Stardate 41153.7:
"Get to your feet, criminals!" a soldier shouted, then fired his fist gun. Piard ignored the man, looking past to the spotlight's target.
A chair was floating forward, or perhaps it was mounted, Picard couldn't tell due to the poor lighting. On the chair, or throne, Picard saw a figure dressed in red robes with a rather ridiculous black hat on. A gold chain with a red stone set in it hung from the person's neck, and as the chair moved closer, Picard recognized the figure. It was Q.
"At least we are acquainted with the judge, captain." Data said. Picard couldn't tell if the android was being humorous or not.
The chair moved all the way out into the room, and swiveled to the right, and Q made a gesture of dismissal. The people on that side of the room sat down, and the chair swiveled to the left, where Q repeated the gesture.
The soldier fired his weapon again. "Attention!" he yelled. There was no visible response from the four Starfleet officers, so he shouted again. "Attention! On your feet, Attention!" The man was grimacing such that Picard almost felt sorry for him. In exasperation, the soldier fired at the ground.
Tasha, no longer able to restrain herself, stood up, and planted her foot in the man's sternum. The crowd became restless as she proceeded to tackle the man.
Picard's touch on her elbow made her remember, and she backed off.
"You are out of order." Q stated.
The man knew he was doomed, but took a hit from his drug dispenser as if that might appease Q. It didn't, and another solder fired his fist gun into the man on the ground. He was dead within seconds.
The crowd cheered.
"The prisoners will not be harmed." Q said, as his chair moved to the center of the room. He smirked, then added in a quieter tone, "Until their found guilty."
The crowd began to whisper as Q looked at the body, saying, "Dispose of that."
A rope loop was placed around the man's boot, and the corpse was dragged from the room.
At this point, the four officers were standing, and Picard mustered the courage to ask "Can we assume you mean this will be a fair trial?"
"Yes." Q intoned gravely. "Absolutely equitable."
Picard smiled to Tasha, and she stepped back up onto the prisoner's dais, then the four sat down.
"Before this gracious court now appeared these prisoners to answer for the multiple and grievous savageries of the species." said a tall man. Picard noticed that he seemed to be of Oriental persuasion, but paid it little thought, paying more attention to the words as the man continued. "How plead you, criminal?"
"If I may, captain?" Data asked. Picard nodded. The android stood, saying "Objection, your Honor. In the year 2036, the New United Nations declared that 'no Earth citizen could be made to answer for the crimes of his race or forbearers.'"
"Objection Denied!" Q stated. "This is a court of the year 2079, by which time more 'rapid progress' had caused all 'united Earth' nonsense to be abolished."
Tasha jackknifed to her feet again as Picard said "Tasha, no!"
"I must!" she replied, moving past the captain. "Because I grew up in a world that allowed things like this court, and it was people like these," here she gestured to her comrades. "that saved me from it. This so-called court should get down on it's knees to what Starfleet is; to what it represents!"
Q leaned forward, a stern, emotionless mask on his face, and froze Tasha solid. The crowd broke out in cheers again as she fell backwards.
Data caught her, and gently lowered her to the ground.
The other two officers were by her side within seconds, and Deanna looked up at Q with a mix of shock and grief on her face as she exclaimed "You barbarian! This woman…"
Whatever she was saying was quickly drowned out by the tall man who had opened the proceedings as he said "The criminals will keep silent!"
"You've got a lot to learn about humans if you think you can torture us, or frighten us into silence!" Picard stated through gritted teeth.
He turned back to the frozen security chief. "Will she be live?" he asked of Data.
The android replied "Not certain. When he froze Lieutenant Torres on the bridge, we had our sickbay to help thaw him out." Q yawned while the android was speaking, blatantly showing his boredom for the whole event.
"You will answer the charges, criminal." the tall man stated levelly.
"Or what!" Picard spat. "Or this? Death, or worse? You promised the prisoners will not be harmed! We plead nothing so long as you break your own rules."
Q became interesting again, and leaned forward, the platform moving with him. "I suggest you center your attention on this trail, captain." With a smirk, he added. "It might be your only hope."
"I suggest you are now having second thought about it." Picard replied, hoping to win this verbal duel. "You are considering that if you conduct a fair trial, WHICH WAS YOUR PROMISE! You may lose."
"Lose?" Q asked, shocked by the notion.
"Yes. Even though you're Judge and Prosecutor." came the level reply.
"And Jury!" Q shot back, miffed.
"Accepted. So long as you keep to your agreement, and assaulting a prisoner is hardly a fair trial!" came the retort.
"This." Q said, secretly impressed "is a merciful court." he thawed Tasha as Picard looked on.
The crowd began booing, but Data and Deanna paid them no mind, helping Tasha back to her seat.
The din continued for several seconds before Q decided he'd had enough. The chair rose several feet, backing away from the prisoner's dais as it did so. He then stood up.
"SILENCE!" he roared. The effect was immediate. He continued on. "Continuing these proceedings, I must caution you that legal trickery is not permitted. This is a court"
Picard joined him in the last few words, surprising the omnipotent being yet again. "Of fact! We humans know our past, even when we're ashamed of it! I recognize this court system as agreeing with that one line from Shakespeare: 'Kill all the lawyers!'"
"Which was done." Q smirked.
"Leading to the rule 'guilty until proved innocent.'"
"Of course! Bringing the innocent to trial would be unfair." The chair, which seemed to move with Q's mood, descended to the point where Q was right in front of Picard, face to face. His voice hardened as Q pronounced "You will now answer to the charge of being a grievously savage race."
"'Grievously savage' could mean anything." Picard noted quietly. "I will answer only specific charges."
"Are you certain you want a full disclosure of human ugliness?" Q asked. The familiar smirk appeared again. "So be it, fool!" In a more official voice he stated "Present the charges!"
"Criminal! You will read the charges to the court!" the man held out a data tablet.
The captain accepted it, and silently read over the charges. "I see no charges against us, your Honor."
The crowd made a surprised sound as the multitude grasped his meaning.
"You are out of order!" Q stated, shocked.
Two soldiers came in with fist guns, one taking their station next to Data, his gun to the android's temple, and the other to Deana's temple, ready to fire.
"Soldiers, you will press those triggers if this criminal answers with any word other than guilty." Q said. It was time to end the madness.
"Criminal, how plead you?" Q asked.
Picard looked away from Data, and knowing that Deana was in the same position, looked toward Q and said "Guilty."
The crowd burst into cheers as Q's chair rose. Q stood, wearing the seemingly ever-present smirk on his face.
"Provisionally."
Q's demeanor shifted. How did this human continue dodging silver bullets? Curious, Q moved to sit, saying "The court will hear the provision."
"We question whether this court is abiding by it's own trial rules. I seek permission to have Commander Data repeat the record."
"There will be no legal trickery." Q said, a finger of warning raised.
"It will be your own words, your Honor." Picard retorted. He turned towards Data. "What exactly followed his statement that 'the prisoners will not be harmed'?"
Data stood. "The captain had asked" here he shifted his voice to mimic Picard. "'Can we assume you mean this will be a fair trial?' And in reply, the judge stated 'Yes, absolutely equitable.'"
"Irrelevant testimony. Entirely irrelevant." Q stated, shifting in his seat.
Picard looked around mentally. Seeing no logical way out, he snapped. "All right! We agree there is evidence to support the court's contention that humans have been savage!"
The crowd started laughing, and Q looked to his right in smug victory.
"Therefore I say Test Us!"
Q looked sharply back towards the prisoner's dais. Had this human dodged yet again?
"Test whether that is presently true of humans."
"I see." Q said, interested. "I see! And so you petition the court to accept you and your comrades as proof of what humanity has become?"
"There must be many ways in which we can be tested!" Picard replied. "We have a long mission ahead of us."
"Another brilliant suggestion, captain!" Q said, nodding. He then shook his head. "But your test hardly requires a long mission. Your immediate destination offers far more challenge than you can possibly imagine."
Picard looked sharply back toward Q. This was getting interesting, at least from my viewpoint, but I knew what Q had in mind, and I doubted it would be enough for a true test. No, I had the perfect thing.
"Yes, this Farpoint station will be an excellent test."
I could tell that he was about to end the proceedings, so I decided to make an appearance.
"Okay, everybody!" I cried out. Q looked surprised, as did the Starfleet group. "It's been great, seeing all this from my own peculiar vantage point, but there are some things I'd like to clear up. First, this test won't do squat to convince me. Second, may I see the charges? And thirdly, this place is a fashion disaster. I know of someone who would be more than willing to make this place look better."
The man mutely passed it over, a grim look on his face.
"Who are you?" Q asked me.
"What's wrong, can't get through my mind?" I asked teasingly.
I looked over to the prisoner's dais, Deana was trying to figure me out. A flick of my mind reassured me that she was just an empath, not a full mind reader.
"Eh, for the sake of a handle to call me by." I said, acting resigned. "You can call me Loki."
"The Norse god of mischief." Data said. Picard looked unsettled by my choice of name.
I turned my attention to the data pad, and read through the list of charges. I found what was I was looking for: a charge of illicit genetic experimentation in the year 1970, running through to the Khan era of experimentation.
I handed the pad back to the man, thinking about what I had seen. This could definitely be played interestingly. "I have a test of my own that I shall administer. From what I have seen, captain, even with legal trickery pulled out from under you, you have excellent debate skills. They won't really help you with my test."
"Are you quite done?" Q asked me impatiently.
"Not quite." I replied. I turned slowly towards Q. "You are charged with two counts of quick freezing a living sentient being, though I am willing to overlook one charge on the grounds that you did thaw said person with no ill effects beyond what she might have experienced had she fainted. You are also charged with one count of general terrorism and one count of unfair trial."
At this point, the chair was very close to the ground, and Q was standing right in front of me. In a very quiet voice I said "There's also the records that your people have kept concerning you. I might feel like prosecuting those too. Can you withstand that?"
He was silent for several moments. "No, I could not."
"Well, fortunately, I'm not the one to prosecute the charges this time. Your own people will have to do that. The Starfleet people won't remember even so much as my appearance, there are things that must be done first before they can be tested. Adieu!"
I left the courtroom, erasing the Starfleet officer's memories of me before completely fading away.
August 15, 2009:
The Flock was a group of six juvenile people, tightly bound together by common bonds of certain genetic keys and various hardships. The eldest of the group seemed to play dual roles of parent and squad leader, guiding her family through trial after trial without missing a beat. They had just rescued a certain Valencia Martinez from the clutches of Mr. Chu of the Chu Corporation, and were playing in the warm waters near Hawaii or flying high above.
"She approves." Fang said to Max, breaking off from a kiss.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Max asked wryly. "Someone should really tell that dolphin that he's not Angel's personal watercraft."
Fang smiled at that, and moved to kiss Max again when a hole opened in the sky. It was mostly white, though royal blue streaks seemed to pulsate out from it for several seconds before I was ejected from the hole and it closed with a whooshing snap.
Max tracked the thing that had been ejected from the hole, and her eyes widened in shock as she realized what it was: another human-avian hybrid.
I continued to plummet, and Max began to wonder if I knew how to fly. A shared look with Fang, and they both shot down towards me.
I stabilized in the air, and managed to level off, allowing Max to see my wings better. They were a dark brown, flecked with silver near the middle joint, and tipped with blue. I was rather familiar with flying, and attempting to show it because the beats were regularly paced, and slow, just hard enough to propel the me forward and keep me at my current altitude.
Max drew alongside on my left, while Fang approached on the right.
"Who are you?" Max demanded. "What are you doing here?"
"The name's Ajax." came the reply. "And I'm flying here."
"Yeah, kinda got that, based on the whole flapping the wings and the moving forward while being high above the land." came the sharp retort. "How did you get here?"
"Hyperspace jump." I said calmly. "I forgot to carry the one when I was calculating the whole thing. That's what I was falling."
"Any particular reason you chose to arrive here? I'm assuming you intended to arrive here." Max responded.
"You mean aside from the lovely weather, the friendly people, the great food, and the warm water?" I asked teasingly. "I came with a message."
"From who?" Max demanded.
"I dunno." I responded. "Some guy who calls himself Loki. Wants you to participate in a test."
"No." Max said flatly. "Not happening."
"You mind if I explain it a little before shooting it down in flames?" I asked testily. "You don't even know what it is."
"Fine." Max said, rolling her eyes. "Speak quick."
"You will get all the food and drink you want, a warm and relatively secure place to sleep at night, and all you have to do is agree to do it." She wanted quick, so I gave it to her quick.
"What's the catch?" Max asked, suspicious.
I shrugged. "Time travel. You and your family aren't the ones being tested. The people you will meet -if you agree- are being tested."
"And if I don't agree?" Max asked me.
I shrugged again, keeping it casual. "Then you miss out on the offer, and Loki finds another way to test these people. There's no obligation."
"It sounds too good to be true." Max said suspiciously. "But the fact that you're not trying to force it on me is a point in your favor. I know a way to find the truth."
I raised an eyebrow, and looked over towards where she had been flying, but she was already inverted and headed for the waves. I banked left twenty degrees, and maintained my current speed and altitude. After several moments, I saw Max and Angel ascending to my altitude.
I had already made it so that Angel would find me to be trustworthy, and that she would find the offer to be legit, I couldn't afford not to. Unless…no. I quickly shook the thought out of my mind. I didn't want to be as bad as Q. I could just send them to the Enterprise, but I didn't want to throw them there so abruptly.
After a telepathic conversation between max and Angel, Max turned towards me.
"We'll do it. Anything we should know before we go?"
"Well, the landing might suck. Hopefully we won't clip anything. I can think of at least three consoles I wouldn't want to be aimed at. There shouldn't be any lasting or major damage."
"Shouldn't? So, there could be some lasting damage, or major injuries." Max said, suspicious again.
"Yeah, but I'm willing to risk it." I replied. "I'm reasonably certain nobody will hit anything."
"We'll do it, but if there is permanent harm to anybody, you'll have Hell to pay." Max said warningly.
I nodded my acceptance of her terms. "Very well, I accept full responsibility if anything goes wrong. People might wish to change into dry clothes. The temperature where we're going with be a brisk 65 degrees, and dry, compared to this locale."
"When are we going?" Max asked. Was that resignation in her voice?
"Whenever you're ready." I replied.
Max made a signal with her hand, and the entire Flock dropped towards the ground, making a smooth landing on the beach. I leisurely glided after them, preferring to make a long landing comparable to a jetliner rather than a fighter jet.
Ten minutes went by as the Flock was getting ready, during which time Dr. Martinez found me.
"I don't know what all you have planned, Ajax, but you better not do anything to my daughter." she said.
I inclined my head respectfully. "I've already been warned that if harm comes to her or her family that I'll be paying Hell. That's not a thought I relish."
"Who told you that you'd have Hell to pay?" Dr. Martinez asked, curious.
"Max. Frankly, I believe her." I replied easily.
"You should. She doesn't make idle threats, and if she says she's going to do something, she's going to do it."
"You have raised her well." I said. "Very few keep their word anymore."
She didn't reply, but lapsed into silence, during which time I picked up a handful of sand, using my abilities on it.
"Here." I said, holding out the freshly-created cell phone. "You have my word that you will be able to reach max with this phone. It's a hotline, so you'll be able to use it as soon as Max gets her end."
She accepted the phone. "I'll hold you to that." she said.
Just then, Max and the rest of the Flock walked up. "Ready?"
"As ready as we ever will be." she replied.
I tossed her a red cell phone. "Have a hotline." I jumped into the air, and Max followed with her Flock.
"So where are we going?" Gazzy asked excitedly.
I shot a wary look towards the fart factory, and edged ahead in case he left one off. "A ship."
"Do they have explosives on board?" Gazzy asked, even more excited.
"Yup. I'll let Max tan your hide if she finds you doing anything to the photon torpedoes." I replied. In a conspiratorial tone I added "But I won't rat you out either."
Gazzy grinned, but it was short lived, as he screwed up his face with a scowl of concentration. I edged further ahead, in time to hear the unmistakable sound of Gazzy letting it rip.
"Where's the afterburner on this thing?" I muttered.
"Flyboys! 12'o'clock high!" Nudge yelled out.
"Oh, scrap." I swore. "Come on everybody, we're getting out of here!"
The group bunched up, then a white flash of light surrounded us all for several seconds…
Stay tuned for more!