Disclaimer: I don't own the Enterprise crew, only their ancestors, and neither do I own Ray or Ben

Story Notes: The Vecchio/Female dynamic is only mentioned, never directly referred to. The episode is set after the Due South episode 'Hawk and Handsaw' and during the Enterprise Episode 'The Shipment'

"So... um, what exactly are you doing?" Ray asked. Ray was helping her fix something, but he had no idea what he was doing.

"Fixing this," she replied.

"And this is?" Ben asked. He was supposed to be handing out tools but found the unique object far too fascinating to do much else.

Claire shrugged. "No clue. I'll find out when we've fixed it."

"But... if you don't know what it is, how do you when it's fixed?"

"I'm assuming it will hum or something."

"Isn't this kind of dangerous?" Ray worriedly asked.

Claire's eyes glittered. "Maybe. I'm a trained engineer," she continued, seriously. "This work is done fairly regularly in Starfleet. I promise we won't blow up."

"That could happen?"

"No. I told you, I promise."

Ray nodded and tweaked something. Claire flipped the switch. The object started to hum. Ray backed away quickly but the orb-shaped objected just sat there, humming.

Eventually, Dief moved forwards to sniff it. Satisfied that he wasn't going to blow up, Ray approached it. Claire began to close it up.

"Now do we know what it does?" Ben asked.

"Let's find out." Cautiously, Claire tapped a few controls. She frowned. "The technology seems familiar. Sphere-builders."

"Who are they?" Ray asked.

"People who built spheres, Ray," Ben replied.

Claire smiled at him. "They created a plot to destroy my planet, so that they could transform our universe more like theirs and take it over."

"I assume you triumphed over them?" Ben asked.

Claire nodded. "But I thought all their technology was destroyed."

"Doesn't look destroyed," Ray remarked. "Let's see what it does!" he reached for a button.

Claire moved to stopped him.

Suddenly, they weren't in her apartment anymore. She took in their new surroundings. She recognised the cargo containers piled high around them. A loud siren was heard coming from the walls. Her eyes widened at the implications.

"You said nothing would happen!" Ray cried out, all the louder to get himself heard over the alerts and Dief who was upset by them.

"No, I didn't! I said we wouldn't get blown up! And we weren't! We were just moved through time and space!"

Having calmed Dief down, Fraser asked: "How do you know that?"

"See those containers?"

They looked at them. "NX - 01." Ray read.

"That was the first five warp five ship. The tactical alert hasn't been activated while it was at warp for over two hundred years."

Ray pointed a finger in her direction. "She may have a point."

The doors opened and in flowed a half dozen men in a mixture of navy and khaki jumpsuits. They moved into formation, their rifles raised. Taking their cue from Claire, Ray and Ben raised their arms. Dief whined.

The leader of the squad paused as he took in the sight. He moved to the nearby comm. "Reed to the bridge. I think you'd better come down here, sir."

"What do we do?" Ray whispered to Claire.

"What the guys with the rather large gun say?" She suggested.

"Who are you?"

"Umm... we're cops!"

"You're cops?" Reed repeated. Their heads bobbed. Reed exchanged a look with another of the squad. He shrugged in response.

The door opened behind them. A tall man, with a commanding presence entered. He looked at the three with bemusement. After exchanging a look with Reed, he motioned to them to put their hands down. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Constable Benton Fraser of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. These are my colleagues and friends, Detectives Ray Vecchio and Claire McGuinness of the Chicago Police Department."

They waved in turn. Dief barked. "Diefenbaker," Claire pointed him out. Oddly enough, their hosts' confusion was not alleviated. "Captain Jonathan Archer. What are three cops and a... wolf?"

"Half wolf, actually."

Archer gave him a look that said: does it matter? "Half wolf. What are you doing in my cargo bay?"

"We're not actually sure," Claire volunteered. "But it had something to do with this." She held up the orb.

Archer looked at the orb with curiosity. "What is it?" He stepped forwards and took it from Claire, who willingly gave it up.

"We don't know. We were trying to figure that out when..." she shrugged.

"All we know is that thing is probably our ticket back," Ray said.

Archer nodded. "Probably," he agreed. "What did you do to make it happen?"

"Pressed that button," she pointed. "Probably shouldn't do that again."

"We'll get our scientist to take a look at it. Get you back to where you came from."

"We'd appreciate that."

Archer nodded, turning to Reed. "Malcolm, escort our guests to sickbay."

"We're not sick," Ray pointed out.

Archer held up the orb. "God knows what this did to you. There might be side effects. Besides, we're a little double booked."

Claire nodded and allowed herself be led out with Ray and Ben following close behind and Dief taking up the rear.

"Why did you give it up?" Ray asked in a whisper. He eyed the alien doctor with suspicion as they huddled in a corner.

Claire shrugged. "They're really in a better position to find out how it works."

"You're from the future!"

"I'm not about to tell them that! It's bad enough that we're here in the first place. This is a pivotal moment in my planet's history. If we interfere, change anything - then the result could mean my planet's destruction. Among other things."

Ray looked away, nodding thoughtfully. "You mean you won't get born."

"And your planet will be destroyed too."

"Ok, so... low profile."

"Next!" the Denobulan called out exuberantly.

Claire proved to be the more difficult of patients. She constantly asked questions about what he was doing and why. Patiently, Phlox explained each. "I won't harm you, I promise."

"What possible reason would you have for doing a DNA scan?"

"I am simply ensuring that you suffered no damage from that device."

"It hasn't affected the others that way, why would it affect me?"

Phlox sighed. "I am simply being thorough."

The captain entered with Hoshi. "Problems?"

"We'd really like to get back."

"We're working on it," Archer assured her.

Dief let out a depressed whine. "What are supposed to do in the meantime?" Ray demanded. "Sit around and get prodded?"

Archer frowned at him. "This isn't a luxury cruiser, Detective. We... we're on a mission. A mission to save Earth."

Ben looked at him in disbelief then looked over at Claire. "That's a little hard to believe, Captain."

"It's true. A deadly enemy called the Xindi are threatening to destroy our entire world. They've already killed seven million people."

Suddenly, Ray leaned very heavily on Claire. "I guess you weren't exaggerating," he whispered to Claire.

Archer heard him, but thought he was talking to him. "No, I wasn't."

"Captain," Claire began, "we sympathise with, if not understand, your position. We'd offer to help, but we're not sure how our skills would be useful."

Archer gave her a nod. "At the moment, we are at a lull. We're trying to get more information on the Xindi, but we're having no luck."

"Perhaps we could assist," Ben suggested, though still uncertain. "Perhaps help you find them."

"At the very least, it will keep us out of your way," Claire agreed.

Archer considered this. "I'll think about it."

"At the moment," Phlox interjected. "Perhaps it would be best for our guests to get something to eat in the mess. After such a stressful few hours, a warm meal might do you a world of good, hmm?"

Dief barked in agreement. Solemnly, they nodded. "Come on, Dief," Claire said. "I feel like a burger or something, how `bout you?"

Dief barked and wagged his tail, sympathetically nuzzling her and then going on to Ben and even Ray. "Ensign Sato will escort you."

Ray smiled to see her. "Hello."

She smiled back. "Right this way." She led them out of the room. "It must be a shock to hear what happened."

"You know anyone who was killed?"

"No. But our chief engineer, Commander Tucker, lost a sister."

"I can't imagine that happening to me." Not even Francesca. She could be a pain, some... all the time, but he couldn't imagine life without her.

Ben leaned over towards Claire. "Tucker... that's your real name, isn't it?" Claire nodded. "It's not just a coincidence, is it?" She shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about this now," she whispered back.

Ben dropped the subject as they entered the mess hall. The hall was relatively empty with only one or two crewmembers eating lunch. Hoshi guided them through choosing their meals and drinks and settled them down to lunch.

Ray turned the charm with Hoshi while Ben and Claire quietly tucked into their lunches. "So what is it you do here?" Ray asked her.

"I'm the Communications Officer."

"You mean, like on a submarine?"

"Yeah, actually. I make sure all the ship's crew and systems are talking to each other. I crack codes and occasionally I have to talk to aliens."

"Your work must be very hard," Ray said.

Claire spluttered into her drink, causing Ray to glare at her. "I hope you weren't mocking her hard work," he said.

"Certainly not, Ray. I'm mocking you. The way you said that: I'm sorry!"

Ray glared at her while the other two tried, and failed, to hide their own giggles. Claire patted his hand. "You just carry on as if nothing happened. Hard work?"

At that moment, a herd of men in camouflage gear came in. "They're the MACOs," Hoshi explained. "They come in here every day at this time for lunch."

"Yeah, that's the military for you!" Ray sighed, picking up on the undercurrent of tension in her voice.

Ben was a little put out. "There's nothing wrong with routine, Ray."

"You'll have to excuse my friend - he was brought up in snowy tundra."

"They seem to isolate themselves a lot," Claire noted.

"Exactly," Hoshi agreed. "I've tried to get to know them, but they're too formal. I suppose that's not much of an excuse."

"I'm sure you did the best you could," Ray told her. He glared at Claire who smiled back.

"Where are you from, anyway?" Hoshi asked her. "Florida? You're certainly not from Chicago."

"You're about right. My mom's from Yorkshire and I've travelled around a lot."

Hoshi nodded. "That explains it."

"I suppose that comes with being a linguist - being able to figure out accents and stuff."

"How'd you know I was a linguist?"

"Well, you said you talked to aliens. I'm assuming of course the aliens don't all speak English."

"Oh. Yes. Although I do have a little help with a device we call the Universal Translator," she paused. "I think you should know - Florida was one of the places hit."

"I'll consider that my hundred year or so warning," she replied ironically.

"I guess there is nothing you could do about it, huh?"

"Without ending up in an asylum? I don't think so. Thanks anyway."

Suddenly, the tactical alert sounded. "I'm sorry! I have to go to the bridge," Hoshi apologised as she and the MACOs rushed out of the hall. They were very quickly left alone.

"So what do we do?" Ray asked, feeling at loose ends.

Claire shrugged. "We stay out of the way. There's nothing we can do." The ship rocked as soon as the words left her mouth. They moved to the window where they saw a slick looking ship with green spikes along the hull, slicked back, giving the vessel a sharp angry look. "A Xindi-reptile ship," Claire recognised it.

"There are different kinds?" Ray asked, beginning to struggle to remain on his feet.

"Five surviving - Reptiles, Insectoids, Arboreals, Aquatics and a humanoid species, similar to ourselves."

"Surviving?" Ben asked.

"Their original world was destroyed by a great war, species of such variety rarely are able to coexist, five of the species were able to leave but the sixth, an avian species, didn't make it." She mentally kicked herself. "This is our fault."

"How so?" Ben asked.

"That device. Obviously the Sphere-builders detected it, sent a Xindi ship to investigate, maybe retrieve the device."

The ship disappeared from view, and suddenly the ship stopped reeling. "Is it over?" Ray asked in disbelief.

Claire shook her head. "They like to board the ship."

Ray took out his gun and Claire followed suit. "Why didn't you give your guns up?" Ben asked.

"Funny, Captain Archer never asked us to," Claire replied.

"Guess he never thought of it," Ray shrugged.

"Well, soon he'd be glad he didn't."

"Do you know where they'd keep that orb?" Ray asked.

"Science lab. Follow me."

The corridors were dark, though that was more due to the alert status than anything else. Judging from the length of the assault, Claire was sure that it would take only a couple of hours to repair the damage.

They reached the science lab, and aware that someone might be inside and not understand the sudden arrival of two armed cops and a Mountie with a wolf. She tapped the open key off the door. The lab was empty, evidently whoever was in the lab had left for their battle-station elsewhere.

Allowing the others to pass her into the lab, she sealed the door behind them. "I've found it!" Ray called out. The orb was in status, the diagnostic panel showing that it was in the midst of a scan when the scientist had abandoned it in favour of more urgent matters.

"Ok, so, what do we do now?" Ray asked.

That was a good question. They couldn't allow it to get into the hands of the Xindi. Destroying was obviously not a solution, not if they were to have any hope of returning.

Claire looked around for something she could use when she alighted on a tricorder. Seizing it, she checked to see its capabilities, which was going to be less than the one she was usually accustomed to.

She was relieved by what she found. "Ok, we need to get this out of here. And we need to keep it hidden from the Xindi's scans."

"How do we do that?" Ben asked.

"I've programmed this tricorder to shield us from their scans." She deactivated the status field and pulled out the orb.

Suddenly the sound of weapons fire was audible from the other side of the door. "They're coming," Ben said.

"Can we still get out that way?" Ray asked.

"One way to find out," Claire replied, her hand now hovering over the lock. She unlocked the door and Ben poked his head out. Almost immediately, he pulled his head back in. His wide eyes and the slight smell of singed hair told her the answer.

"Let's not go that way," Ben managed.

Claire nodded. She ran to a nearby wall and began to pull it open. A passage, just big enough for them to get through opened up. She sent Ray out first, the orb tucked safely in the folds of his coat, and the still-active tricorder in one of his pockets.

She gave Ben Ray's gun - "There's no gun licence necessary out here," she assured him. She left last, closing up the wall after them. Shortly after the last bulkhead was in place, she heard a loud bang. The Xindi had entered the lab.

They ran away, not knowing what else to do. Before they had a destination in mind, Ray ran headlong into a corridor and met his first Xindi-Reptilian.

His eyes widened as he took in the sight of something that looked like the lizard people out of `V', only more yellow. Dressed head to toe in tight purple armour, spikes coming out of it and the top of his head. He snarled at Ray and pulled out a weapon, which was promptly shot out of his hand by Ben, who had arrived seconds later. Dief ran at him, bringing the Reptilian down.

Where there's one, there was another. Attracted by the noise, he was cautious in approaching. Ray retreated back around the corner and pulled out his reserve weapon. Calling Dief back, they engaged them, firing and taking cover. Although the solid projectile guns were performing admirably against the Xindi weaponry and armour, the Xindi rifles didn't have a limit to how many they could fire.

They were starting to reach theirs when a familiar voice asked: "What are you doing here?"

"We ran into some trouble, Lieutenant," Ben replied.

"Not that we don't appreciate your help," Reed continued, "but we can take it from here."

"You'll get no argument from me," Ray replied as they fell back.

Reed was about the engage the enemy when a clatter flew between them. Before they knew how to react, Claire swung her leg and kicked it as hard as she could. It flew back towards the Xindi, but it opened her up to fire from the Xindi and she took a hit. The grenade exploded.

"You heading to sickbay?" Trip met Malcolm on his way. Malcolm nodded. "Any idea what it's about?"

"I hope it's not a death," he murmured. Only one or two of his men (MACOs included) were injured badly and Phlox had told them that they were stable, but one never knew.

"But why would he send for me?"

Malcolm shrugged. "Perhaps a separate issue?"

"I guess we're about to find out," Trip replied, opening the sickbay doors. Inside, the woman from the past was stretched out on the main biobed. Beside her, pacing anxiously, was her friend, a balding man with ill-fitting clothes that were really too bright. Or at least Trip thought that way until he noticed her other friend, who was obviously just as concerned, but contented himself with standing guard over her, unblinking, the only sign of emotion a slight creasing of the corners of his eyes. He was dressed in a bright red Mountie uniform, complete with hat and jodhpurs and looked like a postcard or something.

A white wolf kept hopping up onto the bed, much to Phlox's understandable irritation. The captain was also there and he gave the two men the strangest look. "...Captain?" Trip asked.

Trip was surprised when the captain looked away. "Did you know about this?" he demanded of the pacing man. He stopped and shrugged.

"She didn't say, not in so many words..."

"She did indicate a relationship..." the Mountie added but he also trailed off. "We really didn't have the opportunity to ask her about it."

"Ask her about what?" Trip asked, curious.

The captain looked to Phlox who opened his mouth to speak. "After she was brought to sickbay I ran the DNA scan that I meant to run earlier."

They really didn't follow. "So?" Trip asked.

"Her DNA doesn't really make any sense," Archer added.

The Chicago cop let out an audible sigh. "She's your granddaughter," he pointed at Trip, "and your great, great granddaughter," this time pointing at Malcolm.

Archer glared at him. "Thank you, Detective."

The detective threw his hands up in frustration. "Can you wake her up now?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," said Malcolm, managing to speak for the first time. "I don't understand. How could that happen?"

"Perhaps we should ask her?" the Mountie suggested.

The detective nodded eagerly. After a moment, Archer gave Phlox the signal to wake her up. Pulling out a hypospray, he pushed it into her carotid artery. She immediately began to stir.

Lazily, she opened her eyes and winced. "You ok?" the detective asked, in a different, softer voice, his hand hovering nearby. She took his hand and gave him a crooked smile. "I'm fine, Ray."

She noticed the audience. "Hello."

For some reason everyone replied. "Hello!"

"We were wondering," Malcolm continued. "What, exactly, is your familial relationship to me and Mister Tucker?"

"Well put, Malcolm."

"Thank you, Trip."

"I think the DNA has already told what," Claire replied. "The `how?' is probably more interesting. And I can answer that with one word - cloning."

"Cloning?"

"Why would someone want to clone Trip?" Archer asked.

Claire smiled and sighed. "Many have asked the question, sir. Grandma said she was a nutcase."

"A nutcase?" Trip repeated, dismayed.

"Blame Grandma!"

Malcolm gave him a clap on the back. "Well, who else would do that?"

Archer tried to bring them back to point. "Why didn't you tell us this before? That you're not from the past, but from the future."

Claire sighed. "I figured it would be easier. I didn't want to interfere in your timeline."

"Timeline," Archer scoffed.

"Yeah, what timeline you're left with. I heard stories ever since I was a child. My grandfather," she glanced at Trip, "he always taught me to respect the passage of time. That we were meant walk forward never back. His experience taught him the hard way."

"So you decided to lie."

"I decided to stay out of the way."

"You weren't doing that earlier," Malcolm remarked.

"Because I think we attracted that Xindi ship."

Trip shook his head. "How?"

"That orb. I have reason to believe it was created by the Xindi's benefactors."

"The Xindi's benefactors?"

"The ones who told them about Earth."

"You know who they are?"

Claire shook her head. "Not a clue. We never found out their name. Does it matter who they are?

All I know is their technology is almost, if not identical, to that orb. They must have detected it and sent that ship to retrieve the item."

"You think they'll come back?" Reed asked.

"I don't know. It's no longer active. Taking evasive action should be enough."

"But once it's reactivated," Archer realised. "It will send out another signal, letting the Xindi know where we are again."

"Unless we find a way to mask it..." Trip suggested.

"I'm not sure we can," Claire replied.

"What do you do?" Archer asked her. "In the future. What's your job?"

"I'm a Starfleet engineer in my regular life."

"Then you can help Trip and T'Pol find a way to get you back without alerting the Xindi."

"Yes, sir."

Quickly, Archer left. Claire slipped off the bed. "I guess we'd better head down to engineering," Trip said, in an apologetic tone.

"Is she well enough for that?" Ray asked.

Phlox shrugged. "She should be fine."

Claire smiled at him. "I've been shot before, Ray. I'm ok."

Ray nodded. "Course you have. Look, I guess you don't need me around. So I'm gonna..." he pointed to the door.

"Bye, Ray."

Giving her a light farewell pat on the shoulder, he darted out the door. "Where's he off to in such a hurry?" Malcolm asked.

"He probably left to find that communications officer..."

"Hoshi?" Trip asked.

They nodded. "He's taken quite a shine to her," Claire explained. "He's quite sound," Claire continued off Trip's look.

Ben nodded. "I'm sure Ensign Sato can look after herself."

"Of course she can," Reed replied quickly. He moved to escort them out of sickbay.

"Thank you, Doctor," Claire said.

"Thank you, kindly," Ben agreed.

As they left sickbay, Trip looked at Dief, who was intending to come with them. "Is it a good idea for the dog to go to engineering?" he asked.

Claire shrugged. "He's well behaved, normally. He's not one of an excitable nature."

T'Pol was already on the second level of engineering when they arrived, having been ushered by Captain Archer earlier. Despite reluctantly being impressed when Dief hopped up onto the lift and pressing the button to raise himself up to where she was, she gave him a disapproving look.

The others climbed the ladder. "Smart dog," Trip remarked.

"He's half wolf, actually," Ben told him, proudly. "And he's deaf."

"Deaf?" Reed repeated. "Then how does he follow your commands?"

"To Dief," Claire attempted to explain, "Commands are less commands more suggestions."

"He's learned to lip-read," Ben told him.

"Your wolf can lip-read?" Trip didn't quite believe.

"Self-taught, is he?" Malcolm remarked.

"Actually, yes."

"Perhaps we should redirect our attention to this device," T'Pol `suggested', clearly suppressing irritation.

Claire nodded. "I noticed you already were performing scans on it," she said.

"Yes," T'Pol replied. "Until you interrupted them."

"If we didn't, the Xindi would have," Ben pointed out. "Despite the fine welcome you've shown us, I have no desire to remain here on a permanent basis."

"We have not been able to scan the inside of the device," T'Pol continued.

"Did you try opening it?"

T'Pol's eyebrow rose. "We tried, but were unsuccessful."

"Hmm." Claire took the orb in her hands and opened it easily. T'Pol's eyebrow rose higher.

Letting out a slight cough, Trip took out a tricorder and began to scan the inside. He routed the results through to the screen so that all could see the results. Trip let out a low whistle. "This is nice work. Can't make head or tail of it, but nice work."

"Is this same technology that the spheres are made of?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"The central processor?" Claire pointed it out on the schematic.

"Perhaps," T'Pol replied. "It is connected to most of the other components."

"Have you got an electron inducer?" Claire asked.

"You're planning to send an electron through it, see what it does?" Trip asked.

"Won't that activate it?" Malcolm immediately added.

Claire shook her head. "Not enough for anyone to detect it. Aside from turning it on, it's our best bet for figuring out how it functions."

"Couldn't we just run a simulation?" Malcolm was very dubious.

Claire shrugged. "This thing is from eight hundred years in the future, from a transdimensional realm. Is your computer able to construct a proper model?"

Trip let out a slow breath, thinking. "I think this is the best way to go, Malcolm."

"We should keep an eye on the power output," Claire suggested, addressing Malcolm's concerns. "And its effect on the space time continuum."

"How would we do that?"

"I'll have to adapt a tricorder," receiving a tricorder, Claire bent to a nearby workstation.

"Lieutenant Hess," T'Pol noted her presence. "Is there something you require?"

"Actually, ma'am, I thought I might be of assistance. Our guest appears to be at loose ends. I thought I might `entertain' him."

"Thank you, kindly, ma'am," Ben replied. "But I am finding this research very interesting."

"Oh, all this techno babble couldn't possibly be interesting to you," Hess insisted. "If you like, we could go to the mess hall, have a coffee. You could tell me about your alternate-Earth planet. The idea is... fascinating. Perhaps we could both look over the historical records, compare. The database is easily accessible in my quarters."

At the word `quarters', Ben gave a predictable reaction, his skin turning the red not dissimilar from that of his uniform. He laughed nervously. "I'm fine here, thank you. Caffeine would not be wise at this time of evening."

"Night and day are relative concepts in space, Constable. May I call you Benton?"

Ben looked at Claire who was looking up from her work. Her eyes sparkled with amusement at his discomfiture. "I don't actually need you here, Ben. And I'm not planning to leave without you. This could take awhile. I'll be able to contact you through the comm. system. You should go. It might stop you from feeling alienated, if you pardon the pun."

Ben coughed to clear his constricted throat. "I don't feel alienated," he protested.

"Your tracking abilities may verge on the supernatural, your determination may test the patience a saint and your memory is photographic, but I can't think of what skills you have that could be helpful here." She frowned suddenly. "You hear that?"

Ben concentrated, but this ship was full of peculiar sounds and beeps that he couldn't tell to what she was referring to.

"Sounds like an overload," Trip said, his voice filled with apprehension.

Finally, Ben heard it. A kind of throbbing sound was building up, not unlike the sounds of an oncoming avalanche. Years of practice, away from noise pollution that dull the ears of city-dwellers, allowed Ben to quickly localise the sound.

Taking action immediately, Ben jumped off the second level and ran to where an engineer was busily carrying on with her work. He knocked her off her feet in time to avoid the explosion that hid them from view.

Grabbing a fire extinguisher, the sealed off the damaged conduit and put out the small fires. The dust settled, revealing Ben beneath the engineer, who was looking quite surprised.

She gave him a warm smile. "Hi!"

The breath knocked out of him, Ben gave her a crooked smile. Trip gave a cough. "You ok?" The engineer pulled herself up and nodded at her commanding officer.

"Yes, sir. I'm fine. Thanks to you," she helped Ben up off the ground.

Retrieving his hat, Ben nodded. "You're welcome, ma'am." He dusted himself off.

"What caused this?" T'Pol asked.

"The Xindi attack?" Claire suggested.

Trip consulted a panel. Finally, he nodded. "Looks like the attack weakened the conduit just enough. It wasn't a problem before now."

T'Pol nodded and returned to the comm. panel. She informed the bridge what had happened.

"We should repair your ship first," Claire said. "Our," indicating herself and Ben, "predicament can wait."

With Claire's help, the repairs were completed swiftly. She even listed Ben's help to great effect, knowing his strengths. "You know this ship pretty well," Trip commented. "Maybe better than me."

Claire accepted the compliment without comment. "Yes, Claire," Malcolm agreed. "Tell us about yourself. Is Claire even your real name?"

Claire closed the case of the altered tricorder. "I'm finished. And no, Claire's not my original name, but may as well keep calling me that, it's as real to me now as my real name is."

"Which is?" Malcolm prodded.

Claire handed the tricorder to Ben. She told him the readings he should look out for. "It's a surprise," she told Malcolm. "You don't expect me to tell you the last pages of the book before you've read it, do you?"

"If you would," Malcolm replied, with a smile.

Claire took up the electron inducer and directed it at what they thought was the processor. "I have my grandfather's second name and my great, great grandmother's first."

"You mean my wife?"

Claire looked at Ben, who shook his head - the device hadn't responded to the stimulation. T'Pol, holding the other, unaltered tricorder, signalled similar results.

"You could give me a hint," Malcolm suggested.

"Trust me, when you meet her, you won't need a hint."

Malcolm's heart warmed. He was glad that his family name would continue. Another generation of Reeds. Perhaps even, if what Claire was suggesting was true, love at first sight. Love at first sight doesn't mean happily ever after, the pessimist within him reminded him.

"So I live happily ever after?" he prodded.

Claire gave him a look and sighed.

Ben spoke. "I would think that knowing every detail about your future would eliminate free will."

"You're thinking of time as this static concept," Trip entered the debate. "It's not. History has been already changed by people from the future. The Xindi were told about something that `happened' in the future and now the timeline changed."

"So if I tell you about your wife, you might screw it up and I won't get born. No offence, I'd like to avoid that outcome."

"I would have to agree," Ben added. Claire favoured him with a smile.

Trip adjusted something within the orb. "But seriously, I'd like to get to know my granddaughter, without waiting two hundred years to find out."

"A chance I would never get," Malcolm added.

"Well, what can I say?" Claire asked rhetorically. "I'm a Starfleet engineer and I believe in what Starfleet stands for, which hasn't really changed in the centuries. I have loved and I've lost. My faith has wavered and has remained firm. I've seen some pretty horrible things and some glorious things which occasionally are one and the same. I have done things which I regret and things which I encourage others to do."

"How did you end up with the constable and Detective Vecchio?"

"It falls under the headings of regret and loss. Sufficed to say, despite the circumstances, I have found my time in their company most satisfactory."

Ben smiled. "Agreed."

"What's your rank?"

"In Starfleet? Lieutenant Commander."

"Aren't you a little young?" Reed asked.

Claire shrugged. "I've worked hard for it."

"We're proud of you, kid," Trip said. "Aren't we, Malcolm?"

"Most definitely," Malcolm genuinely replied.

"I think we've got something," Claire announced.

"Confirmed," T'Pol replied. Ben nodded.

After that, they quickly figured out the bones of how the device operated. Once that was done Claire was able to come up with a way to block the emissions it made, at least at the start of its cycle, which was all they needed.

Trip was very impressed with her ingenuity and skill and he could see that his admiration was shared by T'Pol and Malcolm. T'Pol was already treating her as an equal.

"Do you believe you are ready to return?" T'Pol eventually asked.

"Well, there's a few crossing the `t's and dotting the `i's to be done," Claire replied. "But I say we're nearly there."

T'Pol nodded. "I shall inform the captain."

"I'll do the same for Ray," Ben said.

"Good idea," Claire replied.

Hess reappeared. "Would you like me to find him for you?"

Ben smiled. "No, thank you, Lieutenant. I'll manage. Let's go, Diefenbaker."

With a moan, Dief followed. He had received a lot of attention from the female engineers and was reluctant to leave. A signal of encouragement from Claire sent him after the Mountie.

"That dog certainly has a lot of personality," Malcolm remarked.

"He's a lot like his owner. Or at least he would be if Ben relaxed."

"Nothing wrong with discipline."

"There is when that's your motto," she looked at her ancestor. "Out here on duty, you should be all `yes, sir', `no, sir', but in your quarters or with friends, you should be able to relax, to slouch a little."

"Fair point, I guess."

"So..." Trip began, after a moment of silence, "you know that detective you came with?"

"Ray. What about him?"

"Something going on there?" Claire shot him a suspicious/venomous look. "I say this as your grandfather, only looking after your best interests!"

Malcolm gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You should be able to share this sort of thing with your family."

"There's nothing going on," she replied, firmly and innocently. It was a good act.

"I don't know about that," Trip breezed.

"He seemed awfully concerned about your safety," Malcolm agreed.

"Of course he was," her voice was even. "He's a friend. One tends to worry about one's friends."

"Seemed a little more than that," Trip hinted.

"You see him here?" Claire retorted. "No. Know why? He's chatting up Hoshi. Do I look jealous? Have I acted jealous?"

Trip and Malcolm persisted with their knowing looks despite not having an answer to that.

"There's definitely chemistry there, Malcolm," Trip remarked.

Claire had enough. "I'd stop right there, Grandy, if I were you. Remember I know all your secrets, including the ones that you don't know about yet. You wouldn't want me to start singing, would ya?"

"Oh come on! What would you have to tell?"

"Just try me!"

"Do tell!" Malcolm started.

Claire inhaled, but Trip quickly put his hand over her mouth.

"Captain," T'Pol called to him as she entered the bridge. Archer swivelled in his chair so he could face her. "Our examination of the device is complete. Ms Tucker believes that she can dampen the emissions with a device she has created."

"You've discovered her name?" he asked.

"Commander Tucker is her paternal grandfather. She hinted that that was her second name. I'm afraid her first name is still unknown, she was named after the apparent future Mrs Reed."

"`The future Mrs Reed'," Archer shook his head.

"The idea is almost frightening," Travis said, from his station. "Can't wait to meet her."

"Our guest or the future Mrs Reed?"

"Both."

"We're sure she's on the level?" Archer asked.

"She appears to be. Despite her inclination to be vague about future events..."

"Which is understandable," Archer was forced to admit, "considering our current status..."

"She cares a great deal about this crew and has shown a great empathy that the crew has responded to. This has not been limited to her... ancestors."

"And the two men she brought with her?"

"Constable Fraser appears ill-at-ease with himself and the crew, particularly the female complement. He displays a level of inexperience, or `greenness', that one would not expect from a man of his age, even given the fact that he is out of his time and thrust into a world where paradoxically the technology is akin to something out of his future."

"And Detective Vecchio?"

"I have not met him."

"He's been with Hoshi, sir," Mayweather pointed out. Archer had noticed that Hoshi was not at her station. Although it was far from a requirement for her to be there, her shift ended hours ago, most of the bridge crew, as a way of coping, had taken to pulling double shifts, the captain included.

Malcolm appeared on the bridge. "Hey, Malcolm," Travis greeted him. "How does it feel to be Commander Tucker's grandfather?"

Malcolm blinked at the characterization as he took his station. "In-law, Ensign," he corrected him. "To be honest, I hadn't thought about it. God! What a thought! I think it'll take me awhile to get used to that one."

"If it consoles you, Lieutenant, you're simply Commander Tucker's clone's grandfather-in-law."

"That's a mouthful," Travis remarked. "But does it matter?"

"Well, they say memories make the man," Malcolm mused. "Claire did say that the clone retained Trip's memories."

"That's not a common trait of clones," T'Pol said.

"Perhaps the woman used some kind of `anagram exchange'," Malcolm suggested.

"`Anagram exchange'?" Archer repeated.

"I should patent the name," Malcolm replied.

"It's weird," Travis decided. "Imagine. Even after you die, somebody could clone you and give the clone your memories and you'd just... carry on with your life."

"It's not for me," Archer decided. "I never wanted to live forever."

"Certainly would get dull after awhile," Malcolm agreed.

"I don't know," Travis argued. "I was sort of planning to live forever!"

Archer was about to gently rib Travis when Malcolm's console beeped. Though briefly lifted, the weight of their mission descended on his heart. "We're receiving some kind of signal."

Ben reached the end of the trail which was a non-descript door much like all the others. Dief sniffed around the bottom of the door, confirming Ben's conclusion. He reached for the door. He didn't have to wait too long for the door the slide open.

Ensign Sato was there, dressed in what Ben considered to be casual attire and looking vaguely disappointed. Dief jumped in through her legs. "Something I can do for you, Constable?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'd like to speak with Ray."

Briefly toying with the idea of denying his presence within, Hoshi decided there was too much evidence to contradict her and stepped aside. "Come in."

Raising the tray of sweets out of Dief's reach, Ray greeted Ben with an irritated glare. Used to it, Ben was not intimidated. "Hello, Ray," he said.

"Tell your wolf to keep away from these sweets," Ray replied.

Ben moved to calm Dief's exuberance. He made the wolf look at him. "No, Dief. You're on a diet." Dief whined in response. "I'm sorry. But my mind's made up."

Dief moved to a corner to sulk, but his eyes never left the tray. Ever suspicious of the wolf, Ray put the lid on it and put it into a nearby cupboard.

"Why are you here, Benny?" Ray demanded.

"Ah. Yes. I thought you should know. Claire believes she is ready to use the device to allow us to return."

Ray looked disappointed. He shot a glance at Hoshi. "That's... good."

"She believes that she can get us back to a time when no one will have missed us," Ben continued, subtly reminding Ray of his home, his family, those who would miss him.

"Great."

A nearby comm. panel sounded. "Bridge to Ensign Sato," Lieutenant Reed's voice was slightly tinny.

She pressed the activation key. "Sato."

"We've just received a signal up here. We could use your assistance."

"On my way."

"Tell your companion that we may have to delay his departure. Bridge out."

They moved out. Diefenbaker looked forlornly at the sweet cupboard. "Diefenbaker," Ben was back. With another whine, Dief followed him out.

Claire stepped out onto the bridge, having been summoned there by the captain. She saw that Ray and Ben were already there. "It's definitely Xindi, Captain," Ensign Sato was saying.

Archer looked at Claire. He stepped out of his chair. "We were sent here by a telepathic alien, an alien who hasn't exactly shown that he was trustworthy." Claire's face was stoic, but interested and open. "What I want to know: was his tip good?"

Claire didn't answer immediately. "He told us that a part of the weapon was built here on this colony," Malcolm prompted.

"His tip's good," Claire finally said.

"Why the hesitation?" Archer asked, though he had a good idea.

"I was trying to remember. A telepath... I assume his name was Tarquin?"

"Yes," said Hoshi.

She nodded. "You must understand, Captain. For me, this happened two hundred years ago. It would be like asking you about the Cold War. I only ever got a D in History. I knew how people did things and why, I just wasn't very good at dates."

"You're certain of this?" T'Pol asked.

"Yes."

"And you're not uncomfortable with informing us about this?"

"You were going here anyway. The only difference I've made here is allaying some of the irrelevant fears; they would be allayed anyway when you reached the planet."

Though it was a qualified response, in the end it was a response that Archer was most comfortable with. Archer felt part of himself drawn to her in kinship. He saw some of himself in her. She was beautiful, and had a kindness and gentleness about her that could not be faked. But when he looked into her eyes he saw a host of decisions, of regrets. He sensed she missed her old innocence, just as he did. Despite her youth, he felt that she was in the same position as he.

Whatever drew her to planet where the two policemen were from must have been something horrific, he sensed. A part of her knew it wasn't her fault, but shouldered the responsibility for it anyway just as he did. The reason that he was so uncomfortable around her was when he looked at her he felt that he was looking at a mirror.

The only difference between them, it seemed, was that she seemed to be handling it better than he did.

"Do you want to join us?" he asked before he could stop himself.

She stared at him with a mixture of surprise and trepidation. "You won't require my assistance, sir," she replied formally, as if by reflex. As she recovered, she sounded more like her grandfather. "`Sides, I think I'd be more distracting than anything. Unless you have any objections, sir, I'd prefer to stay onboard."

Archer nodded. It was only an impulse, after all. "Malcolm, get Major Hayes, we're going down to the planet."

"Aye, sir," Malcolm replied, heading for the turbolift. Archer joined him. He gave Claire one final nod of respect before vanishing behind the doors.

It was decided that their journey back to the future would have to wait for the Captain's and Malcolm's return. Having actually nothing to do, Claire requested for a room to spend some time alone. Space being a premium since the MACOs joined the crew, private quarters wasn't really an option.

"Sure you wouldn't like to figure this out?" Trip asked. The Xindi had left behind a rifle or two.

"Quite sure," she replied, politely.

"Use mine," Trip offered. "What are grandfathers for?"

"Thank you." He beamed at her.

So that was where she was now. Although she had an ulterior motive for requesting quarters. She picked up a picture of her great aunt, Trip's sister, Elizabeth. It helped affirm her decision.

The least they deserved was an explanation.

She moved to the console and activated it. She thought. Bringing up the programme to create letters she pressed record.

"To: Lieutenant Commander Sidhbh Reed, U.S.S. Enterprise. From: Lieutenant Commander Sidhbh Tucker, U.SS. Enterprise. By the time you find this letter, you will have gone through unspeakable torment. I must explain my part in bringing this about and perhaps even your tormentor's, though you'd know him as Philip. By this explanation, I hope to at least put those questions of `why' to rest.

Though you will find this difficult to believe as I, on occasion do, when I met Philip, he was a kind, thoughtful man, a man excited by science, enchanted by what his Starfleet life had to offer, the beauty of the universe - a true innocent, and even my grandfather couldn't recognise him. He became one of my closest confidantes, which was how he learned of you and your unique prescience. Computer, pause." She let out a sigh of pain, wiped away the tears that weren't there, previously shed.

"Resume recording. For awhile we were inseparable, along with a Vulcan, we became the ultimate triad.

But Starfleet is a transient organisation and eventually, only two years ago by my reckoning, we went our separate ways. I was sent on a deep space mission, while Philip was patrolling near Earth.

We were attacked by a powerful enemy, far more powerful than the Xindi and far less compassion than even the most ardent supporter of the weapon of our destruction. Their sole purpose in life was to destroy not life, but individuality. We sent a fleet of forty-two ships to intercept and destroy the one vessel this species sent. All were destroyed, or so we had feared, including the ship on which Philip served.

This ship's namesake like this ship before it saved the planet. I mourned his death then but our mission to explore continued. Six months later we received a signal that matched the aliens. Immediately, we went to investigate and we found one of the ships that stood against our enemy. It had been altered, the crew along with it. It must have been trying to return to the aliens' base when it crashed on a planetoid.

I was part of the boarding party. Most of the crew was dead, but Philip survived. Barely alive and for all intents and purposes, the enemy himself, we revived him, removed the alterations and attempted to bring him to full health, at least physically.

Although we were mistaken when we assumed that his ship had been destroyed, I was right to mourn his death. The man we had revived was not the gentle man I knew and cared about, but a bruised and twisted man, his humanity stolen from him. Computer, pause." Claire felt her throat constrict and had to stop to force breaths in and out of her lungs. The tears that didn't fall earlier fell now. Focusing on her breathing, Claire slowly regain her composure, at least enough so that she continue.

"Resume recording. He was a man consumed by a rage, born of his guilt and directed at me, your namesake. He told me how his individuality was subsumed by the greater collective consciousness. No matter how hard he fought against them, he couldn't so much as shed a tear. The collective forced him to murder hundreds, including his friends and crewmates, including children.

He blamed me for rescuing him, and my family. He threw accusations at me that I let the aliens attack us, that Starfleet should have been prepared. That we should have seen this coming. We did see it coming, but we still weren't prepared. I tried to explain this to him but even then it sounded weak to my ears as it no doubt sounds weak in yours.

He became violent and we had no choice but remand him to the highest security detention facility. With the help of thirty-one, he escaped, driving my grandfather to send me to the planet where I am now, at least from my perspective.

My grandfather's efforts to protect my life, though understandable, will only prolong the inevitable as he will only return to your time once I am dead. The future is not set in stone and I pledge to do everything in my power to prevent his attack on you and your family but I write this in the event that I will fail, as I must have done before. An explanation. You deserve more than this and I hope you get this in your new marriage.

Forgive me. Computer, save file." The console chirruped in response as Claire broke down. She wasn't long in this when the door panel beeped. "Who is it?" Claire called out, her voice still choked. Fortunately, it was only Ben. She allowed him entrance.

Seeing her distress, Ben immediately went to her and embraced her, Dief giving her consoling licks. The door whisked shut behind him before he dared ask what was wrong. Claire was unable to reply. He looked at the console in front of her which still displayed the letter she had written. "What is this?"

"A letter," she told him, burying herself in Dief's white coat. Ben read the letter.

"Your great, great grandmother?" he asked. She nodded. "You're trying to change history."

"Her husband and her daughter were murdered! It's already happened! She was tortured day and night for three months! It took her weeks to even have the strength to leave her room! I'm just trying to tell her why."

Ben wiped away her tears. "There is no why. This is not your fault. Terrible things happen to good people for no reason. You can only hope that you can come out stronger for it. The death of her husband led her to meet Lieutenant Reed. She married him and had children, who had children and grandchildren and you. Something good came out of her suffering and something good will come out of yours."

"Like meeting you and Ray."

"Like saving the lives of everyone on my planet!"

"That too!"

Claire retrieved a tissue from somewhere and wiped her eyes. She looked at the letter. Using her intimate knowledge of the Enterprise computer, she saved in such a way that only logging in as `Lieutenant Commander Sidhbh Reed' would allow it come to the fore. She sighed.

"Come on," she said, the weight on her mind a little lighter now.

"Captain," Claire greeted him as he entered engineering. Her voice was light and warm. Archer wasn't sure why she sounded so cheery but he knew why he was in a good mood. "I see you've returned in one piece."

Archer smiled back at her. "Apparently, there exists a Xindi that doesn't want to kill me."

"That's always nice to know, isn't it?"

"We're tracking the kemocite shipment, but I guess you knew that already."

"It's nice to enjoy certainty every now and again."

"I guess you'll want to return home now."

"It's where we belong," Claire agreed.

"We're ready here, Captain."

Archer gave Ben a firm handshake. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Constable."

"Thank you, sir. I wish you luck on your mission."

"Will I need it?" Unsurprisingly, Archer's question went unanswered. A small yap attracted the captain's attention. Porthos was saying goodbye to Dief. Archer frowned. He couldn't remember introducing the small beagle to the wolf. To be honest, Archer was half afraid that the wolf might eat him.

However they met, Porthos clearly survived the encounter and had gained a respect for the larger dog, who deigned to return it, and then moved to a sentry position beside the alien orb.

Nearby, Hoshi was saying goodbye to the Chicago cop. Archer really couldn't figure it. The detective struck him as brash and abrasive, despite his deferential treatment of Claire, which seemed to suggest that something was between the two of them, again confusing Archer. Also, if Jon was to be honest, what baffled him most was that Vecchio wasn't exactly a male model, unlike his Mountie friend, who, as it happened, caused most women to swoon around him. After the necessary self-rebuke that came with his more shallow thoughts, Archer waited patiently for her to finish.

"Goodbye," she said, wistfully. Their relationship proved a distracting, if fleeting, one and turned out to be what she needed after Tarquin who definitely required a rather more long-term commitment than she was prepared to give.

"Goodbye," he whispered back and gave her a wide smile. His beautiful eyes glittered at her. They kissed quickly again.

"Here," Malcolm handed something over to Claire. She looked at it in her hands.

"A phase pistol?"

Malcolm shrugged. "You probably have more efficient weapons..."

"I'll treasure it," she replied, wrapping her arms around Malcolm. "It was nice to get to know you, oh grandfather of many greats."

Malcolm smiled at the turn of phrase. "An honour and pleasure to met such a brilliant woman. Clearly, you take after me."

Claire laughed. "Clearly!" They broke off, giving each other pecks on the cheeks.

Claire turned to hug Trip. "Oh! You have no idea how much I've missed you!"

"It's not fair that I have to wait centuries to see you again," he sighed.

Claire nodded. "I know what you mean. God knows how long it will before I see you again. But I promise, I will."

"I'll remember that."

"Thank you, Captain," Claire turned to him, picking up the orb. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

Archer smiled. "Don't worry. If there's anyone who understands, it's me."

Claire nodded. After a pause, she looked over to Ray. "Tick, tock, Ray! Quit canoodling over there and get over here!"

"Oh yeah, right!" Ray retorted. "Like I wouldn't want to run out of time." Despite his sarcasm, he joined the others.

"Care to do the honours?" she indicated the button. T'Pol gave him the signal and he pressed. They glowed, as if caught in a transporter beam, and vanished.

"See you in two hundred years," Trip said wistfully.

"Let's get through this one first," Archer cautioned him. "Let's get back to work."