Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

A/N: Spoiler for 'Ceasefire' - it reveals in about six words what is disclosed at the very beginning of that episode.

I have also posted Chapter 9 to finish, as it is only a short coda.

Chapter 8 Disclosures

The officers spun about to face the intruder, Malcolm bringing his phase pistol to bear.

Before them stood a human male of unremarkable appearance, wearing a close fitting blue tunic and black pants. He was of average height and build, had sandy hair, pale eyes and an aquiline nose. He exuded a superior attitude as he surveyed the astonished and dumbstruck Enterprise crew.

"Good day," the new arrival said in an even tone, a sardonic smile gracing his thin lips. "Permission to come aboard?" He held his arms wide, palms forwards to demonstrate he carried no weapon.

"Who are you?" said Archer, uneasily. "What are you?"

The man gave a humorless bark of laughter. He delayed a beat before replying. "Oh, I'm human, just like your friend over there. Well, not like him exactly. I know what not to do. My name is Westerlake."

Simit said, kneading his hands together anxiously, "Westerlake. I'm sorry. Umm. I don't know what happened. I got carried away. It was an accident though. Damn!"

Westerlake raised an eyebrow and said, "I see you've acquired additional vocabulary... and a new hairstyle." Simit fixed his gaze on Westerlake and gave a couple of nervous twitches. Simit seemed too unsettled by Westerlake's presence to speak.

Archer was becoming impatient and annoyed. He glared from Westerlake to Simit and back again. As Westerlake appeared to be in authority of the two, Archer decided to pursue matters with him. Taking a pace towards the man, he growled, "I want answers."

Westerlake looked at him coolly, saying nothing. He appeared disinclined to accede to Archer's demand. It was plain to Archer that he was going to have to take the first step.

Hoping he was on the right track, but not knowing how else he could force some disclosures, Archer said firmly, "I know you are from the future. Don't bother to deny it. What are you doing here?"

To Archer's pleasure, Westerlake's composure was rattled for an instant. Westerlake blinked and then forced another humorless smile. "I'm impressed, Captain. How did you discover that?"

Archer smiled back, just as humorlessly. "Let's just say, I have my sources." He considered Phlox's analysis. The genetic manipulation was far beyond the work done on the Suliban. Could these two time travelers really be from Daniels' time? It could well be the case. He risked another guess. "You are from the thirty first century." It was a statement more than a question.

Westerlake inhaled sharply, much to Archer's satisfaction. So, Archer thought, he had hit the mark, had he? Westerlake pointedly looked at T'Pol, Malcolm and Phlox. Archer said airily, "Oh, my officers are also well aware of your activities. You don't need to hide anything from them either."

Simit, who was still perched on the biobed, was gawping in shocked surprise at Archer. He turned towards Westerlake. "I didn't say anything, Westerlake. You must believe me!" he said pleadingly, twisting the bed cover between his fingers.

"I believe you. Not even you would be that stupid," spat out Westerlake, his suave façade crumbling. He rounded on Simit, flinging an imperious arm at him. "How did you get in this mess? Do you realize what you have done to the timeline? There was supposed to be no interaction!"

"I know, I know," moaned Simit, shaking his head in anguish. "I decided to disguise myself to observe more closely, but then in the bar on the planet, Lieutenant Reed spotted me. I couldn't get away and then I thought ... I thought... what if I could actually get on board Enterprise? What an opportunity!" His face lit up, before he remembered what was happening and he slumped down again. "Well, the Lieutenant made it quite clear I couldn't go with them. But Westerlake... it was such a revelation to actually talk with him. You have no idea how much I learnt from that short conversation!"

Malcolm growled, "I knew I should've punched you on the nose!" Simit flinched at the idea but Westerlake gave a grim smile, as if that would have suited him also.

Simit continued, "Anyway, I thought... why not speak to Captain Archer too, who knows what else I might find out. Then one thing led to another, and here we are."

Westerlake stepped over to Simit and said quietly, with considerable menace, "Yes. Here we are, and with a wrecked communication system, thanks to you. And a wrecked timeline. You will not gain any benefit from this escapade, Smith - I will make sure of that!"

Simit shrank in on himself as Westerlake berated him.

"What did you call him?" asked Archer, wondering if he had heard correctly.

"Smith. What did he say his name was?"

T'Pol said, "He called himself Simit."

Simit, or Smith, shrugged, "Smith was too human-sounding," he said listlessly.

"I guess so," said Archer, still trying to figure out what was happening here.

T'Pol turned to Westerlake. She gave an elegant lift of an eyebrow and said evenly, "Are you working with Mr Daniels?"

"Daniels? No." Westerlake's response was immediate and somewhat aloof.

Archer raised his voice a notch. He was getting tired of this. "Westerlake. We know about the Temporal Cold War. I know this era is a cold front in that war and that one faction is using the Suliban as their soldiers. Where do you fit in? I demand answers. We've been in the dark for too long. I will not be someone's pawn in this little game of yours!" His anger drove him to almost shout the last few words.

Westerlake was reduced to stunned silence by this outburst. He opened his mouth but no words came out. He closed it again.

Simit sat bolt upright and gasped, "Temporal Cold War?"

"Yes," said Archer, still looking at Westerlake, "Thanks to Daniels we know a great deal about it. Now stop pretending and tell me what is going on here!"

Simit-Smith pushed off the biobed, firmly holding the sheet around his middle, and stood before Westerlake. He said to Westerlake, "You have to let me use this. It explains so much!"

Westerlake scowled at him. "Quiet! As I said, you are not going to benefit from your appalling behavior. However..." Westerlake paused, eyelids part closed in reflection, "it would be a shame not to use such data. Perhaps it might fall to me, then, to...?"

Realizing he would get nowhere with Westerlake, Smith looked eagerly at the Captain. "Who are the Suliban?" he asked.

It was the Enterprise officers' turn to be surprised.

"Don't you know?" asked Archer, with a significant look at T'Pol, who had a quizzical expression.

"They are not a significant race in our time," said Westerlake, smoothly and managing to make his time sound so much more superior than the primitive era he was existing in at the present.

"You do know Daniels?" pursued Archer.

"No, I don't know anyone of that name," said Westerlake with a dismissive flick of his hand.

T'Pol turned to Archer, "Captain, perhaps we should be the ones who take care in revealing what we know."

"I'm beginning to agree with you," said Archer. "Who... exactly... are you two...?" he tailed off as he failed to come up with a polite name for these jokers.

Westerlake sighed and dropped his head as he considered his position. Then he straightened up, and said to Archer, "If I tell you more, could you expand on the Temporal Cold War?"

"Yes," said Archer, inwardly resolving to say as little as possible. He resisted the urge to cross his fingers.

Westerlake nodded. He said, "Smith, here, had permission to research this time period. His permit only allowed non-invasive study. He should not have allowed himself to be seen by you, even in disguise," (the last few words were spat out at Smith), "and as for actually speaking with any of you, that was absolutely forbidden. You will appreciate how grave his offence has been. He will never be permitted to conduct this type of work again, and he may even be forbidden from publishing again."

"What sort of research is this?" inquired T'Pol.

"I am a historian," replied Smith. "My specialty is the Warp 5 program mission, with particular emphasis on technical developments and their impact on events."

"What?!" cried Archer. "This is outrageous!"

"That's what I've been explaining," replied Westerlake.

"No! Not outrageous that he broke your rules but that he is studying us like some... lab rats!" Archer knew that wasn't quite the correct analogy but he was too angry to come up with anything more suitable.

Meanwhile, Phlox was humming delightedly under his breath as he observed the interactions. This mission became more fascinating by the minute. Histian indeed! A small guffaw escaped him.

Malcolm took a step towards Smith. He still had a drawn phase pistol in his hand and it was now directed at the impostor. Quietly, he said, "What technical developments did you mean? The warp reactor?"

"Oh no, that is a completely different area of specialization. No, I am an expert in your line of work actually, Lieutenant. You will be intrigued to know that you are my major study area." Smith smiled happily at Malcolm. What an honor for the Lieutenant! Surely he would be amazed and appreciative of the years of study that had been devoted to him and to his work.

"What?" exploded Malcolm, his eyes on stalks at receiving this apocalyptic news.

"It's a rewarding field because there are so many aspects to investigate. You know, the phase cannons and their power supply, force fields, the tactical alert, photon torpedoes..." Smith's eyes glazed over as he lovingly listed his pet project areas.

"Enough!" barked Westerlake, giving Smith a furious look, "It seems I know more about your subject than you do, Smith!"

Malcolm lowered his pistol. Placing it in its holster, he softened his aggressive stance and tried to smile at Smith. He spoke pleasantly to him, "Perhaps, Mr Smith, we could discuss these aspects in more detail? Should we start with the torpedoes? I'm sure we could find a private area somewhere."

Archer looked on in mystification at his officer's sudden change in attitude. Smith's face lit up, "Oh, that would be wonderful!" He was overjoyed at at last being able to have a meaningful conversation with the object of all his studies.

"No!" countered Westerlake stepping between the two men, "You fool, Smith. You cannot discuss any of this with Lieutenant Reed, and particularly not the photon torpedoes as the Enterprise is not yet equipped with them, as you should know full well."

"It's 'Enterprise', not 'the Enterprise'," said Smith sulkily.

The two time travelers glowered at each other. Archer and T'Pol contemplated them in silence. Malcolm was torn between wanting to extract Smith's knowledge from him in whatever way was most effective, preferably one involving some degree of pain, and the horror of his work being at the center of this idiot's field of study. Phlox observed all with delight.

Smith broke the silence, and peered around Westerlake to talk to Malcolm. "Lieutenant, as it appears I am not allowed to speak with you on technical matters, perhaps there are some personal questions you could resolve for me."

Malcolm stiffened. "Such as?"

Smith sidestepped Westerlake and smiled ingratiatingly. "Well, I've already gained some useful information from the crew, but perhaps you would care to expound on your view of things. For example, how you get on with your colleagues here, your own team, why you joined Starfleet, any significant events in your childhood. It could throw some light on your psychology. "

Malcolm blanched and his mouth became a tight line. His hand caressed the butt of the holstered phase pistol.

Archer noticed Malcolm's fingers twitching around his weapon's grip and intervened, "I don't think that would be of any use to you, Smith."

"Or any of your business," rasped Malcolm with a hard edge to his voice as he scowled at Smith.

"Oh yes, it would be most useful," Smith replied earnestly, oblivious to his danger. "My biography was criticized as being too dry and with insufficient weight being given to Mr Reed's psychological make up. Actually," he preened, "I already have some useful additional material but this would give the added edge - it could even elevate me to the next level in my profession."

"Biography?" said Malcolm in a strangled tone, hardly believing his ears. And then, eyes narrowed, "I'm going to kill him!"

"No, no, Malcolm. Hold on. That's an order!"

Archer grabbed Malcolm's right arm and T'Pol took his left, until Malcolm's breathing returned to normal. He relaxed and shook his head, "It's all right, Sir. I won't do anything." He added in a low mutter, "It would only increase sales if I killed him anyway."

Archer tentatively let go and motioned T'Pol to do likewise. Malcolm was as good as his word and contented himself with a malevolent unyielding stare at Smith. He said, "Why me? Why not the Captain? Commander Tucker?"

It was Westerlake who answered him. "Actually, all the significant figures on this ship are the subject of at least one biography by our time, Lieutenant. The most acclaimed work on Captain Archer is entitled 'Making History with Every Light Year'."

Archer groaned. "I am never going to use that phrase again!"

"You must, Captain, otherwise the timeline will be disturbed," said Westerlake. "As it is, we have caused enough disturbance here. Ideally, I would want to remove your memories, but it is a most delicate process. In any case, Smith has been on board too long and interacted with too many people. However, it has the advantage that you will recognize him if he tries this again."

T'Pol said, with a skeptical air, "If you are from the future, why didn't you stop Smith before he made contact with Lieutenant Reed. Or stop him before he damaged our equipment?"

Westerlake replied, "Logically, one would imagine that would be best. However, temporal mechanics does not use a great deal of logic. We proceed by trying to minimize paradoxes, and this course of action was the optimum for this intervention."

Westerlake took a device from his pocket, and keyed in some commands. "May I have a PADD?"

Phlox passed one over to Westerlake who held it adjacent his device. "I've downloaded positional and time data for you, Captain. If your communication system had been functioning correctly, you would have received instructions from Admiral Forrest to proceed to this rendezvous. You are asked to help mediate in a dispute between the Vulcans and the Andorians over a planet. If you follow these directions, it should bring you back onto the correct timeline."

Archer looked at Westerlake in astonishment. T'Pol pursed her lips but remained silent.

Westerlake said to Archer, "I've told you about our activities, as agreed. Before we leave, could you tell me about the Temporal Cold War? It could change all our historical analysis with this added factor."

Archer considered for a minute. "I can tell you that there are different factions at work and someone from your century, Daniels, is mixed up in it. I am saying nothing more. You shouldn't publish anything without speaking to him. Do you know how to find him?"

"Yes, Captain. I believe I do. Very well." Westerlake turned to each Enterprise officer in turn and bowed, "It has been a great honor to meet you all. We must go now."

Smith bowed also. He opened his mouth to speak but before any words emerged, there was a blinding flash of light; and he and Westerlake were gone.