***

2154

When Trip woke up, he was in his bed; the 3 a.m. conversation was a possibility, barely a memory. Archer was gone. It was 8:30 in the morning.
Trip: Gawd, I'm late! He buzzed Engineering, and Rostov answered promptly.

Trip: I'll be there in two seconds.

Rostov: Why, sir? I thought you had the day off. The duty roster shows it.

Trip: Um... Oh. Okay. Thank you.

As he turned, something caught his eye. On his desk was a small piece of paper rolled up tightly. He smiled.

Trip: Leavin' me notes, Cap'n?

He picked it up and unrolled it, but it was only a decorative pattern, like the symbols on Tegl's holoprojector. He sat down to look at it, his eyes moving over the images. They were letters, so fluid they seemed to change as he looked at them.

Trip: Tegl... how did you-?

He went to find Archer immediately.

***

2156

Alkmayn: The Council was predictably upset. They will respond with increased vigilance and obedience, as we hoped.

Keraath: Will that affect continued surveillance of Earth? The Project sees an important confluence around Archer and Tucker. We need more information.

Alkmayn: Our control is as secure as ever. We merely needed to remind the Council of what is at stake.

Keraath: What of the Vulcans? And the Andorians?

Alkmayn: They led us to the humans, exactly as the lines of influence predicted.

Keraath: Where will our information come from now?

Alkmayn: We'll focus on their other allies. There's more to be learned there. The more information we have about them, the better we can know what will come next.

Keraath: And Tegl's confession? Does it mean we've been revealed?

Alkmayn: Tegl was weak, mentally and spiritually. He was capable of many things because of that weakness. But no human would understand Tegl's purpose on that mission. They simply don't know enough. Even Tegl doesn't know.

Keraath: But if he did reveal Elchora...

Alkmayn: That is not possible.

***

2154

Trip: Cap'n? It's me.

Archer: Come in.

Archer was holding a wet towel against his lip, which was no longer swelling.

Archer: What do you want?

Trip gently pulled the towel away to look at Archer's jaw.

Trip: God, I'm sorry, sir!

Archer: You didn't do it, Trip. But I had it coming. ... What did you want?

Trip: I found this in my quarters. It's Tabran, I'm sure. I can't figure out when he put it there, or what it means. I thought you should know.

Archer: I'll ask Hoshi to look at it.

(...)

Hoshi noticed the Captain's bruises but said nothing.

Archer: Hoshi, can you make sense of this? Is it Tabran?

Hoshi: It is Tabran writing - it's my writing! This is a dictation practice that Tegl did with me just before he left.

Archer: What does it say?

Hoshi: Tabran doesn't work that way, sir. It's layers upon layers of meaning, and you have to know the context the message was intended for. I was so focused on getting the words and the letters right that I didn't pay enough attention to the situation. I remember it was a letter to friends, but nothing remarkable.

Archer: Do what you can with it. It was in Trip's quarters.

Hoshi: How did it get there?

Archer: That's what we want to know. Tegl had to have put it there.

Trip: He came to give me a gift. He might have left it then. Why didn't it get swept up by the Tabrans?

Hoshi: I don't know. When he had me write it... That's it!

Archer looked encouragingly at her.

Hoshi: When I wrote this, he asked me to use my own paper and pen. I don't think he ever touched it.

Trip: He could have carried it inside the cloth.

Hoshi: The bonding cloth?

Archer looked at Trip this time.

Trip: It was nothing, sir.

He continued, more toward Hoshi.

Trip: That's why they didn't take it - they didn't know it was his. No traces.

Archer: Hoshi, translate it as quickly as you can.

Hoshi: I'll be fast, Captain, but I don't think I can be complete. I don't know enough of the language.

Archer: Do your best.

***

2154

In his mind, Archer was deep in the MacKenzie's woods, in utter darkness, where he first said he loved Trip. The mistake - he'd seen it many times in the last couple of days - was so clear now. Trip hadn't left. He'd stood there silently, for nearly a minute.

Archer: I meant what I said last night.

Trip: So did I.

Archer: Let me try.

Trip: You don't believe you can do two things well at once - ya never have.

Archer: I said I'd love you.

Regret gave his voice a roughness as he continued.

Archer: I never said, "I promise."

Trip was sincerely surprised at this admission.

Archer: I couldn't.

Trip: You couldn't?

It was softly spoken, with no trace of anger.

Archer: I'm sorry, Trip. I never made a promise to you like you did to me. I said I'd give you love like my parents', but-

Trip: Those memories... they might be idealized. You didn't see much of their marriage.

A profound tenderness came through those words.

Archer: I had no idea how to make that happen with us. But once I'd said it, I couldn't turn back. And you kept your word no matter what.... Was I worth that?

Softly, Trip replied with his own question.

Trip: Do ya have to ask?

His hand rested on Archer's shoulder, just for a moment. Archer was silent. He did have to ask. To hear Trip say it.

Trip: Well, whatever it was you said, all I got was the words.

***

2154

Archer: Is everything ready?

Chef: Yes, sir. As you ordered. If this doesn't work, I'll resign my commission as chef.

Archer: It just has to be special. He means the world to me...

Chef: I know, sir. It'll work.

***

2154

Hoshi lay in bed, turning the letters around in her mind. She tried every possible situation she could think of, but they only made the note into gibberish. A letter to two friends was what it appeared to be, nothing more and nothing less.

Hoshi: And that isn't possible. It's never that plain.

She headed to the mess hall. It was deserted, which was just as well. The toasty smell of the rice tea helped clear her head, but tonight it didn't help her understand this language.

The door to the Captain's mess opened, startling her - the Captain and Commander Tucker were in off-duty clothes and deep in an heated conversation about something, their eyes locked on each other. Hoshi felt like she was intruding on a private moment, but she kept watching them. When Trip put his hand on Archer's shoulder, something clicked.

Trip saw her as he turned. He didn't take his hand off Archer's shoulder, but neither he nor Archer had a quick reply.

Hoshi: I'm sorry, sirs. I couldn't sleep. I was trying to figure out the code in Tegl's note.

Archer: We were just having a late dinner.

As he spoke, she realized what a pair they were. Her eyes went back and forth and she had it.

Hoshi: Sir, I think I can read the note now. I'll be right back.

She was gone before they could reply.

***

2155

The scars formed a tiny sunburst at each entry point. Most of the hair had grown back, but the scarring was so pronounced that the operation would always be visible. It wasn't like anyone cared about his appearance, though.

Inside, in his own world, things were happier, at the moment. He was running across an alien planet, with Trip. Trip could barely keep up with him, even when he held back, so he'd begun to zig and zag from left to right, allowing Trip to stay even with him.

Trip: So, ... was it worth it?
Tegl: Of course - you're on the path together.

Trip: You don't know that, do you?

Tegl: I know what I could learn before the Isolation. You're important. You and Captain Archer. That hasn't changed, despite what I did.

Trip: So why this constant delusion?

Tegl: Keeps me from going insane.

Outside, the isolation was total. He wandered a bit farther each day, across silent fields at night and into the dark green light of the forests by day. Only his thoughts took him away from Elchora. To Trip, and to Archer, to an unreality he could bear. In thankfully rare moments of coherence he realized he knew nothing of their fate.

***

2154

He tried recalling the names of the Vulcan neuropressure points, but sleep was not so easily won over.

Trip: Why can't I sleep? Somethin' feels wrong. What's he doin'?

Each time he turned and tossed, the feeling grew stronger. He finally pulled on a t-shirt and sweats and headed directly for Archer's quarters.

(...)

Trip: Cap'n?

He waited.

Archer: Come in.

Archer was still in his uniform, leaning with his hands on the windowsill, staring straight out into space. He had read only a page of Hoshi's translation, but it was enough to unsettle him. Trip crossed the room to stand behind him, close enough for Archer to feel the warmth of his body, and his breath, yet not quite touching.

Archer: Why are you awake?

Trip: What's wrong?

They looked out the window for a very long time.

Archer: We don't know what's out there. We don't understand it.

He glanced sideways at his companion.
Archer: But that's how you like it, isn't it? Not knowing?

Trip: There are a few things about the future that I want to be certain about.

Archer: You can be.

Trip returned the glance, briefly, without answering.

Archer: "For all that, uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend or lover near..."

Trip: "I know very well I could not." You remember that.

He smiled.

Archer: I learned it by heart. I remember all of it.

Trip: Promise is most given when the least is said. Tegl liked that quote. Found it in one of my books.

Archer leaned his head slightly and rested his temple against Trip's cheek, as his eyes closed.

THE END