Christine was headed to Sick Bay when she saw a familiar pair of pointy ears and a familiar stride headed her way in a golden jacket. She could see the green tint of skin first then the pair of brown eyes. The hollow cheeks. All the other star fleet officers became background noise. Face less to her. It was like her and that damn, mysterious tall but lanky man were the only ones in the universe. It had been twenty-four hours since the Enterprise had gone into back space. Twenty hours since Spock made the ship wide announcement regarding the mission of the ship and elaborated, it had been more of a: "Captain Decker has been put through some inconvenience. Under my command, the Enterprise will retrieve the surviving colonists and physicians from Hellgaurd and then return to Earth to face the impending charges. Captain Spock out." kind of announcement.

"Mr Spock!" Christine said. Spock had his hands locked behind his back when he stepped out of a ensign's way. She almost swore that his face turned into one of pleased recognition. But that could be her imagination trying to personify a being who normally didn't express emotions all the time. Back in the day, Spock did express his emotions in a manner that could be compared to a human being careful with how they were expressed. He looked stiff.

"Christine," Spock said, as she approached him. "it is pleasant to see you again."

"Same to you," Christine said. "I missed you."

Spock slightly tilted his head, almost in disbelief.

"Just seeing you, again, Mr Spock," Christine said. "I didn't get the chance to say . . . but . . . I grieve with thee."

"It has been a rough period in my life," Spock said. "how is your mate?"

"T'Pring has all ready found a starship that allows children in space," Christine said. "she is chilling out studying a venus fly trap hybrid with a Cardassian Venus Fly Trap to see how similar they are to each other."

"That is a intriguing concept," Spock said.

"Yes," Christine said. "how have you been?"

"Pleasant," Spock said.

"You don't sound like you believe it," Christine said, folding her arms.

"Quite illogical that I sound this way," Spock said. "I thought my human half was burned away."

"But it wasn't," Christine said.

"I understand the concept of wack-a-mole more than I did before," Spock said. "and you?"

"Serving aboard, back home again, feels wonderful," Christine said. "but I sometimes feel like. . ." she pause, being considerate. "Jim will come right in and start talking to me. Like he never died."

"I understand," Spock said.

"But you are here," Christine said. "so he is still here."

"In spirit," Spock said. He couldn't say that Jim was with him because if they found out--holySurakhelpme.

"Yes, in spirit," Christine agreed.

"He never left," Spock said.

"You still feel him?" Christine said.

"From time to time," Spock said. "old habits die hard."

"Mr Spock. . ." Christine said. "I. . ." She cleared her throat. "I hope you found happiness in your life again."

"As to you," Spock said.

She sadly smiled back at the Vulcan then went past him. Christine's shift had just started. She had a strange feeling lingering in her gut regarding Spock. It was unusual. She made her way past several officers until she came into sick bay where the doors opened before her eyes. A ensign had her leg wrapped by several layers of fabric while playing with what to be a small teddy bear enjoying herself. Stone's sick bay was full of ensigns who had either gotten themselves hurt by accident or did it to be around the doctor. She understood why the ensigns were here. Doctor Stone was a attractive man with muscles that normally would be seen on a security officer.

She made her way toward the young woman.

"You should stop pining after the doctor, Ensign Richards," Christine said.

Richards looked up toward Christine.

"Why should I?" Richards asked.

"He is asexual," Christine said.

It dawned on Richard's face.

"The doctor is. . ." Richards said. "why would he tell you that?"

"He told me," Christine said. "and the other nurses." She took out a new roll of fabric and a pair of scissors.

"Oh. . ." Richards said. "so he doesn't like anyone?"

"He is not interested in sex," Christine repeated herself.

"Oh," Richards said. "I understand."

"You can find someone who'll reciprocate your feelings, sexually," Christine said, patting on the young woman's shoulder.

The fabric was unwrapped as the woman flinched as each layer was pried away. The big toe was swollen and a bright shade of red. She placed the fabric into the medical dispensary. She pulled away a nearby cupboard and brought a small dermal regenerator over. Richards winced. The gentle colored parts along her face shimmered briefly moving slightly. Her face was made of what appeared to be permanently merged tentacles that were at first sea like in terms of appearance that were purple, pink, and light blue. She mainly had a peach skin tone. She was a Hondurian. Hondur was a beautiful planet that consisted of beaches and gorgeous mountains that most species enjoyed visiting. She pressed the trigger repairing away the damage to the toes. This was a relatively minor task. She carefully healed along the ridges to the toes that were connected together by small webbing.

"I am stupid," Richards said.

"No, you are not," Christine insisted.

"We Hondurian's can detect a sexuality," Richards said. "and I should have listened to mine."

"Look, Richards," Christine said, gently, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "sometimes we ignore our best instincts. Humans do that too."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Richards said.

"It is not to be that way," Christine said.

"Hm?" Richards asked.

"I am sympathizing with you," Christine said. "like you . . . I ignored my best instincts when it came to falling in love with someone. . ." She briefly closed her eyes then reopened them. "I allowed my feelings to get to the best of me."

"I don't think of you as that type to get in over their head," Richards said.

"I did," Christine said, fondly. "once."

"How long did it last?" Richards asked.

"We were engaged for awhile. . ." the woman slid her hand off the Hondurian's shoulder. "yours is just a simple mistake."

"It feels like the world is ending for me," Richards said, lowering her head.

"Don't be hard on yourself," Christine said.

"All right," Richards said.

"I will fill out your discharge padd," Christine said. "otherwise, you are free to go."

Richards looked over toward her colleagues then back toward Christine.

"I would love to see their reactions but. . ." Richards said. "I have to go." She slid off the biobed then headed her way out of the room.

Christine picked up a padd and jotted down on the page for Richard's medical rap sheet. She wrote the report up leaving it as a accidental foot shot. Richards was a weapon specialist so getting hurt was nothing big but a part of her job since it was likely to happen. She made her way to the next officer who was science officer Riez. Riez was staring at Stone's ass with a dreamily sigh. He was a black man with a curled spongey afro with ridges on his forehead and slanted furry black eyebrows. A genetically altered man. Christine faked a cough drawing the man's attention toward her. He was a lieutenant slowly climbing the ranks. Nurse Brackett was dealing with a Gangorian officer with a fish shaped head get their elbow fixed. The Gangorian had webbed fingers that were long, covered in scales. and had a human like anatomy. There was a Thermian officer getting their arm fixed up by Nurse Beckett. The Thermian had a black oval hair cut with rounded ears and had pale skin instead of healthy skin. It was determined that Thermians had a largely, unique overview of humanity despite being octopus in nature with many tentacles. Their appearance generator determined everything about their appearance. No one really knew what they looked like due to Thermian need to blend in with those around them. Internally, physicians knew what they looked like.

"Mr Riez," Christine said.

Riez turned his head in the direction of the woman.

"Allo, Nurse Chapel," Riez said, giving a small smile as he twiddled his fingers.

"Mr Stone is not interested in sex," Christine said.

"Oh. . ." Riez nervously laughed. "I, uh, um. erh, uh.. . . . " he rubbed the back of his neck. "I knew that."