Epilogue

BRODESSER SHOOK his head and straightened.

“I could spend a year with that drive,” he said to Trip, gesturing toward the cell-ship. “And at the end of it, I think I still might not have any better idea exactly how it works.”

“We’ve had almost that long already, and haven’t even gotten as far as you.” Trip was less surprised at this than the professor-after all, he knew it was the product of twenty-fourth-century technology. Brodesser didn’t.

Makandros had sent a Stinger for the professor and the rest of the Daedalus crew. They were leaving Enterprise now, on their way to assist the survivors of the Charest explosion, who included General Dirsch. Makandros and Kairn had made contact with him earlier, as Trip had suspected, and had been planning to join their forces with his. To confront Elson, and hopefully force him if to not surrender power, then at least to abandon his plans to extend it.

None of which mattered now.

What mattered was getting supplies and medical assistance to the wounded and dying at Charest. Phlox had released a number of stores-those that closely mirrored the native pisarko-which now lay stacked alongside the Stinger.

Among those supplies was also the subspace beacon Brodesser had begun modifying earlier, during their failed attempt to broach the anomaly.

Now they intended to use it to contact Starfleet. Their Starfleet.

“Good luck working with that, anyway,” Trip said, nodding toward the beacon.

“That is technology we understand,” the professor said. “I don’t think it’ll take long at all to modify it in such a way that we can reach Starfleet.” He smiled. “Any bets on which ship answers our signal?”

Trip returned his grin. “If it is Enterprise, treat me kindly, sir.”

“Of course. Good-bye, Trip.”

“Good-bye, sir. It was good to meet you.”

“And it was good to see you again, Commander.”

The two men shared a smile, and shook hands.

“I see,” the captain said, staring at the woman on the screen. “Well, you can let him know I was trying to reach him. I will try again later.”

The woman nodded, and without so much as a word of farewell, closed the circuit.

The captain leaned back in his chair and frowned.

Archer was in his ready room, where he’d come after the Council meeting-after a short stop in sickbay to have his prostheses removed. The captain had spent the last few hours talking privately with his senior staff, and with Makandros and Kairn, and attempting, when he could find time, to reach Leeman Sadir. None of those attempts had been successful.

The boy was very busy indeed. Trapped in the third special session of the Council the captain knew of. That was, Archer supposed, a good sign.

It meant that Makandros and Kairn had kept their promise-a promise they’d given to Archer after Elson’s death, a promise not to expose the boy as human, to see that those under their command who knew did not betray that knowledge either.

The captain knew, of course, that the truth would come out. Sooner, rather than later. He only hoped that the general’s fears proved misplaced, that the revelation, when it came, would mean little.

Lee also seemed to be aware that his days as General Sadir’s “son” were numbered. He had already taken Colonel Wooler into his confidence, a conversation the captain had been present at. To his-and Lee’s-relief, the man had taken the news stoically. As he seemed to take everything.

“Blood matters,” Wooler had said. “But you have been your own man now for some time, Lee. This changes nothing.”

It certainly didn’t change how the man treated him. Archer only hoped others would follow suit, when the time came. Thankfully, Lee was too busy with other matters to concern himself overly with the future now.

And speaking of other matters…

The captain had some of his own to attend to as well.

It was time-past time, in fact, as he’d told T’Pol earlier-to bring everyone on Enterprise up to speed on the dilemma facing them: the lack of sensor data that would enable them to return safely to their own universe.

Archer decided to share the knowledge with his junior officers privately, making them responsible for communicating it to their respective departments-passing it along as a problem to be solved, not a pronouncement of doom, as he feared a ship-wide announcement would be interpreted.

He found a few of the people he was looking for-Lieutenants Hess and O’Neill, Chief Lee, and to his surprise, Hoshi, who he’d thought was still confined to quarters-in the mess, eating a late dinner.

As he approached the table, backs straightened. All eyes went to the captain.

“Mind if I join you for a minute?”

Without waiting for a response, he pulled up a chair and sat, launching into an explanation of their problem-the missing data. About the failed attempt to communicate with the Denari back in their universe, how he now wanted any and all thoughts from them and their subordinates about ways to obtain the information they needed.

“Something occurs to me right away,” Hess said when he’d finished. “We ought to make certain that the sensors themselves-and not the relays indicating their status-actually failed.”

“Good point,” the captain said. “Have second shift get on it.”

“I’ll take charge of that, sir,” O’Neill volunteered. “Put my shift on it right now, in fact.”

Archer nodded again. That would certainly make things go quicker.

“Excuse me-Captain?”

“Hoshi?”

She set down her fork, and shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Sir…I have a way to get that data. I think.”

“You do?” Archer frowned.

“Yes Captain.” For some reason, Hoshi was blushing.

“Well? What is it?”

“The cell-ship.”

“The cell-ship?” The captain frowned. “What about the cell-ship?”

“I…” She looked down at her plate. “While we were prepping for launch, I accidentally switched on the sensors. The data we need is in there, I’m sure of it.”

“Wait a minute.” Archer wanted to make sure he understood what she was saying. “The cell-ship’s sensors were on?”

She nodded.

“Before you launched?”

“Yes sir,” she replied, and then, all in a rush. “It’s kind of embarrassing, sir. I made a stupid mistake while I was hooking up the com relay, and I know by now I should-“

“Whoa. Hoshi.” Archer held up a hand. “Please. Don’t apologize. This is the best news I’ve had all day.”

Hoshi went on as if she hadn’t heard him. “I’ll definitely spend a little extra time with Commander Tucker on basic interface design, sir, so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. Even though it is good news sir, I know I shouldn’t-“

“Extra time?” Archer shook his head. “Oh no. On the contrary, Ensign-take the rest of the day off.”

Everyone around the table laughed. Except Hoshi, who didn’t realize he was making a joke.

“Take the day off? Stay in my cabin?” She looked horrified. “Do I have to sir? Can’t I go back on duty?”

Archer stood then, and clapped her on the shoulder.

“Ensign, as far as I’m concerned…you can work as hard as you want for the rest of this voyage.”

Leaving behind a slightly-puzzled looking Hoshi, the captain walked straight to the nearest companel, and punched open a channel.

Trip was on his way up to the bridge when he got the news. He turned the turbolift right around, and went right to the cell-ship.

Damned if Hoshi wasn’t spot on. Damned if those Suliban sensors hadn’t picked up every detail of their accidental trip through the anomaly.

It took him all of five minutes to set up the interface and download the data to the ship’s computer.

When he got back to the bridge, Archer was just finishing up a conversation with Leeman Sadir. He was sitting at the head of a long, black table somewhere in the Kresh, looking for all the world like he belonged there.

Makandros, Kairn, Guildsman Lind, and-to Trip’s surprise-Ferik Reeve were among those who surrounded him.

“Absent a few final details,” the boy was saying, “we are fairly well agreed. A transition over the next few years-“

“The next two years,” Lind interrupted with a smile on his face.

“Over an as-yet-to-be-finalized period of time, during which power will gradually pass from the respective military units to the Presidium itself.”

“It sounds like you have things well in hand, then,” Archer said.

“I think we do,” the boy said. “And all of us”-his gaze took in the table-“know how much we have you to thank for that.”

“You’re welcome,” Archer said. “Now speaking of transitions…”

“I understand. We need to get back to work as well.” The boy smiled. “Good-bye, sir. And thank you again.”

Archer closed the channel and turned to Trip.

“We’re all set?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be.” Trip turned to the viewscreen, where the anomaly beckoned.

And all at once, he smiled.

“What?” Archer asked.

What he’d been thinking about was that the anomaly represented a gateway, one that led to all possible universes. Including one where Neesa was still alive. One where there was no such thing as a mirror-image molecule, where the two of them had stayed together, and…

What? Remained on Eclipse?

He pictured himself as engineer aboard that ship, and frowned. That would have been more like a lifetime of repair work. So Nessa would have come on board Enterprise. Except this ship already had a chief medical officer. So what would they have done?

No, he suddenly realized. He was thinking about this in entirely the wrong way, because everything that he could imagine them doing together, they were doing. Had done. The theory demanded it. So in one reality, he was aboard Eclipse, in another she was on Enterprise, and in a third…

Trip smiled. In a third, even now, at this very second, the two of them were”If it’s not that important,” Archer said, interrupting his thoughts. “Then…”

“Right.” Trip punched a few keys on his console. “Course calculated and transmitted to helm.”

“Laid in and awaiting your command.”

“Impulse and warp engines on-line.”

“Then let’s do it,” Archer said. “Travis…”

“Aye, sir. Initiating course and speed-now.”

The ship slid smoothly forward toward the beckoning anomaly. Trip looked into the spinning whirl of color and smiled.

“Home sweet home,” he whispered under his breath. “Here we come.”