“SIR?”

Archer looked up from his seat. Riley—Ensign Katreen Riley, probably the best pilot on Enterprise besides himself and Travis—was standing over him.

“My shift, Captain.”

Archer nodded and stood up.

“Charts say smooth going for the next few hours, Ensign. After that…well. You wake me if you need to.”

“I won’t.”

Archer almost smiled. Riley was a pit bull. She probably wouldn’t wake him if a comet exploded in their path.

“All right,” he said, and turned to go.

Rodriguez was on weapons; Kowalski was doing double duty on sensors and communications. They were B shift too. Archer nodded to them as he left the cockpit, and entered the main cabin.

One weapons station on either side of the ship was manned; O’Neill and Lee had drawn the short straws. They were peering intently through the gunnery ports as the captain walked past, as if they might be able to pick up something the sensors had missed. The others were sleeping on bunks that folded out from the back wall.

All except T’Pol. She was nowhere in sight. That meant, of course, there was only one place she could be. The ship’s sole passenger cabin.

Archer smiled. He hadn’t thought he’d have to fight her for it. He was the captain, after all.

But he just might, if it came down to that.

It had been a long day. Full enough, even before Makandros and Kairn had agreed to his suggestion. Even before they’d spent hours dodging in and out of the Belt, on the trail of one of Elson’s patrol squadrons. He’d been happy to have something to report so quickly, and Carstairs had assured him the general sounded happy as well.

Now if only they would stumble on Enterprise…

He knocked on the door.

“Sub-Commander?”

He waited. No response.

He lifted his hand to knock again—

And the door swung open.

“Captain.” T’Pol stood in the doorway. There was a blanket spread out on the deck behind her.

“You’re not sleeping,” he said.

“No. Meditating.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Phlox had told him on more than one occasion that Vulcans used the discipline not only to focus and concentrate their thinking, but to actually heal their bodies. And after her experience at Rava…

She certainly needed that healing time.

“That is all right. I was going to come find you anyway.”

Archer looked in her eyes and frowned.

“What is it?”

“I have just now become aware of something,” she said. “Something very important.”

Archer had served with T’Pol long enough to read the subtle differences in her expression.

“This isn’t going to be good news, is it?”

“No, I’m afraid not.”

She held the door open.

With a sigh, Archer entered the cabin and sat down.

“My meditation began as an attempt to enter a healing trance,” T’Pol told him. “And yet my injuries are no longer severe enough to require my full attention. My mind began to wander. I considered our current situation and began to visualize the procedure we would need to use to escape it.”

“You mean to return to our own universe.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re assuming we’re going to find Enterprise.”

“Any other assumption seems pointless,” she said. “If we do not get the ship back, we die.”

Archer couldn’t argue with that.

“Go on.”

The cabin was a third the size of his quarters on Enterprise, with a single bunk and a desk. Archer had sat on the bed. T’Pol pulled up the desk chair now and sat as well, facing him.

“I first had to visualize the exact method by which we crossed over. A simple enough task.”

Archer nodded. “The mine crippled us. We drifted through the anomaly.”

“Exactly. But there the simplicity ends. Because in order to return to the universe we came from, we need to recreate our journey exactly. The same trajectory, the same speed, the exact same entry point. Any difference, and we will not return to our own world, but go to yet another parallel universe.”

“One time through this is quite enough for me, thanks.” The captain sighed. “We should be able to go back the way we came. The sensors—”

Archer stopped short.

“The sensors,” he said slowly, “were damaged.”

“Yes, sir. They were completely off-line, even before we went through the anomaly.”

“The mine.”

“Indeed. I have spent the majority of my time trying to recall the nature and extent of the data we had amassed before the explosion—on the structure of the anomaly itself, our own course and speed—to see if it is possible to extrapolate the information we need.”

“And?”

She shook her head. “The chances of success are unlikely, at best. I’ll know more once we’re aboard Enterprise and can see the sensors firsthand.”

“We need a plan B.”

“Sir?”

“Another way to get that information.” He thought a moment. “Makandros. He said he picked us up the second we came out of the anomaly. Maybe Hule’s computers…”

T’Pol was shaking her head. “They may have some of the data we need. Perhaps we can calculate our point of entry—our initial speed and trajectory. But in order to completely plot out our journey—”

Archer saw where she was headed. “We need data from our side of the anomaly. From our universe.”

“And our course and speed within the anomaly itself.”

The captain sat back. This wasn’t just bad news, this was catastrophically bad news.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to anyone else,” Archer said. “Until we know one way or another what we’re going to do.”

“Yes, sir.”

He sat a moment longer, thinking. “T’Pol, this anomaly. Isn’t it possible the gravitational forces within it will guide us along the correct trajectory, once we enter?”

“Possible? Yes, I suppose it is possible. In the same way that it is possible Commander Tucker will float by this window port”—she pointed behind her—“in an EVA suit.”

Archer frowned. “Is that Vulcan humor?”

“No, sir. Simple logic.”

“The odds are infinitesimal, in other words.” The captain got to his feet. “We may have to take them anyway. Ending up in another parallel universe might be our only option. We certainly can’t stay here.”

“Perhaps.”

“Perhaps? You heard what Doctor Trant said. It’s definite. We can’t stay here.”

“You misunderstand me, sir. I was not arguing with her conclusion. I simply meant that entering the anomaly is not necessarily a safer course of action.”

“We might end up in another universe even more dangerous to us?”

“No, we might enter the anomaly in such a way that the gravitational forces within crush us.”

“Ah.”

“I would like to return to my meditation, Captain. Perhaps visualizing the problem again may lead me to other possible solutions.”

“Let’s hope so.” Archer stood and rubbed his eyes. A sudden wave of exhaustion hit him.

“Sir?”

“What?”

T’Pol gestured to the mat. “Would you care to try? You may find the technique relaxing as well.”

Archer smiled. He’d seen T’Pol’s meditation technique. The last time his body had bent that way, he’d been body-surfing off Sydney. And it hadn’t been on purpose.

“No, thanks. I think I’ll get my rest the old-fashioned way. A few hours of sleep.”

“Do you wish to use this bunk?”

“No. You keep thinking. If you come up with anything, let me know.”

He hoped she would. Otherwise, Archer thought, I’m going to have a very restless night.