More Than a Lifetime #8: The Edge of Heaven

Chapter 4: The Plan Changes

When Kyle Hicks seemingly shimmered into existence before Dani's eyes, she only grew more confused by the whole situation. Even after not having seen him in years, she immediately recognized him.

"Kyle?" she said. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here for you - again," he said.

"'Again'? What? Kyle, what is going on?"

"You're on the Enterprise, the NX-01, under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer," Kyle said. "To make a long story short, you're not supposed to be here, especially with that precious cargo you're carrying, and I'm here to bring you home."

Dani looked down at the case she'd placed on the bed, then back at Kyle. "How'd you know about that?"

"I know about a lot of things," was his reply. "It's part of my job."

Dani studied the man standing before her, whom she'd known since her freshman year at Starfleet Academy. Physically, he hadn't changed much. Just over six feet tall with chiseled good looks and blue eyes. But something had changed. He had a sterner look than he'd had when she'd last seen him.

"I don't understand," she said. "I don't understand any of this."

"Don't try to. It will probably make more sense as time passes."

"'Again,'" Dani said. "You said you were here for me again. What did you mean by that?" Before he could answer, another question came tumbling from her lips. "Wait a minute - I know how I got here...but how did you get here?"

"How long have you been here?" Kyle asked, totally ignoring the question she'd posed to him.

"I'm not sure how long I was unconscious," Dani said, "but I woke up on the floor about fifteen minutes ago."

"Have you left this room at all since you've been awake?"

"No. Trust me - I know what kind of weird stuff can happen when you start messing with the timeline. I've been here the whole time, praying that whoever these quarters belong to doesn't come back. Then you showed up."

Kyle gave a quick nod. "Okay. Good. That means that no one knows you're here, yet."

"Well, what are we going to do? I can't just hide out here for 200 years."

"You won't need to. We're leaving right now. Grab your case." He pulled a device from a pocket on his uniform. It lit up in his hand as he studied its screen.

"Where are we going?" Dani asked.

"Back where we belong, if everyone's doing their jobs correctly," Kyle said, still staring intently at the handheld.

Dani didn't know what he was looking at on the device or what he was expecting to happen. She didn't have time to ruminate on it for long. They both heard the sounds that were immediately on the other side of the door and saw it slide away to reveal Captain Archer and a crewman.

"Uh-oh," Dani muttered.

"Commander Janeway, Mr. Hicks," the crewman said. "I had a feeling I'd find you here." The crewman noted the shocked, apprehensive looks on their faces. "Oh, don't worry about the good Captain here, he knows all about you. Both of you."

Hicks and Janeway looked at each other, exchanging expressions of confused relief.

Janeway turned fully to face Archer and the crewman. "You know who we are," she said, addressing the crewman. "But who are you? I doubt you're just a crewman doing his duty."

"Mr. Hicks knows exactly who I am," the crewman replied. "My name is Daniels."

"Daniels?" Dani repeated. She shook her head. If that name was supposed to sound familiar to her, it didn't. She didn't recognize it from anywhere.