Star Trek Enterprise Bk. 02 - Inherit Ch. 05

"Maybe, maybe, maybe, but I have always been quite clear with him on the matter," she responded. "Starfleet is hardly conducive to romance, whether in my time or yours. I watched a lot of people try it and very few succeed. I certainly didn't find much enjoyment in it."

"What, young men didn't line up for a chance to date the captain's daughter?" he teased.

"As a matter of fact they did . . . briefly." On this subject Danaë boasted no ego, but was rather pragmatic. "I was a Picard and my father was very well-known and respected. He also was in command of the Enterprise , the flagship of the fleet and getting assigned to it was considered a plum job. Unfortunately there were some who thought they could use me to get a placement on my father's crew. It didn't take long for me to figure out the game and stop it."

"How did you do that?" Archer asked.

"I started a rumor that my father would not consider anyone that previously or currently had a relationship with his daughter as it might be seen as nepotism. That corrected the problem."

"Would he have really done that?" the captain probed, but she only answered with a shrug.

"I don't know. Even for me it's hard to say exactly what his stance would have been under the circumstances. I remember what happened the first time a young man took an interest in me. Ensign Parrish didn't know my father was the captain and had assumed I was simply a worker in the lounge. He also didn't know I was only sixteen and of course being the proper and obedient daughter that I was, I wasn't about to correct any of his assumptions. We only saw each other a couple of times, but thanks to ships gossip my father got wind of it. The poor ensign ended up doing maintenance drudgery until he could be reassigned to another vessel."

"Not the best way to impress your captain." he laughed. "I can't say that I ever had that problem. I just always ended up their superior officer, like when I was seeing Erika Hernandez. We had been dating for a couple of months when I got promoted to captain."

"Ahh, fraternization."

"Exactly. We broke up amicably and we're still friends. It went a lot better than it did with Margaret"

"Margaret?" When it came to Jonathan Archer, all Danaë had ever heard growing up were stories of the hero, the diplomat, the great founder. Since the moment she had first met him, it had been a strange education. True, he was those things, but far better than anything in a text book, was getting to know him and see him as the man he really was.

"Margaret Mullin is the one that got away." For a moment his eyes looked off in the distance as he recalled the woman who turned him down. "I was twenty-four and one day away from graduating flight school. God, she was good-looking. I asked her to marry me, but she didn't want to be a 'Starfleet widow'. At the time I tried to assure her that it wouldn't be like that, but she wasn't fooled. Now that I have been out here, I can see now that she was right. I spent a few nights drinking heavily and giving serious consideration to turning my back on all of this and running after her. There are moments when I wonder what would have happened if I had."

"The repercussions would have been felt all the way to my time . . . probably further. As for you, I think you would have spent your nights staring up at the stars wishing you were out here exploring."

"Probably so. Anyway," he continued quickly diverting the subject away from himself. "I am still amazed that you never had any real relationships."

"I never said there were no real relationships. I just never had any while I was in Starfleet. During the years I was crisscrossing earth I met a few gentlemen. There was a Vulcan teacher, Sutro, who opened my eyes to a lot of new things." A sudden twinkle in her eye and a slight suspicious smile momentarily made Archer wonder exactly what the Vulcan had taught her. He might have asked, but her expression became somber as she looked back up at the blue sky peeking through the rock opening. "The heart wants what it wants, I suppose. Paul used to say that I was either trying to outrun my destiny or desperately trying to find it."

"Paul?"

"He is my 'could have been'," she explained, recalling a gentle face and warm smile that brought out the single dimple in his cheek. His blue/green eyes possessed a twinkle of mischief that hinted at his rascally sense of humor. The fact was, she could think of nothing ill about him. He had been warm, caring and everything she should have wanted. "Paul Hughes was a man I met while diving in Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa, before I met the Vulcan teacher. He had a habit of calling me Dani rather than Danaë."

"Dani?" Archer rolled the name over in his mind a bit. "Actually, it suits you."

"Perhaps. I don't usually let people get close enough to me to warrant nicknames or pet names, but Paul was an exception. He worked as a wildlife specialist and biologist and we ended up traveling together for about a year. I learned a lot about wild animals from him. He wanted to have his own refuge and although it sounded wonderful, I just couldn't say yes. No matter how much I cared about him . . . the words just wouldn't come. We parted ways and he eventually found and married someone worthy of his affection that could love him the way he deserved to be. As for me, something just kept pulling me to move on. Apparently further than I ever expected. I definitely didn't imagine meeting you."

"So he was your first," Archer, a touch surprised to be let in on something so personal.

"Hardly," she responded. "Was Margaret yours?'

"Uhhh, no. My first was when I was in high school and her name was Chelsea. Chelsea with the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen . . . well until meeting Dr. Phlox. I'd like to tell you an exciting story of youthful romance, but it was all pretty stereotypical. We had been dating a short while and doing all the things teens do, including long sessions of making out. One weekend her parents were out of town and she invited me over to 'watch a movie'. She did start one, but I couldn't tell you what it was because that was not what was on our minds. I'm sure you can already guess it was just as awkward and clumsy as any two typical teenagers could be. We continued to date for about a month before mutually breaking things off."

"I wish I had nice typical stories like that, but nothing in my life has ever been what you might consider ordinary. My story takes place at a small campsite at the top of a rocky cliff with a man that was probably old enough to be my grandfather." At this revelation, Archer's eyes grew wide in surprise. "Probably not my finest moment or decision, but at the time I was angry at my father. I had just ran away from the academy and was trying desperately to exert my independence and rebel against anything and everything. Besides, the old man wasn't bad looking, although he was a bit scruffy and in need of a shave and a haircut. He seemed rather sad actually, and had this gentle sweetness mixed with a very deep pain. I never pried, of course and by morning he was gone. C'est la vie ."

" C'est la vie indeed."

The two looked at each other, the air growing warm between them as that all too familiar hint of longing began to pull at them. Instinctively they moved to separate sides of the cavern, not even allowing themselves to look at each other until the moment had passed. They knew better than to entertain such foolish notions and as it was, their lives were complicated enough without adding attraction into the mix. They had already exposed this weakness before the Xindi ever attacked Earth and just prior to Archer's only encounter with the Borg.

While studying an exoplanet the ship had gotten slammed by an unexpected and powerful energy field causing all systems except for life support to go down. At the time the Captain and Lieutenant had been in one of the cargo bays working on a way to possibly update some of the equipment stored in there. When the field hit they found themselves locked in and unable to communicate with the outside. Archer's first instinct was to have Danaë break in and fix the system. She was a skilled hacker and it seemed like something that would come natural to her. Unfortunately she did not have the one tool that allowed her to hack and quickly pointed out that it was kept in his desk drawer.

After that it was obvious that the captain was frustrated but would have to wait patiently for someone to rescue them. His patience did not hold out for long though. He wanted to know if his crew was okay and the condition of his ship. A thousand horrible scenarios were playing in his mind and all Lt. D'Arcy could do was remind him to be patient. After several hours passed she began scouting through the containers looking for food and did find a supply of ration bars and even bottled water.

She offered the captain first choice, but he only grumbled about the situation and refused. She reminded him that survival was always the first order in situations like this, but he in turn reminded her that he was the captain. Annoyed by his constant irritation, she finally lightly tossed one at him, hitting him in the shoulder. Looking less than amused, he picked it up and tossed it back at her. In a matter of seconds things went from an occasional playful toss to a full on ration fight. The captain tried to remain his irritated self, but under the sheer ridiculousness of the situation even he couldn't help cracking a smile and even laughing.

The two got closer and closer to each other, the paper wrapped bars bouncing off one another. When they were finally within arms reach, Archer managed to get hold of Danaë and pull her close to him ending the onslaught of food. For a moment they laughed, then as their eyes locked on each other. It only took a breath of a second for impulse to override judgement and Archer quickly claimed her soft warm lips with his own. Her eagerness was equal to his, but both knew very well that whatever it was between them was not allowed and quickly separated themselves. It had been good timing too since within minutes, Trip had managed to get the cargo bay doors open and free them. Given the carnage of ration bars strewn across the floor and the way they were both standing on opposite sides of the bay with their arms crossed, gossip quickly spread that the two did not get along. Neither attempted to correct the rumor.

They never discussed the incident, but both the captain and lieutenant knew that they could never allow such an episode to be repeated. Now that they were alone in a dark cave with no way of knowing when or even if they could be found. They were also keenly aware that the longer they were alone together and the more they tried to just be friends, their attraction to one another would become a problem. They would have to be careful and keep distance between them and bury their feelings. Their focus had to be on survival and escaping this planet, nothing more.