Uhura, Birdseye and Chapel all slid into a simple booth in the restaurant.
A lovely Indian woman in an emerald sari came to their table. "What would you like this evening? Ah, Christine! It's so good to see you. We've missed you here the last couple of weeks."
"I've been sort of busy Mahru."
"Graduating." George offered conspiratorially behind his hand.
"Graduating? Maleek! Christine graduated!" She shouted to the kitchen with glee.
A tall dark muscular man dressed in chef's clothing came out.
"Christine? Is it true?" He reached out with strong thick arms and hugged her up from her chair to the delight of onlookers and Christine's friends.
Mahru hugged Christine too and hastily sent the man back to the kitchen with orders for a celebratory dinner that would be on the house.
"Mahru, No!" Christine protested. "Please don't, Let me pay for dinner."
"You most certainly will not Christine, your business alone has paid for my daughter's voice lessons and my son's dance lessons for this entire year! Besides, you're more like family. Let me do this, please? Soon you won't be able to come in for real food." She turned to Christine's friends as if they were her own. "Has she told you what she's thinking of doing?"
George chuckled, "Not thinking, done."
"No!" Mahru covered her mouth to stop the squeal that threatened to spill out.
Uhura smiled and hugged her friend's shoulder awkwardly in the booth, "Yes, Chris's going to Vulcan."
"Maleek!" she shrieked her hands in the air. "She's done it! She's going to Vulcan!" She rushed to her husband in the kitchen bent on creating a true Indian masterpiece dining experience. The pair could be heard loudly discussing this 'tragic' turn of events and the 'loss' of their favorite diner.
Christine, Nyota and George spent the evening dining on the finest and most delightful of Indian dishes.
As they finished their meal, Christine noticed a familiar white robed figure in a corner booth. She excused herself politely and moved toward him.
"Christine. It's good to see you."
"Don. I'm so glad to see you too. I just wanted to tell you thank you again for everything." She smiled.
"You are very welcome." He said and then gesturing with a long graceful hand to his dining companion he introduced her, "Christine, this is Lt. Ilia."
Christine turned now to see the woman for the first time. For the briefest of moments her heart jumped into her throat.
It was her. The Deltan woman from the ball. The one who had been with the President.
She extended her hand to Ilia dumbly.
Ilia tilted her head to the side slightly, sadly and extended her had to Christine. "We've met."
"Yes. Uh - Hello again." Christine stammered.
Ilia squeezed her hand gently to reinforce her sincerity "I'm so glad that we are finally formally introduced." Somehow she felt it needed to be an apology for her role in that evening.
Christine smiled slightly. "Yes, a pleasure." She released her grip awkwardly not knowing what to say. She searched herself trying to get a handle on her feelings. Not sure what she felt.
Don, sensing the tension, spoke up, "I am Ilia's sponsor to Starfleet, didn't you know that?"
"No. No I didn't." She looked back at the man who had helped her so much in the last year.
And suddenly somehow it didn't seem to matter who Ilia was. It was never about the ball or the people that were there. It was about Christine and who she was. It had always been about her and how she controlled her own life.
She visibly relaxed and then drew herself up with childlike pride, "I've accepted the position on Vulcan."
"You have? That's wonderful. I'm sure you'll do a fine job."
"Vulcan?" Ilia asked.
"Yes, Dr. M'Benga is looking for a fellow at the medical center there. It's a short posting, only 6 months, but I could use the experience in a position as a medical doctor."
Don smiled at Ilia, "Christine graduated today from Starfleet Medical."
Ilia smiled at the human woman sincerely, "Congratulations, Doctor."
"Thank you. I don't know if I'll ever get tired of hearing people call me that." She grinned broadly. "Well, I'd better get back. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She smiled again at Ilia, noting this time how lovely the woman's eyes were, how kind and sincere.
"Goodbye, Christine." Don extended his hand.
"Goodbye, Don." She squeezed his hand firmly, hoping fervently that she appeared as okay as she felt.
"It was a pleasure to finally meet you Lt. Ilia."
"And you Dr. Chapel. Goodnight."
Then with one final smile of gratitude she returned to her friends.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
A week later Christine sat on two waist high shipping containers in the broad cargo bay of Starfleet's main transport station. She watched the flurry of movement with a quiet detachment that she couldn't explain. It was good to be doing something, going off planet. It would be good to get away from the well meaning, but watchful eyes of her friends.
Saying goodbye to George had been hard, but he insisted he wouldn't be out of touch. He was a good man. Very much the father that she had needed.
Ny had smiled easily and promised to visit her before the year was out. They had walked to the beam out point and hugged goodbye.
Christine couldn't help but feel some relief at her friend's leaving.
She was ready for a new beginning.
A familiar face in the sea of Starfleet officers stopped before her.
"Dr. Chapel?"
"Lieutenant Ilia!" She was quite surprised to see the Deltan woman so soon. "What can I do for you Lieutenant?"
"You are awaiting transport to Vulcan, isn't that right?" Her voice was musical, lilting. It was quite distracting.
"Yes, I am. I was told I would be going with a standard Federation cargo transport that was taking supplies to Dr. M'Benga."
"Yes, the SS Mead. The captain asked that I assist you on board."
Christine raised an eyebrow at this. A lieutenant to come fetch her? That seemed a bit overkill. "The captain sent you? I would have thought he'd send a junior officer."
Ilia's mouth twitched slightly in a wry half smile. "The captain asked me to bring you because I was already on Earth. And I'm the only female on board. I think he wanted you to feel more comfortable."
"Oh?" Christine rose now and hefted one of her carry cases by its shoulder strap. "Which way?"
Ilia produced an anti grav unit, "We're going up to transporter pad 17. It's a cargo transport area so there won't be much traffic."
"So you're assigned to the Mead? Congratulations."
The Deltan woman tilted her head diffidently "We've all got to start somewhere. They needed a navigator and I was available. It's not Enterprise, but it'll do."
Christine smiled at this, "Enterprise? Hm. I would have thought you'd be hoping for one of the newer ships. She's just puttering about ridding the galaxy of evil Orions."
Ilia looked hard at Christine trying to gauge her meaning. Christine only smiled easily.
"Well, I suppose it is just the name Enterprise. It wouldn't matter if I were charting asteroids."
"For all the action they're seeing they might as well be charting asteroids."
"Then perhaps it is a good thing to be transporting medical supplies from Earth to Vulcan."
"Well, I'm certainly happy to see a familiar face."
As they reached the transport area Christine realized she was truly happy to see Ilia.
The pair was soon beamed aboard the transport and Christine was escorted to her quarters. It was a two-week trek at sublight speed. Normally a much shorter trip on a starship, the transport stuck to sublight and conveyed more delicate cargo than was normally allowed at warp speeds. This time it was a new batch of Rigellian fever vaccine. The latest outbreak on Vulcan had taken 3 lives. All the victims had been vaccinated. Vulcan Science had requested this batch be transported by shuttle to and from the ship and no warp speed. Evidently there was some sort of degradation in the stability from the last transport. Thousands would have to be re vaccinated. It was one of many reasons M'Benga had requested Christine's help.
So Christine found herself on the slowest boat to China.
Fortunately, Lt. Ilia was pleasant company and the pair spent much of the trip playing chess and talking over tea.
