The red alert klaxon blared to life and Data spun to his console, fingers flying over the controls.

"All off-duty personnel clear the bridge!" Picard shouted as he headed for his chair. "Data, what's happening?"

"The spatial rift that we have been attempting to find has apparently found us, Captain." Data reported calmly. "The rift's subspace distortion is spiking--three hundred millicochranes and rising. At the current rate of progression the rift will rupture in approximately 25 seconds."

"Back us away Mr. Data, impulse power only. Using the warp drive this close to the rift might trigger a rupture. Give me at least 20,000 kilometers." Picard ordered.

"I am engaging full impulse power now, Captain. However, given our initial position and velocity relative to the rift I estimate our distance will be just over 2,500 kilometers when it ruptures. Projected radius of the rupture is approximately 7,000 kilometers."

"Data, are you saying we can't escape?" Commander Riker asked.

"That is correct, Commander."

"Raise shields." Riker commanded.

"All hands, this is the Captain. Brace for impact, I say again brace for impact!"

"Shields raised, Commander. Subspace distortion at 984 millicochranes. Rift will rupture in 3 seconds, 2, 1, now."

As catastrophes go, there wasn't a lot to see. A barely perceptible ripple raced toward the fleeing ship like a wave. When it passed the Enterprise was gone, and the stars blazed on, as though the mighty vessel had simply never been.

At least that's what an observer outside the rupture would have seen, had any been present. From the Enterprise's point of view things were somewhat different.

As the wave front of the rupture passed over the ship the stars winked out on the view screen. Everyone onboard experienced what Commander Riker later described as "being turned inside out and wrung like a wet dish rag" and Dr. Crusher called "the universe turning into a whirligig carnival ride".

The unpleasantness ended fairly quickly and the stars winked back on. The crew took a few seconds to orient themselves, although Data, seemingly unaffected, worked to determine what had happened to the ship.

"What the devil was that?" Picard murmured, the experience on top of the exhaustion making him want to lose the tiny sip of tea he'd managed in his ready room. He told himself sternly that he was not nauseous.

"Captain, the rupture seems to have catapulted the Enterprise approximately 40 light-years in what ship chronometers indicate was 6.7 seconds." Data reported. "My internal chronometer agrees with this reading. This is consistent with the rift having formed a wormhole, which the Enterprise traversed. A preliminary review of ship systems reveals the Enterprise has suffered no damage. Shields are still at one hundred percent, both impulse and warp drives read nominal and there is no sign of the spatial rift. I have disengaged impulse engines."

Data turned to face Picard. "It would seem, Captain, we are none the worse for our recent experience."

"You heard what Q said just before he disappeared, though." Deanna Troi spoke up. "He said all miracles have their price. I don't think the rift rupturing right under us was an accident, Captain. And I find it hard to believe Q would go to all that trouble simply to toss us a mere 40 light years when he could just snap his fingers instead."

"Agreed. Number One have engineering run a ship-wide level 3 diagnostic on all systems. Mr. Worf, please run a thorough scan of space around us. I want to know about any ship traffic within a light-year of us."

"Aye, Captain." The taciturn Klingon officer bent to his task.

"Computer, please inform the eighteen crew members that recently appeared on the bridge to report to sick bay for a medical exam. Have Dr. Crusher inform me of the results of the examinations."

"Acknowledged."

"Councilor, I need you to speak with them once Dr. Crusher has examined them. Find out what they remember."

"Should I tell them about the Borg incident?" She asked.

"No." He snapped, and then waved a hand in apology. "Not unless they volunteer information about it. Just tell them Q is up to his usual tricks again."

"Yes, Captain." She stood, and then said with a half smile. "Whatever else he may be, Q is a convenient explanation for nearly anything."

Picard grimaced. "Indeed. Councilor, I needn't stress how delicate the situation is for those crew members. We need to handle this with the upmost sensitivity and discretion."

"Understood, Captain. " She left the bridge with a thoughtful expression, no doubt wondering how you went about telling something they'd been dead for several months...

"Data, where exactly are we? Why did Q bring us here in particular? Which system are we closest to?"

"Stand by, Captain." Data entered several queries on his console. He sat back with a puzzled look.

"Captain, this is intriguing." Data turned to face Picard. "We are on the edge of the Chara system, approximately 27 light years from Earth."

"Chara?" Picard's brow wrinkled. "Chara has no class M planets, as I recall. Wait a moment. There's something about the Chara system that tugs at my memory. Oh blast, I can't think of it."

"In the early 21'st century, Chara was considered the most likely star within 100 light-years of Earth to have a class M planet, Captain. It was not until the Vulcan High Command gave Earth access to their stellar cartography database that this expectation was proven false. The only anomaly in the Chara system is that it contains an unusually large number of planets and moons-none of which are class M. There are 12 class J planets and four class N ones. The class J planets are collectively circled by hundreds of class G moons, however."

"Why is that so intriguing Mr. Data?" Picard asked curiously. "Other than an enormous number of freakishly large moons, Chara is about as pedestrian a star as one can hope to find. Star Fleet doesn't even have a base here. I don't think there's been so much as a science probe to Chara in the last hundred years."

Data hesitated. "Captain, there is no doubt as to our location. Based on spectroscopic analysis of this system's star, combined with the spectra of other nearby stars, including Sol, I have determined this system must be Chara. Yet it cannot be. Given the anomalies I discovered, I ran a level 4 diagnostic on both astrometric sensors and associated data systems but discovered no problems with our equipment."

"It's not like you to equivocate, Mr. Data. What are you telling me?"

"Captain, if this is indeed the Chara system it has changed beyond all recognition. While there are still 12 class J planets, the four class N planets are now class M. Further, instead of the expected 637 class G moons circling the gas giants there are only 250. However there are also 48 class M moons, 123 class H moons, and 216 class L moons."

Picard stared at his android officer. "Data, that's impossible."

"Yes sir. None the less, it is the case. I have no plausible explanation, however."

Riker and Worf had stopped what they were doing to stare at the view screen in shock. Data had used the screen to put up a plot of the Chara system, showing each planet and moon. Color coded by class, the screen confirmed Data's preposterous claims.

"There is more, Captain." Data continued. "Our database has detailed orbital data on the planets in this system. Although the planetary classifications are impossibly inaccurate, basic planetary masses correspond for every stellar body in the system. But the planetary positions within their orbits do not-unless we have jumped forward in time 153 years."