Qb'd
Stardate 47726.09
Quark's Bar
T minus 24 hours
“Alright, Garak,” Dr. Bashir said, exasperated. “Perhaps 'Romeo and Juliet' isn't to your taste, but that doesn't diminish its importance in Earth literature.”
“Of course not, Doctor,” Garak said with a bland smile and stood from his seat. “As much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I do have work to do. Same time next week?”
“Yes,” the doctor said, resigned to letting the argument go, at least for now. He stood as well, and the two descended the stairs to the main entrance, parting ways in the promenade.
Station Infirmary
T minus 19 hours
Bashir occupied himself after lunch at his terminal re-examining some of his more interesting cases. He was so absorbed that it took him a moment to realize one of his Bajoran staff members had called his name twice already. “Oh? I'm sorry, Nurse Telena. What did you need?”
“You have a package, Sir,” she said, offering him a small, flat box with a folded card affixed.
“Thank you,” he said, taking it and flipping the card open. “Doctor, here is the book we were discussing. Enjoy. Garak,” he read aloud. “Hmm,” he smiled to himself. Perhaps the Cardassian hadn't been quite as irritated with the play as he had let on. He lifted the cover of the box, only to be startled by a blinding white flash.
Q leaned against his display terminal with his arms folded and looking bored. Bashir leaped to his feet. “Q!” he exclaimed. “What do you want?”
“So abrupt. So rude, Doctor. I'm hurt,” he said, pressing a hand to his chest. “If I were you, I'd listen very closely and count yourself lucky that I'm here.”
Garak's Clothier's
T minus 19 hours
Garak readjusted the heavy jacket on the form. After an hour of work, it still wasn't hanging quite right , and he couldn't tell exactly why. Frowning to himself, his needle held between his lips, he slipped it off yet again to examine the inner seams. The basting looked a little off.
His door chime announced a station courier. “Package for you,” the teenage Bajoran male said without looking at him.
Used to being virtually invisible, he accepted it without a word, waited for the boy to leave, and flipped open the card on the top. “Here is the book we were discussing. Enjoy, Julian,” he read. “That man is nothing if not stubborn,” he said with a head shake and pulled open the lid of the box. A white flash blinded him and left him blinking away spots for several seconds. His needle fell to the floor.
“You could've heard a pin drop. Happy to see me?” Q asked, batting his eyes at the Cardassian.
“Hardly,” Garak replied with an icy stare.
“Tch. You Obsidian Order types are all alike, as fun as a barrel of dead Talosians. Fortunately for you, I'm feeling generous today and doing you a huge favor, so you had best pay attention.”
Commander Sisko's Office
T minus 17 hours
Sisko stood at an angle to the doctor across the desk from him, troubled and focused inward. “You're sure that's everything he said, Doctor?” he asked, finally meeting his gaze again.
“Yes,” Bashir nodded, expression grave. “As I said, he also took me there. The suffering is hard to imagine. If we can't get that artifact through the wormhole and to those people, an entire race may die. Sir, permission to speak freely.”
“Granted,” Sisko nodded.
“I know it's Q, and what he says is...suspect...but it wouldn't be the first time he has shown himself to have a benevolent streak. It bears further examination.”
“Of course it does, but I can't sweep down to Bajor, demand an artifact from the Bajoran Archaeological Institute, and whisk it away into the Gamma Quadrant just because Q says it's necessary. You're going to have to give me more than that, Doctor,” Sisko finished, frowning.
“I'll try, Commander. To be perfectly honest, I don't understand why he didn't bring this information directly to you. He usually prefers dealing with, well, top brass when he appears,” Bashir said, matching Sisko's frown.
“Commander,” Odo's annoyed voice grated over the comm, “I hate to interrupt you, but Garak is quite insistent that he see you now.”
“Garak?” Sisko and Bashir said together.
“Send him in,” Sisko said. “Doctor, keep me fully abreast of the situation with Q. The instant you have more to give me, I want to know.”
“Yes, Sir,” Bashir nodded and turned on his heel to leave.
Garak eyed him side wise on his way inside but said nothing at all until the doors slid shut behind him. “Commander, we have a problem,” he said without preamble.
“Please tell me that problem doesn't start with 'Q',” Sisko said, feeling a headache coming on.
“I'm afraid so,” Garak said. “This station is in danger of imminent invasion from the Gamma Quadrant. I've seen the gathered forces with my own eyes. Of course, it could be a trick considering the source, but 'better safe than sorry' is one of the Terran phrases I happen to think has a good deal of merit.”
“How did you see this?” Sisko asked, leaning toward the Cardassian slightly.
Garak explained what he had been told and shown in detail, finishing with, “If it's a ruse, it's an elaborate one. There is an alien artifact housed in the Bajoran Archaeological Institute. If you take it to the coordinates I mentioned, there is a very good chance you could avert this invasion, but time is short.”
“A purple stone with black marbling?” Sisko asked.
“No,” Garak frowned and eyed him oddly. “It's a small orange rod, hollowed out and translucent.”
“Thank you, Garak,” Sisko said, pursing his lips thoughtfully.
“That's it?” Garak asked. “Commander, may I just say that I have no interest in being invaded, and my options of places to go are quite limited? I do hope that you are taking this seriously.”
“I assure you that I am, M—Garak. If I need anything further, I'll contact you.” Sisko eyed him pointedly.
Garak tipped his chin downward and turned to go. As he exited the office, Bashir hurried to his side and fell into step with him. “What was that about?” the doctor asked.
Before Garak could reply, a white flash blinded everyone in ops. “This is getting tiresome,” the Cardassian said testily.
“Tiresome indeed,” Q said, looking sternly at both tailor and doctor and blocking their way down the stairs. “Why have you been taking my name in vain?”
Bashir and Garak glanced coolly at one another. Garak raised his right hand, Bashir his left, and both shoved their palms to the center of Q's chest. He flew halfway across Operations, crashing onto the top of O'Brien's station. As the chief scrambled out of the way, Garak and Bashir collapsed.
“That...hurt!” Q cried.
Security Office
T minus 12 hours
“I didn't tell them anything,” Q said petulantly. “Why won't you believe me?”
“I can't imagine why,” Odo said, voice dripping sarcasm.
“This is an outrage. Whatever they did to me, I want you to undo. I won't stand for this!” Q glared between Odo and Sisko.
“You don't have much choice,” Sisko said. The headache was now in full swing. “Unless this is all part of your game, in which case I can only hope you tire of it soon. I have a station to run.”
“Your station doesn't concern me. I, on the other hand, concern me very much,” Q snapped. “I want my powers back. I'll leave. You have my word.”
“Commander,” Odo sighed, “this is getting us nowhere. He's not going to tell the truth. Let me just lock him up until he either goes away or gets so bored he feels he has no choice but to come clean.”
“No! Please,” he looked between the two with something very like panic. “Jean Luc would never be so heartless.”
Sisko frowned deeply, having a hard time not believing the emotion in the Q's eyes. “Against my better judgment, I'm inclined to trust him, Constable, at least as far as being powerless. Neither Garak nor the Doctor have any memory of what happened on the stairs?”
“So they say,” Odo nodded, “though both recall speaking to you in your office.”
“I'll need some time to think about all of this,” Sisko said. “Find Q some quarters for the night...not in the brig. Keep an eye on things, and let me know if the situation escalates.”
“Hmph,” Odo said.
The Promenade
T minus 6 hours
Sisko hurried toward the pitiful wailing coming from near Garak's shop, displeased at being awakened after too little sleep and no good ideas about the current dilemma. “Stop squeezing me so hard! This is torture! I'm trying to help you, you unnatural oaf!”
“Constable?” Sisko eyed Odo, part of the security chief liquid golden bands pinning Q's arms to his sides where he lay on the floor, thrashing like a fish. A small box lay to one side.
“I caught him breaking into Garak's shop,” Odo sneered.
Sisko looked to Q, who rolled his eyes. “Petty theft? Me? Really? Benjamin, even you have to know better.”
“Then what were you doing?” he asked.
“This,” Q wiggled in Odo's grasp, “fool's job. If he'll let me up, I'll be happy to explain.”
Sisko nodded, and Odo flowed back to his solid form. Q carefully plucked the box from the floor and stood, holding it out to Sisko. “I wouldn't open it if I were you, but you'll find another one like it in that shop.”
Odo looked vaguely offended. “How convenient,” he said, “that you'd know about this.”
Q ignored him and kept his gaze on Sisko. “I took the liberty of talking to your doctor and that pedantic Cardassian in their beds in the infirmary. I was bored. When I found out where they claimed to have spoken to me, I started poking around and found this. The tailor didn't send it, but he said he got one, too.” He shot a smug look at Odo.
“Search Garak's shop, Odo,” Sisko said as he gingerly took the box from Q.
Odo nodded and keyed the entry code. Within a moment or two, he emerged from the shop holding another box. Sisko handed the first to the Constable. “Take these to Dax,” he said, then hit his comm badge. “Sisko to Dax. You still awake, Old Man?”
“It's early for me,” the Trill's voice sounded amused. “What can I do for you, Benjamin?”
Sisko explained the situation briefly, adding, “I want a full analysis on the contents of those boxes, and Dax? Be careful.”
Science Lab
T minus 5 hours
Dax activated an isolation field over both boxes as soon as she finished preliminary analysis. She turned to greet Sisko as he entered the lab. “I want to run a few tests to be sure,” she said, “but the energy signatures of the contents of both boxes are similar and consistent within the range for orb readings. They could be orb fragments.”
“How did they get on the station?” Sisko asked.
“Unknown. I can start a search for anomalous readings over the past few days.”
“Do so,” Sisko nodded tightly. “I want to know who did this and why. I do not like to be toyed with.”
Sisko's Quarters
T minus 4 hours
Sisko had barely closed his eyes when he received a communication hail. “Commander, Vedek Bareil has put in an urgent request to speak with you. Shall I put him through?”
“Yes,” Sisko said, sitting up in bed and stumbling over to the view screen.
“My apologies, Commander,” the Vedek said. “I know it's late, and I probably should have contacted you much sooner, but I didn't want to trouble you until I knew it was warranted.”
“It's quite alright, Vedek,” Sisko said. “What can I do for you?”
The Bajoran looked a bit bemused. “Perhaps I'm to do something for you. Prophecy is rarely as clear as we would like, despite how some of our assembly might imply otherwise.”
“If you have information about what's happening on this station, I would love to hear it,” Sisko said, frustrated with the man's oblique way of speaking.
“So something is happening,” Bareil's dark gaze intensified. “Tell me everything, Commander...please.”
Sisko wasted no time, only hoping he wasn't leaving out anything important. When he finished his account, he asked, “Has anything like this happened on Bajor before with the Q?”
“No, not to my knowledge,” Bareil shook his head. “Now let me speak to you of Prophecy.” He went into some detail, but the only part that made any sense to Sisko was repeated mention of a power struggle, desire for advantage between two great forces, and a convergence point that it had taken the collective minds of the assembly this long to suss out was fast approaching. “What will you do? I've been instructed to offer my full cooperation.”
“I don't know,” Sisko said. “I don't trust what Garak or Dr. Bashir said. I don't trust Q, and I don't like the feeling that I'm being played. However, if I sit back and do nothing, something bad may very well happen.”
The vedek smiled slightly. “Walk both paths until they diverge, Commander.”
“In plain words, Vedek?” Sisko said, trying to keep his temper.
“You were given identical planetary coordinates by the Cardassian and the doctor. Why not take both objects with you? At least that way, you're not being completely manipulated by either request. I can give you the coordinates for the artifacts, and you can beam them directly to your runabout. I only regret that I will not be allowed to join you on the journey.”
He didn't like it, but it sounded reasonable. Sisko nodded. “Thank you, Vedek Bareil. I'll return the artifacts if I can when all of this is over.”
“I'll be perfectly happy with your safe return, Commander,” Bareil said, smiling. He transmitted the coordinates, and the screen went dark.
“That'll make two of us,” Sisko grumbled.
USS Yangtzee Kiang
T minus 3 hours
Commander's Log, Stardate 47728.03. Lieutenant Commander Dax and I are piloting the Yangtzee to the coordinates specified in the Gamma Quadrant both by Lieutenant Bashir, our CMO, and the Cardassian, Garak. They are accompanying us in the runabout due to the simple fact that no one was able to stop them. The currently powerless entity known as Q is an unwilling passenger, brought along by those seemingly in possession of our doctor and Garak. We bear both alien artifacts from the Bajoran Archaeological Institute, a fact which seems to have displeased both of our unwelcome guests. We have just safely traversed the wormhole without incident.
“Nothing like this ever happens on the Enterprise,” Q sulked.
“Perhaps you should have stayed on the Enterprise,” the entity in Bashir said spitefully.
“You have only yourself to blame,” Garak's added, “sticking your nose where it didn't belong.”
“I liked you better when you were just a Cardassian,” Q frowned. “Not that that's saying much. Are we there yet?”
“No!” both Dax and Sisko snapped.
T minus 30 minutes
“Benjamin, I'm picking up a Class K planet on our long range scanner,” Dax said.
Sisko admired her calm. He was ready to forcibly jettison Q and the Contentious Two as he had come to think of the bickering trio. “Life signs?”
Dax shook her head. “Can't tell. There's some sort of interference emanating from the planetary core. I may be able to compensate for it when we get closer. I think it's safe to say that there's no population of dying aliens or an invasion force, though,” she said dryly.
“You're saying our friends are liars?” Q said. “I'm shocked. Just shocked!”
“Do you want to be shocked?” the Bashir entity asked.
“No, no. This is me, shutting up,” Q said.
T minus 5 minutes
“I'm still not able to get a clear reading from—wait,” Dax said. “I'm showing a rapid creation of a duonetic field in our cargo bay. Adjusting internal shielding to compensate!”
A high pitched alarm gave one wavering warble, and the runabout lost power. “Bringing emergency systems online,” Sisko said. “Or not,” he snapped. “Talk to me, Dax.”
“I'm working on it,” she said.
“So this is how it ends,” Q said mournfully. “I had always hoped that if I had to die, it would at least mean something.”
“You're not helping,” Sisko said.
“Shall I tell him, or will you?” Bashir's entity said, sounding bored.
“It would be unsporting for me to take your fun,” Garak's said pleasantly. “Go ahead.”
“It's time to fetch the artifact.”
“Be sure to choose the right one,” Garak's added.
Without emergency lighting to guide him, Sisko felt his way to the back of the runabout. When he manually opened the door to the small cargo bay, he saw both artifacts pulsing faintly, one purple, one orange. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered, taking one in each hand.
Within moments, the runabout powered back to life. “Whatever you did, it worked!” Dax called back to him. “There's a data stream coming from the surface.” The artifacts hummed gently in Sisko's palms. “I'm being given transporter coordinates. Commander, there are also instructions. Whoever it is wants you, Dr. Bashir, Garak, and Q to beam down. I'm to remain behind. Orders?”
“We've played it out this far. Let's see it through,” Sisko said, moving to the transporter.
“What if I don't want to go?” Q demanded.
Garak and Bashir both grinned in a way that made him step quickly over beside Sisko, and they followed behind. “Energize, Old Man,” Sisko said.
T minus zero
Planet fall
A faint energy dome crackled above the four. Q held his breath until he couldn't anymore and inhaled loudly. “Air,” he said. “I was afraid there wouldn't be any.”
Sisko ignored him, watching Bashir and Garak. The two faced off and bowed ritualistically. Two Q's, identical to Q, stepped out of their bodies and turned to face Sisko. Garak and Bashir collapsed. “Give me the rod, quickly,” Garak's said.
“Do and die,” Bashir's retorted.
“Catch,” Sisko said, throwing both simultaneously.
“Are you insane?” Q yelled.
Both caught the artifacts and whirled on each other, only to hesitate. “It is not as it was written,” said one.
“There is no advantage,” said the other.
“They are not useful,” said the first.
“There are others.”
“Yes, there are others,” the first said with a malicious look toward Q and Sisko. Both entities shifted form to Bajorans, one with a red earring, the other an opposite silver. “You'll have reason to wish you had cooperated,” said the malicious first.
“Many will suffer,” added the second, sounding regretful.
“What about me?” Q demanded. “I'm suffering right now!”
“You never lost your power,” said the second. “You just forgot it.”
Q blinked, his mouth dropping open. “You know,” he said to Sisko, “I never realized I was so...annoying. How embarrassing!” With that he disappeared.
The first entity disappeared as well, but the second lingered for a moment more. “When the time comes, don't forget your power, Emissary,” it said, and then it was gone, too.
Sisko quickly rushed to kneel beside Bashir and Garak, checking both of their vitals with his tricorder. Satisfied that they were simply unconscious and not dead or dying, he hit his comm badge, more than a little irritated with the entire incident. “Dax,” he said, “three to beam up.”
“Are you alright?” she sounded concerned.
“I really...really don't want to talk about it. Energize!”
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Terrific stuff, and quite dense for so brief a story. Characterizations were dead on, and I always enjoy watching Q squirm when he's not in control. Great stuff!
