Q & A - Keith R. A. DeCandido [76]
Testily, Q said, “Oh, enough of this.” He waved his arm, and everything vanished in a blinding flash of light, leaving Picard and Q alone in the courtroom. “Much better. They’re good local color, but the noise does get to one after a while.”
“I asked a question, Q.”
“Yes, you asked why. An odd question for you to ask, Jean-Luc, given what was at stake—and what was accomplished. You see, the fate of the entire universe hung in the balance—all of it.”
At last, Picard put it together. “Those…those beings—who were they?”
“I’m afraid They cannot be named as such, Jean-Luc. We’ve tried, but They are above such things.”
“Including the Q?”
Clapping twice with his gloved hands, Q said, “Well done, Jean-Luc. Yes, They are greater even than the Q—and if They had destroyed the universe, the Continuum would’ve been gone with it.”
Nodding in understanding, Picard said, “So you cheated.”
Q straightened, offended. “I beg your pardon?”
“You cheated. You prepared us—prepared me, prepared Worf—manipulating us to save your own skin.”
“And yours,” Q said archly. “And microbrain’s, and Randy’s, and your dear Beverly’s, and La Forge’s, and newt-boy’s…” He smirked. “Even the Borg’s.”
Picard considered the mention of the Borg. “But it wasn’t a fair test. You lied to Them.”
“One cannot lie to Them—and everything I said was the truth. You did master the paradox, which earned you the right to be judged. The rest of it you did yourself.”
“The laughter.”
Q nodded. “And I must say, Jean-Luc, what most worried me was that the fate of the universe rested in the hands of the stuffiest human being in the history of the galaxy finding out that he has a sense of humor.”
Incredulous, Picard said, “That is what makes us special? Our accomplishments, our ambition, our drive to improve ourselves, our ability to adapt—none of that matters?”
“Of course it matters, Jean-Luc, don’t be ridiculous,” Q snapped, maneuvering the platform close to Picard. He whispered, “But it also matters that you can still laugh. Why do you think the best gift I could give Data was the ability, however briefly, to laugh? Why do you think I showed you what your life would’ve been if you hadn’t gotten into that fight with the Nausicaans? When the reality was restored—”
Picard’s eyes widened. “I laughed!”
“That’s right.”
It had never made any sense to Picard. He wondered why he had laughed when he saw the Nausicaan blade protruding through his chest. When Q showed him what his life would have been like if he’d avoided the fight, Picard was so disgusted that he, once again, picked a fight with a Nausicaan. When he saw himself get stabbed, Picard was overjoyed—and laughed.
“And all of it,” Picard said slowly, “was in preparation for this day.” He sighed. “How absurd.” Q was about to speak; Picard held up a hand. “But that would seem to be the point, wouldn’t it?”
“You’re learning, Jean-Luc.” The throne rose higher.
Picard looked around at the empty courtroom. He had hoped never to see this place again. “So it’s finally over?”
“Yes, mon capitaine.”
“Then I’d like to go back to my ship.”
Q rolled his eyes. “Of course you would.”
As Q raised his hand, Picard thought back on all the times Q visited. Were they truly altruistic?
“Q,” Picard asked, “what did going into Sherwood Forest and making me play the role of Robin Hood to Vash’s Marian have to do with all this?”
Shrugging, Q said, “I just wanted to see you in tights, Jean-Luc.”
With that, Q snapped his fingers, and Picard was gone.
EPILOGUE
Enterprise
In orbit of Gorsach IX
THE MOST PECULIAR THING WAS THAT GORSACH IX was still there.
Worf sat in the observation lounge, going over the landing party suggestions made by the department heads. The planet may have been a construction of the strange beings that the captain encountered in Q’s company, but it was still a new world to explore.
The same could not be said for Gorsach V. The quantum fissure was gone, and so was the gas giant.