"Who are you?" Irina demanded.

The man's face fell. "You don't remember me, Irina?"

"You look just like my husband, but you can't possibly be him, since he's right here!"

The injured Arkady finally spoke. "It was...those people...from the future," he said. "They...did something...to me."

"They must have performed some kind of experiment on you without your consent!" Irina's eyes flashed with anger. "I wonder whether there's another version of me wandering around out there somewhere too!"

"Irina!" The healthy Arkady's voice was desperate. "Please tell me I'm the one you love!"

"I'm confused!" Irina began to cry.

A nurse entered the room. "Is there a problem?" Seeing healthy Arkady, she gave a little gasp of surprise. "Why, I didn't know you had a twin brother, Mr. Renko!"

"I don't," said healthy Arkady.

Irina was tempted to tell the nurse her suspicions but feared being sent to the psychiatric ward if she did so. No sane person would believe an encounter with beings from more than four hundred years in the future, never mind one's own descendants.

The nurse looked from one man to the other once again, then shook her head and left.

Deanna frowned. "This is the first time this has happened since 2361," she said. "In that year, Will was part of an away team rescuing researchers stranded at an outpost on the planet Nervala IV. A transporter accident resulted in a duplicate human being left behind on the planet while Will himself was beamed back aboard the starship. It seems the same thing has happened again. When Arkady beamed aboard the Enterprise for our wedding, a second beam was created, one which was reflected back to Earth and resulted in a second copy of Arkady."

Arkady frowned. "So now there are two of me? That's crazy!"

Will chuckled. "Imagine how I felt when I first met my twin!"

"But what's to become of this duplicate me? He can't just step into my life!"

"That's something he'll have to decide for himself," Deanna replied. "In Will's case, his twin transferred to a different starship and continued his own life independent of Will's. Perhaps your double can make a similar arrangement."

Arkady sighed. "The problem is, he's in love with Irina too."

"That's unfortunate, but he'll have to somehow get over the loss and move on," said Deanna.

Susan had heard about the shooting on the news as well. At first she'd felt smugly satisfied, as if Arkady's rejection of her had been avenged, but as the hours passed, she became genuinely worried he might die. If that happened, the chance of winning him back from Irina would be gone forever.

She made her way to the hospital, where she found a perfectly healthy, but obviously bewildered, Arkady wandering around on the grounds.

"Arkady!" she cried, rushing toward him. "I thought you'd been shot!"

"Not me," he replied. "Apparently a man with my name who's identical to me in every way instead. It seemed to have been some accident involving technology from the future."

"So whatever that means, you aren't the one who's married to Irina?"

"No. It seems he is instead." Arkady sounded as if he were about to cry.

"So you're free?" She felt her spirits rise.

"Apparently so." He sighed. "My typical luck."

"Oh, don't be so down about it." She smiled and reached to embrace him. "It's not the end of the world. I'm sure love will find you again."

He shook his head. "Irina was my one true love. I could never love another like I did her."

"Perhaps not, but I think I could make you happy again, if you'd just give me the chance." She linked her arm through his and led him toward the street.

A Few Months Later

"Ow! Oh! I swear to you, Arkady, if I live through this, I'll fix you where you can never do this to me again!" Heavily in labor, Irina's face turned crimson as she gasped and groaned.

"You're doing great, love! You're almost there!" Arkady encouraged.

"I swear to you, Arkady - oh!" Another contraction washed over her, and she pushed with all her might. There was silence for just a moment, and then the nurse held the newborn in her hands.

"You have a beautiful, healthy daughter!" she exclaimed.

Irina laughed with joy, and Arkady joined in. The cord was cut, and the newborn began to wail. The midwife placed her into her mother's arms.

"Look at her, Arkasha! She's perfect!" Irina breathed.

"I love you, darling," Arkady whispered, stroking the moist hair back from his wife's forehead.

The infant opened her smoky blue eyes and looked up at her mother.

"Your name is Julia," Irina told her, guiding the searching lips to a nipple.

"Julia Arkadyevna Renko." Arkady's voice was soft as he ran his hand over his new daughter's soft, silky hair.