-1
"Clear those bodies off the deck!" Captain Daniels
called as he kicked the Suliban corpses out of the way. "What
were they after?" he asked.
"I don't know, but they took co-ordinates," Lt. Shelly called out. "Dates, places, and a temporal calculation alga-rhythm," she said as he came and looked over her shoulder.
"Damnit!" he said as he realized what the missing data was. "Mitchell, get Starfleet! Smith, get a team together, I want to know how and where these guys came from. Shelley, try to figure out what they're going to change. Tamas, figure out where they went," he said as he went into his ready room to talk to Starfleet about things.
He sighed as he looked around at the mess that had been made. The Suliban had landed in his ready room first and made a mess before storming the bridge.
"Daniels, this better be good," Admiral Tucker said as he stared at him through the screen.
"Sir, we just had a battle with a large group of Suliban on my bridge," he said.
"What? How?" Tucker asked.
"We're working on that now sir," Daniels said. "They did manage to break the encryption codes to gather enough data to calculate and alter a critical temporal occurrence."
"How critical of an occurrence is it?" Tucker asked as he leaned closer to the screen, his blue eyes studying Daniels carefully.
"The Hallee incident," he said.
Tucker sat back and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Get to Earth as soon as possible Captain," he said. "I very much like the way things have turned out for me," he said as he ended the conversation.
Daniels relayed the orders to the bridge and took a moment to collect himself. He liked the way things had turned out too.
There were more tears tonight and no Trip to save her. There had been some kind of cascade failure in the warp engines, so he was busy fixing that. Hoshi had worked out something that looked like a deal with Hallee. She could do what ever she wanted until she fell asleep or 11 o'clock came, whatever happened first.
Hoshi sat, curled up on a couch in a pair of sweat pants and a top; half heartedly working on translating the last alien language they had run into. Hallee had been colouring the last time she had checked on her. In between the colouring and picking a new colour, the few sobs that escaped were not lost on Hoshi. She felt the panic and the homesickness of her own floating and getting a tighter grip on her every sob she heard. She found herself listening to the small child in the other room instead of doing her work.
After a while, Sato realized that it was quiet and had been for a while now. She put the PADD down on the cushion beside her and unfolded slowly as she stood up to check on Hallee. She paused in the door way when she saw her curled up over what she had been working on. She gathered the sleeping form from the chair and laid her carefully onto the cot that Hallee and Trip had decided she liked and tucked her in carefully.
Then Hoshi went back to her PADD but she still felt bothered by something. Normally, she would just get up and go for a walk, but that was out of the question now. As she kept searching for a solution, she remembered that they were still in range of the last subspace beacon that had been deployed and that the captain had given her permission to use it at will to send linguistic data back to earth. She quickly gathered some of the completed data and sent that off before making a more personal call.
"Momma," she said on a shaky breath when she saw the older woman appear on the screen.
Hoshi's mother smiled at her and Hoshi quickly began to pour out her troubles and stories to her mother as the tears finally spilled over.
Admiral Garret Tucker entered his quiet, darkened house slowly in the hopes of not waking any one up. He paused when he saw the fire going and crept silently into the room.
"What's this now?" he asked his wife when he saw her sitting in her favourite chair.
"And you," he said to the little girl on the couch. "I would have thought anyone by the name of Hallee Tucker would have been in bed by now," he said with a smile to his grand daughter. She yawned and looked up at him slowly.
"I can go now grampa," she said as she held her arms out to him.
He smiled as he picked her up and carried her up stairs and put her to bed. He glanced at an old picture on her night stand of his grandparents, how many greats that should be in front were long forgotten. He smiled as he picked out his long diluted Asian genes from the woman who had her arms wrapped around the blue eyed southerner that he retained most of his dominant featured from.
"Charlie and Angie are at the hospital," Naomi, his wife, said when she found him in the room.
He smiled.
"At least you know their kids are Tuckers, they're both as unpredictable as ever," he said with a smile.
Hallee had taken on none of the traditional Tucker looks; no light hair, no fair skin, no blue eyes and absolutely no interest in machinery at all. She smiled.
"You should take Starfleet up on their offer to let you have free reign over the data library some day," she said.
"Why?" he asked. "All the kids know their story." She sighed.
Garret never did understand the importance of history.
"Because they're blood," she told him. "And think of all the new stories you'd have to tell Hallee and the New One. You'd never be accused of telling a story twice ever again," she reasoned.
He paused to think about this. He was getting the "Grampa, I already know this one!" from Hallee a lot these days. He stared at the picture a little more as he found him self seeing more and more of his little Button in Hoshi Sato.
"I'll ask them soon," he assured her. She smiled, satisfied for the moment and left to get ready for bed. "As soon as I make sure there is still going to be me," he muttered as he threw one last, long look at the picture before getting ready for bed himself.
"Well, hey there darlin'," Trip said as Hallee came over to him the next morning.
The little girl stopped short and wrinkled her nose up. Trip looked at her for a moment before smelling the sleeve of his uniform.
"Warp coolant," he told her.
"Sure it is," she answered from where she was standing.
Trip looked at her before moving closer. Hallee started to back up and he smiled at the cat and mouse game that was starting. They both started to move faster until Hallee was in an all out run. The two came to a quick stop as Malcolm turned away from the conversation he had been having with Hoshi. Tucker grabbed Hallee to make her stop running and to keep her from smashing into Reed. Tucker eyed Hoshi as he saw her hiding a smile behind her hand.
"It's all his fault!" Hallee said as she got herself free from Trip.
"He stinks and he was gonna get me," she explained as Hoshi picked her up.
Malcolm shifted his gaze from the red head to the blonde and back again. Trip smiled sheepishly and Hallee just giggled.
"What do you think?" he asked Hoshi. She shrugged and tried to hide the grin. "Well, you're a lot of help," he told her.
"Sorry Lieutenant," she said.
"I thought you said you weren't going to run unless it was super important," Malcolm said as he looked at Hallee.
"It was super important!" she protested. "He was gonna make me stinky like him!" the girl said as Hoshi smiled and Malcolm rolled his eyes.
"You stop running unless you're in a cargo bay with Porthos or in the gym," Malcolm told her as he pointed a finger at her.
"And you," he said to Trip. "You go shower."
"Yes sir," they both said, though Trip's answer was a little more sarcastic than Hallee's.
Hallee kept her eyes down as she saw Trip go one way and Malcolm go the other way. After Malcolm had disappeared around the corner, Trip came up behind Hoshi quickly and ruffled Hallee's hair.
"HEY!" she called to him as she took a swing that he easily ducked and started to move away.
Hoshi turned around to see him slink off. She shook her head at him, but didn't say anything as she watched him disappear with a wink into the lift.
"He's bad," Hallee announced as she and Hoshi headed for the mess deck.
"He is," she agreed as she put Hallee back on the ground.
"Do you guys ever stop at a planet?" Hallee asked as they entered the hall.
She took a moment to look around at everyone who was in there.
"Sometimes," Hoshi said as she took her hand to keep her from getting left behind.
"How often is sometimes?"
"Not very often," she admitted as she gathered the food and spotted a table where Travis was sitting.
"Oh," she said.
"You'll be the first to know when we do stop at one," Sato told her as Travis looked up at the two and offered them a seat.
"Stop at one what?" he asked as He and Hallee sized each other up.
"A planet," Hallee answered.
After she decided Travis was an okay guy she introduced herself, "I'm Hallee."
"I'm Travis."
"What do you do?" she asked as she had a drink.
"I fly the ship," he answered.
"Oh," she said. "Well, if you're down here, who's flying the ship now?"
"Somebody else is flying the ship. Don't worry," he said as he finished his own coffee.
"Oh, okay then," she said as she climbed up onto her knees so she could see over the table.
He smiled at her.
"You need a telephone book," he told her.
Hoshi just looked at them.
"I sit on two at home sometimes," she said with a bit of a frown. "I don't like being the littlest."
Hoshi sighed as she watched the two go off into their little conversation and she was happy for the break. She took a moment to think back on the conversation she'd had with her mother last night and understood what she had meant by not trying to do it all. Sure, she had been given the responsibility, but the message in short was never to be afraid to pawn Hallee off on someone else for a while. The linguist could live with that and she was sure that Trip and now Travis would take her if she asked them. She sighed, she felt better about things now, a lot better.
"You did what?" Tucker asked a few weeks later as he ate dinner with Jon while they watched a water polo game.
"I had to tell Starfleet, Trip. She's been here for a couple of weeks and they had to be informed. We can't just keep gallivanting around the galaxy with a four year old on board," he reasoned with the engineer. Tucker sighed, he knew what his captain was saying was true, but he didn't like it at all.
"Yer not gonna make me tell Hoshi, are ya?" he asked.
"No, I'll do it," Archer said. He knew that something was happening between his engineer and his comm officer, even if they had yet to admit it. "Speaking of Hoshi," he said.
"What about 'er?" Trip asked around a mouthful of French fries.
"You two have gotten rather . . . Close over the last few weeks," he said.
Trip thought about that for a moment.
"I guess that's what happens when there's a kid involved," he said, not thinking much of the comment.
"Trip, the fraternization rules," Archer started.
"Wait a minute, you think? Me and 'er?" he laughed a little. "Nothin' like that is goin' on Jon."
Jonathon studied him for a moment.
"Hey, it's none of my business, just make sure it doesn't get in the way," he said as he turned back to his meal and the game. Trip chewed slowly as he turned back to the game as well. He had never really thought about Hoshi in that way before, but now that Archer had mentioned it . . . "And then they flied in and out of the all the wood in the bottom of the quidditch pitch trying to get the golden snitch without the bludger getting them and Malfoy kept slamming into Harry, trying to make him crash!" Hallee said excitedly as she described the Harry Potter book she and Hoshi had started to read to Malcolm.
"They flew in and out," he corrected.
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"That's what I said!"
"Sorry, love," he said. "Keep going." She sighed as she remembered where she was.
"Oh yeah. And then the bludger got Malfoy and he flew off his Nimbus 2001 and crashed and Harry went after the snitch and when he just about got it, the bludger went boom! Into his arm and broke it but then he finally got it with his other hand and fell off his broom and then Ron and Hermione came down from the stands and Hermione cast a spell to explode the crazy bludger!" she said as she acted out the scene to him.
He chuckled a little as he watched her exuberance.
"And then Gilderoy Lockhart, who's supposed to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher came down and was gonna use magic to fix Harry's arm, but instead he magiced all the bones right out of his arm!" she said as she bounced back over to him.
"And then what happened?" he asked.
"Umm. That's where we stopped last night," she said as she caught her breath. He nodded a little. "Well, I'm done now," she said as she ran off to play with Porthos again.
Malcolm smiled and shook his head before going back to his PADD as he sat in the empty cargo bay with Hallee and Porthos, waiting for either Trip or Hoshi to come back and get her. He looked over the PADD at her again and shook his head with a smile. After the last time he had caught her running in the hallway, Hallee's curiosity about Malcolm had been peaked and she had spent the next week trying to get him some where that she could talk to him, finally pestering him in the mess hall until he started to talk to her and that had been that.
"So, this is where you two have been hiding out," Hoshi said as she came into the bay.
Malcolm turned from his PADD to look at her.
"I heard you started to read her 'Harry Potter'," he said as he moved over on the bin he had been sitting on.
She laughed a little and sat down beside him.
"We needed something to do," she said with a shrug. "She loves the quidditch scenes the best."
"I know; I got a play by play of the enchanted bludger." They both laughed.
"What are you doing?" she called out to Hallee finally.
Porthos barked and ran over to Hoshi, as Hallee trailed behind him.
"Hi," she said breathlessly as she threw herself into Hoshi's arms.
"Hi," Sato answered as she brushed the sweaty hair off of Hallee's forehead. "Ready to go home?" she asked.
The little girl sighed.
"I guess," she said.
Porthos barked and wagged his tail. Entertaining a kid was hard work.
"I'll tell you more tomorrow, okay?" she said to Malcolm.
"I look forward to it, love," he said. Hallee smiled.
"Okay, we can go," she said to Hoshi.
"Are you going to get off me?" she thought about it for a moment.
"No," she said as she held her arms out.
"Thanks Malcolm," Hoshi said as she picked Hallee up. "Come on Porthos," she called as they left the bay.
Malcolm sighed a little as he watched them leave. He didn't know if it was Hallee or the fact that Hoshi was in charge of some one, but the young ensign had started to become more confident and exude the qualities he had always assumed she had in her. He sighed a little, happy that the fraternization rule was in place, but cursed it at the same time.
"I can't believe he told Starfleet?" Hoshi said to Trip after they had put Hallee to sleep.
"He had to, she's been here for a couple of weeks and they were gonna have to find out sooner or later."
"But why now? She's just getting used to things here, everyone is just getting used to her," Hoshi said as she crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned against the wall in the hallway outside of her quarters. "Nothing good will come of this," she finished.
Trip sighed as he leaned on the wall beside her.
"We still have a lot of time. We're in no hurry to get home," he told her. "Cap'n Archer said we'd take our time, there might even be a stop at Risa for everyone," Hoshi sighed. "Besides," Trip said. "We all know this tin can is no place for a kid," Tucker said as he pushed off the wall and turned to face her.
"That doesn't make it any easier," she muttered.
He sighed and looked up and down the hallway.
"Come on," he said as he pulled her into her quarters before wrapping his arms around her.
She stood for a moment before wrapping her arms around him. The two stood in silence for a moment before there was a rustle in the bed room and Hallee stumbled out, rubbing her eyes at the light. She walked over and wrapped her arms around Trip's leg. The two pulled away from each other and looked down at Hallee.
"I had a bad dream," she said with a little sniffle. "Can I have a drink of water?" she asked as she looked up.
"Sure thing darlin'," Trip said as he picked her up and carried her off to get a drink before checking the other room for monsters.
Hoshi sighed as she watched them go. She never meant to get this attached to the little monster, but somewhere along the way, it had happened. She looked up as Trip came out of the bedroom.
"She's fine. Something about invisible men crawling on the walls," he said with a shake of his head.
Hoshi's brow furrowed as she looked at him.
"Invisible men crawling on the walls?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "Something wrong with that?" he asked.
"The Suliban can time travel," she muttered as he put things together.
Trip's eyes widened as he realized things as well. Hoshi hurried into the other room and scooped Hallee up in her arms.
"What's goin' on?" she asked with a yawn.
"We're just going to go for a little walk," Hoshi said as they trio left her quarters and headed to talk to Archer about things.
"What do you mean you lost her!" Silik called from the shadows of the room.
Noinim shrank away from him.
"We searched for her for months!" he yelled again.
"We. . . We didn't expect her to awaken," Noinim said quietly.
"You are far faster than the humans! You have technology that they have never dreamed of and you still couldn't capture the child?" Noinim stayed quiet. "Fool!" Silik boomed as he fired a shot that sliced through the air and hit Noinim in the chest.
He slumped to the ground silently as Silik stalked past him to find some one who could accomplish the mission.
"What do you mean there was a temporal incursion?" Garrett Tucker asked as he hurried to greet Daniels' ship as it docked.
"The Suliban, sir. They initiated a jump that lasted 3.2 minutes before returning," Daniels replied.
"Did they alter anything?"
"No sir," Tucker let out a breath that he had been holding.
"Why haven't you found them yet?" he demanded as he entered the ship and headed to the bridge.
"They have some kind of field that we can't get through. It falters only when they go to warp and if they initiate an incursion. By the time we have the coordinates marked, they're gone," Daniels explained.
Tucker sighed. He was almost ready to order a party to just go to Enterprise and bring Hallee back to the 29th century.
"Keep working on it," he said as he entered the bridge. "We need to find a way to track the Suliban. Daniels, your ready room," he said as he headed straight for it. Daniels followed on his heels. "I need answers Captain," he said as soon as the doors had closed.
"I don't have any Garrett," he said.
"I don't know how they got on to this ship in the first place," Daniels went on as he poured them both cups of coffee. "We have the most sophisticated security system in the fleet and they still got through! This is why the system was put in place, to prevent this event and it still happened!"
Tucker chuckled a little.
"You can't stop time, Andrew. And it seems that you can't change it either."
"Perhaps sir, we should assemble a small team, even just one individual and send them to Enterprise," Andrew said as he looked up from his cup. The admiral took a drink before looking at Daniels.
"I was thinking the same thing," he said. "Try not to find anyone that is related to the crew," he said. Andrew sighed as he ran through people on his crew.
"Maybe we should send a descendant. They'll understand what exactly is at stake."
"We can't contaminate the time line."
"Then send a really distantly related one. Lt. Archer?" he asked.
"Don't you think it will be a bit of a give away?" The two of them each knew what had happened during Enterprise's 4th year in space.
Tucker looked at him. "Archer is a very common last name," he supplied.
"I'll send her with orders to let her human side through. And keep the ears covered."
"Why not just alter them?" Tucker asked.
"She may need to sway some votes in her favour. It would be better if she had something they could see right away if she has to give up her cover."
"Fine," Tucker said after a moment. "Brief T'Lin and send her to me as soon as possible."
Tucker stood slowly as he put his cup down. "As soon as possible," he said again as he left the room and headed back to his office on the station.
T'Lin sat quietly in her quarters, bathed in the soft glow from the small flame in her meditation lamp. Though she was mostly human, the Vulcan in her DNA refused to be ignored and had made its presence known not only in her ears, but in her emotions as well. Though she allowed herself to show them occasionally, she generally kept them buried under a mask of cool Vulcan logic. She sighed as her meditation was interrupted by the door chime.
"Enter," she called as she blew out the light and gave Alex, her beagle, a pat on the head before rising to meet her guest.
"Lieutenant," Daniels said as he came in.
"Captain," she answered.
"How would you feel about going on a little away mission, T'Lin?" Daniels asked as he sat down and was greeted by the energetic puppy.
"What kind of away mission?" she questioned as she pulled Alex away from the Captain.
She had learned early on that it was not always a good idea to volunteer for Captain Daniels away missions. Daniels chuckled at Alex and T'Lin for a moment before explaining the mission.
"Wouldn't we be in violation the Temporal Prime Directive?" she asked as after she had thought about the mission for a moment.
He sighed.
"It's already been broken. Hallee appeared directly on the ship instead of on a planet. Because of that, there was no away team beamed to the surface, no battle in space with the Suliban and there are half a dozen other little events that never occured. I don't think sending you will really change things much more," he finished.
T'Lin scratched Alex behind the ears as she mulled things over.
"I'll be expected to be human?"
"Yes."
"Is surgery involved?"
"No. Admiral Tucker thinks it would be best to leave you the way you are, incase you need to show them what exactly is at stake in this future. Showing them your ears and quoting a few facts about them will be quicker than letting them run medical tests," he finished.
"Very well," she said. "When do I leave?"
"As soon as possible," he said as he stood up.
The beagle jumped off his master's lap and trotted over to the captain, looking for a quick pet, Daniels obliged and the puppy sat and wagged his tail.
"I'll find some one to watch the dog for you," the Captain said as he turned to let him self out. "Get your things together, pack light. I'll make sure there is a uniform, a communicator and a tricorder ready for you."
"What is wrong with what I have already been issued?" she asked as she stopped to look at him.
"You're going back to the 22nd century," he said with a small smile that grew when he saw the corners of her lips turn up ever so slightly and a very human twinkle appeared in her eye.
"Of course," she said as she turned on her heel.
Daniels laughed as he left her quarters to have the proper supplies replicated for her.
