97: erika
Nothing was ever easy in the
Delphic Expanse.
Barely fifteen minutes had elapsed since the other Enterprise
docked with the NX-01, ten since Jon's urgent but frustratingly
unclear message to get her ass back here because they "had a
situation to deal with," and five since she entered Sickbay to
discover two Sovals and a pair of white-eyed humans who
looked enough like Malcolm Reed that they could have passed as
siblings. Phlox's pronouncement that these people were who they
claimed to be left the other Enterprise personnel present –
Jon, Reed, Soval, Hayes, and the two MACOs standing guard by the door
– reeling in open, visible shock, but did nothing to clue Erika in on
what exactly was going on. So she'd asked, rather politely she
thought, exactly that.
Which was how she found herself here, in this conference room,
listening to a story that she could hardly believe.
The younger-looking Soval – how was she going to tell them apart?
Soval the Younger versus the Elder? No, that sounded stupid – was
vocally and physically emotive as he spoke, with flashes of barely
restrained anger appearing and vanishing at random, unexpected
intervals. His mood seemed to alternate from one heartbeat to
another, transforming from giddy and excited to almost depressed in
mid-sentence, and never with any explanation for why it
changed the way it did. The other members of his crew seemed to
accept it without blinking – First Officer Reed was especially good
at redirecting the young Soval – Captain Soval, maybe? As opposed to
Ambassador Soval? Yes, that would do nicely – when his mood darkened,
though Erika did not get the sense the two were romantically
involved. Rather, she simply seemed to expect his quicksilver
emotions, as if she had dealt with them for decades.
This second Enterprise's arrival had thrown everyone for a
loop, but, despite the shock that clearly hadn't set in for her yet,
Erika had to fight the urge to snicker every time she glanced at Jon.
Flabbergasted did not begin to describe his expression. As the
unlikely story emerged from the younger-looking Soval, Archer
alternately stared at him with barely contained disbelief or shot
covert looks at the ambassador, as if trying to figure out how to
blame this on him. Oh, there was no denying that Captain Soval was
exactly who he claimed to be thanks to Phlox's examination, but the
story itself? Well, even with the weirdness they'd experienced over
the last year, it was difficult to comprehend, let alone buy.
Excepting, of course, the evidence staring them in the face. Erika
shook her head in a vain attempt to clear it.
"Once they confirmed that Enterprise had, indeed, traveled
back in time," Captain Soval was saying, "the command crew began
investigating ways to return to their correct era."
"The Vulcan Science Directorate has determined that time travel is
impossible," Ambassador Soval replied flatly, every centimeter the
perfect Vulcan. For the last five minutes, he had been staring at his
younger counterpart seemingly without blinking. Little sign of what
the ambassador thought or felt at Doctor Phlox's pronouncement showed
on his face, but Erika caught glimpses of the occasional facial tick
that hinted at shock. Captain Soval gave the ambassador a look of
open hostility.
"You've said that," he replied hotly. "Three times in the last ten
minutes."
"Not to belabor the point," First Officer Reed interjected, casting a
long suffering look at her commanding officer, "but they were
unsuccessful." She frowned. "We were fortunate at the time that the
captured Xindi warship was docked with Enterprise for
repairs when they passed through the subspace corridor or key members
of the command staff would have be lost." Erika blinked – that was
interesting. According to their original schedule, they had
planned on docking the Minnow to Enterprise so
Kelby could lock down some abnormal power fluctuations in the smaller
ship.
"None of that explains … this," Jon said, once more staring at
Captain Soval. "The last time I checked, Vulcans don't get younger."
"We do not," the two Vulcans said simultaneously. The ambassador's
expression tightened fractionally and he inclined his head toward his
counterpart. "Three months after we arrived in that time," Captain
Soval said, "several crewmembers of Enterprise were exposed
to a spatial anomaly that caused them – us, I should say – to begin
aging in reverse."
"According to the medical records our Phlox left before he passed,"
First Officer Reed added, "there were six officers and crewmen who
suffered from this Merlin Sickness." She looked at Reed … Malcolm
Reed, that was. Erika shook her head. Lord, this was going to get
confusing. "You coined the term based on something from your
childhood. sir."
"I was the only one still alive when the doctor discovered a cure but
had regressed to infancy," Captain Soval said. He made a gesture that
included both Jon and Erika herself. "The two of you raised me as
your son once it became clear Phlox could not reverse the process."
Erika blinked. Wait … what? Had she just heard what she thought she'd
heard? The wide-eyed look Jon shot her confirmed it and Erika
swallowed.
"Enterprise became a generational ship after that," First
Officer Reed said, her disconcerting white on white eyes drifting
back toward Lieutenant Commander Reed. "We encountered a number of
difficulties along the way," she said. Captain Soval snorted, which
earned him a dark glare Erika recognized as having seen on Lieutenant
Cole's face a time or two. Not that there was ever any doubt who Miss
Reed was descended from, Erika thought wryly. She made a mental note
to arrange for Lieutenant Cole's duties to bring her back aboard
Enterprise, just to see what happened. And to make sure that
there was a recording device somewhere in the vicinity. "The Captain
… you, sir," she said, directing her next comments to Jon, "warned us
to avoid contaminating the timeline as much as possible, so we could
not make contact with Earth or warn them of the attack."
"I can't see myself giving that order," Jon mused with a frown. "Our
entire mission right now is geared toward trying to undo something
that already happened."
"No one ever accused you of being consistent, Dad," Captain Soval
remarked without thinking. He grimaced the instant everyone reacted
to the title he automatically applied to Jon, and Erika suddenly felt
a rush of empathy for him. From her studies of Vulcan culture, she
knew that they experienced immensely powerful emotions and spent
their entire lives working to suppress them. This young man had grown
up without the benefit of that training and had likely spent his
formative years being treated differently by those who remembered him
as the cranky, old ambassador. And now, to actually face
that cranky old ambassador and to see the disapproval mirrored in
eyes he knew as his own? If she was in this situation, could she have
done better? Somehow, she doubted it.
So she cleared her throat.
All eyes jumped to her, which gave her a moment of hesitation. Jon
had the expression of a man on a sinking boat, desperately looking
for a life preserver wherever he could find one, Ambassador Soval
wore his Vulcan mask, though the effort it was requiring was plainly
visible if you knew his tells, and the rest of the Enterprise
crew … her Enterprise, that was, not this other one, all
looked at her with open relief, as if they expected her to work
miracles. At the same time, Captain Soval gave her a bashful
half-smile that reminded her of her nephew when he looked at Erika's
sister which only served to remind her of his words earlier and her
alternate's maternal role in his life. The two other Reeds
straightened and studied her with those creepy eyes.
Right. So … no pressure.
"Temporal mechanics aren't my strong suit," she said in a voice that
sounded far calmer than she actually felt, "but isn't this action
going to wipe you from the timeline somehow?" She noted several
frowns. "If you warn us not to go through the subspace corridor and
we don't, then how can you be here to warn us not to go through it in
the first place?"
"Ugh," Weapons Officer Reed muttered. He grimaced, which instantly
resulted in an annoyed look from the woman Erika suspected to be his
sister.
"You are referring to a grandfather paradox, ma'am," First Officer
Reed said. "It is not relevant in this case, as we have already
passed the point when our history states your Enterprise
passed through the corridor in the first place."
"And no one has inexplicably vanished yet," her brother chimed in,
earning himself twin glares from both his sister and Captain Soval.
He ignored them both with the casual ease of someone long accustomed
to such expressions.
"We're here to help, Mo … ma'am," Captain Soval said, his body
language open and positively vibrating with emotion. His verbal
misstep caused Erika to almost flinch. Instead, she glanced away from
him and met Jon's eyes. He pursed his lips.
"I'd like to discuss this with my first officer and Ambassador
Soval if you don't mind," he said after a moment. Without waiting for
any response, he shifted his attention to Lieutenant Commander Reed.
"Malcolm, could you show our guests to the mess deck? I'm sure they
would like some refreshment." All three Reeds rose – the woman was
fractionally taller than either of the men, Erika noticed – and
Captain Soval glowered for an extended heartbeat before standing
himself. He was the first through the door, followed closely by Major
Hayes and the three Reeds, and a moment later, the conference room
was silent. Jon drummed his fingers against the table before looking
up. "Recommendations?"
"I'm inclined to believe them, sir," Erika said automatically. "We've
seen stranger things here in the Expanse and I don't see the
advantages of them lying to us like this." She frowned. "And their
presence … well, it explains why we've been greeted the way we have
at the commerce planets." Jon nodded. "And if they've really been
running around the Expanse for the last hundred years," Hernandez
added, "they should have a better grasp of what's really going on."
"Agreed." Jon's fingers continued their steady cadence against the
table though he appeared unaware of the unconscious gesture. "If
they're really here to help," he said, "we should request a data dump
from their computer, maybe get a leg up on the Xindi for a change."
He didn't have to mention siccing Hoshi on the data – if this was an
elaborate ruse, there really wasn't anyone better to find the flaws.
"Ambassador?"
"I have nothing constructive to add to this discussion," Soval said
flatly. "Both you and Commander Hernandez have adequately identified
the logical course of action." He rose. "If you will excuse me,
Captain," he said before striding toward the door. He was gone a
heartbeat later.
"That looked suspiciously like an emotional reaction," Jon remarked
wryly. He leaned back in his chair and almost smirked. "So," he said.
"You and me, raising a Vulcan together."
"Raising Soval together," Erika corrected. She shook her
head – how had her alternate managed? Especially given what had
happened between her and Soval back before the Xindi attack on Earth?
A slight shudder crawled up her spine. "Only in the Expanse," she
said with a soft chuckle.
"Let's play ball for the time being," Jon decided. "Get as much data
from them as possible and let our people know to keep their eyes
open." He finally seemed to notice his impromptu drum solo and
tightened his hand into a fist. "And prep the Minnow for
extended operation," he ordered.
"She can take Soval to meet with Degra," Erika guessed. Jon nodded.
"We can't miss that rendezvous," he said. "Enterprise … both
of them, I guess, can take the longer route." His expression turned
grave. "It means you'll be out of contact for a while…" Erika blinked
– she'd expected him to assume command of the Minnow on a
mission of this importance and the fact that he trusted her abilities
sent a rush of warm pride through her. She nodded.
"I'm confident my prize crew can handle it," she said simply. With a
nod and half smile, she stood.
"Before you go, I'd like to rotate Lieutenant Cole back to
Enterprise briefly," Jon said suddenly. He gave her a smile that
was positively malicious. "I would be very curious to see her
reaction to certain of our visitors."
Erika laughed out loud.
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