Chapter Seventeen –
"Sir, Ensign Sato isn't in her quarters. Her communicator is right here," Ensign Mathers spoke into the comm panel evenly.
"I'll be right there," came the stern reply.
Leaning over his console on the bridge, Malcolm let the wave of nausea pass over him. It was as though he had been sleepwalking as flashes of Hoshi crying passed before him, his feelings of hopelessness and desperation tearing him apart. She was gone now. They had taken her.
--
His dead weight on top of her, Hoshi grunted as she pushed against him unable to see where they had transported.
"Help me get him off of her," a panicked voice called out.
No sooner had the words been spoken then Malcolm was lifted from her.
"He's in shock!" Doctor Cole announced loudly, prepping a table. "Bring him over here."
Hoshi stood and watched as Malcolm's limp body twitched and writhed as it was placed on an exam table.
"Can he be stabilized?" a soft, unsteady voice questioned.
She turned to see an aged T'Pol limping toward the exam table, concern tempering her inflection and marring her elderly features.
"I'll see what I can do," the doctor replied sharply.
"Nora," T'Pol pleaded shakily. "You've got to stabilize him. Otherwise, he won't make it back."
Hoshi watched as the doctor injected numerous hyposprays into Malcolm's neck. "I'm doing what I can. He must have seen himself. The onset of stage four is never this sudden. Help me tie him down."
A man with blonde hair held Malcolm down as the doctor strapped him down.
T'Pol glanced at Hoshi as though surprised the communications officer was there. "What happened? Was there a confrontation with Lieutenant Reed?"
Hoshi shook her head. "N—no."
"Tag her and beam her back before she's missed," T'Pol ordered quickly.
"I'm a little busy," Nora snapped back, monitoring the man gasping for breath on the table before her.
"T-tag me?" Hoshi asked, backing away slowly.
T'Pol looked at her again, noticing her defensive posture…Hoshi's arms crossed in front of her and her efforts to back away. Malcolm had probably fallen before he could tell her the plan. "What did he tell you?"
Backing into another exam table, Hoshi stopped. "I—I'm responsible," she whispered. "For the destruction of Earth."
"On one thread, yes," T'Pol agreed, grabbing a hypospray off the table and advancing toward Hoshi. "But you have the opportunity to correct it, Hoshi."
"How?" she asked quickly.
"We can use you…tag you. If they take you and you're tagged, they can find you," the Vulcan explained quickly. "It'll change everything…over ninety-six percent of the future threads."
"He's coming out of it," Nora announced, a note of triumph in her voice.
"Hoshi," he whispered her name reverently. "You don't have to."
An air of finality hung in the air…as though the presence of the Grim Reaper had come to take a life. She could hear the desperate tone in his voice and approached Malcolm.
"There's nothing else I can do," Doctor Cole announced more to herself than the other people in the room. "Unless he returns to the future, he'll die."
Malcolm quivered. "I won't use you as bait, Hoshi. Love you too much to put you through that."
Hoshi grabbed his hand which was seeking hers blindly. His eyes were glazed and searching for her, unable to see anything. "I'm here, Malcolm," she called to him, her voice steady yet soothing.
"I – I can't see you," he gave a whispered groan as the desperate search for her onboard Enterprise intensified.
The tactical alert was upgraded. Security teams were sweeping deck to deck, looking for her.
Stroking his hand, Hoshi felt the bitter tears rise in her throat. "I'm here, Malcolm."
"Come with me," he begged softly. "You won't have to do this. I'll protect you. I'll –" His plea was lost as he started mumbling incoherently.
"What's wrong with him?" Hoshi questioned.
"He's been displaced for too long," T'Pol explained quickly, not realizing Hoshi was unfamiliar with the term.
Nora grabbed Malcolm's PADD and laid it on his chest. "You've got to go back, Captain Reed. There's no time to waste."
"Can't you just send him back?"
"Only he can activate the temporal mechanics," T'Pol addressed Hoshi's question.
Hoshi put up her hands in confusion.
Nora injected a hypospray into Malcolm's neck and turned toward Hoshi. "He's obsessed with saving you. He won't survive much longer. He's in the final stage of temporal displacement disorder. Living matter cannot exist on the same thread at the same time. If Captain Reed had come into contact with his present self, he would have died instantly. He has to go back to the future if he is to recover."
"You're the catalyst, Hoshi. You have the potential to destroy…Your ability has been used to destroy the Earth. The temporal threads are flooded with the destruction of Earth. Most notable of all future events that changed is the formation of the Federation. It will never happen." T'Pol shuffled her feet as she approached Hoshi. "My own planet will become mired in a civil war."
Hoshi remained silent.
"The event is nearing. Your role in coming events is necessary to build the trust of the Xindi/Human coalition. The Reptilians will capture you and you will decipher the Aquatics' security code. The subspace vortex will shield the weapon from detection. The coalition's inability to find the probe will lead to the destruction of Earth and the Lunar colonies. If we had a way to track the probe in the corridor, perhaps – "
"Knowing they will kidnap me, you'll tag me?"
T'Pol nodded.
"How do you know it will work?"
"It's a temporal tag. It works on a temporal plane which doesn't adhere to the physicality of the subspace vortex. It'll work. It's what the coalition will need to stop the weapon."
"What do I need to do?"
T'Pol looked from Hoshi to Nora, who handed a hypospray to T'Pol. "You do nothing. The less you know, the more likely you will follow the natural progression of – "
"Natural?" Hoshi scoffed softly, grabbing the hypospray and injecting it quickly into her neck.
T'Pol was about to say something but Malcolm became lucid again.
Shivering, Malcolm pulled against his restraints. "Hoshi?"
"I'm here, Malcolm," she replied and grabbed his hand.
"Come with me. You'll be safe."
Hoshi held the PADD and loosened the restraint on one of his hands. He had to leave. It was the only way to save him. "Yes, Malcolm," she whispered steadily, trying to keep the deceit out of her voice. "Take me with you." She leaned over him and kissed him gently on his lips.
"You'll die if you go with him," T'Pol stated quickly. "Just like he's dying now, out of his own time."
Hoshi held a hand up in understanding, giving the Vulcan a sad look. "I know what I have to do, Sub-Commander."
"You forgive me?" the last of his reason questioned, his fingers slowly tapping on the PADD.
"I love you," Hoshi replied softly, hoping it wasn't the last time she got to tell him.
His hand clasped hers and he smiled.
Nora watched as Hoshi placated the dying man. She waited as he entered the final sequence, listening for the telltale signs of a temporal shift. Hoshi pulled away from Malcolm as he started to dissolve in front of them. A tortured cry echoed through the room as he realized Hoshi's treachery.
Looking at the indentation where Malcolm had been, Hoshi closed her eyes.
"Hoshi?" T'Pol's voice was soft as a warm hand touched her shoulder. "They're looking for you. You've got to go back now."
She ran her hand over the indentation and nodded, ready to face the fate that awaited her. "Send me back."
--
Startled cerulean eyes stared at her as she materialized in front of Malcolm in her quarters. "What the bloody hell is going on?"
Hoshi stared at him, disoriented momentarily at seeing the younger version of the man she had fallen in love with. She had to think fast. She couldn't let him know what was going to happen.
Malcolm flipped his communicator open and barked out a command. "Lieutenant Reed to the bridge."
"Go ahead, Lieutenant Reed," T'Pol's voice replied.
"Ensign Sato was just beamed to her quarters. Recommend going on tactical alert."
"Understood."
Malcolm grabbed Hoshi by the shoulders and shook her gently. "Are you okay, Hoshi? Where have you been? What did they want?"
Hoshi tried pulling away from him, but he held onto her firmly.
"I know something's wrong Hoshi. I – I could feel it," he continued, trying to get her to look him in the eye. "You were scared. I don't know how, but I was here. What happened?"
She knew better than to mislead him. The temporal displacement disorder had obviously affected him as well. "I'm fine, Malcolm – sir."
His hands roamed over her body in a clinical way as if ascertaining through touch that she was indeed fine and in front of him. "Where were you?"
"I was onboard the other Enterprise," she replied calmly as though trying to pacify a child.
"What did they want?" His hold on her tightened.
Hoshi tried wiggling out of his grasp, but gave up. "That's my business, sir."
"Not when it comes to the safety of this ship, Ensign."
Hoshi looked nervously at him. She had to come up with a believable lie. "I – I received a message…from T'Pol."
Malcolm tensed, but released her.
"It's personal," Hoshi hedged.
"So personal T'Pol couldn't go through the proper channels?"
Hoshi cleared her throat and looked down.
Malcolm grabbed her again, forcing her to look at him. "Tell me I'm not crazy, Hoshi. I was on the bridge and I had flashes of you in your quarters. You were taking a shower. We argued. You said I was scaring you."
Cinnamon eyes stared into blue. "I don't know what you are referring to, sir."
The blatant lie hung in the air and he backed away slowly as he realized she wasn't going to volunteer anything. If she hadn't transported into her cabin in front of him, he would have thought he was losing it, but something was definitely up. He looked at her shrewdly, remembering bits and pieces of the panic he felt. Hoshi was in danger. He knew that much.