And now, picking up right where we left off, I give you the following installment of "The Energy Finder":
The floor she was lying on gave a loud creaking sound and then gave way. She screamed as she fell, amongst the broken bits of what had once been the crawlspace and the decoration above the centre of the Bridge. She landed with a 'thud' and a 'crack' which made her gasp in pain. Miral was lying on her back, she had fallen straight down. She could see people rushing their way toward her, including her mother who stood out of her Captain's chair and started pulling the fallen bulkheads off of her only daughter.
Miral coughed as she rolled over and used all her muscles to push herself up and struggle out from underneath. She looked to her side and saw the familiar sight of Q doing the same.
Once they were both standing, the continually outspoken Q stretched out his hand to Captain Torres and spoke freely, "Good day, B'Elanna, or so it was before this I suppose." he chuckled but was the only one in the room who did so. "My father told me that if I enjoyed humans so much, I should just live with you, so I've come to ask if I can?" B'Elanna, along with all the others within range, stared at him blankly, waiting for him to continue. After a moment of awkward silence, wherein they realized Q had finished, B'Elanna assumed the dignified air of a Captain once more. "Q, I'm afraid we don't have room." she spoke in the same half-joking tone he always used, being careful to be polite for she knew better than to cross a member of the continuum.
"Oh, come now. You have plenty of quarters left, and I don't need them. Can't you give me some menial task, for old times sake?" "No, Q, not today." She turned, weary from her days as Captain, and sat. "You've caused enough damage to the ship already. Go now." The smile vanished from his face and he stared blankly at her for a moment. Then he snapped his fingers and was gone.
B'Elanna gave the order to move command to Engineering while a clean-up crew fixed the Bridge. Miral went to see the Doctor for the second time in as many days. And Mortimer scratched at the panel underneath the replicator.
"Hello, Mum." Miral greeted her mother as she walked through the doors into Miral's quarters. They were a mess, and B'Elanna stared about at the uncharacteristic havoc.
"Miral, what happened in here?" She didn't want to tell her mother that the puppy Q had given her had disappeared and she had been searching frantically through her quarters. "I just can't find something is all." "Oh. Well, can it wait until after dinner." She lifted up the casserole pot she held in her hands. Miral could see it was still blisteringly hot so her mother wore protective gloves.
"Is that a casserole?" "It most certainly is." "With ham and shrimp?" B'Elanna nodded.
"Let's eat, then." She pulled out a chair from the little glass table and beckoned for her mother to do the same. It was a tradition with them, to spend at least one night a week together and, if it could be managed, to bring in her dad over the comm. screen to join them. Tonight, however, it was just the two of them, and little Mortimer Miral hoped.
They were well into the meal when Miral decided to change the subject, only slightly, from their discussion of the day's events. "Why not let Q stay a bit?" "What?" Her mother seemed quite shocked and unnerved by this sudden announcement. "Miral, I warned you not to get close to him." "I know, but –" she faltered, "well, he could fix the ship if he wanted to. And –" she continued while her mother looked ever more skeptical, "well, he took me to a place that was kind of like an alternate universe, I guess, and he could, maybe show us some more hidden places. And he'd be great to have around to check things out to see if their safe, we haven't had the best of luck, you know." She paused as her mother's facial expression told her she was on the verge of agreeing with her. "WE have been short on crewmen lately, Mum." As Miral suspected, this was the clincher and her mother gave in. "All right, but he will be your responsibility, Miral. You're the one who has to keep him out of trouble." "Easier said than done." she said, and then in her own mind added, 'I hope.'
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! This is getting interesting. Firstly, why did she want Q to come back? Didn't she hate him? Well, my friends, all will be revealed (and if I forget about some little intricacy, feel free to R&R (boy I'm really pushing that aren't I? (It's mainly because I like it))). Well, 'til next time, sweet dreams.