Course Correction Studio

Tag: Risa

  • Edge of Heaven – Chapter 11. Back to Life

    Dani looked around Archer’s villa as she stepped in. She’d never been inside before, but still, she got the feeling that something – or someone – was missing. “Where’s Porthos?” she asked.

    “Trip took him out for a walk,” Archer said. “He needs the exercise.”

    “Trip?” Dani asked.

    “Porthos,” Archer clarified.

    “All that cheese he’s able to get out of you, I suppose?”

    “Yeah, I’m the culprit there,” Archer admitted. “But he’s so adorable, he’s just so hard to say no to.”

    Dani looked over at Archer’s balcony door. Up until now, his villa had seemed nearly identical to hers, but now she saw that there was one major difference.

    “You have an ocean view,” Dani said, gravitating toward the glass sliding door. She opened it and stepped outside onto the spacious, stone balcony. She looked out at the reflection of the moons off the gently breaking water. The ocean breeze kissed her face.

    “This is wonderful!” she gushed. “I would love to be able to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean every night. And I mean the real thing, not something simulated from a computer. I want to be able to smell the water, feel the breeze.” She closed her eyes and relished in the sound of the breakers, the smell of the salt water, and the sensation of the cool night air on her skin.

    Archer walked over to the balcony and stood beside her. “It is pretty nice,” he said, looking out at the sparkling night water.

    “I wish we didn’t have to go back tomorrow,” Dani said, opening her eyes. “Everything’s so simple here. Things make sense. Tomorrow, once we go back, things will be even more complicated than they were before.”

    “We don’t have to see each other any more if you think it’s a bad idea,” Archer said.

    “Oh, I know it’s a bad idea,” Dani said. “But that doesn’t mean I want to stop.”

    “Neither do I,” Archer said. He and Dani turned to each other. “We must be crazy, willingly doing something that we both know is a bad idea.”

    Dani shrugged. “What can I say? I like to take risks, obviously, or I wouldn’t have ended up here. Sometimes, things that are really bad ideas at first lead to some pretty amazing things.”

    They moved in close to each other and kissed.

    xxx

    The next morning, Archer woke first. Dani was in his arms. The balcony doors were still open from the night before. The gentle ocean breeze, the sound of the waves, and the light of the rising sun had stirred him awake.

    A perfect moment. It was a shame they had to return to the ship in a few hours. Shore leave had been eventful but still restful. Even if it hadn’t unfolded as he’d predicted, Archer couldn’t say he was disappointed with the way things had turned out.

    He looked down at Dani and grinned. She was still knocked out. He hated to wake her, but he had to. They had to get back to the ship.

    “Dani,” Archer whispered. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. He whispered her name again, and she began to move. Her eyes slowly opened, and she looked at Archer.

    “Good morning,” she moaned, grinning.

    “Good morning,” Archer said. He kissed her.

    Dani looked past him at the rising sun outside. “I wonder when we’ll get to wake up to a sunrise again,” she mused.

    “You take it for granted if you’re planet-side for long enough,” Archer said. “But Enterprise has been away so long now, I don’t know if I’ll ever take it for granted again.”

    That was one thing that hadn’t changed in the 24th Century, Dani thought. Even with the holodeck’s advanced simulation capabilities, it was usually never as good authentic nature.

    Dani shifted and pushed herself to a sitting position. “I have to go pack,” she said.

    “So do I,” Archer said.

    “I’ll see you on the transport,” Dani said. She moved to get out of bed, but Archer caught her by the hand, pulled her back to him, and kissed her.

    “I’ll meet you in the lobby in an hour,” Archer said.

    Dani nodded and left the bed.

    xxx

    The transport back to the ship was the first time that Dani had seen Kyle since he’d told her that he’d shot Marac. She could barely look at him, much less speak to him. When she sat, she angled her body so that she didn’t have to see him. It was only a temporary solution, though. Kyle was her cabin mate, and it was going to be impossible to avoid him forever.

    xxx

    Kyle opened the suitcase on his desk. Recyclers were one innovation that would really have come in handy about now.

    A room of his own was also something that he could use. Sharing quarters with someone always brought along it’s own set of challenges. After what had happened on Risa, sharing quarters with Dani was going to be even more difficult. And awkward. There was nothing he was going to be able to say or do that would take away the pain she now felt, knowing that he was the one who had killed Dukat.

    Dani walked into the room and froze at the door. Her eyes immediately found Kyle, and she quickly diverted them. She went immediately to her bunk, dropped her suitcase, and walked right back out.

    xxx

    When Archer opened the door and found Dani and the corridor outside his quarters, he wasn’t surprised.

    “Hi,” he said as he stepped to the side to let her in.

    As Dani stepped into Archer’s quarters, she realized that this was her first visit. She was surprised by the small size.

    “What do you think?” Archer asked, as the door slid shut behind her.

    “It’s a bit cramped to be the CO’s quarters,” Dani said.

    Archer chuckled. “I imagine that where you come from, Captains have spacious suites.”

    “Not just the captains, either.”

    “Do you miss it?” Archer asked.

    “Being on a ship like that?”

    “All of it. The future.”

    “A little.” Dani wrapped her arms around Archer, draping them over his neck. What she missed most was her family, but she found that the less time she spent thinking about them, the better she was able to deal with the possibility of never seeing them again. “But I miss it less and less each day.” She kissed him.

    “Have you finished unpacking already?” Archer asked.

    “No,” She walked over to the large chair next to the desk and sat down. “Kyle was there, so I just walked in, dropped my bag on my bunk, and walked right back out.”

    “I take it things are still awkward between the two of you right now,” Archer said.

    Dani momentarily closed her eyes as she responded, “I can’t even look at him right now.”

    Archer sat down in his desk chair and faced her. “Are you angry at him?” he asked.

    “Yes,” Dani said. “No…I don’t know.” She sighed. “It’s just…I know that he was only doing his duty,” she said. “I know that. But it doesn’t change the fact that he shot the man I loved, and now that I know that, there is nothing that he can say or do that will erase that fact from my mind. At the same time, that doesn’t change the person he is. He’s still one of my best friends.”

    She looked at Archer. “I just have no idea what to do,” she said.

    “Is there anything I can do to help?” Archer offered. He rolled his chair closer to her. “Maybe I could assign you to different quarters?”

    Dani shook her head. “I can’t avoid him forever,” she said. “This ship’s not big enough for that.”

    “Yeah, but you don’t have to live with him, especially if it makes you uncomfortable,” Archer said. “We wouldn’t bunk crewmen of the opposite sex in the same quarters anyway under normal conditions. But yours was a special case…What do you want to do?”

    Dani shrugged. “Take it one day at a time, I guess,” she answered. “Hope that tomorrow I feel differently.” Maybe it wasn’t just wishful thinking that everything would magically be better tomorrow and that she would no longer feel the way that she currently did. One could always hope.

  • Edge of Heaven – Chapter 10. Can’t Let Go

    “You know, ever since we met, I’ve noticed something about you,” Kyle said.  He lay on a lounger beside Dani on a white sand beach in a quiet, less touristy part of Risa.  There were a few others out enjoying the sand and sparkling water, but this particular beach wasn’t nearly as crowded as the more popular beaches located near the busier resorts.

    “What’s that?” Dani asked, responding to Kyle’s statement.

    “You’re attracted to men with power,” Kyle said.

    Dani’s head whipped around to Kyle, as she prepared to fire a defense at him, but she hesitated before the rebuttal could leave her mouth.  When she took a second to think about it, she realized that Kyle’s observation probably wasn’t that outrageous.

    “Let’s see, there was Commander Riker, Gul Dukat…and now Captain Archer,” Kyle continued.

    Instead of becoming defensive, Dani reflected on Kyle’s observation for a moment.  “You’re right,” she said.  “I never noticed it before because no one’s ever said it out loud to me.  But in my defense, I grew up surrounded by powerful people.  I’m accustomed to being around them.”  She shrugged.  “I guess it’s subconsciously affected what I find attractive in men.”

    Kyle propped himself up on his elbow and angled himself to face Dani.  “There’s something I’ve been dying to know for a while,” he said.

    “What is it?” Dani asked.

    “What exactly was the deal with Dukat?” Kyle asked. “I mean, how did you ever end up with him?”

    “I don’t want to talk about him,” Dani said calmly, staring out at the ocean.

    Kyle shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m an idiot for even asking.  I…I can imagine that the whole ordeal must have been devastating for you.  I know you cared deeply for him.”

    Dani looked at Kyle but didn’t say anything. “No doubt you heard about the condition I was in when they found me on Cardassia Prime,” she said.

    “Yeah.  They said it was Stockholm syndrome.  But I know better than that.”

    Dani released a small laugh.  “Oh, really?” she asked, somewhat skeptically and somewhat warily.  She was unsure of what Kyle was driving at here.

    Kyle sat up on his lounger and swung his legs over the side so that he was now fully facing Dani.  He buried his feet in the soft sand and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs.  “Ever since we found each other again, I’ve been struggling with something,” he said.  “There’s something I’ve been debating whether or not to tell you.  At first, I thought it would be best to just let the past stay in the past, but the more time that passes, the more I feel like I’m keeping a big secret from you, and it’s making me feel like shit.”

    By this point, Dani had also sat up and turned to face Kyle.  “Kyle — what is it?”

    “Dani,” Kyle began, “I was there, that night on Cardassia Prime, when…when Dukat was killed.”

    Dani’s mouth hung open, unable to form any words.  She didn’t have to.  Kyle knew that the information came as a total shocker to her.

    He continued.  “You were sitting there, crying over Dukat’s body,” Kyle said.  “I told you that we had to leave because it wouldn’t be safe for you there without Dukat’s protection.  On the way to the transport, I told you not to look back.”

    Dani couldn’t believe she was hearing this.  “But I distinctly remember a pair of brown eyes looking at me when those words were spoken.  The face was covered by a mask, but I remember the eyes.  Your eyes have been blue for as long as I’ve known you.”

    “Everyone on that mission had their appearances altered slightly,” Kyle explained. “It’s a safety measure.  We all had brown eyes then.”

    Dani wanted to ask him why he’d never told her any of this, but she thought she knew the answer – that the mission had been classified.

    “I would have told you sooner,” Kyle said, “Only…only…”  He swallowed hard.  “The phaser blast that killed him came from my rifle.”

    Dani inhaled sharply.  For a moment, she felt like she was watching Marac get shot all over again, only now, instead of a faceless, masked figure, it was Kyle’s face she saw at the other end of the rifle.

    “I didn’t know how to tell you,” Kyle quickly added. “I thought I was protecting you.  At that time, I didn’t know the extent of your relationship with him.  I just knew what I’d been told by my superiors, which was that you were being held at his house as a political prisoner.  When he reached into his pocket, I had no way of knowing what he was going to bring out.  Training kicked in, and when you’re in a situation like that, you shoot first and ask questions later.”

    Dani rose from her lounger and began to walk away.

    “Dani?” Kyle said, standing. “Dani?” He moved to go after her, but she shook her head and held her hand out behind her.

    “I need to be by myself right now,” she said. “Please.  It’s…I just want to be alone for a while.”

    Kyle hung back. “Okay,” he said, nodding. “Okay.”  He watched Dani walk away from him toward some unknown destination.

    xxx

    Dani didn’t know where she was going. She didn’t really care. She only wanted to be alone, away from everyone. So she kept walking until she could no longer see Kyle.

    A nature path veered off from the beach, on Dani’s left.  She couldn’t recall ever having been on this path in any of her previous trips to Risa.  There was also the distinct possibility that this trail had ceased to exist by the 24th Century.

    The lush foliage created a canopy over parts of the trail, providing shade.  Beautiful slivers of sunlight shone through the trees, shimmering down onto the path below.

    The setting was gorgeous and peaceful – but it still wasn’t enough to distract Dani from the news she’d just learned from Kyle.  She knew he didn’t have a reason to lie, but she still couldn’t completely wrap her mind around the fact that he’d been there when Dukat had died – that he’d fired the blast that had killed him. It had been one of the most intimate and vulnerable moments of her life, and while part of her found comfort in the fact that it had been Kyle, rather than a stranger, who’d been there with her, another part of her was angry about that very same fact.  She and Kyle had been good friends – part of a group of best friends – at the Academy, yet he never bothered to tell her that he’d been there for that traumatic event in her life, even after they’d reunited with each other for this current mission.  It wasn’t fair for her to blame him for following orders, she knew, especially since she would have been obliged to do the same.  But it still angered her.

    I should at least give him credit for eventually speaking up, Dani thought.

    The path she was following had started to curve so sharply that it could nearly be considered a corner.  She didn’t see Jonathan Archer coming from the opposite direction until she’d already stumbled into him.

    Startled by the run-in and shaken from her thoughts, Dani apologized and said, “My mind was somewhere else completely, and I wasn’t paying attention to what was in front of me.”

    “It’s kind of a blind curve,” Archer said. “It’s a pleasant path when you aren’t having collisions, though.”

    Dani managed a small grin.  She was glad for the distraction, even if it was Archer, another complicated facet of her life.

    “Have you been down this path before?” Archer asked her.

    “No, surprisingly,” Dani replied.  “For some reason, I never came across it in my time.”  She shrugged.  “Maybe it doesn’t exist anymore by then.  Some resort could be sitting on top of it for all I know.”

    “It’s a shame because it really is a beautiful walk,” Archer said.  He and Dani began to walk together.

    “Where does it lead?” Dani asked.

    “I don’t know,” Archer said.  “I guess we’ll find out.”

    They walked in silence for a few moments.  While Archer wasn’t at the top of her list of people she wanted to spend time with right now, he was here.  And Dani needed to talk to someone.  Since Archer was here, he would do.

    Dani asked, “Have you ever had one of those moments where you find out something that makes you question something you used to think was unshakeable?”

    “I think everyone has those moments,” Archer said. “Have you had one recently?”

    Dani nodded, then launched into her story. “I was involved with a guy a while ago, and it was a complicated situation,” she began.  “He wasn’t…a lot of people thought was a despicable person.  And yeah, he did some reprehensible stuff in his past, a lot of it, actually.  But somehow, I still managed to fall in love with this person.  He died in my arms after being shot.  I just found out that the man who shot him is a good friend of mine from the Academy.”

    Archer studied her for a moment. “Kyle?”

    Dani gave a small nod. “He was part of a covert team that was sent to rescue me,” she said.  “It was, hands down, the worst day of my life, and I just found out that one of my best friends was responsible for it.”

    “Are you sure it was him?” Archer asked.

    “He just told me,” Dani said. “Not more than half an hour ago.  It’s not like I can really fault him for it.  He was performing his duty.  And he didn’t know what my relationship with Marac was.  But that doesn’t make the reality of it any better.

    They stopped walking near a stone bench. “Are you okay?” Archer asked.

    Dani walked over to the bench and sat down.  “Honestly, I’m not sure,” she said.  “I don’t know how I can ever look at Kyle again and not have all those memories come up.  I’m glad he told me, but at the same time, I hate it because it feels like our relationship might never be the same now.  I’m not really sure what to think now.  Or what to say to him.”

    Archer sat down beside her.  “Maybe you shouldn’t try to think about saying the perfect thing right now,” he said.  “Just say whatever comes naturally.  Or say nothing at all for now.  There’s no reason why you have to talk to him about it right away.  What’s the rush?  There are times that call for diplomacy and other times that call for simplicity.  I think this is one of those situations where you need to rely on the latter.”

    “Even if that mans not being able to be around Kyle right now?” Dani asked.

    Archer nodded.  “Yeah, I think so. I know that’s not an attractive prospect right now in your position, but if it’s something that you think is going to be a huge issue, something that you don’t want to have to deal with on top of everything else, doing nothing may be the best course of action right now.”

    Dani sighed heavily. “This is not how I thought I’d be spending shore leave,” she said. “Reliving the one memory I wish I could forget forever.”

    “You may not be able to avoid it forever, but you don’t have to think about it right now,” Archer said. “You don’t have I come up with a solution right this minute. Do you?”

    Dani shook her head. “Have any suggestions for appropriate distractions?” she asked.

    xxx

    Archer ran through the sand right up to the shore line, then kept running, splashing water around him until he was finally far enough out to dive, full-body, into the surf. He went under for a few seconds before his head and torso broke through the surface again as he stood, now chest-deep in the water. He wiped water away from his eyes and face, and waved at Dani, beckoning her to join him.

    Archer had brought Dani to a secluded bay just off the main trail where they’d first run into each other earlier in the day. At the moment, no one else was there, but it was literally off the beaten path, and wasn’t likely to become popular with most tourists.

    Dani hesitated only a moment before ripping her sarong away and running into the water toward Archer. To her, it symbolized running away from everything that had been troubling he, from  the problems that had arisen with Kyle to the issue of being stuck 200 years in the past. Though, being stuck in this particular time was proving not to be such a bad thing, she thought, especially since Jon Archer was turning out to be such a good ally.

    As if to prove her point, a large wave crashed into Dani just as she approached Archer, and he caught her in his arms so that it didn’t knock her down.  But even after the wave had receded, Archer didn’t let Dani go.

    “Sorry,” Archer said. “I just can’t seem to let go of you.”

    “That’s okay,” Dani said. “I don’t want you to.”

    Archer took that as his cue.  He leaned forward and kissed Dani, this time with much more confidence than he’d had the previous day in the caves.

  • Edge of Heaven – Chapter 9. Between Friends

    Dani wanted to spend the rest of the day alone.  But fate had other plans.  She ran into Kyle in a shopping district.

    “What a surprise to find you – alone,” Kyle said, as he and Dani approached each other on the sidewalk.  “What happened to your friends?”

    “Change of plans,” Dani said.

    There was a smile on her face, but Kyle sensed that something was wrong.  “What happened?” Kyle asked.

    Dani walked over to a nearby bench and sat.  Kyle followed suit.  Dani sighed and started to relay the story of the morning’s events.  When she was done telling him, the happy expression had left his face, and she felt even worse for being a downer.

    “What happened after you walked out?” Kyle asked. “What did Archer do?”

    “I haven’t seen him since,” Dani said.  “It’s all so stupid, because I shouldn’t have even been there with him in the first place.”

    “Dani, it’s not like you can predict the future,” Kyle said. “You told me this morning that it wasn’t like that between the two of you.  How could you have known what was going to happen?”

    Dani shook her head.  “We both know that I was kidding myself and you when I said that.  It was plain as day to you what was happening, so I definitely should have known better…what happened is for the best, anyway, given the situation we’re in.”

    “Look – don’t let this whole thing put a damper on your vacation,” Kyle said. “It’s better that this happened now rather than later on, when things would likely have been much more emotionally complicated.”

    Dani nodded and said, “You’re right.”

    “There’s  a beach party tonight not far from the hotel,” Kyle said. “You should come.  It’ll be a great way to have some fun and let off some steam.”

    Dani smiled for the first time that day since the incident in the caves.  “Okay.  Drop by my hotel room.  We can walk over together.”

    They both stood.  “I’m meeting Travis and Malcolm at the marina for a boating lesson,” Kyle said.  “You want to join me?”

    “No, I think I’ll hang around here and do some shopping.”

    “You sure?  I hate to leave you alone.”

    “It’s fine.  I promise.  I kind of want to be alone right now anyway.”

    Kyle nodded.  “See you tonight, then,” he said.

    Dani nodded, and Kyle started to walk away.  “Kyle?”  Kyle stopped and turned to Dani again.  “I’m really glad we found each other again.”

    Kyle chuckled. “Me too.  I wish we hadn’t had to take a trip to the 22nd Century to do it, though.”

    “Yeah,” Dani said. “But still…”

    Her words trailed, but she was sure Kyle understood.  She was glad he was back in her life.  He nodded and smiled again, before turning and walking away.

    It was only a few minutes before Dani found a store she liked, and she believed her day actually had a chance of ending better than it had begun.  But turns out that her optimism was to be short-lived.  Only minutes after she entered the shop, T’Pol surfaced again.  She had appeared in front of Dani as she turned from one rack of clothing, intending to move on to another.

    “Sub-Commander,” Dani said.  She was a little perplexed.  One of the last places she expected to find T’Pol was a shop.

    “Commander,” T’Pol said, her gaze seemingly assessing Dani.

    “Is there something I can do for you, Sub-Commander?” Dani asked.

    “As a matter of fact, there is,” T’Pol said.

    That certainly wasn’t the answer Dani had been expecting.

    T’Pol continued, “I came to inquire about the nature of your relationship with Captain Archer.”

    Dani inhaled sharply and nodded slowly.  “You’re referring to what happened this morning at the caves.”

    “That much should be evident,” T’Pol said.

    “We don’t really have a relationship,” Dani said.  It was the truth, so why did it feel like such a lie when she said it out loud?

    “Every officer on Enterprise has a relationship of some degree with Captain Archer, whether it be merely that of a commanding officer and subordinate or … closer.”

    “Closer?” Dani repeated.

    “Yes,” T’Pol said. “You and the captain appear to have become emotionally close during this shore leave.”

    “It may look like that, but I don’t think it’s accurate,” Dani insisted.  “We’re just friends.”

    “Then, you appear to be very good friends,” T’Pol said. “What I witnessed this morning was not customary behavior between mere friends.”

    “That was  a spur of the moment thing,” Dani said, working to keep her annoyance from surfacing in her voice.  She didn’t want to discuss this particular topic anymore, especially with T’Pol. “It just happened.  It wasn’t planned.”

    “Regardless, it was highly inappropriate.  I suggest that you cease all non-professional contact with the captain immediately.”

    “I don’t think you have anything to worry about in that department,” Dani said. “Trust me – it was over before it ever had a chance to begin.”

    T’Pol inclined her head slightly, and that was the end of the conversation.  She moved away toward the shop exit.

    xxx

    After the day that she’d had, Dani didn’t feel much like partying.  But she’d agreed to go to the party with Kyle, and that’s how she found herself on a beach, standing at the fringes of the party, staring at scores of rowdy vacationers when she really would rather be asleep in her comfy hotel bed.

    Kyle turned to Dani, wide-eyed and smiling.  It was the way Dani remembered him being at the Academy.  It was the first time she’d seen him like this since they’d been reunited.  Despite her desire to be elsewhere, she couldn’t help but smile with him.

    “See?” he said.  “I told you it would be fun!”  He began to bounce to the beat of the music as he weaved his way into the party.  Dani reluctantly followed him and resolved to stay for a little while, not longer than an hour, before heading back to the hotel for the night.

    Dani stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted Archer near a bar area with a small group of people.  Kyle, puzzled, stopped with her.  He followed her gaze to Archer and nodded knowingly.

    Dani wanted to turn and run away, but by the time she’d decided on that course of action, Archer had already spotted her.  So she stood there, frozen, watching while he said ‘goodbye’ to his companions and walked over to her.

    “Do you want me to stay…” Kyle began to ask.

    “No, it’s okay,” Dani said. “Go ahead.  I’ll catch up with you later.”

    Kyle nodded and left, as Archer approached.

    “Hi,” Archer said.

    “Hello, Captain,” Dani said.

    Archer was slightly taken aback by her decision to use his formal title.  “I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight,” he said.

    “Kyle invited me,” Dani said.  “He said it would help me relax.”

    “I bet he didn’t think I would be here when he said that,” Archer said.

    Dani winced and shook her head in response.  She began to walk away from the party, looking out at the ocean, focusing on the moons’ reflections on the rippling waves and trying her best not to be awkward.

    “Dani, I want to apologize for what happened earlier today at the caves,” Archer said, walking with her.

    “Are you apologizing for kissing me?” Dani asked.

    Archer stared blankly at Dani for a few moments.  “Um, yeah.  I-I assumed that…well, I didn’t really do much thinking at all, come to think of it.  It just…sort of came naturally, I guess.  I’m sorry.”

    “You don’t have to apologize, Jon,” Dani said. “Really, you don’t.  That kiss – it was wonderful.”

    Archer’s brow knitted with confusion.  “I don’t understand,” he said.  “When you ran away, I assumed it was because of me?”

    “No, it was because of me,” Dani said.  “I think I was overwhelmed by what had happened between us, and then T’Pol and Trip found us.  I think my brain just kind of shut down or something.”

    Archer chuckled, relieved. “So, you’re not upset with me?”

    Dani shook her head.  “No.  I don’t have any reason to be angry with you…but I do think that T’Pol is right.”

    Confusion returned to Archer again.  “About what?”

    “We ran into each other later on in a shop,” Dani said.

    “What happened?”

    “In a nutshell, she thinks that our behavior was inappropriate and that we should refrain further behavior of that nature.”

    “Were those her words?”

    “Not exactly, but that’s the general gist.”

    “And you agree?”

    Dani began to walk toward the water and away from the bulk of the party guests.  Archer walked with her.

    “Jon, we both should know better,” Dani said. “I should, at least.  Whatever it was that happened between us in the caves, it can’t go anywhere.  I mean, look at our situation.”

    “What about our situation?”

    “What happens if, suddenly, somehow, tomorrow, they find a way to send me and Kyle back to our own time?”  She shook her head.  “Or worse – what if it happens a few months down the road, after we’ve had time to develop deeper feelings for each other?”

    “That’s something I’ve been thinking about, too,” Archer admitted.  “It’s a valid point.  The only problem is that I think it’s too late.  For me, at least.”

    “What do you mean?”

    Archer stopped walking and turned to face Dani.  “Because I’ve already developed feelings for you,” he said. “That’s why I kissed you.”

    “All the more reason for us to end it now, before things get serious,” Dani said.

    Archer took a deep breath and nodded. “I know.”  They stared at each other for a few silent moments.  Archer knew that what Dani had said made sense, but he just couldn’t let this go easily.

    “What if…” Archer began, his intense gaze channeled directly into Dani’s brown eyes, “What if for tonight and tomorrow, we’re just two people on vacation who happened to meet?  They know they’ll never see each other again, most likely, and they want to make the best of it.”

    “After it’s all over, though, would you be able to go back to Enterprise and act like nothing ever happened between us?” Dani asked.  “Because I’m not sure I could.”  His proposal was tempting, but Dani knew herself too well to believe that things would be as simple as Archer posited.  She shook her head.  “Do yourself a favor, Jon – forget about me.  You’ll save yourself some heartache.”  She turned and quickly walked away from him, convinced that she’d made the right decision.

  • Edge of Heaven – Chapter 8. Deeper

    “I still can’t wrap my mind around the idea of having children on starships,” Archer said. He gathered a small pile of scrambled eggs onto his fork. He and Dani had met for breakfast. Kyle had not taken Dani up on her offer to join them, and Trip hadn’t arrived yet.

    “Why not?” Dani asked. “It’s beneficial to have families on board. Think about it – you yourself said that you knew you wouldn’t be able to survive without Porthos. So what did you do? You brought him along with you. Now imagine if you had a wife or kids? Do you really think you would be able to leave them alone for years at a time? If you couldn’t survive without your dog, I think you and I already know the answer.”

    “First of all, there’s a big difference between a dog and a person,” Archer said. “Porthos takes up a hell of a lot less space than a person. Second, while I would certainly miss him if something happened to him, I probably wouldn’t be devastated the way I would if I lost my wife or, God forbid, my child because of something that happened out here. It’s a dangerous galaxy out here – I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting my family in that kind of risk.”

    “You make good points,” Dani admitted. “But for the record, many ships will be large enough to accommodate families in the future, so space isn’t an issue in all cases.”

    “You know, the truth is that I never thought I’d have a family of my own,” Archer said.

    “Never?” Dani asked.

    “Well, I knew my place was in the stars, I knew I wanted to be on the bridge of a starship,” Archer explained. “But I also knew that unless you command freighters, space just isn’t the place for families. So I just figured that I wouldn’t have a family. Except for Porthos here.”

    Dani looked down at the beagle, who sat beside Archer’s chair. She’d almost forgotten that he was there. Archer stroked the dog’s head a few times. Then his eyes met Dani’s again.

    Trip walked towards the entrance to the hotel’s cafe. He stopped short of going in when saw that Archer and Dani were engaged in another “moment”. They were both gazing into each other’s eyes, as they’d done earlier that morning on the beach.

    ‘Damn,’ he thought. ‘How much bad timing can a guy possibly have?’ He walked into the cafe and hesitantly approached the table, clearing his throat as he got closer. Dani and Archer self consciously looked away from each other as Trip pulled up a chair and sat beside the captain.

    “So,” he said, unfolding his napkin and spreading it across his lap, “how are everyone’s accommodations?”

    “Fine. Great,” Archer answered quickly.

    Trip thought Archer sounded just a tad bit anxious, like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

    Trip looked to Dani. “Dani,” he greeted. “How’s your room?”

    “Cozy,” Dani said. “Thank you.”

    “Any special plans for today?” Trip asked no one in particular.

    “We’ll, I was planning to see some of the sights,” Dani said, “and then maybe head back to the beach later on.”

    “It’s nice to be at a beach again,” Archer said. “I lived in San Francisco all my life, and I spent much of my childhood on California’s beaches.”

    “Being cooped up on a ship for so long must be difficult for you,” Dani said.

    “I imagine it’s difficult for everyone,” Archer said.

    Trip looked at Janeway and Archer. This was quickly becoming a two-way conversation again, and he wasn’t a part of it.

    “Do you mind if I join you at the beach later on?” Archer asked Dani.

    “You can join me for the whole day, if you want,” Dani offered. “This morning, I was planning to explore some caverns I know.”

    “Sounds like fun,” Archer asked. “You wouldn’t mind?”

    “Of course not.”

    Archer smiled, but it faded slightly when he suddenly remembered Trip. He turned to his chief engineer to ask if he minded changing their plans for the day.

    Trip answered the unspoken question. “Fine by me, Cap’n,” Trip said.

    “Great!” Archer said, smiling at Dani.

    xxx

    Dani, Archer, and Trip walked deeper into the caverns. Artificial light had been installed along the cave paths, eliminating the need for visitors to bring their own light sources, and the cave paths were easy to traverse. They’d obviously been adapted to make touring easier.

    Stalactites and stalagmites hung from the ceilings and rose from the ground. Archer looked at the structures and remembered seeing something similar in caverns on Earth.

    “There’s supposed to be some kind of natural fountain in here somewhere,” Dani said. She was leading the way.

    “A natural fountain?” Trip asked.

    “That’s what I was told,” Dani said, continuing to lead the way through the caves. She stopped to study a stalagmite. Archer stopped beside her to see what she was looking at, while Trip walked on up ahead.

    “You don’t see many like this one,” Archer observed. The formation was an odd shape, none that Dani had ever seen before.

    Dani turned to reply to Archer, and his proximity startled her. She hadn’t realized that he was standing behind her and looking over her shoulder.

    Dani blushed a little and said, “No, you don’t.” She wandered away, and Archer followed. They continued on for several feet in silence until they stumbled upon the fountain they’d been searching for. It was actually more of a waterfall than a fountain and contained the same type of water that was in the ocean, being that when slivers of light hit it, a spectrum of colors was reflected.

    “All the times I’ve been here in my own time, I’ve never seen this,” Dani said. “I’ve never been in the caves or anything.”

    “It’s my first time seeing it, too,” Archer said. He looked down at her. When she looked up at him, he was drawn to those brown eyes of hers, those lips, that smooth skin that he just had to touch.

    With Archer’s hand gently cupping the side of her face, it was plain as day to Dani where this was headed. She knew she should put the brakes on it before something happened, given their delicate temporal situation.

    But she didn’t want to.

    Instead, when Archer leaned forward to kiss her, she met him halfway, joining her lips with his.

    xxx

    Trip didn’t know how long he’d been walking before he realized he was alone. He’d left Archer and Janeway behind somewhere, but where? He turned and began to retrace his steps. After a few short minutes, he found himself back at the waterfall, which he’d passed earlier. Once again, his timing was atrocious because. Upon approaching the waterfall chamber’s entrance, he saw Archer and Dani in the middle of an intimate, lip-locked moment.

    “Commander.”

    Startled, Trip whirled around. T’Pol had appeared a few feet behind him from seemingly nowhere and spoken. He quickly walked over and led her a few paces away from the waterfall entrance so they wouldn’t have to whisper to avoid alerting the captain to their presence.

    And so that she wouldn’t witness what he’d just seen. Trip could already imagine what T’Pol’s report to the High Command would look like if she’d been the one to find Janeway and the captain instead of him. He had a feeling they would not approve.

    T’Pol’s response to his behavior was the equivalent of a puzzled look for Vulcans. “I did not expect to find you here in the caverns,” she said. “I was under the impression that you and the captain were going to spend the day at the beach.”

    “We had a change of plans,” Trip said. “We’re going later today. What are you doin’ here?”

    “Meditating,” T’Pol said. “Because of its remote qualities, this is one of the truly quiet locations in this area.”

    “You come to a planet like this and all you want to do is meditate?” Trip asked.

    T’Pol inhaled deeply, annoyed. “Not all individuals find the same activities relaxing, Commander,” she said.

    “Good point,” Trip said. “It’s your vacation, spend it how you want.”

    “I intend to,” T’Pol replied. She took a few seconds to look behind him. “Where is the captain?”

    “Oh, we got separated somehow, and I was on my way back to see if I could find him,” Trip explained quickly.

    “And did you find him?”

    “Not yet,” Trip lied, shaking his head. “Nope. Probably went back to the entrance. I think that’s where I’m goin’ to check next.” He stepped past T’Pol, hoping she would follow.

    “Have you checked that room?” T’Pol asked.

    “What room?” Trip asked.

    “This room, Commander. The one you were staring at when I found you.”

    “Oh, that room,” Trip said nodding. “Yeah, that’s just the waterfall.”

    “I was unaware that this cave system contained a waterfall,” T’Pol said. “This is something I would like to witness.” She turned around and began to walk to the waterfall entrance.

    Trip closed his eyes, mentally kicking himself for even mentioning the waterfall. “T’Pol – wait.” He walked over to her before she could make it to the entrance.

    T’Pol stopped and looked over her shoulder at Trip. “Yes, Commander?”

    Trip sighed. “The captain’s in there, okay? But he’s with Commander Janeway.”

    T’Pol turned fully to Trip. “Why did you tell me that you were unsure of his location?”

    Trip hesitated a moment before replying. “Because they’re kind of havin’ an intimate moment, right now, and I didn’t want anyone to disturb them.”

    “An intimate moment?” T’Pol repeated coolly. She turned, intending to complete her trip to the waterfall chamber.

    “T’Pol, they deserve some privacy,” Trip pleaded.

    But the Vulcan ignored him as she took the last few steps to the room’s entrance. She stopped there and observed Archer and Janeway joined at the lips, with their arms wrapped around each other. T’Pol flashed a displeased look at Trip before stepping into the room.

    “Captain,” she said loudly, announcing her arrival.

    Dani and Archer separated. Dani couldn’t conceal the shocked expression on her face. Archer was more embarrassed and annoyed than anything.

    “T’Pol,” Archer said, acknowledging the Vulcan.

    “I came to the caves to meditate. I was told that the quiet setting would be a suitable environment,” T’Pol said. She turned to Dani. “Commander,” she greeted.

    “Sub-Commander,” Dani managed. She looked at Archer once more before hurrying past T’Pol to the exit. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Trip in the doorway. Her embarrassment grew as she realized that he must have seen what had happened between her and Archer as well. She quickly slid past him on her way out.

  • Edge of Heaven – Chapter 7. Just Jon

    Dani walked along the blue shoreline of Risa.  She’d come here before in her own time, and she was surprised to see that in 200 years, not much about the planet had changed.  It was still beautiful and promoted a carefree atmosphere.  It had only been a few days after Dani’s dinner with Captain Archer in the mess hall, and she was grateful for the opportunity to sort things out.

    Dani sat down in the sand and looked out at the gently lapping waves, the sun rising behind it.  The scene reminded her very much of a West Coast sunset on Earth.

    ‘What if I really am stuck here for the rest of my life?’ she asked herself.  It had been weeks since she’d arrived, and the Enterprise crew was no closer to cracking the temporal transporter’s code than when she and Kyle had first arrived.  It was beginning to look like she’d never make it home.  She knew in her heart that Will had tried to keep his promise to bring her back.  She knew because she knew him and knew that he still cared for her, as she did for him, and he would never willingly abandon her.  But given the circumstances, she was beginning to think going back ‘home’ was becoming more and more of a distant probability.

    Dani jumped when she felt something brush against her back.  She turned around and looked down.  A beagle nudged at her back and walked around in front of her as she began to stroke the little dog’s head.

    “Hey,” Dani said.  There was something familiar about this dog, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. “Where did you come from?”  The dog barked.  Dani looked around her for any sign of the dog’s owner.   When she looked over her shoulder, she saw him jogging toward them in the distance.  She looked down at the dog again.  “You’re a fast one, too fast for your owner.”

    The dog took off in the direction of his owner.  As the owner gradually closed in on his beagle, his image became clearer, and Dani realized that the dog’s owner was Jonathan Archer.  She stood immediately.

    “Porthos!” he scolded as he caught up with the pooch.  He crouched down to the dog’s level. “How many times have I told you not to run off from me like that?”  He picked Porthos up and finally looked at Porthos’s ‘victim’.  He was surprised to see that it was Dani Janeway.

    “Hi,” he said, walking toward her.

    “Hi,” Dani said.

    “I’m sorry about Porthos,” Archer said, closing in the last few feet between himself and Janeway.  “He doesn’t usually behave like this.”  He placed Porthos on the ground and fastened a leash onto his collar.

    “No, it’s alright,” Dani said. “It gave us a chance to make proper introductions to each other.”

    Archer chuckled and sat down in the sand. “So, what do you think?  Is it very different from the Risa you know?”

    Dani sat back down and looked around at their surroundings, nodding slowly. “It’s pretty much the same as I remember it, actually, which is pretty surprising.  I mean, you would think that 200 years would make a difference, but I guess that’s not always the case.”

    “Time doesn’t have to change everything, especially if there isn’t anything that needs to be changed,” Archer said.

    “Don’t try to fix it if it’s not broken.”

    “Exactly,” Archer agreed.

    They both turned their attention to the ocean in front of them.  The sun was rising from behind it, creating a reflection across the water that consisted of nearly every color imaginable.

    “I was just thinking, before Porthos here joined me, that this beach reminds me of the West Coast, except it’s a sunrise here instead of a sunset,” Dani said, stroking Porthos . “And except for the rainbow effect here, of course.”

    “You’re right,” Archer said. “This is my first time here, but I grew up in California.  This place is almost eerie in how much it reminds me of home.”  He looked at Dani and was struck by how stunning she looked in the early morning light.  He knew he was staring, and he hoped it didn’t come across as rude.

    Dani turned to him and was mildly surprised to find him gazing at her.  She didn’t look away.  Instead, she returned his gaze, staring into his hazel eyes.  She wasn’t prepared for the effect that the whole scenario had on her:  the beautiful beach sunrise, the feeling that they were the only two people in the universe, the sheer beauty of the man sitting next to her.  She felt the intense urge to kiss him, and she wasn’t so sure that he would be disappointed if she did do just that.

    Her suspicion was confirmed when Archer began to lean toward her slowly.  Dani moved to meet him.

    “Hey, Cap’n!”

    Archer and Dani each drew back and looked over their shoulders to see Trip jogging toward them.

    “I just finished talkin’ to the people up at the travel agents,” he said once he reached them. “Our cabins are ready and waitin’ for us whenever we’re ready.”

    Dani and Archer looked at each other briefly before looking at Trip, and it suddenly occurred to the engineer that he may have just interrupted something.  “Uhhh, I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

    “No, it’s okay, Trip,” Archer said. “We were just talking about how beautiful everything is here.”  He looked at Dani again.  “Do you have somewhere to stay, yet?”

    “Yeah,” Dani said. “It’s this place on the beach, not too far from here,” Dani replied.

    xxx

    It didn’t take long for the three of them to reach the cabins.  As they approached the 15-story building, the three of them realized that Archer and Trip’s hotel was also Dani’s hotel.  Trip stopped by the desk in the lobby, but Dani and Archer went ahead to the lift that was already waiting for them in the lobby and rode up to the fifth floor. When the lift doors opened, they strolled out into a small lobby area on the fifth floor.

    “So, listen,” Archer began, speaking to Dani, “if you’re not doing anything this morning, how would you like having breakfast with me?”

    ‘He’s asking me out on a date?’ Dani asked herself. She didn’t realize she was staring until Archer spoke again.

    “Well, with me and Trip,” he corrected.

    Dani nodded. “Oh, sure,” she said. “Breakfast would be great. Yeah.” She hoped it didn’t sound like she was trying to convince herself to go.  Really, it was just her nerves making her sound like an idiot. “What time?”

    “About an hour?” Archer offered. “If that’s not too early. This is a vacation after all. I don’t want you to feel obligated to follow a schedule or anything.”

    “No, it’s fine,” Dani said. “I didn’t have anything planned, and I am getting kind of hungry, so it works out great.”

    Dani stopped walking.  They had already reached her door.

    “What?” Archer asked, concerned that he might have begun to annoy her.

    “This is my cabin,” Dani said.

    Archer looked at the room number displayed beside her door and then looked at the door immediately to the right, making a surprising discovery in the process.

    “This is your cabin?” Archer asked her.

    “Yes.  Is anything wrong?” Dani asked.

    “We’re neighbors.”

    “What?”

    “My cabin is right next to yours,” Archer explained.

    Dani nodded. “Really?  How convenient.  Maybe they put all of us from the ship on the same floor.”

    “I don’t think that’s the case,” Archer said.  “Trip is two floors below us.”

    “Well, then,” Dani began, “maybe it’s just us.”

    Archer wondered if the environmental system in the hotel was functioning correctly.  Suddenly, it felt as if the temperature had risen about ten degrees.

    Or maybe it was just him.  He nodded.  ”I’ll see you in a little while then,” he said. “We’ll see you in a little while.  Trip and I, I mean.”

    “Alright, Captain,” Dani said.

    Dani turned to her door, and Archer turned to his. Before he entered the security code on the keypad, he turned back to Dani one more time.

    “You don’t have to call me ‘captain’ while we’re here,” he said. “We’re on shore leave. Think of us as two friends getting to know one another.”

    “What should I call you?” Dani asked.

    “Jon.”

    “Just Jon?”

    “Just Jon,” he said.

    Dani nodded and grinned. “Jon,” she repeated to herself. It felt strange to call him that after weeks of referring to him by his formal rank. But if that’s what he wanted, she was definitely more than happy to oblige. “See you in a bit, Jon.”

    Arch grinned before opening the door and retreating into his cabin.  Before Dani could do the same, the door immediately across the hall from hers opened, and Kyle stepped out.

    “Hey,” he greeted.

    “Hey,” Dani said. “Did you finish settling in?” She entered the security code and opened the door to her cabin.

    “As much as you can for only a two-day stay,” Kyle said, following Dani inside the room. “It seems like you’re not having any problems at all settling in.”

    “Okay, I’ll bite,” Dani said. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

    “You know what it means,” Kyle said. He lowered his voice to a whisper before speaking again, just in case the walls in this place were thin. “Breakfast with the captain, all that ‘we’re on shore leave, call me Jon,’ talk?”

    “And?  Your point being?” Dani asked. Her voice remained at a normal conversational volume level.

    “All I can say is that I bet he hasn’t invited any other crew to ‘call him Jon’ just because we’re on shore leave.”

    “Kyle, it’s probably only because of our situation,” Dani said. “So what if the other crew can’t call him by his first name. You know we aren’t like other crew.  He probably wants you to do the same.”

    “Doubtful,” was Kyle’s answer.

    “Well, why don’t you come to breakfast with us?” Dani offered. “You can find out for yourself.”

    “I don’t think I’m the one the captain wants to get to know better.”

    “He wants to get to know both of us. He told me when we had dinner the other night.”

    “And that may have been true one week ago, but I get the feeling that’s not the case anymore.”

    “Oh my gods, are you serious?  Are you hearing yourself right now?”

    “It’s not such a wacky idea if you think about it,” Kyle said.

    “What isn’t?” Dani asked. “I want you to say it.”

    Kyle didn’t hesitate to offer up an answer. “He’s into you.”

    Dani didn’t want to admit it aloud, but she had a growing suspicion that Kyle was right.  She and Archer had nearly kissed on the beach not even an hour before.  Of course Kyle was right.  She only hoped that Archer didn’t act on the feelings he was developing.  And she hoped that she could do the same.