Chapter VIII
Facing the Continuum is something you never want to do on your own; especially if your own record of disobeying their orders is rather long. But it is even harder to do so when your son is the one on trial, Q thought, glancing at the individual who'd broken one of the oldest rules of their race. Like father like Q, he thought miserably as he watched q stand before the counsel. "You have taken the name Quaid… is that correct?" the head Q asked. He sneered at the pretentious being and wondered why in the world the Continuum had chosen him to preside over this meeting. It doesn't seem fair to use Q to judge my son, since he opposed his very existence in the first place, Q thought. But he chose to be silent and wondered if this mysterious older version of q would reply to his inquiry. "That is correct and just for the record, I come from five hundred years ahead of your omniscience. We've learnt a trick or two that has allowed me to evade you until it became absolutely necessary in order to forestall The End," the young Q replied. Q was glad to see that his influence had rubbed off on the lad, despite the humbling experience of becoming temporarily human and was eager to hear exciting tales of the future; but apparently his colleagues had another idea. "You have tampered with your own past… by all our laws, this should result in the harshest of punishments," Q stated in a rather stern voice.
"On the contrary, my dear Q… I have seen to it that my past self is out of the picture, so to speak. And since the matter I came to discuss does involve The End; I think it'd be best if you let me go. If I fail, then no Q will be the wiser; nor shall they suffer," Quaid replied. Q thought he detected a sense of unease among his colleagues. It had been several millennia since any of the Q Continuum had spoken about The End and it also seemed they were in silent agreement with the boy. "We are aware of these facts… but The End always becomes The Beginning. That is the way things have always worked," Q replied. "But what if this time the Continuum itself did not survive? What if we caused it and thus paid the price?" Quaid asked. Q couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even he thought his son's words were preposterous. The Q destroying themselves? Impossible, improbable; unthinkable, he realized. But at the same time, he could tell that Quaid was sincere in what he was saying, Could it really be as he has spoken? "What do you want us to do about this?" Q asked. "You can let me go, for one," Quaid said with a laugh and then added, "Since the Continuum also feels that nothing can stop The End, I would like to spend my last moments with my family attempting to prevent the inevitable from spreading throughout the known multi-verse before doomsday comes." "Very well," Q conceded and then added, "But you are not to share your knowledge of what is to come or you shall suffer judgment. Is this understood?" "Very much so," Quaid said with a nod. In a flash, he and his son were alone again and Q wanted to ask him so many things, but apparently Quaid was expecting this.
"We need to return to the Enterprise and help Picard," Quaid said. Now he was definitely confused and asked, "I told Picard about The End… but I never really understood what place he had in it." "Trust me on this one, his cleverness could prove to be our most valuable commodity," Quaid explained and then in a brilliant flash of light they had arrived in Jean-Luc's room. "Quaid… and Q!" he exclaimed and Q noted that for once the Captain was glad to have them here. "Hello again, my dear Jean-Luc… care to enlighten me about how you've met my son?" Q asked. Quaid looked around impishly and said, "Sorry to have you worry, dad. But I had to remove myself from the Continuum in order to keep any knowledge of my actions from interfering with my own timeline. Of course, because I was gone; I don't actually know how any of this turns out." Q nodded and said, "I suppose I can understand that reasoning…" "Quaid, you said that you needed to find your father to solve this crisis. Well, here he is," Picard pointed out. "Right," Quaid said with a nod and then explained, "What I said previously still stands. The Continuum will bring about The End." "How so?" Q asked. "Through war, as always," Quaid explained. "Another Q war?" Picard asked in disbelief. "But right now, I think we need to find out more about our old enemies… and that's where you come in," Quaid explained. "What do you mean?" Q wondered. "You're referring to the beings my former first officer just met. What were they, Quaid?" Picard asked. "Enough questions! I just got here myself, remember?" his son said in frustration and then turned to him and stated,
"They're the ones who were punished severely after their involvement with the exiles was discovered." Q looked at his progeny in disbelief and then said, "I think I need to sit down." "What is going on here? I demand an explanation," Picard stated. "You had to involve him too, didn't you? If he could set aside his curiosity for one micro-second, we might actually have a conversation," Q muttered. "I thought that was the android," Quaid commented. "All the humans on this ship for that matter," he said dismissively. "Is Data vital to stopping The End? Is that why you brought him back from the grave?" Picard asked. "Wait… that old bucket of bolts is walking upright? Quaid… you saved him?" Q said, glaring at his son. "I know, I know; tampering with known history is forbidden… but you told me to, just before I came back. It's… complicated," Quaid explained. "Well… this is just a fine mess you've gotten us into, Q," Picard said and then added, "It seems all fingers point to you as being the source of our crisis." He was about to say something when his son said, "Actually, he's right… that's why I came here; to clear your name." "Excuse me?" Q asked. "Listen, I know this may sound awkward, dad… but I know more than you do about what is going on here and now. At the same time, you know more than me. I need to learn about the prisoners in order to be able to face them," Quaid explained. "And I suppose you want to take a jaunt through history as well?" Q asked, turning to Picard.
"It would seem I have a role to play in these events… so if I am more acquainted with them, that would prove useful," Jean-Luc agreed. "Glad to hear it… your living calculator will be coming along too. You're both correct; he is important to the unfolding of events as well, but even I'm not quite certain how," Quaid explained and snapped his fingers. In a flash, Data was standing there and glanced at Q before commenting, "I am very thankful to your son for rescuing me." "Please, we all know how desperately you wanted to end it all back there," Q said, rolling his eyes. "What of the Enterprise? Will my crew be safe with us gone?" Picard asked. "This distortion should conceal them as long as they don't do anything stupid," Quaid quipped and then added, "Which way, dad?" Q glanced at his son and decided that if this was ever over with, he would readjust his parental methods a tad. I don't want to deal with a rebellious omniscient teenager, he thought. He sighed and nodded to his three companions before commenting, "You want to know how all of this came about? Fine, we'll go back to just before the last time the Q watched The Beginning." Snapping his fingers, the four travelers were gone in a flash. This could prove to be interesting, he thought. He wondered how Data and Picard would adjust to the change in circumstances and guessed that the android would be the less fortunate of the two.
Finally, they all arrived in the white space from which any point could be accessed and Quaid exclaimed, "You always have had a flair for the dramatic, dad! This is neither before nor after The Beginning. It simply is. You've taken me here countless times before." "I know that," Q said, wishing for once that his own sarcasm had not rubbed off on his son. Something else I'll have to remember whenever I get to be a parent again, he reasoned. "I brought us here because it's the quickest route to where we need to go," Q said impatiently. "Fascinating," Data said and then asked, "Is this not where you took us to explain # to us?" "Yes, but I'm afraid we don't have time to deal with… well, we do at the moment; but it wouldn't really be necessary." "So can we travel to before The Beginning with them without attracting the attention of the Continuum?" Quaid wondered. Q shook his head and said; "I don't think it's possible, even with our power combined. Unless of course we-" But he never got a chance to say whatever idea had just popped into his mind. Instead, Q stopped and turned to his three companions and asked, "Does anyone else feel cold?" Picard nodded and said, "The temperature has changed slightly." "Is that even possible here?" Quaid asked. "It's never happened before," Q said. The ground beneath them seemed to be altering as well. Instead of a blank empty nothingness stretching on into eternity, it was forming into white snow that began to fall with increasing intensity.
"Captain, I have a feeling that temperatures will drop below what you are used to… will you be able to survive?" the android asked in concern. "I'll handle that," Quaid said dismissively and then turned to him and asked, "Dad… what's happening?" "I'm afraid that I don't know," Q admitted. The cold had now reached the point of glacial and Quaid turned to Picard and asked, "Is my power proving sufficient to you and your comrade?" "Yes, I thank you; although if Data so chose he would not have to feel the cold at all," the Captain answered. Q was about to say something when he thought he heard a sound off in the distance. Someone was singing in the snow. In front of where they stood, Q thought he saw imprints in the icy crust. They were irregularly placed, but were definitely heading to a sole destination. And then a robust voice was heard across the frozen tundra. "She was a kind-hearted girl, a lissome fair daughter, who always declined the gifts that I brought her…" the voice said across the mysterious plain. "Q…" Picard said, turning to him in alarm. And then it hit him like a knife to the heart; he knew exactly what was going on here. "But pity's the thing, so I begged for cool water, and then led her away like a lamb to the slaughter…" the voice said, stronger than before. "Dad, is this real?" Quaid asked. "Very much so," Q said in disbelief. "Like a lamb to the slaughter, yes, like a lamb to the slaughter…"
As they approached the source of the singing, Q felt his hands quiver. The man sat on the large granite boulder and quickly shuffled his deck of cards together, his azure eyes gazing in their direction. His face showed hints of age and crinkly lines around his mouth and eyes as he smiled wickedly at them all and stated, "Why if it isn't Q… and Q too." Q could only force himself to speak the being's name, "0."