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The Archer now sat in stationary orbit over the planet. Outside, she appeared as serene and beautiful as ever. But inside crackled with tension. Crewmen reporting to their duty stations exchanged significant glances. Those with religious beliefs prayed to whatever deities they believed in. It was not unlike scenes which had played out across Starships all over the Quadrants in the most recent wars. Except the Archer wasn't going into battle. She was hoping to out-maneuver a god.

"Ready, Lieutenant?" asked the Captain to Nevin who stood at the Engineering Station's Deflector Control.

Nevin nodded. "Yes sir. The ship should be in range in two minutes."

"We'll have to be within 100 meters for this to work, Captain." said Corey. "Which means we'll have to get out of the way pretty quickly once the ship is decloaked."

Ra'Thann nodded. "Ensign," he said to Icheb who was pulling his second duty aboard the Archer, "As soon as the operation is complete, throw us into full reverse."

"Aye, sir." Icheb responded crisply.

"One minute." warned Nevin.

"Red Alert." Ra'Thann said. Instantly, the Bridge was bathed in red light. "We don't know what kind of ship it's going to be, so have weapons ready."

"Aye, Captain." said Morgim.

"Fifteen seconds..." said Nevin. "Ten seconds...Charging deflector...Five...Four...Three...Two...One...Mark!"

Though nothing visible emanated from the deflector, instantly space before the Archer wavered and a rusty orange, crab-like vessel appeared. As it did, collision warnings began blaring.

"Helm, full reverse!" shouted Ra'Thann, but Icheb was already acting and the other vessel soon slid by harmlessly.

Ra'Thann breathed a sigh of relief. "Report."

"The operation was a success." said Seven. "The other vessel is fully back in phase."

Ra'Thann studied the screen with narrowed eyes. "A Ferengi Marauder." he sneered. "Hail them."

"Channel open." said Ensign Jackson at Ops.

Ra'Thann nodded. "This is Captain Sorgan Ra'Thann of the Federation Starship Archer. Please explain your presence in this system."

For a moment, nothing happened, but then Morgim said, "Captain, they are powering their warp engines."

Ra'Thann smirked. "Mr. Morgim, if you would."

An instant later, ruby-red beams on light stabbed out from the Archer and with a small explosion, the Ferengi vessel's engines flickered and went out.

"Now they're hailing us, Captain." said Jackson.

"On screen."

The image of the damaged vessel was replaced by the ugly visage of a sneering Ferengi. "This is Damon Bejjer! You had better be prepared to repay us for the damage to our vessel, Hew-man ship!" the uglier of the two shouted.

"You are in the Gamma Quadrant which is a restricted area." said S'Val. "You are in no position to be making demands."

The Ferengi waved a finger at the screen. "You're in league with that horrible child creature, aren't you?!" he demanded.

"We just saved your sorry lobes from that 'child creature!'" said Nevin.

"What exactly happened between you and the entity?" asked S'Val.

Bejjer sneered. "As if you don't know. It appeared on our ship, wanting to play a game. When we tried to leave the system, it did this to us. We've been unable to activate our engines since! Then, a week later, you showed up! We tried to hail you but you felt like torturing us and scaring us half to death by getting right in our path!"

"I assure you that is not what happened." said Ra'Thann. "We too were subjected to one of the Child Entity's games. We won and rescued you in the process."

"No more Federation tricks!" Bejjir shouted. "The authorities will hear of this!"

"Fine." said Ra'Thann. "You win. We will gladly tow you to the nearest Dominion facility where you can lodge an official complaint."

Bejjer's face went white. "D-Dominion?"

S'Val stepped forward. "You are in Dominion space. Logically, they would be the authorities in this matter, should you wish to pursue it."

"Ops, send a subspace message to the nearest Dominion-"

"Wait!" screeched the Ferengi. "Let's make a deal!"

Ra'Thann smirked. "Alright. Here's the deal, Damon Bejjir. You will be beamed aboard our ship and taken back to Deep Space 9 and in return, we will not tell the Dominion of this."

The Ferengi appeared to contemplate the offer. "I suppose it's fair." he sniffed. "But I demand a stateroom!"

Ra'Thann's smile stretched from ear to ear. "Very well. Ops, beam our guests to our finest quarters."

Ensign Jackson grinned. "Aye sir. Beaming them to the brig now."

"The brig! You-" But whatever Damon Bejjir was going to say was lost as he vanished in a column of blue and white light.

Ra'Thann returned to his seat, still smiling. "Mr. Morgim, put a tractor beam on that ship. Ensign Jackson, relay a message to DS9 through the Wormhole. Tell them we'll be returning a little sooner than expected."

"Sir," said Jackson, "Long range communications just went offline!"

"Impulse engines, Warp Engines and Thrusters are offline as well, Captain." reported Icheb.

"Hi!" sang a voice at the back of the bridge. Now sitting atop the Ops station was Aeternus.

"We won your little game." said Ra'Thann. "Why are we suddenly trapped here?"

"Because you won!" said Aeternus. "And this is your reward! Another puzzle!"

The Tactical Station suddenly began beeping. "Captain, reading massive graviton flux, 100 kilometers off our port bow! It's a Transwarp Conduit, captain!"

"On screen!" ordered Ra'Thann. The image changed to show a swirling green vortex. And out of the vortex was pouring at least twenty massive metallic Cubes.

"By the Prophets..." whispered Nevin.

The speakers on the Bridge suddenly clicked on without warning. "WE ARE THE BORG. LOWER YOUR SHIELDS AND SURRENDER YOUR SHIP. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE OURS. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

"Figure this one out." said Aeternus with a smirk.

"Release us this instant." said S'Val.

"Captain, the Borg Cubes are powering weapons!" said Morgim.

"AETERNUS!" shouted a huge voice, echoing across the bridge.

There was a sudden flash on the screen and the Borg ships vanished. With another flash, a dark-haired man in the uniform of a Starfleet Captain appeared in the center of the bridge. Though his arms were crossed and his face was stern, his eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Q..." said Seven and Icheb together.

"Not now, kids. The adults are having a discussion." said the famous Q, constant antagonist of Jean-Luc Picard and Kathryn Janeway.

"You spoiled my game!" screeched Aeternus, its face contorted in fury. "You're not supposed to interfere with me!"

"By proviso of the Continuum, we agreed to ignore your harassing of the occasional ship. But you know as well as I the first law of omnipotent meddling; DON'T PROVOKE THE BORG! Now run along and leave the nice bipeds be."

Aeternus looked around the Bridge angrily, its gaze focusing on Nevin for an instant. "This isn't over!" it hissed before vanishing in a flash of green light.

Q sighed and shook his head. "I'm getting too old for this. No need to thank me, mortals. I didn't do it for your sakes."

"Thank you anyways." said Ra'Thann. "We owe you one."

Q wagged his finger. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"What exactly is Aeternus, Q?" asked Seven.

Q shrugged. "Another god to join the pantheon? Who knows. But it's somehow fallen to the Continuum to police it. But anyways, I must be going now. Places to grow. People to be."

"Q," said Icheb. "Say hello to your son for me."

"Right here!" said another voice, this one remarkably similar to Q's. "I'll visit you soon. But then again, soon is so relative. Ah screw it. Take care, Itchy!"

Icheb's face went red at the name 'Itchy,' and he turned quickly back to his station.

Q smirked and then snapped his fingers and vanished with a flash.

"Sir," reported Corey, "All systems are back online."

Ra'Thann nodded. "Very well. Mr. Jackson, relay the message to DS9. Set course for the Wormhole...Ensign Itchy."

Icheb's blush grew redder as the Bridge crew laughed.

"So, not exactly what I had in mind for our first mission." said Ra'Thann, relaxing in his Ready Room, a steaming cup of Raktajino clasped between his hands.

S'Val nodded and sipped her Vulcan Spice Tea. "Indeed. However, the crew performed adequately."

Ra'Thann glanced at her and smirked. "Adequately, huh?"

S'Val nodded. "Indeed."

Ra'Thann chuckled and raised his mug. "To the fine crew of the USS Archer, then. May they continue to perform adequately."

The Mess Hall was only sparsely populated, owing to the somewhat late hour. Alone at a table sat Nevin, a plate before him. He stared out the large viewport as the stars streaked past.

"Mind if I join you?" He looked up in surprise to see Corey.

"Uh...Hey, Corey." he said. "Not at all."

Corey sat and also stared out the viewport. An awkward silence fell for a few moments. "What's that you're eating?" Corey managed to say finally.

"Hm? Oh, this is Hasperat. It's okay, but not as good as my father's. He used to make the spiciest Hasperat on Bajor. It made your eyes water just to be near it."

Corey wrinkled his nose. "You actually liked it like that?"

Nevin smiled. "It's an acquired taste."

After another, few moments of silence, Nevin stood. "Well, I'm turning in for the night."

"I'm sorry." said Corey suddenly.

Nevin blinked. "Huh?"

Corey swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry...for what I did to you. I was angry about Jorian leaving me and I was looking for someone to blame. I just wanted you to know that. But I'll understand if you can't forgive me."

Nevin smiled warmly. "Good night, Corey." With that, he turned and left.

Corey sat alone for a moment, staring at nothing. Then, on impulse, he grabbed Nevin's remaining Hasperat and took a bite.

"How is it?" asked Counselor Ajaro, seeming almost to have appeared out of nowhere.

He regarded the Hasperat for a moment and then shrugged. "I could learn to like it."