The following morning brought with it a request for a breakfast meeting to some, but not all, of the senior staff.

To: (hidden list)

You are required to attend a meeting in the Observation Lounge at 0800 hours today. The topic of this meeting, and its complete contents, are subject to the absolute level of confidentiality. You are hereby, with respect to this meeting, its subject matter, the list of attendees and all subsequent follow up meetings or messages, required to maintain the strictest level of confidentiality. Any revelation of this meeting, its attendees or subject matter, or of any subsequent follow ups, of any form, is an offense subject to court martial.

Dana looked at her PADD. She was getting dressed, and hit her communicator, which was still sitting on her desk. "MacKenzie to Madden."

"Mystic?"

"Yeah, uh, I can't see you for breakfast today. I have, uh, things."

"That's okay," he said, "I've got things, too."

"Maybe they're the same things."

"Let's hope so," he said, "I hate having to keep things from you."

=/\=

Geordi contacted Rick. "I've got a meeting this morning. I'm sorry to do this to you so early in your time here, but I'll be out and I have no idea how long this'll take. Think you can handle running Engineering for a few hours?"

"Uh, sure," Rick said, not telling Geordi that the warp engines were rather primitive, by his time's standards. "Who are you meeting with?"

"I can't say. Just, I'll be back when I can. LaForge out."

Rick tapped on his PADD, adding a quick note to himself.

There's a top secret meeting this morning involving LaForge at least, maybe more. If it is what I think it is, it's coming a good year later than in the original history. Chalk this up as another temporal dislocation.

=/\=

The doors of the Observation Lounge swished open. Dana smiled when she saw Marty, and sat down next to him. "I was hoping you'd be here," he murmured.

"Same here."

Geordi sat across from her, with B-4 next to him. At the foot of the table was Mike Daniels. There were muffins and bagels on trays, with fixings, plus a bowl of fruit and a stack of plates. Coffee sat in a hot pot on a trivet.

Captain Picard arrived last. "My apologies," he said, by way of greeting, "a few last-minute instructions for all. Now," he got in front of the room's replicator, and commanded, "Earl Grey, hot." He turned to the rest of the people in the room, "do help yourselves. This is going to be a long meeting."

"I'm a little curious," Marty said, as he took a blueberry muffin, "why Paj Terris and some of the other members of the senior staff aren't here – Doctor Crusher, for instance."

"All will be revealed shortly," Picard said. He tapped on a desktop console and it sprang to life. "Protocol one, authorization Picard Phi Omicron." There was a pause, as communications were scrambled, connected, and then unscrambled again. Desktop screens were filled with the faces of the Federation flag officers, the head of Section 31, and the Federation President. The latter two were in split screen.

The President, Jaresh-Inyo, spoke first. "I'm sure you're rather curious about this meeting. Before I begin, we will patch in two more persons." There was a nod, and Admiral Kathryn Janeway made the connections. Two more faces were shown in split screen. "For those of you who do not know them, this is Ensign Tamsin Porter of the USS Talos, and Lilienne Charlotte Hayes, a botanist who is stationed on Ceres."

Hayes nodded while Porter grinned, making eyes at Marty Madden. Porter then added, "Hiya, Great-Aunt Lilienne."

Jaresh-Inyo nodded, and Admiral Alynna Nechayev checked a PADD before speaking. "The six of you, plus B-4, are here because the six of you are close blood relations." Everyone began looking around. Porter's grin vanished. "But what is most interesting," Nechayev continued, "is not only that you are related. It is the hydrogen line that you are all carrying."

"Sirs," Dana ventured, "I've got two questions that I bet everyone else has. First off, while I know how Commander Madden and I are related, what about everyone else? And, uh, why does it matter?"

"What's a hydrogen line?" Tamsin interjected.

"I'll start with the last question," said Admiral Charles Whatley. "The hydrogen line defines which universe you belong to. In our universe, the hydrogen line is twenty-one centimeters long. It refers to the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of neutral hydrogen atoms. "

"I beg your pardon?" asked Lilienne.

"It's a unique signature for all universes. The other term for the hydrogen line is one well known to the crew of the Enterprise," explained Admiral Jack Strickler, "it's called the radiation band."

"Ah, now it's making some sense," Marty said. "But everybody here should have a radiation band of twenty-one centimeters."

"They should, yes," allowed T'Lara, one of the flag officers, "yet the six of you have bands that are less than twenty-one centimeters long."

"Wait, what?" asked Geordi.

B-4 explained, "I was asked to incorporate a radiation band testing system into my programming. I used it to test everyone on the ship. As for Ensign Porter and Ms. Hayes, I was able to check transporter signature records for several years."

"The other seven living persons with a radiation band of under twenty-one centimeters were found by a careful combing of records," Janeway explained, "We looked at birth records, in addition to public transporter data."

"Wait, there are a total of thirteen of us like this?" asked Tamsin.

"One of the others has got to be my sister, Ariana," Geordi said.

"Your father as well, Mister LaForge," said Admiral Nechayev.

"My mother, and my grandfather, I bet, seeing as my great-aunt is here," stated Tamsin.

"Yes, your mother, and her father," confirmed Janeway.

"Who are the others?" Mike Daniels asked. "Is it that new guy, Daniels?"

"He has not yet been tested," B-4 explained.

"I will send everyone the list," declared the head of Section 31, Harriet Caul. "The thirteen persons are on the list I am sending right now."

Everyone heard a ding on their PADD or saw a flash, indicating the presence of a new message. The list was ordered as follows –

1. Douglas Daniels, born in 2305
2. Michael Daniels, born in 2341
3. Lilienne Charlotte Hayes, born in 2309
4. Ariana LaForge, born in 2337
5. Edward LaForge, born in 2322
6. Geordi LaForge, born in 2335
7. Misty Dana MacKenzie, born in 2329
8. Martin Douglas Madden, born in 2322
9. Jay Neil Hayes, born in 2307
10. Sheilagh Hayes Porter, born in 2331
11. Tamsin Porter, born in 2354
12. Tina Reed O'Connor, born in 2291
13. Kevin Reed, born in 2344

Everyone present at the meeting, including Picard, checked and read their messages. "The names are divided into six subfamilies," explained Nechayev. "There is the Daniels branch, the Hayes-Porter branch, the LaForge branch, the Reed-O'Connor branch and the Madden and MacKenzie branches. It is most interesting that nearly half of these people are Starfleet, plus Edward LaForge is retired from Starfleet. I'm sure we'll find out interesting things about the other six persons, in time. In the meantime, this information remains absolutely confidential."

"What are the specifics?" inquired Picard.

"There is a book; it will explain the beginning of all of this," said Caul. She tapped her PADD a few times. "There, I have sent it to you all."

Lilienne looked up. "The Human Pioneers of Lafa II? My brother Jay and I were born on Lafa II."

"But what about that guy Daniels who works for Geordi here?" Mike insisted.

"Well, the name isn't exactly a rare one," Tamsin pointed out.

"Still, perhaps there is a fourteenth family member," Picard speculated.

"Maybe," Janeway allowed. "Now, the one common ancestor who all of you have is a man named Douglas Jay Hayes Beckett. He was born on December third, 2102, and he died on June thirtieth, 2181. Lilienne Hayes, Tamsin Porter, her mother and grandfather, Michael Daniels and his father, and the LaForge family, plus O'Connor and Reed, all of you come from Beckett's marriage to Lili O'Day. She was the sous-chef on the NX-01."

"I must be named after her," Lilienne mused.

Dana swallowed and looked at Marty. They had been, somehow, left out.

"However," Whatley picked up the thread of the narrative, "this was an open marriage. Beckett had a paramour named Melissa Madden, and he had children with her, as well. Commander Madden and Lieutenant Commander MacKenzie are both from that branch."

"So Commander Madden and I aren't as closely related as the others are?" Dana asked.

"Correct," replied Caul. "One thing that draws the other branch closer is that O'Day also had a paramour. She and the NX-01's Tactical Officer, Malcolm Reed, had a son named Declan. Declan is an ancestor to O'Connor, Reed and the LaForge family."

"You still haven't told us why this all matters," Marty pointed out.

"The book we have sent you will outline a great deal of the older particulars. But do you recall the mentioning of the radiation bands?" Jaresh-Inyo asked rhetorically. "See, Beckett was from the twenty centimeter radiation band universe. He passed that band on, to all of you. The band diluted, of course, as time went on, and more generations intervened. But he came here from another universe. His ability to come here was a rare event, and it was directly related to intervention by the Calafan people. Now, we've had a few crossovers since then, but no one else fell in love, and stayed here, and no one else sired children."

"Wait – he came here? How?" asked Dana.

"Read the book," Admiral Janeway encouraged.

"Our theory," Jaresh-Inyo stated, "is that the radiation band cycling is coming from outside of our universe. But all of you did, too – at least in part. We feel that, if that other universe somehow sends more people through, you might be able to talk to them. They just might listen to you."

"Wait a second," Geordi said, "I'm no diplomat. I don't think anyone here is. I know my father and sister aren't. I barely met the O'Connor and Reed cousins. I don't remember any of them being diplomats, either."

"My mother and my grandfather aren't, either," Tamsin added.

"Yet you expect us to somehow be able to communicate," Lilienne said. She peered into the screen intently. "I suspect you mean for us to somehow negotiate. You're expecting something bad to happen, aren't you?"

"We don't know," Nechayev admitted.

"Are my people in danger?" Picard inquired. "Or are the people of Ceres, or Lafa II, or the crew of the Talos?" He turned to his staff, "I would rather not give up any of you, but if your mere presence is going to imperil anyone else, then I shall be forced to take action."

"Then what?" Dana asked, her voice a little shrill in her distress, "Do we all get separated? Or are we thrown in some ghetto or, or a prison, ostensibly for our own safety, or because we're seen as a danger to others? It's not just unfair; it's unjust!"

Marty looked over at her for a second. "Captain, you can't be serious. Firing us all? At some point, it becomes a question of our rights to employment. Besides, where would we all go? I know Dana here doesn't have a place of her own, and neither do I."

"You can come stay with me, Commander Madden," Tamsin eyed him a bit.

"Great, when do we move in?" Dana asked sarcastically.

Tamsin shot her a look and then noticed Caul glaring at all of them. The head of Section 31 scolded, "This is hardly a laughing matter. We don't honestly know the intentions of the agents behind the radiation band cycling. We have to assume that they are hostile. Furthermore, we don't even know that they would notice or respect your own disparate bands. They might embrace you as kin; try to convert you to fellow travelers; or see you as the biggest threats, and try to kill all of you first."

"How are they accomplishing the band cycling?" Lilienne asked.

Geordi explained, "We think they're using ionization diffusers. They're illegal in the Federation, but other universes of course wouldn't be bound by our rules. Truth is, personally, I think there's more than one. We're getting readings in all sorts of places, and they're not that close to each other."

"It might even be ionization diffusers on both sides," Marty added, "But I seem to be the only person who thinks that."

"No, that could be feasible," Lilienne countered. "See, I grew up in the Lafa System. The Calafans can and do dream of people on another side – they refer to them as the night people. They claim they're real. I never believed that, but now I'm not so certain. I don't think my brother Jay believes any of that, either. Understand that we were humans living there, and in a rather small minority."

"Isn't Lafa II a really nice place?" Geordi asked. "So why wouldn't there be a lot of human settlers there? Every Calafan I've ever met has been decent to me. Yi'imspi is one of my night shift engineers; she's a lovely girl."

"The area is rather strategically significant, don't forget, near Romulan, Andorian, and Klingon space," Janeway clarified, "It's seen its share of combat."

Jaresh-Inyo said, "They have democratic government; it's like a constitutional monarchy. I suggest contacting their High Priestess, though, and see what she has to say about the matter. In the meantime, if the Enterprise could begin heading straight to the Lafa System, then that would be of assistance."

"Oh, and Ensign Porter will be transferred from the Talos to the Enterprise," Nechayev said. She tapped her PADD a bit. "The orders are being sent now."

"Understood," Picard said, as Marty blanched, Dana looked peeved, and Tamsin went back to grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"We will see about contacting the remaining family members," Whatley said, "We will probably need them to go to the Lafa System, too, but let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet."

Jaresh-Inyo added, "That's all for now. This meeting is adjourned."