"Enterprise, come in," Trip called through the comm, getting nothing since they'd passed through the last cavern. He was crouched at the bottom of a steep three metre slope where Malcolm had fallen down after the rock he'd secured himself to had crumbled away, taking the Captain with him when he tried to grab Malcolm. At the top of the slope was the entrance to a passage way; Straight up was, well, straight up for over 100 metres; Where Trip was standing was where it was starting to even out and he should have been able to walk through to the next cavern if it wasn't filled with water. And that was where Captain Archer and Lt. Reed had fallen through. When they hadn't resurfaced Trip figured their momentum had catapulted them into the next passage. Where he sincerely hoped there was an air pocket.

Trip had tied himself off and carefully picked his way down the slope, trying to get through to Enterprise the entire time.

"Enterprise, mayday, we have a situation, come in," Trip repeated, about to place the comm to one side and dive in after the Captain and Malcolm when –

"This is Enterprise, we read you. What seems to be the matter?"

That wasn't Hoshi. Was it Lt. Williams?

"The Captain and Lt. Reed fell into an underwater pool and haven't resurfaced yet. Do you have their bio signs?"

There was a pause. Then "We're detecting three human life signs, two of them are quite close together, approximately two metres from your present location, I would assume that would be your Captain and Lt. Reed. Their life signs are strong, it doesn't appear the danger is immediate. Can you get to them safely?"

"Not likely, but I'm prepared to do it the unsafe way. Can you get a transporter lock on 'em?"

"Rocks in certain sections of the cave system appear to contain tricaesium minerals, the closest we could lock on is 150 metres from you present location. To whom am I speaking?"

What? Trip mouthed to the empty cave. "Cmdr. Tucker, to whom am I speaking? And where's Cmdr. T'Pol? And Ensign Sato for that matter? Hey, who the hell is this?!" He shouted when he received no answer.

More silence. Trip was about to demand an answer and to speak to T'Pol when the radio crackled to life again.

"Am I speaking to Commander Charles Tucker III, Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise?"


"Who else?!" The voice of Cmdr. Tucker sounded like it was fast running out of patience. "Who is this?"

"The NX-01?"

"Of course! And for the last time, give me your name, crewman!"

Captain Picard turned to exchange a glance with Cmdr. Riker, simultaneously signaling to Lt. Worf to mute the transmission.

"How can this be, sir?" Data asked from his position at Ops, swiveling around. "Cmdr. Tucker died well over a century ago." Naturally it had been Data to make the Tucker-T'Pol-Sato-NX-01 connection, prompting Picard to ask for clarification from the whomever had hailed them as soon as they entered orbit.

"Could be some kind of trick, not that I can see the point in pretending to be a two hundred and fifty-year-old engineer," Riker said as he rose and came to stand next to Picard in front of the view screen.

"There's a great deal of panic coming from the surface," Deanna informed them. "And the speaker, if he is Cmdr. Tucker, is growing impatient. He fears for his companions – if you don't respond soon he will go after them regardless of the danger. But deception is not something I'm sensing from him."

"Acknowledged, Counsellor. Mr. Data, scan for ships and other life signs. And check Starfleet records for evidence that the NX-01 visited this planet two hundred years ago," Picard directed. "Mr. Worf inform Dr. Crusher her presence may be needed on the surface, two possible cases of hypoxia and hypothermia." He turned to Riker and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.

"Hey!" Cmdr. Tucker sounded clearly angry now. "I do not have time for this, who the hell is on the other end of this transmission?"

"My name is Jean-Luc Picard," Picard started, glancing at Riker again before continuing. "Captain of the USS Enterprise, serial number NCC-1701-D." No response. "Cmdr. Tucker, did you read me?"

Still no response and then "What year is it?" Cmdr. Tucker sounded resigned and Riker could almost imagine him making a pained expression.

"Captain," Data said softly. "There are no other humanoid life signs on the planet and no other ships in orbit or on the planet's surface. I am still searching Starfleet records for record of a previous mission here."

"Sir, permission to take an away team to the surface," Riker said quietly. Picard nodded, and Riker strode swiftly out of the bridge, taking Data and Worf with him. He radioed Dr. Crusher on his way to the turbolift, to meet them in transporter room three.

"2371," Picard told Cmdr. Tucker. "I'm sending an away team down to assist you, they should only be a few moments. How did you know to ask the year, Commander?"

"We detected some temporal radiation in a cavern back there. Room went kinda fuzzy and then our ears popped. We decided that was the time to leave. Shouldn't have gone in there in the first place, apparently. Hang on, I think I see something in the water. It's Captain Archer, he's resurfaced!"


Trip grabbed Archer's arm and hauled him out of the water. "Captain are you okay? Where's Malcolm?" He helped Archer sit on the rocks, regretting he'd left his pack with an extra jacket at the top of the slope.

"Still in the other cave, I had to see if I could find the way out," Archer said, shivering, running his hand through his hair and over his face, shaking the water off. "Damn, that water's cold." He pointed to the water. "There's a passage way, about a metre and a half long, same height and width, opens into a flooded cave not much taller than me. Left Malcolm in an air pocket. Did you get in touch with Enterprise?"

"Well, yes and no," Trip admitted. "That temporal radiation? Turns out it was more than just a sensor anomaly: I've just been having a conversation with the Captain of the Enterprise NCC-1701-D, who claims we're in the year 2371." Archer just stared at Trip, thinking there must be an awful lot of water in his ears. "It'd make sense, Captain, we haven't been able to contact our crew since we were in that cave."

Archer sighed. "Malcolm first, time travel nonsense second. If we have, you know –"

"Time travelled," they both finished at the same time.

The comm came life "Cmdr. Tucker, is your captain alright?"

"Affirmative, but Lt. Reed isn't with him."

Archer gestured for the comm and Trip handed it to him. "This is Captain Johnathan Archer, who am I speaking with?"

"Captain Johnathan Archer." If Trip didn't know any better, he'd say that the other captain sounded vaguely star struck. "My name is Jean-Luc Picard, I command the most recent starship with the name Enterprise."

"Have you detected my Enterprise or Columbia in orbit? Or any shuttle pods on the surface?"

"I'm afraid not, sir," Picard replied.

"If you could scan the planet for temporal radiation, I'd appreciate it. But for now, I need to go back for my lieutenant, I'm sure we'll have much to discuss when we meet face to face. Archer out."

Trip nodded as he took the comm back. "There's an away team coming down to give us a hand."

"Alright," Archer said. "I'm going back for Malcolm. Get as much information as you can from these people, I want to know what the hell is going on."

"Sir, you're freezing, let me do it," Trip said, holding a hand out to stop Archer from slipping back into the water.

"I'm already wet, Trip," Archer replied, brushing Trip's hand away. He shrugged, took a deep breath and went back in. Trip watched until the light from the flashlight around his torso disappeared. It had no sooner faded from view than Trip heard footsteps above him and a voice calling out his name.

"Down here!" Trip called back, standing as best he could. At the top of the slope a man appeared, tall, neatly trimmed beard, and in uniform, the arms and torso red, the rest of the uniform black, even the shoulders. Trip shone his light up at him, causing him to squint. He could see three pips on the collar and got a good look at his face. Trip was shocked. He looked an awful lot like Riker… Next to him was a very, very pale man in the exact same uniform, except the red was replaced with yellow, a woman in a blue version of the uniform and behind her –

Trip pointed to the last man, also wearing yellow. "So, does this mean the Klingons stop shooting at us every time they see us? Because if they stopped doing that, I really think we could be friends," Trip deadpanned.

The commander laughed. "Depends on the Klingon, but yes, they are our allies. I'm Cmdr. William T. Riker, first officer of the Enterprise; This is Lt. Worf, our tactical officer."

Lt. Worf scowled, or maybe that was just his default facial expression, as he informed Captain Picard that the away team had made contact.

"Nice to meet you, William T., Lt. Worf." Riker? He pushed the thought away for the moment, crouching back down and indicated to the pool of water with his flashlight. "Captain resurfaced a few minutes ago, he went back for Lt. Reed. It's only a short way, they should be back at any minute. And you two are?"

"Lt. Cmdr. Data, sir," Data said as he jumped down next to Trip, landing easily and crouching beside. "May I say, sir, it is an honour to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," Trip said slowly, staring at Data, who stared back with a benignly curious expression on his face. He glanced from where Data had jumped. "Nice landing."

"I am an android, sir," Data replied. "As such I have significant advantages over humans, including enhanced speed, strength, dexterity and computational power. And, finally, that is Cr. Crusher."

"Pleasure," Trip said, with an expression on his face that clearly said what the hell have I walked into, not taking his eyes off of Data. "So, Starfleet has androids now?"

"Just me, sir," Data replied.

"Commander, do you know how this happened?" Riker called down, feeling they were getting off topic.

Trip dragged his eyes away from Data. "How Captain Archer and Lt. Reed became trapped, or how we seem to have time traveled? Because the answer to the first one is just there." Trip indicated a spot on the wall to the left and above Riker's head. There was a hole in the rock where it had crumbled around Malcolm's anchor. "Lt. Reed secured off there, it crumbled, he fell, Captain tried to grab him. Jack and Jill came tumbling down the hill and landed in here." He pointed at the water with his flashlight. "As I told your captain we detected some temporal radiation in one of the caverns we were exploring. We felt funny, we left, but not soon enough, as it happens. Last time I go spelunking, I swear." Trip turned back to the pool, frowning. "Captain should be back with Malcolm by now."

"I could go look for them, sir, I do not need to breathe."

"Is that so," Trip replied. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about an android in Starfleet. Or androids at all, for that matter, but hey, he'd only ever met the one. "We'll give them another minute, then, maybe, send you in. That okay with you, Commander?"

"My thoughts exactly, Commander." If this wasn't some kind of deception and it really was the Trip Tucker… Geordi was going to be a very happy engineer. Would probably ask him to sign the warp coils.

"How long have they been in the water?" Dr. Crusher asked, preparing a hypospray with glucose and leaving a couple of thermal blankets accessible to one side.

"Close to fifteen minutes," Trip told her. "Captain had a five-minute break, but Malcolm's been submerged the whole time. I'm registering air temperature of about 9.50C."

"Hypothermia shouldn't be an issue, as long as we get them out soon. Getting them warm and dry will be my first priority."

"Sir, there." Data pointed it out and there it was, a faint light underneath the water. The next second Malcolm's head broke the surface of the water. He was gasping and panickedly flailing about until Trip and Data grabbed him under the arms and lifted him out ("Were you trying to give yourself hypothermia, lieutenant?"). Data then took Malcolm and with ease lifted him up so that Riker and Worf could grab his arms. Trip could hear Malcolm coughing and retching up above as he helped Captain Archer out of the water, who, in comparison to Malcolm, was barely panting.

"Welcome back, Captain," Trip said, as Data turned back to them.

"I am Lt. Cmdr. Data, Captain Archer," he said. "Welcome to the 24th century. May I assist you up the slope, sir?"

"Thank you, Lt. Cmdr. Data," Archer said, bemused, his teeth chattering. Data gave both him and Trip a leg up before easily scaling it himself.

"He's an android," Trip told Archer, as Riker draped a thermal blanket around his shoulders and helped him sit next to Malcolm. "Only one in Starfleet."

"Is that so," Archer said, looking up at Data, who looked vaguely familiar. He then caught sight of Lt. Worf. "Hello, there."

"Captain, I need to get you and Lt. Reed out of these clothes as fast as possible and into dry ones. Right away, please," Dr. Crusher said, as she finished scanning Malcolm with her tricorder and moving onto Archer. She opened the larger case she'd brought with her to reveal clean, dry clothes. She started to examine Archer's nose before beginning to prepare another hypospray while Trip bent down and started to take off Archer's shoes and socks for him, and Worf moved to help Malcolm. But Malcolm looked up, caught sight of a Klingon moving for him and started, hitting the wall behind him and trying to press himself into it.

"Easy lieutenant," Trip said, moving to crouch in front of Malcolm, placing his hands on his arms. "He's friendly. I think." He kneeled and started to peel Malcolm's sodden clothes off of him and replace them with the dry ones, taking care to preserve his dignity with the thermal blanket.

"Only when it agrees with me, sir," Worf said, causing Trip and Archer to chuckle.

"I'm guessing we make an alliance with the Klingon Empire at some point," Archer said, teeth still chattering. He accepted the drink Dr. Crusher held to his lips and took a few sips. She then started to clean up his nose. He was more or less able to undress and redress himself, with a little help from the doctor. Malcolm was half out of it, meaning Trip was doing most of the work. "There's hope for the future."

Worf was about to reply but he was cut off by Malcolm. Without any warning he pitched forward at the waist and retched – getting sick right into Trip's lap.

"Malcolm!"

Trip jumped up and back, staring down in horror at his knees. Malcolm continued to retch. "Sir, I am so –" he cut himself off, getting sick on the floor – and Trip's shoes. "Really, sir –" He threw up again before starting to dry heave.

"It's alright, don't worry about it," Trip said through clenched teeth and looking revolted, taking the towel Dr. Crusher offered him and moving next to Malcolm and around the splash zone, and started to rub his back. He glared at Archer, who was biting his lip trying not to laugh, his nose having been fixed by the Doctor.

"Better out than in, I suppose."