CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Enterprise: May 26, 2154

Malcolm could have sworn his heart was about to jump right out of his chest as he approached the door to Trip's quarters. What the hell could she have been thinking? The question had been running through his thoughts repeatedly since Trip's call on the comm. Well, he thought, and winced. You're about to find out.

Reaching out a slightly trembling hand, he pressed the door chime.

The doors slid open quickly, revealing a half-naked and still damp Commander Tucker, who was not looking very happy. He glared at Malcolm when he saw him, as if he knew that he was somehow to blame. Malcolm shrugged mentally. Technically, it rather was his fault, but there was no need to clue the commander in on that.

His sharp eyes quickly scanned the room, but he knew before he had stepped into Trip's quarters that Hoshi was still hiding under that cloaking device.

"Well?"

Trip's voice sounded irritated. Malcolm couldn't really blame him, but he frowned nonetheless.

"Well what, Commander?"

Trip rolled his eyes.

"Well do something, Malcolm. I have an intruder in here, and I know you know something about it. What the hell did you mean when you called it a 'her'?"

Malcolm mentally swore. Apparently he had slipped a bit. He cast another wary glance around the room, but Hoshi was still silent. Fine, he thought grimly.

"I think you might have misheard me, Trip," Malcolm stated coolly. "If anyone ever decided to break into your room, I doubt it'd be a woman." He grinned despite himself at his own comment. Trip snorted in response.

"Real funny, Malcolm," he said, and also glanced around his quarters. "Look, I know for a fact that someone was here. And now I'm pretty sure it's a she."

"How do you know?"

Trip looked rather sheepish for a moment, and then shrugged.

"I, uh, sorta ran into her. I went to crash on the bed after my shower, and I bumped into someone. And I prolly hurt her a bit, cause she yelled out after that."

That did it, thought Malcolm. There was no way he could blame it all on Trip's imagination now. He still didn't want to be the one to give it all away, and so he paused, looking meaningfully around the room one more time. Behind him, he heard Trip sigh.

"Malcolm, are ya gonna help or not? Because I could report this to the captain now, or we can just settle this on our own."

At that, Malcolm finally heard something shift. It came from the general direction of the bathroom door.

"Well?" Trip asked again. "Should I call—"

Whatever else he was about to say was lost, for in that moment, Hoshi Tucker appeared standing in the doorway to the bathroom, her nose slightly bleeding, and her face screwed up in a mix of frustration and submission. She shrugged to Malcolm, who was also staring at her.

"What the hell!" Trip uttered, looking between Hoshi and Malcolm in confusion. For her part, Hoshi appeared to have gotten over the fact that she had just revealed herself to another member of the present. She sighed, walking into the bathroom and grabbing some tissues. Holding them gingerly to her nose, she glared at Trip.

"Damn you and your hard chest, Charles Tucker," she growled, and Malcolm could not help but grin. Trip, for his part, was still speechless, a fact that Malcolm noted with some surprise. However, the silence lasted for about a second more before the commander burst out, and his voice was slightly panicked.

"Malcolm? What the hell? Who the hell is that? What the hell is she doin' in my quarters? And why the hell is she bleedin'?"

Malcolm looked at Hoshi for permission to answer, and she nodded ever so slightly, still holding the tissues to her face. Malcolm turned to Trip, trying to speak in his most calming voice.

"Trip…I know this is going to sound insane, but you're going to have to trust me. Hear me out."

Despite the gravity of the situation, the chief engineer rolled his eyes.

"Malcolm, you suck at this. It's never a good sign if you start out with that. Don't try to sugarcoat this for me. Just gimme the facts."

"All right," Malcolm said promptly, and took a deep breath. "This is Hoshi Sato. Well, not our Hoshi Sato, per say, but one from the future. I'm not exactly sure why she's in your quarters, but I assume she's bleeding because she ran into your, um, hard chest." The words sounded ridiculous in his mind, but even more so when he spoke them aloud. Trip looked like he was about to faint.

"Is this some sorta joke?" he asked warily. Malcolm shook his head in reply. Trip frowned, absent-mindedly running a hand over his bare chest as he stared off into space, obviously trying to process what he had just heard. His eyes focused upon Malcolm again as he spoke.

"So why is she here?" he asked. Malcolm looked to Hoshi quickly. He wanted to make sure he didn't say any more than what Hoshi would want him to say. She took the hint, and spoke for herself.

"There's going to be an assassination attempt on the captain's life," she said slowly. Trip was avoiding her gaze. "I'm here to stop that."

The room was silent for some time as her final words hung in the air. Trip was running his palm over his chest again as he stared into space, probably out of habit, Malcolm thought. Hoshi was still holding the tissues to her face, and he, Malcolm, simply waited. It didn't feel quite right for him to speak. When a few moments had gone by, Hoshi's voice sounded in his ears again.

"Malcolm? Would you mind if…if I had a few moments with Trip? Alone?"

The commander's attention snapped back quickly at those words, and he looked quite alarmed for a moment. It passed quickly, however, and he merely shrugged at Malcolm.

"All right," Malcolm said, looking between the two. "I'll be in the Armory if you need me."

"Thank you," whispered Hoshi quietly, and Malcolm nodded his goodbye. A few moments later, as he stood outside of the closed door of Trip's quarters, he let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.

"This is going well," he muttered wryly, and quickly walked away.

She wasn't looking at him.

That was the first thing Trip noticed as he stared at the woman in front of him. She was avoiding his gaze, as though knowing full well that he was scrutinizing her. Rather than protest, however, she seemed to understand his reasoning, and she simply waited, casting her eyes to the ground as he took everything in.

She was definitely the right height. Her dark hair was just beginning to be streaked with gray. As Trip's eyes roamed over her small frame, he realized he would have known her even without Malcolm's explanation. This was his Hoshi…but no, not exactly his. His Hoshi was getting ready for the return to Phidai at the moment. He'd talked to her no less than an hour ago. It still didn't make sense to him, but he knew he had to say something, now that they were alone together. It wouldn't do to just stare.

"So…" he started, and immediately kicked himself for sounding so lame. He scratched his head as he fumbled for the right words. "So, uh, maybe you should explain this to me again? What exactly are you doing here?"

She frowned at him, but instead of replying immediately, she bit her lip and simply stared at him in the same manner as he had a few moments ago. Her eyes roamed over his face, and then lower, and it was then that he realized he was still standing in just a towel.

"Christ!" he swore, and feeling some color creep onto his face, he quickly walked to the drawers and grabbed a black t-shirt. He tossed it quickly over his still wet hair, and then frowned for a moment. The lower half of him would be a bit harder to fix…

Turning around sheepishly, he grabbed the rest of his clothes, muttered a quick "I'll be right back", and dove for the bathroom. A few seconds later, after splashing some icy water on his face, he stepped out, his pajama bottoms damp from the puddles left by his earlier shower.

"So…" he said awkwardly again, and growled at himself for the same dumb starting point.

To his utter surprise, the woman in front of him burst out laughing, her slender frame shaking from mirth. He raised an eyebrow at her, wondering just what the hell she found so funny and about to ask her when she spoke.

"I didn't really think you were that modest, Trip," she chuckled, holding her sides as she continued to laugh, almost hysterically. Trip felt some color in his cheeks again. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited for her to quiet. It took a few minutes. Finally, she said again.

"I'm sorry, Trip," she said, still smiling. "I guess I thought it was funny that you went through so much just to cover yourself up, when we both know I've seen far more."

Trip was now fully blushing, mostly because the woman in front of him was at least 20 years his elder, and yet she was giving him a flirtatious look. Scratching his head again as he avoided her gaze, he tried to get his mind to focus. She seemed to have sensed the change in him, however, and so she was still, waiting for him to start. He sighed.

"Look, I don't really know what to make of all this," he said slowly. "I mean, Malcolm says you're from the future, which granted, you might as well be considering your resemblance to my Hoshi, but this doesn't make any sense. I mean, I'm supposed to go down to Phidai in an hour or so, and frankly, I don't know what to expect."

"I told you already, Trip," she said calmly. "There's going to be an assassination attempt on Captain Archer. I have to stop that."

Trip frowned again.

"Now wait a second here…that doesn't makes sense either. You said 'attempt'. Doesn't that mean it didn't work the first time around? How are you gonna stop something that didn't happen the first time?"

For the first time, Trip saw something like fear flicker in the woman's eyes. She bit her lip again, and the realization of the familiar gesture struck him suddenly. He swallowed, waiting for her answer. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully.

"You're partially right," she said, not looking at him. "They didn't manage to kill the captain because I stopped them. But because of that, because of what I did, I ended up causing everyone's deaths anyway. That's why I have to stop this whole thing from happening, so that my past self won't have to go through what I have…"

"And what is that?" for some reason, he found his own voice softening. She shook her head however.

"I can't tell you anything about that, Trip. You have to understand. The future is delicate, and I can't let you know anything that could change what happens to us down the road from now."

Trip froze for a moment. Something about what she had just said stuck in his mind. It was if the words themselves meant something more. And then he realized what it was.

Us.

What happens to us.

There's an us?

He looked at her with a new light in his eyes. Excitement and nervousness shook at his figure, causing him to breath rapidly.

"What happens to us, Hoshi?" he said, acknowledging her name for the first time. "Does that mean there is an 'us' in the future?"

She clapped a hand over her mouth suddenly, as though very aware that she had said too much. Trip was now firmly grasped by curiosity, and he pressed on, his questions tumbling out one after another.

"Is there an 'us'? Did we…did we get married? Children? What are their names? God, I don't even think I know what I'd want their names to be. How old are they? But…wait…what changed? I-I didn't hurt you, did I?" The last question suddenly concerned him, especially when he noticed that she was wincing.

"Hoshi?" he whispered now, looking confused. She was shaking, almost as if she were about to cry. He suddenly felt guilty for bombarding her with so many personal questions. "Aw dammit," he growled at himself. "I'm so sorry about that, darlin'. I didn't mean to upset you."

She stiffened at his last sentence, and something about the pleading look in her eyes stopped him cold. There was something she was not saying, something that she clearly wanted to say, but was forcing herself against it. He swallowed again, waiting. When she finally spoke, her voice was distant, as though she had managed to push all emotion away.

"I already told you too much," she said firmly, more to herself than to him. "I should go. Be careful down there, Trip, and make sure you listen to what Malcolm tells you. He'll fill you in."

Before Trip could even shout out to her to stop, she turned and headed for the door. However, she paused for a moment at the door, and said something under her breath. It was so quiet that Trip almost missed it.

"Connor and Kari," she murmured, and turned to look at him. Her eyes were unusually bright. "Those were the names you wanted."

With that, she walked out, leaving Trip with a deep ache in his heart and unbidden tears running down his face.