CHAPTER 21

Sleep eluded Hoshi that night. Bleary-eyed and tense the next morning, she dressed in her old uniform. As with the Balantian meeting, she felt a need to distance herself from the empire, especially since it felt like she was slowly but surely being sucked into this universe's machinations. Her uniform should help remind her of who she really was.

She had a quick breakfast with Archer in his cabin. He was too focused to notice her choice of attire, or if he did, he didn't comment on it. He was preoccupied with the challenge of defeating Chancellor Shran.

The feeling of having no control over what was happening to her intensified when she arrived on the bridge. Her auxiliary station, she found, had been tied directly to communications. She was, in effect, double-checking everything that came through the main comm console. There was nothing she could do about the resentment she could practically feel coming from Freeman, the comm officer. She couldn't help it that she was better at the job than Freeman was and that Captain Archer was taking advantage of it. The reassuring presence of Mayweather, covering her back, allowed her to resist the urge to look over her shoulder at Freeman.

She had been at her station several hours when T'Pol spoke from the science station. "Long-range sensors have picked up a ship on course for the Andorian fleet. It matches specs for a heavy Andorian cruiser."

Archer rose from his chair in the command well. "That's got to be Shran." He looked at Freeman, who was monitoring the communications frequencies.

The officer shook his head. "No subspace traffic."

"No indication that they are aware we're here," Reed put in from tactical.

"Tell Colonel Hawthorne to have a boarding party ready," Archer told Reed, then retook his seat. "Helm, put us on a direct intercept course for the Andorian ship. Warp five."

An affirmative came from the helm console in front of Archer. Silence, thick with anticipation, settled on the bridge as Enterprise altered course and leaped forward even faster.

A minute later, T'Pol reported, "The Andorians must have detected us. They have altered course."

"Are they trying to run for it?" Archer asked.

"I don't believe so," T'Pol responded. "Their new heading seems to be an effort to provide them with the best angle of defense. They must know they can't outrun an Imperial starship."

"Open a hailing frequency," Archer instructed Freeman. "I want to talk to Shran."

The officer pushed a few buttons and nodded at Archer. Before Archer could speak, however, a horrendous screech of feedback filled the bridge.

Archer winced and jumped to his feet. "Shut that off!" he shouted.

Freeman, his face a ruddy hue, was already throwing switches and hitting buttons, but the noise continued unabated. Hoshi, hands over her ears, knew what the problem was. It had to be a feedback loop created by tying her console in with communications. Freeman, however, didn't seem to know what to do as he frantically pushed buttons.

Hoshi couldn't do anything from her station; it had to be fixed at Freeman's. Trying to yell over the noise would be fruitless, so she got to her feet and rushed around the upper level of the bridge. At the comm station, she pulled Freeman, chair and all, out of her way and slapped two buttons, one after the other, to cut the connection to her auxiliary console. The noise immediately ceased. As a precaution, she also switched off the open channel to Shran's ship.

Despite the ringing in her ears, she heard the sounds of a scuffle behind her. She turned to see Mayweather with an arm around Freeman's neck, holding him in place. The comm officer must have been about to retaliate against her impetuous action, but as far as she could tell, Freeman was the only one mad at her. Even Archer seemed relieved, although he was glaring at Freeman struggling in Mayweather's grasp.

"You're confined to quarters until further notice," Archer told the comm officer.

Freeman stopped fighting Mayweather, who a moment later released his hold. Panting with rage, Freeman glared at Sato.

"Get off the bridge," Archer ordered. "Now!"

Freeman fliched as if struck, but he obeyed. He turned and quickly went to the turbolift. As he entered, Archer said to Sato, "Take over at communications."

Hoshi hadn't meant to take over Freeman's post. She'd only wanted the noise to stop. Eyes wide, realizing that her own actions had put her in thick of things, she nodded at Archer. In all her time in this universe, she'd never once thought she'd be doing what she did on her Enterprise, mainly because she didn't belong here. There was nothing to do but go along with it for the moment. If nothing else, because she was the best communications officer and linguist on this ship, she might be able to hasten the resolution of the Andorian situation, and in so doing, be able to work toward resolving her own problem. If Archer was successful, he might be agreeable to finding a way to send her home. If he failed, there would be no talking to him about it.

As Archer retook his seat, she asked him, "Should I reopen the hailing frequency?"

He nodded curtly, his jaw muscles working tautly. She could see he was still angry about the feedback. The incident had interrupted the flow of the moment, and he'd had to regain his mental footing.

Hoshi pushed the appropriate buttons and said, "The channel is open."

A small dot on the main viewscreen was growing larger. That had to be Shran's ship, Hoshi realized. In this universe, humans must have faster ships to be able to overtake an Andorian military vessel. Or, if the Shran of this universe was as arrogant as the one with whom she was acquainted, he was confident in his abilities to defend himself against a human ship.

Archer drew a deep breath. "Chancellor Shran! This is Captain Jonathan Archer of the Terran Imperial starship Enterprise. Drop out of warp and prepare to be boarded."

Hoshi checked the console. When Archer looked in her direction, she shook her head. "They're receiving us. They just aren't answering."

Archer growled. "Shran! Talk to me! Or are you going to make me chase you halfway across the galaxy?"

A hiss of static preceeded a familiar voice over the bridge speaker. "Archer, you poor excuse for a sentient being! I should have known it was you."

The insult which would have hardly caused her Captain Archer to blink made this one turn a livid shade of red. Derogatory remarks from a perceived lesser species didn't sit well with the humans of this universe, apparently, for she noticed the displeased expressions of other humans on the bridge.

"I know what you're up to, Shran," Archer said. "Give up now and I'll go easy on you."

The silence that followed that statement dragged out so long that Hoshi checked to make sure the channel was still open.

Finally, Shran's mocking voice returned. "Easy? Like you were 'easy' on Ambassador Gral?"

Archer didn't reply. Hoshi could see him trying to hold in his temper. She wanted to know what had happened to Ambassador Gral, but now was not the time to ask. In her universe, Gral was a typically cantankerous Tellarite who had eventually sat down with Shran and, under her Captain Archer's mediation, negotiated terms in a trade dispute. After what she'd found out yesterday, however, she wouldn't be surprised if this Archer had had Gral executed.

"He gave me no choice. For your sake, I want to avoid that," Archer replied. "But you've got to work with me."

"Why am I so important to you?" Shran asked. Hoshi could tell the Andorian was curious, despite his disdain of Archer that came through loud and clear.

Archer, a grim smile on his face, looked like he'd just hooked a big fish. Maybe he had, Hoshi thought. Instead of arguing, Shran was asking for more information.

"Because I will spare you, and your people, a terrible loss."

This was followed by another long silence on Shran's part. Archer seemed content to wait. He gestured at Hoshi to mute the connection on her end. When she had, he turned to Reed behind him.

"They're still maintaining course and speed," the tactical officer reported, adding with a sneer, "but there's no indication they've powered up weapons."

"Shran knows we have him outgunned," Archer said, and swivelled back to face the viewscreen just as Hoshi's console indicated activity on the channel. It was Shran again.

"What loss might that be?" Shran asked.

Archer motioned that Hoshi should open the channel on their end. He crossed his legs and settled comfortably in his chair. He was enjoying this cat-and-mouse game. "We know about your attack force heading for Panmikar. Imperial starships are in position to destroy them the moment they enter that system. Think of all the Andorian lives that will be lost. That won't go over well with your constituency at home, Shran. An attack on an Imperial world that you instigated, that didn't succeed--" Archer leaned forward as his voice became more impassioned. "--that wound up bringing the entire might of the Terran Empire down on your world. Your people will be exterminated like the vermin they are!"

A muted curse in Andorian that Hoshi had no trouble translating came from the bridge speaker. Then, "What do you want?"

Archer laughed. "You know what I want. Drop out of warp." He glanced expectantly at T'Pol.

"They've dropped out of warp," she confirmed a few moments later.

"Helm, bring us alongside." Archer swivelled in his chair to look at Reed. "Inform Colonel Hawthorne to have his men ready at the docking port airlock."

As Reed complied, Archer swung back around to look at the viewscreen. After a moment or two of contemplation, he turned back to Reed. "And tell him I will be joining the boarding party, along with my translator."

Hoshi stared at Archer, who was now looking smugly at her. She didn't understand why he wanted her to go with him. As in her own universe, this Shran spoke perfect English. She wasn't needed to assist with translation in a face-to-face meeting.

All she was sure of was that she was about to jump from the frying pan into the fire.

A/N: Time to put your seat belts on. The next few chapters will be a bumpy ride.