"Bridge to counselor Troi, where are you?" Sounded in the communicator. It was commander Riker and there was a slight concern in his voice.
"Great heavens, I am late!" Deanna jumped out of the bed and grabbed her uniform, trying to put it on as quickly as it was possible. The clock on the wall showed Zero Eight Zero Six Hundred Hours.
"I have never been late for the shift before!" Deanna said to herself. Dee was half sitting in her bed and watched her panic.
"I guess it is my fault. I apologize." She said quietly.
Deanna looked at her, still struggling with the closing of the upper part of the uniform. Indeed, she barely slept at night, but it was no excuse. She suspected however that it was the connection with Dee that set her biological clock out of balance. As a betazoid she had trained the ability to wake up at the hour she programmed with her mind and she could always trust it even if she was very tired. Now she was thinking only what awaited them after she would tell the captain the latest news. Dee seemed to share her concern.
"Should I come with you?"
Deanna hesitated. "No. But get ready, I am sure they will call you soon, anyway."
Dee nodded. Deanna smiled to her and ran out.
On the bridge Riker welcomed her with an amused look. Her best friend also realized how strange was her delay. The captain however was not delighted.
"Take your seat, counselor." He said with a cold tone.
"Aye, sir. I am sorry, sir." Deanna took a deep breath. The sooner she would have it behind her, the better. "Captain, I have a very important information. It is about Dee."
"Yes?" Picard stopped in a half step to his chair.
After a few minutes the admiral and his assistance ran into the bridge.
"Mr. Worf," Picard was nervously walking around the control panels. "Bring our guest to the conference room and wait for us there. Mr. Data, is everything ready for the meeting with the ferengi?
"Aye, sir. The time to their arrival is one hour, twenty-one minutes and thirty-five sec…"
"Excellent." Picard interrupted impatiently. Number One, Troi, you come with us." He let the admiral come through the elevator door first. To everybody's surprise they heard the voice of Guinan in the main communication channel.
"Captain is it true about the ferengi delegation coming here?"
"That's correct. What's going on, Guinan?"
"Captain, don't let them on board! There will be trouble."
"What? Guinan, be specific."
"I will join your meeting. Guinan out."
The admiral was listening to this with an astonishment on his face.
"You have a colorful crew over here, Picard."
"In the conference room, they found Worf and Dee already waiting for them. Dee was sitting at the table, while Worf was standing behind her and staring at her with a frown. Deanna ran to her, pushed him aside and embraced her.
"I don't see a reason to treat her as an enemy!" She reproached him.
"I don't see a reason to trust a Q!" He muttered.
"Indeed. I am tired of solving the problems of Q entities on board of my ship!" Picard came close to them.
"Captain, please, listen to me." Dee stood up. "I have never done anything to you."
"Dee was one of the Q entities watching the happenings on the Farpoint Station, and observing the actions of their… envoy." Troi explained. Dee stepped away from her and faced Picard, suddenly looking calm and confident.
"My being here wasn't planned. I don't know how can make you believe me. I know you don't trust us."
"There are many reasons." Picard interrupted, but his voice sounded gentler again. "Why didn't you tell us right away who you were?"
"I was afraid you wouldn't let me stay on the ship." She looked down.
"Captain, please." Deanna walked around the table to come closer to him. "Not all Q are the same. You sure remember Amanda?"
"Who had kidnapped commander Riker to her fantasy world as soon as she had learned how to use her powers? Yes, we remember her."
"She didn't mean to hurt anyone. Besides, Dee here doesn't have her powers. She was only trying to survive."
"Captain," Guinan, who so far was standing on the back and listened to this silently, now stepped forward. "The ferengi have a device that took her powers away. If you let them come to the Enterprise, I am sure they will find a way to take it with them."
"How do you know about it, Guinan?" Riker took place next to more and more astonished looking Picard.
"The device is still working. I sense its energy around Dee."
Dee looked at her and took a few steps closer. Her face, from the shy girl a moment ago, had rapidly changed. She was pale, and when she spoke, her voice sounded much colder and deeper.
"Yes. You know it well, don't you? You know exactly, what they have done to me." The tension in the air was so stiff that everybody silenced and just watched the two of them.
"It was long ago. They were supposed to be destroyed." Guinan stated silently. Picard could sense a hint of a remorse in her voice. He didn't understand anything of that and it very much irritated him.
"What the hell is going on here?" The admiral seemed to read his mind and decided to take the charge. He turned to Guinan.
"If you had recognized this girl before, why didn't you report it to the captain of this ship at once? This was your duty!" Picard felt his pressure raising. He wanted to throw the admiral out of there and the fact that he was in fact right made it even worse.
"It is not my duty to interfere in a personal life of the crew." Guinan glanced at Deanna. "Besides, the last thing I would expect were the ferengi allowed to come here." Picard couldn't stand it any longer.
"Enough! Guinan, explain yourself! What kind of device are you talking about?"
Guinan sighed.
"Many centuries ago my race was at war with some of the Q.
"Some of the Q?" Dee repeated mockingly. Her entire posture seemed to look bigger and older and there was pure hatred and fury in her eyes. Riker gazed at Deanna and to his surprise, Troi expressed similar emotions. She stood behind Dee, with her hands clenched in fists.
"Your people terrorized thousands of beings. And many of them were much less powerful than Q. You really thought you could have taken us? Oh please!" She laughed somewhat hysterically, which very much resembled Picard the other Q. Apparently making theatrical scenes was running in the family, he thought. Deanna came closer to Dee and embraced her from behind.
"Captain, the ferengi are expected to arrive in thirty minutes." Data communicated from the bridge.
"Everybody calm down!" Picard stepped between Guinan and Dee. "You will both control yourself. Guinan, you are staying with us. Counselor Troi, you should have reported to me the news about our guest much sooner. This is an insubordination. But we don't have time to discuss it now. When our new guests arrive, I expect everybody to be civil. Is that clear?"
"Aye, Sir." Guinan, Deanna and Dee replied together, with their voices perfectly synchronized. They looked at each other awkwardly.
"Good." Picard pressed his communicator and blinked, feeling incoming headache. "Mr Data. You and the security officers will go with me and commander Riker to welcome our guests. Mr. Worf, I want you to stay here.
"Picard this is madness. Everything on this ship is turned upside down. You don't follow any rules and your crew members act due to their personal affections. This girl should be sent away immediately, so is your bartender!"
"Not now, admiral!"
"There will be a hearing awaiting you on Earth, Picard!" And he left the conference room, so did his assistants. Everybody stood silent for a while. Dee and Deanna looked like they were about to jump Guinan to the throat, Picard and Riker separated them and Worf was walking around, ready for action if necessary.
"Captain, the three ferengi representatives are waiting for the transport." The voice of Data was taken with a relief.
"Let's go." Picard and Riker left the room.
The transporter slowly materialized three shapes. The ferengi leader, the one speaking previously on the screen, was wearing something that looked like a cheap version of a golden armor, decorated with big, colorful gems. Or so it seemed. His forehead covered a platinum headband and he had a big ring on each of his fingers. His little, green eyes looked around curiously. His two assistants looked very much alike, but their armors were more silver-like. On the contrary to their leader, they looked less confident as if being on the Enterprise was a bit overwhelming.
"I am Jean-Luc Picard, the captain of the Enterprise," Picard started diplomatically before they managed to speak. "And I don't remember hearing your names before," he added stiffly.
"Pardon moi," The first ferengi started effusively and bowed his head. "I am Mog. And these are my younger brothers, Merg and Sor. We are peaceful merchands and historians. We do not seek war with anybody. We just want to take back what's ours." After the last sentence, they all smiled, showing all their teeth. Picard and Riker felt an increasing revulsion. The ferengi stepped down from the teleportation podium and wanted to go towards the corridor.
"One moment, please. We need to check if you didn't bring any weapons." The security officers blocked the door. The youngest looking ferengi, Sor, made a sound that resembled a growl.
"Not a problem, officers," Mog didn't lose his confidence and raised his both hand to the air, patiently waiting for the scanners to go around him. So did the others.
"Alright. Let's go to the conference room, then. Shall we?" Picard pointed the way.
Before the elevator door opened before them, Picard gestured at the security officers to surround ferengi. He stepped to the room first. Dee was standing behind Deanna. When everyone stepped in, a bright, blinding light appeared in the opposite corner of the room.
"Nert!" In a second Dee ran through the room and got to the familiar looking silhouette, dressed in the federation admiral uniform.
"Mon Capitan, mon capitan. How could you let these ugly trolls enter such a beautiful ship? I am disappointed." Speaking this, Q let Dee cling to him and wrapped her tightly in his embrace. Picard was speechless.