The captain stared at Q in wonder, asking, "What does Ensign Bell have to do with anything? She's newly transferred and quite the nuisance so far."
"So I've heard," answered Q cheerily, "and I happen to have a very special affinity for nuisances."
"Being one yourself," quipped Picard, looking on the other with distaste.
"Precisely," said Q with a courtly bow, totally unfazed. "I have been monitoring Miss Bell's actions and thought processes and I must admit that they fascinate me. She is so much more advanced than the usual brand of human. Defiant, independent---I must say I am impressed."
"What do you intend to do with her?" demanded Picard, worried over the youthful ensign despite his former critical comments.
"I intend," began Q, "to give her immortality, omnipotence, and the awesome power that goes with it. We in the Continuum have agreed to let such an extraordinary individual as Miss Bell into our ranks."
"You will not," said Picard with authority, his hooded blue eyes sparking with skillfully suppressed rage. "She is a member of my crew and under my jurisdiction."
"Do you recall her free will, Jean-Luc?" Q reminded him. "The choice is hers. She is no doubt old enough to make her own decision in this matter."
"Giving that kind of power to a very young, unstable woman is dangerous," the captain insisted. "She could destroy us all and defy you just as well as you defy me."
"She would not defy a friend," said Q. "And I will be her friend. The only one she has on this ship, from what I have observed."
"That situation is of her own making."
Q smiled. "We'll see," he said, twirling in place and vanishing.
He reappeared in Ensign Bell's quarters. She was seated at her computer, filing engineering reports. Looking up and seeing the intruder, she instantly jumped to her feet and drew the phaser at her side. "Stand your ground, trespasser," she challenged.
"I am no trespasser," consoled Q, voice smooth.
"If you aren't, why didn't you enter from the door?"
"As you wish." He disappeared again and returned in the corridor, ringing Bell's buzzer.
She smiled despite herself and allowed him to enter again. "How did you manage that?" she asked, tucking her phaser back into its holster.
"I can manage many more things than that, my dear," he answered, raising his hand. The phaser on her belt flew into his waiting fingers.
"I've read about telekinesis in humanoids," said Bell, intrigued. She plucked the weapon from his hand and examined it. "But it's very rare. Only 1 out of 3000 species is said to have the gift."
"Perhaps you've heard of my species," Q commented. "I am Q of the Q Continuum."
"Q," Bell repeated. "I have heard of you. You've caused quite a bit of trouble for this ship. No one seems to think much of you."
"I prefer to think of myself as misunderstood," her companion protested. "I am merely a researcher curious about humanity. I only want to learn, to grasp the concepts of your race. I may be more powerful than your crewmates, but I mean no harm. Is that a crime?"
"I should think not!" said Bell, warming to him almost immediately. "I'm the same way! People are always looking down their noses at me just because I can do things faster and more efficiently. I'm more capable than all of them, but they just don't understand."
"We, Miss Bell, are beyond understanding," Q insisted. "You and I can do so much more than the ordinary."
"We're birds of a feather," Bell said, a true smile forming on her lips.
"And we should flock together," suggested Q, offering her his arm.
She rested her hand on it. "Where are we going?"
Sorrowful black eyes met mischievous brown eyes. "Do you trust me?" asked Q, attempting to stare her down.
She met his gaze resolutely. "Yes, I do."
"Than you'll have to see," he said mysteriously, and then, Ensign Bell on his arm, he whisked the two of them away.
They reappeared drifting freely in space. Bell's first impulse was to be terrified of the immediate annihilation that comes with entering the vacuum devoid of proper protection, but somehow she was not afraid. An incredible scene was unfolding, dazzling her.
She and Q were floating arm-in-arm in front of a star going nova. The star was pulsing in its terrible death throes, hissing with fiery fury at its own destruction.
Finally it imploded and exploded in a torrential blast of overwhelming energy and light, expelling shards of matter into the universe. The burst rattled Bell from inside out, but her godlike companion shielded her, allowing her to watch without experiencing injury.
Q gauged her wondered reaction and said, "Join me and you will have even greater power than this. Leave the pitiless humans behind and go above and beyond anything they could ever achieve. You have nothing on the Enterprise. In the Continuum, you have everything."
"Yes," she said simply. "Let me in and I will show the Enterprise and everyone on her what I can really do."
Miles of terrible mischief showed in the smile Q gave her. He reached out and took her hand, holding it in an iron grip. Energy hummed along his fingers, entering hers. She gasped in pain, colors swirling before her eyes as she lost consciousness.
Bell awoke alone in her own quarters. For a moment she could not tell where she was, but once her head cleared she was full of purpose. Rising from her bunk, she experimentally held her hand before her, palm up. Concentrating, she willed for flame. Instantly a tongue of fire was hovering above her palm, undulating in the air. It leapt into bonfire intensity at Bell's very thought, then it extinguished itself according to her whim. She stood, staring at her palm for a moment before whispering, "All the universe is a stage, and now I'm the player."
Calmly she exited her door and strode off down the corridor.