Star Trek
The Lady “Q’
By: Derek Kestner
Based on Star TrekTM created by Gene Roddenberry
Captain’ Log, Stardate 51632.4. The U.S.S. Bozeman is enroute to a Ferengi outpost where we will
represent the Federation in a trade disagreement. I know that even now that the Volshins are
thinking of ways to take over the galaxy.
There are rumors that the Volshins will be at this meeting. I hope that those rumors are wrong. End of Log Entry.
Captain
Morgan Bateson sat in his center chair on the U.S.S. Bozeman, his crew
working around him. To his right sat the
ships first officer, Commander Gabriel Bush, and to his left, ships counselor
Lieutenant Ashley Rickman. In front of
him at the helm was Lieutenant Andy Welch, and at opps was Lieutenant Commander
Derek Kestner. Behind him at tactical
was Lieutenant Whitney Foreman, and over at communications was Lieutenant Wizz
Dayton. Down in engineering was the
famous Captain Montgomery Scott and his engineers mate Lieutenant Commander
Brad Foreman. In sickbay was Doctor Karl
Hayter.
The Bozeman was enroute to a
Ferengi outpost where they would be representing the Federation in a trade
disagreement. Through the grapevine he
heard that the Ferengi were also inviting the Volshins to come to open up a
trade route with them. He hoped that
that was only hearsay. Everything was
going as well as could be expected; the ship was running normally and the crew
was as efficient as always.
Counselor Rickman suddenly let out a
loud groan and almost fell out of her chair.
Luckily Captain Bateson reached out and steadied her. “What’s wrong, Counselor?” Bateson asked.
“I’m sorry, Captain. I just felt a powerful mind, it overwhelmed
my mind. I can’t explain it, it was too much for me, sir,” Counselor Rickman
explained.
There was suddenly a flash of light
that engulfed the bridge. When the light
had cleared, a woman was standing beside the viewscreen. She wore the red uniform of a Starfleet Captain. She looked at everyone on the bridge, while
all the officers staired back at her.
“Hello,” she finally said in a sweet voice.
“Who…what are you?” Bateson asked.
“We are called the Q, so you may
call me, Q,” she said. “Haven’t you ever
heard of us? A friend of mine comes to
visit a, Captain Picard quite often.”
Her face was one of confusion.
“I’ve heard of Captain Picard talk
about the strange alien known as, Q, but the rest of the information is
classified,” Bateson said.
“Yes, my friend, Q, has often told
me about how humans keep information from one another. Personally, I think it’s silly, but, if
humans wish to do so, I guess I can understand their need too. Well, in that case, I will tell you about us.
“We are a highly advanced race of
beings. Some of our race plays jokes on
inferior race, just as my friend does your Captain Picard.”
“What do you mean, ‘Practical
jokes?’” Bush asked.
“For one thing, he put Captain
Picard and his crew on trial for the crimes of humanity. Another time he came onboard and introduced
the crew to the Borg. Still another time
he wreaked havoc on the Enterprise when the continuum stripped him of
his powers, and that’s only a few of his practical jokes,” she explained to the
crew.
“You…aren’t like that are you?” Bateson asked her.
“Like humans, each of us has our own
personality’s. I don’t make fun of any
race, inferior or otherwise. You’ll be
alright as long as you don’t make me mad,” she smiled.
All the time Bateson noticed Derek
staring at her. He smiled to himself. He had to admit, this woman Q was beautiful,
and he had noticed that Derek had noticed.
“Well, your race certainly sounds interesting,” Bateson said.
She nodded. “We are, but we have a great fondness of your
race. Do you mind if I have a look
around your ship?”
“Yes. Commander Kestner can show you around,”
Bateson said.
“Aye, sir.” Derek said. He stood and ushered Q to the turbolift. “This way ma’am.”
For the next several hours Derek
showed Q around engineering, the holodecks, and ended up at Ten Forward
Lounge. He stepped forward to open the
door for her when she opened it with her mind.
Derek blushed, but quickly left his face. He led her into the lounge saying, “This is
our Ten Forward Lounge. This is where
our crews come to eat, have a drink, and relax after a hard day’s work. Would you like something?”
Derek ordered something to eat and a
drink. Q ordered the same things he did
then they both sat down to eat. While
they were eating Q noticed that Derek kept looking at her. “Commander?” Q asked.
“Yes, ma’am?” Derek asked.
“Please call me Q,” she said. “I have noticed that you keep on staring at
me. Do you find me…attractive?” With this question, Derek blushed. When Q saw his cheeks reddened, she began to
laugh.
“Well…uh…yes, I think you are
beautiful,” Derek said, his face reddening by the moment.
Q laughed again. “I am honored that you think I’m
beautiful.” Q said nothing more about
the matter. They finished their dinners
quietly.
As he finished and was standing a
voice over the comm link said, “Red Alert. All senior officers to the
bridge.”
“I have to go now…Q. Would you mind joining me for supper here
tonight, say twenty-hundred hours?” Derek asked her.
“Are you asking me out on a date?”
she asked, a smile on her face.
Derek simply replied, “If you want
to call it that.”
“Very well, I will meet you,” Q
said. She snapped her fingers and
disappeared in a flash of light. Amazing
and beautiful, Derek thought to himself.
When she had fully disappeared, he walked over to the nearest
turbolift.
He stepped off the turbolift on the
bridge to see red flashing lights and the officers walking to their
stations. Derek quickly walked down to
his station and sat down. On the viewscreen
was the all-familiar Volshin Battlecrusier.
“Is this the Volshin ship that will be accompanying us to the Ferengi
base?” Derek asked.
“I would suppose,” Bateson
said. “Wizz, hail them,” he ordered.
“I have them sir,” Dayton said.
“On screen,” Bateson ordered. The star field melted away and was replaced
by a green Volshin face. “I am Captain
Morgan Bateson of the starship Bozeman.
Why are you in this part of space?”
“I
am Commander Zo’lar of the Volshin Empire.
My purpose for being here is that the Ferengi invited us to this trade
discussion. Now if you don’t mind we
have work to do, as I’m sure you do,” Zo’lar
said. With those words spoken the
viewscreen changed back to the star field with the Volshin ship in the center.
“I don’t like it, I don’t trust the
Volshins. Andy, back us away and keep
out of weapons range. Ms. Foreman, put
us to yellow alert and keep our shields raised, I don’t want to start a war
over this,” Bateson ordered. His orders
were quickly followed and the starship ran smoothly for the rest of Derek’s shift.
Derek walked out of the sonic shower
whistling as he pulled on his uniform.
It was nineteen-thirty, almost time to go to the Ten Forward
Lounge. He snapped his communicator into
place then walked out the door. As he
was walking down the corridor Brad came walking out of his quarters alone. Another flash of jealousy ran through his
mind, but was quickly replaced with other thoughts.
“So, someone a little birdie in Ten
Forward said that you hit it off with some girl, is this true?” he asked.
Derek’s checks went red. “Yeah, I kinda did. Remember the Q that Wesley told us about not
to long ago?”
“Yeah, I remember something about
it, what of it?” Brad asked.
“Well, she’s a woman of their
species. I’m meeting her in Ten Forward in
about thirty minutes,” Derek explained.
“Ah, I see. Well, I guess I’ll leave you to her then,
bye.” Brad turned and walked down the
corridor back to his quarters. Derek
continued down the corridor and into the turbolift. It was a short ride to the deck where Ten
Forward. Upon entering he sat down at
the bar and ordered a drink.
He had almost completed his drink
when a flash of light announced Q’s presence.
She was wearing a long red dress.
“I believe when one of your females wants to make a good impression,
they wear a dress,” she said to him smiling.
Derek’s cheeks reddened. “You look…beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she said still smiling.
“Come, let us order,” Derek said,
ushering them toward the table. The
quickly ordered and began eating. They
made small talk for a while while eating.
The doors opened an hour later and Brad and Whitney walked in holding
hands. Jealousy washed over him once
again as they walked over to where Derek and Q were sitting.
“I was hoping to catch you two
here,” Brad said smiling.
Although he felt jealous, he forced
a smile and said, “Please join us.”
“Sure. I’ll go get our food,” Brad said. Derek scooted his plate and glass around to
sit beside Q. Brad quickly returned with
his and Whitney’s food. As the night
wore on, the jealous feeling departed Derek’s mind. Soon, it was like old times, Derek and brad
and their dates were having a good time.
It didn’t talk long for their plates
to empty of food. It was starting to get
late and most of the people had left Ten Forward. Things were as it should be. Brad stood and yawned. “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you…but
I am heading off to bed. Q, Derek.” Brad and Whitney stood and walked out of the
door leaving Derek and Q to their selves.
“He seems to be a good friend,” Q
observed when the door had shut behind them.
“Yes, he is,” Derek said,
remembering their Academy days. “But, I
must admit, I am sometimes jealous of him.”
“How so?” Q asked curiously.
“It’s kind of weird, I don’t
know. Sometimes when I see him, it’s
just like old times, but other times…I don’t know, I just get jealous. I can’t explain it,” he answered.
Q sat silently for a moment,
thinking about all he had told her.
“Perhaps you are jealous because he has someone to hold and you don’t?”
“Perhaps,” Derek replied. They sat silent for a moment, each staring at
each other for a moment.
There was suddenly a flash of light
and the male Q was sitting in the seat beside them. “Amazing.
Even with everything I’ve told you about humans…that they were
inferior…you still fall in love with one.”
It was Q’s turn to blush. “I did not say that I was in love with
Commander Kestner.”
“Ah, but I know you are. I know you better than you think,” Q said
with a wink.
Her face turned redder. “I never said I was in love with Commander
Kestner, you’re just making it up.”
“Come now…it’s time to admit it…you
love Commander Kestner, and you know it.
Sadly, I must leave…but I know you too love birds wont mind that too
much,” Q said. With another flash of
light he was gone.
When she turned to Derek again, her
cheeks were still red. “He’s really not
as bad as he used to be…really.”
Derek sat at the table
speechless. Derek and Q suddenly
disappeared. Seconds later they were
standing on a beautiful planet, where, they didn’t know. Derek looked around to see beautiful fruit
trees, a beautiful lake, and many other beautiful qualities.
“Did you do this?” Derek asked
turning to Q.
She didn’t say anything, but shook
her head no. She snapped her fingers. She was surrounded by a flash of light, but
did not disappear. The voice of Q
suddenly said, “Ah, ah, ah, no cheating.”
Q’s face fell. “He’s good.
He wont let me snap out of here.”
Derek walked over and put his arm
around her. “Don’t worry. We’ll get outta here. I say for now we make the most of it.” He walked over to a tree where there were
strange fruit hanging from it. He pulled
one off and tasted it, it tasted pretty good.
He asked, “Would you like one?”
“Sure,” she said smiling. He pulled one off for her and to it to
her. They sat down and leaned up against
a tree. “Do you visit your Earth a lot?”
“I visit as much as possible. My mother lives there, although she’s threatening
to leave Virginia, my home, and go to Starfleet Academy and become a scientist
for Starfleet,” he told her.
“Threatening? Do you mean you don’t want her to
become a scientist for Starfleet?” she asked.
“Of course I do,” Derek said. “It just means that’s she’s not decided upon
it but the thought has crossed her mind.”
“Ah, I see,” she said nodding her
approval. “If she has a mind like yours,
then I’m sure she would make a good scientist.”
His cheeks reddened. “How much do you know about my mind?”
“I must say, I have admired you
since I first saw you. I have followed
your career very fluently. You have
helped against the Borg, Romulans, Dominion, Cardassians, Volshins…all very
interesting,” she told him.
“Well, I do what I have to, but I
know I couldn’t have gotten through any of it with out…Brad,” Derek said. Once again jealousy flowed through him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked noticing
his change of facial expression.
“It’s nothing really,” Derek told
her. He looked around.
“What’s it like, living on a
starship?” Q asked.
“It’s quite different from being on
a planet. You can have close
relationships on a planet, but nothing like being on a starship. Captain Kirk, Captain Spock, and Dr. McCoy
described it best.
“They were on Earth on a
campout. Dr. McCoy said, ‘Ya know, it’s
funny. We spend all those years in space
at each other’s throats, and when we get shore leave, we spend it together.’ That’s how life is on a starship,” Derek
explained.
Q looked at him, a twinkle in her
eyes. “When Q said that I loved you, he
did not lie. I merely said I didn’t
because I didn’t want you to know.”
“I understand. It is common among humans to do similar
things such as that,” Derek told her.
Q leaned closer to him and gave him
a kiss. Derek returned her kiss. I two flashes of light they were returned to
the
They were in Derek’s quarters. Q’s voice said, “I’m glad you finally admit
it. Sadly, I must leave you to your own
business. Goodbye.”
“Well, I’m glad he’s finally gone,”
Derek said. “Is he always so…annoying?”
“Yes,” Q said. “Always.
Well, I must go to, but I will see you soon.” She kissed him then was gone in a flash of
light. Derek smiled to himself, then
walked out the door and proceeded to the bridge.
“Captain Bateson, we’re being
contacted by Starfleet,”
“On screen,” Bateson ordered. The star field was replaced by the features
of Admiral Owens. “Admiral,” Bateson
said.
“Captain
Bateson, on your way to the Ferengi base, we want you to stop by DS9. In the five years since we recrewed the
“Aye, sir,” Bateson said.
“Thank
you, Captain Bateson. Owens out.”
“Very well, Mr. Kestner, set course
for Deep Space 9,” Bateson ordered.
“Engage.”