C2 FS: The Quest Begins
Leila turned all of her attention on the large crystal globe set before her after she took a sip of the fruit drink Q left for her. Shapes started to take form from within it, as she had a notion it was where Q was going to talk to the members of the Enterprise. There seamed to be a large gathering of people talking about archeology and findings on the Tagus ruins. She smiled with joy as she noticed a few crewmembers names she knew from speaking to her mom and Q showing her around.
She watched with interest as Q kept himself invisible and walked through people. He passed up several tables and walked to one side of the corridor. He seized a very attractive human male by the arm and pulled him out into the hallway with little resistance. Q then waved the back of his hand at him like he was shooing a tiny insect, and the man vanished. Leila leaned forward to get closer to the globe to try and see where he went. Q stared up at her and tipped his head subsequently vanishing in a flash of light also.
She heard a noise behind her that sounded like a muffled voice. Thinking it was only Q, Leila whorled around in her white flowing dress with a large smile on her face. "What are we going to do now?"
Her jaw dropped when she seen the man that Q had made disappear while at the gathering. What shocked her most was the fact that he was staked out in the sand laying on his back. His wrists were stretched over his head and tied together where a chain attached them to a stake. His legs were bound in the same fashion. He was now wearing a pair of bright red cloth pants that tied at the waist and nothing else. "Who are you?" A second later she leaned to the side and noticed he had a cloth gag on his mouth.
He started pulling on the restraints, and they held well. He kept making muffled sounds, and she walked closer to remove it to see what he would say. Surly Q would not mind her talking to him. It was not like she was releasing the ties on his wrists or ankles. She stood over his body and seen a paper note attached to his pants. Leila looked directly into his eyes noticing they were bright green, and he had short brown hair.
He was looking at her with a certain fascination noticing her light violet skin contrasted seductively with her midnight black hair. He shook his hands and tipped his head to his hands. All he knew was one minute he was at the gathering next an invisible force took him from the room. He woke to find himself tied up at a beach with an exotically voluptuous alien girl.
Not about to do what he was implying by his movements, she took the note off of his pants. As she removed it from a metal clip attached to the pants, she noticed his eyes were only slightly open and closed completely when her fingers pressed down on his thy. Fascinated by the first human she had come into contact with she looked over his body seeing that both humans and Kapellians were similar in biology. The main difference to her was the tan skin of the human that did not have any markings. She, on the other hand, had markings on her forehead that started there and went down the sides of her face all the way to the backs of her hands. In her race the markings on the skin were always the identical color of the person's hair.
Leila took several steps away from him and read the note: Keep an eye on this one. He was being very naughty indeed. P.S. Do not untie for he will lie.
Perched a little ways from him on a plush indigo chair that appeared, she was appreciative of the huge light blue canopy that flashed into existence over her. There was another note handing from one corner of a wooden table that was the next thing to flash into place. She read it as well: Have a bite to eat. Relax and enjoy.
Relaxing was not something she was use to. As nothing but conversation was taking place in the globe, she thought over her life after she entered school. Just before Q arrived she had just finished her education to be an Earth's equivalent of a marine biologist. She spent 5 cycles of the sun to get her degree to work out on the ocean, which is roughly the equivalent of 10 Earth years she decided from what Q had been telling her. As is their custom, children go to school when they are in their 14th cycle. They then spend 5 cycles studying then take a half cycle off for relaxation and job placement. So when they are 19.5 cycles old (39 years) they join the work force, have their permanent adult bodies, are considered adults and can get married. Yes, it was time for her to take a break. Surly Q did not mean for her to amuse herself with the man did he?
She scanned over the table for some snack to eat. While noticing that Q had all the food labeled with the human names, she picked a few strawberries and put them in a bowl. Leila glanced at the man tied up and seen that beads of sweat started to form on his face and chest. She would have to tell Q to get him a canopy of his own.
The globe was alive with new things. Leila let out a giggle to see them in Robin Hood outfits. Apparently, the one called Geordi was playing a musical instrument and not that good. She leaned away from the globe when she seen Worf walking toward him. Would the Klingon, who were known for being animalistic as Q mentioned, hurt him for the lack of talent? To her amusement he only took the instrument and slammed it into a tree only to hand it back and say, "Sorry." Leila dropped a few strawberries on the ground at watching the interaction. "Q can you hear me? Can I join in? I want a costume."
Q arrived with a flash. Along with him there were three women wearing dark blue swimming bottoms and nothing else. She mused that the girls were there to fan him as he acted like a god in his realm. Leila stared at them knowing they were human. One was light skinned with blond hair, the second was olive skinned with slanted eyes and the third was very dark skinned with wavy hair. She wanted to ask them questions about Earth and the diversity of cultures. She could only wonder at what type of marine life lived on Earth. She felt a little disheartened when they did not even make eye contact with her.
He did not even acknowledge they were there at all, so Leila pretended they were not there as well. She also found it amusing that Q's eyes kept glancing at their exposed breasts as the tied man did to her. So men are not that different when it came to sexuality attention spans on other worlds, good. She stood up and moved a fan to get her strawberries she found she loved.
"No, it would not be wise for you to jump into the game." Q paused and the fan flashed out of Leila's hand.
Her jaw dropped for the second time since she arrived on the beach. "What? I wasn't going to…what do you mean?" Her face looked a little darker, and she glanced at the girls with the fans.
"I mean you should not be in the game I am playing with Picard. Did you know if I did not tease Picard about love before he met Adije that he would not even consider dating her? I watched the timeline and seen he never marries and regrets it. That is why I came here, so he will make the opportunity later to have a real life and be in his precious Star Fleet at the same time. These ladies are from Risa by the way." Q waved one of the half naked women to retrieve a refreshment plate for him. He watched her walk to the table with his eyes firmly upon her swaying hips. "How is the captive?"
"Oh, he just lays around doing nothing. " There was a devilish gleam in her eyes, as she could not resist a giggle at Q's roaming eyes. Was this Q trying to behave in front of her? "You might want to let him have one of these tent thingies. He looks like he is forming a river with all that sweat. What are you going to do with him?"
Q walked over to the man he had taken and Leila followed. "Your not very nice are you Darien? Did you really think no one would see that you intend to end the party with a bang? Yes, I am the one who took you from that little party. Can't have you blowing up important people especially when there was a very good chance they were not going to find your plan in time."
"You were going to kill them all?" Leila's face started to deepen in color, and her eyes appeared to be glowing as she glared at the man tied to stakes in the sand.
"Calm down, he was doing it in the name of his family. One of the men there had killed his brother about two years ago. He was trying to revenge his brother, but he could have gone about it in a one to one basis instead of blowing the place up." Q gave the impression of being unconcerned and blinked a canopy into existence.
"That does not excuse murder, but you must have loved your sibling very much." She followed Q back to the globe to watch the Enterprise crew.
"Now, I am here observing myself as well, see." Q pointed to himself talking to Picard and Vash about playing along with his game of the story Robin Hood. The blonde girl took up the plate of fruit and started feeding it slowly to Q. He waved his hand at the other two girls, "Why don't you two go for a swim. And not to worry, I sent all of the unsafe oceanic life away."
"You have already done this? Does yourself from then see the you from now? " Leila was becoming engrossed with the things unfolding in the globe.
"Yes, to the first and no to the second. I keep myself invisible, so I can fix things that did not go as planned back then. One of the things I did that was right was getting Vash out of there. She liked Picard, but he was starting to love her. If she stays on the ship, she gets them involved in a dispute of her thievery and they have a bloody war with the Klingons."
"When do I get to go there?" She did not look at him, but touched her finger to the globe and drew circles.
"We will have to finish here first, then I will take you to a place in time where you can help them in the future with the shifters. By the way, Darien is harmless so don't be scared of him or anything. I will send him back after the meeting is over. I have already left a clue for a security officer to find his bomb." Q did not even say good-bye but flashed and was gone again.
Leila watched Picard jump in and out of situations then she took notice of Darien. The dark haired girl asked the blonde if she should feed him. "That will not be necessary. I will feed him myself." She wanted to talk to him and see what she could find out.
Leila filled a bowl of strawberries and a silver goblet with water. She kneeled next to him, and he raised his eyebrows and made a grunt sound. While removing his gag she spoke, "My name is Leila. I am from Kapellia. Are you hungry?"
He licked his lips that were dry from the gag while looking her body over again, "Yes, you could say that. I would love some of that water."
She tipped his head to help him take a few sips of the water as she asked, "Where are you from?"
"A little planet from nowhere. But you are the most gorgeous creature I have ever been in the presence of. Honey those eyes could hypnotize. Not even in my dreams have I imagined such exquisiteness. Thanks for getting me the canopy to block the sun, that was very kindhearted of you. Did he say how many hours I would be here like this?" He tipped his head to the side for a prolonged glance at the girls walking on the beach and took a deep breath.
'Does that work for him, slipping a line to interest females into conversations with flattery? It was rather gratifying and sweet.' Then Leila felt slightly annoyed that he was eyeing the girls and not keeping his full attention on her. 'And it seams that he also tries to make females jealous also hu?' She was not used to a man acting bored with her appearance and having to look at others, but the women were practically naked in this case. "Strawberries? They are very delicious." She intentionally used a sensual voice and took a small bite. There that should get his attention her eyes seamed to convey.
And she was satisfied when his face froze in an expression like a man who found a sanctuary within a wasteland. She held the one she took a small nip out of in front of his lips. He held still, and she outlined his lips slightly with the fruit then permitted him to nibble on it. Then she shocked him and herself, by kissing him slowly on the lips. She would have to add kissing a man who was staked out at the seashore to her list. When she ran her fingers over his bare chest, he let out a low growl that made her pull back to gaze at him.
Darien inhaled a deep lungful of air, but this time it was not from boredom. "Why don't you ask the girls to come over and then we can all sample fruit mutually? And how about taking that dress off and giving us a dance…naked." The grin on his face seemed to broaden as his eyes squinted smugly as he nodded his head and winked an eye.
"Are you utterly absent?" Leila stood up and dumped the remaining berries on his face. 'What was he thinking? I may have kissed him and feed him, but that did not mean I would prance around naked. And I'm not about to invite the girls to spring on him. If he wants all the girls, I will be not say a word, but I will not be any part of it.' Leila decided to just ignore him and send one of the girls to finish feeding him instead.
"What? Is that such a bad idea?" His facial expression let her know he thought she was over reacting to his proposal of a merrymaking group beach frolic. "Go on then little miss prissy a**. Women like you take all the fun out of a situation. Thanks for nothing."
Leila felt insulted and kicked one of the poles the canopy was suspended by. The entire thing collapsed and the fabric covered him leaving the outline of his body tied under it.
"Ok, I'm sorry. Come back. Lets make up. Its ok if you just want to kiss. But you can't be selfish, you have to let the other girls in on the fun." He looked up at the sun through a torn spot in the fabric, and it just about blinded him. In a not so smart move, he attempted a haughty look at the assembly of women that only caused them all to laugh at him.
Leila smirked mockingly and selected some blueberries. "Girls he says he's sorry. Ahhhhhh poor thing needs attention from every girl in the immediate area. Lets give it to him."
Darien started licking his lips again. "Now that's more like it. Come on girls."
"Oh, you're going to get it for sure. Sample this." She started tossing the blueberries at him from her chair, and the other girls joined in.
When they ran out of those berries, they started throwing kiwi after sinking their teeth into it taking a bite out. The kiwis hit him and the juice was getting all over him as it drained down his neck under the fabric. Q walked up behind the girls and startled them as he heard the other man yelling in distress.
Q stood in front of the girls. "What's going on here? He looks like a worm poking his head out of an apple." He then spoke in an almost melody to the girls delight, "A little pain? A little torture? Are you girls using him as a juicer?"
Leila held her stomach and laughed heartily and gasped for air as she barely got the words spoken, "A worm poking his head out? Juicer?" The girls joined in with her laughter till they were almost breathless. "Well, you're the one that tied him up. Good thing you only gave us fruit to torture him with and not whips, but he already has chains." She tried to control her laughter as she wiped tears off her face, but fell out of her chair when she seen the pouting look on Darien's face.
Q waved his hand and every thing disappeared. Leila gasped and clutched to his arm as she realized they were in space. "It's ok. Look what we found, a Federation Star Base. Now, I want you to only tell them what I told you to say and perform your part. I'll come back later and check on your progress. Remember to relax and to pick one of the officers on the Enterprise."
A large area of the space station opened up and allowed Leila to float inside the command center of the base. People were falling backwards away from the walls that were gaping open to space, but nothing was being sucked out into space. Her waist long raven hair was swirling in what appeared a breeze that captured the fabric of the black dress she wore. Her hair appeared to mingle with the dress creating an illusion of having wings. Once she was standing on the floor looking very much a Gothic princess of the underworld, the walls closed back up and all damage was fixed and no one was hurt. The captain of the star base took a step closer to her and struggled for words, "Who are you and what's going on?"
She spoke decisively, but in a feminine style while smoothing the sides of her dress, "I am Leila of Kapellia. I have traveled from two galaxies away to speak with your people. I need to be taken to the U.S.S. Enterprise immediately." She relished the entrance that Q gave her into this realm that was excitingly very foreign to her. She also absolutely loved the dress Q and the three Risa women helped her pick out. It was perfectly black, and the bodice was taut with a low neckline that drew attention to a large gem that hung from a necklace. The gem itself looked like a star going nova and exploding outward in color like it was blinking. The bottom part of her black dress was in long sections, so her legs peaked out from different places with every purposeful footstep.
Leila conversed with Admirals and diplomats over communications, but kept insisting on the Enterprise. Finally they acquiesced to her request and wondered at this new alien that lived so far away. Many of them admitted to each other that they had indeed never seen a lovelier girl in existence. She was pleased to find that the Enterprise was not that far away from the station. They had just got Picard back aboard the Enterprise. He had been kidnapped to the surface of a planet as the Tamerians attempted communication.
A message was sent from Star Fleet Command to the Enterprise that was still near El-Adrel IV. An Admiral told Picard to expect Leila from Kapellia who was from a couple of galaxies away. He was briefed on her shocking arrival and request to only converse with the crew of the Enterprise about her reasons for being there. The Admiral conveyed to Picard the magnitude of the discovery of such a girl and to get as much information from her as was achievable. She was then put on a ship that would drop her off with the Enterprise. When she entered the first star ship, she went to her quarters. Leila used the computer to learn all she could about protocol and basic facts Q might have left off.
Leila was not accustomed to people treating her like royalty. Once her parents disappeared, friends of her father on the planet adopted her. They took her to a region that was away from immense cities and where no one would identify her. She kept mostly to herself until her third cycle at school. Every night before she went to sleep she would hold her father's note with her eyes closed and remember there days together. Now, every eye was upon her wondering who she truly was and from what magical place.
She received a message in her quarters and reported to the Captain's Ready Room. When she entered, she was introduced to Ambassador Sandoval who is a Lumerian of some importance as of late in the Federation. Leila tried to decline the offer, but in the end accepted. He was from then on assigned to her to assist her with anything she required. She then returned to her room until it was time to transport to the Enterprise. Leila did not like his fake persona of being a helper, because he seamed to be a bloodsucker under the surface.
Once inside the transporter room, the officers said farewells to her and the Ambassador. Sandoval started droning on with the intricacies of transporters. The excitement was about to explode from every inch of her body, and she could not stand anymore talk from the dominant Lumerian any longer.
She tried to speak as if bored, "Enough." She put her hand up palm out to him and walked by him to the transporter pad. Leila smiled warmly to everyone who came to see her off and the gesture was returned.
Q told her that only Troi and other trusted members would be permitted to get hints of her feelings and no one else. Leila felt pleasure knowing that Lumerians were telepathic and he could not read her. Q also told her if she needed any help to grab the gem on her necklace while thinking his name, and she would be transported back to the beach.
Someone was speaking to her, but she did not hear at this point, as she knew the officers of the Enterprise were awaiting her arrival. After all the tricks she watched Q play on them, she understood it was worth the little aggravation of Q popping in. Leila was delighted that she could repay kindliness to the people who had assisted her mother. She felt a tingly sensation all over her body as the room she was in started to fade before her eyes. Once the room was undistinguishable there started to be forms reappearing. Energy shot up her spine. She was aboard the Star Ship Enterprise.
A/N: Hey what do you think so far? I had to wait until getting the first fiction out of the way, before I could put these things into words. Anybody have any thoughts on the apple/juicer comment by Q? What about the fact that a man was staked out in the sand on a beach? I just could not pass up on those two things.