Captain's Log, Stardate 9510.1; Captain David Bowman recording. USS Antietam has been ordered for Starbase 10 for shore leave and crew replacements, following a successful, if somewhat boring, patrol of the Romulan Neutral Zone.
It is with great regret that I lose my veteran helmsman, Lt. Commander Hibiki. However, Keitaro is going on to receive his own command, the USS Knox. I wish him great success in all his endeavors.
I just wish I knew more about his replacement, other than the undistinguished career he had since graduating the Academy with the class of '85, and the fact that he's significantly older than most lieutenants I get.

"Captain," LCDR Hibiki said, "we're approaching Starbase 10."

"Understood, Mr. Hibiki," Captain Bowman said, acknowledging his helmsman. He stood, and adjusted his tunic. "Lieutenant Rand, hailing frequencies."

"Aye sir," Lt. Jennifer Rand said. She hit the appropriate buttons on her console. "You're on, Captain."

"Starbase 10, this is the Antietam."

The screen lit up with the Portmaster, Commodore Aubrey. "Antietam, welcome to Starbase 10. Your crew is authorized liberty, commencing in one hour."

"Thank you sir," Bowman replied.

The British commodore leaned forward on the screen. "And Bowman, you are invited to dinner with me. Say around 1900 hours?"

"Truly an honor, sir. I'll see you this evening, then sir."

"Starbase 10, out." The Commodore ended the communications link.

00000

USS Riyadh, NCC-1875
Currently entering orbit around Starbase 10

Captain Rei Satomi stood outside her helmsman's cabin. For some reason, she seemed nervous about what was happening. Of course, during the attempted mutiny that occurred the year prior hadn't helped, and the subsequent court-martial, even though she was exonerated, her helmsman had stood by her side. Steeling her nerves, she pressed the door chime.

"Come in," was the response, as the doors slid open. "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Captain?"

Captain Satomi frowned as she entered, and walked over to him. "Can't I see my most senior helmsman off," she chided.

Lt. Christopher Marx looked up from his packing. "Captain, I'm shocked that you think of me like that," he said, in mock exasperation, as the doors closed. "To think that the past five years, nothing had come out of our…working relationship, Rei." He swept the Captain into a loving embrace.

Rei looked into her lover's eyes. "What am I ever going to do with you, Christopher," she asked, mockingly.

"You've got two choices, babe. You can either marry me or kill me," he replied, a twinkle in his eyes.

"How long do I have to choose between the former and latter?" She asked playfully, between kisses.

"Oh, until I have to report to my new ship," he replied, picking his lover up and setting her on to the bed.

"Then, I have quite a bit of time to think about it," Rei said, began to open her tunic.

Of course nothing ever goes according to plan. "Bridge to Captain."

Rei rolled her eyes, as she reached for the intercom. "Go ahead," she said, with an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry to interrupt, Captain," the officer of the watch said, "but, we've entered orbit, and Commodore Aubrey sends his compliments, and requests your presence for dinner at 1900 hours."

"You're not sorry at all, Commander," she muttered, while Marx chuckled quietly. "Mr. Garrovick, please inform Commodore Aubrey that I graciously accept his offer for dinner, and will see him at 1900 hours. Satomi out."

"Well," Marx said, his hand finding that spot on his lover's back that just made her melt, "we still have a couple of hours before you need to report to 'Lucky Jack's' office."

"Mmmm," Rei purred. "Well then, no time like the present." The Riyadh's captain and helmsman became a flurry of flying clothes.

On the bridge of the frigate, Commander Garrovick smirked, when he closed the intercom channel. He knew exactly where the Captain had called from. Hell, most of the crew that had stayed neutral during the mutiny last year knew that both the Captain and the chief helmsman were in either one of two cabins.

"Sir," Lt. (j.g.) Saginomiya called from the communications console, "a hundred credits if they're in Lt. Marx's quarters."

The heavy frigate's executive officer looked over at the communications specialist. "No bet, Lieutenant," he said, leaving her pouting.

00000

Rei lifted her head off her sleeping lover's chest, and glanced at the chronometer. Good, she said to herself, two hours until dinner with the Commodore. "Chris," she said, "what would Starfleet think about a senior officer being married to a junior officer?" His response was to continue snoring away.

She jabbed him in the short ribs, waking him. "What was that for, tomboy," he asked, half awake.

"Chris," she said, "I wanted to know what your opinion was about Starfleet's thoughts about a senior officer married to a junior officer."

"Starfleet Command would probably have a conniption, and require either one of us to resign our commission," he replied, although what she asked was slowly sinking into his sleep-fuddled mind. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Rei?"

"That I'm going to toss you out the airlock? Maybe. That I may accept your other proposal? Probably."

Marx smiled, as he got out of bed and padded over to his desk. Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out a black velvet-covered box. "While I know it's highly unlikely that we'll see each other on a very regular basis or even get the same assignments," he said, as he knelt on one knee, "I would be honored to be your husband."

Rei looked at the box, took Marx's hands in hers, and smiled. "And I would be honored to be your wife." With a shrill noise, the chronometer's alarm went off.

"Well," Marx said, "I guess no congratulation sex. You have your dinner date with Commodore Aubrey."

"I do," Rei replied, kissing her fiancé tenderly. "I need to get ready."

"Ok. I wash your back, you wash mine?" Marx replied with a wry grin, which earned him a slap for being a pervert.

00000

Getting settled into his new cabin on the Antietam, Marx grimaced slightly at the small size of his new quarters. Granted, he didn't have to bunk with anyone else, but he did miss his senior officer quarters on the Riyadh. "I guess there are perks to being both the Captain's lover and one of the few loyalists in the crew," he muttered as he set up his handful of pictures. They showed his first marriage to Lilliana Gunji, their honeymoon, a few early Christmases; a few others showed he and his new fiancée—the two of them during shore leave on Risa; at a quiet, intimate dinner in San Francisco; the resolve set on Captain Satomi's face during her court-martial, and the sheer elation on her face when she was exonerated.

The Antietam's XO was also the chief engineer, and had taken some time out of overseeing the realignment of the anti-matter injectors to show the lieutenant around the ship. Commander MacPherson proved he served with Captain Scott not just by the string of Gaelic curses emanating from bowels of the vertical intermix chamber, but because he was supervising the repair job first hand. The cursing came not from the interruption, but because the injectors were being…stubborn.

The brief tour highlighted the distinct differences between the heavy cruiser and the Riyadh, which refreshed Marx's memory of the layout of the Enterprise from when he was a cadet on that fateful training cruise in 2285. It also gave Commander MacPherson a respite from realigning the injectors. The tour ended at the Lieutenant's rank appropriate junior officer's quarters.

00000

Thirty six hours later found Marx on the bridge, at the helm console. "Mr. Marx," Captain Bowman said "lay in a course for the Neutral Zone, Sector 29."

Marx punched the coordinates into the navigational computer. "Course laid in, Captain."

"Ahead warp factor 5."

"Ahead warp factor five, aye."

Watching the Antietam leap into warp on the main viewscreen, Captain Satomi quietly uttered: "Sayonara, anata." She regained her composure, and sat back in the center seat, her engagement ring settled close to her heart. "Helm, lay in a course for Earth. Warp factor 6."

"Aye sir."