XVII
"Am I dead yet?" Q moaned, clutching his chest where the beam from had struck him. "No, but you will be if you don't cooperate," Crusher snapped, pulling his hand away so she could scan his injury once more. "Seriously, doctor… what could that possibly tell you which you haven't already learned?" he wondered, attempting to stifle the pain. The last time he remembered such agony had been during his brief stint as a human, during his banishment from the Continuum. Even as Q thought that, he realized his connection to the rest of his kind was gone and reflexively snapped his fingers. The room shook violently, but as far as he could tell; nothing else happened. "Oh my… this could be problematic," he muttered. Just then, the chamber was filled with three flashes of light and a trio of familiar figures appeared. "Dad! Are you alright?" Quaid inquired, rushing to his side. "Never better… did you find what you needed?" Q asked. "I think so," his son replied, glancing back at his companions as Picard approached his wife and said, "What happened here?" "An entity took control of Commander Kadohota and attempted to assault me. Q took the shot instead, but his powers appeared to have been damaged in some way," the doctor answered. "Is Miranda okay?" Data wondered. "Oh sure, don't worry about me; I'll be just fine," he groused. "Pardon me, but you are a being of incredible gifts whereas she is merely a human and mother. I was concerned for her safety, since her loss would be very traumatic for her family," the android stated.
"And you don't think my imminent death is anything to worry about?" Q countered. "Yes, I was wondering about that as well. How can these invaders kill him now if he's essential to creating the future you come from?" Jean-Luc wondered. Data cocked his head to one side and proclaimed, "I believe that I may have an answer, sir. If 0 and his companions were successful in altering the known timeline of the Q Continuum, then this might produce unforeseen effects; up to and including the destruction of the universe." "Yes, but isn't that why Quaid is here as well?" the Captain wondered. "Don't you learn anything, Picard? As long as events play out as they did before, then there will be no need to alter them," his son replied. "Wait, are you saying that you can't change things?" Q wondered. "Who says I'm here to do that? Haven't you set up a predestination paradox before?" Quaid countered. "So you're here to make certain nothing alters the destiny of the universe… but what about The End? Is that really coming, or were you just making it all up?" Picard inquired. "Oh no, that's quite real. Just the specifics were changed in order to prevent any alterations to history. I'm sure that Mister Data has worked thru all of the ramifications by now," his son proclaimed. The android nodded and said, "The creature known as 0 appears to derive sustenance from the life energies of other beings. Specifically, those who have already been weakened. I would surmise that the attack upon Q was intended to strengthen him." "And the intruders haven't been seen since then," Crusher observed.
"Picard to the bridge! Report, Number One!" the Captain directed. "Sir, we are attempting to keep the Titan disabled in order to prevent the escape of a group of entities which are attempting to seize it," Worf replied. "Acknowledged… I'll join you in a minute," Jean-Luc proclaimed. Glancing at Quaid, Picard asked, "Can you heal him?" "That's not within my power. Only 0 can restore him now," his son answered. "Very well… I'll se what I can do about that," the Captain stated, rushing out. Data moved to his side and inquired, "Were you lying earlier?" Q frowned and said, "I don't understand what you mean." "During our initial encounter with 0, you implied that he had erased my memory of our previous experiences with him. Yet I have seen no evidence to indicate he has any power over me or any other form of technology," the android observed. "You're very smart, you know that? Quaid, could you allow him to remember everything?" he suggested and his son snapped his fingers in response. Data paused, his eyes staring at nothing for a time as he processed the information. "I see… this is consistent with his previous behavior. But why hide these facts from me?" the android wondered. "If you had known, then the answer to our problems would not arise when the time was right," Quaid stated. Data nodded, although it was clear that he still didn't completely understand. As the android left, his son knelt by his side and pressed his hand against his chest. Q felt his wound mend somewhat, piecing together the fragments of his omnipotence.
"We're taking a long-shot, you know," Quaid remarked. "It's all we've got. The Continuum isn't about to listen to your plan, seeing as it comes from the future and therefore might unravel all of infinity. I simply don't care any more," he said. "You were going to die then, too," his son told him. Q faced his child, hearing the truth in his words. "The other Q were fighting for reasons I can't begin to explain without tampering with things to come. And you defied them, claiming that it was all engineered to conceal something else. So you went off and took care of what you believed to be the source of the problem… and the universe began to perish. For your crime, the other Q sentenced you to death. And then you concocted this plan. I never did understand all of the details; much less what role he was supposed to play in it. But now events have been set in motion and there's nothing we can do to stop it," Quaid went on. "You are altering the timeline… but what about bringing about the destruction of the cosmos?" he wondered. "Dad… haven't you realized that the reason the Continuum has been stuck in a rut for the better part of eternity is because they're so determined to follow all of these rules no matter what? That's why you rebelled, joined 0 in the first place. By refraining from expanding in new ways, we've only made our downfall inevitable. If it isn't 0, then there are plenty of other entities who might be able to topple the Q one day. So we have to enter uncharted territory before that. Isn't that why you decided to conceive a child in the first place, to change the Continuum forever?" his son proclaimed. "The others will never want to take those kinds of risks," Q warned.
"Why do you think they were fighting? But not in your future!" Quaid exclaimed. "An alternate reality? That's… flabbergasting," he remarked. "I wasn't lying when I told the other Q that I knew how to do things they did not. How do you think 0 got free in the first place?" his son asked. Q looked at him in astonishment and said, "Some of the other Q let him go." "Or he was never imprisoned to start with. In the past, that gave him an indomitable strength until it was turned against him. But we can learn to channel our omnipotence, to experience vistas we can only dream of. There is one way I can heal you, if you accept the gift I have to offer," Quaid declared, holding out a hand. He took it, then felt as if his entire essence was being rent asunder. Q cried out in pain, causing Crusher to rush back into the room. His body was infused with light as he floated off of the bed, his mind struggling to comprehend what it beheld. All of the lives he could have lived… and had! Q tumbled back to the stretcher and the Doctor rushed over to him, but he held up a hand to restrain her. "That will not be necessary. As you can see, I am perfectly fine," he proclaimed, then snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, Q was on the bridge with his son at his side. "Feeling better, I presume," Picard remarked dryly. "More than you can imagine, mon capitan. I presume you've activated your auto-destruct sequence," he commented. Jean-Luc raised an eyebrow and replied, "At this range, the blast would take out both of us. It may cost us our lives, but these entities will not get away." "To the contrary, their departure is imminent unless we can devise a means to dispose of them," Q retorted, glancing at Data.
The android caught his look and nodded, then said, "I believe I have a strategy which may be effective against our foes. If you could disable all command functions except my own and anesthetize the crew, I can make an attempt." He looked over at his son, who nodded and snapped his fingers. Quaid and Data disappeared in a flash of light, leaving him to stand guard over the Enterprise. Picard soon finished his work and settled into his chair as the gas took effect. Q made a few modifications to be certain that it could not be dispersed easily, then waited for what came next.