DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR TREK OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS AND AM NOT MAKING A PROFIT OFF OF THEM.

Hello, this is my first Star trek fic so I'm bound to make some mistakes I just though I'd make a few points: I have decided that I'm going to mess around with the ages a bit, people are allowed to enter the star trek academy at the age of 18, though many wait till their a few years later. Spock is supposed to be twenty- three in this fic having entered the academy at 18 and becoming a teacher after he graduated. I'm English and here the legal drinking age is 18 so I've made this the legal drinking age in my fic just in case some of the references to first year cadets getting drunk is confusing. Italics is speaking in any language other than English, in later chapter this will almost always be Vulcan ( ) =telepathic speech. Rated T for now but will probably go up to M in later chapters. So enjoy.

The shuttle journey had been a steady and peaceful one so far. Spock enjoyed being a passenger for once as he was usually asked to be at the helm for such journeys. This was his third recruiting mission within a term, apparently because he could act as both representative to the science and the xenolinguistic departments, a two for one deal as captain Pike had described it. This time they had a specific mission to recruit a young woman heralded as a linguistic prodigy in Africa, . After news had spread to the administration office of her abilities they sought her out and asked her to make a recording of all the languages she was fluent in. It was then that Spock and Captain Pike were told to go offer her a place at the academy. The need to apply was to be wavered for her, more unusual was the fact that she would only be seventeen earth years of age in the following academic year, eighteen was the stated age of admissions and eighty percent were older than this due to the extensive entry requirements.

"Spock."

Spock was roused from his thoughts by Captain Christopher Pike, the only man whom he could call a friend.

"We're roughly ten minutes from landing."

"8 minute 37 seconds to be exact."

"Your internal clock can be damn scary sometimes."

"I'm not certain how that is possible, but I apologizes for having unsettled you."

"Well, I was just going to remind you of our mission."

"I am fully aware of our mission Christopher."

" I'm just saying she maybe a linguistic prodigy but she is still a sixteen year old girl."

"Your point sir?"

"I would prefer to avoid a repeat of New York."
Three weeks previously Spock, Captain Pike and a few others had been sent on a recruiting mission to New York, they had meet two dozen perspective students. Three of which were interested in microbiology, as the there were no representatives of that department present and every year he guest lectured on variances of oceanic microbes he was elected to meet with them. Thus he got the blame when two of them withdrew their applications.

" Don't do that raising you eyebrow cocking your head thing Spock."

Spock straightened up not realizing he had been making this expression.

"Just don't be too hard on her and don't get all stiff and insulted if she wants to know about boys and parties and how high she can raise the hem of her skirt."

"They can get higher?" This time Christopher raised his eyebrows. "I believe that they are already of a height that allows for maximum freedom of movement. Of course if they wore trousers they would still have that freedom and wouldn't cause such distraction in the male cadets. "

" I wouldn't try suggesting that to anybody else Spock, you might just end up with a fight on your hands with every female cadet in the academy."
"I am not saying that they should not have the choice, rather that the male cadets should learn to control their hormonal and emotional response better."
"Spock."

"Yes Captain."
" Remember when that nurse disturbed your meditation during your first Pon Far last year."

"The point is dropped captain."

Christopher turned away to look out the window with a smirk on his face.

" She was quite annoyed when I intervened if I remember rightly, then again so were you."
"Captain."
" How long till we land now?"
"35 seconds until the landing sequence is initiated."

In exactly 35 seconds the pilot announced that they were about to land. Spock felt the familiar jolt in his stomach and nauseated feeling as the shuttle started it's horizontal decent. It was not a sensation he would ever admit to unless directly asked. It was not a discomfort he had ever heard anybody else mention thus logically it was an uncommon one. If he did mention it to a medical officer he was sure their response would be that the cause lied in his strange half human half Vulcan anatomy.

The sensation ended as the shuttle smoothly landed on the African earth. Spock unhooked his harness, threw his bag over his shoulder and went to the front of the craft to savor the feel of the first draft of hot air hit his skin. Just for an instant he allowed himself to think of home and the hot air of Vulcan then he centered himself and excited the shuttle to stand for the first time on African soil.

"The hotels just a ten minute drive away." Spock nodded and silently walked the short distance to the land vehicle. They were to meet the prospective cadet at the hotel in two hours time, which would allow him to unpack his over night bag find nutrition and meditate for an hour.

Feeling refreshed and calm Spock rejoined Captain Pike in the hotel foyer, he was already shaking hands with a couple they were dressed in the traditional bright clothing of the area , both were taller than average and there ages were hard to judge. With them stood what he presumed to be the prospective cadet. She was wearing a less traditional outfit of lose black trousers and a white sweater that hugged her curves. She did not look like a sixteen year old. This was not due to her tall slender frame but the way in which she carried herself, with an essence of grace and a quiet confidence that usually came with age. She turned to look at him as he approached , her eyes were a deep amber and they flickered over him with an intelligent curiosity.

"Ah here he is, Mr, Mrs Uhura this is commander Spock, he teachers xenolinguistics at academy."

Spock folded his arms behind his back so that they would not try to shake his hand, he nodded to each of them in turn.

"Spock has offered to talk to Nyota one to one so that he can answer any of the questions she might have about which modules to take and life at the academy, if that is alright with you."
" Of course." Nyota nodded.

Captain Pike turned to her parents.

" And i'll buy you a drink and answer any of your questions while we wait for them to finish."

Spock nodded to Nyota Uhura. "Follow me Miss Uhura."

She followed him two paces behind as he lead her to a small informal meeting room the academy had booked for them. It was a smallish room with one glass side making it appear to just open up onto the desert like plane in front of them, the hotel they were in was considered to be out in the middle of no where but it was actually only a fifteen minute land vehicle drive from a small city, it was popular with those who liked the feeling of seclusion and people wanting to see the areas wildlife. The room was equipped with a number of comfortable looking armchairs a coffee table and a mini replicator. Spock approached that first.

"Would you like a beverage or a snack Miss Uhura?"

"Some chamomile tea would be nice thank you."

Spock typed in his room number and ordered two chamomile teas, it was one of his favorite beverages as it was soothing to the throat when speaking more glutteral languages. She had chosen to sit in a large leather arm chair on one side of the coffee table, placing the cup in front of her he took the opposite chair, took a quick sip of the light yellow liquid and continued to introduce himself.

"As captain Pike said I am commander Spock. I am a teacher of five of the language modules at the academy I run two short course on how to classify planets and Vulcan etiquette, as well as these I take the Monday morning advanced fitness groups and Thursday evening advanced combat. If you decide to attend the academy this year then as a xenolinguistic candidate it will be compulsory for you to attend my advanced Vulcan class and my introduction to federation languages class." She nodded.

"I am pleased to meet you commander Spokh." She said in perfect Vulcan, not the formal Vulcan spoken (poorly) by most cadets, it was the the dialect of his home sector. He was intrigued, the language was rarely taught on earth only to those choice few who were destined to work on Vulcan in his home sector.

"Intriguing." He answered in the familiar dialect, something he hadn't done in the four years since the rift between his father and himself, his mother preferred to speak to him in English. "How did you come to the conclusion that this is my home dialect?"

The familiar tones reminded him of his home, that and the heat of the room gave him a well known ache in the pit of his stomach, that feeling his mother had called home sickness.

"Vulcan only has three dialects. The one spoken in the far north of the planet is spoken by the darker skinned Vulcans. Those that only speak the formal language, mainly those in the eastern hemisphere do not pronounce the F phoneme correctly as there is no similar sound in their dialect. You did not hesitate at or mispronounce any words including that phoneme, so I presumed you were from the west of the planet. The lightness of your eyes suggests north western as in the southwest black eyes are dominant and yours are just dark brown."

" Your assumptions are largely correct, but I am from the southwest."

She looked puzzled.

" I didn't factor in movement across continents."

" True, but that can be forgiven as such travel is rare in Vulcans. I have mixed genetics, my mother is Human, and this is the cause of your perceived inconsistencies in my appearance."

" I didn't know there were any half Vulcan half Humans."

"I am the only one."

"That must be lonely."

Spock wondered how the conversation had gotten onto such a personal note. Usually he denied any emotions stating that he was a Vulcan and Vulcans do not allow themselves to be influenced by their emotions, but due to his homesickness and the fact that he had been caught off guard then impressed by this cadet (not something that happened often) he diverged form his usual answer.

"It can be difficult. I am impressed with your deductive skills and your knowledge of the dialect of my people, but I think we should return the conversation to questions about the academy." He hesitated, he was not so comfortable with his next question as it could cause an emotional response but he felt it necessary after his conversation with Christopher. " I realize that most students have certain perceived reasons for anxiety when they first join the academy, I could give you information that could settle any such anxieties if you have them." She reached down and took the cup from the table taking a steady drink, her eyes didn't quite meet his when she spoke.

" Are the cadets and professors accepting of differences?"

" Star fleet is a multi- planetary, multi-race operation, it's members are diverse in looks, interests sexualities and abilities."

" That isn't an answer."

"I cannot give a more accurate answer, my own experiences are nothing to go by as I am the only Vulcan to ever enter star fleet, half blooded or not. Acceptance takes time."

" So, what about me?"

" I was under the impression that earthlings had not had race divides in over 200 years."

She let out a little tinkering laugh that seemed to radiate as a tingling sensation down his spine.

' I was referring to the fact that if I accept to join star fleet academy this year I will be the youngest person to ever have attended. All the other first year cadets will be at least a year older than me."

"I do not see how that will cause any issues, the administrators have decided you are capable. I myself have listened to the recordings you submitted and it is my belief that you already have full knowledge of all the languages needed to complete the first two years of xenolinguistic modules. Your school records suggest that you shouldn't encounter any problems in other modules required for a xenolinguistic career."

" I'm not worried about the work, well not very worried anyway."

"Then what are you worried about?"

She looked down blushing slightly.

" Making friends, I mean everybody else is older and on thirsty's week when everybody is out getting drunk and making friends I'll be sat in my room alone."

Thirstys week a play on the words thirst and first, was the week when all new students were taken out by older students to various social events all of which usually included drink copious amounts of alcohol making a fool of oneself and promising to be friends forever with a person you had met a few hours beforehand based purely on the fact that you both enjoy the same holovid.

"I am told there is a variety of clubs and events where people can socialize and make connections. " He didn't see it prudent to mention that he himself had found thirsy's week to be an unpleasant experience, as he had watched Humans growing increasing illogical with the consumption of alcohol.

She nodded.

"Now tell Miss Uhura, do you feel comfortable describing this room to me in formal Klingon, even though your recording was adequate I wish to test your abilities to speak it naturally without preparation or rehearsal ."

"Okay."

"If you feel this is too difficult for you please tell me, Klingon is not a required language until the third year and only basic Klingon is taught, but I wish to test your limits. It will in no way affect your entry into the academy it is merely for my own curiosity."

" I would be glad to Commander Spock."

"Very well, may I get you a refill off your drink, I find Klingon to be very harsh on the throat."

" Yes, thank you."

"Your welcome."

"I enjoy spiced vegetables and meats. Hot herb drinks and.." Uhura paused, Spock had moved there conversation from talking about the room in Klingon to weather in formal Vulcan, then had enjoyed listening to her speak In her native Swahili a language he was not familiar with. Now they were talking in Orion and Uhura was answering questions he asked her on food preferences. Their conversation had flowed easily, when most prospective students were nervous around him and tended to make mistakes in even the basic sentences Uhura spoke well, she had not yet misunderstood any of his questions in any language, though the tones of her Klingon had been too gentle, but it could be easily corrected with a few one to one sessions at the academy, if she attended he reminded himself.

" Tell me In English what you wish to say?"

" Fruit juices?"

" Your trouble is due to there not being a direct Orion translation, they do not drink fruit juices."

"Wines?"

"Yes, I suppose that is the closest word. Do you like to cook?"

"Yes, I find it relaxing."

There was a knock at the door. Spock stood up and turned round.

"You may enter."

Christopher Pike opened the door his eyebrows raised.

"Everything alright in here?"

"Yes, everything is fine, why do you ask?"

"You have been in here almost two hours."

Two hours, had they really, yes he supposed they had. He had not noticed that amount of time pass.

" Yes, of course." He turned to Uhura. "My apologies to you and your parents miss Uhura I should not have taken up so much of your time."

'It's okay, I don't often get to converse in different languages, I enjoyed it."

" I hope you will consider the academy."

" I think I've already made up my mind."

"Oh?" Christopher said.

"I would like to attend this coming fall, I'm ready."

"Well, have a talk to your family about it and if everything's fine give the administrator a call and she'll do the rest."

"Thank you, Captain, Commander Spock." She nodded to him as she walked out of the room to where her parents were waiting patiently outside.

Spock followed after her to apologize to her parents for keeping them waiting so long. Her father asked to speak to him in private, he nodded not entirely sure what was coming next.

"Thank you for talking to me." Spock nodded. "I'm worried about Nyota going to the academy so early, I know it's just a year but I'm afraid she may be influenced by older students into, well thing's she's not ready for."

"Have you discussed these concerns with your daughter?"

"Yes, but now she's decided she will attend and once Nyota makes up her mind nothing will change it."

Spock nodded.

" I would have asked the captain this but he's a busy man, being a captain and all." Spock held back from informing Mr Uhura that Christopher actually had much more free time than him. "And you're going to be her teacher, you'll be closer too her, and well I just wondered if you would keep an eye on her."
Spock considered, he believed that he would want to keep an eye on the future cadet anyhow as she was the most talented cadet he had yet met and he wished to make sure she had every opportunity to prove herself and build upon her knowledge.

" Your daughters talent for language warrants extra and help from me, naturally I will also attempted to council her if I believe she is making ill advised decisions. I will make myself as available to her as my duties allow."

Her father smiled widely at him and clapped him on the shoulder, he had never understood this human gesture and too him it seemed more familiar than the situation warranted but some Humans did act overly friendly on most occasion.

"Thank you Mr. Spock."

"Of course."

They walked back over to join the group.

"Are we ready to go?" Mrs Uhura asked.

"Yep, everything sorted." Mr Uhura replied. "Shall we get going then."

He turned to Christopher. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us captain." They shook hands, then Mr Uhura turned to Spock his hand outstretched, Spock paused, he did not know how he could avoid the hand hake this time so he tried to raise his telepathic shields to reduce the amount of transference. But was rescued just in time as Miss Uhura spoke.

"Father, Vulcans are touch telepathic. It's considered rude to touch them."

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr Spock."

"It's quite alright I understand you did not know. It is just that my hands contain a lot of telepathic receptors and I would not be able to stop myself from inadvertently accessing your thoughts and emotions."

"Oh, right." Mr Uhura looked slightly shocked at this. "You learn something new everyday."

" Miss Uhura, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions."

"Thank you Commander Spock."

He stood next to Christopher watching them leave. He felt a little uncomfortable at their parting, he had found their conversing to be more than satisfactory. It was quite illogical but he wished he could speak to her in a one to one setting again.

"Mission accomplished." Christopher smiled at him. " I think that deserves a drink don't you?"

"That would be acceptable."

Spock sat down across from Christopher, they had gotten in to the routine of meeting in the evening once a week for a drink. It had started when Spock had been a cadet, the Captain had taken an interest in him. One lunchtime as Spock had been sat alone he'd been joined him. It had taken a year for Spock to feel comfortable in the senior officers company, captain Pike had given him logical reasons to attend cadet parties, though Spock had still failed to 'fit in' with the other cadets of his age. When he graduated and became the youngest star fleet teacher there weekly drinks had begun and Christopher had recently confirmed Spock to be his first choice of science officer and second in command on the not yet completed star ship Enterprise.

Tonight they had chosen to go to the hotel bar, Christopher tended towards beer or whiskey if his day had been a bad one. Spock was not affected by alcohol he didn't enjoy the tastes of beers or ciders so he tried various beverages, his favorite was Ginger Ale, the hotel did not have any so tonight he choose an African red wine.

"How does the climate compare to Vulcan?" Chris asked.

"Vulcan is hotter and the air is drier but it is more similar to that of San Francisco, enough to make me think of home."

"I hate it to tell you the truth, never could stand the heat, that's why I never went to Vulcan." He took a deep drink of his beer. 'So what did you talk to that gorgeous young lady for two hours about?"
Gorgeous, yes he supposed she was physically attractive.

"We talked about the modules then I conversed with her in a number of different languages to assess whether she's actually as talented as was thought as the recording could be misleading."

"And is she?"

"More so, she is fluent in speech and understanding of Klingon, two Vulcan dialects and Orion. I wouldn't have had time to test all the languages she knows, but I felt that those gave me a good understanding of her abilities."

"You seemed to have formed a connection with her, I thought perhaps you had talked about something more personal."

"She did express an interest in my genetic origins, and confided in me a worry about making social contacts at the academy, she seems to feel that her age will set her apart from the other student."

"I'll make some suggestions to the housing office and see if I can match her with a nice roommate. But why don't you befriend her as well?"

" Befriend her?"

"You have common interests, it would be benefit the both of you."

" Please expand."

"She will have a friendly face around campus, somebody to talk too as will you. And, perhaps it will help you learn to talk to students without causing them to have nervous breakdowns."

" Only one of my students has ever suffered a nervous breakdown whilst I was conversing with him."

"I didn't mean it literally Spock, I meant that your students are too nervous to approach you. Your pass marks may be acceptable but the drop out rates in your modules are higher than any other teachers."

"Some people do not have the correct attributes for linguistics. But if you believe that this is an area in which I need approving I will take your advice.":

" Didn't you find her pleasant to talk to?"

Christopher was always pushing him to make more opinionated and emotional statements.

"Yes, she was pleasant and interesting to converse with."

Okay, so that's chapter one, please let me know what you think, all opinionated and emotional statements welcome.