ultimat7
CHAPTER SEVEN


"I've called this conference at the request of this young lady, who claims to be from the past and yet knows our future," Captain Sisko explained, gesturing towards Anja. "There's only one person missing."

"One Q, should we say," muttered Picard.

"Explain this again to me," requested Captain Kirk.

"Q is a being who has many somewhat supernatural powers," Sisko said. "Evidently, he decided to bring together the four of us, and this is relevant because in Anja's universe we are all from television series of the same timeline. She claims to have written a book in which all four of our crews
come together somehow. The best explanation that I can offer is that Q read her story and decided that it should come to be."

"I didn't know that Q was involved until I got a chance to talk to Captain Janeway," added Anja. "I guess he isn't bound to one universe but can traverse between parallel timelines. He could be responsible for 'Star Trek' in my era."

Janeway nodded. "That makes sense. But why do it?"

Picard answered, "From my experiences with Q, he has nothing better to occupy his time than to meddle in the affairs of humanity. We're like laboratory rats to him. He wanted to know what would happen if he put all of us in the same experiment together."

"The Q seem to lead an incredibly boring existence," Janeway agreed. "Perhaps Q has to resort to such experimentation with humanity to occupy himself."

"So we're in his maze," Kirk mused. "What puzzle are we supposed to solve?"

"I can answer that," stated Anja.

"Don't bother," came a voice as Q appeared in their midst. "Ah, Mon Capitains!"

Frau, who was sitting in on the meeting, quipped, "You should learn German."

"Well, then, as you wish," replied Q. "Meine Kapitane!"

"What do you want, Q?" asked Picard.

"Simple, Jean-Luc. I want you to find this." A spinning sphere appeared in his hand, a miniature planet, and he clutched it and tossed it through the ceiling. "That planet is out there, Meine Kapitane, and you must find it! That is the puzzle, and here is the prize." A stack of cloth appeared in his
hand. "Embroidered 'Star Trek' T-shirts, straight from Garak's tailor shop." He held one up so that all could see the design.

"Q, we really don't have time for this," sighed Captain Sisko, exasperated.

"Well, I'll tell you what you do have time for. He," Q pointed at Kirk, "will not return to his time, and neither will she, she, or she," he continued, pointing at Anja, Hannah and Frau each in turn. "And neither will your young visitor, Captain Janeway, unless you play by my rules."

"Okay, we're listening." Janeway spoke for all four captains assembled.

"The planet you are to find is called 'Shadah,' and no Starfleet officer has ever heard of it. However, it is not so far away, in fact, closer even than Starfleet itself! So let the games begin!" With that, Q vanished.

"He changed it," moaned Anja.

"What do you mean?" asked Sisko.

"He changed the planet we're supposed to find. It was supposed to be a planet from a Bajoran myth. Instead, he threw in some planet out of my imagination that's not even in the 'Star Trek' universe!"

"He said that the planet was closer than Starfleet itself," Kirk put in. "If you imagined it up, maybe he meant that since it's in you, that's why it's so nearby."

"Do you have any idea how to reach this planet?" questioned Sisko.

"Well, in its timeline, it's a planet colonized by humans in the early twenty-fourth century. It's a part of StarCommand, an alliance of earth and many colonized planets. It's further away from earth than Corelam, but in the opposite direction, and it's closer than Carratos and Beta Craig."

"Names of planets which do not exist in our universe," Picard stated flatly.

"Maybe . . ." began Janeway. "Who created 'Star Trek' in your universe?"

"Gene Roddenberry, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"If the idea for 'Star Trek' was implanted in his mind by Q from our universe, then perhaps he planted the idea for this new universe, where humankind has colonized and expanded to other planets instead of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence, in your mind. Perhaps he included a map."

"But I don't know exactly where they are," complained Anja, "just a general direction, and we can't just jump from one universe to another. It's impossible!"

"Then how did you get here from your universe?" inquired Janeway. "It's possible. We can use the same technology that brought us back to the Alpha Quadrant to find your universe and this new planet."

"Even if you don't know exactly where this planet is, maybe it's in your mind nonetheless, and you just haven't been able to access the information. Perhaps Doctor Bashir could find a way to access any data implanted by Q," suggested Sisko.

"You mean, dissect my brain?!" blurted Anja.

"By no means!" laughed Sisko. "It would simply be a nonintrusive scan."

"Perhaps a mind-meld would be more efficient," offered Kirk.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Anja replied. "Scans are enough for me."

Julian Bashir frowned as he studied the trillions of complex neural pathways that composed the miraculous organ of the brain, containing more information than one could possibly read in a lifetime. He was faced with the decision of which messages to decipher, a more than daunting task, even with his genetically enhanced intelligence. Several parts of this brain were in complete, active use, and he discarded these segments of conscious thought, focusing on the unconscious, but just being realized.

Anja stared, fascinated, over the Doctor's shoulder at the multitude of displays mapping her brain function. "So you can, like, read my mind?"

"In a matter of speaking," Bashir responded.

"How do you know where to look?"

"I don't." His hands dancing over the control panels, Bashir scrolled the information by so quickly that it seemed blurred.

"Well, Q wouldn't make it entirely impossible. He should still follow the basic philosophy of my story, shouldn't he? I mean, the only reason he changed the planet is 'cause I already knew how to find it. It wouldn't be a puzzle if someone already knew the answer."

"I suppose it wouldn't. So what is this philosophy that you're so sure he has to follow?" asked Bashir distractedly.

"To every complicated problem there is a simple solution. Think about it. There must be some way to narrow down the search; it's too complex."

"How, then, do you suggest we do that?"

"I don't know. Hey, wait a minute! The only reason I don't know exactly where to find Shadah is because I haven't created its location yet. So, if I make up some coordinates, it should be there!"

"It can't hurt to try," sighed Bashir, finally looking up. "I could read your brain for days and still get no further than your REM files."

"My what?"

"Dreams."

"Oh, I have the weirdest dreams . . ."

Bashir cut her off. "I can bet."

Anja scowled.