In the engine room aboard Voyager Chakotay and Lt. Torres were debating
their next course of action. It had been hours since Q had popped in
unexpectedly and then vanished just as quickly. Chakotay had Torres and
her engineering crew working on a way to open up another wormhole in hopes
of bringing the away team back. Chakotay didn't trust Q to keep his word
that Janeway, Paris, Tuvok, and Kim would be returned safely.
"Lieutenant Torres, I'd like a progress report on opening up another wormhole," Chakotay announced as he entered engineering.
Torres looked up from the screen readout on her computer console. There was no progress to report so far. "We haven't made any further progress since the last report Commander. All of the computer simulations we've run so far have failed to produce the desired wormhole."
Chakotay frowned as he watched the latest simulation. "Well, keep trying Lieutenant. I don't like the idea of waiting around for Q to decide to end his little game."
"It's been a long time since Q showed up. Why is it taking him so long to return?" Torres wondered out loud.
"He'll be back soon. Knowing Q, he can't resist checking up on us and gloating," Chakotay answered, attempting to reassure the engineer.
Torres wanted to believe the Commander, but the human side of her couldn't just shove aside her fears. "Suppose Q doesn't bring the away team back from wherever he's sent them and we can't get them back either?"
Chakotay didn't want to think about that option right now. He had to admit the thought had crossed his mind, but would never admit it to the rest of the crew. Now that the Commander was in charge on Voyager, he had to set and example for them. "Now stop talking like that Lieutenant. Q likes to play his games, but he wouldn't actually let the Captain or any of the rest of the away team die."
"I wish I could be so sure," Torres responded, her frustration obvious in her voice.
Chakotay put an arm around the Torres' shoulder trying to comfort the lieutenant. "Look I know you're worried to death about Tom, but you have to be strong. He wouldn't want you to worry like this."
Torres fought back the tears that welled up in her eyes. "You're right Commander. It's not very Klingon of me to act like such a worry-wart."
Chakotay smiled at the levity. "It's okay to worry B'Elanna; we're all worried, just don't let it consume you."
"I won't sir," Torres promised.
"Keep working on the simulations Lieutenant," Chakotay ordered. "We'll get the away team back one way or the other."
***
Q quickly recovered from his shock and took Trance's hand in his and kissed it. "Of course I should have guessed that you would try to help this Boy Scout in his attempt to restore the Commonwealth. Although I must admit it has been a long time since I last saw you. You were purple then."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow at the unexpected information on the golden alien. The woman changes skin pigment. That was definitely worth noting. He hoped more information would be forthcoming.
"I've changed Q, as have many things in many galaxies. I see you haven't though. You're still meddling in the affairs of humans," Trances replied.
"Meddling isn't exactly the word I would use Trancie Poo. I prefer, um .."
"Meddling," Hunt and Janeway supplied in unison.
Trance walked over to AI Rommie's lifeless body and looked down at Harper's worried face. "What did you do to Rommie?"
Q waived a hand dismissively. "Oh don't worry about Rommie I just put her offline for awhile."
"That wasn't a nice thing to do," Trance chastised.
"I could have done much worse to Rommie or anyone else here," Q retorted. "But I am a benevolent member of the Continuum.
"Why don't' you just leave Q. Haven't you done enough already?" Harper shot back. The engineer developed a crush on Rommie after building the avatar and couldn't bear to see her offline. This definitely wasn't the possible perfect future Trance had been always talked about.
Q looked down at Andromeda's engineer. 'I will leave when I have my answer. Will you agree to go to Tom Paris' universe?"
Harper didn't hesitate. "Sure. Fine. Why not?"
Hunt stepped forward. He wasn't allowed to let Q or anybody else bully his crew around. "Q I believe you've forgotten who is captain of the Andromeda Ascendant. I give the orders to my crew."
"Oh I'm not giving any orders here Captain Hunt. I am merely offering one of your crew a choice," Q corrected.
Janeway was ready to lodge her own protest. "That is not an acceptable choice Q."
Q rolled his eyes and sighed. "Come on be a sport people. It'll be fun."
"If it's fun you want my meddling pixie, then I shall gladly oblige. You can't turn me offline like an avatar," Tyr boasted as he drew his force lance.
Before Tyr could make another move Q snapped his fingers, rendering the Nietzschean paralyzed. Everyone stared at Tyr standing still, not moving a muscle.
"Oh wow. That is not good," Harper chimed in.
Valentine was about to make a move at Q, not caring what he would do to her when Hunt grabbed her left arm. The blonde's blue eyes glowed with rage as she turned to face her captain
"Believe me, I don't like having to immobilize your crew Captain Hunt but they're leaving me no choice," Q remarked.
Paris had now made up his mind. He wouldn't allow Q to injure anybody else because of him. "Well, I'm not looking forward to being away from the rest of the Voyager crew, but I suppose I could manage to get along here on Andromeda."
Q chuckled out loud. "I believe there has been a failure to communicate Mr. Paris. When I said that I would give Mr. Harper a chance to experience life on your Earth I also meant that you would get to experience life on Mr. Harper's Earth. Nietzscheans and Magog included."
Paris' face turned a shade paler at the thought of having to fend off Magog and Nietzscheans. Harper had briefly mentioned the flesh-eating Magog and how they infected those humans they didn't eat.
Q noticed Paris' pale expression and actually seemed to show concern. But the concern was only temporary. "Aw now don't look so glum Mr. Paris. Mr. Harper managed to survive the Magog attacks and Nietzschean occupation. There's no reason to think that you won't do the same."
"That will be quite enough Q. You've had you fun now leave us in peace," Hunt ordered.
Harper stood up to his full height, trying to appear as large as possible. "It's okay Dylan. I'll go along with whatever this Q fellow has in mind."
A broad smile crossed Q's face as he rubbed his hands together. 'Now that's the spirit!"
Hunt was still not ready to back down. "Harper, you don't have to do this. We'll all fight Q together."
"No Dylan. This Q guy turned Tyr and Rommie into statues. I don't want any more people to die on my account," Harper pleaded.
Dylan, Beka and Trance knew Harper was not merely talking about Tyr and Rommie. They understood his reasoning, but weren't about to let the engineer go without a fight.
Trance put a reassuring hand on Harper's shoulder. "Don't worry Harper. Q won't get away with this."
Janeway had a puzzled expression on her face. "If you've met Q before Ms. Gemini then you know there's not much any of us can do to stop Q. All we can do is attempt to reason with him and hope he listens."
"Maybe none of you can stop Q, but I have my ways," Trance replied, looking over at Q.
Q smiled nervously, remembering his prior experiences with Trance and her kind. "Do you really think you can stop me Trancie Poo?"
"You know I can stop you if I want, so I suggest you don't force me to try," Trance warned.
Heads moved back and forth from Trance to Q as Janeway, Hunt and the rest of their crews watched with anticipation for the next move.
"Lieutenant Torres, I'd like a progress report on opening up another wormhole," Chakotay announced as he entered engineering.
Torres looked up from the screen readout on her computer console. There was no progress to report so far. "We haven't made any further progress since the last report Commander. All of the computer simulations we've run so far have failed to produce the desired wormhole."
Chakotay frowned as he watched the latest simulation. "Well, keep trying Lieutenant. I don't like the idea of waiting around for Q to decide to end his little game."
"It's been a long time since Q showed up. Why is it taking him so long to return?" Torres wondered out loud.
"He'll be back soon. Knowing Q, he can't resist checking up on us and gloating," Chakotay answered, attempting to reassure the engineer.
Torres wanted to believe the Commander, but the human side of her couldn't just shove aside her fears. "Suppose Q doesn't bring the away team back from wherever he's sent them and we can't get them back either?"
Chakotay didn't want to think about that option right now. He had to admit the thought had crossed his mind, but would never admit it to the rest of the crew. Now that the Commander was in charge on Voyager, he had to set and example for them. "Now stop talking like that Lieutenant. Q likes to play his games, but he wouldn't actually let the Captain or any of the rest of the away team die."
"I wish I could be so sure," Torres responded, her frustration obvious in her voice.
Chakotay put an arm around the Torres' shoulder trying to comfort the lieutenant. "Look I know you're worried to death about Tom, but you have to be strong. He wouldn't want you to worry like this."
Torres fought back the tears that welled up in her eyes. "You're right Commander. It's not very Klingon of me to act like such a worry-wart."
Chakotay smiled at the levity. "It's okay to worry B'Elanna; we're all worried, just don't let it consume you."
"I won't sir," Torres promised.
"Keep working on the simulations Lieutenant," Chakotay ordered. "We'll get the away team back one way or the other."
***
Q quickly recovered from his shock and took Trance's hand in his and kissed it. "Of course I should have guessed that you would try to help this Boy Scout in his attempt to restore the Commonwealth. Although I must admit it has been a long time since I last saw you. You were purple then."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow at the unexpected information on the golden alien. The woman changes skin pigment. That was definitely worth noting. He hoped more information would be forthcoming.
"I've changed Q, as have many things in many galaxies. I see you haven't though. You're still meddling in the affairs of humans," Trances replied.
"Meddling isn't exactly the word I would use Trancie Poo. I prefer, um .."
"Meddling," Hunt and Janeway supplied in unison.
Trance walked over to AI Rommie's lifeless body and looked down at Harper's worried face. "What did you do to Rommie?"
Q waived a hand dismissively. "Oh don't worry about Rommie I just put her offline for awhile."
"That wasn't a nice thing to do," Trance chastised.
"I could have done much worse to Rommie or anyone else here," Q retorted. "But I am a benevolent member of the Continuum.
"Why don't' you just leave Q. Haven't you done enough already?" Harper shot back. The engineer developed a crush on Rommie after building the avatar and couldn't bear to see her offline. This definitely wasn't the possible perfect future Trance had been always talked about.
Q looked down at Andromeda's engineer. 'I will leave when I have my answer. Will you agree to go to Tom Paris' universe?"
Harper didn't hesitate. "Sure. Fine. Why not?"
Hunt stepped forward. He wasn't allowed to let Q or anybody else bully his crew around. "Q I believe you've forgotten who is captain of the Andromeda Ascendant. I give the orders to my crew."
"Oh I'm not giving any orders here Captain Hunt. I am merely offering one of your crew a choice," Q corrected.
Janeway was ready to lodge her own protest. "That is not an acceptable choice Q."
Q rolled his eyes and sighed. "Come on be a sport people. It'll be fun."
"If it's fun you want my meddling pixie, then I shall gladly oblige. You can't turn me offline like an avatar," Tyr boasted as he drew his force lance.
Before Tyr could make another move Q snapped his fingers, rendering the Nietzschean paralyzed. Everyone stared at Tyr standing still, not moving a muscle.
"Oh wow. That is not good," Harper chimed in.
Valentine was about to make a move at Q, not caring what he would do to her when Hunt grabbed her left arm. The blonde's blue eyes glowed with rage as she turned to face her captain
"Believe me, I don't like having to immobilize your crew Captain Hunt but they're leaving me no choice," Q remarked.
Paris had now made up his mind. He wouldn't allow Q to injure anybody else because of him. "Well, I'm not looking forward to being away from the rest of the Voyager crew, but I suppose I could manage to get along here on Andromeda."
Q chuckled out loud. "I believe there has been a failure to communicate Mr. Paris. When I said that I would give Mr. Harper a chance to experience life on your Earth I also meant that you would get to experience life on Mr. Harper's Earth. Nietzscheans and Magog included."
Paris' face turned a shade paler at the thought of having to fend off Magog and Nietzscheans. Harper had briefly mentioned the flesh-eating Magog and how they infected those humans they didn't eat.
Q noticed Paris' pale expression and actually seemed to show concern. But the concern was only temporary. "Aw now don't look so glum Mr. Paris. Mr. Harper managed to survive the Magog attacks and Nietzschean occupation. There's no reason to think that you won't do the same."
"That will be quite enough Q. You've had you fun now leave us in peace," Hunt ordered.
Harper stood up to his full height, trying to appear as large as possible. "It's okay Dylan. I'll go along with whatever this Q fellow has in mind."
A broad smile crossed Q's face as he rubbed his hands together. 'Now that's the spirit!"
Hunt was still not ready to back down. "Harper, you don't have to do this. We'll all fight Q together."
"No Dylan. This Q guy turned Tyr and Rommie into statues. I don't want any more people to die on my account," Harper pleaded.
Dylan, Beka and Trance knew Harper was not merely talking about Tyr and Rommie. They understood his reasoning, but weren't about to let the engineer go without a fight.
Trance put a reassuring hand on Harper's shoulder. "Don't worry Harper. Q won't get away with this."
Janeway had a puzzled expression on her face. "If you've met Q before Ms. Gemini then you know there's not much any of us can do to stop Q. All we can do is attempt to reason with him and hope he listens."
"Maybe none of you can stop Q, but I have my ways," Trance replied, looking over at Q.
Q smiled nervously, remembering his prior experiences with Trance and her kind. "Do you really think you can stop me Trancie Poo?"
"You know I can stop you if I want, so I suggest you don't force me to try," Trance warned.
Heads moved back and forth from Trance to Q as Janeway, Hunt and the rest of their crews watched with anticipation for the next move.