Chapter 38

He pressed himself against the cold wall and inched along it. He heard the sound of heavy boots on the other side around the corner. The screams had come from that direction, from beyond the boots. His breath came in shallow gasps. He hadn't been in anything resembling this environment before. It wasn't technology he was familiar with. Strange triangular green nodes were situated above the walkway in several places. Were they communications devices, or were they keeping track of his movements? As strange, metallic and claustrophobic the environment was, he did not think he was on board a ship. No, this was a base of some sort.

He shut his eyes, hearing the screams again. They were coming from far away and from at least one level below where he was. Just around the corner ahead of him, he heard a door hiss open and then shut as boots stomped mechanically out. They marched away from his hiding place, and he allowed himself a deep inhale and exhale. Not sure of his motivations, he stepped quickly around the corner and moved toward the room. The door opened without resistance and he stepped inside.

A bubbling sound dominated the room. He was surrounded by vats of a pink-hued thick liquid. The bubbling sound grew louder as he approached. It wasn't until he stood directly over one of the vats that he saw that its contents contained bluish tentacles, which floated in the viscous pink material. He felt immediately ill, and moved to the next vat. Leaning over, he jumping back with a yelp as a three-toed foot bobbed to the surface. It wasn't attached to a limb; it was just a foot, and was the same blue skin color as the tentacles in the last vat.

Breathing erratically, he back up quickly and then turned and ducked out of the room. The hallway was empty but he still heard boots in the distance. He began to proceed cautiously down the hall. And every now and then he heard a sustained scream, followed by silence.

Jack Crusher looked around the conference table at his senior staff. Commander Worf had returned to the Batleh about an hour previously, but was participating in the meeting remotely. His stern image glared at them from the large conference view screen at the end of the table. "So, as Doctor Crusher has explained," said Jack, "we're now in a situation where Jean-Luc is now for some reason back under the influence of the Q, although according to his message, he will be returning to us in a few hours…."

He shook his head, wondering what could possibly happen next. He'd seen Jean-Luc floating oddly in his quarters, after Beverly had summoned him there a while earlier, and he could still hardly believe his own eyes. "Doctor Crusher will continue to monitor him, to ensure his safety during this…procedure, and we can only hope that Jean-Luc will be alright when it is done. For the record, we have no idea what the Q are doing to him."

He interlaced his fingers on the table in front of him. "Perhaps even more shocking and disturbing is that Agent Yar is also a Q, and she left the ship after apparently killing a member of the Q Continuum, known only to Dr. Crusher as, oddly enough…Q."

"She threatened us, Captain," said Beverly. "She said if she returned we would learn a new kind of fear."

"Yar's inclusion of the conjunctive 'if' in her threat suggests that she may not intend to return to this ship at all," said Data.

"When I first met Jean-Luc's Q friend, he explained that Yar was somehow involved in the Borg's development when she was a Q. She was expelled by the Q for trying to get revenge on humanity by influencing the Borg to become interested in humans."

"Beverly, why didn't you tell us any of this before?" Walker said gently. He couldn't exactly be outraged, given that he had also figured it out shortly before Shelby's death, and had chosen to keep it to himself as well.

"I promised Jean-Luc that I wouldn't tell anyone. He was trying to protect the people on this ship. He thought if Yar knew that we knew her intent to re-gain the power of the Q, she would destroy us all once she gained it."

"And so, now what's stopping her from doing just that?" Geordi raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing," said Jack. "She has unlimited power, doesn't she? But I suppose the Q could just kick her out again."

Beverly shook her head. "It's not that simple. I don't entirely understand it, but she has some ability that even the Q are afraid of. They seem to expect Jean-Luc to save them from Yar."

"What?" Jack exclaimed.

"He only has one use of the Q power left," said Beverly. she felt the intense stares of her colleagues.

"One use," Walker said slowly. "That's why he's been so careful about using it."

"The Q seem to think he will be able to save us all," said Beverly.

"But the all-knowing, god-like beings can't save themselves?" Geordi asked.

"I don't know, Geordi, I didn't say any of this made sense," said Beverly, shaking her head.

"If Yar really intends to exact revenge on humanity, she may have other goals in mind," said Riker. "We might no longer be a concern of hers. She was with us to obtain Picard's power, and once she found another way…all I am suggesting is that she might not care about us anymore."

"Revenge against humanity for what?" said Worf.

"She's from Turkana IV," Walker said. "If I grew up on Turkana and then was abducted by an alien race with super powers, who later evicted me, I might be a very bitter person. I might want revenge for Turkana having been abandoned by the Federation, and for my childhood having been a complete mess. And having that power, I might seek out revenge."

"But against whom?" Deanna Troi asked. "I don't like being the one to say it, but Earth is the obvious target of her wrath. Turkana IV was a playground for Earth travelers and then was later abandoned, becoming a drug and crime-infested hell. Probably the one into which she was born."

Everyone fell silent.

After a few uncomfortable moments, Jack spoke again. "Well…that brings us to our next topic, which is that the Enterprise is currently in no position to stop Yar, the Borg or anyone else from attacking Earth. We're over forty-years away from Earth, unless we find a trans warp conduit," said Jack.

"We're working on it," said Geordi, nodding toward Data. "Actually, we'd like to get Mr. Crusher's input as well, if you don't mind, sir" he said.

Jack hesitated, glancing at Beverly who nodded. "I want my son safe, but I recognize he has some special abilities that could be of use to this project. So yes…but be careful," said Jack.

Geordi nodded with a smile. "Understood."

Jack turned to Worf on the view screen. "We have another dilemma, Commander. We have no idea how to proceed to find the Marca children once we arrive at the Borg planet, because we were relying primarily on Jean-Luc and his knowledge of the Q to show us the way. He's now incapacitated, but the longer we delay without proceeding to the planet, the more we risk being identified by the Borg. We are going to lose our ability to keep both ships cloaked; the only question is when. So, my plan, if you agree, is to proceed cloaked to the Borg planet and wait for Jean-Luc to wake up."

"You…believe that he will have all the answers when he does?" Worf said somewhat suspiciously.

"Based on my experience, I am going to trust that he will have the ones that we need," said Jack firmly.

"Are you alright?" Jack touched Beverly's arm as the others filed out of the conference room. She turned to look at him.

She couldn't see the signs of jealousy she had come to expect from Jack these last few weeks, so she allowed her expression to soften. "Yes," she said. "Thank you for asking."

"This whole thing with Jean-Luc and the Q…" Jack trailed off in mid-sentence. "I really don't know what to think."

"I don't either," she said. "But in his note he assured me he would be fine."

"But you don't believe him," Jack said with a slightly sympathetic smile.

Beverly put her hands in the pockets of her lab coat but said nothing. She felt that she was on the verge of breaking down crying, but she was trying to hold it together. Bringing her hand to her forehead, she turned to leave, but Jack stopped her.

"Wait," he said. "I hate to see you this way," he said reaching out to gather her into a hug. At first she stiffened, but then slowly relaxed into his embrace.

They stood this way for a few moments, until she pulled back, studying his face. Grabbing her to him again, this time almost desperately, he kissed her. She responded by pushing him away roughly, but he gripped her arms. "This isn't what I want, Jack," she said firmly, looking him directly in the eye. Abruptly he dropped his hands and stepped back against the table as she exited the room quickly.

When Beverly walked into Jean-Luc's quarters, Guinan was there. She sat in apparent meditation next to Picard, who continued to sway back and forth in mid-air as if attached to a string. Guinan got to her feet fluidly and turned to face Beverly.

Beverly put her med kit down on the table. "If you knew what they were doing to him, would you tell me?"

Guinan adjusted her hat. "It's called memory retrieval," she said simply. "They are helping him to remember something he should have never experienced in the first place."

"Why?"

"Because without that memory there will be no future," she said, moving to leave.

"Am I selfish?" Beverly blurted out as Guinan reached the doorway. The bartender turned back around slowly with a questioning expression.

"I want him to wake up. I don't care about fate or even saving anyone right now. I just want to be with him for as long as we have left."

"I'm not sure if that's selfish or not," said Guinan. "But it sounds very human to me.".

After Guinan left, Beverly took out her tricorder and began taking his vitals. Suddenly his body jerked, and his mouth opened in a look of silent horror.

A Few Hours later...

"How is he?" Jack asked, stopping in the doorway of her office.

Beverly looked up at him. "He's the same," she said flatly, and turned back to finishing Geordi's discharge report.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Bev." He looked down at his feet momentarily. "I really didn't think you were going to leave his side."

"Well, I do have work to do. But Jack, you've seen the way he's just…just hanging there. Have no idea what's even happening to him. As a doctor, do you have any idea how that makes me feel? I can't do a damn thing to help him." Again, she turned back to what she had been doing.

"Well…look, you can be honest with me, Beverly. I am your husband, after all…." She looked up at him sharply at that. There, he'd finally gained her attention; something that had seemed almost impossible for him to do lately. "I know your feelings for him have nothing to do with you being concerned for his health."

She stood up and leaned over her desk. "Oh you know that, do you, Jack? Are you attuned to my feelings now, after being clueless for so long?"

"Come on, Bev, that's not fair. I've tried to be understanding, but we're still married. Am I just supposed to ignore that you and Jean-Luc are having non-stop sex everywhere on the ship while I'm looking like an idiot?"

Beverly flushed angrily. "Everywhere on the ship? Well, you have quite the imagination about this don't you Jack? Are you suggesting that I'm throwing this in your face?"

"I'm still Captain of this ship, and you're making me look pathetic."

"Oh…so this is about your reputation? Well, I'm sure your future political career will be safe Jack. That is, if we ever get out of the Delta Quadrant alive!"

"Do you still have them?"

Beverly shook her head in confusion. "What?"

Jack moved around her desk quickly. "The divorce documents you threatened me with months ago; because I will sign the damn things right now!"

"You think I keep the divorce documents in my office drawer waiting for you to come by and sign them? Jack, I can't do this with you right now." She sat back down.

"Then send them to me when you go back to your quarters. I can't do this with you anymore, Beverly. You don't love me, and I want out." Abruptly, he turned and left her office.

He wanted to leave, but something was telling him to continue to explore. He wanted to know where he was, and he wanted to know why he kept hearing someone or something in distress. He moved quickly to the level below and listened for the screams again, but it had grown quiet once more. Suddenly a door opened and he froze at the sound of heavy marching boots again.

It seemed these things were able to counter the low gravity with these boots. They had no trouble, as he had, of moving efficiently. Suddenly he saw them. There were three of them and they seemed to pivot in unison when they spotted hm. "It won't work properly for you, if you are not in control of it. You can't be afraid or otherwise full of emotion, Picard, or the power will not cooperate with you—at least not now while you are new to the Continuum," Q had told him.

They were dressed completely in black and had odd mechanical contraptions attached to their arms and legs. The whirring of tiny motors now competed with the sound of stomping boots. Their gait was stiff and robotic, and their faces seemed drained of any color. They seemed to notice that he was there, but seemed unsurprised by his sudden arrival.

He tried to calm himself, and raised his hand in self-defense. He could intensely sense their lack of concern for his welfare; and yet they now seemed interested in him. As he held his arm at the ready, a white glow began to emanate from his hand. As they closed in on him, he clenched his fist, but the light suddenly faded, failing him.

Hearing a step behind him, he tried to turn, just as a thin green filament was thrust into his temple. He screamed and fell writhing to the floor. A figure in black bent over him, holding a small device in its palm. It squeezed the device and an electrical wave passed from his head to his feet, causing his muscles to freeze in a series of agonizing cramps. He tried to tell himself to teleport, tried to concentrate through the pain, but it was too late. Too late for him.