Chapter One

**adult language**

 “Aila, hurry up, they’re coming!” my mother shouted at me during the silent space between explosions. “We need to get underground now!”

 I picked up my teddy bear that my father had given to me on my fourth birthday and started to run. How a six year old could run through a bombardment of explosions and phaser fire is beyond me now, but I did it then. I ran as fast as I could, trying my best to traverse the through rubble and debris, to get to my mother.

“Aila hurry!” My mother shouted once again, she still hadn’t moved for fear of losing sight of me. She should have run. She should have kept moving. Maybe if she had run and left me behind she would still be alive. “Aila run faster!” My mother howled at me once more before she was disintegrated into thin air.

 I turned around to see my mother’s murderer, looking him in his pitch black eyes. Then all I saw was darkness.

 

“Aila, wake up, your alarm has been going off for ten minutes now!” I heard my best friend say as she was shaking me awake.

“Ah s**t, how much time do I have?” I asked, jumping up from my bed, still trying to shake my nightmare off. It was the same night mare every night.

“Class starts in ten minutes, and it takes five just to get there!” She responded, as she started to grab her books, she was already dressed and ready to go.

“S**t. Ok, give me three minutes!” I said, I scrambled into the bathroom, dressed in yesterday’s uniform that I had forgotten to put into the cleaning bin, and brushed my teeth for all of thirty seconds. I quickly put my long curly hair into a high ponytail, not even bothering to brush it, and went back into the room.

“Ok, just uh,” I looked around my bed to find the books I had fallen asleep studying and couldn’t find them, “where are my books?” I asked, looking to Tasha who was standing by the door, waiting for me.

“I put them on your desk last night when I came in.” She explained. I scrambled over to my desk and grabbed my books. Thank god for a great roommate, even if she did have a lack of self-worth and propriety, she cared.

“Thanks, Tasha, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I said, as we left the room. We barely made it to class on time, walking in just as the 0800 bell went off, the bell signaling the start of class.

“Cadets Mor and Rayn,” the professor started, not even bothering to look up from his desk, “I see that you will be joining us for class after all.” He looked up finally and I panicked, my first day of Advanced Vulcan Studies and I had to be noticed by Commander Spock, almost late to class. I had spent the night before studying some of the textbook. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know the language, I was particularly fluent in Vulcan for some reason that was beyond me, but I didn’t know much about the culture, and I had wanted to make a good impression.

“Yes, sir.” We both said as we took our respective seats.

“As you are not technically late, I see no reason to make a mark on your records, however, in the future I would advise allowing yourself enough time to make it to class before the class is supposed to begin. As it is, both of you have already subtracted one minute and twenty seconds from class time, we should not waste any more.” Yikes, for someone with no emotion, he could be pretty scary. Both of us just nodded in response, and that seemed acceptable to him. He stood up and started to address the class.

“Welcome to Advanced Vulcan Studies, I am Commander Spock and I will be your instructor for this class. Many of you may see me again for other courses as well. This class will cover aspects of the Vulcan culture to enable you to better understand and communicate with the Vulcan people should your occupation or mission require it. This class will also go more in depth about the language as well, so if you have not taken the Vulcan language class already, I strongly suggest you talk to an advisor and schedule this class for a later time, as you will need to have more than a passable proficiency in Vulcan to be able to pass my class.” He paused, looking at the PADD in his hand, “Cadets Mor, Gorna, and Halin, you do not appear to have taken the language course, please take this up with your advisors after today’s class.”

“Uh-Commander,” I raised my hand, although not necessary, feeling quite awkward and not wanting to piss him off, as if it were something I could actually do.

“Yes, Cadet Mor?” He looked at me, looked right at me. If he wasn’t Vulcan I would swear I saw a bit of agitation in his eyes, his jaw was clenched, and I began to rethink my ideas of Vulcan emotion right then and there.

“I haven’t taken the language course because I am already fluent in Vulcan, uh sir.” I replied weakly. Then I noticed his eyebrow raise slightly.

“(You are able to understand what I am saying?)” He asked in High Vulcan, but his accent stirred something in my mind that I did not know. 

“(Yes, Commander, I understand you perfectly fine, however, anyone else in this classroom should also have understood you, in fact many people with passable communication skills in High Vulcan should have been able to understand what you have just asked me.)” I replied to him, but not in High Vulcan, it was a different dialect, one I did not even realize I knew.

“(You speak well in the dialect of my home city, Shi’Kahr. How is it that you have come to know this dialect? Have you ever visited Vulcan before?)” He asked in surprise, responding in the same dialect. I could see it on his face, somehow, though anyone else would just had seen a cold unchanging face, I saw his eyes widen slightly, his eyebrow grow higher.

“(I have been there once before, as a little girl, but not for very long, a few weeks at most.)” I had been there, but I remembered very little about my visit, or why I was even there. I was around eight years old before I had been transferred off of Vulcan and taken to Earth. I couldn’t remember anything other than my mother’s face and the nightmare I’ve had each night before the age of eight. All I could remember before Earth was the dry heat of Vulcan, the secluded room I stayed in, Vulcans coming in and out of that room, but even that was a blur.  

“As I was saying class,” he switched back to Standard without giving a reply, I suspect he didn’t want to take any more class time by speaking directly to me, I must’ve caught him off guard. But, honestly, I didn’t even know why I was so fluent in Vulcan, or why my mouth started speaking a dialect I had never spoken before.

“We will study various aspects of the Vulcan culture, compare it to your own culture personally, and generally compare it to that of the Human culture. By the end of this class, should you pass, you will be able to communicate with and, hopefully, understand the Vulcans.” His voice was stern, cold, but demanded respect.

“That being said, we have a lot to cover, and I expect every one of you to put forth 100% effort into developing your knowledge in these studies. I will not deviate from perfection, as that would be illogical. I will, however, be willing to help those who ask for help should they need it to pass the class, or simply those who desire to further understand the Vulcan culture.” He was walking around the class, looking but not really looking at the same time at each of the students.

“There are certain aspects of the Vulcan culture and practices that we will not cover, this is not meant to hinder your studies and understanding, but simply because there are aspects of Vulcan culture which are not spoken of, even among other Vulcans.” He had made it around the entire class, and back to his desk by the time we was finished with his opening lecture.

We spent the rest of the class in quiet while he began the first lesson. I was absolutely intrigued. For someone so caught up in a culture where emotion was seen as a weakness, as a hindrance to logic, I could sense the passion he felt while teaching about his own culture, beneath the formal and indifference he projected both verbally and non-verbally. Near the end of the class he assigned reading to us, and as I had guessed, it was quite a lot.

“The packets I am handing out now are essay questions that you will complete before our next class. I expect the answers to exhibit an understanding of the material, as well as Standard language. Later on throughout the course we will be conducting class and homework in the Vulcan language, which is why if you do not know the language, you will not be able to pass this course.” He finished, still circling the room handing out the homework packets.

When he got to my desk he paused for a moment, “Cadet Mor, I would appreciate if you would stay for a moment after class.” He continued walking around until all the packets were handed out then headed back to his desk. “You may begin the reading for your homework assignment until the class is over.”

The rest of the class continued on in mostly silence with a few groans here and there. The packet that Commander Spock handed out was quite large, ten essay questions to be answered with no less than three paragraphs each. I looked through the questions and I was fascinated, it seemed that I somehow knew the answers without actually knowing them. I was very much confused. The bell rang for class being over, but I stayed put, wondering exactly what it was that Commander Spock wanted to speak with me about. I knew he would ask about my knowledge of the Vulcan language, but I felt there was something more.

“Good luck Aila.” My roommate and friend Tasha said to me just before exiting the classroom. I was now alone, still sitting in my desk.

“You wanted to see me, Commander?” I looked up at him, not moving from my seat. He started walking towards me, not responding until he sat in the desk next to me.

“Yes, I am curious.” He paused, “how is it that you have come to know the dialect of my home city?” His face was detached as he asked the question, but I could feel the burning curiosity that he hid beneath his mask.

“I am unsure, sir.” I said hesitatingly, noting that he raised an eyebrow as if to question the truth of my statement. “I’m not lying, Commander. I honestly don’t know. I vaguely remember being on Vulcan as a small child, like I said, but I never really interacted with any Vulcans. In fact, waking up in a white room with a large window that showed the Vulcan desert in the distant is the very first memory I can recall, which is odd, because while I was in that room, I learned that I was about eight years old.”

“Do you know the name of the place in which you were?” He asked simply. I had the distinct feeling he knew more about where I was at as a child than I did.

“No, honestly. All I know is that I woke up there, I was treated with kindness, but I never interacted with other children. I’m not even sure how much time I really spent there, honestly. It is mainly a blur to me now. It couldn’t have been too long though, because I remember going to Earth and running my fingers through my hair.” I said.

“How would that have allowed you to ascertain the amount of time you spent on Vulcan?” he asked, looking for an answer.

“When I first woke up in that room, my hair was very short, about to chin. When I was on the shuttle to Earth, my hair was barely touching my shoulders. I didn’t have it cut the entire time I was there, and my hair grows very fast. Within six months on Earth my hair reached my mid back. I’ve cut it a few times over the course of the years, and noticed that it grows extremely fast. Abnormally fast. Until it reaches a certain length, then it doesn’t grow at all.” I looked him in the eyes, begging him to see the truth in my words.

“That is quite a logical theory for a girl of eight to realize. But it makes sense. If your hair does in fact grow that fast, and you have tested the theory multiple times, it stands to reason you were not on Vulcan very long.” He stopped for a moment, as if considering something. “I am curious, what was the purpose of your being on Vulcan for such a short time?”

“I was told that I was found, alone, on a wasted planet. I don’t remember anything about it. But apparently it was Vulcans who found me. They didn’t tell me how they found me or why, and as curious as I have been about it, I am just thankful that they did find me. If I was in such a place as they described, alone, I can only be grateful for the life I have been given since I was found.” I saw him raise an eyebrow at my statement, begging for an explanation of some sort.

“Look, I’m not sure I want to remember what happened to me before I was found, in fact, I’ve been pretty sure of that since I was brought to Earth. It was probably terrible and that’s probably why I spent time on Vulcan. So, if you’re wanting to know what happened to me to gain the attention of your people, I’m sorry I can’t give you any answers. But it seems that you might know more about my time on Vulcan than I do, based on how you’ve reacted to my answers, so why don’t you tell me. Why was I in that beautiful white room overlooking the Vulcan desert, then shipped off to Earth to live in an orphanage?” I started getting irritated. I didn’t know why all of a sudden my academy professor was so interested in my personal life. I didn’t want to know what was so special about me to the Vulcans, I just wanted to live my life. I wanted to graduate from the academy and be assigned to a starship.

“I apologize if I have upset you, it was not my intention. I have simply never met many humans that know the dialect of my home. Especially after Vulcan was destroyed, it is quite odd to meet someone your age who has been to Vulcan, considering that you are human.”

“Well maybe you can tell me where I was and why." I retorted, almost to the tone being disrespectful.

“From what you have described, you were with the mind healers of Vulcan. I do not know why they would have taken an interest in you, except to conjecture that when you were found, you were in such a state that the Vulcans who found you took pity on your state and attempted to help you. When you were deemed well, then they took you back to earth because you are human.” He said, not even bothering to address my disrespect.

“But why? Why me? I thought the Vulcans think of humans as illogical and inferior people, no offense. Why would they go through so much trouble to help a single little human girl?” I asked, because that was the one thing I had honestly been curious about my whole life.

“First, while we think humans are illogical, not all Vulcans think them so inferior a species. We were once like humans, maybe even worse, so your statement that infers a hatred of humans on the Vulcans part is not so accurate. I would hazard a guess that the ones who found you just thought it logical to help you. It is odd, however, that you do not remember anything before the time you spent on Vulcan. I do not know how that is, unless a block was placed in your mind to help you heal, and it was never removed.” He replied, almost with sympathy.

“Oh. Well, if that’s the case, ok. But it still makes me wonder. The only thing I have ever wondered. Why?”

“Why indeed.” He said quietly, asking himself more than asking me. “But you should really get going, we have spent enough time here already and you will most likely be late for your next class. I can provide a note, if you wish.” He said, starting to stand.

“I don’t have another class until after lunch, but thanks. You probably have another class to prepare for anyway, Commander.” I said, starting to gather my stuff.

“Very well. I do indeed have another class in ten minutes. Thank you for staying behind Cadet Mor. Our discussion was…enlightening. Although I must admit, I have may have more questions than I did before.” He paused, looking back to me as I stood up. “If I may ask one more question?”

“Yes, commander?” I said, wanting desperately to leave now that he had been drilling into my personal life enough.

“Are you quite certain you are 100% human?”

“Well no medical tests have proven otherwise, so yeah, I guess I am just simply human.” I said coldly. How dare he ask if I was really human! “Have a good day, Commander.” I said turning from him to walk to the door.

“Good day to you as well, Cadet Mor.” I heard behind me and walked to the door.

 

 
 

 

Reviews

[Autonomous]

This is a much better than before. I felt so overwhelmed by words that there wasn't time to get into the content of your work. I love the mystery in this chapter, where did she learn Vulcan and how will Spock react are things I had to ask myself. I will look forward to reading more!