One of the Living

Chapter 4: A Place For The Past

Q’s sudden appearance was met by stunned silence much to his disappointment.

"Oh, please," he sighed melodramatically, placing his hand over the communicator on his Starfleet uniform. "Don't tell me that you don't remember me, either!"

"Unfortunately, we remember you all too well, Q," Riker snapped greatly irked to see the entity again. He gave Q a scathing glare. "What do you want?"

"Why do you always assume that I want something?" Q said an injured look on his visage. "Can't I just stop by and say hello to some old friends?"

This earned a snort from Geordi.

Q turned to him. "Ah, Geordi, nice to see you too."

He looked intently at each of them, none too thrilled to see him. His gaze fell on an empty seat and he wrinkled his nose.

"Where's microbrain?" he asked in references to the missing Klingon security chief.

"Lt. Commander Worf has been transferred to Deep Space Nine," Data informed him. He seemed to be the only onen not upset by Q's presense.

Q made a face. "The only place drearier than here," he remarked. "He should make a dull addition to their crew."

"Do you have a purpose for being here?" Dr. Crusher demanded curtly. "You are just here to be a nusiance?"

Q shot her a nasty look. ‘Watch yourself, my dear doctor," he warned ominously. "I won't hesitate to turn you into a dog again. And this time there'll be no one to undo it."

Beverly gave him the dirtiest look she muster. She felt as though she was being watched by someone other than Q, and looked up to see her friends staring at her.

"Don't ask," she grimaced, laying her head in hand.

Q sneered wickedly. "Well, now that the Doctor's been appropriately muzzled. Let's get down to business shall we?"

His gaze locked onto Picard’s. Up until now the Captain had been silently regarding the entity.

Q snapped his fingers, disappeared, then reappeared moments later reclining in a chair.

"And what about you, mon captaine? Have you missed me?"

Picard leaned forward, hands clasped in front of him, his face an impassive mask. He coolly matched Q's stare.

"What's your purpose here?"

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Space. Throughout its infinite expanse, each star, each planet, each solar system, each galaxy has its own path along its own orbit- breathtakingly beautiful, coldly defiant, arrogantly daring anyone to tell it that it is out of place.

Life. With each race lie civilizations. Within each civilization lie communities. Within each community lie family units. Each person, individual and distinct, has a place and is an integral part of their world- a cornerstone in the foundation upon which cultures are built. There is a place and purpose for each member of the nation.

Once in a while, however, there happens to be an individual who has no place, no home, and seemingly has no other purpose than to pass through the sieve of Time forever wandering, forever searching for that place to belong. Within the heart of this rare vagabond burns a hope that someone, somewhere, is thinking of them, missing them, waiting to embrace them with open arms and welcome them home

Alternate TimeLine: Year- 2368; Location- USS Petty NCC 2445

The cold, stark walls of the unused cargo bay chilled Tasha to the bone. The barren area she stood in the center of lacked warmth and was devoid of life save herself. Or was it entirely lifeless? According to the computer, she did not exist. She was deceased. Dead. Forgotten.

The ensign sighed. How long had she been dead? How did she die? Was it in the line of duty or in some sort of accident? What had she been doing? Was death instantaneous or prolonged? Was she alone when it happened or among friends? Was there a memorial service for her? Did anyone come? Did anyone care? Did her shipmates still think of her or had her memory faded from their minds with the passage of time?

Tasha sat down on an empty storage crate and hugged her knees to her chest. She tried to divert her thoughts from the morbid by focusing, instead on the mysterious Q. She still wanted to know how he knew her, under what circumstance had they met and why. Nothing but questions swam through her head. The thing that she was most hungry to know concerned the Enterprise. Q seemed to have suggested that she had served on the new starship. How had she managed to get assigned to the Enterprise? Though still six years from completion, applications for commission had already begun to bombard Starfleet Command and she had not bothered to apply. Not that she didn't want a place on the Enterprise D. It was rumored that Jean-Luc Picard would be captaining the Federation flagship and she would give anything to have the honor of serving under him.

Tasha glanced around, wishing that Q would come back. Though not particularly fond of him, his company was far better than being alone in a place where she didn't belong, a timeline, as he called it, where she didn't exist. She rested her head against her knees and tried not to let despair overtake her.

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

"You were never one for small talk, were you, Jean-Luc?"

The Starfleet captain suppressed a growl. His eyes narrowed to slits as he warily watched Q.

Q propped his feet up on the table and put his hands behind his head. "Tell me, Jean-Luc," he smiled lazily at them all, "have you been noticing any peculiarities on the Enterprise lately?"

"So you are the one behind the fluctuations!" Riker fumed in accusation. His chair had been pushed back from the conference table at angle and his every muscle was tensed as though he was preparing to pounce.

Q gave him a withering look and swiveled from side to side. "Really, Riker," he yawned, "if I were responsible I wouldn’t be asking- I’d already know."

The Commander grumbled inaudibly in response.

"If you are not responsible," Picard spoke in a low, even tone. "What then is the cause these anomalies?"

Q swung his feet off the table and leaned forward.

"That’s what I’m here to find out."

Picard sat up straight.

"I don’t believe you."

Q raised his eyebrows.

"Now, Jean-Luc, really, I have better things to do than to interrupt your dismal existence. I’m only here because of a situation with the space-time continuum."

Picard pursed his lips, deep in thought. He glanced at his senior officers; they were apprehensive of Q’s presence, but interested in his tale. Picard covered his mouth with his hand. They had little other choice than to hear him out; there was no other way to get rid of him.

"Go on," he said shortly.

"Thank you for your permission, Captain," Q said sarcastically. He took his time brushing imaginary dust from his shoulders, drawing impatient sighs from the Enterprise crew. Finally, he continued,

"Three of your years ago, a breach within the timelines began unraveling the universes surrounding it."

He looked at them expectantly as though they should instantly understand what he was talking about. He was met with six blank stares.

Much to his chagrin, he found that he was going to have to further explain himself.

"The breach destabilized the timeline in which it occurred. The destabilizing led to the unraveling in that universe ultimately leading to its collapse. Once the unraveling begins in one universe, the next one parallel to it begins to destabilize."

" A domino effect, then," Data offered. His statement was an echo of Q’s own statement to the Tribunal and the entity was not pleased.

Q shifted in his chair and gave the android a disdainful glare.

Picard leaned back in his chair amused by the irony of the situation and Q did not take kindly to being laughed at.

"I see," the captain said after a moment, mirth danced in his eyes, "you’ve come to us for help."

Q stood up rather violently and highly offended.

"Help?" he spat. "Don’t flatter yourself, Picard. I don’t need your help in repairing the damage that’s been done. I simply need to use your precious starship as a holding place for a little stray I came across."

"Why the Enterprise, Q?" Riker demanded hotly. More than anything he wanted the troublesome entity off his ship.

"Because your universe is the most stable of all. It is the primary universe around which the others are centered. She can safely remain here. In any other timeline she would cause the unraveling to occur sooner!"

Q was annoyed beyond words at the ignorance that abounded in the room. They couldn’t grasp simple concepts without him having to connect the dots. How could they stand to live like that? Q shuddered inwardly.

"And besides," he sniffed haughtily, "I thought you might enjoy seeing dear Tasha again."

Three things occurred simultaneously the instant after Q stunned them with the mention of their dead comrade’s name.

Beverly winced and her face twisted with pain as the memory of her failed attempt to revive the young lieutenant slammed into her with force of a Ferangi freighter.

Picard automatically turned to the Doctor, knowing what images Tasha’s name was invoking for her, and, momentarily forgot himself as he reached out to her.

While the others stared with mixed emotions at Q, Geordi for some inexplicable reason looked at the head of the table and saw the Captain’s hand covering the distressed Doctor’s.

Riker was the first to speak.

"And what purpose will that serve?" he demanded, his voice cracking a bit with sentiment. "Other than another means to torment us with."

Q frowned at him. "I really don’t have to explain myself to you, but since you are obviously incapable of comprehending anything without my help, I suppose I'll have to.

"The breach is indirectly related to Tasha," he said. "And somehow she’s managed to fall into the wrong timeline. One that is quickly unraveling."

Q saw that Data was about to question him so he quickly added, "I would have returned her to her own timeline, but it has, unfortunately, collapsed."

"You said the breach occurred three years ago," Beverly spoke up, all emotion cleared from her face. "But she’s been gone for nearly ten."

"Yes, but the breach occurred between a timeline in which the Enterprise C was still intact and a timeline in which Tasha was still alive."

Q’s words trailed off and he looked darkly at Picard. "It should have been this timeline that was affected."

Picard looked at him expectantly but said nothing.

"I remember Guinan mentioning an event that had something to do with an alternate timeline," Geordi said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"As do I," Picard murmured. He glance up at Q. "Three years ago, Guinan informed me that of some sort of breach in timelines occured where the Enterprise C entered our reality. She said that Tasha," his voice caught slightly on her name, " was indeed alive. She informed Lt. Yar of her death in our timeline. Tasha supposedly requested that I send her back with the Enterprise C to restore the continuum and to die a more noble death. Guinan, however, is the only one on this ship with memories of such an occurrance."

For the first time, Q was at loss for words. Confusion marred his features then realization lit his eyes.

"Now all the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place," he chuckled as a wicked grin spread across his face.