One of the Living

Chapter 3: The Holding Place

Geordi wandered into Ten-Forward looking for Data. The android was busy putting his opponent into checkmate when the Chief Engineer joined him.

"Hello, Geordi," Data’s gold eyes briefly glanced up from the three-dimensional chessboard.

"Hey, Data," Geordi looked at the long line of people waiting to play. "Looks like you’re going to be busy for awhile."

Data nodded. "Yes. There are twenty- two people waiting to play for the first time and seventeen who wish to have a rematch."

Geordi let out a low whistle. "Exactly how many games have you played?" he asked taking a seat.

Data’s eyes never wavered from the board as he quickly and efficiently set up for the next match.

"Since the Captain allowed me to take the day off I have played fifty-two games." There was a slight pause as Data acknowledged his new opponent with a nod. "I have won all fifty-two games."

An arrogant statement from anyone else, but from Data it was simply fact.

"And you’ve not gotten bored with it?" Almost immediately, Geordi realized his mistake and braced for a drawn-out lecture from the android.

Data stopped what he was doing completely and turned to give the Engineer his full attention.

"It is not possible for me to become bored, Geordi." He blinked and tilted his head to the side a bit.

"I know, Data, I know." Geordi held his hands up as though to waylay any further explanation. "You’ve got someone waiting to play chess."

Data shrugged and turned back to his game.

Geordi glance up in time to see Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher leaving together. He wondered how he had missed them when he had first come in. The Captain placed his hand lightly on the Doctor’s back as they exited the lounge. Geordi's eyebrows raised slightly at the gesture. The doors slid shut, blocking them from view.

When Geordi looked back at the chessboard, the game was over; Data had won in four moves.

There was a break between games and Data organized the board once again. When he was finished, he scanned the room and his gaze locked onto a curly-headed ensign.

"Excuse me, Geordi," he said pushing his chair back. "I must inform Ensign Swarez that it is his turn to play."

Geordi waved him on. "Take your time."

The multi-level chessboard and its pieces were perfectly set up. Geordi even ventured to guess that each piece was dead center on its square. He chuckled and glanced up at Data who was still talking with the ensign. His gaze fell back on the board.

Geordi frowned and tapped the side of his visor. Only a third of the chess pieces were on the board; the others were nowhere to be seen.

May need to have this thing checked out, he told himself, tapping the visor again.

Data returned to the table ahead of Ensign Swarez. He raised an eyebrow at the expression on his friend’s face.

"Is there something wrong, Geordi?"

The Engineer shrugged. "Nothing, except that I could have sworn that you set up the board again."

Data's expression did not change. "That is correct."

Geordi’s frown deepened. "Then where are the rest of the pieces?"

Data looked at the board. In an instant, he had gone over every possibility for the disappearance of the pieces.

"Are you certain that none of the pieces were taken?" he questioned Geordi. "Perhaps someone took them as," he searched momentarily for the right word. "A practical joke?"

Geordi shook his head. "I was sitting right here. Only Q could have taken them without me noticing."

A thoughtful look crossed the android’s face as he pondered this suggestion, not realizing that Geordi wasn’t serious about Q.

"That is a possibility," he said seriously. "It would not be above Q to-"

Data cut his words off and stared at the game board. It was set up just as he had left it.

"That’s not possible…" Geordi breathed in amazement. "They were gone just a minute ago!"

"The Enterprise has encountered numerous phenomena that have all been explained and proven to be possible," the ever-logical Data reminded him.

The Chief Engineer sighed in exasperation. He knew that Data couldn’t be excited by this turn of events, just as he couldn’t be bored, but sometimes his lack of emotion was irksome.

"I think Captain Picard should know about this," he said almost to himself.

"Should we not wait to see if this occurs again?" Data queried.

Geordi considered his question for a moment.

"I think he should know now."

***********************************************

Q glowered at the hidden Tribunal that had so rudely jerked him back to the Continuum.

"What do you think you’re doing?!" An angry voice boomed around him.

Q scowled. "I could ask you the same thing."

"You are over-stepping your boundaries where the human is concerned!" thundered another voice.

"Did you or did you not state to use whatever means necessary to restore order?" Q rejoined, taking a defensive posture.

"We feel that you are too attached to these humans," the word was spoken with contempt, "to be able to sufficiently deal with the situation."

"Attached!?" Q was mortified by the accusation. "Attached to what? A lower-life form that is narrow-minded and feeble? Whose usefulness is barely enough to make it worth anything-"

"Enough!" commanded an authoritative baritone. "You’ve made your point. What is the purpose of bringing the human female into the Continuum?"

A murmur of protest reverberated through the Tribunal.

"We should not even be acknowledging such a proposal…" a voice complained indignantly.

"Silence!" snapped the third voice. He addressed Q. "Your purpose."

"The human is somehow connected to the temporal disturbances. She has slipped into a timeline not her own by unknown means," he explained mildly. He was more amiable now that he was dealing directly with the head of the Tribunal, a Q with the title Shordach, whom he knew well. Shordach had bailed him out of trouble with the Continuum on many occasions.

"With the universes so unstable," he continued, relaxing his stance a bit. "I feel that it is necessary to remove her from the timeline she is in and to place her in a temporary holding cell, lest her current timeline unravel sooner than later."

There was a din of discussion then stillness as Q awaited the verdict.

"Is there a reason why the human cannot be returned to its own universe?" another voice that Q recognized and loathed asked in a condescending tone.

Q had no response nor did he need one; Shordach answered for him. "The human’s universe has collapsed; there is nothing to return her to."

This tidbit surprised Q; the collapse occurred much quicker than it should have.

"You cannot bring her here," Shordach went on. "You must find someplace else for her."

Q mulled this over. Mischievousness gleamed in his eyes.

"Will you ensure that my motives and actions from here on out will not be questioned no matter what transpires?"

Chatter arose around him- filled with disapproval and contempt at first then with smug confidence that Shordach would severely limited their peer’s powers.

"Whatever must be done," Shordach rumbled. "You will not be questioned."

**********************************************

"And just like that, the panel reappeared," said Riker as he concluded his account of the unusual event that he and Counselor Troi had witnessed.

The senior staff of the Enterprise had assembled in the Observation Lounge to discuss the peculiar proceedings of the day.

"Captain," Trio began, her exotic features slightly perturbed. "I believe that we can safely rule out these occurrences as being psychosomatic. The crew is restless, but not to the point of hallucinating."

The nod Picard gave her was barely perceivable. He put his hands together and rested his chin against his fingers.

"Your analysis, Mr. Data."

Data folded his hands in front of him before launching into his speech. "We have experienced similar occurrences in the past. In some cases, dealings of this nature have been on a much larger scale. I have run a comparison on these recent happenings to past ones, and while similarities abound, there is insufficient information to draw an accurate conclusion."

Riker rolled his eyes and Picard grimaced slightly. It would be nice if the android would offer his personal opinions without being prompted, particularly in situations like this.

"Speculate," the Captain prodded.

Data tipped his head to the side. "There are numerous explanations for such a phenomenon, Captain. But I believe that we cannot ignore the possibility of Q’s involvement in the matter as Geordi pointed out in Ten-Forward earlier."

Picard’s eyebrows raised slightly. He looked at his Chief Engineer.

"Mr. LaForge?"

Geordi held out his palms. "I wasn’t serious when I made the statement, Captain. What I meant was, he’s the only one I know who could have pulled off a stunt like that with me sitting right there. If Q were behind this, he probably would have shown himself by now. It’s not like him not to take credit for his work."

"Valid point, Thank you." Picard sat back and turned a bit in his seat to better see Dr. Crusher. "Your opinion, Doctor?"

Beverly shrugged. "I'm not sure what to think in regards to the fluctuations right now. But I do think we should investigate what’s happening further before blaming Q for it."

"You’re right of course, Doctor," Picard conceded. He returned his chair to center and looked at his senior staff.

Just as he was about to speak further a light flashed in front of them leaving behind a grinning Q at the end of the table opposite Picard.

"Miss me?" he smirked.