Bustling activity filled the main street under one of the bigger domes. The street was crowded with people of many species and from many planets. Some ferengis tried to sell something at a corner, but seemly not very successful. All the houses along the street had a shop. Almost everything a person can imagine could be bought there. Glowing advertising signs were everywhere.
Neither Kathryn nor Chakotay knew where they were or where the public transporter was. Both were wearing pants and shirts in the same color, Chakotay green and Kathryn blue. They had read it would be the latest style, but it didn't prove to be taken seriously. Nobody was wearing something like them.
They reached the end of the road and suddenly stood on a big square. A big sign hung on the wall of a concurrent big building. It read: Public Transporters of moon city 4. "Finally.", Kathryn remarked. "It's cooler than I thought." They entered the building through a glass door. Everything on the inside was clean and white. A transporter engineer sat on a chair in a corner and ate lunch. His orange overall was full of blue coolant stains. He looked up from his sandwich. "Oh, I'm sorry. We got a minor problem with the transporter.", he said to them with his mouth full of his sandwich. He restored the sandwich into his pocket and stood up. "Please wait a few minutes and I'll fix that.", he said while pointing on two chairs. "Have a seat." He disappeared into a corridor. "A strange guy.", Chakotay said to Kathryn after they sat down. Kathryn wasn't listening. She just stared at a screen on the wall, which was showing news shows. Chakotay looked at it too. He could instantly hear the sound. It was a so-called "Intelligent Screen", which recognized if someone was paying attention at it. Most people don't know what it is like to watch a talk show in which they are one of the interviewed people. But most people can imagine. It must be strange, especially when you can't remember being in a talk show. That's exactly the feeling our protagonists had, when they were watching the screen. Kathryn grabbed Chakotay's hand unwitting.
"And how did you get this great idea to auction your uniforms for a good cause, Miss Janeway?" "Oh, that was easy. I just didn't know what to do with mine." She giggled. "Starfleet asked me if I want to support their charity organization. I said yes and suggested to auction some uniforms." "May I thank you for this revealing conversation, Miss Janeway. Too sad our time is over. I think we will see you today again at fifteen-hundred, am I right?" "Yes, I'll be promoted to admiral."
OOO
Chakotay wandered through the strangely empty corridor while searching for Kathryn. She had left the waiting area with some words between: "I would never auction my clothing." and "I feel sick." He found her when she left the ladies' room. Her face still had an unhealthy color. "Is it because of our little secret or because of what happened before?" He embraced her softly. "Both.", was the response. "Do you want to attempt your promotion?", Chakotay asked. "Sure. That will be fun." Kathryn smiled with anticipation. "Let's see if this guy has repaired the transporters by now.
OOO
He indeed had and about ten minutes later they were standing in front of the Starfleet headquarters. "It's nice and odd at the same time to be here again.", Chakotay remarked. "C'mon, you sentimentalist, let's go in."