She stood up, "I thank you for healing me, but I'd prefer a Starfleet uniform over your finery."
Q rolled his eyes and sighed. "Most people would say, 'To what do I owe this measure of gratitude, Q?' or 'Thank you Q! You're a kind omnipotent entity, to do this for me out of nothing but the goodness of your heart!'" Nevertheless, he waved his hand, and her dress was replaced by a Starfleet uniform, appropriately sized.
"From what I've been told, you do nothing from the goodness of your heart, Q. Everything has its price," Yilaan replied.
"And who told you that? Picard, I'll bet. He's such a grouch sometimes," Q said irritably. "Oh well. Perhaps it's time for me to make a new Federation friend." He took Yilaan's hand and looked at her with wide, innocent eyes, as he knelt before the girl on one knee. "Will you be my friend?"
Yilaan seethed at Q and jerked her hand out of his grasp. "Don't talk down to me like I'm a little girl!" she yelled at him, as he laughed at her reaction. "I'm not, you know. Besides, why do you need me as your friend?"
Evading the question, Q snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, the two were in Yilaan's quarters. "My you're grouchy today, Commander! Some little girls might need a nap; do we know one?" he scolded, teasing her mercilessly.
"Stop it!" she shrieked at him. She got up and ran out of the room. She ran down the hallway in frustration, arriving shortly at a turbolift. When the doors opened, Q stood inside waiting for her, a big grin on his face. Yilaan sighed and rolled her eyes, reluctantly joining Q on the lift, realizing she'd never escape from him until he'd accomplished whatever it was he'd come for in the first place. "Bridge," she said to the turbolift, which complied and sped its occupants towards the Bridge.
Q stood, arms folded, with a continuous smirk. "Well?" he said finally.
"Well what?" she said without looking at him.
"You want to know what this is all about," he said in a voice with an exaggerated accent, presumably mocking Picard. "Am I responsible for this time vortex? Am I testing humanity again?" Returning to his normal voice he said, "Come on, Yilaan! You know you're burning with curiosity!"
The turbolift stopped and the two walked on to the Bridge; the combat was still just as frozen as they had left it. Yilaan took about five steps, then whirled to face Q, her hands on her hips. "Alright then! What is this all about? Are you responsible for the chaotic anomaly we're caught up in?"
Q condescendingly waved his finger at her. "Ah, ah, ah!" he said. "As you so astutely pointed out earlier, nothing comes free." Q snapped his fingers, and in a flash of light, the two found themselves in the Observation Lounge, seated, facing each other across the briefing table. "Ah, much better!" Q exclaimed, sitting back in his chair, putting both feet up on the table. "You'd be surprised how sore your legs can get when you have free run of the universe; there's just no place comfortable to sit down!"
Yilaan made a face. "Well?" she asked impatiently.
Q sighed. "You're even less fun than Picard," he said. "Maybe it's because you're so young," he went on, waving a hand over her. In a flash, Yilaan was back to her old self again, complete with normal sized uniform. "Maybe that will improve your attitude." Yilaan smiled and ran her hands down her arms, one each in succession. "My proposition is simple," Q went on. "I'll answer your questions if you hear out my proposal when you're through."
Yilaan looked up and stared at him. "That's it?" she asked, momentarily reveling in having her old voice back.
"That's it. I'm so confident that you'll agree to my proposal, that I needn't soil your sunny attitude by asking more."
"Very well," she said, leaning back in her chair. "Are you responsible for the anomaly?"
"Nope."
"Are you responsible for bringing the ship here?"
"Nope."
Yilaan sighed. "Are you testing humanity again?" she asked, smiling wryly. Q smiled back at her and shook his head in an emphatic 'no'.
"I like you, Commander," Q said, placing his feet back on the floor and leaning across the table towards Yilaan, "so I'm going to save us both some time." At his choice of words, Q chuckled to himself. "I have personal motivations for being here," he began, folding his arms. "And whereas it's not my place or true concern to interfere in the affairs of your puny race..."
"You're going to do so anyway," Yilaan interrupted him.
Q smirked, "You're very quick of wit, Commander. This whole anomaly as you call it, is but a miniscule piece of a very large puzzle. You see, it was content to sit here and be its little lonely self, but then you had to come along and puncture the poor thing with your probe. This started a series of events in motion, across time. Rifts in the space/time continuum opened up like tiny stitches coming undone in a piece of fabric. Your Klingon friends entered your anomaly through one of those. Your fire-fight, however, is the reason I'm here." Yilaan raised an eyebrow as Q continued, "That little tussle of yours opened another hole; this one, in your future. It is this hole which will result in dramatic changes in your past." Q smiled grimly, "You, my dear, get to stop the damage before it ever happens, and, for my one and only hint," he paused dramatically, leaning forward to just inches away from Yilaan's right ear. "Watch out for the Romulans," Q whispered.
"What about this anomaly?" Yilaan asked.
"It will collapse on itself just a few moments after your fire-fight with the Klingons, destroying you, them, and everything else within. However, I'm giving you the chance to redo things." Q paused to let what he said sink in, "Now, it's not as if I care whether your Federation exists or not, really. I mean if the Andorians want to run the show and annex Earth, and the Borg want to eat Bajorans for breakfast, why...."
"Alright, alright!" Yilaan replied with an annoyed tone. "You've made your point, I think. What do I have to do?"
"Simple, really. Once I release this frozen little moment you and I are sharing, you will find yourself back in your time; or, rather the same time as you left, but nothing resembling what you remember. You must find yourself a way back to when the contamination occurred, and put a stop to it. Once this is done, it will be as though nothing ever transpired. But you'll have my eternal gratitude."
"Find myself a way back through time?" Yilaan asked incredulously.
"I have confidence in you," Q replied nonchalantly.
"Why can't you just snap your fingers and fix it yourself?" Yilaan accused.
Q sighed. "Well, the Continuum thinks that I meddle too much in your affairs as it is; and since the fate of the universe doesn't rest on your puny little section of it, I don't really have a reason or an excuse to care....or to interfere."
"Aren't you interfering right now?"
Q smiled smugly, "That depends on your point of view. Now then...are you ready?"
"But....," Commander Yilaan started to protest.
Q waved his hand and interrupted her. "You worry too much! Everything will be fine, I'm sure!" Q's image began to fade as he continued, "After all, it's not as if you'll be without help!" His voice could still be heard after his image disappeared, "This whole thing gives me a great idea on some fun I could have with Picard....."
A flash of light later, Commander Cecilia Yilaan found herself in a corridor, presumably on a space station, outside a restaurant. Andorians filled the place, though there was a sprinkle of Humans, Tellarites, and other races. Most avoided the Andorians, who were as loud and as aggressive as most Klingons she'd ever met. On the walls, various signs and such were posted; she recognized most of them as being in Andorian, but couldn't decipher them. She stepped into the restaurant and visually surveyed the place.
As she glanced around, her eyes fell on someone familiar; a harried waitress, barely able to keep up with the demands of her boisterous customers, as she dodged grubby hands seeking to pinch and prod her. Yilaan stared at the waitress for nearly a full minute before she managed to figure out who she was looking at; Ensign Julie Bradley.
"Help indeed," she growled under her breath.
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