Ana padded among the rivertrees on bare feet, careful to avoid thorny patches and the more fragile mosses. She vaulted over the large stump of a tree that was already beginning to lengthen and thicken; it would be sprouting again in another season as long as the weather didn't turn too dry.

Grampa hung the rivertree with brown moss, carefully adhering it with the sugar paste that would make sure it ate deep into the bark of the mighty trunk, three times as far around as even her tall brother's long arms could reach. The moss would divert moisture, drying the valuable wood without harming the resilient roots below. "More like shearing a wooldog than slaughtering a meatbird," her mother had insisted.

Soriana brought the melon juice to her Grampa, as she had so many times before… but when he turned, it was not the kindly old man's face that she saw. Despite the brow and nose ridges of her kind, the man's facial features and laughing eyes were the same as…

"Q," Ana squeaked. No, it's Soriana now, she told herself. "Am I dreaming, then?"

"Of course," the man agreed, taking the melon juice from her child-sized hands and gulping it down greedily, just as Grampa has always done. "I wouldn't wish to disturb your reverie… although I think you'd admit, the timing for your nap could have been better."

She thought back to the last thing she could recall before she collapsed, and her eyes grew wide. "That poor being! They captured her! I have to wake up, to tell the captain!"

"Her, is it? A bit presumptuous of you." Q stood, and without even a flash, he had returned to his Starfleet admiral's uniform, leaning against the rivertree. Soriana saw that she, too, had returned to her own teal uniform and her adult stature. "Besides, why hurry back? Am I such bad company?"

Despite his rather cavalier tone, she sensed an aura of menace in his mind worse than the last time they met. He wasn't as amused with her, now. Instead he was… irritated.

"No, of course not," Soriana adjusted quickly. "But you understand, an intelligent being is in considerable pain and distress. As a Starfleet officer -"

"Oh, don't try to sell me any of your altruistic nonsense. You and I both know that if the Bandi hadn't offered to make the station a Federation outpost, you'd never have even bothered to look. Even worse, if they had used the being openly, your Prime Directive would have prevented you from interfering." He paced with a hand along the rough bark, stepping between roots with practiced ease. "Convenient, how your rules give you every out to only intervene in cases where your own self-interest is at stake."

Soriana shook her head. "The Prime Directive doesn't restrict our behavior in the interactions between warp-capable species. Nor does it prevent us from acting when a spacefaring race asks for our help. I can't imagine we'd allow this sapient to suffer once we knew."

Q's lips curled. "You'd be surprised what suffering the Federation has allowed… and caused."

"Are you holding me here?" Soriana finally gained the courage to ask. "I implore you, Q, please let me demonstrate our Federation values by doing the right thing in this situation."

"Why would I do that?" Q's menace was stronger now, the irritation sharp. "Didn't you tell Picard that I had no concern morality, that I was just here for my own amusement? That I'd only obey the rules, as long as it was more fun than breaking them?" The man approached her, leaning in until their faces were only inches apart. She could sense the prickles of emotion from his brow ridges as they aligned with hers, an intimate moment usually only shared with parents and lovers. "You're not supposed to be there, you know. The Enterprise was never for you." Q said softly, almost a murmur. "Someone else already broke the rules. And if it interferes with my plans… well…"

"I'm sorry. I… don't know what you mean." Soriana spoke in the same soft tone, trying hard not to let the fear emerge in her voice.

"That's fine. Just remember… even if it's a game to me?" Q stood back, and she felt the images and feelings start to fade. "For you, it's life and death."

*****

"She's coming out of it," the warm maternal voice said. Soriana sat up on the medical bed in the Enterprise's sickbay. She recognized human woman approaching her with a medical tricorder as the ship's Chief Medical Officer.

"Don't try to get up," the doctor insisted. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, Doctor Crusher," Soriana said. "I was overwhelmed by focused telepathic sensation. Excuse me; this is an urgent situation." She tapped her comm badge. "Turhal to Picard. Priority information, sir."

"Go ahead."

"Farpoint station is a sapient life form, being held by the Bandi against its will."

"A… life form? Are you certain?"

"Very much, sir. I established a telepathic link down on the planet. That's what caused me to lose consciousness."

"Does that life form have anything to do with the ship that's currently attacking the planet?"

"I… don't know anything about that, sir. I just woke up." Soriana made eye contact with Crusher, who waved towards the door. "I'll get to the bridge right now."

"Read the sitrep on your way up. Picard out."

Soriana grabbed one of the pads that were charging in pockets on the sickbay wall, as in most major work areas of the ship, and quickly logged in. Her ID as a staff officer unlocked the situation report that was being automatically generated by the ship's computer: access to the images on the main viewscreen as well as selected transcripts and sensor data identified as relevant to the situation being dealt with on the bridge.

The viewscreen showed a sleek saucer sending bolts of energy at the planet below. Sensor data showed damage to the old Bandi city, but none to Farpoint Station itself. It was also noted that Administrator Zorn had been transported on board the ship, which was not responding to hails.

"Mister Turhal, glad to see you up," Picard said. "What's this about the Bandi using another lifeform to build their station?"

"Sir, the lifeform is the station," she clarified. "It can absorb energy and replicate matter, including altering its own shape. It's telepathic, and they have trained it to respond to their needs."

"That would explain Zorn's evasiveness, and unwillingness to expand beyond Farpoint," Riker pointed out. "But who is this, then? The Ferengi?"

"I don't know," Soriana said. "Let me ask."

The Counselor sat in her seat, bringing forward and focusing on the crystal. She reached out to the entity on the planet, hoping to bridge the distance despite its weakened state.

She never had the chance. Rage filled her, white hot, and fear. Fear for another, sympathy, yearning for family. It was much stronger than she had felt on the surface, but it invigorated her rather than overwhelming her.

[Strike out,] he said. [Destroy. When the threat is gone, she can eat. She can heal.]

[Who are you?] Soriana tried to ask, sending her thoughts as strongly as she could over the connection.

[I am Young One], he said. [You feel pain, like she feels pain. You die, let Old One go.]

[We did not hurt Old One,] Soriana insisted. [We want to help.]

[You are not the threat? You smell like the threat,] he said. An image of Zorn, held inside an energy field writhing in pain, was sent to her. Another image, this one of her, was superimposed next to the ambassador. She could understand the resemblance to a creature so different than they.

[No, we are not the threat. We are from elsewhere.] Soriana pictured the Enterprise moving across space.

[The threat crawls in Old One. The threat starves her. The threat hurts her. Kill the threat.] On the screen, another round of energy bolts struck the old city.

"Counselor, anything to report?" Picard asked.

[What if the threat leaves Old One? Can she go?] Soriana asked.

[The threat leaves, then Old One can eat. Then she can heal. Then she can go.] The mental sensation was hard for Soriana to process, a warmth and satisfaction, like basking in the sun but more than skin-deep.

"Captain," Soriana announced. "I am speaking with the… I think with the ship. He's… another life form. Like the station. He's angry. He wants to kill them for hurting her."

"He? Her?" Riker asked. "They're a male and female?"

"Not literally," she clarified. "He says that once the Bandi are gone, she can 'eat', and then they'll be able to leave."

"If we evacuate the Bandi from the station, will he call off the attack?" Riker asked.

"I think so."

Picard nodded. "Send the evacuation order. Make it clear that Farpoint Station is about to be destroyed. To the extent it ever even existed."

"What does the entity want with Zorn?" Tasha Yar asked. "Is it holding him prisoner?"

Picard said, "Soriana, see if you can get it - him - to release Zorn to our custody. Let it know that we are working to get the Bandi off the station."

Soriana nodded, and resumed her link. [Can we have Zorn?] she asked simply, sending a mental image of the administrator. Blue light radiated from the saucer, hitting the Enterprise.

"What was that, Lieutenant?" Riker asked.

"Not a weapon, sir," Yar reported. No damage. More like a-" in a riot of glowing blue, Zorn appeared on the bridge, falling hard to the ground. "Like a transporter beam, sir."

"Give the entity our thanks," Picard said. And to the Bandi, "you have much to answer for."

"Captain," Data swiveled his chair enough to face Picard. "I believe that if we modified the deflector dish, we could provide a plentiful, non-volatile beam of energy to the entity on the planet."

"Feed it? Would its friend object?" The captain asked his counsellor.

"I think he'd be most grateful, sir."

"Make it so."

"Captain, we meant no harm," Zorn insisted, finally rising to his feet. "The creature was injured. We took care of it, fed it."

"Administrator," Soriana replied. "The creature is sapient. She communicated to me how you spoke to her, how you knew that she could understand you." She stood from her seat, walking toward the man, who shrunk back. "How you trained her to respond to your every whim… and how you inflicted pain upon her when she displeased you."

"What else were we to do?" Zorn asked. "It wouldn't stay with us willingly."

Riker stepped forward. "Then you let. Her. Go."

"Deflector dish charged and ready, Captain," Yar announced.

"Scans show all personnel have vacated the station," Data added.

"Energise, Mister Yar," Picard ordered.

The spaceborn beings were beautiful to behold, but the sight was not unmarred for long. A flash of light heralded the return of Q, again a human in a Starfleet uniform. He appeared next to data, and strolled imperiously in front of Picard's chair.

"A mediocre performance at best," he said. "An easy mystery that you would never have solved without your resident telepath."

"Are you here to pass sentence on us?" Picard asked. Soriana could tell he was proud of their work here and wanted to gloat, but after their earlier conversation, she was pleased to note that he restrained himself.

"Yes, yes," Q waved his hand. "You proved your point - you can restrain the worst of your savagery when you must. That hardly makes you prepared for the things you'll soon face."

"Perhaps not," Picard replied. "But we will face it as best we are able, with our hopes and values intact."

"We'll see, mon capitaine." Crossing the bridge again, Q looked down at Soriana. She felt the annoyance pouring forth from him. "There may soon come a day that you will wish you had heeded my warnings, and returned home, while you still could."

Q's powerful mind left Soriana's presence at the same time he vanished from the bridge in his usual flash of light and sound.