The Turn of the Q

It was a special day on Voyager. Neelix and Kes were getting married.

The crew gathered on the holodeck, circled in the clearing of a forest that had stood behind Neelix's childhood home. In the center of the clearing, atop a small wooden table, stood Neelix's relic of the Guiding Tree. Neelix and Kes stood across the table from each other. A third side of the table was reserved for immediate family— Tuvok, Schmullis, and Sam and Naomi Wildman held that honor. Across from them, I stood with Captain Janeway in place of a priestess.

As Voyager's captain, Janeway was the officiant favored by Federation law. But part of the priestess's role was to recite from Talaxian sacred texts, and Janeway was self-admittedly terrible at speaking alien languages.

Hence my assistance.

After I opened the ceremony, making the addresses first in Talaxian and second in Standard, Neelix and Kes reached around the Guiding Tree to take hold of each other. Captain Janeway bound their hands together with a green ribbon as I read the traditional Talaxian prayer from a PADD.

May their love be as pure as Talax in the day
May their joy be as bright as Rinax in the night
May their hunger be filled at the breast of our mother Talaxia
May their family be a rich spice among the people

May their roots be as deep as the Guiding Tree
May their bond be as strong as its boughs
May their children be as plentiful as the Great Forest
May they grow tall together, and bear flavorful fruit

May their lives be bound together for eternity
May they grow stronger together as one
May their souls be joined to the Guiding Tree
May they always find each other with their love

Finishing the knot and giving the couple each one end of the ribbon, Captain Janeway began her own speech. "Since the days of the first wooden vessels, all shipmasters have had one happy privilege—that of uniting two people in the bonds of matrimony. We are gathered here today with Neelix and Kes, not as Starfleet officers, but as friends and family, in accordance with our laws and our many beliefs, so that we may celebrate the marriage of two of Voyager's finest."

Once the vows were recited, Janeway beamed with pride as she pronounced Kes and Neelix husband and wife. Together, they slipped their hands free and tightened the knot around the base of the Guiding Tree.

"Omara el'ilzay!" I said. "Wen shexa teliar ot Imara Telix sa Talaxia. Good news, my children! A new family grows in the Great Forest of Talaxia."

As applause and cheers erupted from the gathered crew, I could almost believe that our collective shouts of joy were heard all the way to the Alpha Quadrant.

I was reviewing departmental reports at my desk a few days later when Q appeared with a flash. "The bridge is four decks up," I reminded him.

He walked towards me. "Actually, I'm here to see you. I hear you've been doing some covert research on your dear mother lately."

That got my attention. Slapping the PADD down, I looked up at him and crossed my arms. "What do you want?"

"I need to know anything you know or suspect about her."

"That could take a while."

He rolled his eyes. "Not about her whole life. She has recently caused a major change in the timeline, and I need to know who she worked with to do it."

I shrugged. "How should I know? I haven't seen her in two years."

"She made the change before you followed Chuckles and the Amazonian into the wilds of the Delta Quadrant."

"I see," I said. "Well, as far as I can tell, Marnah was only working for the Valo-Bajoran Resistance—and then, of course, the Maquis. If she was working with time travelers, I don't know anything about it."

"Well, that's disappointing." Q stroked his chin. "No matter. I'll just find another source." When he snapped his fingers, I couldn't believe what I saw—Marnah, standing right in front of me.

"Marnah?" I breathed, rounding my desk.

Her smile could have lit up a black hole. "Ja'ital!" Brushing past our non-corporeal acquaintance, she closed the space between us and wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Oh, Fayeni, darling, I'm hurt," Q whined. "It's like you don't even realize I'm here."

She didn't miss a beat. "You will live, Soi'rel'tah."

We held each other until Q lost his patience.

"Really, now," he griped. "For such limited beings with such short lives, you sure waste a lot of it on trivial things."

Marnah stepped back and glared at Q. "What do you want?"

"I want to know what you're up to. There's been an unauthorized change in the timeline because of you, and I want to know why."

She shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've been kind of busy with more immediate issues."

"Don't play coy with me, General. I know you didn't plan this all by yourself. Surely, you must have an excellent reason for stranding your own daughter in the Delta Quadrant."

My eyes widened. "What? What the hell is he talking about?"

"Yes, Q," Marnah echoed, crossing her arms. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, tell me, who are you working with?"

"Marnah," I murmured, lowering my voice and speaking only in Bajoran, as she and I tended to do. "What is the Ancient One saying?"

She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Ja'ital. Please, believe me. I do not know."

In a flash, the three of us were standing in Captain Janeway's ready room.

Janeway was sitting on her couch, hunched over a stack of PADDs and absentmindedly rubbing the back of her neck. Her head snapped up at the sound of our arrival, wide eyes quickly narrowing on Q. "What the hell is going on?"

Q grinned. "Hello, Kathy. Oh, I hope you don't mind us dropping by. I just wanted you to meet a dear old friend of mine, the legendary General Eelo Fayeni. Of course when I knew her, she was Commander Eelo of the Federation Starship Hepburn. But I don't have to tell you that now do I, Captain?"

With a sigh, Janeway set down her PADD, stood, and extended a hand to Marnah. "Pleasure to meet you, General. I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway. Welcome aboard Voyager."

Marnah returned the captain's gesture, then bowed her head. "Thank you, Captain. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

"Yes," Janeway agreed, releasing Marnah's hand and turning to Q. "What exactly are the circumstances that brought General Eelo to the Delta Quadrant?"

"Ah, I was hoping you'd ask. You see, when you and I last met, I was quite surprised to find a Federation vessel out here. As I said then, Terrans aren't supposed to be in this quadrant for another hundred years, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out that you were the ones responsible for breaking Q out of his confinement. It's not often that a Q finds himself surprised, you know. Once I returned to the continuum, I found a smattering of anomalies that were hardly worth notice—thanks to that irresponsible Nacene you call the Caretaker—and one radical alteration to the timeline."

"Alteration?"

"Yes. Someone outside of the continuum went back and changed history right under our proverbial noses."

"And what exactly does all of this have to do with the General?"

"Why, she's the one who did it. She's the reason you're out here. She set the change into motion by sabotaging her own ship, trapping it for two weeks behind enemy lines and causing her to miss her own appointment with destiny.

"You see, in the original timeline, Fayeni was the one who was dragged seventy thousand light-years from home. Of course she, being the wonderfully despicable person she is, not only left her sick crewman with the Ocampa to die, but beamed over to the array and threatened to fly her ship into it if the Nacene didn't send her back home. Oh, it was inspired! Of course without your spy going missing, Captain, Starfleet had no reason to send your ship out ahead of schedule. But one little change, and here you all are."

Janeway gaped at Marnah. "Is that true?"

She shook her head. "Like I told Q already, I don't know anything about this other timeline."

"Come now, Fayeni, there's no use hiding it anymore. The secret's out. The continuum knows what you've done—trading your daughter for yourself. We also know that this wasn't the work of some imbecile with a tachyon field generator, either. This was planned and thought out by someone who has the ability to observe the entire space-time continuum from the outside. There are so few of us like that in the galaxy. So, just tell me, who are you working for?"

She stood toe-to-toe with Q. "How dare you accuse me of such selfishness and disloyalty to my family."

"Disloyalty? Oh, my dear, no. You misunderstand. I know all about your loyalties. I know better than anyone. We did work together, you and I, or have you forgotten?"

"Then why have you brought me here?"

"Well, I thought you might be interested to know that Captain Amazon here sent her Vulcan pet to spy on your little tah'l ral because they were worried you'd dragged her into your mission, too. Of course, it didn't take long to realize she's more like dear Alexander than she is like you—another bleeding heart altruist—and so they decided they'd use her to expose you instead. That was never going to end well for you, so you exiled them here."

I glanced at Janeway, looking for any kind of reaction to Q's words, but she kept her jaw set and her expression neutral as she observed the interaction between Marnah and Q. I was utterly confused, and I couldn't help but feel like I wasn't supposed to be hearing any of the things Q was saying.

Marnah raised an eyebrow, as though amused by his insane story, and crossed her arms. "And how do you imagine I did that, Soi'rel'tah?"

"Certainly not alone. You're smart, my dear, but you're not that smart. Which is why I need you to tell me the truth. Or perhaps I could simply reveal to little Eelo the true reason why you and I know each other." He turned to me and raised an eyebrow, his expression thoughtful. "Now that I mention it, that isn't a bad idea. She might prove to have more commitment to the galaxy than you do."

I crossed my arms. "'She' is standing right here, Q. Don't talk about me as if I'm not. If you have something to say—"

"You don't want me to tell you what I know."

Marnah snorted and rolled her eyes. "You're mad, Q. I don't know what the hell you're talking about. So, why don't you be a decent creature for once and bring my daughter and this crew home where they belong. Unless it's actually you who has the ulterior motive?"

Just then, a strange energy uncoiled in my mind, and somehow I knew they were both right. But how did I know that?

Q's eyes went wide. "You.

I frowned. "Me?"

He took several steps back.

"Q?" Janeway asked, her voice edged with concern.

His expression hardened, and he turned back to Marnah. "I know who you're working with, General, and I believe you are being honest in saying that you know nothing."

Janeway planted her hands on her hips. "Q, I want you to tell me what the hell is going on right now."

"Everything here is not what it seems, Captain," he said carefully. "I cannot tell you more than that, but don't worry. I'm sure things will reveal themselves in time." Q turned his attention to me. "I'll be watching you, Little Eelo."

Then, with no more than a wave of his hand, both he and my mother were gone.

"Wait!" I cried, reaching my hand out towards my mother as if I could stop Q from taking her away, but I was too late. Slowly, my hand fell to my side, and I simply stared at the spot where she had stood.

Without a word, Janeway rounded her coffee table and wrapped me up in a tight hug.

The next morning, I requested a meeting with Captain Janeway, and I made my way to deck one with my old data storage bank. Working separately wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. I didn't care if I got demoted for keeping this from her, or if she and Tuvok continued to keep me in the dark about my mother. Our visit from Q had changed everything.

When I walked into the captain's ready room, I could barely breathe. She watched calmly as I approached her desk and set the data storage bank in front of her, simply asking, "What's this?"

"Captain," I began, taking a deep breath, "I have a confession to make. Before I rammed Valjean into that Kazon ship, I downloaded the database onto my personal data storage bank and concealed it on myself. The bank also contains copies of Cardassian files I acquired and translated for the Maquis during my time with them. I take full responsibility for this; Chakotay knew nothing about it. I am deeply sorry for withholding this from you, and I will accept whatever discipline you see fit to impose on me for my actions, but I cannot in good conscience hold onto it anymore."

Janeway sighed heavily, studying my face for what felt like an eternity. Finally, she spoke, inviting me to sit down before giving her response. "I am very disappointed in your mistrust, Commander. However, I can't say that I'm surprised. What does surprise me is that you brought it at all when you knew you would be going into Starfleet custody. Did you not think it better for your intelligence to be destroyed rather than to fall into the hands of Starfleet?"

And there it was—the question I dreaded the most, the answer that would decide whether my loyalties were with my mother or my captain. I'd seen it coming the first day I spoke with Iliana; I'd run from it in the weeks since. But, something inexplicable had changed in me yesterday during that conversation with Q. It was time to grow up and be my own woman.

So, I chose Voyager.

"It was my mother's order, Captain. She gave it to me on the transport from Bajor; told me to keep everything and tell no one. She said I was to destroy it if I was captured by the Cardassians, but that if the Federation caught me, I was to hide it on myself until the right person came for it." Seeing her next question in the creases of her brow, I quickly added, "She didn't tell me who the 'right person' was, just that it was better for the Federation to have it than for it to be lost entirely if things went badly for us."

Janeway pursed her lips, wordlessly examining my face again for several beats before asking her next question. "Why now, Commander?"

"After what I went through with Starfleet, I thought the only person I could trust was my mother. Now, I'm not so sure. But, I do know that I—" I forced myself to meet her eyes. "I trust you, Captain."

Janeway couldn't help but smile at those words.

"There's something bigger going on here," I continued, "and I'm honestly not sure that I even want to know what it is. I once told you how you're like my mother, but now I think... you're not like anyone else, not even the people at Starfleet Command. You'll do the right thing, even if I hate it, even if I don't want to see it, because your instincts are good. So, I will follow you, Captain, all the way."

Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, she gave me an approving nod. "Well, that certainly answers our question. It's true, what Q said, that Tuvok and I were more interested in you than Chakotay. By the time we integrated our two crews, we knew you weren't knowingly engaging in any covert activity. But, we did wonder if something like this," she gestured towards the data bank, "would come to light eventually. After your conversation with Ms. Ghemor, we knew it was only a matter of time."

Janeway sat back in her chair, her hands still remaining folded on top of her desk. "I will not be taking any disciplinary action at this time, though I will have to put your actions on report."

I let out the breath I'd been holding. "Thank you, Captain."

"Of course, that report will have to be classified, due to the nature of this situation. I also expect you to keep all information regarding this data bank and the events of yesterday to yourself."

"Aye, Captain."

"If there's nothing else?"

I shook my head.

"Then you're dismissed."

Quietly, I stood and began walking towards the door.

"Talia?"

I turned back.

"Off the record... thank you."