In twenty-one-fifty-six Romulan guns opened fire on the Columbia in what they claimed was an act of self defense. They would hold to this version of events for many centuries to come without ever wavering from their convictions. Perhaps it was simply their perspective and what would eventually be the final outcome for their home world. Initially the details of what had happened were sketchy to say the least. The only thing that was certain was that NX-02 had been blown to pieces taking all but five or six crewmen with her. The first one on the scene was a Vulcan ship and even with their emotions suppressed, they were still struck with horror at what they found. Everywhere was shattered pieces of the ship silently floating in space. Occasionally they found a body hovering in perfect stillness among the wreckage. Every victim they found, they brought aboard so it could be brought home and buried on Earth. They also found at least three of the escape pods with survivors.

At the time that Columbia was first encountering the Romulans, the Enterprise was enjoying some much needed shore leave on the Planet Risa. Half the crew went ashore the first two days then the other half got their chance. Captain Archer had gone with the second group and had orchestrated it so that Lt. D’Arcy would be in the second half. It had been a long time since they had experienced even five minutes alone together. Their last encounter was after the three Orion ‘slave’ women were safely locked away. In fact, they were heavily engaged in making up for lost time when Archer’s communicator went off. It was hardly a time for interruptions and the captain would have liked to have tossed his communicator into a pitcher of water and put an end to that incessant chirping sound. It was only natural human instinct when presented with your mate of choice to want to consummate and release all that pent up sexual desire. Indeed, they had done just this as soon as they had checked into the hotel. This time, it was supposed to be the long slow dance, but both lovers also had Starfleet and their duty built into their DNA and try as they might, they couldn’t ignore it. Besides, the ship would not be contacting Archer if it were not essential.

When he answered his communicator he was only told that all shore leave was canceled effective immediately and that he was to report to his ready room for a communique from Admiral Gardner. Even with no more information than that, his stomach began to twist into knots. The last time he had received such an order it was to tell him that seven million people had been killed by the Xindi. What fresh hell was awaiting him now? With many apologies he put on his uniform then told Danaë to return to the ship with the others and say nothing. Without hesitation she agreed.

Once he was back on board the NX-01 he went straight to his ready room and learned what had happened to the Columbia and the loss of its more than a hundred and thirty crew members. He barely managed to maintain his composure as he recalled all of his crew from their shore leave and gave orders to return to Earth. Once they were underway he called all the senior officers to the command center and told them what had happened. No one could speak. Almost everyone in that room knew someone serving on the Columbia. Shock and disbelief permeated every inch of the command center. Cmdr. Tucker could fondly remember working briefly as chief engineer during those final months as she prepared for her maiden voyage. He had even shared a number of meals with Captain Hernandez. That it was all suddenly gone was unthinkable. For five years the Enterprise had been out in space exploring. They had met a number of hostile species, been shot at and attacked. Yet somehow they had all the time survived. The Columbia had not made it a full year.

Archer looked around the room and could see the grief and shock on each of his officers and even a soft, muffled sob from Hoshi. Even T’Pol, with her suppressed emotions, could not hide the deep sadness that showed in her eyes. As his eyes moved over the somber faces that filled the room, he stopped at Lt. D’Arcy. She looked as pained by the news as anyone, but there was something different about her expression. There was no shock, no surprise and it bothered him greatly.

“As of this moment we are returning to Earth. I will fill you in on information as it becomes available. You’re dismissed.” Everyone began to slowly file out of the room, still in shock. “Lt. D’Arcy, if you would please stay behind, I would like to have a word with you.” All eyes glanced from the captain to the lieutenant in a silent look of ‘uh oh someone’s in trouble’. Even the lieutenant was confused as to why she was being singled out and the way he furrowed his brow and the dark expression of his eyes made it clear that they would not be exchanging pleasantries. Once everyone had filed out and the door was closed, Archer began to fidget with some pens and paper on the table, glaring as he did. She had no idea what she could have done to earn such a look, but something was clearly up.

“Have I done something wrong?”

“I watched your face during that meeting. Everyone was surprised to hear about the attack… everyone… except you.” Once again he was watching the way she turned her gaze towards the floor. “You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”

“I knew that sometime in the year twenty-one-fifty-six there would be an attack perpetrated by the Romulans. The exact date and time, or what ship I didn’t remember. That was a history lesson from way back in my teenage years. Learning a few dates and a handful of facts during an hour lecture is not the same as living it.”

“But you knew the Romulans would attack us sometime this year. You knew that innocent people would be killed and yet you said nothing.”

“It’s not that simple, ” she argued.

“No it’s not,” he shot back.

“Do you really believe that I wake up each day and check the calendar to see if it’s some important historical date so I can tell you? No. I live my life day by day the same as you do.” She knew he was hurting over the loss of the Columbia and particularly Erika Hernandez, but she would not allow him to take his pain out on her. “Even if I did know, I couldn’t tell you. If I did…”

“I don’t want to hear about the importance of preserving some ridiculous timeline or lectures on the butterfly effect. Between my dealings with Daniels and you I don’t believe that any of it is truly fixed. According to Daniels you were going to come to this time one way or another and the Suliban simply facilitated an easier path. Don’t try to tell me now that it’s all fixed.”

“If that’s true then regardless of how, Columbia was fated to be destroyed one way or another,” Danaë pointed out. This only served to anger Archer more and he took a step towards her before stopping himself. The lieutenant never flinched, but stood there defiantly. He could throw her into the brig for all she cared, but she would not take the blame for this tragedy.

“If you would have come to me at any time and told me what you knew I would have listened and maybe we could have been there to prevent so many people from dying.”

“Maybe… and maybe we would have been blown into a thousand pieces ourselves.” After saying this, the lieutenant heaved a sigh. She really couldn’t blame him for being so angry. He was grieving the loss of his friend as well as the crew under her command. He felt guilty for enjoying a moment’s pleasure on Risa while all of this was happening. She could sympathize with his feelings, but there was no way to know if telling him about the Romulans would have changed things for the better or the worse. She needed him to find out the difficult situation she was in. “History has proven time and time again that whenever someone interferes with a less developed civilization or time period–“

“Save it! Right now I don’t feel right entrusting the lives and safety of my crew to the hands of someone who could stand there knowing what is about to happen and still do nothing. You are relieved of duty for the time being and confined to your quarters until we are back on Earth.”

“I object!” she cut in stunned by this turn of events.

“Your objection is noted. Now if you’ll excuse me lieutenant, I have a ship to run.”

That said he left the command center and returned to the bridge. Lt. D’Arcy went to her quarters as ordered, although not without mumbling a few choice names for the captain as she went. More than one person stopped and stared as she went by muttering words such as ‘plonker’, ‘arrogant bastard’ ‘muppet’ and even ‘cheese eating surrender monkey’. She never noticed the looks and as she entered her quarters she growled one final ‘bollocks’ then shoved her desk chair against the wall in frustration as the door closed.

If Captain Archer was hurting and angry during the trip back to Earth, he quickly discovered three new levels of pissed off he had never experienced before as the incident was investigated. To start with, the Romulan accusers refused to appear or even show themselves on the monitor, citing concerns for their safety in what was clearly a hostile world. The reason given for not even appearing on the monitors was that they did not want to be identified so the humans could not attempt to hunt them down, or inadvertently attack any species that looked similar. This seemed a flimsy excuse, but was noted and not pursued. The delegates from Vulcan, Tellar and Andoria were more than familiar with the former organization of Terra Prime and its deceased leader John Frederick Paxton. They understood the desire to not cause a resurgence of such an extreme and ignorant faction.

The Romulans did provide their ship logs of the incident as well as recorded footage of what their captain called ‘a malicious and premeditated attack by a vicious, xenophobic captain’. Just hearing these words made the captain nearly jump to his feet to defend her, but before he could, Trip caught him by the shoulder and made him sit back down.

What was worse for Archer was listening to the delegates from numerous planets including Earth sympathize with the captain of the Romulan ship and convey their apologies. Apologies? For what? Of course, the newly formed Coalition of Planets was willing to avoid war and seemed to believe the story that the Romulans had acted in self-defense. This only made the wound created by Erika’s death deeper and more painful to Archer. Even the Vulcan’s, who had little trust in the Romulans, pointed out the footage of the incident matched their version of events. Logically they were innocent.

Erika Hernandez would never have done such a thing and Archer knew that better than anyone. Why would she? What was her motive? The Enterprise had experienced little to no contact with the Romulans and the Columbia had had none at all until this tragedy. There was nothing in Captain Hernandez’ character, psychology nor in her logs or decisions that would indicate she was seeking a fight, acting as a rogue or easy to anger. Just hearing the delegates speak in a manner that even hinted that they were siding with the Romulans only incensed Archer. His temper flared and he leapt to his feet and began to shout that it was all a lie and Captain Hernandez would never have done such a thing.

“Look at her logs and records!” he shouted, despite Prime Minister Samuels banging his gavel and calling for order. “Captain Hernandez’ actions are not the actions of someone looking to start a war! She was an explorer hoping to make contact with other planets and learn from them. She would never attack anyone unless provoked!” All of the delegates began to bang their gavels trying to end the outburst, but Archer wouldn’t stop. He was still shouting in Erika’s defense as he was led from the room and barred from returning for at least forty-eight hours. Another such outburst and he would be banned permanently.

Feeling dejected and pissed, Archer left there and returned to his apartment. He tried to relax and pet Porthos, but it wasn’t working. He felt too restless to just sit around and desperate to get out there and do something. He wanted to strike back at the Romulans because he was certain they were the ones at fault. By evening he could no longer take it and decided to get out and walk around. He went down to the same corner bar where he had once ran into Erika after the Xindi conflict. Such a pleasant but sad memory almost made him decide to keep walking until he noticed a familiar face seated at the bar. Danaë. Yes, there she was, her blond hair loose down her shoulders and dressed in her old hiking attire.

It should have been easy for him to just walk over and pull up a stool beside her, but he couldn’t do it. The sting of his last conversation was still fresh and made it difficult to move forward. He was eager to concede that he had been wrong to relieve her of duty and confine her to quarters, but her willful silence over the fate of the Columbia was not right either. This was an impasse between them, but he didn’t believe it was insurmountable. He needed her too much. He had many good trusted friends and nearly all of them were at the hearing being his eyes and ears. As badly as he needed them, he needed Danaë right now. She had a way of distracting him from his troubles and shedding a touch of light whenever things got dark. No he couldn’t lose her and if he had to he would eat a little crow if necessary.

Taking a deep breath he walked through the door, rehearsing in his mind what he wanted to say as he went. To him it sounded eloquent and even heartfelt, he just hoped that she would agree. He didn’t have long to figure out because as he seated himself on the stool beside her, Danaë abruptly got up with her drink and went over to the other side of the bar and seated herself on a bench in front of a wall piano. Clearly she too was still feeling the sting of their last words and was not quite ready to make up. With a sigh and roll of his eyes he began to follow, catching up to her as she started to plink out a tune with one hand.

“Dani,” he said, resting his hand on the piano’s lid.

“Don’t you mean lieutenant, or lets get really proper and formal, Lt. D’Arcy. Tell me Captain Archer, am I supposed to still be in my quarters or have I done something else to ruin your life?”

“I may have that coming.”

“Yes you do.”

“I will concede that you probably didn’t realize that it was a significant day in history for you until it happened, but could you at least try looking at it from my perspective.” he pleaded, trying to get along. “You knew this major event would eventually happen. You knew lives would be lost. Maybe saying something would have changed everything for the worse, but maybe it would have led to a better outcome too.”

“That’s the problem, you don’t know what irreparable damage you’ll create. Even if it all seems sunshine and roses for this part of the timeline, it might cause disaster for another. Which lives are worth saving?”

Archer could not argue against this logic and really didn’t have the strength or desire to do so. There had to be a better way to make amends, not that he could think of any. Of course it was hard to think while hearing the constant not even amateurish plink plink of the piano. Perhaps it was an actual song she was playing, but it sounded more like a five year old taking their first lesson.

“I know you said your dad made you take lessons, but did you actually learn to play or was that one of the things you rebelled against?” Archer asked, unable to take another second childish plinking. The lieutenant glared at him then straightening her posture and placing both hands on the keys she began to play a lively recital of the third movement from Mozart’s Piano Sonata #11: Rondo alla Turca. The captain was impressed, but wasn’t about to let her know that. “Certainly a lively tune, but can you dance to it?”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t you know anything more suited to a bar?” At this suggestion she changed styles and began to play something with more of a jazz flair to it.

“Better?”

“Much,” he answered, then lowered his left hand and began to play along, utilizing the higher keys. Danaë laughed then without missing a note she scooted over allowing him to sit and get both his hands in.

“I had no idea you could play the piano,” she said and they began to play at a furious pace.

“What, they didn’t mention it when you took the academy class on my life and accomplishments?

“Strangely no,” the lieutenant answered, genuinely wishing that they had. “Mind if I take the top?”

“It’s all yours.” With that he ran his fingers down the line of keys and scooted down the bench as she jumped up and took up a seat on the other side.

For several minutes they continued to play, both doing their best to trip up the other, but neither could. A few customers seated at tables near them watched and even clapped along to the impromptu entertainment. The two musicians never noticed they were being observed and probably never would have if it weren’t for the applause they received when they reached the end. At the realization they both started laughing even as they blushed in embarrassment. Still laughing at the applause, Danaë finished off her drink as Archer asked her to join him for a walk around the city, which she readily accepted.

As they walked down the street the captain explained that he had been forced to take piano when he was ten at his mom’s insistence. It seemed she had wanted him to have some pursuits that were not related to space exploration. Turned out that he rather enjoyed it and was only sorry that he very seldom got to play. Danaë did not share the same fondness, although playing with him in the bar was certainly fun. Her father had simply included it as part of her classical education. He would have her perform for dignitaries and such, but there had never been any real fun in it. Now with so much time and space between them she wished she could play for him once again.

The further they walked the more they talked. Chatting with each had always been easy for them, but they seldom got to indulge. Archer loved her stories of a distant future where all the problems he faced daily seemed to have ironed themselves out. Danaë adored his stories of just trying to get out and explore beyond The Milky Way galaxy. He was like the original pioneers on earth, risking everything and hacking it out in the wilderness with his own two hands. It was both courageous and admirable. There was no one she would rather follow into the unknown.

Archer was finishing up a story involving his old friend A. G. Robinson and who could complete a half marathon in the fastest time. As fate would have it neither won and instead discovered Erika Hernandez, still a first year cadet already at the finish line waiting for them. At the memory of Captain Hernandez, Archer’s smile faded and his mood became somber. That was two old friends he had lost now and while there was nothing he could do about the climbing accident that claimed A. G. Robinson, he could do something about Erika’s loss and Danaë could help him.

“Dani, I need you to tell me what you know about these Romulans.” At this question, the lieutenant’s face became clouded with disappointment and hurt. She had assumed that the piano playing, the walk and talking had all been because he wanted to spend time with her. It seemed all he wanted was intel on this potential enemy. She has never believed him capable of using her.

“Was this whole evening just your way of convincing me to give you inside information?”

“No no, that’s not it at all. It was by chance that I ran into you at the bar.” For a moment she started to voice her doubts about this, but he quickly silenced her. “Look, I have every reason to believe that you have actually seen them and even had dealings with them. Don’t try to tell me you cannot say anything because it could change the timeline. Neither of us know if you did or didn’t anyway.”