"Well, well, good morning, admiral," Lt. Cmdr. D'Arcy said as she entered Archer's office. He looked up from his PADD and smiled at his wife "Enjoying your new title?"
"It's not too bad," he answered, getting up from his chair and walking over to her. Since she had come down to Starfleet headquarters she had put on a modified version of her uniform which was simply a pair of cargo pants that matched the regulation jumpsuits, and a blue t-shirt. What wasn't regulation was the gray cotton infant wrap that was tied around her. Carefully he peeled back a bit of gray fabric and looked at small, pink, round face sleeping so soundly against his mother. Archer had intended to be home all week, helping his wife with this new addition, but except for the birth he had mostly been called away by Starfleet for one reason or another. "Mine wasn't much of a change, but you, on the other hand, have taken on a few new roles and titles over the last few months and you look tired."
"It's not so bad, but my current superior officer is a bit of a dictator. 'Feed me, change me... on and on all day and night. I would file a complaint with his admiral but he's never available."
"I hear he is available for lunch and will be available all evening. He can run you a hot bath, apply a little neuropressure for your headache."
"You can see that?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Damn. I was hoping you wouldn't. I suppose I can take some of those ngai berries Dr. Phlox gave me from his visit to the planet Galya."
"If it works and doesn't interfere with your milk supply or Jean-Robert's health, I see no reason you should not."
"I can." she responded with a slight roll of her eyes. "They only take the edge off and taste like week-old pond scum."
"Take them now and I'll fix you up tonight, I promise." Archer kissed her forehead then turned back to his desk and picked up his PADD. "Unfortunately right now I need to get back on task and get to the reason I asked you down here in the first place. Has Admiral Gardner contacted you yet?"
"Actually yes, right after you left this morning. He didn't have much to tell me, really, except that they caught two intruders inside the Warp-7 engine test facility. I can't imagine why they were there. We were still working on stabilization when I went on maternity leave and everything is on hold until I get back. It was good they caught those two when they did or it might have overloaded and killed them. I assume they were humans. Every species we have been in contact with already has that capability or more."
"They are human." He looked down at the mug shot of Picard then shut it off and turned back to Danaë. "How about you and I take a walk?"
This suggestion immediately made the lieutenant commander suspicious, but spending time with her husband was a rarity and she would not miss out on the opportunity. Placing the baby into his pram carriage they walked across the Starfleet campus talking about almost anything except why he had summoned her there. Before long they were outside of one of the containment cell blocks which only made her more apprehensive. This was where they held some of the most dangerous prisoners, or a few that didn't fit anywhere else. Archer gave his authorization then led her to an office outside of one of the interrogation rooms where an ensign was monitoring the cells.
"The two men that were found in the Engine test facility were brought here and questioned all last night."
"Since when do you require my help interrogating suspicious characters caught sniffing around restricted Starfleet areas?"
"One of them is... special," Archer explained. He started to click a few buttons then turned the screen so she could see it. "Trust me, you'll want to see this."
This truly piqued her interest, although she couldn't imagine what he thought she could possibly do. Archer clicked another button and brought up the camera that monitored all activity in the interrogation room cell next door and had her look at the screen. At first all she saw was the back of a man in a long sleeved dark coat wearing a tweed cap on his head. This hardly seemed important, but then he turned around. Instantly Danaë's jaw fell slack and her eyes grew wide. Archer was watching her closely and saw the way the color drained from her face. Thinking back to the way she had fainted when she first saw him, he immediately put his arms around her for support and started to try and calm her down, but she only shooed them away.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine," she assured them all without taking her eyes off the screen. Yes, it was her father. Her own father! How could he be here? Why? Then she saw Will Riker appear on the screen and this whole thing became more curious. She looked up at Archer in wonder. "How--"
"We don't know. Neither of them will say anything." he explained. "Once you've calmed down I'll take you in there to see him." Archer said, but to his surprise she shook her head.
