No Alternative to Love

Chapter 4. 'Q' Tips.

She looked at 'Bird' and shivered. She had never been so frightened in her life! 'Bird' started speaking again.

'If I were you, I would cease and desist all experiments with me. I don't like traveling through time. It makes me dizzy.'

Charlene gaped at the angry eyes that were fixed on hers.

'And do please close your mouth. Didn't your mother ever tell you that?'

'What are you?' she managed to ask.

'Inquisitive now, aren't we?' Bird said, slowly transforming. In its place, stood a man in a cadet's uniform. He was tall, had black hair, and a piercing, mocking stare.

She tried to sit up straighter, but she lacked the strength. She looked at the man, and then what was left of Bird.

'I didn't think you were so excitable!' said the man in cadet's uniform.

'What are you doing in my room?' she said tightly.

'The question you should be asking is, ''What were you doing in my bird?'

He stared at her. 'I've come to give you some advice,' he said, deciding to answer her question. 'I know everything about you, Charlene Masters, and why you're doing your experiments. She's the reason that you're doing these experiments, isn't she?' His arm shot out and lifted the picture that was on Charlene's desk.

'I don't have to answer you!' she said, her head spinning.

'I know that she would not approve of what you are doing, so I'm here to offer you some friendly advice, 'tips' some people would call them.'

'Rather presumptuous, aren't you?' she said, fighting back. 'And what should I do?' she asked sarcastically.

'Leave Star Fleet, and don't look back.'

Charlene looked stunned never expecting this declaration. 'Leave Starfl...,' she stuttered, 'but Star Fleet is my life! How could I do that?'

'Leave Star Fleet, Charlene, or suffer the consequences of your rash actions. You have no idea what doors your experimentation have opened. All roads, except one, lead to your damnation!' he said, in a deep, sonorous voice steeped in judgment and condemnation.

She couldn't fathom life without Star Fleet. 'How do you know what's going to happen to me!' she rallied. 'Nobody can predict the future!'

'Just manipulate the past, eh?' he murmured. 'I'm able to,' said the cadet, 'and I'll prove it to you.'

The cadet seemed to dissolve and in his place appeared a withered, old woman. She wore a ragged, red, polka-dot scarf, and she had two gold earrings hanging from her elongated ears. With a wave of an ancient hand, Charlene's desk was transformed into a round, rickety table. Another wave, and Charlene was somehow sitting at the table hovering over an odd-shaped cube with the woman now sitting opposite her at the table.

'Look into my crystal cube,' croaked the crone mysteriously, her wrinkled fingers arching over the cube.

Frightened, but intrigued, Charlene looked into the mists of the cube. The mist soon parted and revealed a vision which seemed to spring suddenly from its innards. She saw a wonderful family consisting of Lee Kelso, herself, and three children. They were running on the outskirts of what looked like a high-tech, wind farm. She and Lee looked extremely happy, as he lifted her in his arms smiling and laughing.

'And they lived happily ever after,' said the old woman, as their figures turned into dust.

'And if I stay at the Academy, and pursue my career?' challenged Charlene.

'And if I stay at the Academy, and pursue my career?' mimicked the woman. 'Who wants to know?' she snapped. She paused a moment, and stretched her wrinkled hand, palm up over the cube.' Charlene looked closely at the palm expecting some sort of revelation. The old woman humphed, withdrew her outstretched palm, and mumbled something about the state of the current generation.

She gestured towards the cube. The vision changed dramatically. It was a picture of a room. Her dorm room. Charlene's eyes were suddenly focused on the bed, her bed. A man was moving on top of a body. The figure raised itself quickly to remove its pants which were already open in the front. Perspiration and desire dotted his brow as he descended again on the body. His face was flush and his eyes were filled with passion and desire. She recognized the body and the face. It was Lazarus. His hands were now busy stripping the rest of the clothes off the writhing body beneath.

'Bet you can't guess who that is underneath him?' cackled the old woman, revealing all five of her remaining teeth.

Charlene almost choked. She shook her head in denial, and she looked away horrified.

'Look closely!' the voice commanded. Her eyes returned to the cube. She saw two hands take hold of Lazarus's face. Two smooth, brown arms then encircled his body, and the face was finally revealed over his shoulder as the arms pulled Lazarus' body into hers. The face was hers, but not hers, for it was contorted, the eyes wild with passion, and the body writhing in ecstasy. The old woman moved a finger, and sound and emotion were added to the scene. Her moans and Lazarus' declarations of love were too much. She finally tore her face away, shaking her head in disbelief.

'Yes, it is you. Didn't know you had it in you, did you?' croaked the hag, cackling wickedly to herself.

'I don't even like him! she said, breathing unsteadily trying to recover. She couldn't deny that the scene had affected her.

'Looks like somebody's going to change her mind!' the old hag chuckled, cracking her knuckles against one another. 'But look, there's more.'

The picture again changed dramatically. She was standing alone. It looked like she was in space, but something was encasing her. She was just standing there in some type of portal. The old woman touched her shoulder, and somehow she felt the emotions of the person within the portal. Loneliness. Loneliness. Forever. Lost. Alone. For eternity.

Charlene was drained. Her heart was beating hard against her ribs. She was mortified. And this supposedly was the result of her experiment?

'Charlene, please. Believe what this man says.' Another apparation had appeared in the cube. It was her grandmother. The one person that she had longed to be reunited with over the past four years; the only person that had cared for her and had loved her unconditionally until her untimely death. Tears now flowed freely down her cheeks. She wanted to talk to her grandmother and to touch her, but she found herself suddenly sitting on her bed, and everything in the room was as it had been. The being, or whatever it was, had taken the form of a cadet again.

'Oh, oh,' the cadet smiled excitedly, looking at the door. 'We are about to have company.'

Charlene looked at the door which opened instantly. An old Vulcan slowly entered the room, and confronted the other presence immediately.

Without preamble, introduction, or explanation, he said, 'Q, why are you here?' said Spock. 'According to the other timeline, you shouldn't make your first appearance until 2063.'

'And a good evening to you to, Spock,' greeted 'Q' smoothly. 'It was a close call last time, Spock. You and James Kirk were barely able to save the universe from total annihilation. This time, the Continuum didn't want to take any chances. So, we thought that we would start testing humanity's worthiness now.'

'But is it fair to involve this young woman?'

'Lots of things in life aren't fair,' quipped Q. 'And aren't we being a tad hypocritical in talking about fairness?'

Q looked at Charlene. 'By the way, Spock, this,' Q said, pointing a finger at Charlene, 'is probably one of the fairest things that you've done to anybody since your black hole debacle. In the other timeline, Charlene Masters was doomed to re-charging dilithium crystals and other mundane duties in engineering, but due to certain happenings caused by you in this timeline, her life was changed. Her father died on the Kelvin, but her grandmother proved to have a greater influence on her life.

Charlene just sat looking stunned, staring back and forth, totally overwhelmed, trying to get a grip on the strange dialogue between the individuals. She started when she heard her name mentioned as the focal point of their discussion, shaking her head from side-to-side.

'You really should read her thesis, 'The Concept of Nothingness', Spock, quite profound for a young, human girl. Yes, my mind is made up. She will be responsible on whether humankind moves forward or not. You've already shown that you aren't up to the task!', said Q, nastily.

'Don't I get a say in this or something?!' interrupted Charlene.

The cadet seemed to ponder the question, then looked at her and gave her a petulant, 'No!'

'Don't worry, you are going to have plenty to say and plenty to do,' he said, smiling wickedly reminding her of the vision, 'that is, if you don't follow my advice.'

'And what advice have you given the cadet?' queried Spock.

'Catastrophe can be avoided if she leaves Star Fleet. A simple act of selflessness and the universe is saved. See, I've given humanity a fair chance,' Q said, with both hands outstretched innocently.

'Humankind has already experienced your concept of fairness, Q,' Spock said drolly.

'Look who's talking!' Q spat, his lips twisting in disdain. 'The one who has been steering the universe through an antiquated device the last few months for the greater need of humanity. You're trying to play God, not I, although you are infinitely more erring than I. I'm just trying to decide if humanity is good enough to continue in its current direction, but you are trying to remake it in your own image. That is blasphemous, and will be judged right now!

Q suddenly raised his arm, staving off any response Spock was about to make. Suddenly, Spock's failures loomed hugely before him, and he was instantly assaulted by emotions. He had thought that he had resolved his part in changing the future through meditation, but realized at that moment he hadn't even addressed 99.7% of his issues. Q was merciless, showing him the strands of lives that he had snuffed out by his creation of the black hole. Q showed him what the dead's children, grandchildren, and great grand-children would have become. He showed him the intricacies of how a seemingly insignificant action or word influenced or didn't influence an individual because of death. All was shown in bold detail. Spock had, at his level, realized this, but through the unfiltered, unforgiving eyes of Q, he could not soften the glare of his failure. Only one time in his life had he gone catatonic when overwhelmed by emotion. This was the second time. Charlene stared at Spock. He wasn't moving. He just stood rigid like a statue, eyes fixed straight ahead.

'And just to be sure he stays like that for a while…'

A silent tear appeared in the corner of Spock's eye, as Q revealed to him the biggest failure of his life. Why didn't I allow myself to love her?' Spock sank deeper into his misery, locked in guilt, locked in regret, locked in time.

'There! Now that we've got him out of the way, where was I?'

'Judging humanity's worthiness,' said Charlene, looking on horrified, wondering what had happened to the Vulcan.

'Ahhh…yes…so what will it be? Will you take my advice and save humanity? Or will you pursue your insignificant dreams?'

She looked at the Vulcan, then looked at Q. She needed time to think, and she needed to know how to proceed. She needed to know more about what she was dealing with, and apparently the Vulcan knew.

'Before I give you an answer, I insist that Spock,' she said the name cautiously, 'be brought out of his state.'

Q glared at her for a minute, then shrugged. 'Very well,' said Q, waving a reluctant hand towards Spock's direction.

Immediately Spock returned from his abyss, looked around the room, and tried to regain composure.

'I don't know who you are, but I need your advice,' Charlene proceeded quietly, addressing Spock.

Spock nodded, trying to recover his senses.

'He said that if I left Star Fleet, then humanity would be saved.'

Spock sighed knowing that any words would have a direct impact on her decision. He could tell her about Lazarus…how he had become crazed and mad in the other timeline. He could tell her all about Q and how his prophecies and manipulations were lined with intricacies and delicate traps so minute that the division between truth and falsehood were infinitesimal. He also knew that 'Q' had drawn him here, perhaps to reveal such facts to the cadet forcing her to choose one way or the other. Q was correct. He had done his part in causing harm to the universe. He would contribute no more.

'The answer must come from within yourself, Cadet Masters,' Spock said.

'Is it true? Am I the key?'

'If he has stated that you are the key, then you are the key. But sometimes a door has more than one lock.'

She turned to face Q, who gave her a self-righteous smile.

'Ok, I've made my decision.'

'Which is?' Q turned to Spock with a triumphant grin on his face.

'I will leave the Academy.'

Q whirled towards her with an unbelieving look.

'But, but…you can't!'

Spock arched an eyebrow. 'Fascinating. Apparently, he has misjudged you, Cadet Masters.'

Turning to Q, Spock said, 'You wanted Cadet Masters to choose the other alternative out of human pride. Was that not your goal?'

Q said nothing. He just looked at both and then disappeared.

Charlene jumped at Q's disappearance, but Spock wasn't at all affected.

Turning to Charlene Masters, he said, 'I know that we don't know each other, but I'm familiar with this being. I'm asking you to tell me everything that he has said to you.'

Charlene hesitated. Carefully, she got up and moved towards the small kitchen and poured herself a shaky glass of juice. The cold liquid calmed her as she looked over the edge of the glass and regarded the Vulcan. She made a quick decision to trust the Vulcan and related most of what had happened.

'Is that all, Cadet Masters. Have you left anything out? Everything that he has shown you or said to you must be revealed.'

Charlene considered, then slightly nodded, continuing drinking her juice. She imagined that she heard a slight disembodied cackle and the little jerk of her head definitely gave her away.

'Apparently, you haven't told me everything,' Spock said, acknowledging to Charlene that the cackle was not imaginary, and he had heard it also. Spock looked at Charlene, waiting patiently for the truth.

'He showed me a vision!' Charlene spouted, embarrassed. 'We were...Lazarus and I were...'

'Understood,' said Spock, compassionately.

'Are you going to follow through with what you said, Cadet Masters, and leave Star Fleet?'

'Yes, that is what I plan to do.'

Spock marveled at the young woman. He didn't not know her personally, but anyone with Star Fleet qualifications had a drive for more than just an ordinary life.

Charlene finished her juice and with a determined look on her face, she looked for her jacket. The decision hadn't been a hard one. She understood real love and happiness. She knew that she could be happy with Lee Kelso. She had experienced real love with her grandmother--the security and happiness that came with contentment of being with someone who loved and respected you. She had little experience with the other type, the passion and desire that came with the unknown...that once in a life time passion she had read about in novels. Enticing, tempting. Q had allowed her to experience it emotionally, but she had yet to experience it physically.

'Shall I accompany you to your destination,' Spock said, a little concerned.

'You think he might interfere, don't you?' Charlene responded, reading into his request.

'The odds are 100% that he will.'

'I'm able to handle it,' she said, walking through the door as it slid open. Spock walked with her and they exited the building together. 'I've made my decision. At least, I know that my life has counted for something.'

Spock stood silently, but before leaving he said, 'If you need to contact me, my personal information will be on your PADD within the hour.'

She nodded, and disappeared into the night in search of Lee Kelso.

'The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,' he whispered silently, remembering the saying that his mother had told him about humans. As if on queue, a soft cackle sounded through the night.

Well, hope you 'all' liked this one. I'm thoroughly enjoying writing this story! I love the characters Charlene Masters and Lazarus, and I wished that 'Star Trek' would have followed up on this relationship in 'The Alternative Factor'. They would have definitely heated up the screen.