Worlds Without End, Part XXX

Main Unity Worlds Without End

Picard didn't bother to hide his irritation as he looked up at Q, hovering on his throne above him and the jeering crowd. At the best of times, Q was a nuisance, but right now he was a problem Picard had no interest in dealing with. "Whatever your game is this time, Q," he called over the jeers of the crowd, "I'm not interested in playing.

"I'm afraid it's far too late to back out now, mon capitaine," Q said, steepling his fingers before him. "You're already playing... up to your elbows in it, figuratively speaking. And speaking of figures..." his throne swooped down to where Seven of Nine stood. "Quite a nice little piece of eye candy you found, Jean-luc, although she's a bit young for you, don't you think?" The crowd laughed the unfriendly laugh of a mob. Despite that, Seven remained stoic in the face of his taunts. "Still, I imagine a former drone must be quite a prize, something to brag to the boys about, hey mon capitaine?"

"Your juvenile behavior is distasteful, if not unexpected," Picard said. "Lieutenant Seven of Nine is my colleague-"

"Seven of Nine?" Q said in mock shock. "And where oh where do you keep the other eight? Share them out with your friends?" The crowd seemed to appreciate that one.

"Q," Picard rumbled, "your insults are one thing, but your implications-"

"Captain," Seven interrupted, "it is all right. I am familiar with this individual; his empty words neither harm nor provoke me." She turned back to him. "Species 47, the Borg encountered him fifty thousand years ago."

"Ah the Borg, what a fascinating species," Q said. "I should introduce you two... oh wait, I forgot, I already have."

"Q," Picard shouted, his patience gone, "what do you want?"

"To discuss the future, Jean-luc," Q replied, lounging back in his chair. "The time has come, once again, to test your arrogant little species."

Picard had suspected this was coming. "We have demonstrated to you, twice, that humanity was no longer the barbarians you claimed it to be."

"No, only once," Q said as he leaned forward and shook a finger. "The second time you demonstrated a barely measurable glimmer of possibility for intellectual growth. But that's neither here nor there." He lounged back on his throne again. "You claimed that humanity had changed, that it now had convictions. It is this claim we are now putting to the test."

"You will find the captain a superior example of human convictions," Seven replied. Picard had to admit, he appreciated her loyalty.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure," Q said.

"Help me!" came a cry from nearby, and they all turned to see another Seven of Nine, lying on the floor in agony while another Picard watched her. "Please, captain, please stop the pain!"

"Yes, he's quite the example, isn't he," Q said, savoring the sight.

Seven -the real Seven- looked at the scene, then at Picard. He couldn't cover over his embarrassment. She turned back to Q. "Forgiveness," she said, "is another human conviction. The captain showed remorse, and I forgave him. You have no right to judge him for something that I refuse to hold against him."

"Right?" Q said. "Right?! I have every right to judge in my court! And you, little drone, are out of order!" Seven's eyes glazed over and she slowly leaned forward at the waist, revealing a large metal key at her back, winding down and stopping.

Picard looked at her with horror and turned back to Q. "Fix her, now!"

"No," Q said, the word dripping from his mouth like molasses. "I'd prefer to discuss this alone, if you don't mind."

"Alone?" Picard said, looking around at the jeering crowd.

Q smiled. "Point taken," he said, and snapped his fingers.

Picard looked around, and the court was gone. There were stars overhead and an asteroid underfoot. Q stood nearby, back in a Starfleet uniform and grinning like a Cheshire cat. "This is much more like it," he said. "Just the two of us, eh buddy?" He put an arm around Picard and pulled him close like they were old chums, but Picard slipped out of the grip. "Oh don't worry," Q said, "there's no one to see or hear us... at least, not any more."

"Where are we?" Picard demanded.

"Why Jean-luc, don't you recognize it? Why you spent quite a bit of time here a few years ago. Oh, but then, that was before the Empire decided to fix up the place." He stepped back. "Welcome to Cardassia Prime!" he said, gesturing like an overexcited tour guide.

Picard looked at the tiny asteroid they were on. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I suppose I should call it the remains of Cardassia Prime," Q admitted. "Still, things change, planets explode, stars collapse, new ones are born... Who knows, Picard... give it a little time, perhaps there will be a Cardassia Prime once again."

"You're showing me the future," Picard said.

Q laughed. "NO! Not yet! First the present, Picard. Without knowing that, the future, well, that would only confuse you. This is Cardassia Prime, or at least the charred remains left after the Federation-Imperial attack earlier today."

Picard looked beyond and saw the expanding asteroid field, his stomach tightening at the sight. "No," he said under his breath. "That's not possible."

"I'm sure the Cardassians that have been turned into random gaseous patterns will find great comfort in that remark," Q said. "Yes, yes, humanity certainly has moved beyond its barbaric ways. You merely aided in the destruction of 2.3 billion men, women, and children. Practically charity, when you get down to it."

Picard turned to face Q, his face betraying his dread. "How did this happen?"

"Well, that depends on what you mean," Q replied. "If you're interested in the precise mechanics, a hypermatter reactor on board an Imperial battlestation generated a powerful energy beam, which struck the planet and blew it to pieces." He made a little exploding gesture with his hands. "If you mean how the station was allowed to get there in the first place, well, I'm afraid we must point once again at our old friend, humanity."

Picard couldn't look Q in the face. If it was true, then Q was right. "We never realized-"

"Never realized?!" Q said in exasperation. "Of course not! You never even bothered examining the ethics of your new allies, and you ignored the evidence that was right under your nose! They blew up Halva and you never saw through it! They blew up Deep Space 9, and you never saw through it! There's a phrase for that: willful blindness."

"We were misled," Picard said weakly.

"Yes!" Q said, eyes blazing with accusation. "You didn't want to see the truth, and I don't just mean humanity, I mean you personally. You ignored every piece of evidence that portrayed the Empire as the ruthless, amoral government it is, and for what? Military allies? New toys?" Q folded his arms and shook his head. "And you actually have the gall to lecture your little drone on the subject of Faust, when even he would have balked at the deal you've struck."

"Yes," Picard admitted. "Yes, there was evidence... but you cannot fault us for our ignorance."

"I can if you were ignorant by choice, Picard," Q said. "How many times did Will 'not-by-the-hair-of-my-chinny-chin-chin' Riker warn you about them, and how many times did you act like he was just a pitiful paranoid fool." He shook his head. "And let's not forget that even when you finally snapped out of your little delirium how Starfleet Command embraced the New Order hook, line, and sinker."

Even Picard had to admit that Starfleet Command was being willfully blind, but he wasn't going to allow Q the satisfaction. "Their only concern is in protecting the Federation."

"Picard, it was one of your own people who said: 'Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for security is deserving of neither.' I'm afraid his words are rather prophetic in this case."

"What do you mean?" Picard asked. And suddenly, the view of space shifted. They were still on the asteroid, but this time they were near McKinley Station, or rather, what used to be McKinley Station. The area was filled with TIE fighters and Star Destroyers, and the station had been heavily modified. Picard saw two small Federation vessels fly through the area.

"Congratulations," Q said, his voice clear he didn't mean it. "Your alliance was a complete success. With the destruction of the Cardassian homeworld their fleet will collapse in weeks. The Romulans will manage a whole six months before they too are overwhelmed and destroyed. What few Rebels do survive will disappear back to their own galaxy, and that will be the end." Q turned back to face him. "You must be quite, quite proud. This is the future, Jean-luc, five years to be exact, and as you can see, a lot has changed. The Federation Council and Klingon High Council have been removed from power by martial authority. Starfleet has been reduced to a handful of unarmed exploration vessels. All resources are funneled into the Imperial war machine to help accelerate the Dominion campaign." He turned back to the scene again, nodding with approval. "Yes, you've finally done it, mon capitaine. You've ensured that no one will ever invade the Federation... because no one would dare risk the wrath of those who hold their leash."

"No," Picard said, wanting to deny the scene before him. "No, I won't accept that. Humanity will not stand by and let our freedoms be taken away, not without resisting."

"Yes," Q said quietly. "Yes, you will resist." As if on cue, a massive round battlestation appeared out of hyperspace. "They call it the Death Star," Q explained. "Quite a name, eh Picard?" The other ships in orbit pulled away and vanished. "'This is the way the world ends,'" Q said. "Not with a bang, since there's no sound in space, although if there were I'm sure it would be quite loud."

"What's happening?" Picard asked, watching the green beams form on the Death Star's dish.

"Don't take it too hard, Jean-luc," Q said soothingly. "All worlds must end eventually."

The beam lanced out and struck that gorgeous blue-green world. Picard ran forward, screaming "NO!" as he realized what was happening. His scream was drowned out by the explosion of his homeworld. Fragments tore through space... one grew very large very fast, and suddenly all was black.

And just as suddenly, there was light again, and Picard was standing in Q's courtroom. The mob was gone, but Seven was still there, although still motionless. Q was back on his throne in full dress, hovering over Picard. "You claimed humanity had principles," Q said, his voice quiet, but filled with righteous judgment. "We have tested your principles, and found them wanting."

Picard couldn't argue with him. He'd known humanity was flawed ever since his shameful incident with Seven... this merely showed where it would lead them. Still... "You tested us," Picard said. "Meaning you are responsible for the situation?"

Q looked down slightly, for the moment his smugness gone. "I created the wormhole," he admitted. "The choices, however, were your own." He straightened himself up. "The Continuum believes you've failed this test, and failed fatally."

"So why am I here?" Picard asked. "So you can gloat?"

"Really, Picard, how ungrateful. I'm here to warn you, and you insult me."

"Why bother, if we've already failed?"

Q leaned down and smiled. "Because I think you might just pull it off after all, Picard. I don't know why, I must be getting soppy."

"I'll tell all I can," Picard said emphatically. "We'll fight them, drive them ba-"

"No no NO!" Q interrupted. "You can't overpower them, Picard, can't you see that?! Those star destroyers are a small fraction of the number they possess, and their fleet numbers in the millions," the last word oozed from his mouth. "Sorry, mon capitaine, but if that's your answer, I'm afraid you've already lost."

"Well what then," Picard demanded, his voice mixed with desperation and agitation.

"You'll have to find that out for yourself," Q called as his chair began hovering back and away from Picard. "And you'd better hurry, the stakes are far higher than you know... if you lose, not only will Earth be destroyed, but you'll rob the galaxy of the one hope it has for universal peace."

Picard watched Q vanish, then walked over to where Seven stood. She didn't respond, so in desperation he grabbed the metal key in both hands and turned it. After several cranks she stood up straight, looking confused. "Captain?"

"Are you all right?" he asked as the key faded from her back.

"I am fine," she said. "What has happened?"

The courtroom faded back into the courtyard of Starfleet Command. "We've been given a warning," Picard said. "Things are even worse than we thought." He could shake the melancholy that had settled over him. "And I only hope that it's not too late."

Go To Part XXXI
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