It was 0800 hours when the shift began. The bridge was bustling with people as members of staff came to relieve others, Data taking place at the conn, a young Wesley Crusher taking place at the other side. Worf at tactical, configuring the weapons system, making sure that everything was in order and nothing had been tampered with during the overnight shift. Two science officers took place at auxiliary systems and mission ops, and engineer at science, and a communications officer at communications. Deanna soon walked in and took a seat in the empty chair right of the captain's seat, and before long Picard strolled onto the bridge as well.
The busting of shift change died down with the thinning of staff members, and soon everyone was quietly awaiting orders before they could start their day.
It was rather quieter than usual. At this point in the morning things didn't usually run so smoothly, or at least there was usual chatter about the cabin. Why was it so quiet? "Counsellor.." Picard began, eyebrows knitting together and accentuating deep set wrinkles that had quickly formed over time at the stress of the job. He did a once over of the bridge, turning around a time or two to pinpoint what exactly was amiss. "Where is commander Riker?" This was more of an external thought rather than a direct question, and as soon as Picard had posed it, her own worry began to set in. Will was hardly late. A hard partier yes, and an even heavier drinker when such parties took place but even with a terrible hangover, Riker still managed to show up exactly on time.
"You mean he's scheduled to be here?" She asked softly, hiding the worry in her voice. Picard didn't directly answer her question.
"Computer," he said instead, "locate Commander Riker."
She chimed back in her usual monotone voice, "Commander Riker is not aboard the Enterprise."
This made the uneasiness unfurl further in Picard's gut. "Computer," he tried again. "At what time did Commander Riker use the transporter room, and what is the location?"
She answered promptly. "Commander Riker has not used the teleporter."
The uneasiness bloomed into a blossoming panic. He could feel his blood pressure rise as the realization set in. To keep his composure he took a deep breath and took a seat in his chair, running a hand over his mouth in thought. "All stations, Red alert.. Something's not right."
"AAAAAHH"
The omnipotent tricker that the bridge crew of the Enterprise had the 'privilege' of becoming acquainted with appeared on the starship. He dropped to the floor with a thud loud enough to be heard by the ensigns in their lower deck quarters.
"Good morning, mon capitaine."
His gaze shifted towards the captain's chair in front of him. He cleared his throat, "actually, don't respond yet" Q added. He got up on his feet, "I'm still in my sleep clothes, the Q really do not care to let a man look decent before snapping him away" he chuckled. In the blink of an eye, the entity was back in his usual Starfleet captain attire. "Okay now I'm decent" he remarked, flashing a huge grin at the captain and the ship's councillor.
Q briefly thought about why the bridge crew didnt automatically respond with their usual blabbing he was often greeted with when he visited the flagship. It doesn't take an all knowing immortal god to figure out that Picard and his coworkers were preoccupied by the blaring sound of the red alert. His brown gaze shifted to the empty chair next to the captain.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh."
Q brought his attention back to Picard, biting his lip. He's encountered this bridge crew enough to know that they absolutely think the first officer's disappearance was his fault, that it couldn't just merely be poor timing for the entity to drop in after recognizing that the commander was missing. "It's not what it looks like, honestly" he stated, after noticing Councillor Troi's very intense display of discontentment on her face. It was the most ticked off Q had ever seen her look— which made him wonder if her and Riker finally started knocking boots.
"I'm serious councillor, captain, I have no idea where Commander Riker is!" He half whined over the (what he felt was) the jarring noise of the red alert.
Picard had been so preoccupied with the process of locating commander Riker that he actually hardly noticed when Q blipped on board. Of course this was rather unusual. The moment Q blipped on board the way he did at least once a year, Picard couldn't help but automatically feel his migraine set in. Not today.
The omnipotent being fell from seemingly nowhere onto the left part of the bridge, all the while Picard had stood and began pacing, thinking of what to do next. "Lt Worf, Mr. Data, take a security team to Commander Riker's quarters and conduct an investigation as to where he's gone. Let's get to the bottom of this."
Worf straightened and Data immediately stood from his station, making his way to the turbo lift. "Aye Sir." Worf responded, following Data, tapping the communicator on his right breast. "Security team to Commander Riker's quarters." In one woosh of closing doors the two were gone.
Picard couldn't help but still feel rather afraid. He kept his composure, However, swallowing his ever growing anxiety that twisted his insides like a hungry snake.
"Captain." Deanna said, prompting Picards attention. Though he didn't appear to be worried she could feel the turmoil taking the reins inside of him. He looked to her, then all at once realized why she had said his name in the first place... Q. Q had blipped himself on board and he hadn't so much as granted him the time of day yet. Really he didn't have time for his games right now. There were much more pressing matters at hand.
"Q." Picard turned to the entity, arms plastered to his sides like a toy soldier. "Q whatever charade you're playing right now, that's enough. Bring Riker back and stop this." There it was. The migraine that always accompanied Q's appearance on board. "I'm more inclined to believe that suddenly counselor Troi is the queen of Englad than to believe that you had nothing to do with this. There is no other explanation, and frankly Q, I'm not finding this at all amusing."