Star Trek Enterprise Bk. 03 - The War Ch. 15

Archer's meeting with the Prime Minister could not have gone better. With the success of the Battle of Cheron, the Vulcans, Andorians and Tellerites had decided to fully back Earth in this war and all of their most powerful ships were on route to Cheron for a final assault against the Romulans. Now that Earth had the drone ships they had a fleet of Enterprises at the ready, but it looked as though they would be able to sit this one out. When it was over, Archer requested a short meeting with the admiral that went far better than he had hoped and gave credence to what T'Pol had told him beforehand. For the first time in four years the captain was experiencing a breath of optimism. Now he just needed to know that Lt. D'Arcy was going to survive.

He took the lift down to C-Deck and walking through the corridors he believed that he would find the MACO's gone, the doors accessible and Phlox smiling his large brilliant smile. Only that wasn't what he found. The two men were still standing there, weapons in hand and ready to keep him from entering. That it was taking so long only served to make him more worried. Once again he sat down on the floor with his back to the wall and silently waited. Fight Dani, he thought to himself, fight and come back to me.

Even as Dr. Phlox worked, Danaë's thoughts were still far away in another place and time. She still saw herself walking along the vineyards of Chateau Picard. The air was perfect with barely a breeze to rustle the leaves. Tasting the grapes she suddenly began to hear music. It was a woman's voice that was clear and yet far away.

Sleep in my arms now

All your pain is passed.

Sleep, for you have travelled far

Now you are home, at last.

Go as you came here

Time to say goodbye.

Light, soft as a melody

Safe in a lullaby.

How did she know this voice? It was familiar yet she couldn't quite place it. Troubled by this, she walked up to the house hoping to get away from it. As her hand touched the knob, she heard the clock tower that stood in the center of La Barre chime the hour. She counted and whispered 'ten o'clock'. It was the same time she had seen on the pocket watch in vines. Why ten and if the previous clock had shown that time then shouldn't it be eleven now? The tower must be broken, or the watch was, either way she dismissed it and went inside.

Everything in the house looked exactly as she remembered it from her childhood. Going down the hall she found the bedroom she used to stay in and every childhood object exactly where she had always kept them. In particular was her favorite wooden doll that she had owned since birth carefully and lovingly laying with its head on her pillow. Next to it was the nutcracker that Q had given her. She picked it up and smiled then suddenly realized that it wore a painted uniform that was identical to the ones worn on the NX-01. Although it did not have the red stripe or two pips that showed her rank and classification. Instead it had a yellow stripe and the four pips that only Jonathan Archer wore. It even had the same shade of brown hair and green eyes and in one arm a beagle pup. She had never noticed that when she was a girl. She furrowed her brow confused. If she was here then surely her father was too and she would have to ask him about it.

Laying the doll back down next to the other she started to hear that voice again. It sounded like it was coming from the living room. She went back in there but there was no one, just the voice. She called out for the person to identify themselves, but they didn't. From somewhere deep in her memory she began to realize whose voice it was. It was her mother. It had been so long since she had heard it.

"Mama..." she whispered, closing her eyes in disbelief.

The fields are green

The rivers all run clear

And all so far from here ...

She opened her eyes and realized the room had changed. Everywhere she looked there were clocks of every size and shape. There was a decorative victorian model on a table on one side of the couch and a digital type on the opposite table. She noticed a time piece hanging on the wall and a large grandfather clock. None of these clocks had been there when she had visited during her formative years, nor had they been there when she came through the door a moment ago. Each and every one of them read ten o'clock.

Lt. d'Arcy went back into her own sleeping area and saw a timepiece decorated with the first eight known planets hanging on the wall. She had never had one before. Next to the bed was a rocket ship shaped digital clock that, once again, she had never owned. Both said ten o'clock. She looked back at the nutcracker and noticed a watch looped around his wooden arm. It bore the exact same time as all the others. The lieutenant backed out of the room confused about what was happening. Why were these clocks appearing, why did they show that particular time? Seeing that more timepieces had appeared she became more uneasy. She racked her brain to try and understand. Was it the clocks themselves or was there something significant about that particular hour?

She went back into the living room and every time piece was gone except one. There on the coffee table was a beautiful pocket watch open with the face on one side and the necklace that Archer had given her on Risa carefully preserved on the other. That beautiful star pendant with all gold and rainbow colors shining brilliantly up at her. She picked up the necklace then noticed words being etched into the surface of the table by an invisible hand. 'By the clock' it read. This should mean something to her. It was a message and yet she couldn't quite understand it.

"By the clock," she said, mulling the sentence over carefully. Her hazel eyes looked towards the couch and she noticed the nutcracker leaning against the cushions staring back at her. "By the clock. By the clock. By the clo..." Once again her mother called to her. This time she was sure the voice was behind a door on the far end of the room. It was as if she were beckoning her, calling her to open the door and pass through. Inside she wud be free of everything and back with her mom. A wonderful thought and yet something about it seemed terribly wrong.

Rest for a while, now

All your work is done.

Rest here in my waiting arms

Now that your race is run...

"No! " she exclaimed, her mind suddenly lighting up like a fire. She understood the message and choice before her and it was all so very clear. "My race isn't over yet. I have to get back!!" she cried out, understanding what she needed to do. "I have to get to Jon! By the clock!"

Instantly she ran to the door of the old family house and threw it open, but stepping out she didn't find the familiar land and vineyards but instead she was in San Francisco standing on a busy street at night. She glanced at the watch on her wrist but it was blank. Had she missed it? Was she too late to get back to him? She looked up at the street sign and realized she wasn't far from the clock tower. Danaë began to run, but her legs felt like lead weights and she seemed to be hardly moving. She still forced herself to keep going. She had to get to Jonathan, she had promised. As soon as she found him then everything would be okay, but it was so hard to move and seemed to be taking forever.

"Jonathan!!" she yelled, hoping he would somehow hear her. "I'm coming Jonathan! Wait for me!"

She rounded a corner and could see the tower up ahead, but the one block radius seemed like it was a mile away. Just out of range of the street lamps glow she could see the shadow of a figure leaning against the wall. That had to be him, she was sure of it. Her feet didn't want to move, but she refused to give in. She was physically lifting her legs and putting them down. She did this over and over creeping along and praying that she would be on time. The closer she got the harder it was for her eyes to peer through the darkness at who was waiting, but still she kept on. Just as she finally reached the figure she collapsed into their arms in time to hear the clock chime the hour of ten.

"By the clock." she managed to say as she opened her eyes and found herself in the sickbay of the NX-01 and looking into the face of Jonathan Archer. He was holding her hand and smiling as she looked up at him. "I kept my promise," she said, smiling weakly. Every part of her body hurt, but she was alive and back on the ship with the man she loved.

"Yes you did," he agreed, brushing her hair back from her face.

"Ahh, I see the patient has awakened." Phlox said as he came over and beamed a warm smile down at her. "You gave us all quite a scare. Most of your injuries were minor, bruising, a few broken bones, cuts and such. However, you also sustained several cracked ribs and one in particular was broken enough that it punctured the lining of your lung and allowed air to leak into the chest cavity. Since it could not escape it kept expanding and crushing your heart until it was arrested. Fortunately I was able to insert a needle and take the pressure off."

"I never doubt your abilities, doctor," she responded.

"Yes, but that does not mean you should test them so often." Phlox's sparkling blue eyes glittered with a hint of mischief. At this she gave a slight laugh then turned back to Archer, eager to know the outcome of the battle and her mission.

He was only too happy to tell her that it had worked better than expected. Having control of the drone ships had damaged the Romulan fleet and the combination of them and the Andorian ships had damaged them enough that they were forced to limp their way back to Romulan space with their tails tucked firmly between their legs. The Coalition of Planets was strengthened rather than falling apart and it looked as though the tide of war was now permanently in their favor. All this news was a relief to the lieutenant and she relaxed against the pillows with a deep sigh and a nod.

"H-how many men made it back from the mission?" she asked Archer hesitantly. She knew four of her men had died during the altercation in the control room, but she was hoping that the others had survived.

"Only you and Maj. Forrest made it back."

This was more success than the lieutenant had ever expected and yet she still felt like a failure who had let those poor men down. They had trusted her with their lives and in the end they had not made it back. She closed her eyes, trying to hide the tears that were forming. Her breathing still came out heavy and as she squeezed her eyelids together a tear managed to escape and run down her cheek. She was angry with herself and wondering how she was going to tell the families. The more upset she got the faster her heart beat began to beat. This got Dr. Phlox's attention.

"Lieutenant, you did everything in your power to bring them back. They would be the first to tell you so. Right now I need you to focus on staying calm and bringing your heart rate back down. The last thing I want is for you to either go back into cardiac arrest or risk a miscarriage."

The lieutenant took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He was right, she didn't need her heart to stop again, but it was difficult after such a loss. It was a half second later that the second part of Dr. Phlox's statement fully registered in her brain. If the doctor had thought such a nonchalant statement would calm her down, he couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, when it came to her father's side of the family tree there was no quicker way to stress out a Picard.

"Wait... what?" Danaë's eyes grew wide at the implications of what he was saying. Panic began to fill her and her heart began to race even faster as all the color drained from her face. Instantly she turned to Archer, who was looking at the monitors, and caught hold of the collar of his uniform in a death grip, yanking him closer. "What is he talking about? What's going on? He said the word 'miscarriage'. Please tell me he's kidding." Children were not even close to being in her comfort zone. Wires, tubes, engines, computers and machines of every kind were things she understood, not kids. It was not that she disliked them, but rather, she had no idea what to do with them. "This is a joke, right? The doctor is having a bit of fun with me?" Even as she asked, she really didn't believe that was the case. Archer softly shook his head in answer. Not quite what she hoped, but it was what it was. "Merde."

Lt. D'Arcy released the captain then laid back against the bed trying to wrap her head around this revelation. She was no more fit to be a mother now she had been at nineteen. That had been another moment where impulse had taken sway over caution. In a moment of rebellion she had chosen to lose her virginity in a one night stand with a man she really didn't know and much much much too old for her. Were it not for the appearance of Q she had no doubt that the great and honorable Captain Picard would have been embarrassed and disappointed in her and that her life would have been completely different. Instead, her self-proclaimed godfather had taken her someplace safe where no one would know her then spirited her newborn daughter away with the promise that she would be taken care of.

She never spoke of the incident to anyone and had pushed it from her mind as much as she could. Now she was pregnant again, but this time it had the potential to upend not only her life and career, but Archer's as well. The strange thing was that as scared as she was at the prospect, she wasn't as afraid now as she had been in her youth. This time she wasn't alone, she had Jonathan and he was not a man who walked away from anything or anyone. Even so, she fully expected to see the captain equally as conflicted as she was, but to her surprise he was calm and even smiling. How was that even possible? Didn't he know what was at stake? It wasn't as if they could hide it. The truth would eventually show leading to unending gossip with fingers pointing to every imaginable male on board as the father. Oh God, she was certain that her head was about to explode from all the worst-case scenarios playing in her mind. Seeing the doctor disappear into his office, she seized the opportunity and still clutching his uniform, she once more pulled Archer close to her and began to speak low.

"Jonathan... this wasn't supposed to happen... we'll be caught... everything we've worked for... everything you have worked for..." She was so upset that she could barely collect a thought as she spoke. With so much on the line, it was infuriating that he could be so damned serene? She was not so noble or stupid. Dear God, how could they have been so reckless? And for God's sake why couldn't he at least seem just a little bit worried!!!

"Everything is going to be fine," he assured her, kissing her forehead and breaking free of her grasp. She admired his confidence, but Danaë wasn't convinced. "Let's get you something to eat in the mess hall and we'll talk about it." At his suggestion, the lieutenant could only sigh.

"I've lost my appetite at the moment," she answered, fidgeting with a fold in the blanket that covered her. She sighed as her head fell forward. Archer noticed a tear fall from her eyes and landed on white cotton blanket that covered her. He knew why too. She was scared. Scared of the future, scared of the responsibility, scared of the cost to their careers and, most importantly, she was scared of the damage it could do to their relationship. In fact, she was so caught up in the danger that she never even noticed that Dr. Phlox had returned and with him was Cmdr. Tucker, Malcolm Reed, Hoshi Sato, Travis Mayweather and T'Pol, with her hands characteristically hidden behind her back.. In Hoshi's hands were two bottles of unknown material, but Danaë wasn't sure what it was, only that one was a vibrant shade of turquoise while the other was a glittering silver.

"Lieutenant, do you trust me?" he asked, his voice commanding as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Of course I do, captain, but..." she stopped there, noticing that the others were there behind him.

"Do you love me?"

"Regulation 1138: Starfleet members may not engage in business or romanti..."

"I did not ask you to cite regulation, lieutenant, I asked you a direct question and I expect a clear and concise answer." While Danaë might argue with him behind closed doors, he knew she would never buck protocol in front of others and would have to answer this question. Indeed, her hazel eyes moved from face to face searching for a proper way to answer and keep discretion.

"You already know how I feel," she responded, hoping it would be enough of an answer.

"That is not an answer, lieutenant. I want a yes or a no."

"Captain..." she started to say, trying to reign him in, but he would not be stopped.

"Answer me lieutenant." Archer interrupted, his voice a bit sharper. "Don't stop and think, don't try to find the right words, just answer me, right here and now."

"Yes!" she finally snapped. "Yes. There it is, okay? I do love you."

"Our first year out in space exploring we made contact with a planet called Rudo. The Rudoans were fascinating people, technologically advanced and yet incredibly simplistic in their lives and rituals." He went over to Hoshi and took the two jars from her and set them on the bed with Danaë. Looking down at them she could see that it was sand. What on earth was he going to do with sand? He then went over to T'Pol, who finally took her hands out from behind her back and handed him a large empty bottle. He brought it over to the lieutenant, carefully unscrewing the lid as he went. He put it in her hand then removed the lid from the silver sand then put it in her other hand. He then took up the other jar and continued what he was saying. "When the Rudoans get married they have a very simple but very powerful ceremony. The couple each pour sand into another container symbolizing the joining of their lives. The only way they can ever break the union is if they can separate each grain from each other."

"Captain..." she started to say. She understood where he was going with all of this, but was uncertain if he understood how Starfleet would react to such a union.

"Jonathan," he corrected gently.

"Jonathan, we... we can't..."

"I have already discussed the situation with Admiral Gardner and he has given his full support. It seems Starfleet needs me more than ever right now and they are willing to make any concession to keep me. Also, as an interstellar captain I have special permissions to perform wedding ceremonies since returning to Earth for such things would be nearly impossible. "Now, will you marry me?"

"I-I have nothing... " she stammered softly. "I'm no one and you..."

"You have me," he whispered. "Don't blink, Dani. You can't be afraid of the wind."

Danaë looked up into his soft green eyes and could see that he meant every word he was saying. This all seemed so surreal. It didn't seem that long ago that she along with so many other cadets made jokes about the great mystery that was Archer's wife. Even her old roommate Marni had often joked that she was going to go back in time to meet the famous captain and raise lots of babies and beagles. Not once had she ever considered the possibility that the woman in question was herself. Even now she wasn't thinking about what it would mean to be this man's wife or how difficult life lived in the spotlight could be. All she knew was that she wanted this man at her side for all of her life and she would follow him wherever he went.

Although Archer was attempting to appear calm and patient, there was a fleet of butterflies moving through his stomach. He had every reason to believe she would accept him and yet there was that drop of doubt. He had proposed before, to Margaret, and been turned down. If only he could read her mind then maybe it would help. If he could have peered into her mind he would have felt better immediately. Lt. D'Arcy was remembering that day eight years ago when Suliban had kidnapped her and brought her back in time. One had said something about keeping her from meeting someone and now she finally understood. It was Archer all along. This had truly been meant to be and as a calmness swept through her, Danaë knew exactly what her answer was.