J. B. Tilton/Page 7
SIX
"Dr. Phlox tells me the three of you are human," Archer said when they had assembled in the situation room. "This is the rest of my senior staff. This is Ensign Travis Mayweather, the helmsman. This is Ensign Hoshi Sato, my communications officer. And this is Commander Charles Tucker, ships' engineer."
"Call me Trip," Tucker said, smiling.
"Okay," Piper said slowly. "Captain Archer, I know how crazy our story must sound to you. Believe me, I'd probably feel the same way if I were in your place. But it's all true."
"Unlikely," said T'Pol. "As I said, it has been determined that time travel is not possible."
"And like I said," said Piper, "science had nothing to do with it. It was a magical vortex created by a demon."
"Okay, you two, that's enough," Archer said. "I have a couple of questions. First, I did a little checking. It seems there were three sisters living in San Francisco one hundred fifty years ago with your names."
He pressed a button on the table in front of him and three photographs appeared on the screen behind him. The three photographs were of Piper, Phoebe, and Paige.
"So that proves we're telling the truth," Phoebe said.
"Not necessarily," T'Pol said. "It is quite possible your appearance has been altered to make you appear to be those three."
"I did not find any indication of alteration surgery," Phlox said.
"Nevertheless," T'Pol said, "it is very unlikely that these three are the same ones who lived on Earth so many decades ago."
"Hey, we're sitting right here," Paige said. "You know you have an annoying habit of talking about people as if they aren't around."
"She's a Vulcan," Hoshi said. "They have a number of habits that most humans find annoying."
"That's why we're talking now," Archer said, ignoring Hoshi's statement. "I think there's a way to determine if they're telling the truth. If you are who you claim to be, you should know the answers to some questions."
"Shoot," Piper said.
"What was your mother's name?" Archer asked.
"Patty," Phoebe said. "She died when we were quite young."
"And you're the oldest?" Archer asked Piper.
"Yes," Piper said. :"Well, actually no. We did have another sister. The oldest one. She died about three years ago. I mean, about three years before we suddenly got sucked here."
"Yes, Prudence I think her name was," Archer said.
"Prue," corrected Phoebe. "She hated the name Prudence. She always went by Prue."
"So far, so good," Archer. He turned to Paige. "So, I'm gathering Matthews is your maiden name. That's why it's different from the others."
"Actually, I'm only a half sister," Paige said. "Same mother but different father. I didn't even know I had any sisters until Prue died."
"All the right answers," Archer said.
"Which could have been discovered by anyone who did a little research," T'Pol said. "Just as you obviously did, Captain."
"Kind of the suspicious type, isn't she?" Phoebe asked.
"It's a trait of Vulcans," Trip said. "She's getting better, though."
"I do have one question," Archer said, ignoring the comment of his engineer, "regarding a symbol. One that Paige Matthews seemed to adopt just after she met her half sisters."
"The triquetra," Paige said. "Yeah, I guess I sort of did adopt it. It's…. sort of like a family crest."
"Can you describe this triquetra?" Archer asked.
"Well," Paige said, thinking, "it sort of looks like three interlocking circles inside another circle."
"Sort of like this?" Archer said, reaching into his pocket.
He pulled out a small strip of leather. Attached to the cloth was a circular pendant bearing the symbol of the triquetra. The item looked to be extremely old.
"That's it," Piper said, looking at the pendant. "That's the triquetra. Hey, that looks like Kitt's collar?"
"This proves nothing," T'Pol said. "If this triquetra was a family coat of arms, it would have been quite easy to determine that with the same research that would have provided the former information."
"Kitt?" Archer questioned Piper.
"Yes," Piper said. "Kitt was our cat. She, uh, ran away."
"That does look like Kitt's collar," Phoebe said. "How did you get it?"
Archer turned to the security guards standing at the door.
"We won't need you any longer," Archer said.
"Captain, do you think that's a good idea?" Reed asked as the two guards left.
"I don't think our guests are a danger," Archer said. "And in answer to T'Pol's statement, that bit of information isn't found in any information records. Oh, the triquetra is in the history records of the Halliwell family. But the fact that this particular locket is formerly a cat's collar isn't. That information has been handed down by word of mouth. To my knowledge, it was never written down anywhere?"
"Phoebe has a good question," Paige said. "And how could you know that was Kitt's collar originally?"
"Because," Archer said, smiling, "this has been in my family for generations. It's sort of a family heirloom, you might say. It's been handed down from one generation to the next. A little tradition started by my great, great, great, great, great grandmother. Her name was Paige Matthews. And she lived in San Francisco at the turn of the millennium."