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Shielding my eyes from the hot sun, I squint up at Q. "Go away! I have to find my Father," I snap. Why does Q have to show up now when I'm on a most urgent mission? If I don't convince Father to come back home now, he'll leave us forever and I'll never have a family again! I turn away from the nuisance, scanning all directions as I wonder which to travel.
"Your Daddy has no intention of walking out on his family." Q waits patiently until I return his gaze before continuing. As he smiles at me, I try to determine the level of his sincerity. Surely, he isn't going to pretend to care for my Father after everything they have said about one another. "For all his shortcomings, Daddy is incontrovertibly loyal to his family and his starship." He flashes out and flashes back in front of me. "He can't offer you what I can, though: an eternal life, games and puzzles of the mind. Galaxies would be your playground. I'd even let you choose one for your very own."
Why does he insist that he can out match my Father's love? "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want anything you have to offer? I want to stay with my family."
Q places his hand on his chest in mock pain, letting out a sickening moan . I don't think he's capable of feeling pain--just inflicting it. He is able to mask a great deal of his mind from me, but I don't think even he could shield pain. "Then all this nonsense about being starved for adventure has been a facade? You've found comfort in your stale existence on a starship. My my. And here I thought you were bored."
"Well, actually--" Wait! What am I doing? Am I really going to admit to this obnoxious entity that I want the adventure he's offering? Father would blow a warp core if he knew I was talking with Q now.
He leans toward me, expectantly. "Yes, my dear child?"
"I'm *not* your child!" Balling up my fists, I let out a growl. I don't want to deal with this right now!"
"Oh Shannara, don't let yourself grow feral like Microbrain. You may have been born half Klingon, but you've outgrown its confines. Your potential is far beyond what you've realized." You're better than the sum of your two parents.
I bare my teeth to spite him. Maybe if I act too much like Father, Q will lose interest in me. I consider lunging toward him, then realize that would be a stupid move. What harm could I inflict on a being like him?
"You are my child. Why don't you admit it to yourself? I am your Father. I created more than you." Q spans his arms. "I created this entire universe you live in--just so you *could* exist."
"Then why did you let me be born to Worf, son of Mogh, if you hate him so much? Why make me Klingon at all?"
"I had no choice, really...I needed your mother and she insisted on making Worf her mate."
"I don't understand," I say as I yawn. My bedtime was quite some time ago. Maybe Q will think I'm bored with him and go away. Yeah right. If he won't go away, then I might as well attempt to get some answers from him. "Why would you bother? Wouldn't a being like you have more fun reeking havoc in any universe than playing father to a little Klingon girl? I don't look like you. I don't act or think like you."
Suddenly, Q's appearance alters as ridges form on his forehead and his hair grows below his shoulders. "I can appear as you wish me to look. The mind is the biggest universe of all, Shannara. You are my greatest challenge. I don't expect you to become me or to mimic me. Thinking for yourself and taking the initiative, that is the true sign of intelligence."
If he means winning my loyalty, he certainly has that right.
"Are you really that powerful?"
"I'm omnipotent. With a snap of my fingers, I could cause a star to go super nova, send a starship thousands. . .millions of light years away, open temporal anomalies or as in your case, create an entire universe. What if he doesn't bring me back?
"In seconds?" Why do I find this so hard to believe? "Prove it to me."
Q's wicked grin, baring sharp Klingon teeth, makes me wish I could take back the demand. How will he prove it to me? Have I unknowingly given him permission to send me on a tour of some parallel universe?
"I would be delighted," he says and with a snap of his fingers, he sends us into the unknown.
Floating in lavender clouds, I am weightless. "Q!" I scream, frantically searching for him. Has he abandoned me now? What could this place or Q's absence possibly prove to me? "Q, show your face now!" I exclaim. If he thinks he'll win me over, this isn't the way to do it. "This doesn't prove anything."
"On the contrary," Q replies flashing in front of me in his usual form. "It proves everything."
I ponder this riddle, sure he won't provide the answer.
"This place looks like the inside of a nebula." I remember the pictures Commander Data has shown me of various spacial anomalies. Does Q somehow know that I have a strong desire to see and investigate such anomalies? I've never imagined myself floating inside one though!
"How obtusely scientific you've become." He leans down to speak low in my ear. "Why only watch anomalies from your viewwindow when you can create them. Admit it, you find it more intriguing to explore them like no oxygen-breathing mortal could."
I bring my hand to my mouth, only now becoming aware that I'm not breathing. Yet I don't feel like I'm suffocating or becoming lightheaded. "Where are we? I mean, are we still in the same galaxy? The same universe?"
"We are precisely eleven hundred meters above your beloved starship, if you must know. I just created this anomaly for your benefit. The little insects below are scurrying about trying to understand how a purple cloud suddenly formed out of nothing."
"You chose this proximity, because you couldn't resist playing a game with the crew or are you trying to explain the mysteries of the universe to me?" Data taught me that word, "proximity". I think I sound more mature choosing it over "closeness." Am I trying to impress Q with my vocabulary? "How do you explain the universe? Can it be defined?"
"Certainly, you can determine something so elementary with your own resources." He taps his finger against my forehead. "I'm merely offering you the opportunity. Given the initiative, you have the power to understand the nature of the multiverse."
I want to ball up my fists and pound them into Q. No wonder my parents despise him so much! Yet instead of charging at him, I float away from him, seeking out my answer as he suggested. I use deductive reasoning as Data has taught me and analyze the situation. What are my senses telling me? I can see, obviously, and hear well enough to argue with Q. Those senses, thus far, haven't revealed any answers to me. What do I feel? I reach out and run my hand through the purple mist. It is like running my hand through a hologram. After examining my hand, I decide that the nebula has no physical effect on me. What then am I supposed to realize by this?
I turn. Q is staring at me, impatiently tapping his foot soundlessly against the void of space. This must seem so simple to a being like him. So why is he playing this game with me anyway?
"I don't want to play this game anymore!" I exclaim. "Send me back to the planet now, so I can find my Daddy."
"Send yourself back," he counters. "You've had that ability since the day I introduced myself to you."
Could I just wish myself back? I concentrate on this notion, imagining myself back on the planet. I take a step forward. My foot hits solid ground and I stumble. After recovering and wiping the dust off myself, the solution to Q's puzzle suddenly comes to me. There's only one true way for him to prove that he has this omnipotence.
Give it to me.
I stand. How can I use this power for the most good? With a snap of my fingers, I transport myself with a Q-flash to the site where my Father, Commander Data and the other members of the away team are working. They cannot see me. I have taken care of that by placing a cloaking shield around myself. Although it's the first time I've tapped into it, this ability feels natural to me.
We are in the midst of a deep cavern. The away team members are all carrying tricorders and are intent on their analysis of the area. Father walks centimeters past me and I hold my breath. I wish I could reach out and hug him, not hide from him. It has been too many days since I've seen him.
The away team gathers to discuss their findings. I try to listen to their conversation, but don't completely understand everything that is said. They are attempting to find out why the people of this world are suffering from a depletion of resources. Does that mean they are in danger of extinction? If I snap my fingers and wish more resources on this world, would Father return home? I raise my hand ready to snap into action, but something inside me holds me back from carrying out this action. This would be Q's solution. That doesn't necessarily make it the right one. Should I take the glory away from Father and Commander Data? Perhaps they are nearing a solution of their own, one that doesn't require the power of Q.
Growing increasingly tired, I lean against the rock wall and begin to fall asleep. Maybe a better solution will come to me in a dream.
"You wanted your Daddy to come home," Q says into my ear, startling me awake.
I look around the cavern, frightened when I don't see the away team. "What have you done with them?!"
"What have *I* done with them?" Q retorts in an offended tone. "They have merely retired to the city. They are sleeping in their beds--something your Mommy told you to do."
"I was sleeping until you startled me."
"On a hard rock when you could be in a warm bed back on the Enterprise. Why can't you trust; Daddy will be home.."
I choose to ignore Q's last remark. "My Father has to come home before my Mother stops loving him."
"Why remain a placid observer then? You have the ability to end this planet's suffering and bring Daddy Dearest home."
"So do you."
"How true, but if I snap my fingers, it wouldn't prove anything to you. Daddy would return to your cozy little family and all would be boringly blissful among the Rozhenkos. You, however, would learn nothing from this experience."
"I don't want to violate the Prime Directive."
"Prime Directive!" Q sneers. "You mortals are so concerned with non-interference that you're never accomplishing anything. Ignore the Prime Directive if it will make you happy."
I cross my arms and look at Q smugly. "If we're such a failure, then why are you so interested in us?"
"The potential is there--at least in *some* species."
"Father says you don't like him, that you are rude and insulting toward him."
"The feeling is mutual, I assure you."
"Why do you keep pretending to care about me then? I learned most of my values from my father and I'm not ashamed that he is my father."
"Oh really? Then why are you constantly wishing you were not half Klingon?"
"Because of the way the world looks at me," I admit.
I wait for Q to counter with some smart remark. Instead, he flashes out. A second later, I find myself lying in my bed and wearing my nightgown.
Snapping the covers off of me, I climb out of bed. How am I going to get Father back now? Could I still snap my fingers and have my way? Or is Q so angry that he eliminated my power of the Q? Why did I even try to play his game? Getting smart with a smart aleck always backfires. I stifle a whine. I can't let Mother know I am still awake. But I am so worried, and I feel so guilty! Should I have listened to Q?
Suddenly my worries are interrupted by a deep grumble coming from the living area. I recognize that voice! I rush out of my room, momentarily forgetting that I am supposed to be sleeping.
"Daddy!" I exclaim as I rush into his arms.
"It is good to see you, too," he says as he swoops me up.
"Did you finish your away mission?"
My parents exchange a look of confusion.
"You did help the people on that planet, didn't you?"
"Yes, of course," Father replies slowly. I sense uncertainty in him. Did Q send him back home without helping those people? I don't feel right having Father back so soon if it means placing millions of people in danger.
"Are you sure? Do you really know that they will be okay?"
Mother steps forward and runs her hand gently through my hair. She is trying to comfort me, but I can sense her own fears. Her lip trembles as she tries to speak. "Sunshine, what do you know about your Father's return?"
I don't want to tell them that I beamed down to the planet or that Q paid me another visit. But do I have a choice?
"I think Q brought Father back home."
Father's grip loosens around me, and I clutch his shoulders fearful that he will drop me. "That menace," Father grumbles.
"We knew he would return, Worf," Mother says, leaning into him. She is trying to soothe him as she did me, but I sense the rage building inside Father. He sets me down and steps away. Afraid, Mother follows in his footsteps.
"Q!" Father bellows. "I demand that you show your face immediately!"
Clutching at the hem of my shirt, I prepare for a battle. What would Q do to Father if he chooses not to back down? I know Father. He believes in fighting to the death. And I'm beginning to know Q. He enjoys humiliating my Father and ridiculing him in front of others.
Silently, I wish for Q not to appear. I mentally hurl my desire across the galaxy, touching whenever and wherever Q happens to be at the moment. Holding my breath, I count to ten. Finally at the end, sure he is not coming, I let out a deep breath of relief.
"Worf?" Mother questions with worry.
He turns toward her, his expression softening a bit.
"Put Shannara to bed. I must speak with the captain about this." Without another word, he leaves our quarters.
"And as for you, young lady," Mother says, "it's way past your bedtime. I think I'll tell Data to wait an extra hour before picking you up for your schooling."
I smile broadly, so pleased at the idea of resuming my lessons with Data. One extra hour is not all that much to wait.
Minutes later as I am lying in bed, Q once again startles me awake. "You should be happy. Daddy's home. The tin man can pump your brain with a few more megabytes of worthless information. What more could you ask for?"
I turn toward Q who is sitting on the edge of my bed, hand on chin. I know that he heard Father calling him and chose not to answer. Did he make that choice because I willed him not to, or did he simply choose to ignore Father? Q thinks life is a game. He doesn't care if people die during the play. It matters only whether it has a happy ending for him.
"I don't want to play this game anymore."
"You will in time." Q flashes out.
"No, I won't," I promise more to myself than Q.
Slowly, I drift to sleep.
