The Three of Us

Part 3 - Winners and Losers

"Doctor Phlox, you wished to see me?" Maryam adjusted her hijab a little nervously as she walked into Sick Bay.

"Yes, yes, do come in. I have been working on your situation."

"Ah," she then looked a little askance at Ethan.

"We can trust Crewman Shapiro to be discreet," Phlox stated.

"H-hi, Maryam," Ethan said slowly.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Ev, everyone asks ... me ... that."

"Well, we're worried about you," she told him.

"Th-thank ... you."

"Your, uh, finding, Doctor?"

"Yes, well, I realized I had been going about it all wrong. Everything has been a tie. And that is, more or less, to be expected, when we are talking about physical fitness, piety and the like. Either it's a tie or it cannot be accurately determined."

Ethan looked puzzled, so Maryam explained. "I have asked Doctor Phlox to help me decide on a husband. Of course it is between Azar Hamidi and Ramih Azar. Normally, my parents would decide this."

"Under-understood. My faith used ... to ... do that, too."

"Oh. I'm glad you get it. You were saying, Doctor?"

"I decided to ask a direct question of both young men. I got two decidedly different answers. Therefore, I am going to read you the question and the two answers, and then you can, if you think it's fair, make up your mind based upon their answers."

"There's a lot riding on that," she mused.

"True, so feel free to reject this idea. But I think it will work, and I feel you'll understand once I read you the question and the answers."

"Very well," she sat down on a stool near Ethan's bedside.

"My question to them was – what will you do if you are not chosen to be Maryam's husband?"

"Oh, that is a good question." She adjusted her hijab nervously. "And what are the responses?"

"Here is the first one," reported Phlox, "It says, 'If I did not have the privilege of taking Maryam for my wife, I would do my best to woo one of the twelve other available women, for I believe that there would be one who would be amenable to converting to Islam. I feel that this is important, in order to continue the line and to bolster our faith.'"

"Oh," said Maryam, "that is, I believe that is a halal answer, consistent with our beliefs."

"And here is the other response," stated the Denobulan, "'I would do nothing. At least, not to start, for it would hurt so much. I cannot predict the future. If marriage were to be a possibility at a later date, I feel I would take it, for I do not wish to be alone forever. But I would not seek it, at least not to start. And I would wish Maryam and her new husband well, for marriage is so difficult, and all I want is for her to be happy.'"

She looked at Ethan, and then at Phlox. "I, I do not wish to seem shallow, but the second one, it's what anyone would want to, to hear. Ethan, who would you pick?"

"M-me?"

"Yes."

"Y-your ... decision."

"I know. But I am asking your opinion, all right?"

"The, the second ... one. It ... is not ... shallow ... to want ... to be ... loved. I think ... either ... would ... love you. But ... the second ... one would ... love you ... for the, the best ... r-reasons."