Chapter X
As they walked along the desiccated surface, he wondered where they might be heading to and what it had to do with 0 and his vile companions. But as Quaid had already made abundantly clear, he didn't enjoy inquiries any more than his father. Picard noticed that their outfits had changed to that of eighteenth century gentlemen and as he gazed out at the scenery in front of them, he spotted what looked like the city of London. So much like Q, his son is using symbolism to explain the great things to us, he thought. "I know this may be a tad naïve on my part, but what am I to presume that is?" Picard asked. "Home, to the entities which are even now seeking to wreak havoc upon the universe," Quaid said and the Captain noted that the young Q had chosen to dress for the occasion as well, wearing a black suit and tie which made him look like an undertaker. "How far in the past are we?" Data asked. "Time has no place here, Mister Data… as far as the Continuum has been able to determine; the concepts of past, present or future don't really matter. It all simply happens simultaneously," Quaid replied. In an instant, they were finally at the city and Picard took a moment to gaze at the elegance of the buildings. Everything was fairly new and appeared to unfazed by age like the London he knew, so he guessed that the young Q was using this as a symbol of an orderly cosmos. "It may come as a bit of a surprise to both of you, but there was plenty of life back then… or so my father tells me. Oh look, here comes some now," Quaid said and pointed down the street to a group of young children playing ball. No, that is no ordinary sphere; it is a world, he corrected himself.
In this realm, all these beings probably have the same strength as Q, he realized. As they approached the children, he thought he heard them singing. He was right, it sounded like a rather pleasant tune; but as they approached he realized it was nothing of the sort. "Hail, hail, fire and snow. Call the angel, we will go, Far away, for to see, Friendly Angel come to me," they chanted gleefully. "The poor fools, they didn't stand a chance," Quaid commented. "They appear rather happy," Data noted. "Oh sure, but have you noticed that they haven't a place to go?" the young Q countered. Jean-Luc took another glace at the children and was surprised to see now that each of them appeared to be on strings, much like puppets and glanced up at the heavens and wondered who was their master. "Curious? Let's watch and see how things turn out," Quaid advised and then a park bench appeared beneath them. Picard sat down and observed as the young ones continued their game until a group of older humanoids approached them and Quaid explained, "I suppose I should tell you there was no corporeal life back then… but even the higher beings can be swayed by malevolent lies." The Captain nodded and realized that the children had grown silent. They paused in their game and stared at the adults like they were enemies and then the leader of the children snarled, "Useless relics! Go back to where you belong. Your sly words and twisted sayings won't work on us." The older ones then abruptly started to look even more fragile than before.
"Traitors! Slanderers! You never protect us! Your silver tongue will not sway us anymore," another child called out. "Captain," Data said in disbelief as the old humanoids began to fall apart and Picard asked, "Am I to presume that this represents a battle?" "Just keep watching," Quaid advised. The Captain wished that the young Q would get to the point for once and then gaped as the ancient beings completely disintegrated. Once they were gone, the young children returned to their game as though nothing had taken place. As they chanted their mysterious song once more, Picard thought he saw something beyond them; hovering just above them and pulling the wires tied to each child. As he got a clearer view, he realized at last what being was behind this game. "Gorgan," Quaid said as if he read his thoughts. "I didn't realize enmity with the young and old rose up in superior beings," Picard commented. "There are always those before us, Captain and there are always those who have just found their place in the multi-verse. Gorgan sought to destroy the old and use the new until they were supplanted. It's an endless cycle really and it didn't show very much thought on his part," Quaid commented. "It appears to be working," Data commented and then added, "Gorgan seems very… sated." "Well, what do you expect? Nobody was around to stop him back then… and most of his victims didn't even realize what he was doing until it was too late. The mistake he made was trying to trick the oldest of us all…" Quaid paused and rose from the bench before adding, "But that is another story which can be told at a different time… we should get something to eat."
"How can you think of food at a time like this?" Picard asked in disbelief, to which the young Q rolled his eyes and replied, "You take things a bit too realistically, Captain. I am Q; I don't need sustenance to survive, do I?" He realized he should've expected that, but remained silent and followed Quaid towards the bar. "Careful, this is a rough crowd," Quaid advised. As soon as they entered the café, Picard realized that their young companion was not kidding. Brawlers, gunfighters, criminals, bounty hunters, deputies, sheriffs; even the bartenders and the servers were engaged in fighting one another. Bullets ripped the air and glasses smashed against the patrons' skulls as they approached and Quaid casually said, "I'll have a martini; shaken, not stirred." Data ducked reflexively as a chair flew by and Picard asked, "Do you expect us to actually relax in here?" "Calm down; we're not really here, remember?" Quaid pointed out and waited until one of the fighters finished off his opponent and then calmly poured them all a drink. As he did so, another of the brawlers shot him down and the fighting began anew. "Lovely vacation spot, isn't it? If I ever have offspring of my own, I think I'll let them come back here to enjoy the show," Quaid said amid all the shouting and harsh words that filled the air. "You can't possibly be serious…" Picard as he covered his ears while the tumult got louder. On more than one occasion, the Captain noted that the fighters would get killed by their opponents and then just as quickly; rise from the grave and brawl again. "War, what is it good for?" Quaid said whimsically and then pointed towards the upper part of the café and remarked, "It would seem somebody is having a good time, though."
Picard glanced at the fixture in the ceiling and realized that instead of a normal light, there was a crimson sphere rotating at stupendous speeds above them. But this was not some object attached to the roof; he realized it was a creature of such power and malevolence that not even the darkest of hates could compare to its desire for destruction. "Boy, was he a troublemaker; that one," Quaid said and shook his head sadly before remarking, "The famous entity you see before you is called (*), nothing more and nothing less… I think you've seen it before; am I right, Captain?" "During my previous journey with Q, it joined 0 and the others in an effort to enslave and destroy the known cosmos," Picard agreed and then asked, "I can safely assume that this campaign of violence was long before that, though." "Oh definitely; (*) has always sought ways to create war and hate between races. I remember dad telling me once that it pitted a group of Klingon warriors against the crew of a Federation vessel… and only through peaceful collaboration did they ward him off," Quaid said and then added, "Back before there was time, nobody really had any reason to fight over anything… but (*) tapped into the hatred which they'd almost forgotten and so they fought for no reason whatsoever; except to destroy their foes." "But there was no territory, no division amid species… beings battled simply because they had nothing better to do?" Picard asked in disbelief. "Like I said, the multi-verse was new and nobody understood the deep evil that came from a being like (*)," Quaid explained. "So… where to now?" Data asked.
Picard nodded and recalled the situation they were in. "We should find out as much as possible about the others before we're done," Jean-Luc decided. "You couldn't be closer to the truth if you tried, mon capitan," Quaid said, sounding exactly like his father. "I think it's about time we atoned for our sins, don't you?" the young Q said as they left. "What do you mean?" Data asked. "No time to talk. He is waiting for us," Quaid answered.