Room with a Q too - Twenty-First Chapter
Everyone in the Ready Room turned to look at Chakotay.
Q sneered, "We don't want to stage a carnival Commander, can anyone come up with a more sensible suggestion - it shouldn't be too hard?"
Tuvok interjected, "Could you explain what you mean Commander, please!" He glared at Q warning him to be quiet.
Do you remember when we used parabolic mirrors to trick the Kazon into believing we were travelling with a fleet of Talaxien vessels, it worked, just."
Tuvok was puzzled, "How is this relevant Sir?"
"We have two missions; the first one is to rescue the Captain unharmed and the second one is to protect the Captain's children. and I think we can use mirrors to accomplish both objectives."
"I don't think the Borg and their Queen will want to stop and fix their hair and make-up, Chuckles." Q was letting his personal feelings get in the way of his good judgement
"My idea is simple, we send an away party to the Borg Cube using mirrors as shields. The Borg drones will only attack if they consider us a threat. If they see another drone, even though it is a reflected image, it may confuse them long enough to rescue the Captain and get out of there."
Tuvok nodded, "An ingenious idea Commander but if it doesn't work we must have a fall-back position."
"I have a brilliant idea as well," Q said childishly, trying not to sound as though he was in competition with Chakotay - that would be too humiliating.
Chakotay was sceptical "What is your master plan then?"
"I'll go with the away team, when we set foot on the cube, I will disconnect the drones from the hive mind. The Borg bitch will find it extremely difficult to re-establish the link quickly."
Tuvok was the voice of reason, "Well it seems as though we have two excellent plans to rescue the Captain, now all we have to do is work out the most effective of protecting the Captain's children.
The Lieutenant shook his head, he thought he was having trouble with his vision. Amanda was holding Quinn and Qat was crawling around the floor. Now there were two identical babies crawling and Amanda was holding identical baby boys. Then the Twins replicated themselves all over the room, nobody could move without stepping on a Quinn or Qat double.
Q was beaming with parental pride, "I think the twins are quite capable of protecting themselves"
The real Quinn and Qat were having great fun playing with their other selves.
Q clapped his hands to get their attention. "Now children, clear your playthings away until they are needed."
Qat was the cheeky one and wanted to keep playing with the other babies. She waved her hand and Daddy disappeared! Q found himself on the outside of the ship and had to duck as a small rock hurtled towards him. He clicked his fingers and reappeared in the Ready room. He was ready to reprimand the little madam but discovered that they had both fallen asleep. Amanda and Tom Paris were carrying them back to the nursery. He couldn't stay angry with them because they looked so angelic.
Captain Janeway was getting really tired of the Borg Queen, like most evil entities she loved the sound of her own voice.
The Queen was thinking aloud, "Your children will enhance our perfection, I may keep them with me at first to assess whether they will need a maturation chamber.
"You've forgotten one important detail, their omnipotent immortal father is still on Voyager. You would have to kill him to get access to our children."
"We have a non-aggression pact with the Q, at their request. From my sole encounter with your offspring, I believe they are aware, highly intelligent and in full control of their powers. They may resemble human infants but they are Q."
"You felt fear, for the first time, during our last meeting in the nursery." Captain Janeway was taunting the Queen to distract her from a potential rescue attempt."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you Captain but you must have mistaken surprise for fear."
"No, I don't think so, when you watched your creations disintegrate you were frightened. Species 1472 were the only other resistance that the Borg have encountered."
"We beat them!" said the Queen maliciously.
"You had to accept help from my crew first." replied the Captain, enjoying the opportunity to gloat.
Captain Janeway achieved her goal,
"I will make you watch as I assimilate your children, then my first command will be to kill you slowly!"
Captain Janeway was overjoyed, she was actually getting under the Borg Queen's skin, with a little more provocation, she would be so focused on rhetoric that she would miss the action outside of her chambers.
The Borg cubes were now within transporter range. Chakotay was leading an away team of Seven, Tuvok, Paris, the Doctor and reluctantly he allowed Q to join them. They were dressed in black, from head to toe with only their eyes uncovered. They each carried a 'mirror shield' on their arm, based on an ancient design.
They transported to the Cube and drew their weapons, there were no aggressive movements by the Drones, so they holstered them and started the search. Seven took charge, as she knew the layout of the cube.
"This way Commander." advised Seven, she knew which parts of the Cube were less densely populated by Drones.
Paris froze as a Drone walked straight towards him. He knew that he needed to keep his mirror shield in front of him, then move to the side gently to let the Drone continue with his task. He couldn't move! He was behaving like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Seven walked behind him and physically moved him out of the way.
"Are you malfunctioning Mr Paris, Lieutenant Torres would be extremely irate if we allowed you to become assimilated." Seven smiled.
Tom Paris grinned at her, "That was almost a joke, Seven, you are definitely becoming more human."
Seven raised her eyebrows, "I will take that criticism under advisement Mr Paris."
"There you go again, the jokes keep coming."
Everyone in the team gazed in horror as a large group of Drones headed straight for them. Q stepped out of the shadows and clicked his fingers. The Drones stopped suddenly, then returned to their alcoves.
"We have to hurry now, I've disconnected those Drones from the hive mind, the Queen bitch will be aware of our presence on board."
"The Queen's chambers are at the end of this juncture." advised Seven.
Q stepped in front of the away team and held up his hand in a stop gesture.
"This is as far as you go lady and gentlemen , I'll take it from here."
"Q, step out of the way, I agreed to let you come on this mission, with one proviso, that you obeyed orders." Chakotay was upset that he'd given Q the benefit of the doubt.
Q looked at Chakotay honestly for the first time, since they met.
"I will bring her back, that bitch will not keep Kathy or the Twins."
Chakotay looked at Q in disbelief, he actually believed him and even trusted him - a little.
"Voyager, get ready, four to beam up and transfer the Doctor's program back to Sick bay."
Q shook Chakotay's hand, "Make sure you get her back unharmed," and give her my love," Chakotay added cheekily.
Q replied in the same spirit, "Yes to the first request and 'definitely not' to the second.
Then the away team transported back to Voyager. Q stood in front of the doors leading to the Queen's chambers.
"To coin a phrase - Showtime!"
Q decided that although he could walk through the doors, he needed to make a showy entrance. He clicked his fingers then appeared directly in front of the Queen, in an explosion of light.
"Well Qi it's been awhile."
Captain Janeway was flabbergasted, "You know each other?"
"Qi's mother was one of Quinn's disciples. She was killed during an earlier Uncivil War in the Continuum. When the War was over, Quinn smuggled Qi out of the Continuum and left her on a primitive rock, in a misguided attempt to rescue her. She certainly bit the hand that fed her because she assimilated the planet a year later."
"I have an agreement with the Continuum Q, which has stood for a Millenium."
"The deal is off Qi, give me my human back and nobody has to get hurt."
"So she is your human now, do you have her branded?" The Captain was startled to hear the Borg Queen use sarcasm.
"She is promised to me and is the mother of my children."
"Why would I return Captain Janeway.? While she is in my company, your offspring will not endanger their mother with an attack on me."
"Let's ask them shall we?" Q clicked his fingers, after a brief pause Quinn and Qat appeared, sitting on the floor, in front of their father.
Their harsh unblinking stare was intimidating. The Twins joined hands! The first thing to happen was their Mother's escape, Captain Janeway just disappeared. The Borg Queen tried to block the transport, unfortunately she discovered that someone or something had interrupted the power supply!
Now, the Twins started to work on their second objective. The Queen issued a blood curdling scream. They had disconnected her link to the Collective. She couldn't endure the silence. Then she heard two small voices in unison.
"You fear the silence. You are the many, not one, sole, lonely female. You will be able to reconnect yourself to the Hive mind but tread carefully; if you abduct our Mother again, we will ignore your treaty with the Q and will return with one purpose!"
With a flash of light, the Twins and Q disappeared, leaving the Queen alone to frantically repair her link, the silence was deafening.
Qi was deeply concerned. She thought there wasn't anybody alive who would remember her real identity. This Q had been close to her mother's mentor, Quinn. She had to take care of this problem as well as the most dangerous entities she had ever faced. It was hard to believe that they were just babies!