Chapter 33

With all of the stresses of the last few months, shore leave just about anywhere would have had the crew of the Enterprise in a state of repressed excitement. The opportunity of taking shore leave on Risa, a purely tourist planet, was more than welcome. Captain Archer had scheduled the Enterprise for nine days stay, so that all of the crew could at least get at least three days leave down on the planet. The crew's newlyweds were using the time as a honeymoon, although T'Pol still wasn't sure that it had quite the same meaning as the Vulcan time of Seclusion.

Trip knew that he wasn't up for Seclusion in any case. Pon Farr was nothing to mess around with and although he was officially cleared for duty, he still wasn't up for anything that strenuous. No a Human honeymoon was just what the doctor ordered, days with nothing more frustrating than teaching a Vulcan how to swim and nights filled with gentle loving. Of course he had serious doubts that he would be able to get T'Pol to do anything more than just swim on the surface. The idea of putting her head under the water was enough to cause her some serious discomfort, if not down right fear although she would never admit it. Having seen Vulcan for himself, Trip could understand why and wasn't about to push it.

Sitting in the shuttlepod headed for the surface, Trip glanced over the faces of those who were taking the first shift of the three day leaves. Archer had put the entire crew on a lottery for their rotation, everyone would get the three days but which of the three days was purely left to chance. And that chance had led to nearly the entire alpha shift of the bridge crew going in the first wave, only Travis was left behind.

Swirling around for days now had been talks of the crew's plans for their shore leaves. Malcolm and Hoshi were discussing the differences between a traditional shore leave ( read bar crawl ) and Hoshi's determination to check out the cultural sites available. Archer had loudly informed anyone who asked that he and his beagle Porthos were headed for an isolated mountain cabin and he wasn't to be contacted for anything less than an interstellar emergency. Everyone knew where Trip and T'Pol were headed although most were surprised that they would accept Tavin's hospitality.

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Trip had been surprised with how nice Tavin's family getaway was. The rooms were large and airy, and the view from the wrap around porch was great. They had a view of everything from the beach all the way up to the mountain at the center of the island. He had to admit that it was a great spot for meditation, quiet and peaceful.

They unpacked their clothes out of their duffels and split up to explore the house. T'Pol made a through examination of the kitchen, making certain that it was well stocked. Trip just poked his head into the various rooms around the place. There were a couple of studies and a well stocked library. The sitting room was filled with the sort of furniture that he had learned was common on Vulcan, carved stone covered with pillows. But it was the last room that really caught his attention. There was no doubt what this room was used for, not when the only real piece of furniture in it was a large stone platform covered in bedding and shackles at appropriate intervals.

T'Pol felt Trip's agitation across their bond and came looking for him. When she saw what room he was looking at she realized just what was disturbing him. "There is no reason to think that my cycle will have any effect on you. You are Human, not Vulcan and therefore are not very likely to experience Plak Tow."

"But I might," Trip said. "There is no way to know ahead of time because there has never been a bonding like ours."

"We will deal with it when the time comes," T'Pol said. "I know that whatever happens we will get through it together."

"I just don't want to hurt you," Trip said.

"Nor do I wish to hurt you," T'Pol returned. "No one knows what will happen when I experience the Piyahtaya Pohshau, the Ripening Fire. That does not mean that it is inevitable that we will do each other harm."

"Yeah, I get it; don't borrow trouble." Trip turned his back on the Seclusion chamber and caught the look T'Pol was giving him. "That means don't worry about things that you can't change or things that won't happen for years. Did you find any rope?"

Having learned by now to ignore such abrupt changes of subject T'Pol replied, "No, I have been investigating the stores in the kitchen."

"Good thing I came prepared then," Trip said. "Let's go check out the beach." Wondering what Trip had come up with now T'Pol followed him. Trip grabbed up one of his bags and pulled out a length of rope and a blanket before heading down to the beach. Once there she watched as Trip picked out two trees and tied one end of the rope to one. Working quickly Trip turned the blanket and the rope into a hammock.

T'Pol had seen hammocks in Trip's memories before but hadn't realized that Trip knew how to make one. "You are very efficient. This will make a pleasant place for you to study Mr. Scott's force field generator technology."

"It's also the perfect place for us to snuggle," Trip said as he picked her up and set them both to swinging.

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Lieutenant Malcolm Reed was a gentleman born and bred. His family had served in the English Navy for centuries and he had been raised to personify the ideal of an officer and a gentleman. That was why he had graciously given in and let Hoshi plan their shore leave. He had thought that he would much rather have gone on a traditional bar crawl than sample the local version of culture. He was wrong. Hoshi's delight in both learning a new language, something that had happened during a trip into an art exhibit, and in the new things that they saw there were enough to make him realize that he was having more fun watching her than he would have had otherwise.

He didn't know it but more than one matron was commenting to Hoshi about what a catch she had landed in her handsome escort. Hoshi didn't try to deny the relationship that they were implying. She knew that Malcolm would never do anything inappropriate, especially as long as they had regulation issues. In a way it was very frustrating. She would never want Malcolm to change who he was so drastically, and yet she did wish that he would ignore the fraternization regs. It was enough to make her wish that something weird would happen to them the way it had to Commander Tucker and SubCommander T'Pol. She wasn't the only one who was wishing.

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It had been a perfect day. Jonathan Archer should have realized that there was no way it was going to last. He was sitting on the porch of his rented cabin with Porthos at his feet when suddenly he realized he wasn't alone. Looking up he saw the last person he ever wanted to see again, Crewman Daniels, the Temporal Agent. "Whatever it is, the answer is no," Archer proclaimed. "I hate time travel and everything that goes with it."

"Captain Kirk's incursion into this reality has caused a ripple in the timeline that has become a tidal wave," Daniels began.

"Then go yell at him," Archer said firmly. "Daniels I really need this down time. I have just two more days before I have to get back to Enterprise. I need the time off. I can't do a thing about Kirk and his crew showing up in this universe and I'm not likely to either! They're showing up did a lot of good, both for my crew and for our relations with other worlds."

"In the short term yes, they did a lot of good but they also did a lot of damage that I have to make sure gets corrected. For instance, their interference led to Commander Tucker and SubCommander T'Pol surviving their bonding. But because of their public bonding V'Las attempted his coup nearly four years early. That led to his killing almost every Vulcan in the Embassy on Earth and his death. It also led to your ship not being where it was supposed to be and because of that you personally will miss being in a situation that you need to be in. That situation will lead you to one very small piece of information. That information will sit in your mind for nearly two years until it is needed. Without that information, you will not have the proper mindset to deal with a certain situation in the future that is critical to the entire temporal cold war." Daniels pulled out his temporal observatory and turned it on. "Do you remember this?" he asked Archer.

"Yeah, only it was a lot, umm, smoother," Archer stood up and tried to find a word for the change in what he was seeing. The lines that he had seen before swirling around the room in harmony, were now in tangles and broken strands could be seen everywhere. There was no rhyme or reason that he could see.

"Captain Kirk informed you of the fact that Commander Tucker and SubCommander T'Pol are bondmates. If that had not happened, V'Las would have remained as Administrator of the Vulcan High Command for another four years. He still would have committed a similar atrocity during his attempted coup, but it would have been the Human Embassy on Vulcan that would have suffered. People died this time that didn't die before and people who did die now won't. V'Las is just the start of what caused this particular reaction in the timeline. We've been able to stabilize most of the ripples caused by his early death. But it still led to what is going to cause this effect, because Enterprise isn't going to be here," and Daniels pointed to a particular point, "when she needs to be. The rest I've already told you. You need a piece of information and you can't get it without being at the right place at the right time."

Archer rubbed his eyes. He hated this with a passion. "Ok, so if I make sure that the Enterprise goes directly there after we leave orbit, will we make it in time?"

Daniels nodded. "Yes but I can't give you any more information. It is critical to restoring the timeline that you are personally involved in the situation that will result from the Enterprise being there and then. Not so much because of how your actions will affect the people involved but because you need to be there to see that small but critical piece of information."

"Why can't you just tell me what it is? I mean if the information is such a minor thing?" Archer asked.

"Without your personal involvement, the information will not affect you in the same manner. And you must be affected, Captain. That changes everything," Daniels said as he waved his hand around at the mess the time observatory is showing.

"So it's not so much the information as how it affects me," Archer said as he began to understand.

"And even more importantly, how it affects how you look at things in your future," Daniels said solemnly.

"Ok Daniels, give me the date and the coordinates and then get out of here so I can enjoy the rest of my leave."