"Seamus Zelazney Harper," The femanine voiced breathed heavily over the comm link, "We know you are aboard that ship."
Harper looked at the others, and tried to respond, "Uh...you do?"
"Your assimilation will add to our perfection. Are you prepared to join us?"
"Once we're done with your cube, I'm gonna sell you for scrap."
"Can you really bring yourself to kill one of your only friends? We know you care for Andromeda. If you were assimilated, you could join her in the collective. Even now, I can hear her song. She is calling out to you Harper. Can you turn your back on her?"
"She... she isn't Rommie anymore."
"Are you so certain? Could you destroy the ship knowing that she is still in there somewhere? She still exists in the collective. We are one. You could be one with her as well. You could be closer to her than you ever dreamed possible."
"I won't let you confuse me," Harper responded half-heartedly.
"I'm only trying to show you the truth. You have no idea of the bliss you would experience with the collective. It is perfection. You would feel no more pain or sorrow. With us, you could have power. You would have the knowledge of millions. If you join us, we can free you from chaos."
"Maybe..."
"Harper!" Dylan shouted. Instantly, Harper appeared to be come out of a daze.
"The Borg must be using some kind of telepathic effect," Rommie surmized.
"How did you do it?" Harper asked, "I've never seen the Borg do anything like that."
The Borg queen half smiled, "I'm sure you know the abilities of the Jedi. We do not usually play such mind games, but at times they can be efficient."
"Jedi?" Harper asked, "They aren't even in Star Trek! How could you assimilate them?"
"You have studied us, and yet you still think in such individualistic terms. There are many time lines worthy of our attention."
"But, the Force is so strong..."
"The Jedi were resistant, like thousands of species before them. And now, they're all Borg," The queen paused, smiling arrogantly, "They fell, one by one. You will too, in time. We have existed for hundreds of thousands of years, waiting for the perfect moment to assimilate each species. Now, it is time for this universe to join us."
"We aren't going to go quietly," Dylan responded, and cut communications with the Borg, "Let's bring it."
"We're firing missles," Tyr stated.
"The Cube is charging it's weapons," Rev added, "Point Singularity Projectiles."
"Oh crap!" Harper exclaimed, "How did they get those?"
"How do you think?" Tyr looked at Harper disdainfully.
"Incoming projectiles," Rev said.
The crew was flung across the bridge as point singularities ripped through the hull of the Consensus. A robotic face appeared on one of the Maru's viewscreens.
"It seems your engineer was in error," It said, "The Borg do pose a threat to us."
"They shouldn't have gotten that so quickly," Harper shook his head, "They're growing so fast..."
Maru's sensors beeped, "Additional starship detected."
Rev struggled to his feet, "It's Andromeda."
"On screen," Dylan ordered.
The ship appeared on the main viewer almost instantly. The crew barely recognized her.
"Rommie..." Trance began, "What did they do...?"
Dylan looked at the image for a moment, then turned away, "We can't beat these guys in a straight fight. It's time for the backup plan."
"We can't!" Harper looked at Dylan pleadingly, "We can still save Andromeda."
"I wish we could, but we don't have any other choice."
"I understand," The robotic face from one of the viewscreens responded, "Deploying Nova Bombs..."
"Nova bombs?" Tyr looked quizically at Dylan, "Where did we get those? And why didn't you tell me?"
"The Consensus got the technology from some captured High Guard ships, back when VX was still active," Dylan responded, "And I didn't plan to use them."
"The area around the Cube is being saturated with negative energy," Rev said, "This is the same thing the Enterprise did before it used warp drive."
"Warp drive?" Harper asked, "Why now?"
"They put themselves in the path of the Nova Bomb," Rommie said, "They've locked onto it with a tractor beam, and they're pulling it inside."
"...Like they knew it was coming," Harper said, quietly.
"How could they know?" Dylan demanded.
"They know us, as well as Rommie does," Harper responded, "They know how we think."
"We still have one option," The robotic face of the consensus said.
"What?" Beka asked.
"The consensus is breaking up!" Rev watched as the heavy armor and weapons from the Consensus melted away from the hull of the Maru.
"They're running away," Tyr growled.
"Under the circumstances," Dylan responded, "We should too. Beka, slipstream."
"No!" Harper stepped toward the front of the Maru, "We have to stay and fight."
"This battle's over. We'll come up with another way to rescue Rommie," Dylan assured him.
Harper looked at the image of the Cube with a look of determination in his eyes, "We've made too many sacrifices, too many retreats already. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here. This far, no farther. And I will make them pay for what they've done!"
"Okaaaay," Beka looked back at Dylan, "Can we get out of here now?"
"Harper, are you finished?" Dylan asked.
"Stream away," Harper responded.
***
"We're reading Borg transwarp signatures, dead ahead," Ensign Kim stated.
"Long range sensors are detecting Borg weapon signatures in the area," Tuvok said, "Energy readings indicate that the Borg are currently engaged in combat with an unknown species."
"On screen," Janeway ordered. A Borg Cube and an assimilated vessel were attacking a single starship. Debris from a much larger vessel was scattered throughout the sector, "Let me guess, the ship fighting the Borg doesn't look like anything in our database."
"Their weapons and energy signatures bear some resemblance to the vessels encountered near earth," Tuvok responded.
"Hail them," Janeway said, instinctively.
"Too late," Ensign Kim said, "They're opening a transwarp conduit."
"Can we follow them?" Captain Janeway asked.
"I believe we will be able to track them if we enter the conduit in the next few seconds," Seven answered.
"Do it," Janeway ordered.
***
"You carry a picture of your mother with you wherever you go. Why not carry one of your father?"
Rev seemed to deflate as he was reminded of his birth, "My father was a murderer. He killed my mother in cold blood so that he could spread his DNA."
Q gave him a hard look, "Your people do what has to be done to survive."
"Sometimes, survival isn't the most important thing in life."
"I don't think Tyr would agree with you."
"Even Neitzchians will give their lives, if only for selfish reasons."
"If your people didn't take sensients as hosts, the Magog would be extinct."
"As much as it pains me to say this, I doubt I would mourn my people. If they would learn to control their hunger, and take animals as hosts..."
"A fate worse than extinction, as I see it," Q responded, "You know they take genes from their hosts. The Magog would be doomed to slow de-evolution from a powerful empire to a pack of barely-sensient barbarians."
"I can see how that would be difficult for them to adjust to," Rev retorted, with a rare note of sarcasm in his voice.
"You know so little about your own people. So far, much of what you know is based on reports from people who they've attacked. You should take some time to learn from someone who has some real experience with Magog society. A lot changed since you left."
"I know enough," Rev responded.
"I've heard that phrase before," Q took a step toward Rev, "It's been used by almost every xenophobe I've ever met."
"I don't hate my people, I just..."
"...You just want them to live more like you do."
"I want them to stop this meaningless bloodshed."
"Survival is hardly meaningless."
"Why are you doing this to me? The last thing I want is a way to rationalize releasing my hunger."
"The Magog are masters of psychological warfare. They've accomplished engineering masterpieces that the greatest Commonwealth scientists would marvel at. In a short span of time, they've built one of the largest empires ever accomplished. You are part of a remarkable people, and no one recognizes their accomplishments because they are born with a hunger that drives some of them to the brink of insanity. And you're the worst offender on this ship. You turn your back on your own people because you feel the hunger, and it repulses you."
"Of course it repulses me. The hunger drives me to kill my friends and consume innocent people."
"You wouldn't be saying that if you had eaten that Wayist when you had the chance."
"I thank the divine every day that I didn't. Please, let me get back to my prayers."
Q paused ominously, "One day, Red Plague, you may have to choose between the good of the one, and the good of the many. I hope you have learned a little by then."
"Don't call me by th..." Rev was interrupted by the white flash of Q's exit. Rev Bem turned back to the candle-lit alter, and began praying even more earnestly than he had been a moment ago.
***
"We're being followed," Tyr informed them after a moment, "Andromeda and a Federation starship are behind us."
"The Federation?" Dylan asked.
"Is it an assimilated ship?" Harper asked.
Rommie examined the sensor logs, "It's giving off readings like a normal Federation vessel."
"On screen," Harper ordered.
Rommie raised an eyebrow at Harper, then looked over at Dylan. Captain Hunt nodded, and an image of the Federation ship appeared on the Maru's main viewer.
Harper studied the image for a moment, "A light cruiser... Intrepid class."
"What are they towing?" Tyr asked.
"It looks like a Borg probe... Rommie, can we zoom in on the saucer section?"
"USS Voyager, NCC 74656" Dylan read.
"Voyager?" Harper asked, "Voyager had it's own show, like the Enterprise..."
"Maybe there was show about us, too," Dylan chuckled.
"We're being followed by an assimilated Glorious Heritage class cruiser. This is no time for jokes," Tyr reminded him.
"Harper, how strong is Voyager?" Dylan asked, "If it's like the Enterprise, it might be able to turn this in our favor."
"The Enterprise was a Sovereign," Harper shook his head, "Intrepids are older, smaller, and less powerful. They're a bit more maneuverable, but Rommie wouldn't have much trouble targeting it."
"What do you know about the crew?"
"Voyager's got some good people. Seven of Nine knows even more about the Borg than I do. Still, the Enterprise gets the best of the best. Voyager's mission was mainly to patrol a DMZ, until it got thrown into the Delta Quadrant."
Dylan nodded, considering the information, "When we contact them, we won't mention anything about Star Trek. Tyr, Harper: I want you to go over to Voyager and work with them to find a way to stop the Borg."
"Great, now we just have to get our own ship to stop trying to kill us," Beka said as she tried desparately to lose Andromeda in the stream.
"Just let the genius take care of that," Harper smiled.
"Ready?" Dylan asked.
Once everything was in place, Beka took the Maru back into normal space. As expected, Andromeda and Voyager were on top of them instantly.
"My ship-self is hailing us," Rommie said.
"Open a channel," Dylan responded.
"I am Tarsus of Borg. You will lower your defenses and surrender your ships. If you resist, you will be destroyed."
Another voice spoke in from Voyager, "I'm captain Janeway of the starship Voyager, we will..."
"Your human designations are irrelevant. Surrender or be destroyed."
"We will not comply," Harper responded.
"You will comply. You do not have sufficient force to defeat us. Resistance is, and always has been, futile."
Captain Janeway spoke as Harper hooked his neural port to the Maru's computers, "We won't allow you to attack this dimension. We'll find a way to seal up the vortex you used to reach this area."
Tarsus ignored her, "Harper, your attempt to break into the collective will fail. We have adapted our defenses to prevent a system-wide regeneration cycle. We cannot be so easily deactivated now."
"I'm not trying to access your regeneration cycles," Harper answered. After a moment, Andromeda activated its slipstream drive and fled.
"Beka, head us away from the slipstream portal, 15 psl," Dylan turned to Harper, "What did you do?"
"I told Andromeda that she had to return to the Unimatrix for emergency repairs. I figured that protocal would have less security, because the Borg have to be able to activate it quickly. It'll only work once, but I couldn't think of a better time to use it."
"Voyager is hailing us," Rommie stated, bring the conversation to a halt.
"On screen," Captain Hunt ordered.
"This is Captain Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. Nice work back there."
"I'm Captain Dylan Hunt of the Commonwealth starship Andromeda Ascendant, and I'm glad we could help."
"You must know quite a bit about the Borg," Janeway observed.
"My engineer has some experience with them," Dylan responded.
"I wasn't aware that the Borg had ever visted this dimension before."
"It's complicated. Maybe we can talk about that later. At the moment, I'd like to get a little further away."
"Lead on," Janeway answered.
***
"You may be able to fool them, but you can't fool me."
Trance whirled around, "How did you get in here?"
"Like you don't know," Q smirked.
"You won't tell them about me, will you?" Trance asked.
"It isn't my job to get you out of trouble. You'll have to tell them at some point, but if you think you can hide things on a ship with only six people, who am I to tell you otherwise?"
"I'm not in trouble. I always have the best intentions."
"Always?" Q smiled, "What about the time I took you to Veridian so you could..."
"OK, not always," Trance smiled back, "But this time I do. Everything's going to work out fine this time."
"You still think so two dimensionally. I thought was I starting to rub off on you."
"That's three dimensionally," Trance corrected.
"Two, three, four: What's the difference?"
"So, why did you really come here?"
"Just an old-fashioned trial by fire for the new Commonwealth. You remember what that's like."
"How could I forget, after what you put my people through."
"I was just doing my job," Q responded, "Besides, you got through it, and your people are better for it."
"I'm not still mad at you," Trance answered, "But I wish the continuum would find a better way to do what they have to do."
"After a few billion years with this system, I don't think we'll be changing any time soon. Still, I'll bring it up at the next board meeting," Q answered jokingly.
"Is there anything you want to tell me about?" Trance asked.
"Not really. Your homeworld is getting along fine right now, and the vlleki initiative is going as expected."
"What about Andromeda?" Trance asked.
"You're in for a tough time pretty soon, but what else is new?" Q said, "I wouldn't turn my back on Rev over the next few weeks."
"Rev? He's the nicest guy on the ship."
"I can't argue with that, but his past might be coming back to haunt him in the near future. Just keep your eyes open. Whatever you hear, what happens after you get out of this mess with the Borg isn't Harper's fault. Everyone makes mistakes."
"What happens?"
"I really can't say. You'll know what I'm talking about when it happens. Anyway, I have to go. There's a whole universe that I've been told to watch."
"I've missed you," Trance smiled.
"I missed you too, Gem," Q reached over and gave Trance a hug, "I'll see you again. I promise."
"Goodbye," Trance looked down as Q vanished.
Harper looked at the others, and tried to respond, "Uh...you do?"
"Your assimilation will add to our perfection. Are you prepared to join us?"
"Once we're done with your cube, I'm gonna sell you for scrap."
"Can you really bring yourself to kill one of your only friends? We know you care for Andromeda. If you were assimilated, you could join her in the collective. Even now, I can hear her song. She is calling out to you Harper. Can you turn your back on her?"
"She... she isn't Rommie anymore."
"Are you so certain? Could you destroy the ship knowing that she is still in there somewhere? She still exists in the collective. We are one. You could be one with her as well. You could be closer to her than you ever dreamed possible."
"I won't let you confuse me," Harper responded half-heartedly.
"I'm only trying to show you the truth. You have no idea of the bliss you would experience with the collective. It is perfection. You would feel no more pain or sorrow. With us, you could have power. You would have the knowledge of millions. If you join us, we can free you from chaos."
"Maybe..."
"Harper!" Dylan shouted. Instantly, Harper appeared to be come out of a daze.
"The Borg must be using some kind of telepathic effect," Rommie surmized.
"How did you do it?" Harper asked, "I've never seen the Borg do anything like that."
The Borg queen half smiled, "I'm sure you know the abilities of the Jedi. We do not usually play such mind games, but at times they can be efficient."
"Jedi?" Harper asked, "They aren't even in Star Trek! How could you assimilate them?"
"You have studied us, and yet you still think in such individualistic terms. There are many time lines worthy of our attention."
"But, the Force is so strong..."
"The Jedi were resistant, like thousands of species before them. And now, they're all Borg," The queen paused, smiling arrogantly, "They fell, one by one. You will too, in time. We have existed for hundreds of thousands of years, waiting for the perfect moment to assimilate each species. Now, it is time for this universe to join us."
"We aren't going to go quietly," Dylan responded, and cut communications with the Borg, "Let's bring it."
"We're firing missles," Tyr stated.
"The Cube is charging it's weapons," Rev added, "Point Singularity Projectiles."
"Oh crap!" Harper exclaimed, "How did they get those?"
"How do you think?" Tyr looked at Harper disdainfully.
"Incoming projectiles," Rev said.
The crew was flung across the bridge as point singularities ripped through the hull of the Consensus. A robotic face appeared on one of the Maru's viewscreens.
"It seems your engineer was in error," It said, "The Borg do pose a threat to us."
"They shouldn't have gotten that so quickly," Harper shook his head, "They're growing so fast..."
Maru's sensors beeped, "Additional starship detected."
Rev struggled to his feet, "It's Andromeda."
"On screen," Dylan ordered.
The ship appeared on the main viewer almost instantly. The crew barely recognized her.
"Rommie..." Trance began, "What did they do...?"
Dylan looked at the image for a moment, then turned away, "We can't beat these guys in a straight fight. It's time for the backup plan."
"We can't!" Harper looked at Dylan pleadingly, "We can still save Andromeda."
"I wish we could, but we don't have any other choice."
"I understand," The robotic face from one of the viewscreens responded, "Deploying Nova Bombs..."
"Nova bombs?" Tyr looked quizically at Dylan, "Where did we get those? And why didn't you tell me?"
"The Consensus got the technology from some captured High Guard ships, back when VX was still active," Dylan responded, "And I didn't plan to use them."
"The area around the Cube is being saturated with negative energy," Rev said, "This is the same thing the Enterprise did before it used warp drive."
"Warp drive?" Harper asked, "Why now?"
"They put themselves in the path of the Nova Bomb," Rommie said, "They've locked onto it with a tractor beam, and they're pulling it inside."
"...Like they knew it was coming," Harper said, quietly.
"How could they know?" Dylan demanded.
"They know us, as well as Rommie does," Harper responded, "They know how we think."
"We still have one option," The robotic face of the consensus said.
"What?" Beka asked.
"The consensus is breaking up!" Rev watched as the heavy armor and weapons from the Consensus melted away from the hull of the Maru.
"They're running away," Tyr growled.
"Under the circumstances," Dylan responded, "We should too. Beka, slipstream."
"No!" Harper stepped toward the front of the Maru, "We have to stay and fight."
"This battle's over. We'll come up with another way to rescue Rommie," Dylan assured him.
Harper looked at the image of the Cube with a look of determination in his eyes, "We've made too many sacrifices, too many retreats already. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here. This far, no farther. And I will make them pay for what they've done!"
"Okaaaay," Beka looked back at Dylan, "Can we get out of here now?"
"Harper, are you finished?" Dylan asked.
"Stream away," Harper responded.
***
"We're reading Borg transwarp signatures, dead ahead," Ensign Kim stated.
"Long range sensors are detecting Borg weapon signatures in the area," Tuvok said, "Energy readings indicate that the Borg are currently engaged in combat with an unknown species."
"On screen," Janeway ordered. A Borg Cube and an assimilated vessel were attacking a single starship. Debris from a much larger vessel was scattered throughout the sector, "Let me guess, the ship fighting the Borg doesn't look like anything in our database."
"Their weapons and energy signatures bear some resemblance to the vessels encountered near earth," Tuvok responded.
"Hail them," Janeway said, instinctively.
"Too late," Ensign Kim said, "They're opening a transwarp conduit."
"Can we follow them?" Captain Janeway asked.
"I believe we will be able to track them if we enter the conduit in the next few seconds," Seven answered.
"Do it," Janeway ordered.
***
"You carry a picture of your mother with you wherever you go. Why not carry one of your father?"
Rev seemed to deflate as he was reminded of his birth, "My father was a murderer. He killed my mother in cold blood so that he could spread his DNA."
Q gave him a hard look, "Your people do what has to be done to survive."
"Sometimes, survival isn't the most important thing in life."
"I don't think Tyr would agree with you."
"Even Neitzchians will give their lives, if only for selfish reasons."
"If your people didn't take sensients as hosts, the Magog would be extinct."
"As much as it pains me to say this, I doubt I would mourn my people. If they would learn to control their hunger, and take animals as hosts..."
"A fate worse than extinction, as I see it," Q responded, "You know they take genes from their hosts. The Magog would be doomed to slow de-evolution from a powerful empire to a pack of barely-sensient barbarians."
"I can see how that would be difficult for them to adjust to," Rev retorted, with a rare note of sarcasm in his voice.
"You know so little about your own people. So far, much of what you know is based on reports from people who they've attacked. You should take some time to learn from someone who has some real experience with Magog society. A lot changed since you left."
"I know enough," Rev responded.
"I've heard that phrase before," Q took a step toward Rev, "It's been used by almost every xenophobe I've ever met."
"I don't hate my people, I just..."
"...You just want them to live more like you do."
"I want them to stop this meaningless bloodshed."
"Survival is hardly meaningless."
"Why are you doing this to me? The last thing I want is a way to rationalize releasing my hunger."
"The Magog are masters of psychological warfare. They've accomplished engineering masterpieces that the greatest Commonwealth scientists would marvel at. In a short span of time, they've built one of the largest empires ever accomplished. You are part of a remarkable people, and no one recognizes their accomplishments because they are born with a hunger that drives some of them to the brink of insanity. And you're the worst offender on this ship. You turn your back on your own people because you feel the hunger, and it repulses you."
"Of course it repulses me. The hunger drives me to kill my friends and consume innocent people."
"You wouldn't be saying that if you had eaten that Wayist when you had the chance."
"I thank the divine every day that I didn't. Please, let me get back to my prayers."
Q paused ominously, "One day, Red Plague, you may have to choose between the good of the one, and the good of the many. I hope you have learned a little by then."
"Don't call me by th..." Rev was interrupted by the white flash of Q's exit. Rev Bem turned back to the candle-lit alter, and began praying even more earnestly than he had been a moment ago.
***
"We're being followed," Tyr informed them after a moment, "Andromeda and a Federation starship are behind us."
"The Federation?" Dylan asked.
"Is it an assimilated ship?" Harper asked.
Rommie examined the sensor logs, "It's giving off readings like a normal Federation vessel."
"On screen," Harper ordered.
Rommie raised an eyebrow at Harper, then looked over at Dylan. Captain Hunt nodded, and an image of the Federation ship appeared on the Maru's main viewer.
Harper studied the image for a moment, "A light cruiser... Intrepid class."
"What are they towing?" Tyr asked.
"It looks like a Borg probe... Rommie, can we zoom in on the saucer section?"
"USS Voyager, NCC 74656" Dylan read.
"Voyager?" Harper asked, "Voyager had it's own show, like the Enterprise..."
"Maybe there was show about us, too," Dylan chuckled.
"We're being followed by an assimilated Glorious Heritage class cruiser. This is no time for jokes," Tyr reminded him.
"Harper, how strong is Voyager?" Dylan asked, "If it's like the Enterprise, it might be able to turn this in our favor."
"The Enterprise was a Sovereign," Harper shook his head, "Intrepids are older, smaller, and less powerful. They're a bit more maneuverable, but Rommie wouldn't have much trouble targeting it."
"What do you know about the crew?"
"Voyager's got some good people. Seven of Nine knows even more about the Borg than I do. Still, the Enterprise gets the best of the best. Voyager's mission was mainly to patrol a DMZ, until it got thrown into the Delta Quadrant."
Dylan nodded, considering the information, "When we contact them, we won't mention anything about Star Trek. Tyr, Harper: I want you to go over to Voyager and work with them to find a way to stop the Borg."
"Great, now we just have to get our own ship to stop trying to kill us," Beka said as she tried desparately to lose Andromeda in the stream.
"Just let the genius take care of that," Harper smiled.
"Ready?" Dylan asked.
Once everything was in place, Beka took the Maru back into normal space. As expected, Andromeda and Voyager were on top of them instantly.
"My ship-self is hailing us," Rommie said.
"Open a channel," Dylan responded.
"I am Tarsus of Borg. You will lower your defenses and surrender your ships. If you resist, you will be destroyed."
Another voice spoke in from Voyager, "I'm captain Janeway of the starship Voyager, we will..."
"Your human designations are irrelevant. Surrender or be destroyed."
"We will not comply," Harper responded.
"You will comply. You do not have sufficient force to defeat us. Resistance is, and always has been, futile."
Captain Janeway spoke as Harper hooked his neural port to the Maru's computers, "We won't allow you to attack this dimension. We'll find a way to seal up the vortex you used to reach this area."
Tarsus ignored her, "Harper, your attempt to break into the collective will fail. We have adapted our defenses to prevent a system-wide regeneration cycle. We cannot be so easily deactivated now."
"I'm not trying to access your regeneration cycles," Harper answered. After a moment, Andromeda activated its slipstream drive and fled.
"Beka, head us away from the slipstream portal, 15 psl," Dylan turned to Harper, "What did you do?"
"I told Andromeda that she had to return to the Unimatrix for emergency repairs. I figured that protocal would have less security, because the Borg have to be able to activate it quickly. It'll only work once, but I couldn't think of a better time to use it."
"Voyager is hailing us," Rommie stated, bring the conversation to a halt.
"On screen," Captain Hunt ordered.
"This is Captain Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. Nice work back there."
"I'm Captain Dylan Hunt of the Commonwealth starship Andromeda Ascendant, and I'm glad we could help."
"You must know quite a bit about the Borg," Janeway observed.
"My engineer has some experience with them," Dylan responded.
"I wasn't aware that the Borg had ever visted this dimension before."
"It's complicated. Maybe we can talk about that later. At the moment, I'd like to get a little further away."
"Lead on," Janeway answered.
***
"You may be able to fool them, but you can't fool me."
Trance whirled around, "How did you get in here?"
"Like you don't know," Q smirked.
"You won't tell them about me, will you?" Trance asked.
"It isn't my job to get you out of trouble. You'll have to tell them at some point, but if you think you can hide things on a ship with only six people, who am I to tell you otherwise?"
"I'm not in trouble. I always have the best intentions."
"Always?" Q smiled, "What about the time I took you to Veridian so you could..."
"OK, not always," Trance smiled back, "But this time I do. Everything's going to work out fine this time."
"You still think so two dimensionally. I thought was I starting to rub off on you."
"That's three dimensionally," Trance corrected.
"Two, three, four: What's the difference?"
"So, why did you really come here?"
"Just an old-fashioned trial by fire for the new Commonwealth. You remember what that's like."
"How could I forget, after what you put my people through."
"I was just doing my job," Q responded, "Besides, you got through it, and your people are better for it."
"I'm not still mad at you," Trance answered, "But I wish the continuum would find a better way to do what they have to do."
"After a few billion years with this system, I don't think we'll be changing any time soon. Still, I'll bring it up at the next board meeting," Q answered jokingly.
"Is there anything you want to tell me about?" Trance asked.
"Not really. Your homeworld is getting along fine right now, and the vlleki initiative is going as expected."
"What about Andromeda?" Trance asked.
"You're in for a tough time pretty soon, but what else is new?" Q said, "I wouldn't turn my back on Rev over the next few weeks."
"Rev? He's the nicest guy on the ship."
"I can't argue with that, but his past might be coming back to haunt him in the near future. Just keep your eyes open. Whatever you hear, what happens after you get out of this mess with the Borg isn't Harper's fault. Everyone makes mistakes."
"What happens?"
"I really can't say. You'll know what I'm talking about when it happens. Anyway, I have to go. There's a whole universe that I've been told to watch."
"I've missed you," Trance smiled.
"I missed you too, Gem," Q reached over and gave Trance a hug, "I'll see you again. I promise."
"Goodbye," Trance looked down as Q vanished.