A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews!

CHAPTER 10

Hoshi spent a fitful night alone in the cabin adjoining Archer's. She'd been both relieved and anxious when he'd informed her that it was to be her quarters. Relieved, because that meant she wasn't expected to share his bed, although it did seem that every time she woke up, she was in it. The anxious part was because he could walk in any time he pleased, since there was no lock on her side of the door. It had been the first thing she'd checked after he'd dismissed her for the evening.

Archer apparently didn't trust her. The second thing she'd checked had been the door leading from her cabin to the corridor. It wouldn't open. The lock had been encrypted. Given enough time, she could crack the code. That was something she'd keep in mind if she needed an avenue of escape in the future.

The third thing she'd checked had been the closet, albeit reluctantly, because she'd already looked through the clothes once before. She could wear her uniform indefinitely, but she'd have to change at some point. If she picked something from the closet, she hoped it didn't give Archer any ideas. Although he hadn't been as courteous as a true gentleman, he hadn't given her any reason to believe that he wanted anything from her other than a working relationship as his translator.

There were very few pieces of attire in the closet that were suitable to wear in public. With an unladylike snort, she admitted there wasn't much she considered suitable for wearing in private, either. There was the black shift she'd worn already worn -- and wouldn't that just look lovely with her uniform boots -- as well as a strapless one-piece mini-dress in an awesome shade of red. At the first opportunity, she'd have to ask Archer if she could have some clothing that wasn't quite so revealing, as well as some sensible footwear.

She smoothed out as many wrinkles in her uniform as she could and, after a shared breakfast in Archer's cabin, the captain took her up three decks, just below the bridge, to a small meeting room. An oval table and six chairs were the only things in the room, besides the two people waiting for her.

One of the people she recognized. Actually, she recognized them both, but she'd only met one of them in this universe. T'Pol was seated at the middle of the table facing her. Seated next to her was a dead ringer for Commander Trip Tucker, wearing a uniform like the captain's but with not nearly as many medals and ribbons.

When the captain had said she'd be debriefed about the Xindi conflict in her universe, Hoshi had assumed he'd be the one doing the interview. That was not to be the case, she realized as Archer left her alone with these two uncannily familiar strangers. She stood tensely by the door, her hands clasped in front of her, until Tucker spoke.

"Have a seat, darlin'," he said.

His Southern drawl was almost too much to bear. On her Enterprise, Trip was a good and sympathetic friend. But this man, despite his exact resemblance, had a hard edge, and she'd heard arrogance underlying his seemingly friendly invitation.

She didn't mistake his displeased expression when she dawdled uncertainly by the door, so she hurriedly sat down across from T'Pol. The Vulcan woman appeared unconcerned. A closer look revealed that she was holding herself under tight control. Hoshi had served with this T'Pol's counterpart long enough to recognize the signs. Her nostrils looked pinched, and her eyes were positively glacial.

When Tucker shot a heated glance at T'Pol and she ignored him, Hoshi wondered about their relationship. Back home, Trip had an off-again, on-again relationship with T'Pol. That wasn't even taking into account that they'd been the parents of a child conceived without their knowledge, and the shared trauma of losing that child. She believed T'Pol returned Trip's feelings to some extent.

But this T'Pol detested this Tucker. Verbal language wasn't Hoshi's only area of communications expertise, and the body language between these two was like fireworks. Judging by the way Tucker kept stealing glances at T'Pol, he wasn't the least bit deterred by her lack of interest.

Tucker turned his attention back to Hoshi. "I've never met someone from another universe before," he said.

To which Hoshi said, "Until I woke up on this ship, I never had, either."

That made Tucker laugh.

T'Pol said, "We should begin."

"Where should I start?" Hoshi asked.

"At the beginning," T'Pol said, activating a data padd to record the conversation. "A chronological account of events of Earth's conflict with the Xindi in your universe will provide an overview. The individual events can then be analyzed as needed."

"All right," Hoshi said, marshalling her thoughts. "The attack on Earth...my Earth...was unprovoked. My Enterprise was away on assignment when it happened. We were recalled immediately."

Hoshi did her best to give an accurate account. As she talked, she wondered exactly what Archer was hoping to gain from this information. He'd said the Xindi here had long ago wiped themselves out, something she heartily wished had happened in her universe.

She also wondered why Tucker was present. T'Pol, of course, was already familiar with the subject, having seen it in her mind during the meld. But how much she'd seen, Hoshi didn't know. As an experiment, she tried leaving out some details, but T'Pol called her on it every time except for one instance. When Hoshi told them about her stay with Tarquin, she deliberately downplayed her receptivity to the exiled alien's telepathy, and for once, T'Pol didn't follow up with probing questions. Hoshi wondered if that was because T'Pol didn't want anyone to know she was more telepathically gifted than most humans, or because T'Pol didn't want her own abilities to be challenged.

When Hoshi talked about trellium D and its insulating properties against the anomalies, she understood that Tucker was there to find out more about any type of technology that was unknown in this universe. He wanted to know how trellium D worked and where it could be found.

"I really don't know much about it," she said, which earned her a frown from him. "We tried to use it, but we had to give it up because it's hazardous to Vulcans."

"How so?" he asked.

She grimaced, recalling the horrible encounter with the Vulcan ship in the Expanse. "They lose control of their emotions. Long exposure to it drives them insane."

"Well, well, well," Tucker said. "Some people might say that's enough reason to find some of that stuff." When he failed to get a reaction from T'Pol other than a cold look, he turned back to Hoshi. "You came across it in some place called the Delphic Expanse." He checked information on the data padd. "We don't have an area by that name around here."

"It's near where the Xindi's original homeworld was," Hoshi said.

"Original?" asked T'Pol sharply.

Apparently there were limits to what T'Pol had gleaned from her memory, Hoshi realized. The Xindi had almost destroyed themselves in civil war -- the Avian species had in fact been obliterated -- but the other five species had moved to a new world before becoming involved with the transdimensional beings who'd instigated their attack on Earth. T'Pol should have known that from the meld, but maybe there were limits on how much she could absorb.

"A civil war destroyed their home planet," Hoshi explained, "but enough of them survived that they were able to reestablish themselves on another world."

"Since some of them survived, their civil war seems to be a point of divergence between our two universes," T'Pol said. "Interesting."

Tucker drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "Enough ancient history. Tell us everything you know about trellium D."

After she told them what little she knew, he wanted to know about the Xindi weapon. Hoshi was glad she didn't have much information to give them, for there was a good chance that these people would probably try to build something similar.

When asked how the war ended, she gave a brief account of her mission with Archer and Reed to destroy the Xindi weapon, but deliberately left out that, upon their return to Earth, they'd found themselves back in time and that aliens were working with the Nazis. She was afraid Tucker would not only grill her about the equipment those aliens were trying to build, but about the mechanics of time travel as well. So when T'Pol asked what happened when the Xindi weapon had been destroyed, Hoshi skipped right to the part where all the ships of Earth had come out to welcome them on their return.

"Seems like this Enterprise isn't the only one that returns home in triumph," Tucker said.

T'Pol, meanwhile, was giving her a searching look, as if she suspected something had been left out of the narrative. "That is everything?" she asked.

"With the Xindi, yes," Hoshi said.

T'Pol stared at her a moment longer, then seemed satisfied. Hoshi silently let her breath out. She could imagine being stuck in this room for days on end as Tucker and T'Pol questioned her about her entire career in Starfleet.

T'Pol deactivated the padd, signaling the end of the session. "I will distill this information and get it to the captain," she said, getting to her feet.

Now that the debriefing was over, Hoshi wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. "Uh, what about me?" she asked.

"You could come with me to the mess hall for lunch," Tucker offered as he stood.

He looked smugly at T'Pol, who stared sullenly back. Hoshi was still sure that T'Pol didn't care for Tucker, but she seemed offended by his offer to take her to lunch. Not wishing to get caught in the middle of whatever was going on between these two, Hoshi said, "I can go back to my cabin."

T'Pol turned to her. "As the captain gave us no instructions, that is probably what he intended. However," she said, her expression growing sly, "humans require sustinence on a regular schedule."

The T'Pol of Hoshi's universe didn't act like this. There was a good possibility that this T'Pol was jealous, or maybe it was just that her dislike of Tucker ran deep. In either case, Hoshi was sure that T'Pol was banking on Tucker getting in trouble when Archer found out he'd asked her to go to lunch with him.

Tucker's expression made it plain that he wouldn't take no for an answer. "You're going with me to the mess hall," he insisted.

Hoshi soon had doubts about accompanying Tucker. When he opened the door to the mess hall, a multitude of voices poured out. She'd probably recognize most of the people inside, but she wouldn't know them. And if gossip traveled as fast here as it did at home, they'd all know who she was.

"Don't them them intimidate ya, darlin'," Tucker said softly. "I'll protect ya."

She repressed a shudder at the notion she might actually need protection, and because Tucker's breath was hot in her ear. She stepped through the doorway, and almost bolted right back out. Every face in the place was turned toward her. Tucker gave her a slight push in the middle of her back that got her moving in the direction of the food cabinets. The mess hall was eeriely similar to the one where she had eaten meals for more than four years, and the food was in the same place, off to the left of the entrance in a series of cabinets.

One whiff when she slid open a cabinet door was enough to tell her she wasn't back home. Her nose wrinkled at the sour odor wafting out. It was all she could do to keep from gagging.

"Yeah, it's not so good sometimes," Tucker said from behind her. "This appears to be one of those times." He stepped past her, opened the second cabinet, and grabbed a plate which he handed to her. "Try this."

At least this smelled like it was supposed to smell, Hoshi thought as she gazed at the meat loaf and mashed potatoes on the plate. Not her favorite, but definitely better than what was in the first cabinet. Whatever it was. She hadn't been able to tell.

The other diners' interest in her waned as she meekly followed Tucker, who had selected the same entree, to an open table by one of the windows. Without a word, Tucker sat down and began eating. She followed suit. The meat loaf was bland, but a sprinkling of salt helped. The same was true for the mashed potatoes.

"This is one of my favorites," Tucker said, pointing at his food with his fork. At her dubious look, he leaned forward and said in a conspiratorial tone, "It's almost always edible."

After that, they ate in silence. Hoshi had no inclination to talk, and Tucker seemed absorbed in eating. He finished his meal quickly. "Not hungry?" he asked, looking at her half-eaten slice of meat loaf and barely touched potatoes.

She swallowed the tasteless mass in her mouth with difficulty and said, "It's a little heavy for me."

"Sure," he said agreeably. "It's hard to tell with that awful jumpsuit you're wearin', but you've got a nice figure. I bet you have to work hard to keep it that way."

The conversation wasn't going in a direction she liked, so when a shadow fell over their table, Hoshi was glad to be distracted. That is, until she saw who was casting the shadow.

"Mind if I join you?" asked Reed.

Tucker looked like he minded a lot, but that didn't stop Reed from sliding into a seat. He wasn't eating, Hoshi noticed, but he did have a steaming cup of coffee. She glanced at his face, caught his appraising gaze, and quickly looked away. The fear she'd felt the first time she'd met him made a second appearance.

"Captain Archer's got another little chore for you, luv," Reed said, "now that you're done with that boring debriefing."

What was it with the endearments? First Tucker calling her "darling," now Reed calling her "luv." While she might expect to hear something like that from her Trip on occasion, she had never heard the Malcolm Reed of her universe be anything but unfailingly polite and chivalrous. That alone was enough to tell her that this wasn't the man she knew.

"What might that be?" she asked, trying to keep her trepidation out of her voice.

"You're going to help me with a difficult translation."