Chapter 47

"Knowledge for the Future"

USS Enterprise:

In the Combat Intelligence room which doubled as a conference room onboard the Enterprise-D, all of the Federation Captains and First Officers sat, or stood waiting for the long-awaited talk.

But it was Guinan who managed to get the first question in. "Admiral Janeway," she said in no in certain terms, "please tell me about Q." To everyone in the room, her polite 'request' sounded like the demand it was.

"What do you know about him?" she asked.

"I had some dealing with him a few years ago," she said slowly, remembering those dealings as if it had happened yesterday instead of over two centuries earlier. "We weren't the best of friends."

"I suspect that's an understatement," Janeway answered. There was a twinkle in her eyes as she said the words. "Q could be exasperating."

"Now that is an understatement, Admiral," Guinan retorted. None of her memories of Q had been pleasant even if some of them were almost respectable. But Q was at the least mischievous and at most a danger to everything. "Q is many things but I think you already know that. I can feel his presence every time I get near you. I want to know exactly what your relationship with him is."

Picard rapidly lost patience. He hated be left out of the loop and right now he was feeling like a third wheel. The others present were feeling that way as well. "Who is this Q you are referring to Admiral," he demanded.

"He is a" she grope for the proper words. "For a lack of a better word he is an ancient, very advanced, nearly omnipotent entity, capable of manipulating matter and energy in ways we can barely imagine. He is also responsible for you being here in this universe."

"I knew it!" Guinan growled. This confirmed some of her suspicions even though everything hadn't fully come together in her mind. "He is responsible for this mess!"

"No," Kathryn slowly responded. "He and Quinn saved your lives."

"Q? Performing a selfless act?" Guinan almost laughed at the very thought of such an act being possible. Well, it was possible, but not likely given what they were. From her extensive observations, it was her considered opinion that the Q weren't actually the most stable of beings.

"You know of the Q from your own temporal existence," countered the Admiral. "The Enterprise-C came through the temporal rift and changed history. To correct history, to allow it to unfold the way it should have, the Enterprise-D should have been destroyed protecting the Ambassador. Instead, you traveled back through the rift and further fractured the time line. Q and Quinn corrected the almost infinite time fractures that action created. They succeeded but two sets of Enterprises were sent to other realities rather than allowed to be destroyed. Q had a soft spot for your counterpart," she explained. "You came here and changed history."

"We've gone over this before," Picard said. "What is done is done, Admiral. As much as we would like to, we cannot undo the damage."

"It is not your fault," Janeway said. "You were victims of a temporal-cold war designed to destroy the Federation and eventually everyone in our galaxy. But the fact remains, you're trapped here. You can't get back." She turned to face El-Aurian. "Guinan, please listen to me."

"I always listen, Admiral," said Guinan with a hint of amusement. "That's what I do."

Kathryn refrained from rolling her eyes. "Q is not the same entity as you may remember. He has improved, a bit. But he sent us here to make sure that the Sinhindrea did not destroy this galaxy as a result of his actions. Simply put, he felt responsible."

Guinan's mouth dropped. She almost laughed. She did smile and it was cold. "You believe he feels responsible? The mere thought made her shake head. "Are we talking about the same Q here?"

"It's a long story," she sighed. "I'll send you the data on all of the contacts we've had with 'the pest' when we finish. However my first concern is the violation of the Prime Directive." She held up her hand to forestall any arguments that was on the verge of erupting. "I am not referring to yours, but mine. I have been sent of a mission endorsed by Starfleet Command to deal with this situation. These people here have been so fractured for such a long time that even Q believed that it was impossible for them to come together in a time of crisis. Now an alliance is forming and you have to decide what your part will be in all of this. I, on the other hand have to decide whether to give you our latest advances in technology. I need to know how it will affect these cultures after we're gone. The question I'm grappling with is should I give you the newest advances? Does this fundamentally violate the Prime Directive even though I am giving it to Federation representatives? Weapons technology has improved dramatically in the last few years and is different from your designs. Our shields and phasers are more powerful, as are our torpedoes. How would that affect the balance of power in this universe and would that knowledge be used wisely?"

For a moment everyone was quiet and no one spoke although both Captains were quietly fuming. "I know your counterpart very well, Jean-Luc," she told them. "But I don't know 'you'. You're a mystery to me; one wrapped in twenty years of fighting with the Klingons. Look at it from my point of view. Instead of disabling an EF ship, you destroyed it using two photon torpedoes!"

"Admiral, I am a soldier; a commanding officer in the United Federation of Planets. I did what was deemed necessary. We all have. That does not make me irresponsible, as you seem to be implying. I am a Federation Officer held to the highest standards of Starfleet. I understand my duty and my obligation to the Prime Directive."

"I am not judging you, Captains," Janeway retorted. "I understand exactly what you're going through. You've read my history, Captain Picard. My record stands for itself. I was more isolated and alone than you were and the stress of being alone, surrounded by enemies, forced me to make a few questionable decisions, some of which I still regret. I nearly made a decision to remain in the Delta quadrant and join a Human colony there because we were so far from home. None of us thought we'd make it, even though I had to try. I don't know if supplying you with the latest weapons and sciences is the right thing to do in the long term. On the other side of the equation, I fully understand the implications of being isolated and alone with no possibility to returning home."

"But you are going to do it," Sisko flatly stated.

"Yes, I am," she answered. "Not just because of the stakes involved but because I have to trust that you, Captains Picard, Garrett, and Sisko will do what is right. You're not from the mirror universe where you're refugees from the Terran Empire, but from a derivative of mine. Because I've made that decision, your vessels will become more powerful than ever and of course you'll be even bigger targets for everyone in the region, judging from what I've seen. This Alliance will help protect you until you can establish yourselves. Have you thought about a base of operations of your own?"

"Yes we have, but our resources have been limited," Picard stated. That was only a partial reason, he admitted to himself but it was still true. There was another part of him that hoped against hope to return home. Building a place of operations and settling down only served to help destroy that illusion. "This is a ship of war, not a colony vessel. And creating anything around here such as an asteroid base or space station is simply inviting trouble under the current political environment. We have not had the time or equipment to begin establishing a colony site."

"But you have your contingent of Federation marines. They can't stay on your vessels permanently. And Babylon Five is only temporary. Now concerning equipment, I can help with that. Our replicators are more advanced and efficient. I will give you the specifications. It may be in your best interests to build a small starbase. Or maybe purchase one from Earth Alliance and modify it to your specifications."

Garrett brightened by the idea. "We could gut it and build on it."

"We can install jump engines in it and shift it to our permanent site when we're ready," Castillo added. "Of course we will have to remove the hundreds of surveillance devices I'm sure that the EA will plant onboard." Everyone murmured in agreement. A few people inside the room were actively smirking.

"Let's get back to Q," Guinan said before the conversation could drift too far. "I can feel his presence all around you."

"Think of it as a protective field or better yet, Vorlon-Shadow repellent. He and I have had long discussions concerning the sorted histories of the Vorlons/Shadow conflict and their threat potential to you and to me. From his vivid descriptions of both species, I'm somewhat surprised that the Vorlons and Shadows left you alone as much as they have. Ms. Guinan…"

"Just call me Guinan."

Janeway nodded. "Guinan, what you're feeling is his version of a subtle warning to them and to the Shadows. If anything happens to my ship or my crew because of them, he will make their lives very miserable for a very long, long time."

"I don't understand," said Guinan. "Why does he care for you so much?"

"Q has changed somewhat," was her response. "His contact with Humanity has opened his horizons a bit. And this mission is extremely important to him and in return he will allow me to contact of the offspring of V'Ger."

Now it was Garrett's turn to be shocked. Everyone knew about the probe that Captain – then Admiral Kirk saved Earth from. V'ger came within a hair's breath of destroying the Earth and was responsible for a fundamental change in Starfleet policy. Only one ship had been available to confront V'ger during the time and that was Kirk's Enterprise. The lack of security shown during that incident was unconscionable. Too many ships were too far from the core worlds to offer any significant protection. That flaw was corrected when more Starfleet vessels began to patrol the critical worlds of the Federation. But once more, during her time in a state of relative peace, Starfleet had began to push further out, leaving the core worlds to their own local defenses. "You mean the probe had offspring? And what does that have to do with your mission against these Cylons?"

"Certain forces are trying to get to the children. If that happens, then the balance of power shifts; and the Federation, Klingon and Romulan empires and all small governments and organic life forms will cease to exist. This mission here helps that mission there, and he will not tolerate Vorlon and Shadow interference."

"But I believe he as already interfered," Picard muttered. "I think I was contacted by him, in a dream," he added slowly. "He told me that this galaxy was doomed and it would be best for us to return to our own reality because there was nothing we could do here to change he outcome."

"Q told you that?" Janeway asked mystified.

"I dismissed it; believed it to be some sort of nightmare," Picard said. "But it was disturbing and I was left with doubts about our purpose here."

For Guinan, everything suddenly clicked. "I felt a disturbance," Guinan started. "At first it felt like Q was in the general area but it didn't 'feel' right. That's because it wasn't Q. It was Count Iblis."

"Why would he do that?" asked Picard. "And who is this Iblis. Is he another one of these entities?"

The Admiral nodded. "I suspect that he wanted a bit of revenge on Q," Janeway said. Guinan was nodding in agreement. "I really believe Q truly hates Iblis."

"Then why doesn't he simply remove Iblis?" asked Guinan. "He has the power to do so." But as she spoke she understood why Q hadn't acted. And her thoughts were confirmed a moment later as the Admiral started to answer her question.

"He has the power but not the authority," Janeway stated for the benefit of everyone else. "It would start a war."

"So this creature causes all of these disasters, wars and suffering and no one does anything about it?"

"Exactly," added Guinan. "And we suffer the consequences of their lack of action."

"But why? Are they assuming that because we're the so-called younger races that we have no rights in these matters?" asked Garrett.

"That's a partial answer," said Guinan. "However I believe that the answer is far simpler. Such long-lived entities have a fear of death and when one of theirs dies, it strongly reminds them of their own mortality. It is something to be avoided at all costs Others are then sacrificed so that they don't have to be concerned about thinking of it. That's not true in all of the cases, but immortality does have a tendency to leave you 'comfortable'."

"That's a very cynical view," said Garrett.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" she responded coldly. "Sometimes the truth is cynical. Just remember that this is the same Q who introduced your timeline to the Borg."

"True," agreed the Admiral. "However without that introduction, as you put it we would have not been prepared to deal with them, or the Dominion, for that matter. And we have reason to suspect that the Borg would have never been as powerful as they've become without them being exposed to us."

At this Guinan's curiosity was peaked. "In what way?" she asked. "Their territory is vast and there are very few races that have successfully stood against them in our timeline as well as yours."

"That is true. However in one of their attempts to assimilate the Federation, they attempted time travel. Your counterpart," she continued pointing at Picard, "stopped them, destroyed their ship and corrected the timeline. Or so it was believed. Records show that in Jonathan Archer's time, several Borg drones were discovered and re-animated. They escaped but were destroyed by Archer before they could presumably return the Delta quadrant. These drones had all of the future information which they imparted to the less technologically advanced Collective of the time by the use of an interplexing beacon. That jump in knowledge allowed the Borg to spread so fast, so quickly within in a hundred year span."

"Another temporal causality loop," William Riker said at the exact instant as Thomas. Both stared in consternation at one another.

"Yes," confirmed the Admiral. "Q informed me that there are other temporal changes occurring at a rapid pace. Things that we know to be true are being 'rearranged' as this temporal cold war continues. Your records indicate that the Romulan war was fought using primitive nuclear weapons and lasers. Our history indicates that we used photonic torpedoes and phased weapons. According to Q, the attack by the Xindii that killed so many on Earth didn't happen until last year, although it has always been a part of our history books. That is also why the Organians didn't stop the Klingon Federation war. Temporal barriers have become unstable and any action can only exacerbate the situation."

"This can't go on," Garrett said. "Something has to be done about this!"

"There are those who are better equipped and are working on it," she answered.

Babylon Five:

"The decision is made?" asked the Shadow Lord.

"Yes," the High Vorlon intoned. "Lorien's presence has decided for us. It is time for us to join the others."

"We will all join with them?"

"Yes."

"I will inform the others."

"The Federation?"

"They are a danger, but they are not a threat to us. The Shadows will leave them as they are. They are no longer a concern to us."

"We cannot touch them," the Vorlon Lord said coldly. "But these will be punished. They have polluted the game. The young ones will suffer."

"Let them. If they survive, they will be the stronger for it."

Babylon Five-Command and Control Central:

"I've just read the report from Picard," John Sheridan said to his staff. Next to him, stood a somber Delenn and an even more somber G'kar and Londo Mollari. "The aliens have just brought in more ships through the gate. They've been stopped but this simply aggravates our overall problem. Even with all of the races united, it'll take time to gather the forces necessary to win."

The Soul Hunters were there huddled in a corner. Galen was there as well. Neroon and several other Minbari warriors stood off to the side, listening intently to everything. Since the death so many of their people, they were as a whole, screaming for revenge. The Centauri representatives were quiet but equally restless. Their Navy was preparing to join the Minbari and the Minbari weren't overly happy with this. Recent relations between the two governments were still strained and even with a common enemy, things didn't look too well for relations between the two.

"The Minbari will be ready in three weeks with the first, second and third battalions," Delenn told everyone. "That is over a thousand ships with another two thousand in reserve. Ours will be the lead and we will teach these creatures the folly of attacking the Minbari."

John loved Delenn; there was no doubt about that. However, she was more hard-headed than he was when it came to striking back at an enemy. And sometimes her attitude truly made him wonder what she had been like during the Earth-Minbari war. One day, when all of this was over and they were old and grey, he would ask her; not that it mattered of course. The Grey Council had been swept up in the bloodlust after the death of Dukhat and she would have not been a part of the senior decisions made that day. "It may be advisable to wait until we can get all of the races in on this. 'We are dealing with First Ones. Hell, it took the Vorlons everything they had to fight them to a standstill. They beat the Shadows and kicked them off of their own planet."

"John," said Delenn. Her eyes were dangerous, something he'd seen before. "The Shadows and the Vorlons will attack with us. With two First Ones by our side, we will win this battle and finish this threat once and for all."

"It'll take a little more than three months to make it to Z'ha'dum," he protested. "What happens if they decide to change their minds at the last minute?"

"They've given their word to Lorien," she answered with absolute resolve.

"And that's the only reason why there still here," Sheridan countered. "They've given their word to Lorien. They don't care about us. We're nothing by playthings to them. Remember, they were perfectly willing to leave us if Lorien hadn't persuaded them to stay."

"Their firepower will be useful. Without them-"

"I understand the situation is not good," said John. "But there is going to come a time when we are going to have to stand on our own. In this situation I would love to have them help us. But what I am saying is that we are going to have to depend on ourselves. We need to develop our forces, build up our strength, and strike as a cohesive force."

"He is right, Delenn." All eyes turned around to Neroon stepping up. "Too long have we been comforted by the fact that the Vorlons have supported us. Too long have we honored their alliance and memories. Too long have we remembered what happened a thousand years ago. The Vorlons have used us as pawns, nothing more. You, of us all, know what has happened to our people. I welcome their help, but I no longer welcome them."

That pronouncement sent a quiet shockwave throughout the room.

"We Narn will do all we can to help after all our worlds are in danger, too," a completely sincere-looking G'kar added.

Mollari huffed, but it was without real feeling on his part. It seemed more like a reflex action. Still it aggravated the Narn and that gave him a bit of joy. "Yes, of course, he said. "We can always use another four or five ships in this battle. Third line of defense and all. You can help clean up the mess, yes?"

G'kar smile coldly. "You might be surprised."

"And just what does that mean, 'you might be surprised'? You Narns are all talk."

"Londo, you overweight Centauri-"

"ENOUGH!"

The phrase was uttered by several people in the room including John, Delenn, and Neroon who just glared at the two of them with open hostility.

"If I didn't know better," John hissed, "I'd think you two were married!"

The two adversaries glared at one another, first in anger and then horror as John's word sank in. Both took an involuntary step back, realized what they'd done and gasped in horror once more. Quickly, they retreated away from one another as far as possible.

"John," a very concerned Delenn whispered. "Was that what your earlier marriage was like?"

He almost blurted out 'which one?' but managed to stop himself in time. 'Oh, Lord,' he thought. 'I can feel the headache coming on right now'.

The room darkened suddenly. The lights didn't lessen as much as something seemed to interfere with the photon emissions. Two entities entered the room. The Vorlon and Shadow leaders eased into the center of the room and stood there. Building up the tension, they were silent for perhaps a minute before the Vorlon finally spoke.

"We are going to Z'ha'dum now. We will honor our promise to Lorien."

"But we're not ready," protested a surprised Delenn. "To leave now would put us at a disadvantage."

"We are leaving," the Vorlons said with absolute finality. The musical intonations of its speech didn't lessen the threatening attitude in the least. "The pebbles will not come with us. We will strike the ancient enemy. Then we will leave."

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell us," protested Delenn. Tactically this made very little sense to her and the others in the room.

"We will strike at Z'ha'dum. Then we will head for the Rim. The Young Ones will be left to their own."

"But the Sinhindrea are spreading. They're not just at Z'ha'dum. They're spreading toward the Vree homeworld and colonies."

"We will strike at Z'ha'dum," the Vorlon lord repeated. "The pebbles will be left to clean up what is left. We will close the door." Without another word, the Vorlon turned and left a stunned crowd.

"Fight, grow strong, survive – if that is what you want," the Shadow leader whispered to them all. Then she too, turned and left, fading away as it did so.

"Don't even say it," Delenn hissed in John's ear.

A few minutes later, the crews of Babylon Five, the troubled Minbari, the frightened refugees, and dozens of other races watched as the First Ones, the Vorlon and Shadow fleets, turned and disappeared into the red vastness of hyperspace. From the observation room Lorien watched in sadness as they left. Guinan noticed their departure and sighed. The younger races at Babylon Five felt unnerved by their departure. Janeway muttered something about self-centered, supposedly enlightened entities that made pests of themselves. Sisko felt a peace that he couldn't place. Picard and Garrett resolved to upgrade their weaponry faster. John intended to push everyone together as soon as possible.

In the silence of her own chambers, Delenn cried. She knew what the Vorlons were and what they had done to her people and countless other races but still, their leaving nearly broke her heart. The door chimed. She thought about not opening the door but whoever it was, was very insistent. It couldn't be John although she desperately wanted it to be him. She had told him that she wanted to be alone, to reflect as she put it, the monumental change in events. But like Neroon and some of the other Minbari, she was taking it hard.

Now, more angry and despaired, she opened her door and was stunned. Outside, the Vorlon waited patiently as Delenn collected herself and then entered the room.

"Kosh," she whispered. "We thought – I thought, that you'd left with the others."

She could feel the sadness, the shame, the anger, intermixed with bits of humor radiating from the Ambassador as he continued to stare at her. "Delenn," his musical-like translator gently intoned. "I have always been here. I am here now. Inform the others that I shall remain here."

TBC