Star Trek Enterprise Bk. 04 - Family Ch. 08

After breakfast it was decided that both Picard and Riker should be taken on a tour of the Enterprise NX-01. Flying up to the space dock, the initial attitude of their guests aboard the shuttle was laid-back and maybe even a touch disenchanted. Going into space was hardly a new experience for any of them. Yet as the NX-01 came into view both Riker and Picard seemed to become kids looking at a ship that had once inspired a million games of make-believe and whose legend had inspired them to reach for the stars. It was the same excitement they had felt when they had passed through time to stop the Borg from assimilating Earth and gazed upon Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix sitting in its missile silo waiting for its first launch and the new era it would usher in.

Archer was seated at the controls of the shuttle bringing it into the launch bay and landing it with absolute precision. When the doors opened both Riker and Picard tried to seem calm, but both were eager to get out and explore what to them was living history. Both T'Pol and Cmdr. Tucker were there to greet them as they emerged. Trip extended his hand to shake theirs, but the two were so much in awe of who they were meeting that they hesitated to take it at first. Picard quickly snapped himself out of it and quickly shook Trip's hand.

"It is an honor to meet you," he said, but still in awe of who he was speaking to, he momentarily forgot himself and the Prime Directive he lived by. "I remember spending one summer before attending the academy reading everything I could about you and your work on the Warp-5 engine along with Henry Archer's research." A look of confusion filled Trip's face as he tried to understand how this man who was probably at least fifty years older than him could be reading anything about him at all, let alone before going to the academy.

"Uhh, not the academy," Danaë quickly corrected. "Before coming here to visit." She was very much aware that no one on the Enterprise, except Archer, Dr. Phlox and sometimes T'Pol actually believed she was from the future. If they didn't believe her, then they certainly weren't going to believe her father or his friend were. This correction seemed to make sense to the commander and instead he turned his attention to the bundle sleeping all wrapped up in the baby sling around the lieutenant commander.

"I see you brought our next captain with you," he smiled, pulling back a bit of the fabric to see the tiny face and cloudy blue eyes looking back at him. "Just wait until you are a bit older, Bobby, then you are going to have so many adventures with your uncle Trip."

"Bobby?" Picard asked. His grandson's name was Jean-Robert, named for him and his older brother. It was the only name he had heard used for the child until now.

"Trip feels Jean-Robert is too formal," she smirked. "He's been calling him Bobby since the moment he was born. Now Jon does too." Together father and daughter exited the launch bay with T'Pol, leaving Archer, Riker and Trip to talk reports and the progress on the ships refit.

Walking through the corridor, the lieutenant commander pointed out the decontamination chamber and explained how when she had first arrived they had regularly used it for all away missions, but now they almost exclusively used the transporter. T'Pol periodically injected her own observations into the conversation and the logical need for such a change. Leaning close to her father's ear Danaë whispered to him that while the Sub-commander did admit to time travel being possible, she was not ready to believe that she was from the future.

Walking down the corridor together they both felt the strangest sense of deja vu. They had walked these paths before, but back then she had been a small child with her hand in his. At the time Picard had been looking for a way to satisfy her curiosity without endangering her or his ship. The answer had been to bring up the NX-01 on the holodeck and let her learn and explore to her heart's content with the safety on. Oh how she had run up and down the walkways and pressed every button. It was as if she had found her home. At the time he had not given it much thought, but now he wondered if indeed she hadn't.

Despite his advanced age, in some ways Picard was still that young eager explorer with a mind wanting to know everything. As such he continuously asked a million questions about the ship's inner workings, about the various missions and daily life. His daughter naturally answered everything, realizing that to someone from two-hundred years in the future this had to be the equivalent of traveling in a covered wagon across a continent. It had seemed like that to her once too. What she wasn't ready for was her father's off-hand and sly commentary regarding a Starfleet captain picking and choosing which regulations he should or should not follow. He never said exactly which of Archer's choices he was questioning, but Danaë knew all the same.

It was the one regarding relationships between officers. In Picard's time this rule was non-existent since ships carried whole families and would spend untold decades out in space. In this era it was strictly enforced. The old man was hardly surprised that his child would break the rules. He was well acquainted with her rebellious nature, but it seemed strange to him that Archer would, considering everything he had read about the man. He was supposed to be a straight-laced, by-the-book leader and the idea of him breaking such protocol for personal gratification just didn't fit the image, not that he minded having such a man as a son-in-law. Dani was not about to confront him about his comments, at least not in front of T'Pol or the others. Sometimes it was best to speak in generalities until a better time presented itself.

"Jon tries very hard to always do the right thing, but no man is perfect. He doesn't have the work of countless captains to look back on and see how they handled a situation. He's made plenty of mistakes and it tears away a piece of his heart and soul every time. It's the cost of laying a road down for future captains like you." She smiled to herself then added "As far as our shipboard affair is considered, we never planned anything and tried very hard not to get involved."

This seemed to satisfy Picard as they continued towards sickbay so he could meet Dr. Phlox. Still thinking of her fathers comments regarding their ship board romance, she found herself glad that the walls of the Enterprise NX-01 could not talk or her face would have had permanent blush to it. How many secret touches and kisses did she and Archer share on this ship? How many times did they long just to gaze at one another, yet dared not even look in each other's direction?

Strange to think that there had ever been a time when they had believed that whatever attraction they had felt when they met would ever disappear into a platonic professional one. A month after joining the crew, before there was ever a thought of war or conflict with another species, life on board the ship had been peaceful and about exploration. Archer and Danaë rarely saw each other and never gave it a thought. After every shift she would go to the main aft observation room and look out at the stars. Crewmen rarely came to this spot so for her it was a wonderful place to sit and dream. In fact she had never seen anyone there making her feel as though it was her own private hideaway.

One night after her shift she went there, a cup of Earl Grey tea in hand, hoping to enjoy the stars while raising her cup in honor of her father's birthday. She had never been disturbed before so there was no reason to think she would be now. She was wearing a white tank top and cargo shorts (her civilian clothes) and had her feet kicked up on the table while looking at her father's picture on her PADD. She had become so engrossed in her thoughts that she never heard the door open. It wasn't until Porthos landed in her lap causing her to spill her tea that she realized she wasn't alone.

"Porthos!" Archer called out sternly, a bit embarrassed by the dog's antics. He too was dressed in civilian attire, looking to relax after long work hours. It seemed his beagle had other ideas. The dog never did this to anyone else on the ship, just Danaë and he couldn't understand it. With many apologies he took the animal from her lap and sat down on the couch next to where she had been sitting, while she tried to wipe up the tea that was now all over. "I thought everyone was at movie night watching 'White Zombie'."

"Oo, Bela Lugosi at his finest," she commented, picking up the cup and saucer from the floor along with the spoon and setting it on a nearby table. "I almost feel bad missing that one. I actually forgot it was movie night and instead decided to toast my father's birthday with a cup of his favorite tea... not that I got any. I'm glad it wasn't a glass of Chateau Picard."

"Chateau Picard?"

"It's my family's wine. They've been producing it for many generations. Every Picard learns how to tend the vineyards and how to tell when your grapes are perfect and ready to be made in wine. I've worked the family vineyards myself a time or two. One could say that my father and I were the rebellious ones, running off to explore the stars rather than follow tradition."

"Each of us is drawn to our own path and calling," Archer added.

"Exactly. Somehow he found out I would end up here and sent a few items he wanted me to have. One of those items was a bottle of the family wine. I would have opened it and toasted his birthday, but I'm afraid I will never have another bottle."

"Couldn't you get another bottle from your ancestors?"

"I could, but then it wouldn't be produced by him or my uncle Robert." Whether the wine was better or worse because they had made it was immaterial. They had produced it so to her that made it all the better.

"Perhaps I should get a bottle next time, I'm on Earth just so I can taste it."

"Well, if I should ever pop the cork on that bottle I'll try to save a glass for you."

"Is that a promise?" he smiled.

"Sure."

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

"Fine, it's a date," she laughed, extending her hand to him. Archer reached up and shook it agreeing to the terms, but even as the deal was sealed their hands remained clasped. Danaë looked down into his face and deep green eyes as a sudden silence fell between them. She could think of nothing they had said that was inappropriate and yet she could feel a stirring between them and inside herself that made her feel certain she had crossed a toe over the line. Perhaps she was only imagining things.

Hoping to alleviate whatever was happening between them, she tried to take a step back and pull her hand away, but instead she stepped on Porthos. The poor dog yelped and jumped up, knocking Danaë off kilter and into Archer's unsuspecting arms with a loud 'oof'. There was momentary laughter at the ridiculousness of it all, then the two found themselves silently peering into each other's eyes, Archer's hands softly holding her upper arms. For a second she wondered what it would be like to really be held by him, his arms both strong and gentle. Their faces were mere inches from each other and with very little effort their lips could easily brush against each other. The temptation was there and the way their mouths softly trembled and the feel of their breath against their skin didn't help. She didn't need to ask if he felt any attraction to her, a blind man could have felt the heat between them. The smell of the man, the thought of what his lips would taste like was enough to send a heat through her body and she quickly pushed the idea out of mind. She had known other men before, this was no different she tried to tell herself, but the reality was none had ever looked at her the way Archer did.

"I-I should get up," she said, but she didn't move.

"I guess you should." Archer agreed yet made no attempt to let her go. No longer than they had known each other it had always been easy for them to talk about anything. Too easy really and even the slightest of touches seemed natural as though they were supposed to touch. Looking down into his gentle green eyes, the pupils dilated with undeniable interest that made her own heartbeat quicken. They just sat there against each other, open and vulnerable, knowing that if the door opened there would be no end to the gossip, not to mention the Starfleet disciplinary action. Still they didn't move. Could they ever be in each other's presence and not find themselves longing for more?

That strange cord of communion that was inextricably linked from his heart to hers seemed to pull her closer until the edge of her lips just barely brushed the line of his. Before they could properly sample, Porthos leapt in between them causing them to pull away from each other and snapping them out of their moment. They laughed, but quickly excused themselves and said nothing about what had nearly transpired. There was no point in dwelling on something that could never be.

Now, almost ten years later the two were married with a son and it seemed ridiculous to think they had ever fought against their feelings. She certainly wasn't going to tell her father any of it and risk seeing that disapproving look. Sometimes it was best to keep the conversation to differences in technology and simple introductions, such as Dr. Phlox. His sparkling blue eyes danced and he beamed an oversized smile at the elder Picard, pleased to finally meet the man he had heard many stories about. For Jean-Luc it was a chance to thank the man who had saved his daughter more than once, not to mention the one he believed had delivered his grandson.

"Oh that wasn't me," Dr. Phlox, corrected. "That was Cmdr. Tucker, I just told him what to do." Seeing how her father's eyes narrowed at the revelation, Danaë quickly explained.

"Trip and I were brainstorming over the Warp-7 engine, trying to figure out how to make it more stable when we were fired on by Romulan extremists. They tossed an explosive charge into the bay where we were working. Fortunately it malfunctioned causing far less destruction than they had anticipated. Even so, four people were killed and it caused a lot of damage to that portion of the building. Somehow they missed Trip and I completely, but it caused me to go into premature labor and help couldn't get to me right away because they needed to make sure the building was stable enough for them to move through." for a moment she gave a slight laugh, not at what had happened but at what she imagined must have been the look on Archer's face when he got word. "I understand Jon jumped up straight from his chair and tried to walk out of the meeting with Ambassador Soval."

"The ambassador is a man not easily dismissed." The doctor agreed. Hearing this, Picard's eyes narrowed even more. Had Archer stayed at the meeting?

"It was the most logical course of action. Humans have been producing babies since time began." T'Pol observed. Her comment was not meant to be unkind, but rather an observation of facts. "Taking part in a meeting towards building a greater peace among many planets, that has never been achieved."

"Every new father in every species believes he is the first to have a baby, even Vulcans," Phlox smiled. No doubt he knew this personal experience, not just from the many babies he had delivered, but from becoming a new father himself once and experiencing all the emotions that went with it.

Picard nodded. He had not been around for Danaë's birth, nor he had not even known that Solenne was pregnant. He liked to believe that if he had known then he would have been there by her side holding her hand and supporting her through it all. He wanted to believe that, but sometimes he wondered. Politely he excused himself then followed the corridor down to the mess hall. He recalled the path from the holodeck simulation and found it easily. Striding right up to the window and looking out at the stars, that view that had always comforted him since childhood. In his heart he couldn't help feeling like a terrible cycle was being repeated and it made him ache inside.

That last night he and Solenne talked so much was said that he was only now really hearing and appreciating. Strange how deaf a person can become when anger and hurt fill your heart and plug your ears. Perhaps he had always known that in the end she would leave him and yet somehow he had been sure that if anyone could understand him, it was her.

"It's because I understood you so well that I left... that I am leaving again today."

"What am I supposed to say that would stop you?" he had asked, seeing that she was clearly determined in this.

"You could tell me not to go, Jean-Luc," she had responded, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes. "Say it to me." It was a simple phrase and yet he could not speak it. More tears formed in her eyes as well as disappointment. "For once, tell me what you're feeling."

"What I'm feeling?" he echoed. He was not a demonstrative man, never had been. He didn't know how to be. Words were easily given and could be as empty as a void. After two years didn't she already know, couldn't she tell? "You know how I feel. Don't ask for words I cannot give."

Standing there alone in the mess hall, he could almost feel Solenne close to him. He was sure that if he were to turn to his right he would find her spirit standing near his elbow. She wasn't there, he reminded himself. She died a long time ago so why was her memory plaguing him now? Was it just another cruel twist of his infernal Irumodic Syndrome or something more? He whispered for her to please go away, but far from being left alone, he thought he heard a soft and sad sigh that was barely audible close to his ear. A sudden idea struck him that it was not too late, that he could somehow correct the past. The notion jolted through him and he turned ready to tell Solenne everything he had always held back, but no one was there. There was only an empty mess hall and a lone crewman getting a drink on the other end.