Thanks to those who reviewed, and to all those who are reading. I really appreciate it, and it helps to know people are reading. I'm going on holiday for the next week and a half, so the next section should be posted in about two weeks. I hope you enjoy.

Archer, who had been about to sit down, straightened. Turning to Travis, he ordered, "Ensign, shields up. Malcolm, evasive maneuvers. Keep us out of their firing range. Hoshi, what are they saying?" Belatedly he realized his linguist might not be able to translate. To his surprise her response was prompt.

"Give me a second, sir. I can't understand, but the universal translator should be able to give us an idea,"

"Sir," Travis spoke up. "I think that is the Actuarian ship that we encountered earlier, when you and Sub-Commander T'Pol were away."

From her seat Hoshi nodded agreement. "It is. The language is the same. That's why it's on file with the UT. Good thing…." Her voice fell off. "Why would they be back? To warn us of something?"

"Perhaps they'll tell us," Archer suggested. "Patch them through, Ensign."

Hoshi's response was slower than normal, but she complied.

"Enterprise, Earth vessel. Thisis the actuarian vessel 'Behemoth'. We have noted that you are trying to avoid us. We only wish to continue our previous conversation. Are you in difficulty?"Archer glanced around at his crew to see their responses. Since they had previously met the Actuarians, and he had not, he had to rely on their opinions as to whether this behavior was consistent with the prior meeting. But his crew was not giving him any hints.

"This is Captain Archer. We haven't met. I must say, if you just wanted to talk, why did you fire on us earlier?"

"Captain Archer? We did not realize that the Commander we spoke with earlier was not in command. Our apologies." There was a hesitation that lasted so long Archer had begun to think they'd lost their communication link. He'd turned to Hoshi to ask when the voice returned.

"Our apologies again, Captain. I was conferring with my tactical officer. He assures me we did not fire on you. Could there have been a misreading on your end?"

Malcolm, at the helm, had turned to face Archer. He was still keeping the ship in motion, preventing the other ship from drawing too close. At the question from the Actuarian he gave a shrug.

"I suppose that it is possible. I'll look into it on my end. Can I ask who I am having the pleasure of addressing?"

"I am Commodore Supreme Halik, of the Acturaian fleet."

"Commodore Supreme Halik, can I ask what you are doing in this area of space? What is your mission?"

"As we told your subordinate," there was the slightest hint of impatience, "we are doing research on stellar phenomenon."

"I see. Well, Commander Tucker is occupied at the moment. May I ask your crew complement?" Archer tried to gather information.

"Captain, as I'm sure is the case for you, we don't give out such information routinely-"

"Of course. I was only asking because you said you were interested in continuing the previous conversation. I was going to suggest that we continue in more comfortable surroundings, and was wondering if you and some of your crew might join us for a meal."

Archer watched Malcolm's back stiffen in silent protest at the casual invitation. He smiled to himself. Handicapped by the ailment that was afflicting the crew or not, Malcolm was still a tactical officer at heart. T'Pol was also studying him, and if her cool gaze didn't carry the same disagreement, there was a least a warning there. He turned to nod at her, acknowledging her silent input.

Again, there was a long pause from the other ship. "Captain, your offer is most kind… currently we have some pressing business to take care of, but we would like to visit very soon. How long do you plan to remain in the vicinity?"

"Unfortunately, we won't be remaining in the area" Archer told his counterpart. "However, if we meet again, the invitation is still open. How long do you plan to remain in the area?"

"As long as it takes, Captain," the answer was smooth. "And now, I really must go. But I wouldn't be surprised if we encountered each other again."

Archer knew he wasn't imagining that the tone had abruptly turned sinister.

Archer strode into sick bay. "Doctor?" he called.

"I'm here, Captain. How may I help you?" Phlox came out of the adjoining lab, rubbing his hands to dry them.

"I wanted to see if you've made any progress on whatever this thing is."

Phlox face lost its customary smile. "I think it would be best if Crewman Cutler joined us." He touched the intercom to his lab. "Elizabeth? Could you join the captain and I?"

"Sure." Seconds later Cutler appeared at the door adjoining the lab. "How can I help you, sir?"

Archer smiled at her. Unlike most of the rest of the crew, Cutler appeared confident. There was no hint of the malady affecting the rest of the crew.

"I was just wondering if you'd made any progress on figuring out what is going on, medically."

Cutler nodded. "I think we may have found something. I've had as many of the crew as I could arrange have scans of the brain. In every case I've found increased activity in the hippocampus, and generally increased neurological activity. But it's very non-specific. There doesn't seem to be any injury though." A thought struck her. "Captain, since you're here, would you mind undergoing a brain scan? It will only take about five minutes, and it would be very helpful. The more subjects, the more I can look for differences between them."

"Five minutes? I can spare that. Who else do you need? I'll try to get as many people down here as possible." Archer studied her a moment. "Cutler, you don't seem to be affected by this… event."

The volunteer medical assistant smiled at him. "I'm not so sure, Captain. Remember, my formal training is in xenobiology. I haven't had any need to test my abilities in those areas. I'm new to being a medical technician, so I guess it would be hard to tell if I'd lost any abilities— any deficiencies could be attributed to my being new at the job. It would be hard to say for sure if I'd actually lost anything."

Archer thought about that, and then turned to Phlox. "How about you, doctor? How are your skills?"

"It's the oddest thing, Captain." Phlox was animated in his reply. "I don't feel like I've lost any knowledge at all. If you ask me to explain the mechanism of action of a given drug, I'm sure I could tell you. But when it comes to DOING anything… suddenly, I'm all thumbs. I can look at any X-ray or scan, but if something is abnormal, I can tell you that it seems abnormal, but I can't tell you what it is."

"Experience." Archer said suddenly.

"Pardon?" Phlox had gone to watch Cutler set up for the captain's brain scan, but now he looked up.

"Does it seem to you like you've lost what you've learned from your experience, while your 'book knowledge' is intact?"

"Yes! That's exactly it!"

Cutler was nodding. "That is what everyone seems to be describing. There are a few variations, and some people seem to have lost a little knowledge, too, but mostly it's the things they've learned, and practiced, over time!" Cutler was animated. After a few moments though, her face fell. "Wait. That doesn't explain Chef not being able to cook."

"Maybe it does." Archer mused. "Chef, like many great cooks, never really uses book knowledge. He cooks based on his experience with all the variables—how spices taste, how they blend, what enhances what flavor wise. So much of what he does is based on his having learned on the job, that its not surprising, if our theory is correct, that he would have lost the most."

"Hmmm. That's an interesting theory, captain. I'd even add that the most hard hit areas are the skills learned through experience. Which would explain why I can recite the proper electrolyte levels in an Andorian, but I fumble through starting a simple IV. I know how to do it—but I've lost the years of practice."

"The question is, what do we do about it?" Archer asked. "We need our skills back now. We can't afford years to get back in practice."

Cutler and Phlox looked back at him without replying. There was really nothing they could say.

"We'll keep working on finding a cause, and more importantly a cure. In the meantime, Captain, perhaps you could do the scan now?"

Phlox went to his work station while Cutler settled the captain into the machine. When he was lying comfortably, she initiated the scan, and sat back to wait the five minutes needed. She was mentally making a list of things she needed to do when the intercom came to life.

"Medical emergency in the armory! Medical emergency in the armory! There's been an explosion!" The panicked voice on the other end belonged to a crewman whose name Cutler could not place. "We've got casualties. Please send help!"

Cutler hit the stop button on the scan, and ran to grab the emergency kit. She looked over at Phlox to see if he was following.

He looked as panicked as the unnamed voice from the armory.