills, but I really need you on this one. I'll tell you the destination when we are in the shuttle. I need you to contact Cadet Uhura and have her meet us at Shuttle Field Two at 0800. Dismissed."

Spock walked quickly towards his office, wondering as he walked why Captain Pike had chosen Shuttle Field Two for their departure when the Academy's customary and more convenient departure site was Yeager Field. Spock also found it curious that tiny beads of perspiration had appeared on the captain's face when he had asked about their destination. Putting these concerns aside, when Spock reached his office he turned his attention to contacting Cadet Uhura.

She would not be pleased to learn that she was expected to leave on such short notice immediately before the winter break. He had often witnessed his mother's displeasure with his father when he had given her similar information about an unexpected diplomatic event. The current situation was complicated by the fact that this was an unexpected trip to an unknown destination to recruit an unnamed student. Considering these variables with mathematical precision Spock's conclusion was that he did not want to be the person presenting this information to the cadet. Spock's precise mind gave very little thought to the question of why a superior officer would have any misgivings about advising his subordinate of an assignment.

For the sake of efficiency, he had programmed the cadet's contact information into his computer. He touched two keys and reached her dormitory room. Spock was surprised to see Cadet Uhura's Orion roommate answer already dressed in her red Starfleet uniform. "Good morning, Cadet. I am pleased to see that you are getting an early start on your day so that this communication did not intrude upon your sleep."

For some reason the cadet laughed, then said "I'm sure you are calling for Cadet Uhura. She is in the shower. One minute." Spock heard the Orion calling her roommate, and then he heard her laughter again. "He thinks I'm getting an early start on my day."

"Quiet, Gaila. He can hear you."

After one minute and 22 seconds Cadet Uhura appeared. Her hair was pinned up in a manner that accentuated her pleasing facial features and she was dressed in an oversized Harvard sweatshirt that hung down over her bare legs. Spock thought that the sweatshirt appeared to be a garment belonging to a male. He made a mental note to gather more information on this matter if an appropriate opportunity presented itself.

"Good morning, Commander Spock. Is there something that you need?"

"Cadet," Spock began. "We have been ordered to report to Shuttle Field Two at O800 to depart on a recruiting assignment with Captain Christopher Pike. I will arrive at your dormitory at 0740. Please be ready when I arrive." Spock abruptly ended the transmission.

A surprised Uhura turned to look at Gaila who was now dressed for bed. "He must be kidding."

"I don't think so," Gaila said. "Commander Yummy does not kid. Come on. Get moving. I'll help you get your things together before I catch up on my sleep." She went to the closet and retrieved Uhura's duffel.

"I don't even know what to pack or how much to pack or…." Her voice faded off into a confused silence. She wondered why he had given her so little information. The commander was scrupulous about providing his students with the requisite information to perform their tasks.

"Look you know all you need to know," Gaila said. "You, Spock and his weird Vulcan haircut are going on a trip. Even if nothing comes of it you get to spend some time with him and maybe you'll get to meet some cute recruit who is as geeky as you. And Captain Pike is the one who is going to get the Enterprise, right?"

Uhura laughed. "You're right. When you put it that way it sounds like a great opportunity. I've never really talked with Captain Pike. This could be my chance. It's just that it's only two days until winter break starts. I have one more exam and what if we have to change our flight home. We got such a great deal because our tickets are non-refundable."

Gaila was suddenly very serious. The Orion took Uhura's duffel bag and put it on the bed. "Stop worrying. If they make you miss your flight, I'm sure the Academy will get you another flight to Africa. I know you're worried about me, but if I don't get to enjoy the Uhura family Christmas this time, there's always next year. I never thought that I would ever have a roommate who would even…. Well, you know. Thanks for inviting me."

Gaila did not say anything else. She just started pulling lingerie out of Uhura's dresser and tossing it at the duffel to be packed. Only Gaila would think that a recruiting trip meant skimpy underpants and push-up bras. "I'm taking this," Uhura said as she picked up a bulky black turtleneck and threw it at her roommate. Gaila threw it right back at her protesting that she would never let Uhura go away with a man taking "man repellant." The Orion grabbed several items of her own provocative clothing and tossed them all at once towards the duffel bag. With a quick movement Uhura caught some of the risqué items in mid air and tossed them back at Gaila. The roommates spent the next 10 minutes hurling clothes and underwear back and forth at each other and laughing until they were breathless. When they stopped the room was littered with clothing.

Realizing that Commander Spock would soon be arriving, they rushed around the room, talking, laughing and packing as many random items in Uhura's bag as they could. She laughed thinking of the fact that the commander would probably consider their behavior an illogical waste of time. Uhura wondered if she would ever be able to convince the Vulcan of the benefits of illogical behavior. His strict adherence to logic and formality intrigued her, but his rare moments of humor and spontaneity evoked feelings of tenderness that she had never experienced before. Uhura smiled as she found herself thinking of describing Spock with one of his own well-used words —fascinating.

By the time Spock arrived the room had been restored to order and the young women were both in uniform, sitting on their beds with Uhura's packed bags resting on the floor. "I'm ready, Commander," she said as she picked up her bag. Spock was dressed in his dark uniform that accentuated every lean angularity of his body. Uhura was thankful for Gaila's silence, even if to anyone except Commander Spock, the smirk on the Orion's face spoke volumes. Outside they climbed into the small flitter and without speaking headed towards their destination.

When they arrived at the shuttle field Captain Pike was already on board. "Good flying weather," Pike said as they climbed into the shuttle. They stored their bags, strapped in and were in the air within minutes. As soon as their flight was settled into cruising speed, Pike momentarily let go of the controls and handed each of them a folder. "We want this recruit, so let's show some enthusiasm." At this, Uhura nodded in agreement while Spock raised a skeptical eyebrow. Pike laughed. "Just try not to scare anybody, Spock."

In the Air

They traveled in silence. Without the distraction of conversation Pike had the chance to observe. They were interesting young people. Good young people. At the Academy he had run into all kinds. Some cadets actually wanted to go into space to satisfy a sick need to confront and destroy other species. Pike didn't know how the sick freaks passed the pre-entrance screening. But these two exemplified Starfleet's highest ideals. Part of this was the willingness to sacrifice their lives if necessary. He hoped… No. He prayed that it wouldn't come to that.