Illuminar Compile 4
Dates: June 2nd, 2020 to June 10th, 2020
Mission: The Root of Decay "Encounter with Q", Day 3

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Mission: The Root of Decay
Day: 3
Stardate: 2445.09.03

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(Bajoran Space – Runabout Othellio - Ensign Janice Hammerfield – 2130)

Janice sat down at the back of the runabout alone. She took a small scoop out of a yogurt out of a glass on the table in front of her and dipped it into some strawberry puree beside it. The taste was refreshing but didn’t particularly make her feel much better about the dead end she signed up to. A longing sigh escaped her.

“Oh my, my that won't do,” A voice spoke from behind her – one she didn’t recognise. Her eyes dilated slowly as she stood up swinging the chair round. A man in a Starfleet uniform was there, an admirals uniform. “Well Ensign – are you going to stand there gawking or salute?”

“Who the bloody hell are you?” she said edging towards her locker slowly not breaking eye contact.

He grinned widely at her, “That’s Admiral Q to you Ensign.” His gaze shifted to the locker, “Ah yes... that.” He flicked his fingers and her phaser rifle that was stored in a secure case in the locker appeared in his hands. It was unmistakable to her. The slightly singed metal to the side of the power cell, the metallic scrap on the right hand edge, the worn-in leather hand grip. It was hers alright. “Such a primitive weapon – you may as well be throwing rocks,”

“Rocks!” she huffed remembering her talks on cross species ethics – Q provided an interesting if not unsettling read. “Give that back – before I start throwing more than rocks!”

“Oh a sparky one aren’t we now,” he said dismissively. In a single flash she found her rifle back in her hands and Q disappearing in front of her and appearing behind her, “So what is it ensign? Sick of being out here? Playing all toy soldier? Did that come from the daddy or mommy issues?”

She took a deep breath, “If you are the Q, i’ve read about...”

“Books – about moi – Jean Luc – he shouldn’t have.” Every word he spoke came with its own expression. It's own arm and hand movement and subtle nuanced subtext, “I'm sure they are filled with riveting tales of adventure, danger, intrigue.”

“More like mischief,” Janice touted back sitting back down in her seat.

“Mischief. I wouldn’t dream of it,” he pleaded innocently, taking a seat across from her, “but wouldn’t you rather something more exciting than this?” he looked round the runabout, his eyes rolling over.

Janice paused slightly before responding. It was all Q needed, “See... there it is. A spark that can't be bothered with this. Come on Ensign – lets go have some fun.”

“Fun... with you?” she pushed her rifle onto the table resting a hand on it, “From what I hear you are only interested in your own fun. The ethics...”

“Ethics – way to bring the mood down,” he waved his hand about, “Fine ensign. The Q’s ethics are far superior to your own limited understanding and if I can have a little fun at the same time what's the harm?”

“I'm sorry Q I see something very wrong and very dangerous about a being with such omnipotence,” she pushed back in her chair folding her arms.

“Guilty as charged,” he smiled boyishly raising a hand.

“I'm not going to be some little plaything for you Q. Go play with someone else,” Janice said back firmly.

“I don’t think you quite understand Ensign – you’re not the one in control here,” There was a bright flash of light again.

===

(Q Continuum - Unknown location -- 2145)

 After the flash faded away Janice felt a sudden pressure on her arms above her. As her vision came too there was a jem'hadar soldier locked against her with a knife inches away from her neck. Instinctively she pulled his arm down and kicked him back a step staggering both of them apart. Quickly she checked her body for another weapon. She didn’t have one.

 “Fields, catch!” shouted a voice to her side, “it was Q in a commander's uniform, engineering. He tossed over her rifle.

Catching it she dropped to the ground to avoid the jem'hadar closing and taking a swing at her. Pulling the trigger the rapid pulses matched her heart beat as they tore through her assailant. His husk of a body collapsing onto her and his knife falling off to the side. Quickly she pushed his corpse off of her scared he still might be alive and have another blade to stab her. ~Distance is your friend~ She got to her feet and looked about her.

 It was a place unlike she had ever seen. The sky was black, no signs of any stars or moons, almost like it didn’t exist. She looked again. There was no sky. The ground and fauna were singed black from repeated weapons fire and cratered with what looked like mortars. The acrid smell of burning sulphur enveloped her lungs causing her to cough as she tried to control her breathing and heart rate. The sounds of distant weapons fire, shouting, screams. Despite the desolate landscape – she was seeing colours.

 “Exhilarating isn’t it?” She saw Q sneaking up behind her again.

 “Q! What is this?” she turned and looked at him ignoring the question.

 “This is just a small cut out from the dominion war. Action, excitement – that’s what you wanted. Well here it is?”

 “What I wanted? You’re the one who brought us here. Who made this! Who almost got me killed by a jem’hadar.”

 Q looked at her disappointed, “Oh yes you're quite right. I'm to blame for the dominion war and the billions it left dead, I'm the one who wanted a slice of action and not the drab. Oh yes – who gave you your rifle again? No one ever appreciates me, you know.”

 Janice sighed. “Fine – you're right! In some blasted weird way you're right. I did want some action. Something to get my teeth into, but this. This is too far. I'm not going to play soldiers with you Q.” She tossed her rifle to the ground.

 “You will if I make you,” a serious tone escaped him as he tilted his head down and narrowed his eyes.

 “No – This..” she waved her hand to the world he had created, “this is what we need to avoid. The battles I want to fight are to stop this from happening.”

 “And what if you do. What if the actions you take start the chain of events that lead to something like this. All it takes is one spark to ignite something like this,” he clicked his fingers taking it all away and thought for a moment before a devilish smile crept over his face. “I think I have some friends I'd like you to meet.”
-----------------

(Q Continuum - Unknown location -- 2340)

Sekal had been in his bed asleep during his off interval but abruptly found himself in a vast place of grey with a floor or deck of a darker material. He was in uniform, on his feet and wide awake.

Before him stood a man with a full head of dark brown, curly hair. He was wearing a command uniform as well with four full pips denoting a Captain and had a severe, almost grim look upon his face though his eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Well, well mon Capitan, welcome to the vast reaches of the unknown. Ah but you're not like Jean Luc are you?" His visage suddenly changed with his ears now pointed and his skin carrying the slightest of greenish casts.

This character raised his right hand in the ancient Vulcan ritual. "Dif tor smusma mon Capitan!  Is that better?" His tone was thinly disguised boredom and disinterest.

Sekal folded his arms over his chest without answering, he merely regarded the interloper with a lifted eyebrow and tilt to his head. His manner was that of someone who was studying a new species of bacteria.

The unidentified being changed back to his former state and began to walk around the Vulcan. "That's better. I could almost feel my brain icing over."

His gaze flicked over the Vulcan. "My, my each new generation StarFleet sends out keeps getting younger. Jean Luc was practically a fossil while you and your crew for the most part are barely out of diapers. The next thing you know I'll be teaching real classes on space etiquette to babes in swaddling clothes."

Sekal had turned with the odd being to keep him in sight.

"The strong, silent type I see. Do you know who I am?"

"You are Q."

"Ah! My reputation precedes me. That is strangely pleasing. Did Ktell tell you about me?"

"Your interference in StarFleet affairs is well known."

"Interference? Is that what you think I'm doing?"

They were no longer on a featureless plain but he was standing in the center of an arena with a gallery of onlookers jeering. Q was sitting in an ornate seat that moved about on a mechanical arm. It was lavish and heavily decorated. Q was wearing a red robe and hood with black trim and Sekal was looking up at him.

He leaned forward. "This is not interference Lieutenant Commander Sekal but judgement. The trial of your Federation and resident species began some time ago and the jury is still out." He spread his arms and those in the gallery gestured and jeered with renewed vigor.

===

Sy found herself on the Ranch on Earth but recognized that the plants around her were Betazoid in origin, flourishing under the hot Texas sun in a way they just would not on Earth. She frowned, pushing open the door to the ranch house. Around her she saw the dessicated bodies of her father and mother. No fluids anywhere, no sign of how they died. She reached out one finger to touch her Mother's papyrus like face. That touch caused the body of her Mother, Admiral Sophie Verin of Strategic Operations to blow away, dust on the wind blowing in from the door. That wind also took the body of her Father, leaving her nothing to mourn. 

"Humans." He snarked, sitting in the rocking chair where Sophie had cuddled so many lost souls. "Always grieving for their insect like lives until it all just blows away, instead of celebrating what it is. Embrace the day, little girl." 

The cruel bite of the words and the mandatory class on him told Sienna who this was. This was a Q. Perhaps THE Q.

"Oh bravo, brava!" He enthusiastically overclapped. "You caught on faster than Captain Pointy Ears. How DID you let yourself get subjugated to one of those blocks of frigid ice?  Betazoids are supposed to be fun!" A click of his fingers and they were in the middle of a mardi gras, which she had attended with Trip, Lynn and her cousins several times. 

"Better. Yonder pointy ears thinks I should just come out and say what I am here for, but where is the fun in something as simple as that? You, you are a lot more interesting.  You are yearning for a woman who picked her career over you and a boy who did the exact same thing but betrayed his blood tie as well. Don't you look at me like that, you have thought it yourself." Q threw beads to an Orion woman who was topless.

"But I like you. You have got some of Riker's shall we say spunk in you, so I will give you a clue."

Another shift and they were sitting in an academy building classroom, a whiteboard, Q with a pointer and a graduate's cap on his head, wearing academic robes.  Sienna found herself in a Japanese style school uniform complete with skirt, knee socks and pigtails.  Q nodded as if approving. Sienna was not at all amused and tried in vain to get her hair out of the pigtails to no avail.

"Now. Where were we. Ah. Yes." He began to draw lines on the blackboard and labeled them A through E. The lines ran in parallel. "Now then. As your species' limited understanding of space time continuum says, multiple versions of the same reality exist, which are actually infinite and actually all "real" to the people living in them. Say in Reality B that hot chick you yearn for had done what you wanted and turned down her commission to be with you. What about in Reality E you had done that for her?" Q was simplifying a vast concept that Sienna would rather ignore. 

Sienna played along, "The theory is that each action has a reaction that has infinite branching events." Q looked surprised then pleased then the look of amusement dinged, "Girl gets a prize!" He actually sounded pleased with her.

"Did they teach you in your Academy the recent past? How you had a nasty bit of in-fighting not so long ago?"

Sienna seemed surprised by that, "The Civil War?" She asked, a little lost now. "Well, of course. But why does that matter?"

Within a breath she was standing outside under the Texas sun and around her the green, luscious Betazoid plants were dying, drying up as if from a lack of moisture as well.  Sienna turned, towards where her greenhouse was. It was shaking as if some harmonic  was occurring,  and then the greenhouse exploded outwards, shards of the glass flying everywhere. The glass cut her but  instead of bleeding, her blood was replaced by a dark fungal rot.

"Q, what the bloody heck is happening?" She screamed,  trying to wipe the rot from her skin. Q sat on the front porch swing picking at something under his nails.

"It is, after all, just beginning. "

TBC:

=====

(USS Illuminar, Bridge - 2O, Lt. Carson Peters - 2345)

Having opted to take the graveyard shift in command on the Bridge, regret was beginning to seep into his mind as he grew ever so slightly more tired as every ticking moment passed by. Looking down at the datapadd he had in his hand and began rereading the information he was sure he’d already read thirty different times. He was studying the ships schematics to better understand the new crystal technology which had amplified the power available to them, though try as he might, the complete understanding of what had been done seemed to continue to elude him.

A flash of light stirred him from his position on the chair. The entire Bridge had been engulfed. “What was that? Report.”

He looked around the Bridge, looking for confirmation. “Nothing on sensors, Sir. Either internal or external.” came from a console to his right.

Another flash of light.

“Recalibrate and scan again, something’s happening.”

“Calibrating. Still nothing.”

Carson was on his feet now, concerned by what was happening on the Bridge. “Ops, Engineering, any power surges which could explain…”

Another flash of light. And when a warning alarm.

“Sir, sensors are going haywire. Readings there, here and nowhere.”

He tapped his comm. Badge, “Captain to the..”

“Ah ah ah.” An older man appeared in front of him, in a red Starfleet Uniform wagging his finger, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Intruder alert. Security to the Bridge.” Carson announced, as he tapped his comm. Badge once again. Pulling out a phaser, “State your name and reason for being here. You have boarded a Starfleet vessel without proper authorisation.”

“Now, now my dear boy. Authorisation? Moi? Who would I ask for such a thing.”

Carson thought about it for a moment, “Well.. me. That authorisation will not come however, without a good explanation of who you are and how you arrived.” he began looking around, feeling antsy that his call to Security had had no response.

It was at that moment when he realised his entire Bridge crew were frozen still as if time had stopped.

“What the?” he said as he began cautiously moving around the man in front of him, to the closest officer to him.

"Oh don't worry about them. They’re perfectly fine, as for me, you know who I am my dear boy. We have spoken before and you know me.”

“I have no idea who you are,” and without warning he fired the phaser at the man. 

The man stood there with a bemused look upon his face as the beam from the weapon passed through him harmlessly and left a scorch mark on the wall behind. He moved towards Carson and looked at him closely whilst touching his face, “Hmmm. Perhaps you’re right. There is another. Older perhaps. Time passes for you mortals in such an increasingly frustrating manner, it's been known to trip up even me at times. I got a taste of a linear lifespan at one point but it's so utterly.. alien.” Q shuddered then let go of his face and danced backwards quickly, “Not that it matters. You are here now, I’m bored and this is a new Starfleet vessel. I do find the launching of a new ship a time for valuable lessons learnt and warnings given to be heeded. Besides launching a new ship is a festive occasion in your culture and I do so love a party.”

All the console’s around Carson were frozen also, it was as if time had stopped. What being would have the power like this? A thought tickled the back of his mind, a documentary he’d watched years ago on Jean Luc Picard and the Starship Enterprise.

“Q.” he said. It wasn’t a question but equally it wasn’t entirely a statement of fact.

“BINGO!” the man yelled whilst a smile leapt onto his face. “Carson Peters has a memory indeed!”

“How do you know me?” Carson asked, slowly putting the phaser away. If the stories were correct it could do nothing against this man and he’d have to use his words to escape Q’s fury.

“How do I know you? DO I not know everything? I know of the one that came before, where you are from and who you are. But that is not why I am here. I am here. Well why don’t we have a show and tell rather than be bored and explain eh?”

------------------

Q tapped his ornate golden scepter upon the box he was sitting in and he and the Vulcan were on a crowded city street, its citizens streamed by unaware.

Q gestured negligently. "All these people who don't know you and don't care who you are."

He snapped his fingers and they hung in space above Mars, Utopia Planitia could be seen in the distance and Republic passed by, immense and silent as it orbited.

"And here where you worked for nearly a year and a half not making any friends." Q clucked his tongue. "In that way you are a bit like Jean Luc when I met him, aloof and distant. How did it all start?"

Sekal was no longer here but a child in his ancestral home.

He was happy as he scampered through the house. He and his mother had returned home less than a week ago and his father was due home today at any time.

His helter-skelter run took him past his father's office and he skidded to a stop to look inside. This room always stayed locked when his father was away but his mother had been cleaning the house and perhaps she had left it open for his return.

The room was sparse even by Vulcan standards since when Saleke was away everything having to do with his commission went with him. Everything that is except the two objects on his desk.

One was a disk of copper and black and the other floated above it sparkling from many facets as it reflected the light coming through a window. It was a deep blue and each sparkle had a corona of blue light.

He walked closer with his mouth agape and watched fascinated for a moment. Somewhere in the house he heard movement, his mother must still be busy in the front rooms.

On impulse he reached out his hand to touch it but one word caused him to jump and spin around.

"Sekal."

"Father!" He rushed to him and encircled his left leg with his arms and rested his cheek against the outside of his hip as he hugged him.

Saleke reached down and brushed his hair with a hand and Sekal could feel for a moment his contentment at being here with his son.

"What were you doing?" Saleke's tone wasn't accusatory or judgemental. More... curious.

Sekal let go and backed away a step as he smiled up. "I just wanted to touch it. I haven't seen it in a long time. Mother keeps the door locked while you are gone." His tone held a six year olds resentment but he brightened instantly.

"I remember when you used to take it into the city with you every day before you went back to space." 

Saleke looked down at him and nodded. " I was taking it to the labs to run tests." His look changed slightly. "I was fifteen years old and with my parents on the research ship when it was found. The Nahru." 

Saleke looked toward the crystal. "But I don't need to take it anymore, we have others..." His voice trailed off and he stepped toward the desk.

Sekal's breath caught as his father plucked the crystal out of the air then turned and kneeling, handed it to him. The mineral was cool when he took it but seemed to warm quickly. He moved it around trying to cause the sparkles to come back and some did though the light wasn't striking it at the correct angle so he turned his back to the window and held it high. There they were.

"So all your tests are done?" He looked away from it to his father's face.

"No. It is an enigma that continues to elude us. One day perhaps we will understand it."

Sekal puffed out his chest as he handed the crystal back. "I will figure it out I promise!"

Saleke's look was unreadable. "I would not be at all surprised if you do."

"And so a childhood promise became an obsession." Q's voice was so heavy with sarcasm it verged on contempt. He was sitting on the desk, his left leg swinging indolently.

Only he and a fully aware Sekal remained in the room.

Q shook his head as the two traded stares. "But there is still much to come mon Capitan. So much more you need to see."

=====

Jaton opened his eyes to discover he was no longer in his bed. Rather he recognised the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia and Mt Erciyes in the background. It seemed like a nice dream to be having, but as his fingers touched the rock next to him, he realised it felt far too real to be just a dream. And then he realised that his hair was much longer than the regulation haircut he had ever since he’d joined Starfleet.

“Oh how disgusting,” came a voice from behind him. “I’ve called humans lowly worms in the past, but you actually are one, aren’t you?”

Jaton could feel his blood rising as he turned around. He wasn’t about to let a slur like this slide. And he was met with the face of a starfleet captain he seemed to be vaguely familiar with.

“Well, I suppose regressing you this far back is better than nothing. At least you’re not hosting a parasite and convincing yourself it’s a good thing.”

Jaton looked down at his body and realised the captain was correct. He recognised the look and the clothes he was wearing as something he hadn’t had since he was about 16. He looked back at the Starfleet captain, who now had spots along his temples and was dressed as a senior member of the Symbiosis Commission. 

“Q.” That was the last piece of the puzzle Jaton needed for everything to make sense.

“Oh he’s a clever little worm, isn’t he?”

“Take me back, Q. I don’t have time for your chicanery, and I won’t play along with any of your games,” Jaton said as assertively as he could.

“Oh but this is no game, my little worm. I just came to check in on my… what is it that your people say? Stick in the wheel?”

“Stick in the wheel? What do you mean?” Jaton couldn’t understand what he meant.

“Well aren’t you the least bit curious about how you skipped 25 years of your life?”

Jaton found himself back in his modern body, but in his old uniform from before his encounter with the Syndicate. He was back on Dureth Station, looking at himself bound and gagged tightly, Hunter holding a phaser to his temple.

"The Orions don't take kindly to anyone trying to push onto their patches and they take less kindly to anyone trying to stop it. Let this serve as a strong warning to all of you. Don't mess with the syndicate."

Jaton watched as his own body fell to the floor as a blue haze filled the room and Hunter disappeared.

“NO!” Addison screamed and lunged forward, cradling his corpse.

“What is the point of showing me this, Q?”

“Oh I figured you’d like to know how much your crewmates could feel for a worm like you. And when dear Ktell started up the fleet again, I saw my chance to have some fun.”

Jaton’s face was covered by a shroud and he had to claw it off his face. As he did so, he was greeted with the sight of the inside of a hollowed out torpedo tube. As he began to hyperventilate, the case was opened by none other than Q.

“I’m so sorry, worm. I thought you’d enjoy the experience of trying out your own coffin. Most people don’t get the privilege.”

“This isn’t funny, Q. Take me back.”

“But I’m telling you probably the most profound revelation of your series of fragile little lifetimes. Maybe you’ll learn something if you pay attention.”

The scene changed once again and he found himself floating in a void.

“You’re older than you look, older even than that ice block you’ve pledged your fealty to. Use it. You could have your place of power over the ephemeral insects you seem to care about so much.”

“That is not my place, Q.”

Q smiled and the void seemed to brighten. Jaton then realised that floating around the pair of them were dozens of nazar amulets. And they were truly massive. Some being more than 5 meters across.

“You don’t actually think that a simple piece of glass like these could actually protect you from disaster, do you? After all, you call yourself a scientist.”

“What’s it matter what I believe or not?”

From somewhere behind him, he heard shattering. As he looked around, he saw the nazar amulets begin to shatter one by one. 

“Because, my dear little worm, you’ve lived a charmed life. And at some point that luck, or whatever you scientists call it, will run out.”

The last of the amulets exploded right in front of his face. Jaton threw up his arms to protect himself, but still he felt himself being cut to ribbons. And as he brought his hands down again, he saw them turn ashen and begin to blow away as dust on the wind.

“Ashes to ashes, my little worm. And dust to dust.”

=====

(Q Continuum - 2O, Lt. Carson Peters - 2347)

The scene around the two men shifted so suddenly it took Carson’s eyes a moment to adjust to the lighting.

“Do you recognise this place?” Q said as he stood among rubble and bodies.

“N…” Carson began, before realising he was standing on the decimation that was left behind after the attack in San Francisco but a few years earlier. “Yes.” his voice went deeper and the mood more sullen, “Why have you brought me here?”

“You know already.” Q said matter of factly, as he stepped around the body of a young woman in a Starfleet security uniform.

“You’re taunting me. Showing me the worst thing that happened in my life, the one thing I was powerless to stop.” Memories flooding back into his mind, memories he’d worked so hard to forget. Sitting on the couch in his mother's home, watching the news like everyone else. Wondering, hoping that his friends had managed to survive. Travelling back to Starfleet to find his entire team dead, his mentor and commanding officer Lt. Trask reduced to nothing but his comm. Badge, other’s shot and cruelly murdered.

“I do not taunt, well not normally though it has its uses. You look at this scene with anguish and disgust. But not for the right reasons.”

“WHAT are the right reasons then?” He half yelled, half whispered. “They all died and I wasn’t there.”

“Best you weren’t surely? If you had been the likelihood is you wouldn't be standing in front of me a Second Officer of a newly minted Starship. You still have work to do Mr. Peters.”

“You mean to say I survived for a reason?” he eyed Q curiously. “I’m sorry to be the deliverer of this information Q, but life doesn’t work that way, it’s cruel and vindictive but most of all it's random.”

“Random in ways, predictable in others. Just because you cannot see the patterns, does not mean they do not exist. Most of them just require an elevated point of view.” Q was smiling. “Look again.”

Confused. Irritated. Angry and frustrated he began walking about. Stepping over bodies and around rubble he moved to the area he kept his eyes open. However hard he tried though his eyes kept filling up as he saw more and more of the faces of his friends that had died, his team which had been wiped out of existence for no valid reason. Parker, Lumings, Cheery, Carrder, O’Hie, Teryl, Hetty all their bodies lay there, piled up and dead.

“All I see are the dead. Pointless.”

“Death is only as pointless as you make it, as if life.”

Carson’s head snapped up, tears pouring down his face. “Damn you. Damn you for bringing me here. Let me be.”

“Mystery surrounds you and therefore you need to learn to see it and see all of it, unbiased and uncompromised.”

Having wiped the tears away, “You make no sense. The mysteries surrounding this plot have been unravelled. Cayne and others were responsible.”

“Not all who were party to these deaths have been uncovered.” Q said matter-of-factly, “But this is only a part of what I am trying to show you young one.”

“I tried.. For years to gain enough access to investigate SanFran myself.”

“You need to see. S.E.E” Q spelt the word out slowly and patronisingly. 

“I see enough. Enough of these games, either tell me why you’re here or leave me be. I see plenty. I uncovered the subterfuge on Mars and the links with Cayne on Earth. Perhaps another few months and I would have discovered it all myself.”

“Perhaps.”

“Then what more should I be seeing? I have my justice for Trask, Parker, Lumings, Cheery, Carrder, O’Hie, Teryl & Hetty and I will not allow this to happen again. I will NOT lose anyone.”

“Perhaps.”

“Enough of this.” Carson squeezed his eyes closed and counted a full minute in his head before reopening them.
----------------

Q lifted his right hand with fingers poised as he perched on the desk. "Ready?"

Sekal opened his mouth to protest but the snap came instantly.

It was the day before he was to leave for Earth and he was sitting in one of the plush chairs in the family room. His father was leaning against the wall perfectly comfortable as always.

His father's face was still unlined, he was still as lean and when he moved he retained the smooth, effortless stride of a stalking predator.

The walls were like sandstone in appearance and texture though synthetic but they retained the earthy feel of most Vulcan dwellings.

The house wasn't overly large as their family throughout the ages had not been of great historical note but it was spacious.

"Your mother still believes you to be in error."

Sekal looked up and nodded slightly. "I understand Father. This though is the path I have chosen."

"I will return." Saleke moved from the wall and left for a moment. When he came back he had two items in his hands. The first was the anti-gravity display disk and the second was the Anelurian crystal. He presented both to his son.

"The crystal was with me when I went to the Academy and the display disk was given to me by one of my officers. They both logically belong with you, in StarFleet."

Sekal took them and placed them in his bag which was nearby as T'Kess walked into the room. She saw the crystal as it was entering the bag and spoke to Saleke.

"You want him to go." Her tone was accusing.

He turned toward her. " I support his decision. I do not *want* him to go but the decision has been made and he is of age to choose his own destiny."

Her look softened. "I believe he will not find what he seeks there."

Sekal stood up. "Mother I will have opportunity whether there ... or here upon my return."

She nodded. "Then I wish you well."

"Father how did you acquire the crystal?"

T'Kess sat down as Saleke gazed at him neutrally for a moment. 

"It was one of the smaller samples that the scientists took and was stored in the lab on the ship. I asked for permission to take one. It was not easy to acquire."

"Why?"

"Because they had great difficulty taking a sample. No energy tool would remove it from the outcropping it was attached to. Even a phaser on multiple settings would not fracture it. They had to use a very old-fashioned tool that one of the scientists kept in his collection. An antique."

Saleke's right eyebrow rose. "A chipping hammer."

Sekal was intrigued at this though he couldn't grasp why. It seemed amorphous and he was unable to grasp it. "You never told me where this sample was found."

"No, I did not." 

Sekal could see he was not going to tell him now either so he didn't press the issue.
--------------

Sekal was himself once again and Q was sitting beside him on another chair.

The Vulcan was off the piece of furniture in an instant, the two were once again alone in the room.

"Explain yourself Q!" He ordered.

Q smiled slightly. "Am I getting under your skin mon Capitan?" He stood up and walked to the spot where Saleke had stood leaning against the wall and appeared to contemplate it before turning just his head toward Sekal.

"Your father, such a noble man, so enslaved to his orders that he refused to tell even his own son where these remarkable new crystals could be found. You aren't the only obsessive one in your family it would seem. The trait passed along quite nicely."

Sekal's hands had balled into fists unconsciously at the continued verbal onslaught as Q's words bored in mercilessly and without pause.

"My father's character is above reproach while yours is in doubt."

Q's eyes lit up with interest and he turned to face Sekal completely. "I do believe I struck a nerve under that stoic Vulcan exterior. Maybe there's hope for you after all mon Capitan."

He lifted his right hand again. "But we aren't finished yet. There's still more to come."

Sekal moved toward him but he was far too late. Q snapped his fingers again.

-----------------

It was closing in on midnight and Taya had worked a double shift. It wasn't really necessary that she did, but it was only the third day since leaving Utopia Planitia. With the new crystal drive, she wanted to be on hand in case anything happened. Yawning, she unlocked the door to her quarters and stepped inside.

Taya stopped, her mouth hanging open and her antennae standing straight and rigid. Instead of being in her room, she was in the middle of a frozen tundra. As far as the eye could see, was snow and rocky ground. A soft wind was blowing. Though her breath could be seen, the cold wasn't unbearable. In fact, Taya was feeling awake and invigorated. Sensing movement behind her, she spun around, dropping into a defensive stance.

A man that looked Human and wearing a Starfleet red command uniform, was standing about ten feet from her. He was smiling.

Holding her defensive posture, Taya stared at the man. "Who are you? Where is this place?"

"Don't you recognize home?' said the man.

"This is Andoria?"

The man nodded.

"How did I get here?"

"I brought you here."

Taya relaxed her stance. If that was true, she'd have little chance against him in a fight. "And who are you?"

"Oh, come now. Have you forgotten your academy lessons already?"

Taya thought for a moment. "Are you a Q?"

"Give that girl a prize!" said the man.

A blue lollipop appeared in her right hand.

Frowning, she tossed the confection to the ground. "Why am I here? Why did you do this?"

"Let's see if you can figure that out for yourself," said Q. "Let the lesson begin."
=================

(Q Continuum- CO- Lieutenant Commander Sekal- -2350)

They were at the Mars base in the conference room. All of the senior officers were seated about the large table and Q in his mock command uniform was standing beside Remae Ktell.

Sekal stood up from the chair. "The game you are playing is illogical Q. It is time for you to end it."

"Is it really?" The snark in Q's voice was easy to perceive. "This isn't a game and I'm not going to stop it now when I'm having so much fun… and making such headway."

He walked up to Sekal and the two faced one another. The current of tension in the room was electric. "And certainly not when you are so close to understanding the lesson."

Q turned and began walking about the table, glancing down at the people as he passed. "Your command crew will work with you because they've been trained to but no one likes you mon Capitan, least of all them."

His right arm swept out to include many in the room. "Many of them despise you as a matter of fact."

"Their emotional acceptance of me is not a primary concern."

Q smiled but it wasn't a pleasant one. "Do you know why they despise you so much? Because you made waves Lieutenant Commander Sekal. You brought change to their narrow perception of reality. In following orders you turned their preconceived understanding of the Universe on its head."

"Q!" Sekal snapped. His fists were balled and he took a step toward the entity as the words kept coming.

"The Exeter turned up their noses at your new technology because they don't trust you or your crystals and they want to keep the same old humdrum and monotony in their lives. And the Chief Engineer? She refused to have anything to do with your new designs."

Sekal's fists were trembling as he raised them and continued his advance.

"You've given partial credit for your designs to someone who wanted nothing to do with them… or with you."

Sekal's voice grated as he spoke. "That is impossible."

"Oh! Is it?" Then he opened the past year to Sekal and he saw the truth.

Exeter turning down the new drive and Sekal working tirelessly, using not only his scientific but engineering expertise to design the advancements for Republic and then designing Illuminar while Merek refit Exeter and coordinated the building of the new starbase.

Sekal took a step back stunned. 

"The chief engineer's cooperation was an illusion you built up in your mind because you so wanted acceptance of the new technology you brought to the fleet."

Sekal turned from Q but couldn't hide from the words.

"No one likes you Sekal, they don't want you or your technology."

The Vulcan turned back to Q. "They are not required to accept me or the technology but I am here, it is here. They can ignore me or it but it does not matter. We are here and we will not be leaving."

Q smiled and clapped his hands in mock glee. "Bravo! This lesson is now over."

Sekal was sitting at a desk and Q was garbed as a professor and standing before a blackboard with a piece of chalk.

He wrote a large C on the board followed by a plus sign then turned back to the Vulcan. "Congratulations you passed the exam… barely but a pass nonetheless. But this is just the first of many to come. The full course is quite extensive."

Sekal got calmly to his feet. "I disapprove of your methods."

Q gave a gloating smile. "But you can't argue with the results."

---------------------------------------------------------

(USS Illuminar, Bridge - 2O, Lt. Carson Peters - 2352)

He reopened his eyes. The Bridge of the Illuminar reappeared around him. “Thank-.. Oh for the love of Starfleet.” 

The crew were still frozen in place and Q was standing leaning on one of the panels. “Surely you didn't expect to be rid of me that easily did you?”

“What else do you want? Shall I dance for you, great all powerful being?”

Q laughed. “Dance. No.” he said when he finally finished, “Open your eyes. I shall be watching.” he walked closer again, “Yes, watching indeed. You have an interesting story to tell, mystery and intrigue surrounds your very being here. A man loved by a woman attached to another, A man out of space, betrayed without his knowing and walking freely into a situation you cannot understand. A man with the wrong name and a different mind. Will the truth out or remain a mystery? Can you open your eyes and clear the fog surrounding you enough to clear a path to a future? Or, Mr. Peters are you to stay stuck, in the past, forgotten about, un-loved and dead?”

He had his hand over Carson’s heart, winked and then a flash of blinding light appeared. The Bridge reappeared in front of him, but time had begun moving once again. 

“Scans?” Carson said after a moment of re-adjustment. 

“All fine, Sir. Am I looking for something specific?” The crew member at Ops asked him somewhat bewildered.

Carson checked the time before answering, none had passed. “The flashes of light?”

“I’m sorry, Sir?”

He looked around the Bridge, trying to hide the concern growing on his face. “Nothing, return to your duties. I’ll be in the Ready Room if required.” Stepping quickly off the Bridge and into the room. Once the door closed behind him, he tapped his comm. Badge, “Lt Peters to the Captain. My apologies for disturbing you, I just met a being which identified himself as Q.”

"Oh bother." Q said as Sekal's combadge chirped. "You beings are always so talkative. Or not in your case." His hands made intricate movements in time to his words. "I'm afraid I gave that one quite a scare… and more than a little food for thought." The blackboard with Sekal's passing grade was still behind him.

Sekal stood from the desk as he tapped the device. "Your concern about disturbing me is unwarranted Lieutenant, I am with the being in question now. We have been discussing a private matter."

"Always close to the vest mon Capitan? That doesn't surprise me." Q was meandering about the room pretending to be interested in a painting that had recently appeared but his lack of attention was obviously a sham. "I'm surprised you put more than two sentences together at any one time. It's that Vulcan display of brevity I take it."

"What is the status of the ship?" The captain asked.

~With Q now?~ Carson thought, “Illuminar seems under control, Sir. No abnormal readings and the Bridge crew seem to be unaware of our visitor... do you require assistance?”

"No assistance is required. Our meeting has been… informative."

Q chuckled. "At least you understand unlike the others."

Sekal turned his attention to him. "I understand that your purpose with me seems to be at an end which brings up the question of why I am still here. And until you send me back to the ship I will remain here."

"You're not going to try and use that inestimable Vulcan logic on me?" Q frowned in disappointment. "I was so hoping to see it."

"A waste of logic on the most illogical of beings."

"Such a compliment! I'm blushing." Q was positively beaming. "As for why you're still here...let's just say one of your crew has an interesting fantasy that I thought you'd like to bear witness to." At the Vulcan's uplifted eyebrow he added with a smile. "Trust me."

Sekal shook his head.


====

Luma spun in her native crystalline form on the bleak tundra that was the Lenai's home world.

::Why is Luma here?:: she asked, knowing she was in both places, perhaps it was a dream? She spun as she *tasted* the air and discovered it stale, sad and that she was in a different plane of existence.  She could be non temporal if she chose. 

Bewildered by the turn of events, Vex stood there on a frozen tundra having just been solidly asleep in bed with not clothes on, to be stood there now wearing thick furs in front of a hunk of crystal. She was somewhat confused.

"You are here because unlike the insects, you truly know what I am" Luma shivered.

::You are the godlike ones that come in the middle, who can navigate the streams of time. Why are you annoying those who I protect?:: Luma rarely used proper pronouns, but she was making a point.

"Could you really protect them? You are the last of your kind and in many ways broken after all that time alone. Your first bondmate for eons rejected you, the vulcans could not handle you and now your sisar bondmate, she is choosing a lifemate that will produce weak telepathic children at best." Luna's worst fears were being dredged up and laid bare in front of Vex who was on the tundra, wearing beautiful snow fox furs but still freezing as the winds were harsh.

She could hear Luma conversing with someone in her head, Luma clearly wanted her to hear what was being said, she could have easily blocked it from her mind. She listened intently as Luma spoke with the entity and suddenly a man appeared in front of her on the plains. He was an elder gentleman and was wearing a red Starfleet command uniform.

::Vex'ahlia, Sisar.. :: Luma whimpered as she was afraid, small diamonds falling to the ground, the way a Lenai mourned.

“Who are you?” Vex asked out loud to the man who was now shaking his head. ::Calm, Luma. What is happening?:: she then asked Luma privately.

::He is one of the god ones. He has come to entertain himself.:: Luma hissed those words as she moved her form in front of Vex. As if to protect her.

But Q was not finished. "Does she know the things that you can do? That you can slide through space/time? That you can shift to the nearby universes? That you could /go back in time and prevent what happened on Earth/?

Luma looked towards Vex sadly, certain that Vex would leave her alone. The reactions to doing the things the Q spoke of would be disastrous but she could do them.

::Just because something can be done, does not mean it should be. You are not telling her all of it. That it would rip the fabric to do so, which is already thin enough in places and requires no assistance to be worse. That more people would die as universes cease to be in order to seal the gap.  That the shift harmonics will change and that for the small ones it can destroy those closest to the breach. I am a Lenai and we protect life, we do not squander it into the entropy.. ::

Luma cringed, waiting for a reprimand.

::Calm, Luma. You have done nothing wrong.:: Vex soothed her. She was in fact shocked by the revelations made by this man and then further shocked when Luma had confirmed them. Having now been transported somewhere without her approval and this man seemed to have an affect on Luma which no other could.

Moving towards the man quickly, she both shouted out loud and mentally putting all her strength behind the words, “::WHO ARE YOU? AND WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT US HERE?::”

"Oh come now, isn't it obvious?" He gestured to the alien landscape. "Luma's now destroyed homeworld, me who brought you and knows far more than he should? Doesn't ring any bells?"
The sound of chimes rang in the air to the tune of an old terran game show then stopped after a moment. "As for why I'm here…," he walked up to the Lenai and stood before her and studied her, "...I'm in a celebratory mood. There are a number of interesting beings on your ship and I'm giving out life lessons today."

He turned his attention to Vex. "And this is a two for one. Luma craves attention, needs the love of others but always holds something in reserve. How can you trust someone who has the power to change what was yet refuses to do so? What if your family had been among the dead?"

They were now standing in the rubble that had been left after the passing of the shock wave on Earth and Vex's family were in contorted positions upon the ground. Her mother stirred weakly then expired.

Q shook his head sadly. "All that power but without the will to use it." His eyes lit up. "But I'll bet she would do it for you." He turned back to the Lenai. "Wouldn't you Luma?" There was a sly, mocking tone in his voice.

A smile crept onto Vex’ahlia’s face. “If you’re intentionally trying to be cruel, then that tells me all I need to know about you- Mystery Man.” Her eyes rested on her mother's dead body, she’d been dead for years- taken from her by a cruel disease. Next to her was her father and seeing him lying there stirred an interesting emotion within Vex that she hadn’t expected. Sadness. The last conversation they’d had, she had outwardly disowned him and refused to leave Starfleet to help him. She’d gained an enormous wealth, which she had done little with, but the relationship with her father was destroyed.

“If Luma asked, we would say no and she knows this. Having the power to change something but knowing when and how to use that power are two very different things. It seems she has mastery over both- whereas you do not.” She was not about to be bullied by this man.

“If you’re truly a part of Starfleet.” She eyed his uniform conspicuously, “You would know there are specific rules around Time Travel. Now unless you have anything substantive to tell us, please return us to the ship and leave us be.”

::Is this being one of your race Luma? I thought you were unfortunately the last?:: she asked privately.

::No. He is the god one.:: she reiterated that. ::he is closer to the ones that live in the hole in time near where we are going.:: Luma was vibrating in unhappiness. 

"Oh come now. I am far more than they." He laughed, but Luma and Vex were not. 

::He could bring one of my people back, or turn any of us into one. They are supposed to have rules and most are benevolent.  Usually only their children run around creating havok. Just because one has power does not mean it should be used.::

The Q leaned in. "Gonna tell her all of it?" He grinned, clearly enjoying how mean he was being to Luma.

::Among the Lenai's lore, it is said that his kind helped us shift to the stars.::

With that, another flash of light and Vex was returned to the bridge to stand next to Peters.

Luma felt something pass over her and then she too was returned to the Illuminar.

Luma's sad voice, only for Vex, ::Luma has never before been so scared. We must be careful, Sisar. His kind are here to play, consider us toys and they do not care if we break. Please…. Do not hate Luma. Do not leave her.. ::

::I’m not going anywhere Luma.:: Vex’s posture was defensive. She was still wearing some ridiculous furs, but now on the Bridge and she could see officers staring and wondering how she’d just randomly appeared there. ::Stay perceptive. Can you find the man anywhere else on the ship?::

::No. He.No… It. Hides from me. It can make frozen pockets in the STC.:: She paused a second and projected an image of an even lattice of threads, then pointed out where the disturbances were located. It was a 2d representation of the space time continuum. ::Can see where it is 'wrong'. Can not tell what it is doing. Not even sure could find our people and return if necessary. ::

=^=No assistance is required. Our meeting has been… informative.=^= Sekals voice sounded out around the Bridge. Carson had turned around, clearly wondering what the others were staring at. “Vex?” his voice was somewhat anxious and on his face was a level of concern she hadn’t seen in a while.

::Luma and I have just had an encounter with a higher level being.:: Vex projected to Carson, it had taken a while for him to be used to this form of communication but since she spent most of the day talking with Luma that way it had become second nature.

He nodded and seemed to sigh and then turned back to the command screen. “Keep scanning the ship. Anything and I mean anything unusual I want it reported.” Carson said.
::What do we do?:: Vex asked Luma as she began moving towards the back of the Bridge and the turbolift. ::Why did he want you to tell me of these powers of yours which you’d kept private?::

::Nothing can be done. They will grow bored and leave eventually like all bullies do. Vex, these god-like ones, if they decide to erase us, they will and there is nothing we can do.:: the Lenai sighed.

::Usually they have  a purpose to the game. Best question is what is so important about a routine mission that he is here to torment us for his amusement? They always have a reason, Sisar. The more benevolent ones seek to repair injustices in the galaxy. That is most of what they are. Guardians.:: Luma flashed an image of the crew as Avengers from Earth comic history, Vex as Black Widow and Peters as Captain America. ::Not good ones like the movie's guardians, but… Their intentions are usually benevolent, just the ability to 'see' and 'interact' with all of time makes them feel omnipotent.::

As the turbolift door opened ::It wanted you to know because it wants Luma to do or change or fix something at the Bajor place. And Vex, Sisar, the place is likely fragile enough without Luma messing around and further weakening the area.::

A sad pause, Luma needing much reassurance.  ::Suggest you have our Carson call the everyone talks and eats pastries at the table on deck 1 meeting again and have all the small ones share what they have experienced or dreamt.  They like to play games and give clues. There will be ideas. Everyone should speak of their interactions and dreams. And our Alaya and the Trei should be prepared for our small ones to need to cry. The more gentle ones generally do not survive whole::

Vex took a deep breath, ::I forget sometimes how long you have existed Luma. You can be quite wise when needed.:: she then extended back out towards Carson, ::Love. It may be wise to congregate the members of the crew who have experienced this god-like creature to learn of what he “taught” them.::

She felt him agree and then changed direction to organise the meeting room.

Luma was vastly unhappy,  though months of working with Vex had taught Luma to separate her feelings from her actions, and for the emotions to no longer swamp Vex. 

A buzz in the screen under Carson's hand, writing appearing across it. Even using the standard Federation font, Luma had somehow made every dotted i a star. It was one of the subtle ways that had been worked out for her to communicate with the non telepathic members of command mostly. [Luma requires permission to monitor crew quarters audio in order to summon medical aid if required. Some of the crew may require sedatives due to the entity] Privacy concerns made the Lenai ask first… most of the time. The truth that all knew was that Luma's sensors monitored it regardless, it was just a matter if she paid attention or not.

The crew had compromised,  she needed to ask first unless no command crew was available.  

Looking down at the screen and sighing before answering, “You have my authorisation Luma. I need to know who’s been contacted. If you can figure that out, put a list together and request them to meet in the Conference Room within the hour. If anyone is in need, alert Medical officers for immediate dispatch.” Carson hated breaching personal privacy of the crew but it did seem necessary.

He then opened a comm. channel to sickbay, “Bridge to Sickbay. Prepare for a medical emergency.”

=^=Will do. Do we have any information?=^=

“Nothing concrete, it may be an overreaction, but I’d rather have you prepared to move.” Carson replied. He kept looking around, expecting Q to return at any moment and start talking to him about mysteries again.

--------------------------

"Oh do be honest, aren't you the least bit curious?" 

Sekal lifted an eyebrow and Q gave a mocking grin. "It's irresistible isn't it?" There was a flash of light and the two were sitting in a theater with a seat between them. "Popcorn?" The screen was on intermission.

At the shake of the Vulcan's head Q shrugged. "More for me." A large stainless steel bowl filled with hot, buttery popcorn appeared on a small foldout table in front of him and a huge cup of some beverage in his hand. 

Q took a sip then grabbed a handful of the popcorn and gobbled it down. "Delicious. Time for the main event."

------------------

Ariel wakes up in a bed though comfortable, was not the one in her Husband's Prince Eric's castle.  She got out of bed wearing a nightgown which was some getting used to having legs and living on the land.  There were many things she had to get used to living on the land.  She went into the bathroom to take care of the need to relieve herself like a human girl does. It was not comfortable for her to wear underwear.  It will take a long time to adapt to the public behavior of human girls.  

Q snapped his fingers and time sped up for a moment causing the unfolding scene to be interrupted. "I'm all for gritty realism in films but some things are a bit gauche and should remain a mystery."

Ariel went to what was called a sink to wash her hands.  She was careful not to splash water on her legs.  If she got her legs wet, she would have a mermaid tail until the tail dried then she would have human girl legs again.  If there is no tank of water or a beach with water to swim in, she will have a most difficult time moving around.  There have been many incidents with the servant staff at the castle when she got her legs wet.  It became a most inconvenient  and frustrating period of time until her legs returned.  She went over to a device unfamiliar to her that looked like a table inside the wall.  She spoke to the table.  She was hungry for breakfast.

"Hello I would like some breakfast."

A strange voice responded " What would you like for Breakfast ENS SG Trei."  This made Ariel jump back in shock at what she heard.  She tried to order something.

"Seaweed  with clams, crab, and scallops .  Iced tea to drink."

The voice responded.  "How would you like the clams, crab, and scallops cooked.  I don't know seaweed, you will have to explain this to me."

Ariel looked at the table in confusion.  "How do you not know what seaweed is? It is what mermaids eat."

The voice responded.  "What is a mermaid?"

This irritated Ariel.  She got angry and frustrated at this.  She tried again.  It was better to say something she had sometimes at the castle.  Something called rice.

"Change the Seaweed to rice."

A plate appeared before her of a bed of rice topped with Cooked Clams, crab, and scallops.  A glass of iced tea appeared next to the plate.  She took the plate and glass to a thing called a couch and a table she can place the items on to eat.  It was as delicious as she had at the castle.  When she finished, she placed the plate and glass in a chute she presumes was what is called a recycling bin.  The recycling bin made an awful loud sound as it recycled  the plate and glass.

She went over to a closet for something to wear.  She saw a pretty blue dress with a strange badge on the chest.  She put on the dress and was pleased that it fit so well.  She looked beautiful in the dress and would find out about the badge later.  She went over to the couch to put on a pair of socks and black boots. She was ready to explore this strange environment.

-------------------------------------

"Let the lesson begin," said Q.

There was a bright flash and Taya and Q were in small room. In it was a bed, a dresser with a mirror attached, a shelf filled with toys, and a closet. There was a little Andorian girl and two adult women. The three of them were singing and they seemed to not notice the new arrivals.

"This is my room and that's me!" said Taya. "Shen Tesha! Zhen Mari!" Her eyes welled with tears.

"Do you remember this day?" said Q.

Taya frowned. "We sang together all the time. I can't pick out which day this is."

"I'll give you a clue. You're seven."

Taya sighed.

"You sang the song about sailing in the stars."

"Q." Taya's voice was showing her irritation.

"Fine. It's the first time you told your mothers you were going to join Starfleet."

"I remember that. Shen Tesha told me how proud she was." Taya smiled. So many wonderful memories.

"There's something you didn't notice."

"What's that?"

An object appeared in Q's hand. He pointed it at the three Andorians and the scene began moving backwards, as though he was rewinding it. Q pressed another button and the action froze. "Efficient devices." He smiled.

"So what am I looking at?" said Taya.

"This is supposed to be a lesson. I can't give you all the answers."

Taya studied the paused scene, but after a few moments, she tossed up her hands in frustration. "I don't know. Call me clueless."

"You're clueless."

Taya was becoming impatient.

Q sighed. "You told them you were joining Starfleet and they said they were proud, but do you see how they're looking at each other?"

Taya studied her mothers' faces. They weren't showing pride, they were worried and concerned. "It seems they don't really want me to join."

A red lollipop was now in Taya's hand.

"My government let me go because Shen Tesha's clan was offended that she didn't follow the tradition of serving in the Imperial Guard. She was kicked out and had to join another one. Small-minded people. So what?"

"You'll see what," said Q. He snapped his fingers and there was another flash of light.

---------------------------

Ariel entered the narrow hallway.  It was much more narrow than the halls in the castle. but about as narrow as the cave she lived in under the sea.  She saw men and women pass by her looking down as they passed.  They seemed to be in a hurry.  She waved at them but they seemed to ignore her waves.  This angered her a little.  She thought to herself  :: I am a princess and a mermaid.  I will not be ignored.::  She walked further down the hallway seeing  an empty hall.  She walked a bit and found two men in gold uniforms.  She decided to try her mermaid power of influence on them to have some fun.

She started to sing a song she used to sing when sailors docked on the beach.  She would sit on the rocks and try to drawn them to her for anyone to talk to that wasn't sea folk.  She was always fascinated with their lives on land.  She is learning now what life is like on land but there is much to experience.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The men drooped what they were doing as if in some hypnotic trance.  She led them follow like puppy dogs behind her for a bit.  She asked them questions for which they answered with a loving tone.  She did not know who Ariel Trei was and what her job was on this ship.  She wanted to find out not because she needed to fill that role but because she was curious.  The answers she received suggested she was the Chief Counselor.  She didn't know what that was so she asked more questions.  It was apparent that her job is to have people talk to her about their problems and help them work through it mentally.  She usually had that role under the sea but not to this extent.  She released the men from the spell and went further down the hall.  The men regained their composure after being disoriented for a few minutes.  She saw what looked like a lift of some kind.  She entered the lift and said a word she learned from the men she influenced.

"Bridge"  She said.  The lift began to move.

==================

"This is getting interesting, I'm on the edge of my seat. Are you sure you don't want a bowl?"

Sekal allowed his eyes to close for an instant then looked back at Q.

"I fail to see why you insist I view the private fantasies of my crew. My place is on my ship which you are keeping me from. Your behavior has been illogical from the beginning and is regressing."

Q gave him a smile. "Does this make you uncomfortable? That was three sentences you strung together, I wasn't sure you had it in you."

"Q!"

"Getting emotional on me Sekal? I do seem to have that effect on people. It comes from eons of honing my skills."

Sekal turned his head from the infuriating being and suddenly realized he WAS allowing Q to subvert his emotional controls. He turned back to find him openly grinning.

"There is no logical reason for me to remain nor is there any logical reason for your continued interference. You are keeping us here for your own enjoyment and there is no lesson to be learned here."

"This is where Vulcan logic has met its limitation." Q's grin had faded. "You find it illogical because you do not know its end and you only assume that your lessons have reached their conclusion. Your logic has failed you."

Sekal had reasserted control and refused to be baited. He turned his eyes away from the being, his face once more a mask.

================

Taya and Q were in a gymnasium. A young Andorian girl in her teens, wearing shorts and a tank top, was practicing with an ushaan-tor.

"That's me again and this is my school," said Taya.

There was the sound of a door opening and a young thaan male walked in.

Taya stared in disbelief. "Why are you doing this? Please stop." Taya's voice was filled with distress, her antennae were flailing.

"You need to see it," said Q.

Taya grabbed Q's arm. "If there's any decency in you, please don't make me relive this." She was close to tears.

"Decency has nothing to do with it."

Ch'lan, the thaan male, was handsome and popular in school. Taya had a crush on him. Most of the girls did. She smiled when he approached her.

"Q, please." Taya's voice was a whisper.

"I see you're getting really good with that," said Ch'lan.

"I'm not that good." Taya was giddy, and her cheeks flushed.

"Yes you are."

Ch'lan moved close and tried to kiss her. Taya took a step back.

"What are you doing?"

Ch'lan chuckled. "I see how you look at me in class. Most of the teachers left for the day. We have some time alone." He stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her.

Taya shook herself loose. "Ch'lan, we're not supposed to do that before the shelthreth. (marriage)"

"Ch'lan laughed. "If you think that, you're living in the old times. No one waits. Everyone does it."

"I don't believe you," said Taya.

"Ask your friends."

Ch'lan took hold of Taya's wrist and pulled her towards him, but she broke away. "I said no."

This time, Ch'lan grabbed Taya,  pressing her against him. She tried to get away, but he was too strong. "Please stop."

"Come on, T'ay'ia, you don't know what you're missing."

Still struggling, Taya stomped on Ch'lan's foot. He grunted in pain and she quickly moved back several yards.

Swearing, Ch'lan moved towards her, his eyes raging and his antennae leaning forward. Still holding her ushaan-tor, Taya instinctively defended herself, swinging the blade and cutting deeply into Ch'lan's right hand. He yelled in pain, which echoed throughout the gym. He had fallen to his knees, blue blood pouring onto the floor. 

"You little ushevaya! (whore)"

Taya's eyes widened in shock. "I'll get help." She ran towards the door.

Once again, there was a flash of light.

------------------------------------------------

Ariel exited the lift and saw the door open abruptly like a whoosh to the Bridge.  She crossed the threshold  and entered the Bridge.  What she saw was awe inspiring .  She saw space in all its awe and beauty.  She was watching the stars speeding by in amazement.  She was so amazed that she got lost in the spectacle of the scene.  She stood there caught in the spell of wonder.  When the wonder faded a little, she looked around the Bridge.  She did an excited dance and checked out every work station on the Bridge.  From what she learned  by questioning the men she questioned , her station was the  far left chair in the center of the Bridge.  She went over and sat in the very comfortable chair.  There were mini monitors on the arm of the chair.  Each monitor displayed different functions of the ship.  One of the functions looked like the weapons available to use.  For some reason the weapons were familiar to her as if she was trained in operating the weapons displayed.  Suddenly she began to feel all the emotions on the Bridge.  It was a shock at first then she was able to deal with them one by one as if she was able to do this her whole life.  She began to feel more comfortable in this role and was beginning to remember who she really was.  She regained her memory of the woman she really was.  She was the chief Counselor on the ship.  She no longer had the magical powers of a mermaid.  The memory of her experience will stay with her forever.  She intended to use that memory in a future counseling session.  The awe of seeing space for the first time stayed with her as well.  She will cherish that experience as well..  She got up from the chair and walked over to leave the Bridge.  Before she left the Bridge, she tried the mermaid song to see if it still worked.  

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."

It had no effect but it did elicit some very surprised reactions.  She supposed she understood the reactions.  She would probably react the same way to something she did not expect from someone.  She left the Bridge to go to her quarters.

================

Taya was observing another scene from her past. This time, she was sitting at a table, her zhen mother to her left and her fathers to her right. Shen Tesha was serving in the Imperial Guard and was away on a ship. The room was small and two thaan males in the uniforms of law enforcement, were talking to Taya and her family. Taya was wearing an orange dress. Her antennae were bobbing nervously.

"Tell me what's happening," said Q.

"Ch'lan's family pressed charges against me," said Taya. "He needed two surgeries and weeks of therapy to regain the use of his hand. There was a full investigation, but I was cleared."

"Why?"

"Testimony from other girls on what kind of person Ch'lan was and the things he did." Taya sighed. "You told me there was a lesson for me to learn, but I'm not getting it. Can you just tell me so I can get back to the Illuminar?"

"I guess Andorians are as dull as Humans." Q snapped his fingers and they were back on the tundra.

Taya crossed her arms over her chest. "Well?"

"Everything I've shown you led to your government sending you to Earth."

"How?"

"As a little girl, your announcement about going into space, your training, and then defending yourself against Ch'lan."

"I still don't see it," said Taya.

Q harrumphed. "Ch'lan's family had friends in local government. It took some time, but what you did was noticed by influential people on the world council. People still hated what Tesha did, so they wanted to send you away, too."

"That's it?" exclaimed Taya. "All this was nothing more than showing what led to their decision? I don't care about any of that."

"And they picked you to be one of the first engineers to run the crystal drive."

"You can insult me all you want. I don't care." Taya uncrossed her arms and turned her back to Q. She was angry and her antennae were moving in circles.

"Yes, Taya, you do care."

Q's words were almost compassionate. Almost. Surprised, she faced him again. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since you learned the truth, that you were viewed as dishonorable, it's bothered you. A lot. Though you've hidden it from others, you can't hide it from yourself."

Taya glared at Q. Her anger was boiling. She wanted to slug him. "What does it matter to you?"

"You have no idea what awaits you in your short existence," said Q. "If you're going to play your part, you need to get over yourself." The last part, his voice changed from being considerate to scolding.

"Get over myself?"

"Yes, little blue girl. Get over yourself. Do you think you're the only one that's ever been unfairly treated? Boo-hoo. As you said, small-minded people. Deal with it."

Taya's emotions were in a quandary. Was Q right? Why had she let it bother her so much and for so long? Ravok had tried to help. Why did it come to Q having to be the one that did?

"Maybe you're right," said Taya softly.

"Maybe I'm right?" said Q. "Maybe? You should be thanking me." He made an exaggerated bow.

"You're right. I should." Taya bent over, scooped up some snow, packed it into a ball, and fired it at Q, striking him square in the chest. "Thank you."

----------------------------------------------------------------

(Earth of the Past - Law Enforcement HQ - Law Enforcement ESPer Sienna Verin & Supervisor Serina Lauren)

The young woman known as Sienna Verin found herself in a strange place. It was Earth, but Earth that was. She stood in front of a woman who her brain recognized as her boss. She was Sienna, the young ESP’er that had been hired by the police. Human ESP abilities had just been acknowledged and were being developed with the help of some of the other races, that were in the process of forming the Star Fleet - the United Federation of Planets.  Human ESP abilities had been theorized for a long time, but only  a small handful actually had them to a measurable extent.

Sienna’s current assignment with the enforcement division was going to be difficult apparently. She was to infiltrate a woman’s correctional house that catered towards pregnant women and young children and discover just what was happening. There had been a burst of violent crimes in what was usually a low crime area.

Her supervisor, Serina spoke, “You have the files, you have all the information we have. These women were rebuilding their lives and out of nowhere one of them went on a spree, cutting the women. No drugs in any of their systems, and the women, multiple women- they stayed still and let this one… Kate McMeir… just carve them up like a Christmas turkey. We removed Katie, who has no recollection of the crimes and thought no more. Open and shut…" Serina sighed, this case made no sense.

Sienna had a wide range of abilities, from empathy to a touch of psycometry to a highly developed intuition with a bit of foresight. She was not strong in any of them, what made her so remarkable was that she had them all and could use them all in tandem. It made her a fabulous investigator. 

"But it happened again?" Sienna had not had a chance to read the file, but she KNEW that was the answer.

"Yeah. It happened again. Normally we would close the house at this point and redistribute the women, but it just is not that easy. Plus those blue skinned aliens find the whole situation pretty barbaric."

Sienna leaned forward, "What do the andorians have to do with …" she waved her hand, "all this?" That was an important question she felt.

"I don't know. I just know that they are really interested. You know how you can tell? The antennas tend to move fast the more interested they are.” Serina shook her head, “You go read that file and report in when you have absorbed it.  And remember, Sienna. Part of the reason we are sending you is that you are pregnant.  Another reason is that you are a lesbian, and lastly it’s because of your abilities as an ESPer.”

Sienna had one last question, “Why not send a Betazoid in?”  That was her real question. 

Serina leaned back and put her fingers together as she often did. “Betazoids are obvious. Yeah, we could hide the eyes, but you will be living there for several weeks, Sienna. They would know. And secondly… we had a betazoid take a looksee in Katie’s mind. Nothing. Same with the women there. The minds of everyone who was touched by whatever it was, blank. Like a dead space. We even asked a vulcan after the second incident. Nothing. The vulcan found it very ‘unusual’ and ‘fascinating’.”

Sienna had never met a Vulcan before, but she nodded and picked up the hardcopy file as well as her dataview. She had work to do.

---

(Earth of the Past - Quester House - Safe & Sober Living - Law Enforcement ESPer Sienna Verin - 2 days later)

Sienna found herself escorted into the House, her wrists secured behind her, an ankle monitor that would eventually confine her here already attached. The House was beautiful, wooden furniture, bright colors. Several small children were playing in a corner, and they were being watched by two women wearing the uniform of the house - a tan sweater, tan slacks and their hair braided back. Both of them looked over towards Sienna as she was being dragged in. 

Sienna’s life partner, Tempe, had taken the time to braid Sienna’s brown hair into tiny braids, each one secured with a small bead, and her eyes cast about the room, deliberately wildly. Sienna wanted to look afraid, and it was true, she did not really need to act.

This also was her first real undercover assignment. No one here knew that she was law enforcement. No one here was going to protect her. 

The first thing that Sienna noticed was that this place had a dark aura to it. She didn’t know if it was because of her brain. She needed to get someplace quiet and use her abilities. And she was scared. She had not realized how scared she was going to be going into this. Tempe had not been thrilled with  Sienna’s decision to go into this assignment with her carrying their baby. 

Oh yeah, to say Tempe had not been pleased was an understatement. Her native american partner had glared at her in girl and made her opinion very clear. It was just fine for Tempe to risk herself as a pilot first of planes then of shuttle craft, and lastly with space ships, but that was because Tempe was not carrying their child. It was not at all hypocritical. Sienna wanted to laugh remembering that last night of yelling before she had gone to enforcement and ‘turned herself in’.

The female officer sat Sienna on a bench and went off to find the intake female officer so Sienna could be searched. One of the toddling children came over, drawn as many children were to an ESPer. Children, especially nonverbal children, knew when an ESPer was safe, and that they could help them.  Sienna had not given that thought, but maybe she could play off of it. Maybe she could say she had a touch of an ability to explain the way the children flock to her.

“Carolyn, come back here.” One of the women, this one with short blond hair scooped the black haired toddler up. “Sorry about that. Caro here is curious as a cat. I’m Karina, one of the nannies here.”

“I’m Sienna.  As you can see I’m being brought in. Kinda glad there is space here, wasn’t looking forward to having my little one in a prison.”

“What are you here for?” Karina asked, juggling the wiggling baby with skill.

“Honestly? I’m here because I got in with the wrong guy. Got caught smuggling and you know how well THAT goes over.” Siena shrugged. The intake officer came out and SIenna went into the in-processing.  She kept her finger curled inward, not wanting to sense anything just yet.

=============

(Later that night)

When Sienna’s roommate was asleep, Sienna found herself laying in the bed, her eyes open. She shifted so that she could sit cross legged wise, letting her mind drift as she breathed slowly, dropping into a trance. Her mind viewed the House as a 2d map. She traced among the sleeping minds, being careful when she encountered one of the officers who had to be a part betazoid with how bright her mind was transmitting, and one of the babies being an ESPer, or he would be when he grew up. Sienna was skilled enough to even taste the power, her foresight recognizing the childs. She was going to have to let someone know that the babies’ dreams were going to be accurate representations of the future.

The good news was that with how rare foresight was among the ESPers who themselves were rare, well, that family would not want for anything. It was subsistence level poverty that caused crime for the most part.  Luckily with the one world earth government, and with the inclusion of the federation of planets, well, poverty would be a thing of the past on earth. Or at least that was the promise. The Vulcans, the Betazoids, the Andorians, …. Even the Telerites did not have poverty like Earth had even fifty years ago.

Sienna continued to breath as she dropped her sense of self into her core, letting her sense of self fade as she took in the emotional atmosphere here in the house. For the most part, the women who lived here were happy. They loved the children. For many this was the best time of their lives. 

Making several mental notes, she brought herself out of the trance and caught..something...on the edge of her mind. One of the children was having a nightmare. Sienna was not allowed to go to the child according to the intake meeting. She was to maintain her distance for 60 days until she proved herself as trustworthy figure.

The child continued to cry but no one went to him.  And then there was something else that she barely caught. A hint of fury that cut like a knife. She gasped aloud, apparently loud enough to wake her roomie. 

“Wuzzit, Seee.” Laura asked, yawning. 

“Couldn’t sleep.” Sienna whispered back. “The noises, the sounds and...one of the babies is crying.”

Laura peered across, sitting up and looking over, cocking her head as if listening. “No… I can’t hear anything. Maybe you are just hearing it from earlier. Sometimes I can in the silence when all they do is scream. The Moms here know that their kids can be taken if they aren’t careful so none of ‘em are left to cry.  It’ll be ok, Seeee. Get some sleep.”  Sienna laid down and tried to obey. She heard Laura fall back to sleep, and Sienna laid her left hand over her belly. 

::I’m here baby, and your Momma Tempe loves you too.::  Sienna closed her eyes to sleep. And then something happened. She wasn’t there anymore.

---

“Well, Well, Well. There’s something you should know.” The Admiral in red said as Sienna was reminded of who she really was. Fast. It felt like it was a lightning bolt through her, reawakening her to her reality, which was not in..whatever that had been.

“Q.” She glared at him. “What could you possibly think I could ‘learn’ from that? At least it wasn’t as bad as what you forced on me earlier.” Sienna crossed her arms, glad that Q had not rubbed salt in the wound by making her lifemate Lynn. That had been Sy’s dream. That they could isolate the X chromosomes and her and Lynn would have a delightfully mixed little girl of several cultures.

“Well, you didn’t get it earlier. That dream, that’s a holonovela. Except you were really there.” Q sounded delighted with himself.

“Could we just..skip...to the end please?” Sienna was tired.  This was supposed to be her rest period and she had spent it in nightmares with a Q. Well, maybe not the second one. There were parts of being with the woman, Tempe, who Sienna thought she recognized as being aboard the Illuminar.

“Now where is the fun in that.” He grinned that sardonic little grin and another flash of light had Sienna on the bed she had been on earlier. In the room she shared with the other woman, Laura. 

---

Sienna was screaming. Standing above her were two women. One was a guard, the other was one of the women that was institutionalized here.  The woman was covered in blood, slicing into Sienna’s skin with a makeshift blade from a toothbrush. It hurt in a way that she had never dealt with before. A present pain that was so fresh. She could smell the blood in the air. Sienna watched the guard woman who was guiding the other.

~Karen. The woman cutting me is Karen. It isn’t real. It can’t be real…~ A litany rolled through Sienna’s mind, words upon words. She was so scared. And it was real.

The guard woman leaned in, frowning slightly, “Why are you awake? I can’t be having that. You need to…” Her voice dropped an octave, commanding, “Sleep.”  Sienna found her gaze captive, trying to resist, trying to fight. Soon enough she was out, as if drugs were involved. The voice was whispering to her though, the voice she had to obey…

---

A flash had her out of it, standing before the Q again. Her body was slick and sticky with blood.  She blinked in a shocky way, not sure what was real. The Q yawned, sitting on the porch of the house from the apparent novella that he was forcing her to endure.

~Maybe the earlier… Maybe it was better.~  

Sienna did not care that she was naked, covered only in her blood. “Q, what is the point?”

“The point my little betazoid? Why does there have to be a point? Why can’t the story, the journey be enough?”
Sienna hung her head, thinking. “Q, there has to be something. Can…” She looked down and realized that while she might be wearing the blood of the ..vision...she was not actually sliced up. There were fine lines on her skin, as if the slices had long healed.

“Do you want to go back?” He asked, leaning in and watching her.

“Will it answer whatever this was about?” Sienna did not trust him.

“Not exactly.” The Q spoke mysteriously. 

“Then no. I do not want to go back.”

The Q snickered, “Luckily for you, you don’t get a choice.”

A snap of his fingers and she was returned to that bed, unable to move, unable to speak, only able to stare into the guard woman’s eyes and listen, her mind screaming inside of itself as she was trapped in a body that was unresponsive as she was being cut into, decorated, tortured…

The guard woman leaned in, “Listen carefully little girl. The leaves of a tree are fed from its roots and as they decay the tree itself dies. “ The woman took a step back and then in another flash, Sienna found herself standing again with the Q. 

---

“Now do you understand?” He asked, glaring down at the shorter woman.

“Not at all. Of course I know that plants and trees are fed from the roots. It’s how they take in water. And of course if the roots rot then the plant will die. Q I’m a -plant biologist-.” She emphasized, absolutely not caring that she stood before him naked and dressed only in her blood.

“You will figure it out. But I’ll leave you with presents.”  Sienna’s stomach dropped and she was actually nauseated. 

“Presents?” She knew better than to accept  anything a Q wanted to give her. It had been emphasized in her academy class that you treated with a Q ridiculously carefully. “Q, I don’t need presents.” She protested.

“Oh, yes.” He muttered darkly. “You do Indeed.” He looked her over. “I suppose I should return you to the ship dressed. Your people are ridiculously modest.”

“Humans? Yeah. But I identify more with the betazoid side.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know about the presents.  A flash of light and she was dressed in an elaborate japanese style kimono with five layers, complete with obi, her dark hair bound in hair ornaments and makeup marking her as a geisha.  Q clapped his hand in approval and Sienna tried hard not to trip on the wooden clog like shoes she was wearing. Luckily she had danced with her mother, Sophie, for years in ballet and had superb balance. 

“Is this the gift?” She asked hopefully. This stuff felt real, not replicated and it was gorgeous. She would treasure it for all her life. If for only the memory of this bizarre experience. 

“Pfaw. No. That’s just what do humans call it. A bonus.” Sienna huffed. “The first present is…. Until you return to Earth you will have the abilities that the Sienna-novel had. You’ll have all those ESP-touches. Too bad humans bred those abilities out of them. And the second… well. You can discover that on your own.” He stared into Sienna’s dark eyes, seeing the hidden, broken girl behind the officer. 

Another flash of light. 

=====================
Janice popped up into another spot. It looked like the ready room of a starship. At any rate it wasn’t the runabout. “Q!” Janice shouted as a ping sounded behind her. “Q?” she said, twirling round to see a Vulcan significantly taller than her. See eyed him suspiciously taking a step backwards and glancing at the pips on the collar, “Lieutenant Commander? You don’t happen to be an omnipotent being on the inside at all? Or some Q created construct?”

An eyebrow rose as he regarded her. "I am what I appear to be and not a Q. That is a most contrary and illogical being."

She looked at him wearily before relaxing a bit, “Sorry Sir – with Q it's difficult to tell what might be real and what isn’t. To tell you the truth I'm still not entirely convinced, but from the sounds of it Q has been having fun with you too – So you might think the same of me?” She scratched her head in confusion and decided one way or another it would be best just to treat this as reality.

“Sorry let me start again. Ensign Janice Hammerfield and I apologise for just appearing here, but I didn’t get much choice in the matter” she maintained her distance from Sekal just as a precaution.

"Greeting Ensign. As you are not from my ship I am curious as to why Q has included you in his game."

“I have no idea what Q wants with me?” she shook her head, “First I was in a runabout – fighting back in the dominion war – then here.” She placed a hand on her back behind her. It appears Q had disarmed her for this – all be it she was getting the feeling she wasn’t needing a weapon.

Her explanation was becoming somewhat incoherent. "What runabout Ensign and you are claiming to have fought in the Dominion War?" She was not old enough to have fought in that war much less been alive at the time. Unless Q had pulled her into this time period.

“The runabout? We are in Bajoran space – it’s a basic comms op. Nothing special,” she shrugged, “The last thing Q said before leaving was that I needed some new friends? Coming from Q I don’t know if that was a good or bad thing. What about you sir? Do you know what’s going on?”

Sekal shook his head. "We have come under that being's notice and unfortunately he had nothing else pressing apparently. Although…." he considered for a moment, "... he would logically appear to have some ulterior motive. I do not believe it is in his nature to give out *life lessons* out of the *goodness of his heart*."
He gave her a searching look. "Illuminar will be in Bajoran space in two weeks time. I will speak to command about transferring you to Illuminar. I have an opening for another officer and your services will be welcome."

Janice looked down a bit then back up a bit surprised at the notion. She took a deep think – one that had apparently already crossed Sekal, “Uh, thank you Sir. That would seem logical. Q has something in mind and being in that proximity to Bajor seems less than coincidental.” She took a step closer, “I actually have a pending transfer request in it just needed a destination,”

Sekal nodded. "I will expedite it with command."

A blink of light popped Janice away quickly and then a soft echoing voice from a white void, “So nice when the puppets do what they are told..”
==================================

Q reappeared. "This has been a ‘novel’ experience but I'm getting bored."

Sekal crossed his arms as he turned toward the mercurial being. There was a flash which left them once again standing on a grey, featureless plain.

With him stood the Trill scientist Jaton Alyl and acting chief engineer Taya 

"Then you will be sending us back to the ship." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, yes." Q waved his hands expressively. He then snapped his fingers and the others disappeared to reappear on the bridge of Illuminar.

Only Q and Sekal remained.

"And still you keep me here."

"We are done mon Capitan, I have only one thing left to say." Q stepped close. "The imagination is a powerful tool and not to be wasted. It should be carefully tended and given the freedom to grow. Logic is your bread and butter but the others need to be allowed the license to develop and evolve."

(USS Illuminar- Bridge- 2359)

There was a flash and Sekal was back on the bridge of his ship. The others were there as well except for Ensign Hammerfield who had apparently been returned to the runabout. Carson and the bridge crew were also there along with one other.

Q was standing before the viewscreen in command uniform. He smiled at them all. 

"This will not be the last time we meet. But for now farewell." He made a flourish and vanished leaving behind only the memory of his sly smile along with those experiences of the officers of Illuminar.

"He is a defiance of all logic." Sekal remarked.

Sienna tottered on the wooden clogs, trying to remain standing in the ridiculously beautiful costume of the silk kimonos.  Taking hold of her chair, she kicked the things off, reducing her height. 

“I suggest that we gather every officer who was involved in an experience with a Q as well as the senior staff, and figure out why. There has to be a reason, and not just because he was bored.”  Sienna was worried, but she kept a hold on her emotions, holding them in. She would react later.

Sekal nodded and moved to the command chair then initiated a ship wide broadcast. "All who have had an experience with the being known as Q as well as the senior staff are to meet in the conference room on Deck one at zero one hundred which is one hour from now. Any experiences or 'lessons' learned will be made known. The Counseling and Medical staff will be present for consultation. By order of myself, Commanding Officer Sekal."

He turned to the senior staff on the bridge. "If you have any last minute preparations …," an eye quirked upon seeing his first officer's state of dress, "... or change of clothes now is the time to do so. I will be setting up the conference room."

He nodded to a yeoman., "Follow me." Then he left the bridge giving the others time to make any last minute adjustments.

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(Posted by Charles Gatling
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