Chapter 15

A wind blew across the immense landing pad as the Enterprise shuttle craft touched down on Kronos. One sleek looking green-tinted non-Federation shuttle had already landed and its crew was standing outside it, apparently waiting patiently. The leader was a tall stately figure. Picard knew that figure; hooded as he was in a brown cloak; a Romulan cloak.

Tomalak threw off his hood gracefully as Picard and his party approached from their shuttle. The other four officers followed suit and looked upon the Starfleet personnel with the requisite amount of suspicion and derision. Commander Tomalak's expression was one of delight however. "Captain Picard," he announced, "How strange that we should meet the Federation in peace during such dangerous times."

Picard and his officers halted before the Romulans. "Strange? Surely the motives of your own government are not unclear to you, Commander Tomalak."

"Yes, yes...it was my government who called this conference," Tomalak admitted, still smiling. "And you shall hear no criticism of that decision from us," he said pointedly, glancing back at his officers. "For the Senate is always watching."

Picard waved his officers forward for introductions.
"Commander Tomalak, may I present my First Officer Commander Riker, Second Officer Lt. Commander Data, Chief Engineer LaForge, Chief of security Lt. Worf and his officers Choi and Barnes." Tomalak nodded at each of the officers except for Worf whom he hardly acknowledged.

Commander Tomalak nodded at his officers. "With me are Sub-Commander Saris, and three Centurions whose names…are not important." His contemptuous smile never wavered. "And now that we have the formalities out of the way we can resume our barely veiled hostilities, Captain," said Tomalak. "After all, as you humans say there is too much water under the bridge between our cultures for us to forgive one another's transgressions."

Riker's eyebrows shot up. "Actually Commander the saying is meant to refer to old concerns that should be left behind...like water is left under a bridge."

Tomalak shrugged. "I see. Now that I know the true meaning of the phrase, I no longer believe it to be relevant."

Picard smiled slightly. "But it is relevant…perhaps in these dangerous times we should consider abandoning old grudges," he offered.

Tomalak smiled pretentiously. "No doubt this is a Human sentiment," he said. "And one that a Romulan is not likely to share." He sighed. "How disappointing to find that the actual man does not match up to the legend," he remarked. "I am sure I speak for my crew when I say we never expected the great Captain Picard to be so...sentimental."

"And I have never claimed to be a legend," Picard shot back testily.

Tomalak's slow smile widened. "So modest…as few legends are," said Tomalak deliberately.

Picard clamped his mouth shut tightly. He could feel that his patience was already faltering, which for him was unusual-and in this setting was not a good sign. He needed to remain focused and centered if they were to make progress during these negotiations.

He glanced around, and to his relief found a group of Klingons approaching to greet them. At the head of the large group was a very stout Klingon, whom Picard recognized as Chancellor K'mpec.

"Nuq'neh?" barked K'mpec. {"What do you want?"}

"Jih ghaj ghoS jatlh," said Picard in greeting, stepping forward. {"I have come to speak."}

The Chancellor laughed heartily. "Then you shall be heard, Captain. May your enemies run screaming in fear." He turned a suspicious eye to the Romulans. "How convenient that our enemies would be so close among us…."

Tomalak was unable or unwilling to hide his disgust for the portly Klingon. "I consider the label of enemy to be a compliment when uttered by a Klingon. But I have not run since I was a youth, and I certainly do not scream."

"Ha ha ha, there is still time yet," laughed K'mpec.

Somewhere on a train in 1881 America

"You appear to understand the basic principles of multi-dimensional travel, so I will try and explain this in terms that you will comprehend. As you know, the space-time continuum is vast. My race, known as the Q exist along most of these dimensions. There are few other species that exist similarly, but there is one singular creature we have watched with interest and suspicion for millions of your years."

"And this creature is not a Q?"

Q made a face. "No it is not. This creature, known by many names across the dimensions is what your people call Orla."

Guinan sat forward intently.

"I see the name strikes a chord with you," Q said. "While the Q are many, Orla is just one being. And while the entire scope of its power is unknown, it is believed that Orla has powers similar to the Q."

"She," corrected Guinan. "Orla is a female."

Q threw up his hands. "Oh how disappointing, this humanoid fixation on sex! Who cares what gender Orla is?"

Guinan shrugged easily. "That was how Orla presented herself to us."

"How do you know? Were you there?" Q demanded.

Guinan shook her head 'no'. "Orla first appeared on El Auria in the ancient days, long before I was born."

"Good. I am glad that we have settled that everything you know about Orla was written in religious texts and passed along by word of mouth by people, who like yourself never actually met her-I mean it. Orla is no more female or male than this blob," Q said dramatically and snapped his fingers. A small purple cloud now floated between them. Guinan jumped slightly in her seat. Q flicked the cloud and it disappeared. "Actually," said Q admiring his work, "that was a fairly decent approximation of Orla's true shape: a blob."

Guinan folded her arms over her chest. "Alright...so let's agree that you know more than me. Now what exactly do you know?"

"I know that this creature, Orla is very much in love with the thought of creation, to the extent that it tried its hand-well it doesn't exactly have hands- at the act of creation more than once. We Q have no interest in creating new species. Why do so when it is so much more entertaining to observe and sometimes meddle with them? And by no means do we allow ourselves to destroy another species. Believe me, this is also tempting, but we prefer to take a more hands off approach."

"But Orla does not?"

"We Q observed for many years that Orla would create a being and within the blink of one of your eyes would extinguish it if it was not to Orla's liking, or did not meet the standard of perfection it had set for itself. Thus all through the multitudes of time and space and through many universes Orla planted its seeds on various planets. Of the species Orla allowed to live, some of these were left alone to progress on their own. Others were directly influenced by Orla, and it made no secret of its presence to the extent that some of its creations took notice of it and created religions around it."

"Are you telling me that Orla created the El Aurians? But the teachings only say she came to protect us," said Guinan sounding doubtful.

"Perhaps Orla did not want you to know. Perhaps it believed that your race would be better for not knowing," said Q.

"If I am better off not knowing, why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because Orla's carelessness has alarmed some of its peers. It has unleashed a plague upon the universe, and eventually that plague may reach even the Q."

"I'm listening..."

"Orla was so pleased by the good hearted people it created on El Auria that it decided to repeat its creation on another planet in another dimension. And it loved the El Aurians so much-because if there is another failing of Orla it is that it has a limitless capacity for love-"

"The ability to love is not a failing," said Guinan. "Love is a great thing."

Q ignored her. "Orla loved the El Aurians so much that it created the species again," Q continued. "Except this time Orla inexplicably decided to provide this being with greater powers, and with immortality perhaps as a gift to the wonderfully gentle and open-minded race it believed it had created once more. But it was not to be."

"As with most of its experiments, Orla created just one of these beings to begin with. But in this universe only dark matter existed, and so the being was created from dark matter. In effect Orla had created the exact opposite of an El Aurian. Orla immediately realized its mistake when the new being exhibited some concerning attributes-in particular a purely sadistic personality."

"The Other," said Guinan.

"Yes," said Q. "The ultimate problem child. So Orla attempted to destroy its new creation but the being only grew more powerful. And being the disturbed individual it was it didn't appreciate the fact that Orla had tried to destroy it. It took offense, I think you could say, to Orla's attempt to murder it."

"Realizing it had been created in the image of the perfect El Aurians who could do no wrong in Orla's proverbial eyes, and that it would never meet these high standards, the so called Other traveled to El Auria to wreak havoc. And the rest of the story-or at least most of it- you are aware of."

"But... Orla left us for years to suffer under the reign of the Other. Why...?"

Q shook his head. "Ask Orla...that is if you still intend to bring the shards to her."

Guinan stood up. "So you do know my intent after all!"

Q shrugged casually. "I just read your mind while we were talking."

"Then you should know that yes, I do intend to bring her the shards-once I have found the last one."

"I have an alternative proposal for you," offered Q. "Bring the shards to me. Your Orla is obviously so careless and untrustworthy that it's not worth your time to bring them to her."

"Not worth my time? Mr. Quentin..."

"Call me Q..."

"Q… It had better be worth my time. I just spent the last forty years traveling the universe gathering the first two pieces, and I am very close to finding the third. Once I have it I will bring them all to Orla-as my grandmother told me. "

Q smiled craftily. "And once that is done you are confident that the piece of the Other which still lies on your home planet will be no bother to you at all."

"Should I not be confident? If you have some information for me Q I will gladly accept it."

"You really expect me to tell you everything, don't you? Well I don't have any intention of doing so. It is simple. If you are really as intelligent as you seem to be, you will bring the shards to me." Q's voice suddenly took on an edge.

Guinan walked away toward the door. She was surprised no one had come and demanded to know why she had not returned to work. She turned back around to look at him. "Why can't you just find them yourself? You're omnipotent…aren't you?"

Q suddenly appeared standing right next to her. The room darkened. A halo of light seemed to shimmer around his body. "Are you challenging me, El-Aurian? Because this will be a very one-sided battle."

Guinan shifted slightly, standing her ground. She knew he was right, but why so defensive? "You didn't answer my question, Q. Why can't you find the pieces yourself?"

Q still appeared angry, but the light in the room returned. "It's complicated…too complicated to explain to you," he said.

Guinan turned and opened the door to the hallway glancing out. An agitated conductor stood frozen in time, as did several passengers who had been walking through the train. It seemed Q really had not wanted to be interrupted. She smiled and looked back at him.

Q did not appear amused. "Guinan I will give you three more days. By then we will be much nearer to your destination on this hideously slow-moving vehicle. Three more days to decide whether to accept my offer to take the shards. Trust me; they will be much safer with me than with Orla."

Guinan straightened her uniform and ducked out past the frozen conductor. "I'll seriously consider it," she said calling back over her shoulder before disappearing down the passageway.

Deanna's mouth hung open in unapologetic astonishment. "Did you…did you give the three pieces to Q?"

"That's assuming Guinan found the third piece at all," said Crusher, folding her arms over her chest and looking just as shocked as Troi. "Did you?"

Guinan smiled distractedly. "Yes, eventually I did find the third piece. And no I did not give them to Q. But that story is for another day. My concern now is that if I collected the third piece, why is this all happening now?"

"Can you even be certain that this…thing that has taken hold of the Captain is the Other?" Crusher asked. The very thought of it made her shudder.

Guinan shook her head. "No…not without more information. That is why I wanted to find out what occurred in your dream, Doctor…."

Crusher sat back down on the edge of her desk. "I uh…well some of it is personal, you see…well Jean-Luc and I were together in the dream—you know, um…."

"I know," Guinan and Troi said at the same time.

"We understand, Beverly," Troi said more gently.

Beverly looked somewhat taken aback. "The sun was so warm and comforting and in the dream I began to doze off. And then Jean-Luc left to go for a walk. When he came back we were joking around, being silly…and then the sun just disappeared from the sky—as though it had never existed. Everything seemed grey. I tried to tell Jean-Luc, but when I turned back for him he was gone. When I looked up again that's when I saw him."

"What was he doing?" Troi asked.

"He was transformed. He looked like some kind of warrior and was holding a weapon. He looked at me but it was as though…he didn't recognize me." She twisted her hands together and felt herself getting emotional. She cursed herself silently for being upset over a dream.

"It wasn't just a dream, Beverly," Troi said comfortingly.

"Anything else?" Guinan asked.

"Yes. He was standing next to something that resembled an upright mirror, with something like black water inside it. Then he stepped into the mirror."

Guinan placed her face into her hands briefly and then looked up. She was taken back for a moment to that mysterious pool of water up on the hill in her youth. The one she would have no doubt returned to if her grandmother had not intervened. But that piece had disappeared from El-Auria just a few years after the Borg attack in 2265—years after she had already dispatched the other three. No one had understood why it had disappeared, but the circumstances surrounding its disappearance and what she believed had involved one of her favorite students had always haunted her.

Now she wondered if all of her fears so many years ago had been justified. Something had happened to cause that piece of the Other to live on. And then when Captain Picard found his artifact on Risa, the Other must have taken notice. "The old texts must have been wrong," she muttered. "There were five pieces, not four. Captain Picard has the fifth piece."

"How do we stop this, Guinan?" Beverly's voice was quiet, mainly because she was so tired.

"Captain Picard's entry into the mirror is significant. But I don't know fully why. But I do know that to enter the mirror is to enter the Other's world. In his world there can only be violence and pain, because those are the things that keep him alive. He lives to see and cause the pain of beings less powerful than he is. That is why I am not surprised to hear you say that he has reported fighting in battles and has experienced wounds that won't heal."

"But how do we keep Captain Picard from falling more and more under his control-" Troi stopped in mid-sentence and turned around before Beverly even heard the familiar footsteps. No doubt Troi sensed his approach.

Captain Picard paused in the doorway of Beverly's office and leaned against the door frame. A strange expression was on his face. "Did I hear my name being mentioned? You know…three is the typical number of participants needed for the most successful conspiracies." He smiled, and the odd expression grew colder. "Of course, there is no reason for me to expect I am being plotted against. Not on my own ship of course."

Beverly stepped forward anxiously. "We didn't expect you back so soon. How is the conference going?"

The shadow over his face lifted and his features relaxed somewhat. "Oh," he said straightening in the doorway. "We just dispensed with some of the preliminaries today," he said. "Chancellor K'mpec has invited us all to a banquet tomorrow, which if it is anything like today promises to be…quite interesting." He smiled and then yawned, looking suddenly exhausted. "I think I might turn in early," he said.

"Wait," Beverly said, suddenly frightened to let him fall asleep. "Let's go to Ten Forward and have something to eat," she suggested trying to sound upbeat.

Guinan stood up. "I think I have just the thing for you both," she said. "Something special. You're going to need it to offset the Klingon food you'll be eating tomorrow."

Troi walked out behind them. "I think I will come along too. Goddess, I could use some chocolate right now…."

Six hours later…

Beverly sat up in bed. For a moment she was disoriented, and then remembered she was in Jean-Luc's quarters. She checked the clock. It was midnight. She hadn't felt him get up, and so she had no idea how long he had been gone. She heard a strange humming coming from somewhere outside of the bedroom. Getting up and pulling on a robe she walked hesitantly into the living room. He wasn't there. She saw a light coming from the bathroom and gathering her courage walked toward the room as the humming increased.

She came cautiously around the corner and saw him. He stood over the sink with his hands gripping either side of the sink, staring wide eyed into the mirror. The humming sound was coming from his mouth and black tendrils of some kind of smoky substance was being emitted from the small black stone on the edge of the sink and pouring into his nose and mouth. His eyes appeared an inky black, with no trace of hazel to be seen. His muscles flexed and he jerked as though he was jumping or running, or trying to at least. Beverly's mouth opened in reflexive horror. She didn't know if she was even making a sound, but she shouted with all she had.