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After a lengthy conversation with the president of Iliat, Grandma spends the rest of the night talking with other high representatives of Betazed. By mid-morning, they have decided on a tactical ploy and reach an agreement with the president of Iliat to have troops from both sides sent to Balhi. Although I have not slept in days, I am stuck in a nightmare. If only Grandma would permit me to use the power of the Q, this could all be over with rather quickly.
"Thank you, Little One for all your help," she tells me. "But I think it best if you stay put for this round." She glances at my two charges, who are playing diligently on the floor with a few replicated toys. "Contact Sister Annalu immediately and have her care for the children until we can recover their mother. Attend All Souls and behave naturally. If all goes as planned, there will be no need to bring the conflict home. Oh, how I wish I had the chance to hear all about your first day." She runs her hand through my hair. "There will be plenty of time for us later."
Behave naturally, I wonder as I look at Bekha and Latti. How am I suppose to pretend everything is normal when Grandma is risking her life again? Besides, I cannot retract what I said at the last meeting at All Souls. They will ask questions.
Not wanting to disappoint Grandma, I do as she says, leaving the children with Sister Annalu and attending the next meeting at All Souls despite my qualms. *I hope you are feeling better today, Shannara* Robiayre projects at me.
*Not really,* I respond. *Little has changed from the other day. I am still worried for my Grandma's safety and she will allow me to do nothing further to help her.*
*I am sorry to hear that. Do you feel up to participating in today's discussion? We will understand if you need more time.*
*I will give it a try. Maybe I need to keep busy.*
The other students for the most part reluctantly acknowledge my presence and allow me to participate. I am alien to them and they are unsure how to interact with me.
For a while, I do fine as we discuss other creatures in the universe less intelligent than us. We consider whether any of them will ever evolve into something more or eventually die out into extinction. Beliefs on past evolutions are brought up and I become so enthralled by the conversation I nearly forget about the conflict with the Iliatti until Jonnaih brings the subject up.
*Are we going to war?* he asks. *What will we do if they attack Betazed?*
*I don't know, but my Grandma is doing everything within her power to prevent that.* I look toward Robiayre, hoping he will say something to turn the conversation back to the intended subject.
Instead, he continues the current track. *I've been reading about the conflict with the Iliatti since our last meeting. A group of around fifty Iliatti took siege of our small colony on Balhi. They had no authorization nor consent and both our government and that of the Iliatti are trying to remedy the situation as peacefully as possible. The conflict is being contained to only Balhi. There is little or no chance of our going to war in the near future.*
*I hope you're right. But none of us should be foolish enough to believe that we are immune to war. Today's discussion is about the possible evolution of lesser intelligent creatures. You must realize that it takes sentience to know what to fight for. The higher the intelligence of a civilization, the more risk of them going to war.* as I tell them this, I am telling myself the ways of the Q. No wonder they have split into so many factions.
*Life can be so cruel.* Tobiuse concludes.
Before dismissing the class, Robiayre asks us to study three non-sentient creatures and analyze whatever empathic feelings we can sense and whether each will ever evolve beyond their current state. I have never studied the indigenous life forms of Betazed and decide to ask Grandma which ones will be best for the project when she contacts me through subspace. Thinking about the assignment, I opt not to take the transporter home, hoping to spot a few creatures during the trek to Grandma's house. Fortunately, All Souls is only two-and-a-half kilometers from her estate. I make it no more than a few meters when someone calls after me.
"Shannara, allow me to walk you home," Jonnaih says. "I'd like to discuss our assignment with you. Maybe we could collaborate our efforts."
I look at him curiously. "Why should I believe you? You obviously didn't like me when we were introduced. You think I'm barbaric, because my father's Klingon."
"Robiayre said to give you a chance, get to know you better and not prejudge you. This is the perfect opportunity."
"Why aren't you using telepathy to communicate with me?"
"We're not inside All Souls any more. Talking is permitted out here."
"Permitted, yes." I glare at this boy, if that's truly what he is, and transmit a thought toward him. *Who are you?* He does not acknowledge the thought. "Jonnaih is dedicated to the philosophy of All Souls. You're not him. I demand you show your true self!"
The entity disappears in a Q-flash.
"Where are you Q?" I yell. The impostor does not answer. I should be used to their games of silence by now. They toy with their intended victims and then vanish for a day or a millennium before they're ready to play the next round. He'll be back far sooner than I'm ready. Having not seen his true face, I wonder if he is the same Q who chased me in the garden. If not, I fear how many more like him are out there.
As I head for home, I continue scanning my surroundings closely. No longer am I interested in observing any animals, but in avoiding one. Q may return at any moment and I cannot let my guard down again. Q are unpredictable beings, often contradicting their own actions.
It begins to rain, though the sky had been clear only minutes ago. Could Q have altered the weather to slow me down? I quicken my pace. Fighting against the rising regret that I hadn't opted to use the school's transporter, I remind myself Q could just as easily flashed to my bedroom. So could have I. Only the desire not to give Q the satisfaction keeps me treading one meter at a time. The rain soaks my shoes and clouds my vision. Maybe Q will pop back in to torment me for days or flash out of this universe never to return. We are a stubborn breed us Q. Yet my outward struggle offers me time to ponder one piece of information: Q can take on the guise of a Betaziod, but he can't use our telepathy. I've suddenly realized an edge I can use against him. Perhaps the very reason Q chose to become my guardian angel.
When I step inside, I notice an incoming subspace transmission on the console in the foyer. As I accept the hail, Grandma's image appears on the tiny screen. "I was beginning to get worried," she says. "You should have been home twenty minutes ago."
"I'm fine," I insist, though I'm shivering.
"You're soaking wet! Why didn't you use the school's transporter? Why don't you have Mr. Homn bring you down a towel and a change of clothes?"
"That won't be necessary." With a click of my fingers, the rainwater evaporates. "A little water never hurt anyone."
"it's not the water I'm worried about. There's something you're not telling me."
"I was only walking home working on my first assignment. Our teacher wants us to study three non-sentient creatures. I didn't get a chance to start, because one of my classmates approached me, asking if he could walk me home."
"Good. You're finally making friends. Bringing you to Betazed was the right decision."
"No, I'm not making friends. A Q disguised himself as the boy. If I'd gone willingly with him, he might have kidnapped me, stripped me of my powers or worse. We can't let our guard down!"
"I thought the Q were impervious to pain."
"That is what they'd like you to believe. The Q can pretend to be anyone at any time. Grandma, I hate to burden you with all this. I know you called to let me know the current situation with the Iliatti. Have the miscreants been stopped?"
"They have all been taken into Iliatti custody where they await trial, but I fear there are many more like them. Why did I believe our two cultures could live in peace?"
"You're a dreamer, an idealist. There's nothing wrong with that. Only others don't see things quite the way you do. When will you be coming back?"
"In a few days. I want to help the colonists readjust. Tell Bekha and Latti that their mother is fine and that they will be reunited soon. When I return I promise to devote my time to you."
"I know you mean well, Grandma. Neither of us can predict when the enemy will strike."
I spend the next couple of days working on the assignment Robiayre gave, discovering some interesting animals. It is difficult for me to narrow my selection down to three, but I decide on: the Star Tutter, the Halgon and the Charlu.
The Star Tutter is a nocturnal creature that peeps out of its hole, raises its head toward the night sky and makes a "tut-tut" sound. From fossil records, scientist have been able to surmise that early ancestors of the Star Tutter emerged well over two million years ago. Although it is a persistent creature throughout its history, the Star Tutter is far from sentient and possesses no discernable empathic abilities. They often choose a different mate from season to season and abandon their young when they reach five or six weeks of age. Nearly twenty-five percent die each year from premature weaning. I expect in the next couple million years that the Star Tutter will evolve very little.
The Halgon dates back roughly six hundred thousand years and is a large bird with a wing span of four to five feet. It is far more intelligent, cunningly swooping down to catch its prey. Once it finishes eating the meat, it often carries the pelts to build onto its nest, where it raises the season's young until the first of autumn. The Halgon has a long life span of forty to fifty years. Although I know of no sentient bird species, I'd give the Halgon a fair chance of evolving well beyond its current development in several thousand years and suspect it already possesses some innate empathy as observed through its nurturing.
The Charlu is the least intelligent of the three I've chosen, spending most of its time burrowing in the ground and feeding off plant life and insect carcasses. Its origin is unclear, some dating it back more than a million years, while others say its being confused with the aballu, an extinct cousin. This creature has a short life span and has demonstrated no indication that it will evolve beyond its current state.
The oldest Q is supposedly seven million years old, but I cannot believe he simply came into existence from nothing into a superior being without any predecessors. What were the early Q like? Did they live much shorter lives, one hundred, two hundred years, as do the majority of sentient beings? Did their roots start out on a planet, in space, or somewhere in an alternate reality I'm not even fathoming? This animal exercise has led me to feel a strong desire to know everything about Q. How is it they're able to bring a mortal into their fold, make him or her as powerful, omniscient and long-lived as they are? And the question of why they possess no empathic or telepathic abilities nags at me. If only Q were around to ask, I could listen for days to his answers.
I attend the next class at All Souls with no incidents. Q does not reappear in any form that I'm aware of and I bide my time in between classes tending to the garden, awaiting Grandma's return. She comes back after five days with Amanda Fossi in tow to collect her children. Grandma informs me that a revised peace contract has been signed between our government and the Iliatti. I wonder if all will remain peaceful between our people and I sense the same in Grandma.
"Have you had any more visitors?" she asks.
I avert my eyes. Although I haven't had any more visitors, I feel uncomfortable discussing my problems. Grandma has had so much to handle with the Iliatti and I don't want to encumber her with further worries.
She places her hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my semi-trance. *Little One, don't ever feel as though you're burdening me with your problems.* Then aloud, she continues, "It's important to me to see you happy and safe."
I look up at her, biting my lip and fighting tears. "No," I respond hoarsely. I can't shake my fears, though. Something unexpected will happen to me.
Mr. Homn steps into the room with two steaming mugs, placing a pause on our conversation. Setting one in front of each of us, he nods his welcome at Grandma.
"How thoughtful of you, Mr. Homn," Grandma says. "Thank you."
He bows at me before leaving the room. I have hardly heard him utter more than a few dozen words since my arrival on Betazed. I have never met another man so taciturn.
I lift the mug and sniff at the sweet chocolate aroma before taking a sip of the hot drink. It reminds me of quiet nights in our quarters on the Enterprise when I had trouble falling asleep. Mother would share some hot chocolate with me and we would talk until I grew weary. Mr. Homn, for his lack of words, seems to always know how to set the perfect mood. I now feel relaxed and comfortable enough to share just about anything with Grandma.
"I don't know when, but I'll have more visitors. They want to eliminate me too badly. They are intimidated by me."
"Why do you suppose that is? You're only a fourteen-year old girl with hardly any life experiences. I thought they were millions of years old with all the knowledge of the universe.
"That's what they want you to believe when Q pretended to be one of my fellow students at All Souls, he revealed a vital weakness to me. Despite their evolved superiority, they have never developed the ability to communicate telepathically. Some desperately want me inside the Continuum, while others want me dead at any cost.
"No, I haven't seen nor sensed any indication of a Q lurking nearby. I doubt it's because they've lost interest.
Neither of us are safe until I defeat this Q and possibly any other member of his faction."
"Will only one faction come after us?"
The question startles me. I have been so intent on destroying a single Q that I've neglected to remember that not all his enemies are my allies. What of the female Q who opposed me in the Arboretum? He and she were long-time bitter enemies. Yet she made it quite clear that she would not tolerate my free admittance into the Continuum. She views me as a lower lifeform which will never evolve to the likes of her. "If more come, we will pit them against each other. Some hate one another as much as they hate me. For all their wisdom, they seem easily blinded by their hatred. Our biggest, possibly our only advantage against them is our telepathy. Despite their superior intelligence and protracted lifetime, they can't understand the thoughts or feelings of those around them."
"Protracted? Don't you mean immortal?"
"Immortality is the biggest myth inside the Continuum." I remember how devastated Q felt when he learned of Faction 1's dark secret. He had lost his sense of invincibility that day. Hoping that there is still a spark of fight within him, I vow not to give up in him. "Most Q believe they will live forever and so the battle for the fittest continues on for another million years." I wave my arm with indignation. "They have forgotten how to enjoy life, if they ever knew how. My Q, wherever he is, believes that he can one day unite the Continuum in harmony and transform the Continuum into a paradise. I wonder if he's living a pipe dream or whether he'll find enough followers to help him pursue it."
"Would joining his faction strengthen our defenses?"
"Grandma you don't have to involve yourself in this. You have enough to deal with as an ambassador. The Iliatti are like an insect colony compared to the Q. The Illiatti killed a few Betazoid citizens without mercy, and that was terrible, but the Q can wipe out a civilization with a mere thought."
"I realize that, Little One," Grandma responds. "I'm not quite as naive as you take me for and if you think I'm going to overlook that you haven't answered my question.....should you join your Q's faction?"
"I don't know. He hasn't made an appearance in so long that I'm not certain he hasn't already succumbed to an opposing faction."
"Oh dear. I can't say that Q has ever been a favorite among any member of Starfleet. He's a menace, but from what I can tell, as far as Q go, he's one of the better examples. You told me yesterday that he refused to make an appearance once until you agreed to go to the Continuum. Perhaps, he is holding off now until you agree to join his cause."
"If only the solution were that simple," someone says and we turn to find a woman with long fiery hair sitting on the second stair step and leaning against the rail. "There are complexities to the Continuum you have not yet realized, Shannara Rozhenko." She stands and approaches me. "It is my duty to share them with you."
"Are *you* to become my mentor now?"
She rolls her head back and laughs heartily. "We don't have time for schooling." As if to invalidate her words, she produces a data padd and hands it to me. "These are the goals of faction 1687 and their oppositions. Memorize them. Your continued existence depends on them." With that she flashes out.
"A member of your Q's faction?"
"I suppose so. Another ally, at least." Looking down at the data padd, I discover it is filled with gigabytes of information and sit down on the step the female Q recently vacated and begin reading. Grandma joins me and although she has many questions about the material, she tries to understand the basics.
She never wants to lose me.
