CHAPTER 34

Hoshi saw that she had timed it perfectly as she walked into Archer's cabin. Cunningham had just arrived with breakfast, and Reed was up and looked like he was ready to leave. In keeping with their agreement that the captain needed to be guarded at all times by people who could be trusted, the tactical officer was probably waiting for Mayweather to arrive before he left. Until then, Hoshi would just have to put up with him, although the last day or two, he hadn't been nearly as bad as during her first interactions with him.

The captain also was awake and looking much better. Some of the color had returned to his face, and the pinched look around his eyes had lessened considerably. He was irritable with Cunningham, however, telling the steward to set a place at the table for him because he didn't want to eat in bed. Cunningham, though, wasn't giving in.

She moved to Archer's bedside before there was a repeat of the evening before. Honestly, it reminded her of nothing so much as a group of children who couldn't play well together unless an adult was present. "Let's see how your wound is doing first," she told Archer, "then we'll see if you're up to getting out of bed."

Archer shot her a disgruntled look. "Fine."

He was definitely feeling better, Hoshi thought, but he still wasn't quite his old self. He would have argued with her if he had been. She also could have done without Reed watching every move she made like a hawk, but that was the way he was, she supposed. At least he wasn't making any smart-aleck remarks.

"Sleep well?" she asked Archer as she removed the bandage from his side.

"Yes," he said shortly.

She took a good look at the wound. "You're either an incredibly fast healer, or there's something in with the antibiotic that promotes healing. It's looking much better." She wasn't sure it was a good idea for him to move around a lot yet, but maybe he could convince himself of that. She twisted around where she was sitting on the bed so she could look at Cunningham. "Go ahead and set a place at the table for the captain."

She rebandaged the wound, then stood aside to let Cunningham help Archer up, while Reed watched the proceedings with an amused smirk. Once on his feet, Archer shrugged off the steward's assistance and made it under his own power to the table, although his face had lost most of its color and he was breathing heavily by the time he reached his chair.

Hoshi took her seat across from him. He hadn't complained, but he looked terrible. "Would you care for a painkiller appetizer?" she asked him coyly as Cunningham took the lids from the plates.

"Damn right I would," came the muttered answer.

Hoshi, hiding a smile, got up and went to the stack of medical supplies on a shelf. As she was loading a hypospray with painkiller, the door chime rang. Reed cautiously opened the door. He stepped back, allowing Mayweather to enter.

Archer's appetite apparently hadn't been affected by his short but arduous trek across the cabin, for he was sprinkling pepper on a heaping serving of scrambled eggs. The salt shaker, however, was giving him trouble. He complained to Cunningham, "Nothing is coming out." He slammed the shaker on the table, trying to free up the salt inside.

Hoshi returned to the table. "Would you hold still so I can do this?" she asked him, holding the hypo to his neck.

Archer stopped grappling with the shaker so that Hoshi could inject the painkiller. Cunningham took the opportunity to deftly swipe the shaker from Archer's hand.

"Sir, with your permission, I'll leave now," Reed put in.

Archer waved in the general direction of the door, giving his permission for Reed to leave.

Cunningham also tried hitting the salt shaker against the tabletop, but still nothing came out. "I don't understand. It was fine when I got it out of the pantry in your private kitchen, sir." He unscrewed the cap and looked inside. "Sir?" he said tremulously.

Alerted by the strained tone of the steward's voice, both Archer and Hoshi looked at him. Even Reed, one foot out the door, stopped and turned around to see what was happening. Cunningham, staring at the inside of the shaker, had gone deathly white.

Still peevish, Archer asked, "What is it now, Cunningham?"

"There's..." The steward swallowed, and tried again. "There's something inside that shouldn't be there. I'm afraid to move, sir, for fear of setting it off."

Reed hurried to Cunningham's side. He peered down at the salt shaker in the steward's hand. "It is a bomb all right," he said calmly as he visually appraised the contents of the shaker. He reached in with one finger and snagged a wire, pulling one end of it out of the shaker.

Cunningham finally pulled his gaze from the shaker, only to stare at Reed with wide, frightened eyes.

Reed took the shaker from him. "Don't worry. If it was going to go off, it would have done so by now, what with all the banging you two have been doing to it."

Archer was glaring at Cunningham.

"Honestly, sir," Cunningham said, "I don't know how that got in there. I specifically checked the shakers, because I know you like to put salt and pepper on your eggs, and I wanted to make sure they were full. I swear on my life that the salt shaker hasn't been out of my sight since I put it on the tray with your breakfast!"

It looked like Archer was going to explode. All the color that had left his face earlier had come rushing back, tingeing his cheeks an angry red.

Hoshi still believed that Cunningham was one of the few people on board who could be trusted with Archer's life. If the man wasn't lying, there had to be some other explanation.

"It doesn't look like salt has ever been put in this," Reed put in as he tore apart the components in the shaker. "It could be a new shaker taken out of storage. There's a miniscule amount of concentrated high explosive, and an arming mechanism, which looks like it's made to be detonated remotely. Very clever, actually. It probably would have killed anyone in a two-meter radius of the blast." Reed looked at Archer. "Provided it had worked, that is."

"I don't know how to do any of that!" Cunningham insisted.

"So there was salt in it when you checked it," Hoshi said, trying to defuse the anger she could feel coming from Archer.

"Yes," the steward insisted. "I checked both it and the pepper shaker, to make sure they would flow freely."

Hoshi shot a glance at Reed. Now that he had investigated the device, and had checked the pepper shaker as well but found nothing, she could see he'd moved on to the same question that was puzzling her.

"If you are to be believed," Reed said, "how do you explain this?" He held up the bits and pieces of the tiny but deadly bomb.

"I can't," Cunningham said.

"Unless someone switched it when you weren't looking," Hoshi put in quickly. From the corner of her eye, she saw Reed give an approving nod as he put the pieces of the now torn-apart bomb on the table.

"Tell us what you did after checking the shakers," Reed said.

Cunningham took a deep breath, his brow furrowed in concentration. "I was in the kitchen I use for fixing the captain's meals. The shakers were the last things I put on the tray."

"Did anyone come into the kitchen while you were there?" Reed asked.

"No, sir," Cunningham replied.

Hoshi glanced at Archer. He was watching the interrogation closely, but he hadn't intervened or tried to take it over himself. Then again, she thought, that's what he had Reed for.

"What about while you were bringing the food here?" Reed asked. "Tell me the exact route you took."

"I left my kitchen through the galley, making sure to lock the door behind me," Cunningham said. "Then I went through the galley exit into the main corridor like I usually do. I was about halfway down the corridor when Commander Tucker, coming the other way, stopped me."

Reed's eyes narrowed at this information. "Why?"

"He wanted to know if I'd seen Lieutenant Kelby."

"Had you?"

"No, not yet," Cunningham said. "That's what I told Commander Tucker."

"Did you look at anything besides Commander Tucker or the tray you were carrying while you talked to him?"

"I don't think so," Cunningham said uncertainly. "It was only for a couple of seconds that we talked. He wasn't even standing very close to me."

Reed looked at Archer. "Tucker could have easily switched shakers if Cunningham was distracted. And he definitely has the ability to make a device like that," he added, pointing to the disassembled bomb on the table.

Everyone looked at Archer as he considered the possibility that his chief engineer might have tried to kill him. Hoshi mentally cringed. Both she and T'Pol had suspected Tucker of the first attempt on Archer's life. If he was indeed the maker of the mini-bomb, she should tell Archer about her suspicion. Then he'd want to know why she hadn't said anything about it sooner, and she had an idea of how Archer would react to that.

"I can't believe Trip would do something like this," Archer murmured to himself. "He's been with me ever since Enterprise was launched." He exhaled heavily as he reached a decision. "Mister Reed, go get him and--"

"Wait!" Hoshi interrupted.

"Now what?" Archer said, his eyes narrowed in irritation.

Instead of addressing Archer, she turned to Cunningham. "You told Commander Tucker you hadn't seen Lieutenant Kelby yet. Were those your exact words to him?"

"What are you getting at?" Archer asked, his voice rising.

Ignoring Archer, she prompted Cunningham, "Is that exactly what you said?"

Cunningham tilted his head, his eyes losing their focus as he thought. "No, I just told him I hadn't seen him. I saw Lieutenant Kelby later."

Reed pounced on the subtle distinction that Hoshi had already discerned. "Where did you see Kelby?" he asked.

"After I talked to Commander Tucker, I started back down the hall," Cunningham said. "I was passing the turbolift when the door to it opened, and Lieutenant Kelby got out." With a look of indignation, he added, "He was in such a hurry that he bumped into me. I almost dropped the the captain's tray!"

"Then what?" Reed asked.

"He apologized and helped me straighten the things on the tray, which had slid around," Cunningham said. His eyes went wide. "He picked up the salt shaker, which had fallen over, and set it back upright."

"Sleight of hand," Reed said to Archer. "I seem to recall that Kelby has a fondness for simple magician's tricks. He could have easily switched shakers."

"He also has the knowledge to build a device like a miniature bomb," Archer said. "Go get him. Take him to the booth."

Already on his way to the door, Reed said, "Aye, sir. With pleasure."

After Reed left, Archer let out a long sigh. He looked at his plate, picked up his fork, and began eating.

Hoshi stared at him. How could he be so calm after they'd found out who had tried to kill him? Sure, he'd been angry when they'd first realized the salt shaker had been rigged to explode, but his return to what passed for normalcy in this universe was astounding. Or was it that assassination attempts were such a common occurrence that, when thwarted, they were quickly dismissed?

She picked up her own fork and scooped up the tiniest bit of eggs. Her own appetite was long gone. At least it hadn't been Tucker, she told herself as she tentatively tasted the food. T'Pol ought to be pleased, but what if she tried to back out on their agreement, since there was no longer a need for her to protect the chief engineer?

Archer looked over at her and noticed that she wasn't eating, "What's the matter? Aren't you feeling well?"

Hoshi shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Just thinking."

Archer gazed at her for a few moments. "Well, if you don't want the rest of your breakfast, I'll finish it. I feel like I could eat a horse."