The Rest of the Mission
Chapter 20: Goodbye's All Around
Late July, 2270
They were in Spock's quarters, on the couch. She was leaning against him, one arm draped loosely about him, her legs curled up on the couch beside her. He had his arm around her shoulders, and leaned down from time to time to nuzzle against her hair. They were talking quietly about what they planned to do during the long leave. First they would go to Vulcan, and have a formal bonding ceremony. And then they would go to Earth, to Africa, and he would meet her family, and they would almost certainly have another wedding there, for her parents would not believe that a Vulcan bonding ceremony was legal on Earth or for a human woman. But before they did these things, they would take two weeks for themselves, to go to another cabin, on another lake, and have the honeymoon they preferred. Spock had already reserved the cabin, and a small flitter for their use, and ordered the food they would need while they were there.
She was a bit hesitant about what they might run into on Vulcan. She felt his family might resist his desires. He assured her that he would not let them do so. And as they were already bonded, any attempts to force him to give her up and take a Vulcan mate would automatically fail. She was not as convinced about the whole thing as he was. But he assured her that his father had no leg to stand on, logically speaking, in attempting to persuade him to take a Vulcan wife. He himself had not done so. She agreed with that, and sighed. Perhaps he was right. But Sarek had just not seemed entirely friendly to her before, and she was not entirely convinced.
On the other hand, he was not at all sure what would be expected of him in Africa. She explained her family's beliefs and customs to him, and assured him that he would not be expected to eat the roasted goat that would surely be the main feature of the feast that would be thrown in their honor. They might expect him to dress in local clothing, though, but she did not see how that would bother him, as there was a great deal of similarity to the clothing her father and brother wore, and that which his father wore, and what he had worn in the few holovids he had from his childhood. But the idea of the shivaree upset him greatly, and she could not convince him that it was all in a spirit of good fun.
The two weeks in the cabin, however, they were both agreed upon. It would be heavenly. They would have a chance to wind down from the stresses of the mission, and would be ready to take on any opposition that they encountered. And when she began to describe exactly what she intended to do while they were there, and what she was taking with her to wear there, he became so interested that he lifted her from the couch and carried her into the bedroom, nuzzling at her neck while she moaned at him.
The week that followed was hectic. Everyone was packing and carrying cartons to the cargo deck, ready for transport as soon as the docked at the spaceport. Everyone was required to completely empty their quarters, putting everything into storage containers, which would be transported to StarFleet Storage on Earth. If they were assigned elsewhere, those containers would go with them. If they decided to leave the service, the containers would be transported to whatever their destination was. The few who would be working with the Enterprise while she was in dry dock would have those containers sent to the temporary quarters they would be assigned for that duration. The halls were constantly full, and anti-gravity lifts were steered down the corridors at all hours of the night and day. And of course, all the small tools, and reference materials, and parts inventory, must be packed away as well. All the games and cards and other things in the rec rooms must be packed. And all the plants that were scattered about the ship must be moved to the arboretum. Everything was hectic.
And in addition to all that, there were the good-bye parties. It was almost certain that many of these people were seeing each other for the last time. Some would serve on another ship together at some point in the future, but who knew where or when. And so they sat about, and talked, and drank, and ate prodigiously. And on the last day, there were tears, as well, as it really, truly sunk in. This might well be a permanent goodbye. It was a difficult thing to accept. They were a good, tight crew, and had enjoyed working together and knowing each other. Who knew what would happen next?
"*****-***"
Author's Note: This is the last chapter of this story. The next story in this series is "Unfinished Business", which starts tomorrow.