Chapter 11
Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis, quam innocentem damnari. It is better that
a crime is left unpunished than that an innocent man is punished.
(Corpus Iuris Civilis: Digesta)
Vicki Ann went over to he mirror and picked up her hairbrush. As she brought it up to her
hair, she looked in the mirror. She gasped and dropped her brush when she saw the
reflection. It wasn't her in the mirror. Instead, a woman with pale, porcelain skin, onyx
eyes, and matching curly hair was staring back at her. Vicki Ann remembered seeing this
woman before. It was Q's mother. "Selene," she whispered, stepping away from the vanity.
The woman emerged from the mirror and walked through the vanity as if it didn't exist. She
smiled. "Hello, Vicki Ann."
Vicki Ann was so shocked that all she could say was, "Hello."
"I understand that this must be scary for you, knowing that I'm dead, but I need you to
listen to me."
Vicki Ann shook her head slightly to snap herself out of her shock. "Alright, I'll listen, but
one question, first. How are you here?"
"All Q are interconnected, therefore, no Q can really die. I am the part of Selene that is
left in the Continuum."
Vicki Ann nodded. "What is this all about?"
"The Q are in the midst of recovering from the war. I fear that if they do not learn from
their past, they will fall victim to this same problem again."
"I understand, but why come to me? Why not go to the Continuum? Or Q? Or his brother?"
"I know of your relationship with my son. I had a feeling that you were the one who could
help and so I have been watching you. My son helping you with your recent illness
confirmed that you were the one to help the Continuum."
"Obviously, a member of the Q would be a better choice."
"You are still a member of the Q. In essence anyway. Part of you is still in the Continuum.
Besides, the Continuum has you to thank for the war ending."
"Me?"
"Yes, your relationship with Q helped to make him the man he has become."
"And what kind of man is that?"
"He has learned to become responsible for his actions. He know realizes that just because
his is a member of the Q, he cannot do what he wishes and believe that it will not affect
anyone."
"I don't know if I believe that, but thank you anyway. But, how can you help the
Continuum by talking to me?"
"There is a secret from the Continuum's past that they must face before they can move
on. When Quinn my husband was a young Q, he made a journey through the Guardian
where he met humans, who didn't exist here yet. He was impressed until he met an
interesting woman. This woman was human and yet she possessed the vast array of
knowledge that he did. She was one who can travel through time and space with their
mind. Thorough this travel, they are capable of acquiring a vast array of knowledge. Quinn
fell in love with this woman and took her back with him. That woman was me. I was kept a
secret for a very long time. We had Q and Q2 and things were fine for a while.
"Then, the Q discovered what Quinn had done. As I said, the Q are interconnected. When
Quinn mated with a human, human blood was infused into the Continuum. It was decided
that no one must find out. Therefore, the memories of the incident of everyone involved
was erased. As far as everyone knew, I was Q and had always been so. Eventually Quinn
changed into he man he is today. The Continuum began to change as well. As other races
developed, the Q became arrogant about their powers."
Vicki Ann gasped. "I can't believe this. But why are you telling me?"
"I want you to tell Q. He'll listen to you. He can tell the Continuum and they can begin to
deal with their past."
Q frowned at Vicki Ann. "Very funny. Did Bashir program you with a new sense of humor?"
Vicki Ann sighed. Selene had left and Vicki Ann had summoned Q with the chimes. She had
told h im what his mother had said, but he didn't believe her. "Q, why would I lie to you?"
She tapped the side of her head. "Am I lying to you?"
Q's frown deepened. "No, you're not." He sat down on the couch. "I can't believe it. My
mother was human."
Vicki Ann laughed. "It wasn't that bad."
"You don't know what could happen, Vicki Ann. My brother and I could be punished for
this. We could be banished from the Continuum."
"Again?"
"Yes."
"What about the people who covered it up?"
"They may be punished as well. I'm going to have to speak to my brother about this. I'll let
you know what happens.:
Vicki Ann put her hand on his arm. "I'm sure everything will be fine, Q."
Vicki Ann was working on some test results for Julian, who was checking on a few
patients. One of the nurses came up to Vicki Ann and said, "Dr. Troi, could you check this
simulation for me?"
"Sure," Vicki Ann replied. She took the PADD from the nurse and looked it over.
One of the patients Julian had finished treating walked over to her. "Are you Dr. Troi?"
"Yes, I am," Vicki Ann replied.
"Victorianna Troi?" the man asked.
"Yes."
"Are you aware that those power couplings you acquired for Section 31 were used to make
a bomb that killed twenty people on Starbase 27?"
Vicki Ann just stared. "No, I wasn't. I was told they were for repairs."
"Well, you should know better than to trust Section 31."
"I'm sorry, sir, but I was ill at the time. I wasn't in my right mind."
"And that makes it alright?"
Vicki Ann was starting to get nervous. "No, I never said that. But, it wasn't my fault."
"It wasn't your fault? You're the one who got those couplings and didn't think that you
might be lied to. You killed all those people!"
Julian noticed that the man was getting angry and he was afraid that the man would hurt
Vicki Ann. He started to walk over to the man, slowly as not to startle him.
"My wife was on that Starbase. You killed her!" the man yelled, reaching for Vicki Ann's
neck.
Julian saw the man begin to strangle Vicki Ann. He sprinted over and subdued the patient
with a hypospray. Then he called security. "Are you alright?" he asked, turning to Vicki Ann
and putting his hand on her shoulder.
Vicki Ann shook his arm off. "No! I knew this was a mistake. I never should have accepted
my license back."
"What are you talking about? You're a brilliant doctor, Vicki Ann."
"No, I'm not Julian!" She pointed to the people in the infirmary. "When they look at me,
they don't see a doctor trying to help people. They see a cold-blooded murderer, who not
only betrayed the Federation, but everything she believed in. And that's exactly what I
see when I look in the mirror. Because that's what I am."
"No, you're not. I know you, Vicki Ann."
"No. The Vicki Ann you knew is dead. Section 31 buried her a long time ago." She took a
deep breath. "As hard as it is for me to do this, I have to." She removed her comm badge
and set it on the table. She turned to leave, but Julian grabbed her arm.
"If it's hard for you to give it up, then at least a little bit of the Vicki Ann I know must still
be inside you."
"No," she replied. "There is nothing of her left. Section 31 made sure of that."
When his shift was over, Julian went to Vicki Ann's quarters. He rang the chime. When she
didn't answer, he overrode the privacy lock. "Vicki Ann, you're not doing yourself any good
by locking yourself here all by yourself."
"Julian, I'm fine. Leave me alone," she called from the other room.
"You can't resign, Vicki Ann."
Vicki Ann sighed. "I don't deserve to be a doctor, Julian."
"Just because you made a few mistakes. . ."
Vicki Ann interrupted him. "Being reinstated by the admiral doesn't erase what I've done.
The first rule of being a doctor, Julian, is first do no harm. I don't deserve that title
anymore, not after all the lives I've cost."
"But it wasn't your fault! You didn't even know about the bomb!"
"No, I didn't, but I got them the parts they needed." She laughed sadly. "You know, they
didn't even tell me what they were using them for. They knew that I wouldn't approve.
After I thought I killed you, I knew I couldn't show any emotion. Instead, I pretended that
I was unaffected by it because I knew it had to be done. They thought that they had won
me, so they began to trust me and told me that it had all been a plan. I was never
supposed to hurt you, instead they wanted you dead to prove that you can have not
attachments, even inside. They thought they had my loyalty. And they did. But not
because I believed in their cause, but because I was scared. Scared for myself. Scared for
the people I love. This fear caused me to join them. And now I'm paying for it, by giving up
the only thing I've ever loved."
Julian Bashir needed to figure out a way to talk Vicki Ann into taking back her resignation.
She'd left it on his desk sometime last night. She probably figured that if she came in
person, he'd try to talk her out of it, or refuse to accept it. Maybe he could call her in and
say he needed to talk to her about her health or something. He called up her medical
records. Well, I can ask her to come to the infirmary to see if she is ready to get the
implant out. "Dr. Bashir to Victorianna Troi, please report to the infirmary, immediately."
Ten minutes later, Vicki Ann walked in, wearing simple black pants an a blue sweater.
"What do you want, Julian?"
"I want to check you to see your brain has adjusted to being with out the drugs. If it has,
I can remove the implant."
"Alright." As Vicki Ann walked over to the biobed Julian pointed to, Julian's console
exploded. Julian was thrown across the room and knocked unconscious. A second later,
there was another explosion on the Promenade. Vicki Ann rushed over to Julian. He was
fine except for the fact that he was unconscious. Vicki Ann heard some commotion. She
looked up and saw that there was a bunch of people standing in the doorway to the
infirmary with various injuries. A young Bajoran woman ran in carrying a small boy. "Please,"
she cried frantically. "My son is injured. Is anyone here a doctor?"
Vicki Ann looked from the boy to Julian and back to the boy. "I am," she said, standing up.
She began to treat the little boy's injuries and when she finished, she went on to then
next patient and all the way down the line.
Once Vicki Ann was finished, she asked one of the nurses to help her lift Julian onto a
biobed. She checked his condition. He was fine. Then she collapsed into a chair. A few
moments later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped up and turned around. "Julian!"
She stood up and smiled at him. "How are you feeling?"
"I'll live," he replied. "Who took care of all the injuries?"
"I did."
Julian nodded.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't have a choice. You were unconscious and the nurses couldn't have
handled some of the worse injuries," she stammered.
Julian walked over to his desk and opened a drawer and pulled out a PADD. "Well, then. We
have two options, Vicki Ann. We can turn in this resignation into Starfleet or we can hit
delete and forget it ever happened."
Vicki Ann gasped. "Julian, you mean you didn't turn it in?"
He shook his head.
"Excuse me," said a voice from the doorway. The woman whose child Vicki Ann had treated
first was standing there with her son. She walked over to Vicki Ann. "You fixed my son's
broken arm earlier. He insisted that we bring this to you." The little boy held up a picture.
It was of Vicki Ann fixing his arm and it said in great big rainbow letters, "Thank you."
The little boy grinned at her and said. "Thank you for making my arm better."
Vicki Ann smiled at the boy as she picked him up. She hugged him. "No, thank you," she
whispered, tears beginning to run down her face. She took the picture and put the boy
down. "Now you take care of that arm, young man," she said, shaking her finger at him.
The boy nodded. "I will."
The boy's mother smiled. "Thank you again."
"You're welcome," Vicki Ann replied. After they left, Vicki Ann turned to Julian. "Dr. Bashir, I
believe you should hit delete."
Julian smiled and obeyed. "Welcome back, Vicki Ann," he said, giving her a hug.
Quark rubbed his hands together earnestly. "Okay. Tonight is the night you've all been
waiting for. Two genetically engineered doctors facing off a the dartboard. In five minutes,
all bets will close."
Vicki Ann laughed. She turned to Julian. "I wonder who's favored, you or me?"
Julian shrugged. "Did you hear from Q yet?"
Vicki Ann shook her head. "No, I-" She vanished in mid- sentence.
"Looks like I got my answer," Julian replied. "Hey, Quark!" he called as he went over to the
bar.
Vicki Ann appeared in a courtroom surrounded by strangers who seemed slightly familiar in
the back of her mind. In the defendant's seat, sat Q, complete with handcuffs. Vicki Ann
was sitting in the witness stand. A man walked up her. She assumed he was the
equivalent of the prosecuting attorney.
"Dr. Troi, you have been brought here as a witness in the trial of Q."
"What are the charges?"
"Inciting a revolution, treason, conspiracy, inferiority. If his story is verified by you, he
could also be charged with contamination of the Continuum and the timeline and fraud."
Q2, who looked like he was the defense attorney, walked over to the witness stand. "Vicki
Ann, you've been brought here to testify for Q." He became serious. "Doctor Troi, do you
know the defendant?"
"Yes."
"What is your relationship with him?"
"We're friends."
"Is it true that you were romantically involved with him?"
"Yes."
"Why did you end the relationship?"
"Because both of us loved our lives too much to leave them so that we could be together."
"Do you trust him?"
"Yes."
"Do you believe what he tells you?"
"Unless I sense otherwise."
"Sense? What do you mean by that?"
"We are telepathically linked from when I was Q."
"According to the defendant's testimony, you told him that you spoke to his mother, who
is deceased. Is this true?"
"Yes."
"A deceased member of the Continuum, came to you and spoke to you?"
"Yes."
"What did she say?"
"She told me that when her husband was young, he brought her through the Guardian of
Forever from another timeline. They had children, Q and Q2. The Continuum discovered
that she was human and covered it up by making her a Q and erasing the memories of
those involved."
"So what you're saying is that the defendant's mother was human."
"Yes."
"And that some members of the Continuum were involved in covering this up."
"Yes."
"Well, fellow members of the Continuum, it looks to me like Q isn't the one who should be
on trial, but the ones who covered up his mother's heritage," Q2 finished.
The other attorney began his speech. "Q and his brother should be banished from the
Continuum permanently. They are not fully Q and their being in the Continuum has caused
us nothing but trouble. They have caused human blood to be brought into the Continuum
not only once, but twice. They should be punished for their crimes against us."
"May I say something?" Vicki Ann asked.
The attorney nodded. "Go ahead."
"Q and Q2 may be responsible for infusing some human blood into the Continuum. But, they
were also responsible for helping the Continuum get through some rough times. Q2 has
always been a respected member of the Continuum, and Q helped to end the war. If Q
hadn't found a way to end the war, you could still be fighting each other. You know the
consequences of that. Q saved you from yourselves. Now it is time for you to save Q from
yourselves. Without someone like Q, who has lived as a mortal and interacted with
mortals, you will fall into the same trap that you did before; letting your arrogance drive
you to boredom, which in turn will cause dissidents. You need to embrace your roots and
deal with this secret from your past, so that you can learn from this mistake. Don't punish
Q for something that wasn't his fault. Don't punish him for being born." As soon as she
finished, she vanished and reappeared in Quark's again.
Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis, quam innocentem damnari. It is better that
a crime is left unpunished than that an innocent man is punished.
(Corpus Iuris Civilis: Digesta)
Vicki Ann went over to he mirror and picked up her hairbrush. As she brought it up to her
hair, she looked in the mirror. She gasped and dropped her brush when she saw the
reflection. It wasn't her in the mirror. Instead, a woman with pale, porcelain skin, onyx
eyes, and matching curly hair was staring back at her. Vicki Ann remembered seeing this
woman before. It was Q's mother. "Selene," she whispered, stepping away from the vanity.
The woman emerged from the mirror and walked through the vanity as if it didn't exist. She
smiled. "Hello, Vicki Ann."
Vicki Ann was so shocked that all she could say was, "Hello."
"I understand that this must be scary for you, knowing that I'm dead, but I need you to
listen to me."
Vicki Ann shook her head slightly to snap herself out of her shock. "Alright, I'll listen, but
one question, first. How are you here?"
"All Q are interconnected, therefore, no Q can really die. I am the part of Selene that is
left in the Continuum."
Vicki Ann nodded. "What is this all about?"
"The Q are in the midst of recovering from the war. I fear that if they do not learn from
their past, they will fall victim to this same problem again."
"I understand, but why come to me? Why not go to the Continuum? Or Q? Or his brother?"
"I know of your relationship with my son. I had a feeling that you were the one who could
help and so I have been watching you. My son helping you with your recent illness
confirmed that you were the one to help the Continuum."
"Obviously, a member of the Q would be a better choice."
"You are still a member of the Q. In essence anyway. Part of you is still in the Continuum.
Besides, the Continuum has you to thank for the war ending."
"Me?"
"Yes, your relationship with Q helped to make him the man he has become."
"And what kind of man is that?"
"He has learned to become responsible for his actions. He know realizes that just because
his is a member of the Q, he cannot do what he wishes and believe that it will not affect
anyone."
"I don't know if I believe that, but thank you anyway. But, how can you help the
Continuum by talking to me?"
"There is a secret from the Continuum's past that they must face before they can move
on. When Quinn my husband was a young Q, he made a journey through the Guardian
where he met humans, who didn't exist here yet. He was impressed until he met an
interesting woman. This woman was human and yet she possessed the vast array of
knowledge that he did. She was one who can travel through time and space with their
mind. Thorough this travel, they are capable of acquiring a vast array of knowledge. Quinn
fell in love with this woman and took her back with him. That woman was me. I was kept a
secret for a very long time. We had Q and Q2 and things were fine for a while.
"Then, the Q discovered what Quinn had done. As I said, the Q are interconnected. When
Quinn mated with a human, human blood was infused into the Continuum. It was decided
that no one must find out. Therefore, the memories of the incident of everyone involved
was erased. As far as everyone knew, I was Q and had always been so. Eventually Quinn
changed into he man he is today. The Continuum began to change as well. As other races
developed, the Q became arrogant about their powers."
Vicki Ann gasped. "I can't believe this. But why are you telling me?"
"I want you to tell Q. He'll listen to you. He can tell the Continuum and they can begin to
deal with their past."
Q frowned at Vicki Ann. "Very funny. Did Bashir program you with a new sense of humor?"
Vicki Ann sighed. Selene had left and Vicki Ann had summoned Q with the chimes. She had
told h im what his mother had said, but he didn't believe her. "Q, why would I lie to you?"
She tapped the side of her head. "Am I lying to you?"
Q's frown deepened. "No, you're not." He sat down on the couch. "I can't believe it. My
mother was human."
Vicki Ann laughed. "It wasn't that bad."
"You don't know what could happen, Vicki Ann. My brother and I could be punished for
this. We could be banished from the Continuum."
"Again?"
"Yes."
"What about the people who covered it up?"
"They may be punished as well. I'm going to have to speak to my brother about this. I'll let
you know what happens.:
Vicki Ann put her hand on his arm. "I'm sure everything will be fine, Q."
Vicki Ann was working on some test results for Julian, who was checking on a few
patients. One of the nurses came up to Vicki Ann and said, "Dr. Troi, could you check this
simulation for me?"
"Sure," Vicki Ann replied. She took the PADD from the nurse and looked it over.
One of the patients Julian had finished treating walked over to her. "Are you Dr. Troi?"
"Yes, I am," Vicki Ann replied.
"Victorianna Troi?" the man asked.
"Yes."
"Are you aware that those power couplings you acquired for Section 31 were used to make
a bomb that killed twenty people on Starbase 27?"
Vicki Ann just stared. "No, I wasn't. I was told they were for repairs."
"Well, you should know better than to trust Section 31."
"I'm sorry, sir, but I was ill at the time. I wasn't in my right mind."
"And that makes it alright?"
Vicki Ann was starting to get nervous. "No, I never said that. But, it wasn't my fault."
"It wasn't your fault? You're the one who got those couplings and didn't think that you
might be lied to. You killed all those people!"
Julian noticed that the man was getting angry and he was afraid that the man would hurt
Vicki Ann. He started to walk over to the man, slowly as not to startle him.
"My wife was on that Starbase. You killed her!" the man yelled, reaching for Vicki Ann's
neck.
Julian saw the man begin to strangle Vicki Ann. He sprinted over and subdued the patient
with a hypospray. Then he called security. "Are you alright?" he asked, turning to Vicki Ann
and putting his hand on her shoulder.
Vicki Ann shook his arm off. "No! I knew this was a mistake. I never should have accepted
my license back."
"What are you talking about? You're a brilliant doctor, Vicki Ann."
"No, I'm not Julian!" She pointed to the people in the infirmary. "When they look at me,
they don't see a doctor trying to help people. They see a cold-blooded murderer, who not
only betrayed the Federation, but everything she believed in. And that's exactly what I
see when I look in the mirror. Because that's what I am."
"No, you're not. I know you, Vicki Ann."
"No. The Vicki Ann you knew is dead. Section 31 buried her a long time ago." She took a
deep breath. "As hard as it is for me to do this, I have to." She removed her comm badge
and set it on the table. She turned to leave, but Julian grabbed her arm.
"If it's hard for you to give it up, then at least a little bit of the Vicki Ann I know must still
be inside you."
"No," she replied. "There is nothing of her left. Section 31 made sure of that."
When his shift was over, Julian went to Vicki Ann's quarters. He rang the chime. When she
didn't answer, he overrode the privacy lock. "Vicki Ann, you're not doing yourself any good
by locking yourself here all by yourself."
"Julian, I'm fine. Leave me alone," she called from the other room.
"You can't resign, Vicki Ann."
Vicki Ann sighed. "I don't deserve to be a doctor, Julian."
"Just because you made a few mistakes. . ."
Vicki Ann interrupted him. "Being reinstated by the admiral doesn't erase what I've done.
The first rule of being a doctor, Julian, is first do no harm. I don't deserve that title
anymore, not after all the lives I've cost."
"But it wasn't your fault! You didn't even know about the bomb!"
"No, I didn't, but I got them the parts they needed." She laughed sadly. "You know, they
didn't even tell me what they were using them for. They knew that I wouldn't approve.
After I thought I killed you, I knew I couldn't show any emotion. Instead, I pretended that
I was unaffected by it because I knew it had to be done. They thought that they had won
me, so they began to trust me and told me that it had all been a plan. I was never
supposed to hurt you, instead they wanted you dead to prove that you can have not
attachments, even inside. They thought they had my loyalty. And they did. But not
because I believed in their cause, but because I was scared. Scared for myself. Scared for
the people I love. This fear caused me to join them. And now I'm paying for it, by giving up
the only thing I've ever loved."
Julian Bashir needed to figure out a way to talk Vicki Ann into taking back her resignation.
She'd left it on his desk sometime last night. She probably figured that if she came in
person, he'd try to talk her out of it, or refuse to accept it. Maybe he could call her in and
say he needed to talk to her about her health or something. He called up her medical
records. Well, I can ask her to come to the infirmary to see if she is ready to get the
implant out. "Dr. Bashir to Victorianna Troi, please report to the infirmary, immediately."
Ten minutes later, Vicki Ann walked in, wearing simple black pants an a blue sweater.
"What do you want, Julian?"
"I want to check you to see your brain has adjusted to being with out the drugs. If it has,
I can remove the implant."
"Alright." As Vicki Ann walked over to the biobed Julian pointed to, Julian's console
exploded. Julian was thrown across the room and knocked unconscious. A second later,
there was another explosion on the Promenade. Vicki Ann rushed over to Julian. He was
fine except for the fact that he was unconscious. Vicki Ann heard some commotion. She
looked up and saw that there was a bunch of people standing in the doorway to the
infirmary with various injuries. A young Bajoran woman ran in carrying a small boy. "Please,"
she cried frantically. "My son is injured. Is anyone here a doctor?"
Vicki Ann looked from the boy to Julian and back to the boy. "I am," she said, standing up.
She began to treat the little boy's injuries and when she finished, she went on to then
next patient and all the way down the line.
Once Vicki Ann was finished, she asked one of the nurses to help her lift Julian onto a
biobed. She checked his condition. He was fine. Then she collapsed into a chair. A few
moments later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped up and turned around. "Julian!"
She stood up and smiled at him. "How are you feeling?"
"I'll live," he replied. "Who took care of all the injuries?"
"I did."
Julian nodded.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't have a choice. You were unconscious and the nurses couldn't have
handled some of the worse injuries," she stammered.
Julian walked over to his desk and opened a drawer and pulled out a PADD. "Well, then. We
have two options, Vicki Ann. We can turn in this resignation into Starfleet or we can hit
delete and forget it ever happened."
Vicki Ann gasped. "Julian, you mean you didn't turn it in?"
He shook his head.
"Excuse me," said a voice from the doorway. The woman whose child Vicki Ann had treated
first was standing there with her son. She walked over to Vicki Ann. "You fixed my son's
broken arm earlier. He insisted that we bring this to you." The little boy held up a picture.
It was of Vicki Ann fixing his arm and it said in great big rainbow letters, "Thank you."
The little boy grinned at her and said. "Thank you for making my arm better."
Vicki Ann smiled at the boy as she picked him up. She hugged him. "No, thank you," she
whispered, tears beginning to run down her face. She took the picture and put the boy
down. "Now you take care of that arm, young man," she said, shaking her finger at him.
The boy nodded. "I will."
The boy's mother smiled. "Thank you again."
"You're welcome," Vicki Ann replied. After they left, Vicki Ann turned to Julian. "Dr. Bashir, I
believe you should hit delete."
Julian smiled and obeyed. "Welcome back, Vicki Ann," he said, giving her a hug.
Quark rubbed his hands together earnestly. "Okay. Tonight is the night you've all been
waiting for. Two genetically engineered doctors facing off a the dartboard. In five minutes,
all bets will close."
Vicki Ann laughed. She turned to Julian. "I wonder who's favored, you or me?"
Julian shrugged. "Did you hear from Q yet?"
Vicki Ann shook her head. "No, I-" She vanished in mid- sentence.
"Looks like I got my answer," Julian replied. "Hey, Quark!" he called as he went over to the
bar.
Vicki Ann appeared in a courtroom surrounded by strangers who seemed slightly familiar in
the back of her mind. In the defendant's seat, sat Q, complete with handcuffs. Vicki Ann
was sitting in the witness stand. A man walked up her. She assumed he was the
equivalent of the prosecuting attorney.
"Dr. Troi, you have been brought here as a witness in the trial of Q."
"What are the charges?"
"Inciting a revolution, treason, conspiracy, inferiority. If his story is verified by you, he
could also be charged with contamination of the Continuum and the timeline and fraud."
Q2, who looked like he was the defense attorney, walked over to the witness stand. "Vicki
Ann, you've been brought here to testify for Q." He became serious. "Doctor Troi, do you
know the defendant?"
"Yes."
"What is your relationship with him?"
"We're friends."
"Is it true that you were romantically involved with him?"
"Yes."
"Why did you end the relationship?"
"Because both of us loved our lives too much to leave them so that we could be together."
"Do you trust him?"
"Yes."
"Do you believe what he tells you?"
"Unless I sense otherwise."
"Sense? What do you mean by that?"
"We are telepathically linked from when I was Q."
"According to the defendant's testimony, you told him that you spoke to his mother, who
is deceased. Is this true?"
"Yes."
"A deceased member of the Continuum, came to you and spoke to you?"
"Yes."
"What did she say?"
"She told me that when her husband was young, he brought her through the Guardian of
Forever from another timeline. They had children, Q and Q2. The Continuum discovered
that she was human and covered it up by making her a Q and erasing the memories of
those involved."
"So what you're saying is that the defendant's mother was human."
"Yes."
"And that some members of the Continuum were involved in covering this up."
"Yes."
"Well, fellow members of the Continuum, it looks to me like Q isn't the one who should be
on trial, but the ones who covered up his mother's heritage," Q2 finished.
The other attorney began his speech. "Q and his brother should be banished from the
Continuum permanently. They are not fully Q and their being in the Continuum has caused
us nothing but trouble. They have caused human blood to be brought into the Continuum
not only once, but twice. They should be punished for their crimes against us."
"May I say something?" Vicki Ann asked.
The attorney nodded. "Go ahead."
"Q and Q2 may be responsible for infusing some human blood into the Continuum. But, they
were also responsible for helping the Continuum get through some rough times. Q2 has
always been a respected member of the Continuum, and Q helped to end the war. If Q
hadn't found a way to end the war, you could still be fighting each other. You know the
consequences of that. Q saved you from yourselves. Now it is time for you to save Q from
yourselves. Without someone like Q, who has lived as a mortal and interacted with
mortals, you will fall into the same trap that you did before; letting your arrogance drive
you to boredom, which in turn will cause dissidents. You need to embrace your roots and
deal with this secret from your past, so that you can learn from this mistake. Don't punish
Q for something that wasn't his fault. Don't punish him for being born." As soon as she
finished, she vanished and reappeared in Quark's again.