bridge immediately.”
“ Now what are you up to, Q?” said Captain Picard. He stopped when he recognized the apparition.
“Admiral Kirk?”
The apparition didn’t reply to Picard. It turned to Q. “Stop this.”
Q smiled. “Not so high-and-mighty, now that I’ve got the upper hand. Q, would you
be so kind as to restore my powers?”
“My pleasure, Q.” Q-past snapped his fingers.
Q wiggled his fingers. “That’s better. Much better.” He turned on the apparition.
“Now, let’s find out who you really are.”
The apparition faded as Mister Spock said, “Live long and prosper.”
“You’re not getting away that easy. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Suddenly, Data appeared on the bridge with a laurel of holly around his head and dressed
in a deep-green satin robe. “Scrooge!” he bellowed. He held a gold goblet in one hand
and a large turkey drumstick in the other. He was about to say something else when
he stopped and blinked. “This isn’t right.” He disappeared.
Captain Picard walked up to Q. “Why are you dressed like that? What’s going on?”
“That’s what I’m about to find out,” he said, snapping his fingers.
Stave Five
Q found himself in a void, but a comfortable void, a void that felt like home.
“Q,” he said, his voice dampened in the nothingness.
Another Q appeared in a human female form.
“I need all of Q,” he said.
Q, in various forms, appeared in the void. None of the other Q were humanoid. One
even showed up as a quark. Upon appearing, they all nodded or indicated their understanding
of the situation.
“We must confront this threat,” said Q. “Any being that could entrap Q must be investigated
and, upon a fair and impartial trial, be dealt with quite severely.”
Q agreed.
“As it happens,” continued Q, “I have a plan. We have to bring this creature, or creatures,
out into the open. I’m convinced they have feelings for humans—why else subject me
to that dreadful Dickens novel?”
Q reminded Q that the Dickens scenario had actually been his own idea.
“Whatever,” said Q, waving it off. “Regardless, they must have some affinity to humans.
Being on the bridge of the Enterprise gave me an idea. I once created three timelines for Jean-Luc and took him back to
the halcyon days of Earth—that is, I took him back before life began. I’m going to
that time right now, and I’m going to prevent life on Earth from ever forming. I suspect
that whoever is behind this will appear to stop me. But we all will be waiting—”
Q squinted at Q-quark. It was spinning oddly. Off balance. Wobbling. Then Q realized
something was happening to all of Q. The other humanoid Q sprouted wires from her
flesh and cried out in pain. Metal plates above her eyes pushed out through her forehead.
Her dark brown skin turned ashen. Another Q had its fifteen limbs replaced with cybernetic
prostheses that clicked and whirred with movement. A multitude of tight red beams
of light emitted from many of the Q and crisscrossed the void. Q who resembled a nebulae
filled with metallic particles. Q-quark took on the sheen of a synthetic biomass.
Q felt something crawling beneath his own flesh. It was as though snakes slithered
beneath the surface. And there was pain. It burned within his limbs and even tore
at his mind.
He screamed from the white-hot pain. Wires and small conduits punctured through muscle
and skin along his arms. He could feel them growing out of his face. His mind burned
like the center of a star. He was losing himself. Losing his identity. All around
him, Q was morphing into—
“We are Borg,” said Q as one. “Resistance is futile.”
And then, for the first time in his approximation of life, Q knew fear. It was a pinpoint
of cold, stark light in the fathoms of his being. All of Q had changed—had been assimilated.
Looking down at himself, he was black and silver. One of his legs was now
“ Now what are you up to, Q?” said Captain Picard. He stopped when he recognized the apparition.
“Admiral Kirk?”
The apparition didn’t reply to Picard. It turned to Q. “Stop this.”
Q smiled. “Not so high-and-mighty, now that I’ve got the upper hand. Q, would you
be so kind as to restore my powers?”
“My pleasure, Q.” Q-past snapped his fingers.
Q wiggled his fingers. “That’s better. Much better.” He turned on the apparition.
“Now, let’s find out who you really are.”
The apparition faded as Mister Spock said, “Live long and prosper.”
“You’re not getting away that easy. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Suddenly, Data appeared on the bridge with a laurel of holly around his head and dressed
in a deep-green satin robe. “Scrooge!” he bellowed. He held a gold goblet in one hand
and a large turkey drumstick in the other. He was about to say something else when
he stopped and blinked. “This isn’t right.” He disappeared.
Captain Picard walked up to Q. “Why are you dressed like that? What’s going on?”
“That’s what I’m about to find out,” he said, snapping his fingers.
Stave Five
Q found himself in a void, but a comfortable void, a void that felt like home.
“Q,” he said, his voice dampened in the nothingness.
Another Q appeared in a human female form.
“I need all of Q,” he said.
Q, in various forms, appeared in the void. None of the other Q were humanoid. One
even showed up as a quark. Upon appearing, they all nodded or indicated their understanding
of the situation.
“We must confront this threat,” said Q. “Any being that could entrap Q must be investigated
and, upon a fair and impartial trial, be dealt with quite severely.”
Q agreed.
“As it happens,” continued Q, “I have a plan. We have to bring this creature, or creatures,
out into the open. I’m convinced they have feelings for humans—why else subject me
to that dreadful Dickens novel?”
Q reminded Q that the Dickens scenario had actually been his own idea.
“Whatever,” said Q, waving it off. “Regardless, they must have some affinity to humans.
Being on the bridge of the Enterprise gave me an idea. I once created three timelines for Jean-Luc and took him back to
the halcyon days of Earth—that is, I took him back before life began. I’m going to
that time right now, and I’m going to prevent life on Earth from ever forming. I suspect
that whoever is behind this will appear to stop me. But we all will be waiting—”
Q squinted at Q-quark. It was spinning oddly. Off balance. Wobbling. Then Q realized
something was happening to all of Q. The other humanoid Q sprouted wires from her
flesh and cried out in pain. Metal plates above her eyes pushed out through her forehead.
Her dark brown skin turned ashen. Another Q had its fifteen limbs replaced with cybernetic
prostheses that clicked and whirred with movement. A multitude of tight red beams
of light emitted from many of the Q and crisscrossed the void. Q who resembled a nebulae
filled with metallic particles. Q-quark took on the sheen of a synthetic biomass.
Q felt something crawling beneath his own flesh. It was as though snakes slithered
beneath the surface. And there was pain. It burned within his limbs and even tore
at his mind.
He screamed from the white-hot pain. Wires and small conduits punctured through muscle
and skin along his arms. He could feel them growing out of his face. His mind burned
like the center of a star. He was losing himself. Losing his identity. All around
him, Q was morphing into—
“We are Borg,” said Q as one. “Resistance is futile.”
And then, for the first time in his approximation of life, Q knew fear. It was a pinpoint
of cold, stark light in the fathoms of his being. All of Q had changed—had been assimilated.
Looking down at himself, he was black and silver. One of his legs was now
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