Chapter 53

Head down, Picard advanced on Yar without a second thought. She lifted a hand and he was suddenly unable to move any closer to her.

Yar tilted her head at him. He noted that her hair was now cut very short, and seemed a brighter shade of blonde than before. She had a noticeable glow about her. "You haven't thought this through at all, have you Picard?"

He said nothing, but stopped trying to push against the invisible force field she had erected, preventing him from coming any closer.

"I can read your every thought Picard, and you have no idea how to use your power to stop me, do you?" She laughed. "Your supposed hero here has no plan…." she called out, to Jack and Wesley. "He's been bluffing this entire time. He has no idea how to finish this."

There was a flash and she reappeared in a second flash standing over Wesley and Jack. Wesley was just beginning to come to. She knelt down and rested her hand on his head. "What's to stop me from killing them, Picard? Certainly, not you."

"Leave them out of this," he shouted over the hot wind, which seemed to be picking up. The red sun was beginning to set in the distance. "This is between us!"

An instant later she was standing face to face with him. "Picard… egotistical to the last aren't you? This is between whoever I say it's between. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm setting the rules here, not you." She studied his face. "You want to have it out with me, don't you? A 'fair fight', is what you're thinking? How archaic and human of you."

"There will be no such thing as a fair fight unless you can agree not to use your powers," he said staring her down.

"And if you win, then what? I stop what I'm doing and go back to being human? You can't be serious," she scoffed.

"No," he said. "But you must promise to leave Earth alone."

"Hmm." Yar cracked her knuckles and broke into a slow smile. "Fine," she said. "It's been a while since I had a good fight."

She grinned. "So we'll fight for the fate of Earth. But you know I can't promise to not use my powers, Picard…how else will I convince you to use your own?" She lifted her hand toward him and he was pinned fast against the bridge railing. He struggled to get free as she stepped toward him. She grabbed his face with her hand and squeezed. He tried to twist his face away, but her grip was like a vice.

She leaned in close. "Even without my powers I would beat you in a fight, Picard; you know that! And look at you…you're bleeding internally. Right there… " She pushed him in the chest lightly and he gasped. "You know that's not good, Picard, and this toxic air can't help much. Do you really want to fight me in your condition? You'll only embarrass yourself."

"Why are you still trying to get me to use my power?" He said; his voice and body shaking with anger. "Why does it even matter to you? You have what you want already."

"Because you just won't give up, you stubborn son of a bitch. Why should you be the only hold out? You're not even a real Q," she sneered.

"Neither are you, Yar."

She finally let go of his face roughly, and stepped away. She walked away and then looked back at Jack and Wesley again. She turned back to Picard with a grin. "You know what? You're right. This is just between us. I'll send them back to the Enterprise, but for the record, I'm going to also let them watch from on high. They should be able to see your demise for themselves…you know so this time they won't have to wonder for another eleven years whether you're alive or dead. They'll know for certain that you're never coming back."

At least they would be off of this awful planet, Picard thought. He licked his dry lips, and coughed. "Let me say goodbye to them?" He stared at her and she merely shrugged with a slight smile, watching him as he passed.


He jogged over to where Jack and Wesley both sat up now; Jack in pain and Wesley groggy but awake. He knelt down. "She's going to send you both back up to the Enterprise." He brushed the hair away from Wesley's face. "You both need medical assistance." He studied Wesley. He didn't see any implants, but there was an injection mark in his neck, and another ugly one behind his ear. What had they done to him?

"I'm okay," Wesley murmured.

"Jean-Luc, just tell her to send us all back to the Enterprise," Jack urged him, struggling to sit up. "We'll take the trans warp conduit back to Earth."

Picard's forehead crinkled. "And then what, Jack? The Earth will be destroyed as long as she exists."

"But you heard her, sir," Wesley said. "There's no such thing as a fair fight with her. You can't kill her."

"Jean-Luc, listen to us." Jack reasoned quietly. "Maybe this is the end of the line. Maybe she wins. Wes is right…even if you use your power to kill her…well she's immortal, right? Tell her you want to go with us."

Picard got shakily to his feet. "No, Jack. As long as there's a chance, I have to try."

"Jean-Luc…what about Beverly? I—I won't stand in the way anymore. Just please come with us."

Picard shook his head, looking down sadly at Jack. "Please tell her…."

Jack nodded grimly. "I will…."

Wesley got to his feet suddenly and grabbed Picard into a hug. "I know you can do it, sir."

Picard wished he possessed Wesley's confidence. He put his hand on the back of Wesley's head and kissed his temple. "Go and see your mother. Promise me you will take care of each other…and Jack too." Wesley nodded into his father's shoulder and then pulled away. Wesley went to stand next to Jack, and put a hand on his shoulder.

Picard turned away then, and before he even started to walk away, he heard and saw the flash from behind him, and they were gone.

Yar leaned casually against a broken railing behind him. "How touching..." She cracked her knuckles and straightened. "Ready to get your ass kicked?"


"Doctor Crusher to the bridge, we need a medical team up here, right away," Riker shouted, as Jack and Wesley Crusher appeared on the bridge out of nowhere. Wesley looked disheveled and was covered in soot colored dust, but he seemed relatively unharmed—at least physically. Jack was wearing an environmental suit and was holding his left arm gingerly. He was standing awkwardly putting all of his weight on his right leg, so Riker helped him over to sit down in the Captain's chair.

"Captain! The front view screen has been activated..." The Ensign at ops frowned looking for a malfunction. "I can't switch it off, sir," he said.

"She's going to make us watch him die," Jack said, quietly, closing his eyes and pressing himself back wearily into the Captain's chair.

"What the-?" Riker turned questioningly to the front view screen as it flicked on. Wesley sat down on the floor, hugging his knees, and staring up at the screen. Deanna Troi moved to stand next to him, and together they stared forward in shock.

Beverly and her medical team burst onto the bridge at that moment. Felix and Alyssa rushed down to the front of the bridge, following her. She saw Wesley first, huddled on the floor sitting next to the helm, gazing transfixed at the main viewer. Too focused on her son, she didn't notice what he was looking at as she rushed to him breathlessly.

He turned and stood up as she approached and they embraced tightly. Beverly was laughing. "Are you hurt?" she asked suddenly, pulling away from him to take a look at his face.

"I don't think so…the Borg injected me with something, some kind of drug though. Here and here," he showed her. "I don't remember." His face was very pale. She touched his neck, and ran her tricorder over him.

"Ow! Easy there," she heard Jack protesting from behind her. Smiling at the sound of his voice, Beverly turned and saw that Jack was seated in the Captain's chair. Alyssa Ogawa was using a bone knitting device on his left arm, and Felix was testing Jack's left knee.

Despite his pain, Jack smiled at Beverly. "Hi Bev…you are certainly a sight for my sore eyes," he said quietly. Beverly glanced at Wesley again, before walking toward him without a word. Deanna put her arm around Wesley's shoulders comfortingly.

She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek lightly. When she stood up, there was an unspoken question in her eyes. Jack winced as Felix straightened his injured leg out in front of him. She continued to gaze at him expectantly, holding Jack's hand. He knew she was trying to hold it together and wasn't going to ask him the question. He looked up into her eyes. "Beverly, Jean-Luc told me to tell you that he loves you…."

Beverly's lips parted and she clutched the hem of her lab coat in her right hand. "Is he still alive?" she whispered.

Jack rubbed his dusty face with his good forearm. Not knowing how else to tell her, he pointed resignedly at the view screen. "He's with Yar….She wants us to watch it."

"Watch…it?" Confused, Beverly spun to look at the screen, and her face turned ashen.

It was an eerie picture. On a red planet with black and red lava flows, two figures dressed in black stood about ten paces apart on a long bridge. The vantage point was just close enough so that she could see that it was Jean-Luc and Yar. "I—I don't understand," she said. "What is happening?"

"She sent Dad and me back up here, Mom. But Yar said she wanted us to see what happened. They're going to fight." Beverly looked back at the screen with alarm. She could see that Jean-Luc was clutching his chest and she could tell that he was injured. She felt herself getting sick.

The turbo lift opened and Walker walked on to the bridge. "What the hell?" he said, seeing what was happening on the view screen. Wesley turned and nodded hello to him, and he walked down to take a seat in the command center.

"Why don't you just fire on the energy grid? Worf asked suddenly. Riker had agreed to let him man a science station, because he had been complaining about feeling useless. Also, Riker guessed Worf's wife was driving him crazy, and he needed an escape. "Perhaps Yar is distracted and the field strength will be weaker," Worf added.

Riker glanced at Jack briefly. He hadn't been relieved of his temporary command yet, and Jack was injured. "Fire phasers at random points along the grid," Riker ordered.

A few moments later, they all struggled to stand upright as the ship was jarred. "Shields up!" shouted Riker, steadying himself.

"Sir, we've taken damage…from our own weapons strike," sir," announced Diaz. "It just bounced off the grid and came back to hit us, Captain."

There was a flash of white light next to Beverly Crusher, who jumped back in alarm.


"That's what you get for listening to a Klingon, Riker," said the tall dark-haired man who had just appeared. "I wouldn't suggest doing that again if you value your lives—such as they are."

"Q!" Beverly exclaimed. The rest of the crew stared at the new visitor in stunned silence.

"Yes…Doctor Crusher, we meet again. Reports of my death were not only exaggerated, but were also celebrated with shocking enthusiasm in many corners of the universe. Believe me, you have no idea how much you are truly reviled until you die."

"But you're back…so you can stop her. You can help Jean-Luc." Beverly said, looking at Q hopefully.

Q began to pace back and forth. "Actually, I am still hoping he will be able to help me…you see I only have the power of teleportation right now. It seems the Power is uninterested in renewing its Understanding with the Q until Picard works his magic down there against Yar," he said nodding at the view screen.

"So like you, I'm simply here to watch and see if Picard lives or dies," said Q. "It all seems so arbitrary, doesn't it?"