Chapter 5: Amongst Strangers
"Yes, yes," Q was saying. "It all makes perfect sense now."
He smiled smugly to himself, forgetting that he had an audience. Only after the tension in the room had risen to a tangible level did he remember that he wasn't alone.
Q's smile faded when he saw the look on the faces of the others in the room.
""Great," he sighed wearily, "I suppose I'll have to spell it out for you, won't I?"
"It would be nice, Q" Troi said, maintaining a civil tone. She glanced at the rest of the crew. "I believe we are still in the dark as to your exact reason for being here."
"Of course, Counselor," Q said in resignation. "I forget how limited you humans are."
Dr. Crusher looked as though she were about to say something less than nice. Q threw her a warning look and raised a finger to her.
"I would keep quiet if I were you, Doctor," he admonished. "Dogs aren't allowed on the bridge, you know."
A rose blush tinted Beverly's porcelain cheeks as she gritted her teeth and steeled her gaze on a point above Troi's head.
"Keep in mind what I've already said and listen carefully, I hate to repeat myself." Q skimmed over each of their faces, before settling his gaze on Picard.
"When the breach in the universes opened up, three timelines converged: this one, Enterprise C's, and another. This current timeline was suspended until the breach was closed. Only Guinan was affected by the rift in the continuum for whatever reason. In the alternate timeline, Tasha was indeed alive and well, as she should have been. Obviously, Guinan knew that in her timeline Tasha was dead and I suppose she thought that it should be that way no matter what universe they were in," Q waved his hand in dismissal, obviously he couldn't care less about her intentions. "Anyway, the problem would have been resolved by sending Enterprise C back without Tasha. The unraveling of the universes began by removing her from a world where she belonged and thrusting her into one where she didn't."
Q seemed quite tickled by the fact that Guinan was inadvertently responsible for the demise of several timelines. Things were turning out far better than he had planned and he could hardly wait to bring this little matter before the Enterprise's bartender.
"There's something I don't understand, Q" Picard frowned. "If Tasha's displacement is what began the unraveling, why would bringing her here stop it."
Q slapped his palms down on the tabletop. "Really, Jean-Luc." Exasperation filled his words, "Your restricted capacity to understand matters of the universe can be rather irritating."
"Not half as irritating as you are," someone mumbled under their breath.
Q shot a spiteful glare in the general direction of the comment.
"Answer me, Q" Picard prodded crossly. He patience with the entity was running dangerously low.
"All right," Q straightened his shoulders and tugged at his sleeve. "No, need to get testy. To begin with, I never said that bringing her here would solve the problem. And as I previously stated, this universe is the crux of the space-time continuum and therefore the most stable. She can stay here without causing any further damage until I'm ready for her. It's not a complex concept."
Riker shifted in his seat and pinned Q with a steely glare. "That doesn't make any sense," he snarled.
"I didn't expect it to make any sense to you," Q retorted superiorly. "In time, you'll understand." He paused a beat then added snidely, "At least I think you will."
The Captain regarded Q with a veiled expression. He tapped a finger against the arm of his chair.
"Why can't she remain with you?" he asked pointedly.
Q sighed dramatically. "Because I've a few errands to run and I don't care to baby-sit."
It was Picard's turn to sigh and he did so in acquiescence. "I don't see that we have a choice in this matter."
Q shook his head arrogantly. "You don't."
The senior staff exchanged apprehensive looks. None knew what to expect from the multiversal prankster.
"There is something you have to know about this Tasha," Q said standing up. "She does not carry the memories of the Tasha you knew. The timeline she is from was one that was developing identical to this one, but with a fifteen year difference. She's only twenty-one and has yet to become this wonderful tin can's Security Chief."
Q shrugged. "Other than that she's the same."
He gave them no chance to think, let alone question him. The familiar flare of light engulfed him and left behind a ghost from their past.
************************************************
It happened without warning or provocation. Tasha lifted her head and found herself in another alien environment. Only this time she was not alone. Six unfamiliar strangers surrounded her. They stared at her with shaken countenances and grief-stricken eyes. Their features were indistinguishable; Tasha's eyes refused to focus. Shapes were blurred; colors bleeded into one another.
Panic latched onto her. She could feel it pulling itself up her spine. The floor beneath her began to whirl. Sanity was ebbing, reality fading. She sought anxiously for something to grab onto. Something blue separated itself from amongst the swirling pool of colors. The color morphed into a uniform as her vision began to clear. A Starfleet uniform no less! Tasha clung to the sight of the familiar costume like a lifeline.
Panic loosened its hold and began to decline. She scanned the others around her. Officers. All of them. Starfleet. But something was still wrong. Her gaze fell to the left and landed on a male officer. She found the rank pips on a collar that was too high. Lieutenant Commander. His face had such a strange pallor to it. A yellowish tint. Pale gold eyes stared at her inquisitively as though trying to decide how to classify her. Panic reestablished its grip. His dark hair was combed back from his face, each strand perfectly in place. Too perfect. It unnerved her. A coldness settled deep within her bones.
Her eyes swept across them. Their faces were all the same. And their eyes stared with such intensity that it felt as though they burned a hole through her. She was caged. Adrenaline surged through her veins; she was prepared to run. Her chest constricted; her breath came in short puffs as tiny pins stabbed her lungs with each inhalation.
Blue. Where was the blue uniform? There.it was still there. Tasha realized for the first time that an actual person inhabited the uniform. A woman with hair that resembled an Eridanian sunburst. Perhaps it was the woman's kind features or the tranquil azure of her uniform that helped to ease her frazzled nerves. Whatever it was caused the girl to plead with stormy gray eyes for the woman to help her. Confusion reared its head when she saw the medical officer's look of unmasked consternation. The Doctor's face had truly turned a whiter shade of pale, making her piercing blue eyes appear to be electrified. But what had caused such a reaction?
What could I have done to make them all react so? Tasha's mind reeled. I don't know any of them? Why do they keep staring at me?!
Once again, she turned wild eyes on them each in turn. For the first time she noticed that one of them wore some sort of visual aid over his eyes.
Starfleet. Starfleet. They're with Starfleet. Starfleet. The words pounded over and over again in her ears. They were. weren't they? The collar of the uniforms was the only significant difference between their attire and hers.
Desperate to make some sort of sense out of the bizarre situation, Tasha once again skimmed over the unfamiliar people before her. This time, she saw a man in a red uniform directly in front of her. His face was devoid of emotion, but like the others, his eyes relayed a pain. A pain, she knew, that was some how related to her. Forcing herself to look at the man's face as a whole and not just zeroing in on his eyes, Tasha's bafflement soared to an insurmountable height. She recognized the man instantly. She didn't have to look at his rank pips to know his position. Captain, undoubtedly. What other rank would Jean-Luc Picard have?
Such a discovery was really too much for the poor girl to handle. The sound of her racing heart became the only sound she could perceive; even her labored breathing could not be heard above its hammering. Though she was sitting on the floor, the room began to swirl about her at dizzying speed until finally everything went dark.
"Yes, yes," Q was saying. "It all makes perfect sense now."
He smiled smugly to himself, forgetting that he had an audience. Only after the tension in the room had risen to a tangible level did he remember that he wasn't alone.
Q's smile faded when he saw the look on the faces of the others in the room.
""Great," he sighed wearily, "I suppose I'll have to spell it out for you, won't I?"
"It would be nice, Q" Troi said, maintaining a civil tone. She glanced at the rest of the crew. "I believe we are still in the dark as to your exact reason for being here."
"Of course, Counselor," Q said in resignation. "I forget how limited you humans are."
Dr. Crusher looked as though she were about to say something less than nice. Q threw her a warning look and raised a finger to her.
"I would keep quiet if I were you, Doctor," he admonished. "Dogs aren't allowed on the bridge, you know."
A rose blush tinted Beverly's porcelain cheeks as she gritted her teeth and steeled her gaze on a point above Troi's head.
"Keep in mind what I've already said and listen carefully, I hate to repeat myself." Q skimmed over each of their faces, before settling his gaze on Picard.
"When the breach in the universes opened up, three timelines converged: this one, Enterprise C's, and another. This current timeline was suspended until the breach was closed. Only Guinan was affected by the rift in the continuum for whatever reason. In the alternate timeline, Tasha was indeed alive and well, as she should have been. Obviously, Guinan knew that in her timeline Tasha was dead and I suppose she thought that it should be that way no matter what universe they were in," Q waved his hand in dismissal, obviously he couldn't care less about her intentions. "Anyway, the problem would have been resolved by sending Enterprise C back without Tasha. The unraveling of the universes began by removing her from a world where she belonged and thrusting her into one where she didn't."
Q seemed quite tickled by the fact that Guinan was inadvertently responsible for the demise of several timelines. Things were turning out far better than he had planned and he could hardly wait to bring this little matter before the Enterprise's bartender.
"There's something I don't understand, Q" Picard frowned. "If Tasha's displacement is what began the unraveling, why would bringing her here stop it."
Q slapped his palms down on the tabletop. "Really, Jean-Luc." Exasperation filled his words, "Your restricted capacity to understand matters of the universe can be rather irritating."
"Not half as irritating as you are," someone mumbled under their breath.
Q shot a spiteful glare in the general direction of the comment.
"Answer me, Q" Picard prodded crossly. He patience with the entity was running dangerously low.
"All right," Q straightened his shoulders and tugged at his sleeve. "No, need to get testy. To begin with, I never said that bringing her here would solve the problem. And as I previously stated, this universe is the crux of the space-time continuum and therefore the most stable. She can stay here without causing any further damage until I'm ready for her. It's not a complex concept."
Riker shifted in his seat and pinned Q with a steely glare. "That doesn't make any sense," he snarled.
"I didn't expect it to make any sense to you," Q retorted superiorly. "In time, you'll understand." He paused a beat then added snidely, "At least I think you will."
The Captain regarded Q with a veiled expression. He tapped a finger against the arm of his chair.
"Why can't she remain with you?" he asked pointedly.
Q sighed dramatically. "Because I've a few errands to run and I don't care to baby-sit."
It was Picard's turn to sigh and he did so in acquiescence. "I don't see that we have a choice in this matter."
Q shook his head arrogantly. "You don't."
The senior staff exchanged apprehensive looks. None knew what to expect from the multiversal prankster.
"There is something you have to know about this Tasha," Q said standing up. "She does not carry the memories of the Tasha you knew. The timeline she is from was one that was developing identical to this one, but with a fifteen year difference. She's only twenty-one and has yet to become this wonderful tin can's Security Chief."
Q shrugged. "Other than that she's the same."
He gave them no chance to think, let alone question him. The familiar flare of light engulfed him and left behind a ghost from their past.
************************************************
It happened without warning or provocation. Tasha lifted her head and found herself in another alien environment. Only this time she was not alone. Six unfamiliar strangers surrounded her. They stared at her with shaken countenances and grief-stricken eyes. Their features were indistinguishable; Tasha's eyes refused to focus. Shapes were blurred; colors bleeded into one another.
Panic latched onto her. She could feel it pulling itself up her spine. The floor beneath her began to whirl. Sanity was ebbing, reality fading. She sought anxiously for something to grab onto. Something blue separated itself from amongst the swirling pool of colors. The color morphed into a uniform as her vision began to clear. A Starfleet uniform no less! Tasha clung to the sight of the familiar costume like a lifeline.
Panic loosened its hold and began to decline. She scanned the others around her. Officers. All of them. Starfleet. But something was still wrong. Her gaze fell to the left and landed on a male officer. She found the rank pips on a collar that was too high. Lieutenant Commander. His face had such a strange pallor to it. A yellowish tint. Pale gold eyes stared at her inquisitively as though trying to decide how to classify her. Panic reestablished its grip. His dark hair was combed back from his face, each strand perfectly in place. Too perfect. It unnerved her. A coldness settled deep within her bones.
Her eyes swept across them. Their faces were all the same. And their eyes stared with such intensity that it felt as though they burned a hole through her. She was caged. Adrenaline surged through her veins; she was prepared to run. Her chest constricted; her breath came in short puffs as tiny pins stabbed her lungs with each inhalation.
Blue. Where was the blue uniform? There.it was still there. Tasha realized for the first time that an actual person inhabited the uniform. A woman with hair that resembled an Eridanian sunburst. Perhaps it was the woman's kind features or the tranquil azure of her uniform that helped to ease her frazzled nerves. Whatever it was caused the girl to plead with stormy gray eyes for the woman to help her. Confusion reared its head when she saw the medical officer's look of unmasked consternation. The Doctor's face had truly turned a whiter shade of pale, making her piercing blue eyes appear to be electrified. But what had caused such a reaction?
What could I have done to make them all react so? Tasha's mind reeled. I don't know any of them? Why do they keep staring at me?!
Once again, she turned wild eyes on them each in turn. For the first time she noticed that one of them wore some sort of visual aid over his eyes.
Starfleet. Starfleet. They're with Starfleet. Starfleet. The words pounded over and over again in her ears. They were. weren't they? The collar of the uniforms was the only significant difference between their attire and hers.
Desperate to make some sort of sense out of the bizarre situation, Tasha once again skimmed over the unfamiliar people before her. This time, she saw a man in a red uniform directly in front of her. His face was devoid of emotion, but like the others, his eyes relayed a pain. A pain, she knew, that was some how related to her. Forcing herself to look at the man's face as a whole and not just zeroing in on his eyes, Tasha's bafflement soared to an insurmountable height. She recognized the man instantly. She didn't have to look at his rank pips to know his position. Captain, undoubtedly. What other rank would Jean-Luc Picard have?
Such a discovery was really too much for the poor girl to handle. The sound of her racing heart became the only sound she could perceive; even her labored breathing could not be heard above its hammering. Though she was sitting on the floor, the room began to swirl about her at dizzying speed until finally everything went dark.