"Captain, we would be happy to accommodate you and your crew for as long as you needed."
Q almost cringed, again he wasn't suppose to be on the bridge but somehow he always showed up in time to see someone try to flirt with his fiancee. "Thank you Chancellor."
"I look forward to meeting you in person, Captain Janeway." When they got to the surface Q was going to slap that guy in the face. Once the screen went blank Q looked over at the captain.
"Captain, I think that man has a crush." Q commented walking towards Kathryn. "Amelia has never actually been off Voyager before. I wonder what she will think of shore leave. After all according to the, chancellor his world is a tropical paradise and, sanctuary to all." Somehow saying that made Q feel a little nervous. No place was that perfect. Did it rain acid from the sky?
"Just remember Q, Amelia was born on Voyager, the first time Naomi went down to a planet she had some problems breathing and adjusting. Just keep that in mind if you want her to go down there."
Q paused not really wanting anything bad to happen to Amelia. "Well after all the steroids pumped into her the first week of her life she should have the strongest lungs on the crew." He joked. "But I'll still consult the doc before we join you." The reality of Amelia experiencing a bunch of first was exciting to him. "Guess what, she's going to see an actual sky for the first time. She's going to hear birds, she's going to play in the dirt."
Janeway turned to him. "She's not playing in the dirt."
"Just a little." Q shrugged. "What? Children like to play in dirt."
"Children yes, three months old, no."
"It's not as though I'll have her eat it."
"Just one step at a time." She added as Paris turned around looking at the two of them.
"Mom, dad, stop fighting." Paris spoke up before turning back to his station. Hopefully Janeway didn't get upset with him now.
Q was quick to get Amelia to the doc so they could go down to the planet. One thing that they hadn't been exaggerating was the beauty of this world. It truly was a tropical paradise and it wasn't hard for Q to see why many travelers ended up settling here. Janeway never would, no matter how beautiful and safe a planet was she would risk everything to return to Earth. Amelia was much more excited now that they were here, her attention constantly being pulled from one place to another. She was a bit taken aback by the wind and trees, the sounds of birds, and most of all that big blue sky. Walking over to where a good chunk of Voyagers crew had assembled Q spotted Janeway with that sparkly eyed Chancellor. "Look Amy, your mommy is talking to that creepy little fellow again. Lets go shut him up." Amelia cooed at her father making Q snicker a little. "That's what I said as well." Resting her against his shoulder he march closer to Janeway waving to catch her attention. "Hello darling." Q spoke up loud enough for the chancellor to hear him. "Your daughter is enjoying herself down here."
Janeway turned at looked at Amelia, a big grin on her face as she looked up at the sky. She was so busy looking around Amelia hadn't even noticed Q had passed her off to her mother. Her eyes fixed on a strange something overhead, some sort of animal fluttering by that made no sound. It's wings looking as though they were made of paper. "Hello Amelia." Janeway smiled at her daughter before following the baby's wide eyed gaze. "Butterfly." Janeway gave a name to the creature her daughter had been so transfixed on. Amelia cooed back at her mother as if she wanted to repeat the word but was unable to do so. Her green eyes turning to Janeway as she smiled.
"You should have seen her when we first got here, I didn't know if she was going to cry. When the wind blew from the trees she looked up at me as if the sky was on fire." Q laughed, Amelia had gotten braver over her short little life. It seemed like only a few weeks ago everything made her cry. Making a funny face at her use to make her cry but she had gotten a healthy curiosity. "She shed a few tears when a bird startled her but once she realized it wasn't going to hurt her she was more excited about being here."
"Everything is new to you here." Janeway looked back to the butterfly that Amelia was so fixated on. It seemed like such a simple thing to everyone else but it was alien to their daughter. The only other place Amelia could see these sort of creatures would be on the holodeck and as much as Q wanted to show her to world on the holodeck Janeway had asked him to hold off on bringing their daughter in there. Amelia had a funny habit of making this malfunction when she felt uncomfortable.
"I wasn't aware you had a daughter." The chancellor sounded slightly disappointed, good. That should teach him to hit one women he didn't know very well. Especially women who were already spoken for. "She's just as charming as her mother." The man smiled looking back at Janeway and giving Q a quick eye twitch. That bastard, he was lucky Q didn't have his powers or he would have turned him into a pig and considered having himself some bacon.
Stepping closer to Janeway Q smiled and joked around. "As charming as her mother and and as quick as her father." Q puffed up his chest trying to prove a point. "I'm Q by the way."
"Ah Q, a pleasure to meet you." The chancellor put his hands behind his back. "Captain Janeway has spoken of you. Ensign Q, you are a medical officer on Voyager correct?"
"Why yes, yes I am." Q smiled at Kathryn, she had talked about him? Now didn't that make his boyish heart go all a flutter.
"Maybe you could help us with a problem we have been having. A viral outbreak in one of our colony's near the ocean. Our doctors have been stumped by it for months. Luckily we have quarantined the area but a cure would be beneficial to my people."
Nodding his head Q looked over at the other man. "Well, I could talk to the doctor, perhaps you could get swabs and he can grow a few cultures to determine a treatment. I would be happy to help." Q paused and turned his attention back to Kathryn and Amelia. "Of course, I would also like to spend some time with my family. Not often I will get a chance to show my daughter around a friendly planet."
"Oh I am certain we can find time for this, it wouldn't take long. Besides I am certain Captain Janeway can handle your child for a few hours."
Q laughed knowing Amelia, he didn't want to frighten the 'locals' by saying she was possibly as powerful as a godlike being but it would have been honest to say so. "So long as she doesn't cause any trouble." He laughed looking at the baby, no really, he didn't want her to cause any trouble. As Q was about to walk off with the chancellor and perhaps talk more about this infection bothering the colony there came a commotion from across the little park they had been standing in. He thought it might have been a few locals having an argument and instinctively Q got closer to Kathryn again, wrapping an arm around her and resting his free hand on Amelia. That was when he noticed Torres punching another man int he face as his two comrades drew their weapons. "Torres." Q gasped, she would be the one to pick a fight on a planet kind enough to host them for a few days.
"Is she a member of your crew?" The chancellor asked.
"Yes, she's our chief engineer." Q answered before Janeway could say a word.
"There must be some kind of misunderstanding then." He seemed to know who the people were who were assaulting Torres. Turning back to the captain he asked her a question that made even Q do a double take. "She's a pureblood correct?"
Janeway didn't know how to answer his question, she had that same look of confusion cross her face. "Pureblood?"
"Meaning she is not a hybrid." He responded.
"She's from a human father and a Klingon mother." Janeway responded. "Why does that matter."
The Chancellor looked away from the captain and bowed his head. "I am sorry then, I'm afraid your Chief Engineer is guilty of her crime then."
"What crime?" Q asked sounding very irritated by this chancellor. Was Janeway going to let him punch this hack now?
"Her crime against nature. We do not allow hybrids on Palsia, they are unpredictable, dangerous. We have forbidden inter species matting for over a hundred years and our planet has been peaceful because of it." Janeway stepped back holding Amelia a little closer to her. "Do you have other crew members who are hybrids?"
"Even if I did I wouldn't tell you who they were." Janeway growled back. "Now let my crew member go. We can leave your planet in peace."
The chancellor turned to her showing a little aggression of his own. "Knowingly harboring hybrids is also a crime on this planet. Punishable by death. I would hate for something bad to happen to you Captain. Especially when you have your daughter to think about." Her expression didn't change for a moment as she glared at him.
"We were not aware of your laws before you gave us permission to come to your world." She reminded him, had she known she wouldn't have come here.
"I suspect by your reaction you have other hybrid crew members. We will do a genetic scan to everyone aboard your ship, once we have cleared all hybrids from your crew you will be free to leave, or stay. I promise the hybrids on your crew will not be harmed. We shall only relocate them to a specialized holding facility where they can live out their lives." Somehow that didn't seem like it was the full truth and Janeway wasn't giving her crew, her daughter up to these people.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Janeway replied.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choi..." His words were cut off when Q punched him in the face, he was getting much better at hitting people because this time he didn't even cry about being hurt. He still shook his hand and silently cried out but didn't throw a fuss like last time. As Q moved to press his com badge two more men came to restrain him, another two fixing their weapons on Janeway. Q knew she wouldn't do anything to risk Amelia's safety but then at the same time Amelia was already unsafe here. "You are going to regret that Q." If Q had his powers he would have put that bastard in a black hole. Where would that cocky grin be then? The chancellor nodded his head having one of his men scan Q and look up at him.
"He's clean." With another nod of his head the man went over to scan Janeway making Q fight the two guards restraining him. "Clean."
"The captain and I are both human, you should just let us go..." Q trues to argue as the man turned to scan Amelia. "Oh come on, Amelia is our daughter, you have seen for yourself we are both human. Do you really think..." The scanner they had been using started beeping as the doctor scanning Amelia looked back at the chancellor.
"Impure, a hybrid." He looked back at Q with a wicked little smile on his face. "Are you certain this child is yours?" Q narrowed his eyes trying to burn a hole through his face. What a dirty move, trying to make Q question Amelia's parentage. If the dim witted biped knew what he really was he wouldn't have questioned.
"You'll wish she wasn't my child if you take her away from her mother." Q warned with a little smirk. Amelia would show him soon enough what happened when you made a Q child unhappy.
"These readings can't be right, they keep changing." The scientist spoke up looking back at the child. "It can't decide what she is, some of her DNA matches the mother but the rest of it...it's..."
"You can't measure a Q by DNA as we have evolved beyond the physical. We are immortal, effervescent, all powerful. We are not force to be as limited as you...little simple bipedal species."
"We shall see about that." The chancellor responded getting uncomfortably close to Q's face. "Take the child, we shall sort it out later." He ordered the men. As they closed in reaching out for Amelia she didn't burst out crying, she didn't look to her mother, instead she looked back up at the butterfly and smile. So alarmingly innocent and ignorant to what was happening right now. Q feared what would happen to her until one of the men had a hand on Amelia and just like that, with a bright flash of light she was gone. He internally cheered the little girl on, feeling damn proud of his protegee for accomplishing that and at the same time he was a little fearful. Amelia was a baby with limited control and understanding of her powers. Hopefully she had gone someplace safe. "What happened?" The chancellor barked looking around with confusion.
"Like I said, she effervesced." Q smiled, this was the best feeling he could have. That little 'hybrid' was giving the chancellor and his men a hell of a time.
"Where is she?" The chancellor ordered in his big commanding voice.
Q shrugged looking a little more calm now. "How should I know, she could be anywhere, She could be at any point of time or space or she could simply be everywhere. Without my own powers I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to." The chancellor nodded his head making one of the men walk over and hit Q hard in the chest with the back of his riffle.
"Place them in holding with the other. I want you to search their ship for more hybrids and find me that child. I'll not be made a mockery of by a...filthy mongrel."
"Yes sir."
