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Usually, I find a long walk helps me cool off after an argument and so I elect not to Q-flash elsewhere. However, as I near the end of my trek to the nearest shuttle depot, I am no less upset with my mentor. I want to feel all the pain and loneliness. And I hope Data is feeling it too.

*You are still a girl and you have a lot of growing up to do!*

Data's words sting deeply, but I don't allow myself to shed tears. Instead, I fold my arms and trudge forward. Having been in such a hurry to leave my long-time mentor, I didn't bother to pack or bring along any of my belongings. Just as well. I've clung to them too long. I can use the power of the Q to obtain anything I want. There's never been a better opportunity for me to start over.

*You cannot yet make it on your own!*

I will prove him wrong, I vow with clenched fists. Data may be an android with an infallible memory, but he doesn't know all the secrets of the universe....and he cannot predict with complete certainty what I will or will not succeed at.

I hear a vehicle approaching me from behind. It sounds oddly different from the shuttlecrafts that have passed and I turn to see a land vehicle. Although I've never seen one, I've read enough history to recognize it as an ancient Earth vessel known as a bus. It reaches me and the brakes squeal to a stop. The door flings open.

"All aboard!" the driver exclaims.

With a slightly bulky frame and a round face, he is unfamiliar to me, but immediately I know who he is and am aware of his affiliation with Faction 1687. "Q," I say, "why are you using such a primitive form of transportation?" As I speak, I climb the three steps onto the bus to stand beside him. Why am I joining him so willingly. I'm not looking for any new friends or reconciliations with old ones. I have no reason to trust him.

"It was Q's idea." He points his thumb toward the right side of the bus and tilts his head in the same direction.

Eyeing the small group of passengers, I smirk. My guardian angel is sitting one seat ahead of Red and a boy close to my age. Q's up to something new and despite my desire to remain melancholy, I can't resist my curiosity. What angle will he use now to win my affection? How will he react when I tell him I have changed my mind about staying at the moon homestead?

More questions, I think with a sigh as I approach them. There are always more questions than answers. I wonder if he means to threaten me with the boy's presence as I sit down beside Q. "I hope you don't intend to transport me to the moon," I say, my tone tinted with regret. "I've changed my mind."

"I know," Q replies. "I must confess, I eavesdropped on your argument with the mechanical man."

I am actually more relieved by this bold statement than angry. It saves me the trouble of explaining myself to him and now I can proceed with more questions of my own. "Who is this boy? I thought I was your only prodige." I barely glance at the boy, not wanting him to think I'm too overly concerned. Without a doubt, I'm failing miserably. My cheeks feel flushed and I can hardly breathe.

The bus rolls forward and the driver accelerates. No getting off now! The scenery quickly changes from a plush earthy background to a mystic haze. I wanted to leave Earth. I should be glad Q is taking me elsewhere. "Where are you taking me?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"There are so many choices in the multiverse," I muse aloud. "I don't know where I belong or where I want to be. I suppose elsewhere will suffice for now."

Q herrumphs, but offers no other objection to my logic. "I'm glad you decided to come along for the ride. It gives me the chance to introduce you to the rest of the family." He tilts his head toward the boy sitting behind him. "This is my son." He pats the boy affectionately on the shoulder. "Whether you believe me or not, he was created by natural means. Some of us have chosen to multiply ourselves."

"He even has a mother," Red states coolly.

"You?" I exclaim. Until now, I'd wrongly assumed all Q had been transformed when a lesser being was gifted the power of the Q. Never had I suspected that any were born into the power. "Q, why didn't you even tell me you had a wife?! I thought Q was your messenger, no more. You don't see falling in love as a sign of weakness?"

I am distracted by two more passengers step onto the bus. The vehicle, at least from my perspective, doesn't appear to slow down. They take a seat on the other side a couple rows ahead of us. The man is severely overweight with a long red beard and his companion is a petite woman with flowing blond hair. They are by far the oddest couple I've ever seen. If the Q are able to choose their human guise, why would one willingly become a fat man?

"You'd be surprised if you knew who convinced Q and I to because parents," Q says, directing me back to our conversation.

"Do enlighten me."

"Why it was Captain Janeway. I'd gone to her in hopes of a little midnight tryst. She wanted to have my baby. She was practically licking the palm of my hand like her precious pup." Red rolls her eyes at this obvious fantasy of Q's. I don't know Janeway well, but I do know she wouldn't grovel at Q.

"Why did *you* want to have a baby with Captain Janeway? She's a mortal human...with flaws! Or had you intended to give her the power of the Q and the status of your wife? I'm doubting here whether your motivated by love rather than some selfish agenda."

"Q loves me!" Red says defensively. "There have been many other females, but he has always returned to me. That's why he gave up that silly chase after Janeway and bonded with me."

Other women, I muse. I'll have to ask for details later. For now, I don't want to divert the conversation away from his family.

"Janeway realized that Q truly loves me as well, and she backed off. Ahh, I do have a fondness for a woman in a uniform.....but that love could not carry on for the millions of years Q and I have ahead of us." He pauses to nuzzle against Red and motions as though to kiss her, only to stop midway and continue his explanation. "Our son's arrival ended a very long and bloody battle inside the Continuum. It made our showdown at Jannaran Falls look like children fighting with sticks and stones. Though I'm afraid the war is far from over."

Another Q steps onto the bus, this one a tall brunette looking about eight-months pregnant. How many more Q have chosen to procreate as a way to ensure their race's continued existence? Looking a bit fatigued, an oddity for a Q...even one so far along with child, she elects to settle down in the seat directly behind the driver.

"You didn't think it was necessary to tell me you had a son? After all your attempts to become my father-figure, why didn't you include the rest of your family in that endeavor?

"You were not ready to meet the family before now," Q replies. "I didn't want you to think I was pressuring you."

"Not pressuring me!" What about the time you convinced Eric to join you in the Continuum? Or the messages your wife delivered, trying to persuade me to the finer points of Faction 1687?"

"All the more reason not to introduce you to the family while you remained undecided."

"You act as though I've already joined your faction. If this bus is something other than what it appears to be, then you ought to let me off right now. You have your son to carry on your legacy. Why do you need a daughter?"

"It pains me to hear you say such a thing. After all the trouble I've gone through to ingratiate myself to you, this is how I'm treated. Did you ever suspect Worf or Deanna of loving Eric more than you?" He pauses long enough for me to shake my head. "Then why is it so difficult for you to believe that I could love two children equally?"

"I believe you," I say. "This is all taking me completely by surprise. A wife and a son. I thought Q were too adventurous to ever be domesticated. Please, don't keep any more from me. Tell me, is your son Q or does he have an individual name like me?"

"You should shed your name," the boy speaks up for the first time. For one so young, he has a sophisticated timbre. "Shannara. Why is it so important to you?"

"My mother gave me my name. On Betazed, it means 'sunshine.' I don't have a relationship with my mother anymore and my name is all I have left to remind me that she at least once loved me."

"Please. Sentimentality gets you nowhere It offers you no superiority over us. You are no wiser nor stronger"

"That's me, Shannara Rozhenko, going nowhere," I respond in a half-mocking tone.

"Children!" Q interrupts. "Now is not the time for sibling rivalry. There is too much at stake. The very fiber of the Continuum is unraveling and it is important that we put up a strong family front. We need to plan our next strategy, not bicker among ourselves."

"Q, how long have you and Q been together?" I ask suddenly needing to know. The man and woman sitting diagonally from us turn in our direction, appearing eager for the answer as well.

Q and Red gaze into each other's eyes both longingly and with surprise at the direction of the conversation. "I persuaded Q to join my Faction 2.3 million years ago."

"And a mighty fine addition," the fat Q comments. I sense some jealousy in his companion, but she smiles at me and nods.

"Your faction. Then are you telling me, that you personally formed this faction and from the beginning have been its leader?"

"I am."

"All these people are your followers, ready and willing to fight your cause?" By now, seven more have joined us. "How many more are there?"

"We are strong in number," Q assures me.

"Not strong enough," the fat one counters. "Q still has the power to keep us at bay."

"So which faction did you used to belong to?"

"I briefly belonged to 1197." Q bows his head as though in shame. "Before that, 983." I sense that he wishes to continue and wait silently for him to form his words. "We must unite the Continuum before the feuding causes the extinction of our core existence."

"And how do you propose accomplishing that?"

"We must travel everywhere, every alternate and intersecting dimension from here to yesteryear to spread the word."

"Do I have twelve disciples as well?"

Red leans forward in her seat and with a grin, says, "More." She allows this to sink in before continuing. "Little Q and I will begin as soon as you give us the go ahead."

This is incredible to believe! Q has always had a god complex as my creator and now I sense he foresees me as his child saint. This game cannot be played without me. Am I willing to take my faith that far? "Not now. I still need more time."

Q sighs, but nonetheless nods his acceptance. He turns toward his wife. "Darling, perhaps your warning was not completely off the mark." I probe both of them, anxious to know what Red truly thinks of me.

She raises an eyebrow in a silent I-told-you-so and then glances at her son. "Maybe you should give Little Q a chance."

"Stop calling me that! I wasn't born yesterday," the boy says, his face turning as crimson as the leather seats.

Instead of either of them responding to the boy's outburst, his parents look out the window at the constantly changing scenery. We are moving from reality to reality, I realize, traveling the entire spectrum of existence.

"Do you really feel he's ready to step off the bus?" Q asks.

I assume that Q is speaking metaphorically and that his son has not spent his entire life traveling aboard this bus.

"Every child must take his first step," Red responds. "In all your observations of humanity have you not realized that?"

Q raises a pained eyebrow. "I realize more than you know. Every parent must let their child go eventually. It is the most difficult tie to sever."

How difficult had it been for my parents when they insisted I leave? Briefly, I imagine mother aching for my return and then I recall her message to me the night I left Betazed. Am I the monster she believes I've become or am I the great savior as Q sees me?

"Q," my guardian angel says, looking at his son, "are you prepared for the challenge of becoming the greatest messenger who ever walked the Continuum?"

"Wait a minute!" I exclaim, standing abruptly. "Are you so impatient that you can't wait a blink of an eye compared to your entire existence for me?" My outburst surprises me as much as it does them. I should be relieved to let another take my place.

"If it's that important to you, then why are you hesitating? Take your stand. Q and I will be right behind you with our accolades."

The others on the bus begin clapping and cheering. I glance from one to the next, probing their feelings. They want me to succeed, but in each of them I sense doubt, a doubt they do not wish to share with Q. They've been following him for millions of years with little success. Why should they believe a half-Klingon girl will help them out of their rut?

"Why behind me, Q?" I ask. "Earlier today, you were challenging me for superiority. What is there that I can do that you can't?"

Q and Red glance at one another miffed by my need to even ask the question. "Telepathy," they say together. Then Q adds, "Q has convinced me; I am at your mercy."

I smile, knowing I have the upper hand. "Then don't hastily send Little Q out there. If you wait patiently for me, more will be accomplished in the long run. We can't accomplish in a day what you've been fighting for for millions of years. These things take careful planning. Little Q could always assist me." I step out into the aisle. "You will contact me whenever you want, I know, not when I call you. I will consider the options and if I deem that I could be of service to you, I'll let you know. I will make that decision, not you." Moving toward the front of the bus, I avoid looking at anyone other than the driver. "Driver, stop the bus. I'm getting off here."

"No, Shannara," Q exclaims. "This is not a place you should go."

Even as the bus screeches to a halt, I turn around to once again face Q. "Your wife has already shown me the worst the Continuum has to offer."

"You didn't!" he accuses Red.

"Of course not."

If the lost and deranged Q or the demented Q of Faction 17 are not the worst, what else is out there? I don't know if I'm ready to find out.

"Last chance!" the driver exclaims. "Either you get off now or sit down and enjoy the ride."

"I'm getting off," I reply, moving swiftly before I change my mind. I can't allow anyone to manipulate my life. If I stay on much longer, Q and his woman will be planning out the next thousand years of my life. Without pausing again, I pass the driver, descend the steps and exit the bus.

And find myself standing in the very spot the bus picked me up.

I twirl around, but the bus has already disappeared. An eerie sense that it never existed overcomes me....that nothing truly exists outside my imagination.

"Get a grip, Shannara," I order myself. "It's just another one of Q's games."

Now, back where I started, I'm faced with the dilemma of whether to go back and patch things up with Data or go forward and catch transport to a distant world. Closing my eyes, I contemplate how another confrontation with Data would play itself out.

No. I open my eyes. It's time I go elsewhere. Plant new roots. I can make it on my own!

I hear another shuttlecraft coming in and I look up to watch it descend toward the depot in the distance. Quickening my pace, I'm hopeful I will be able to catch transport upon its departure.