Hoshi had proven herself immensely valuable long before then, however, particularly during the time since the Xindi attack on Earth, when the hunt for Earth’s alien attackers had been greatly abetted by her ability to decipher never‑before‑encountered languages. Maybe it’s finally time she got a promotion,Archer thought, though he felt strongly that handing promotions out as though they were party favors tended to devalue their importance among the crew. She’s earned it. For that matter, more than a few others around here have earned it as well.

He glanced over at Hoshi, who was working intently at her station. Yes, maybe itis time for something positive to happen aboard this ship. Especially considering all the doom and gloom we’ve been facing lately.

Almost as if on cue, Hoshi did a double take, then turned to look at Archer, her eyes wide.

“Captain, I have an emergency hail…from Shran.”

Archer stood up and moved toward her. “Coming from where?”

At the helm, Mayweather tapped some controls and responded. “The signal is coming from a small vessel at extreme range, headed this way from Andorian space.”

“Put him on the screen,” Archer said.

As Hoshi tapped her console, the blue‑hued face of the Andorian ex‑Imperial Guardsman filled the bridge’s forward viewscreen almost instantly.

“This is quite a surprise,” Archer said, addressing the screen. “I thought it would be years before we saw you again, not months.” The fact that Shran’s left antenna evidently had yet to grow back completely reminded Archer of how recently the two men had last encountered one another.

“I’m sorry, pinkskin,”Shran said in gravel‑strewn tones. “But it was essential that I leave Andoria and ask for your help.”

“You need myhelp?” Archer said, pacing toward Travis.

“It hasn’t been that long. And as I recall, you still owe me a favor.”

Archer sighed. Shran was reminding him that he had saved Enterprisefrom destruction after the Vulcans had fired on the ship on the orders of V’Las. The captain hadn’t been aboard at the time, but he owed the debt nonetheless.

“I remember. But this isn’t a good time, Shran. It looks like Starfleet Command is planning to keep us pretty busy nursemaiding interstellar envoys over the next three weeks or so. I assume you know why.”

Shran seemed almost irritated. “I may no longer be a member of the Imperial Guard, but I’m aware of the proposed Coalition.”

“It’s more than a proposal,” Archer said. “We’ll be on Earth three weeks from now to witness the official signing of the Coalition Compact.”

Shran stared forward intently. “As you say, the signing ceremony isn’t for three weeks.If it even happens. If you give me the help I need, you’ll be home in plenty of time.”

Archer laughed under his breath and turned his back to the screen, walking around Mayweather’s station and back toward his command chair. “I’m afraid a detour is out of the question right now.”

“Jhamel has been abducted…taken.”Shran’s voice was angry, his mien hard, his uneven antennae deployed like twin rapiers. “Youowe me.”

Archer turned back toward the screen, recalling the courage and ethereal beauty of the Aenar woman. Without her telepathic assistance, Romulan Admiral Valdore might have succeeded in destroying Enterprisewith his remote‑controlled drone ships last year.

“Who took her?”

Shran leaned forward slightly. “Old ‘mutual friends’ of ours. Orion slavers. It’s a long story. I’ll explain when I meet up with you in person. You need to alter course.”

Archer looked over at T’Pol. Neither of the dealings they’d had with the Orion Syndicate lately had turned out particularly well; T’Pol had even been sold as one of their slaves not so long ago.

He sighed, then spoke to Mayweather, who regarded him expectantly. “Set a rendezvous course.”

“Thank you, pinkskin,”Shran said just before the screen replaced his image with that of the starfield ahead.

Archer wondered exactly what trouble the Andorian had reallygotten himself into, and exactly how much danger Enterprise’s crew was going to be in if they helped him out of it. And yet, despite the occasional scuffles, diplomatic errors, and Ushaanbattles‑to‑the‑death, Shran had always seemed to come out on Archer’s side.

Archer could only hope that this time would prove no different.

“And I thought things must have gotten complicated for the Vissians, who had three genders,” Trip said, putting his elbows on the table in the captain’s mess, which had just been pressed into service as an impromptu conference room. “I’m sorry, I’m stillstuck on the four sexes thing. Why is it we didn’t already know about that?”

Shran, accompanied by an Aenar male whom Shran had introduced as Theras, had docked their small, battered civilian vessel with Enterpriseapproximately fifteen minutes earlier. During the last ten minutes or so, they had attempted to explain to Archer, Trip, T’Pol, and Malcolm the general mechanics of the Andorian marriage bond, in addition to the more urgent issue of the mass kidnapping of Aenar from their subterranean city on Andoria.

Four sexes to mate.Thaan, chan, zhen, andshen. Bondmates.Shelthreth ceremonies.Archer’s thoughts were spinning as Theras spoke awkwardly, as though unused to using his voice, but nevertheless refraining from making telepathic contact out of deference to his nontelepathic hosts. All the while, Shran looked on with ill‑concealed impatience.

“Wait,” Archer said, putting up his hand. “You said that Jhamel was yourbondmate, Theras, and that the other two were your third and fourth.”

The albino Aenar turned toward Archer, his sightless eyes staring in the direction of the captain’s voice. “Yes. Shenar and Vishri.”

Archer turned toward Shran, puzzled. “Forgive me, Shran, but the last time I saw you and Jhamel, I got the distinct impression that the two of you…” He paused, embarrassed as he realized that he had strayed onto a subject likely to offend both his guests.

Theras surprised him by smiling. “Do not fear offending us, Captain,” he said. “All of Jhamel’s bondmates are well aware of the feelings she and Shran have for one another. Since we’re all telepathic, such emotions would be rather difficult to conceal. Therefore we do not begrudge them.”

Shran, however, appeared to have far less equanimity about his relationship with Jhamel than did Theras. The Andorian looked guilty for a moment, his antennae drooping to either side. When he finally spoke, his voice was low. “I fell in love with Jhamel, Captain. But the biology and culture of our people–Andorian and Aenar alike–dictate certain realities. Jhamel had long ago been promised to a shelthrethgroup, and for the continuation of their family line, she needed to be there. But that didn’t make our feelings for one other any easier to deny.”

He looked over at T’Pol. “Vulcans have arranged marriages as well. Even certain human societies have had them. But sometimes, love between two beings can transcend what society or biology dictates, whether it’s taboo or not.”

Archer saw T’Pol stiffen slightly in reaction, but his first officer registered no other visible sign that Shran’s words had had any effect on her.

Trip was less controlled in his response, sitting back in his chair, crossing his arms, and looking away with his jaw clenched. Even blind Theras can see that Shran just hit Trip where he lives,Archer thought. And that’swithout the telepathy.

Archer leaned forward and attempted to redirect the subject before it made the mood in the room even more tense than it had already become. “I think we understand what you’re saying, Shran. Now tell us more about this Orion attack.”