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Chapter 18

Once the battlestars and Colorado Springs were clear of the Jord system, they did a scan. Satisfied that there were no Cylons or Borg approaching, they jumped a few lightyears. The wormhole drive on Colorado Springs, while not completely analogous to a Colonial jump drive, had a very similar effect. When the city emerged from the wormhole, it found itself in interstellar space with the two battlestars beside it. In rapid succession, the entourage accompanying the city emerged from wormholes, then split up and scouted their location. They would remain sublight for a day, before jumping again.

Starfleet Command…

Jim Kirk was seated at his desk, going over paperwork. He was tempted to use his powers to finish it, but he realized that that would be cheating. He picked up the next folder and looked at its title: New Uses for Solid Waste in Long Distance Space Flight. He read the title a second time and grimly shook his head.

When he opened the folder, he saw that it was a doctoral thesis. Obviously, someone had thought it might be useful for Starfleet, although why, eluded Kirk. All waste matter on board a starship was converted to energy for later use in the replication system.

He gritted his teeth and opened the thesis. The first quarter of the report was dedicated to the history of waste matter disposition in spaceflight. He finished the second page, then closed the book and set it on his desk. A moment later, he waved his hand and the piles of paperwork on his desk flashed to their proper receptacles, and the knowledge from them was in his mind. If it was cheating, so be it. He'd cheated before, and no doubt, would do it again.

A chime sounded in his office. It sounded like the door chime, but it was not localized to the speakers. It seemed to emanate from the air around him. "Come in," he said.

Jean Luc and Beverly Picard flashed into the room, seated on the sofa against one wall.

"Welcome back!" he told them, coming around his desk to shake their hands. He had time to chat - it wasn't as if he had any work to do.

As he touched their hands, the grief from what they had just witnessed flowed into his mind. He sat down and frowned. "I'm sorry for what you just went through," he said sincerely.

"Overall," Beverly told him, "the experience was wonderful. It was a beautiful world, and an ideal place to raise Meribor and Batai. But at the end…"

Kirk nodded, knowingly. "You feel that allowing them to die goes against your hippocratic oath." It was a statement, not a question, and she confirmed it by nodding. "Sometimes," Kirk continued, "there is nothing you can do to save a life. The best you can do in such a situation, is to allow the patient to die with dignity."

"I don't see much dignity in an entire civilization being vaporized, Commander."

"The people of Kataan knew what was coming, and they accepted it. There was no looting, or even widespread panic. In the towns governed by Daniel, there were no suicides or murders on that last day." He let what he had just said sink in, then finished. "They died with their dignity intact, Beverly."

She nodded, but couldn't form any words.

Kirk considered for a moment. He knew that the best thing for a human would be to get their mind on something else. A Q, however, had all the time in the world to work things out. "Tell you what. Why don't you two take a break for a bit. Take all the time you need, and when you're done, report tomorrow to Deep Space Nine to resume your command of that sector."

Picard nodded his head and managed a smile. "Thank you, Commander."

The two flashed out of his office, and he sat down behind his desk again. He didn't know how long they would take, maybe years, but he knew that tomorrow, they would be at Deep Space Nine, doing their jobs with consummate skill.

Cardassia Prime…

Teyla saw the street preacher several times in the next few weeks. Each time, his following seemed to be larger than the last.

"I can show you how to throw off the oppression of Madred," he called out one day. "Simply follow my teaching, and I'll lead you away from him."

"Are you Todd?" asked one of the listeners.

"Todd is a myth!" he told the crowd.

"We saw Jardis!" Teyla reminded them. To the preacher, she asked, "How can you stand there and tell us that Todd is a myth?"

"You saw a magician," the preacher explained. "It was a trick."

"What I saw was no trick," she persisted. "I know what I saw."

"A good magician can make you see what he wants," the preacher countered. He turned to the crowd and said, "I, however, am not performing tricks. Test me! Ask me to do three things, and I will prove myself to you."

People started shouting out things for him to do. Teyla had no stomach for watching good people be deceived, but she realized that anything she said would be used to further his cause. She walked away in disgust.

Delta quadrant….

The last jump had been almost fifteen thousand light years, and they had emerged within range of a solar system similar to Earth's. One of the planets in the system was class M, and there was a fair amount of traffic on approach to it. Even more as they came into orbit.

In Colorado Springs, Sam was arguing with O'Neill that they needed to check out the planet. Maybe there was something they could use.

"Sam, I really don't think this planet would have anything we needed to fight the Dominion."

"You never know until you look, Jack."

He shook his head in exasperation. "We're Q, Sam. We don't need help fighting them."

"Yes, we do. We can only do with our powers what our technology is capable of. That's our law, and we both agree with it."

Jack sighed, and nodded in agreement. "Walter, can you connect me with Adama, please?"

When the colonial admiral appeared on his screen, O'Neill told him, "Sam thinks we should check this planet out from the surface."

"And what do you think?" Bill asked him.

O'Neill gave a miniscule smile. Adama was smart, and knew that his phrasing meant that he didn't necessarily agree. "I think her idea makes sense," he answered.

"Okay. Who are you sending down?" Bill asked, taking off his glasses and polishing them.

"Sam and I will take a jumper."

Adama lost his nonchalant attitude. "You think it's wise to go down yourself?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Jack was puzzled.

"You're the commander and…" Adama stopped. Of course, Jack was in no danger. He was a Q. It wasn't like anything on the planet could hurt him.

"Yeah," Jack said, reading the realization as it appeared on Bill's face. "I'll talk to you in a little while."

"Okay. We'll be waiting."

Cardassia Prime...

Teyla sat down for dinner wearily. Sheppard looked up at her sigh. "The preacher again?" he asked.

"He was urging the people to test him. Anything they wanted, he would do."

"And how'd they respond?"

"They seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it," she answered.

"Do you think he can do what he says?" Sheppard wanted to know.

"I honestly do not know, John," she told him.

"If he can do as much as he claims," Sheppard speculated, "what does that make him? Q? Ascended?"

"I do not think it could be either. The Q would not allow him to use his power to deceive, and The Commander would have informed us of his identity. I do not believe that the ascended would allow his interference either."

"I agree. Ori?"

"Unfortunately," Teyla said, "they would seem to be the most likely."

Sheppard set down his fork. He wasn't really hungry anymore. He had assumed that the Ori were all dead, but he really couldn't think of a better explanation for the strange preacher.

"Wouldn't the Q know if there was another Ori out there?" he speculated.

Teyla wondered as well. She would have thought so, but she knew that the Q were not infallible. Regardless, she knew that The Commander needed to know more about this.

Delta quadrant: The planet's surface…

Jack touched down with the cloaked jumper about three miles from the largest city on the planet.

"Just once, I'd like to make first contact with a civilization that doesn't consider us to be target practice," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"That's why we're not landing in the city, uncloaked," Jack told her.

"Like old times, huh?" Sam asked.

"It would seem more like old times, if Teal'c and Daniel were here, Jack said as he stood and turned to exit the jumper.

He stopped as he realized that they were no longer alone in the jumper.

"Like old times," Vala said brightly.

"Undomesticated equines, O'Neill," Teal'c said with the faintest of smiles on his face.

"I'm volunteering my services on Colorado Springs, now that our business on Kataan is concluded," Daniel told him.

O'Neill couldn't stop grinning as he welcomed his friends. His smile didn't even falter when he turned to Vala and told her, "You will follow my orders, is that understood?"

She nodded her head vigorously, and they all exited the ship. O'Neill turned and at a thought, the hatch closed, making the puddle jumper completely invisible.

They started toward the buildings in the distance, and after a moment, Jack turned to Vala. "How can it be like old times, when you weren't part of SG1 until after I was promoted? I wasn't even at Stargate Command while you were there."

"Well," Vala began, faltering. She thought for a moment, then turned on the Vala charm. "Cameron modeled his leadership style after you, so for me it will be like old times." With that, she hurried to catch up with Daniel.

"I don't think Mitchell was like Jack," Daniel told her under his breath.

"No?" she asked, feigning surprise.

"No, and I was on SG1 with both of them."

"Oh well," she said, smiling.

Jack fell in step beside Sam. "Did Mitchell model his style on mine?"

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Jack," Sam told him.

O'Neill shook his head. "I'm not buying it. She's just being Vala."

"Cameron Mitchell tended to allow other members of SG1 a wide degree of latitude," Teal'c said from O'Neill's other side.

"You're saying I didn't?" Jack challenged.

"When SG1 was formed," Daniel explained, assuming his diplomatic role, "we were all new, and needed your leadership. By the time Mitchell took over the leadership role, we were more seasoned, and able to act more independently."

"Right." Jack knew that Daniel was playing the role of peacemaker, but he was fine with that. SG1 was together again, under his command, and he was quite happy with the situation.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Daniel asking Teal'c, "I thought you were helping to guard the Bajoran wormhole?"

"I am," Teal'c answered. "As soon as we are done here, I will flash back to my Ha'tak."

"Presumably, at the same moment you left?" Daniel asked.

"Naturally."

Vala didn't want him to get into trouble with the other Q. "Uh, Muscles, isn't that stretching the laws of the Q a bit?" She had made a habit of knowing the laws of every culture she came in contact with, so she could skirt the edges of as many of those laws as necessary. Being married to a Q, she definitely felt the need to know their laws inside and out.

"I am doing this for recreation, Vala Jackson," he answered. "The First has no problem with me using my powers for recreation."

"That's what Janus did," Daniel observed.

"Agreed," Teal'c said, "however, I am not Janus."

"No. No, you're not."

O'Neill held up his hand for silence. They had come to the edge of the city, and he wanted to get an idea of what they were dealing with before they proceeded. He thought of what Daniel had said about how the members of SG1 had grown. He could allow Daniel to go into the town with his admittedly good diplomatic skills. Daniel was technically his superior, as he was the vice-chancellor of Iconia.

Another option, was to take Teal'c with him and head into town and assess it militarily. That was what all of his command instincts said he should do.

Of course, what was there to lose if he allowed Daniel to take the lead here? They hadn't entered this section of space before, and the vice chancellor was a skilled diplomat, having led his people in the worst war they had ever faced.

He sighed inwardly. "Okay, Daniel. It's your lead."

"What?" Daniel asked, not having been privy to O'Neill's thoughts.

"You're a good diplomat, Daniel," he answered. "Diplomatize." He paused a moment. "Is that a word?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Daniel answered, automatically. He still wasn't sure what Jack was saying.

"Well then," Jack said when Jackson hesitated still, "Diplomatize!"

The vice chancellor pointed questioningly at the city. O'Neill sighed and waved him on, "Go on. Go."

Daniel started into the city, occasionally looking over his shoulder at his friend, who was following confidently.

Cardassia Prime...

From his point of view, it had been a considerable amount of time since Jean Luc Picard had been to Cardassia Prime. In the interim, he had lived the life of Kaimin on Kataan, then he and Beverly had spent many years in Merlin's vineyard, taking a sabbatical. Now he was back, walking through the streets of the city with Teyla.

He had joined in the discussion when she and John made their report to The Commander. He then decided to come and see for himself.

Much had not changed since he had last been here, except that the excesses of the Emperor seemed to have increased and the poverty surrounding the palace had done the same.

They rounded a corner where Picard saw a Cardassian man talking to a crowd.

"The demons will not come," he was saying. "Their concerns are not ours. They do not care that our young don't have the chance to grow up. They do not concern themselves when our sick do not have medicines. They lose nothing if they do not help!"

Picard stepped forward. He appeared as an older Cardassian man. "How can we condemn them for not helping us if we do not help ourselves?"

The preacher narrowed his eyes at Picard as he sensed the Q. He wondered if he could expose him, but he knew that a Q would have no trouble escaping any trap he laid. Instead, he smiled and said, "You are correct, old one. Our primary concern needs to be turning our own destinies around."

The preacher continued talking and Picard reached with his mind to some police nearby. Somehow, the preacher had made them ignore him, but Picard made them aware of the disturbance and they came running.

As they dispersed the crowd, Picard saw the preacher start down an alleyway. Before he disappeared, however, he met the Q's gaze. They appraised each other for a long moment, then the preacher flashed a malevolent smile and hurried away.

Delta quadrant: In the city…

As the five Iconians entered the city, they observed that while the people were all basically humanoid, they were not human. Many people were of different colors, and even more had different distinguishing facial characteristics.

At what was obviously a local pub, Daniel stopped to enter. O'Neill grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"

"Jack," Daniel said patiently, "how many times did we go directly to a government, only to find out that it was a mistake?" When O'Neill didn't answer for a moment, he prompted, "Well?"

"I'm counting," Jack answered, "and now I've got to start over cause you made me lose count!"

"Exactly," Jackson took it as an answer in itself. "I figure here we can find out the political climate before we talk to those in charge."

Slowly, Jack let go of his friend's arm, and followed as he entered the pub.

They sat down at a table near the door, and a waiter approached. "What will you have?" he asked.

The group looked at each other, unsure what to order. They were rescued, however, by the creature at the next table. He stood up, and gestured to his companion, a young woman. "They'll have what I'm having," he told the waiter. To Jackson, he said, "It's about time you arrived. I've been waiting for you."

He and the woman pulled their chairs up to the Iconians' table and sat down. The waiter left, and O'Neill began, "Look, friend…"

Jackson held up his hand to stop Jack. To the newcomer, he said, "Thank you for your hospitality, but you seem to have us mistaken for someone else."

"No," the person said. "I know exactly who you are." He paused and amended his statement. "Well… I don't know your names, but I know that you're humans. Are you from Galactica or from Prometheus?"

O'Neill couldn't stand it any more. "Who are you?"

The young woman spoke in a surprisingly deep voice for one who appeared so young. "I'm Kes, and this is Neelix," she said indicating her companion.

"I'm a Talaxian," Neelix said, "and Kes is Ocampan."

Jackson turned a startled gaze to the girl. "You're from Ocampa?"

"Not so loud!" the Talaxian said in an excited whisper.

"Sorry," Jackson said quietly.

When Kes confirmed her homeworld, Jackson turned to the rest of his group. "Ocampa was the world the Caretaker was protecting."

"You're a long way from home," Sam observed to Kes.

"Neelix is a trader," Kes said as if that explained everything.

"Nevertheless," Teal'c stated, "this system is a long way from Ocampa."

O'Neill watched as Neelix grew slightly uncomfortable. The waiter brought their drinks, and Jack waited until he had departed before saying, "We appreciate the drinks, but if you're not going to be straight with us, we'll conclude our business with you right now, understood?"

"I'm a Talaxian. I'm not sure where in the galaxy humans are from, but you've probably not heard of us. My homeworld was destroyed some time ago. What is left of my people are slaves to the Haakonians."

"So you're running from the Haakonians," Teal'c assumed.

"No. I'm running from Maje Jabin of the Kazon Ogla."

"Why are you running from Maje Jabin?" Jackson asked.

"Maybe running from is a bit strong," Neelix amended. "Avoiding is a better way to put it."

"Why are you avoiding Maje Jabin?" O'Neill asked, determined to get an answer.

"Let's just say I liberated something from him."

"You stole from him," Vala translated.

"Absolutely not," Kes argued. "I did not belong to Jabin any more than I now belong to Neelix."

"I get the impression that you vastly prefer Neelix' company, however," Jack observed.

"Why are you telling us this?" Sam asked.

"Well," Neelix said, leaning forward and lowering his voice, "word has it that you humans joined with the humans on Jord."

"So?"

"It doesn't matter whether you're from Galactica, or from Prometheus. The fact is, there isn't any love lost between you and the Kazon."

"That doesn't explain..." Sam began.

"Some people think you're responsible for the Borg ceasing their assimilation of this quadrant too."

"You're attributing many deeds to us," Jackson observed.

"My people have a myth about a race called the Q," Kes said. "Are you them?"

Cardassia Prime...

Picard and Todd were seated at the table in Sheppard and Teyla's house. Teyla had just finished filling Todd in on the preacher, and he was furious. His first question was whether or not the preacher was an agent for Madred.

"I very much doubt it," Picard answered. "I sensed his mind and he was most definitely more than a normal Cardassian. He is, at the very least, ascended."

"And at most?" Sheppard asked.

"There are stages between being ascended and being Q," Picard explained.

"And you think the preacher is at one of those?"

"I think it is highly unlikely that the preacher is anything more than ascended."

"But the possibility exists?" Todd asked.

"Yes."

"And what would something in between an ascended and Q be?" Teyla wanted to know.

"On Enterprise, we once encountered a being, simply called 'the traveller'. He was able to phase himself out of our reality, into others. We have also encountered different beings that were simply made of energy. None of these seem to fit the preacher, however."

"What about Ori?" Sheppard wondered.

Picard sighed. "I think it likely that he is something very similar."

Delta quadrant: In the pub…

"Why would you ask if we're Q?" Daniel wondered.

"I can't really say, but it's a suspicion I have," Kes responded.

Vala placed a restraining hand on Daniel's forearm. "Kes," she said, "I am not a Q."

"I believe you," the Ocampan woman said. "You are definitely telling the truth, but there's something else that you're hiding." They watched as Kes cocked her head suspiciously at Vala. The ascended woman put up all of her mental shields, but somehow, Kes was able to circumvent them. "You're ascended, whatever that is."

At her words, Vala projected her mind back along the link and got a bit from Kes before her shields went up at the invasion.

"You know who and what I am," Vala said to her. "Because of that, there is little need to hide your thoughts from me. If you want our help, I need to know that you're telling the truth."

Kes considered for a moment, then nodded her head and her shields dropped. A moment later, Vala said to O'Neill, "They're telling the truth as they see it."

"What do you mean by that?" Jack asked.

"Well, all I can tell you is that she's being honest. Whether what she believes is the truth or not, I can't tell from her thoughts."

"She's got a point, Jack," Sam said, shrugging her shoulders.

Cardassia Prime…

Todd was staring at Picard. "The Ori are all dead," he hissed.

"So we assumed," Picard agreed, "but what if the Q missed some?"

"Your future self was the Q who said they were gone!" Todd was getting angry.

"I am not infallible, Todd."

"Admiral," Sheppard said, trying to defuse the situation, "you have to admit this would be a very large piece of fallibility."

"As I said, I think it is more likely that the preacher is something very like an Ori, but not exact. When he left the marketplace, I sensed something from him. He is not Q, and he is exceedingly similar to an ascended being. I have my suspicions as to his identity, but I cannot divulge them at present."

"My understanding is that the Ori are pretty much the nasty ancients," Sheppard wanted to be clear.

"I think that is an oversimplification, but it is essentially correct," Picard concurred.

"And these creatures are now menacing my people?" Picard looked at Todd and recognized that the Wraith would soon be wanting the preacher's blood.

"I understand your anger, Todd, and I agree that we must stop this being, whatever he is. However, you will not be able to defeat him by yourself. We need to make a plan to work together."

"Besides," Sheppard speculated, "he seems to have no love lost with Madred. Maybe he'll take the Emperor out of the picture for us."

Todd stared at his friend for a long moment, then he started smiling. "Once again, Sheppard, you know how to motivate me." He turned to Picard, "Make your plan, Picard, but I reserve the right of final approval."

"Agreed," Picard answered crisply. Then, rising, he announced, "Now I must brief The Commander."

Todd rose from his chair as well and held Picard's gaze as he gave a warning. "Tell Starfleet that if my people suffer from this, whatever he is, the Federation will have me to contend with."

Picard held out his hand and told the Wraith, "You have my word, Todd, that if my suspicions are confirmed, I will not allow this person to survive." With that, Picard flashed away.

Todd had a puzzled look on his face as he sat back down. "This must be a highly unusual situation," he commented.

"I agree, but what makes you say that?" Sheppard asked him.

"Because Picard just promised to kill someone."

Sheppard looked at Teyla, and saw that she was pale from the realization that Todd was correct.