| Primary Characters: | Uhura, Spock |
| Rating: | T |
| Spoilers: | Not really |
| Warning: | Violence |
| Description: | Spock and Uhura are sent on a training assignment to a distant planet. The inhabitants have some unusual customs, and Uhura and Spock are faced with a difficult decision. |
Uhura packed her things and said goodbye to her room mate. The new assignment excited her. Finally, she would get the chance to show her true worth. Though she did her best to act like a good Star Fleet officer and pretend she had no personal opinions about anything and didn’t mind being neglected and overlooked by superior officers and forced to see far less talented cadets be praised just because they were male, inside she was furious. Those immature boys were consistently favored whenever the interesting assignments were handed out.
Better still, she was going on this assignment with Spock. Not only was he the most brilliant male cadet at the Academy right now, at least in Uhura’s opinion, he was also – and this was a far more personal assessment – really hot and – sweet. She was so happy that he seemed to return her feelings, at least as much as a half-Vulcan was capable of. They would be away for about six weeks. Six weeks with no arrogant overgrown boys bullying Spock and whispering sexist comments about her, or vice versa.
On her way to the ship – The Linnaeus – she caught up with Spock who was walking ahead of her. She knew it was no use gushing to him about how happy she was, but she smiled in greeting and he nodded without changing expression. At first she had been disappointed and even believed his lack of reaction implied lack of interest. One night she had decided to ignore her misgivings and – she knew Kirk and Bones would refer to her behaviour as ‘coming on to’ or ‘hitting on’ – but in her own mind she saw it as trying one last time to find out if her feelings were returned. And well, depending on how you defined ‘having your feelings returned’ she had been rewarded. Now she knew that even if Spock wasn’t demonstrative like most other males, he still cared about her in his own way and never resisted her kisses and hugs.
They boarded the ship and found their cabins. Despite being on a training assignment, they had been given their own quarters – at least Uhura had. It occurred to her that she might be the only female cadet aboard the ship, in which case Spock might be forced to share with one of the other cadets. As far as she knew, there were four other cadets on the ship.
To her surprise, she later found that the three other males were sharing a slightly larger cabin and Spock too, had been assigned separate quarters. She realized that though this was good news for her and Spock, it didn’t necessarily imply any good intentions, rather the opposite. This might very well be an effort to spare the other males – two humans and a Betazoid – the chore of being quartered with a Vulcan. Just like her, Spock faced discrimination, though she knew he wouldn’t notice or even necessarily agree with her about her assessment. In all fairness, she could see the other side of the coin – some people with what might be termed an inferiority complex – might view the Vulcans as too superior, perhaps even smug.
They were heading to a planet that was being evaluated for Federation association, possibly membership and Uhura found the assignment fascinating. Not many people had seen it so far – except for the natives and their closest neighbors in space. She would be one of the first Federation citizens to explore this new place. And she would be doing it with Spock. His insights were always interesting and she admired his intellect. Even the logic that annoyed Kirk and Bones so much, seemed an attractive trait in Spock, but she knew that was just because she was in love with him.
It would take them approximately ten days to reach their destination and while they were en route, the cadets were expected not only to familiarise themselves with the planet they were going to visit, but also take up duties on the ship. They were not going to be proper members of the crew at least not on this trip, but on the return journey, it was hinted that if they did their work in a satisfactory way, they might be temporarily promoted to acting ensigns. This excited them all, but perhaps Spock and Uhura the least. Even so, Uhura was looking forward to the return trip almost as much as the entire assignment.
By the time they arrived, she had managed to find a way of peacefully coexisting with the other cadets and also, a bit easier, the regular crew. Though even here, some of the males – and they made up the great majority of the crew – still had a way of undressing her with their eyes and commenting rudely on her appearance while she was still within earshot. The only two female officers appeared to be deaf and blind to the insults but Uhura knew it was just their way of coping. She would have to learn to ignore the taunts too, if she wanted to function as a Star Fleet officer.
The planet looked both beautiful and even ethereal but at the same time very exotic and alien to Uhura’s eyes, accustomed to Earth and its closest neighbors. Still, it wasn’t the way it looked that fascinated her, it was the more subtle properties that interested her the most. The terrain was mainly desert, with dry stunted vegetation. In most places the only liquid water was subterranean and that was where the main population centers were. Despite the rather inhospitable conditions, the planet was home to almost half a billion people. The planet was roughly Earth-size. It appeared to be an ‘old’ planet, seismically. There were no great mountain ranges and at most modest chains of hills. Most of the terrain was made up of seemingly endless plains with a few chasms. The vegetation was a little more sheltered down there, but no more abundant.
Other than the plants, including a few species of fungus and some bacteria there was only one species living there. It was more or less humanoid. Though the skin was covered with rudimentary scales, they had no major exterior differences to the better known humanoid species, other than some rather prominent teeth and nails – more clawlike than like the nails of most humanoid species Uhura was familiar with. It made the people look fierce and she assumed they could be, under certain circumstances, but in their interactions with the Star Fleet officers and cadets, they were always polite and measured in their reactions. She didn’t think they were like the Vulcans, but they also didn’t show their feelings to strangers.
While the three other males were given the assignment of exploring the terrain, Spock and Uhura were told to interact with and study the natives, alongside the First Officer and the Second Officer (who was also the Science Officer). Though Uhura assumed she had received the assignment because the officers didn’t think she as a woman was cut out for lengthy walks across the surface in difficult conditions, she was secretly relieved. This was far more interesting than mapping a rather dull terrain. She doubted those three guys would find anything as interesting as the social customs of the natives.
The people of the planet appeared to regard the Star Fleet officers’ visit as a momentous occasion and were always eager to be accomodating to their visitors, Uhura noted that she wasn’t allowed any contact with children and teenagers. All the people she was allowed to interview appeared to be adult. There was no difference in attitude between the males and the females, so she assumed it was a relatively equal society. Though there had been different classes or castes in the past, the society also seemed egalitarian in other ways.
It bothered her that she didn’t seem to get close to any of the natives. Superficially, she felt she was gaining an understanding of their customs, but the understanding only went skin deep. The Science Officer – one of the few female officers explained that this was very common. It usually took many decades of contact before you even began to understand a new culture. While it was frustrating, Uhura found this consoling. At first it had seemed as if she was failing at her work. She knew it was no use looking to Spock for explanations. Many times it seemed he didn’t understand any social interactions.
Another part of their assignment was to explore the other planets in the system. When most of the crew set off to see the four other planets – of which two were habitable – Spock, Uhura and the Science Officer remained. Their assignment was to take precedence over the ordinary surveys of planets. Again, Uhura was quite pleased to remain, though at the same time, she had been hoping to see the other two habitable planets.
The ship had been away for five days, when the report came back, informing the three remaining Federation citizens that their ship had crashed on one of the planets considered unhabitable. It wasn’t completely destroyed and there were no casualties, but according to the crew’s best estimates it would be at least two weeks until the ship was fully functional again. Their hosts were sending assistance, but their space travel was rudimentary and the ship would take more than a week to reach its destination.
In the meantime, the Science Officer and the two cadets continued their study of the natives’ social customs.
It seemed to Uhura that once their ship had departed, some of the natives began acting differently towards them. At first she assumed that it was because an important event was coming up, a celebration of an anniversary of some important incident. This was exactly the sort of thing that interested Uhura and the others and they tried to find out as much as they could.
One of their hosts tried to explain but other than the fact that the celebration commemorated an important historic event, it was a little hard to understand his explanation. Certain traditional ceremonies would be observed. They had something to do with marriage, at least that was the impression Uhura had, but the exact nature of the ceremonies were rather vague. She assumed she would find out on the night of the event.
A festive mood seemed to be spreading among their hosts, but still no children and very few teenagers were seen in public. Mostly, this seemed to be an event for adults. The central space in the town they were staying in had been decorated and filled with various food stalls. There was also a big raised platform at one end of the central space that Uhura thought corresponded to an old Earth town square.
The leader of the town or the region – again it was a little hard to tell – even if it was a political, administrative or religious position was vague – would be seated at the head of the platform.
At the edges of the central space there were plenty of lights, so presumably the event would go on well into the night. The first people had begun to arrive around seven or so in the evening. At that time most people visited the different stalls that mainly sold food, but also various objects that Uhura couldn’t tell if they were mere trinkets or more valuable objects. There was music and a few live acts – acrobats and such.
A few hours later, the leader walked in, followed by six attendants and sat down in his seat. He spoke solemnly but rousingly to the crowds, mentioning their glorious past and hinting at future achievements, but also, it seemed to Uhura, something about commitment and unity among the people. It all sounded very general and typical of a politician, but soon after he had stopped speaking, a man stepped out into the middle of the raised platform. He called out what sounded like a ritual challenge. Uhura began to feel the first stirrings of unease. Would there be some sort of ritual fight? Like Earth’s old gladiator fights?
Another man appeared at the other end of the platform and walked to meet the challenger. Two men brought a nervous-looking woman onto the edge of the platform and stood by her side.
Though undoubtedly part of some ritual, the two fighters didn’t waste much time getting started. The first man charged, then the fight continued quickly. Two thick clubs were used as weapons. It didn’t take long for the defender, if that was the correct term, had managed to defeat his challenger. He walked with a slight limp over to the nervous-looking woman. The two men who had accompanied her, disappeared and the man embraced the woman, who returned his embrace, looking relieved. They too, left the platform. Two men came to help the loser off the platform. He was cradling a broken arm, but looked relatively well.
Another man came to take his place. He shouted out a challenge that Uhura missed in the excited mumblings of the crowd. Everyone seemed to be looking in her and her companions’ direction. Suddenly, two men appeared and grabbed Spock by the upper arms and began to drag him away.
”What’s going on?”
Uhura addressed her question to anyone in the vicinity. An older woman took it upon herself to reply.
”That man – has declared his wish to – possess your friend. One of you may accept the challenge – or you may concede that your friend now belongs to the challenger.”
She said a word that the translator didn’t catch, but when she read Uhura’s expression, she explained further.
”It means you accept that he is now the other man’s and that you do not contest his will.”
”But -”
Uhura didn’t turn to face her superior officer. She wasn’t going to let this happen. The Prime Directive be damned.
”I will accept the challenge.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could consider the consequences. The Second Officer, Maura Avery, reached out to grab her shoulder.
”No. You can’t. You know the rules. We can’t interfere.”
”We can’t let Spock be – abducted like this. I won’t let him.”
She hurried away to meet the challenge, without waiting for a reply. Normally, she would have been the first one to defend the Prime Directive. She approved of and admired the principles behind it. But this was her – boyfriend. Spock. She couldn’t lose him like this. If she had to throw away her career to save him, she would.
Not until now did she consider the fact that she was not that good at hand-to-hand combat. All Star Fleet cadets were trained in self-defence, but her challenger looked big and muscular. All she could do was hope that her training would help her.
She stepped up onto the platform and faced the man who had challenged her. He laughed at her. She knew she had no choice but to defeat him, but – this – made it even more personal. Perhaps out of contempt for her, he chose to fight with his bare hands. In a way, that was a relief, but his hands and arms looked enormous up close like this and Uhura had to suppress a shudder. He might break her neck – if the rules allowed a fight to the death. If not, he could break other bones in her body.
There was no more time to consider her situation. The man charged her and she was forced to avoid his arms. He was so close she almost felt the impact. The next attack hit her so hard she fell to the ground and lost her wind, but she knew she couldn’t let him get his arms around her, so she wriggled out from under him and tried to get a grip on him somehow. She struggled to remember her instructor’s words. ‘Let your opponent’s strength work against him’. If she could do that – She fought for breath and tried to get her nerves under control. This was one fight she couldn’t lose.
At least one of her ribs had to be broken and she felt bruised all over. Both the impact on the ground and the big man landing on her made her entire body hurt, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. If she didn’t defeat him soon, he would have no trouble beating her. Her strength was ebbing fast.
The move that suggested itself to her was risky. If she got it wrong she could seriously harm herself and if she hit her opponent the wrong way, she might kill him. She wasn’t sure if she was prepared to risk that, but this was her only chance. One move that could help defeat an opponent of superior strength. As long as he didn’t see it coming.
It succeeded beyond her wildest expectations. One moment he was closing in on her, the next he was lying on his back, staring up at her, a look of intense surprise on his face. She could see him struggle to get up but eventually the impact made him lose consciousness. It almost seemed too easy. Slowly, she made her way over to Spock who was now standing alone at the end of the platform. His face, as usual, was an unreadable mask, but when she stumbled and almost fell, he reached out to catch her.
”Are you badly injured?”
He almost sounded concerned. Or was that just her imagination?
”A few ribs. Bruises. Nothing serious.”
By now, the Science Officer had caught up with them. She studied Uhura sternly, but didn’t waste her breath berating the younger woman for something she had already done.
”If you come with me, I’ll see what I can do about your injuries. I have a medical tricorder, but it’s in my lodgings.”
”Thank you.”
Their attention was caught by another announcement from the stage. Another man was calling out his challenge. Once again, the crowds were staring at the Federation citizens. What now? Before Uhura had time to make sense of what was being said, two men appeared, grabbed her arms and held her at the edge of the platform.
She tried to listen more carefully to what was being said. Something similar as before. A call for a defender. Someone to fight for her. To her astonishment, Spock began to walk across the platform. She loved Spock, it was no use denying that, at least not to herself, but she had never expected him to cast aside the Prime Directive for her sake.
Uhura had time to think that Spock was far stronger than she was, so this fight should not present much of a challenge for him, when she saw that the challenger had picked some kind of long knife as his weapon. She was hoping that was all, and that it wouldn’t be dipped in poison as was common in certain cultures.
Spock accepted the weapon he was offered and got into position. She knew this would be difficult for him. Until now, she had even imagined that breaking a rule or law would be impossible for him. Her eyes stung as she considered his sacrifice. For a Vulcan to go against all his training –
On the other hand, the thought of spending the rest of her life at the mercy of the big man with the cruel-looking knife wasn’t appealing. And if this sort of thing went on frequently, she might actually be passed between two or more men as they fought over the stranger. Did she look exotic to them? Was it a sign of high status to possess an alien? Whatever the reason, she did not want to spend the rest of her life as a slave. The thought was choking her.
Spock held the weapon at a different angle than the other man and she was concerned that he wouldn’t learn how to use it in time to defend himself. His opponent didn’t give him any time to adapt. He came at him with the knife raised in the air above him. It cut swathes in the air where Spock had been seconds before, but so far it didn’t hit him. To begin with, all he could do was avoid being hit, but Uhura could see him observing the other man’s moves and hopefully learning from them.
Suddenly, the other man performed a startlingly quick maneuver waving the knife behind him, then cut Spock’s shoulder. It only made light contact with it, but even from Uhura’s position, she saw the fabric of Spock’s uniform tear and blood spilled down his arm. She had no idea how deep the cut was, but Spock had seemed to jump back so quickly, she was hoping it was only shallow. Shallow or not, it did seem to impede the movement of his right arm. She had an idea that Vulcans knew how to block out pain, but the injury itself must have weakened the shoulder. And now his opponent returned for another attack.
This time, it seemed Spock had learned something and not only did he narrowly avoid another hit, but he was also able to cut the other man, this time in the thigh. The blade entered the muscle tissue on the left thigh and blood burst forth. At first, Spock’s opponent just continued his second attack, then he began to waver slightly. It seemed to Uhura that he was paling, but it was hard to tell with the light pattern of scales on his face. He raised his knife again, but seemed to lose momentum and his arm fell down uselessly by his side. The blood loss was already taking its toll on him. He sank down onto the platform and though he tried to get up more than once, in the end, he fell back, possibly unconscious.
Uhura noticed that the men holding her arms had let go of her and had moved away. Two other men came to inspect, then treat the fallen man’s injuries. Spock dropped the knife and turned to walk away. Uhura reached out and touched his shoulder. He didn’t flinch. Up close like this, she could tell his injury was a rather shallow cut, but long and it was still bleeding. Maura Avery led them both away.
”I’ll talk to you later. Let’s see what I can do about those injuries.”
Before they had time to get more than a few paces away, four natives appeared, two men and two women. They seemed to want them to approach the leader’s seat. After a moment’s hesitation, the Science Officer nodded. All three walked over to hear what the leader had to say.
”According to the power my people grant me, you are now a unit.”
Unit? The translator seemed to be struggling. One man appeared to take Spock’s hand in his and held it out in Uhura’s direction. One of the women grabbed her hand and held it out to Spock. It was clear that they were expected to hold on to each other. Not wanting to obstruct the ceremony, they briefly held hands. That appeared to be sufficient and a few minutes later, they were allowed to go.
At last, they were able to have their injuries seen to. Considering what had just occurred, the Science Officer decided that their studies would be suspended until further notice. They would remain indoors and away from the public eye until their ship returned. That was going to be at least another week.
On the fifth day, another Federation ship arrived. The McKinley. To Uhura’s surprise and dismay, the first person she saw jumping off the ship, looking as arrogant as ever, was Kirk. What was that creep doing here? When the officers came ashore, it turned out that the Linnaeus had sent a distress call back to Star Fleet headquarters. That in itself wasn’t so hard to understand. But why would they include that intolerable fool? Uhura never had a satisfactory answer to that and she half suspected that Kirk had thought of some kind of ruse to be allowed to come along.
In any case, the Linnaeus was repaired within a day or two and it was decided to cut the mission short. In a way Uhura was disappointed, but mostly, she was relieved. Even though she and Spock would most likely face some kind of punishment.
No one said anything during the return trip. Not even the ship gossip had anything to say about their eventual fate. She could tell that Kirk had made friends with the three other cadets and that they were laughing about her and Spock behind their backs. Determined not to let on, she ignored the other men and spent most of her time with Spock.
Their injuries had long since healed. Looking back, Uhura knew there was a part of her, that was quite proud of what she’d done. She had faced a seemingly inconquerable enemy, but had prevailed over him, saved her boyfriend and walked way from the fight relatively uninjured. That should tell Kirk something. She was no less proud of Spock, not because of his ability to beat an enemy in a fight. His physical strength was indisputable. In his case, the challenge had really consisted in overcoming his reluctance to break any rules. But he had done it in the end, for her.
Once back at Star Fleet headquarters, she learned that they would both be expelled for a period of three months, then allowed to return and continue their studies. At least they wouldn’t run into Kirk and Bones during that time.
A few days later, a message arrived for Spock. It was from his father. He never told Uhura exactly what was in it, but it was clear that the older man had more or less disowned his son over his failure to obey the rules.
When Spock informed her, or at least hinted at what had occurred, Uhura put her arms around him and kissed him. He shot her that puzzled look that she had learned to love. It was as if he had no idea what a kiss was, yet did not resist her. Somehow, he seemed to derive some sort of pleasure from it.
”I do not regret my actions. If my mother had been similarly threatened, I believe my father would have left her to her own devices. It may be logical but – he made a commitment to her when he married her. Surely that means he ought to assist her if she is ever in need?”
”I certainly think so.”
”Is it not a Star Fleet officer’s duty – or even a cadet’s duty – to stand by his team mates?”
”That’s certainly true as well.”
”I believe I have acted in accordance with my – conscience.”
Uhura kissed him again. This time he almost looked pleased.
She wasn’t sorry. Even if she had been expelled for good, she would have found something else to do. She too, had acted in accordance with her conscience. Her work meant much to her, but Spock meant more. It was reassuring that he seemed to feel the same, as far as he was capable of feeling anything. She couldn’t help smiling, as she took another breath then leaned in and kissed Spock again. It might have been her imagination but this time there was something like a response. He was learning to like her kisses. Maybe she was corrupting him, but she didn’t think he was sorry either. Meeting Spock had changed her life even more than just joining Star Fleet had. She was looking forward to more interesting work for Star Fleet, but even more to spending more time with Spock. Hopefully, he felt the same way. To her delight, she now felt his arms around her, holding her, not that tightly, but still – for a Vulcan, this was probably as much as she could hope for. Resting her head on his shoulder, she began imagining what the next few months would have to offer. With Spock away from his lessons and the two of them all alone in the city – Maybe there was more she could introduce him to. And after their time away from the Academy, there would be more studies, more work – the future excited her. She could hardly wait.
FIN
© Tonica