A/N: The plot gets even more twisted in this chapter. Thank you to all the readers who have been keeping up with this. I also appreciate the reviews! Thanks!

CHAPTER 29

Hoshi had no chance to talk to Archer about anything. Reed left just as Cunningham arrived with food. Then the steward had barely gone when Mayweather returned. If this kept up, Hoshi thought, she'd never get a chance to talk with Archer in private.

As it was, the effort of eating only a small amount of food seemed to exhaust Archer. He was asleep within minutes after he'd told her to take away the bed tray. Between his injury and the infection, she didn't want to deprive him of restorative sleep.

Maybe it was just as well she hadn't been able to talk to him. It gave her some time to organize her thoughts. The most important thing she needed to talk to him about was her suspicion that Tucker was the one who had orchestrated the attempt on his life. Her curiosity about the Andorian incident was going to have to take a back seat to keeping Archer safe, with her desire to know if he was responsible for murdering Zefram Cochrane a distant third. She had to get her priorities straight, she told herself. It was in her interest to find out who had tried to kill Archer. If he was dead, the other questions she had wouldn't matter.

She faced a long, boring day in the cabin with nothing to do. The way things were going, she thought dispiritedly, the highlight of her day was going to be giving Archer his next injection of antibiotic when evening rolled around.

She supposed she could nap since Mayweather was standing guard, but she wasn't sleepy. She didn't comprehend how he could stand there in one spot for hours on end. She'd go stir crazy if she had to do that. She was a little antsy as it was, but she at least could roam around this cabin as well as the adjacent one.

Her attempts to engage Mayweather in small talk were futile. He was back to his customary two-word answers, most of which were "Yes, ma'am," or "No, ma'am," although she did get one "I don't think so, ma'am," out of him when she'd asked if he'd like to play cards. The reproachful look he'd given her after that last response only reinforced that he took his job very seriously, and that no undue fraternization was allowed.

As long as he obeyed her orders, Hoshi decided, she didn't care if he talked or not. She could, however, do without feeling like she was under his constant surveillance. It was making her self-conscious.

The day dragged on.

She sat and petted Dart.

She stood and paced.

She dutifully ate lunch when Cunningham brought it, although she didn't have much of an appetite.

Archer roused once, asked for water, and promptly went back to sleep after drinking it. She touched his forehead; no fever.

The long day continued to drag on. She went back to pacing, trying not to bite her nails at the sheer frustration of being cooped up with nothing to do.

She wondered if, back in her universe, they'd searched for her and had given up. That thought scared her so much that she knew she had to find something to occupy her mind. Otherwise, she was going to be totally depressed by the end of the day.

Finally, she worked up the nerve to contact T'Pol via the intercom. "Could you have the transmissions I'm supposed to translate transferred to the computer terminal in the captain's cabin?" she asked.

Her inquiry was answered by a long silence. She was about to check to make sure the connection was still open when T'Pol replied.

"I will bring the recorded transmissions to you at the end of my shift. T'Pol out."

Hoshi looked in astonishment at the intercom panel. That had been strange. Just a few simple commands at T'Pol's console could have sent the transmissions to the computer terminal in the captain's cabin. Why would T'Pol want to hand-deliver them?

As she turned away from the intercom to resume pacing, Hoshi wondered if the transmissions were a convenient excuse for T'Pol to visit the captain's cabin. She recalled Reed's words: T'Pol was loyal to the captain, not because she wanted to be, but because she had to be.

Tucker would probably move up to captain if Archer was gone, but he wasn't the only one who would benefit from Archer's death. Hoshi began to wonder if T'Pol was the one behind the assasination attempt.

She suddenly realized that, while T'Pol had sifted through her memories in the meld and knew all about her, she herself couldn't say the same. She'd learned nothing about T'Pol in the meld. Because of her familiarity with Hoshi's thought processes, would T'Pol realize that Hoshi would eventually come to regard her as a suspect?

It was with some trepidation that Hoshi told Mayweather to allow T'Pol to enter the cabin.

The Vulcan took several steps into the room and stopped, her gaze going to Archer in his bunk on the far side of the cabin. "The captain appears to be resting comfortably," she said quietly. "Has his fever abated?"

"Yes," Hoshi said.

T'Pol turned to her and held out a data chip. "The transmissions." As Hoshi took the chip, T'Pol said, "You appear distressed."

Hoshi couldn't keep the surprise from her face at this personal comment from a Vulcan. It had taken many years for the T'Pol of her universe to be able to "read" human expressions accurately, especially the subtle ones, and she'd developed enough tact to know that it wasn't polite in most circumstances to comment about them. But then, Hoshi reminded herself, this T'Pol had probably learned early in her life to interpret human expressions as part of a defense mechanism employed by a species that humans considered inferior.

"It's been a long couple of days," Hoshi said vaguely.

T'Pol looked more closely at her. "That is not all that is bothering you."

Hoshi shot a look at Mayweather. As usual, the bodyguard was alert. He must have sensed something might be amiss, for his hand was on the butt of his pistol where it sat in his holster. Dart, on the hand, was calmly sitting next to Archer's bed, interested in the visitor, but apparently not concerned, in direct contrast to his reaction to Tucker.

Maybe she should accuse T'Pol outright of trying to murder Archer and see how she reacted. Between Mayweather and herself, they ought to be able to subdue her if anything happened. Surely she wouldn't try to kill Archer with two other humans present. If T'Pol tried and failed, her punishment would be swift and sure.

Hoshi took a step away from T'Pol, careful not to turn her back on the other woman. "I believe you have reason to get rid of Captain Archer."

T'Pol's face momentarily showed confusion, then cleared. "Ah. To 'get rid of,' you mean 'kill' him."

"Yes."

"No," T'Pol said, clasping her hands behind her back. "I do not have reason to want Captain Archer dead."

Now that the subject was out in the open, Hoshi wasn't going to back down, even if she didn't have specifics. "The captain has some hold on you, something that makes you obey. If he's gone, you would be free of whatever that is."

"As he is the captain of this ship, it is my duty as a fleet officer to obey him."

Hoshi didn't buy that argument. She looked askance at T'Pol.

"Very well," T'Pol conceded. "There is a reason that might be sufficient motivation for me to wish 'to get rid' of Captain Archer, but I would not do it."

"Why?" Hoshi pressed.

"It would not be logical to do so."

Hoshi almost rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to let T'Pol hide behind logic as a reason on its own. She'd have to ferret out the truth. T'Pol wasn't getting out of this cabin until she found out what it was.

"Sit down," Hoshi told her, indicating a chair at the table. When T'Pol was seated, Hoshi sat down across from her. "Explain."

T'Pol cast a sidelong glance at Mayweather, then looked back at Hoshi. "I cannot kill Captain Archer. While it is true that he holds my mother in a work camp to insure my obedience, that is not my major concern."

"He put your mother in a work camp?" Hoshi asked.

T'Pol stared at her. "From our conversations at lunch, I know such a concept is foreign to you. But your humans also had similar practices in the past. Considering your ancestry, I'm surprised you are not aware of it."

Just how much had T'Pol picked out of her brain in that meld? She had to be referring to interment camps where Japanese-Americans were held during World War II. If she remembered correctly, there were some Japanese-Americans who had served with distinction in the American military at the same time as their loved ones were stuck in those camps. That wasn't quite the same as the situation with T'Pol's mother, however. In all likelihood, given what she'd learned of this universe, T'Pol's mother might be killed if T'Pol tried anything like killing Archer. Those World War II soldiers, on the other hand, weren't coerced into military service by the threat of harm to their families.

"My mother is safe," T'Pol continued. "She has adequate food, clothing and shelter. She may not be happy in the human usage of the word, but her life has some purpose in that she is allowed to continue her work on scientific projects."

"And you like this arrangement?" Hoshi asked incredulously.

"I neither like nor dislike it," T'Pol said. "But it is the best that can be made of this situation for her. It is the same for me."

"How so?"

"I have risen to the rank of commander on the flagship of the Terran Imperial fleet. No other Vulcan, or member of any other alien species, has achieved or surpassed that. Why would I risk my privileged status, as well as the well-being of my mother, by killing the person who has made it possible?"

Hoshi could think of a number of reasons. "Resentment, anger, revenge."

"Those are human emotions," T'Pol said. "I do not allow emotion to rule my actions." At Hoshi's skeptical stare, the Vulcan added quietly, "You have only been in this universe a few weeks. I know how different it is from yours. Believe me when I say I envy you your universe. But this is my reality. I must live and work within the established parameters."

That had to be one of the saddest things Hoshi had ever heard a Vulcan say. Even more astounding, it had the ring of truth. She decided she believed T'Pol.

"I also have something I wish to discuss with you," T'Pol said. She cast a glance at Mayweather, then looked back at her. "In private."

Hoshi didn't want Mayweather to leave. The only other option was for her and T'Pol to leave. Yet she was reluctant to do so. That would mean Archer would be alone with Mayweather. Not that she didn't trust the bodyguard, but she hadn't told him of her suspicions about Tucker. What if the engineer showed up while she was gone? She shook her head. There was such a thing as being too careful. She opted for a compromise.

Getting to her feet, she said to Mayweather, "Keep an eye on the captain. We'll be in my cabin if you need me."

Mayweather acknowledged her order with a curt bob of his head. His hand, she noticed, was still on his pistol.

"Come on," she said to T'Pol, and led the way to the adjoining cabin.

After they'd gone into her cabin, Hoshi closed the door. She turned to face T'Pol, who had walked to the center of the room where she stood looking around at the furnishings.

"Now, what did you want to talk to me about?" Hoshi asked.

T'Pol focused on her. "I believe I know who is responsible for the attempt on Captain Archer's life."

That must be the reason T'Pol had wanted to bring the transmissions to her. She didn't want to kill Archer; it had been an excuse to talk to her alone, to warn her. "Who?" Hoshi asked sharply.

"I will tell you, but I ask that you take no action against the person I name, or inform the captain of what I tell you."

Hoshi gawked at her. That made no sense whatsoever, especially after all T'Pol's talk about how she couldn't kill Archer. Then she noticed the pinched look to T'Pol's face, and the almost pleading look in her eyes. Perhaps she'd been caught in a no-win position much as Phlox had been.

Before Hoshi could say anything, T'Pol dropped the biggest bombshell yet.

"In return," the Vulcan said, "I will help you return to your universe."