Star Trek: TNG Q-pervisor

[Captain Michael Pike]

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Q-pervisor
By Matthew Walker

Prologue

Guinan placed an emptied glass on the bar. Its squat, square body caught the ambient light of the overhead illumination and Guinan admired its geometric beauty for a moment, but just a moment. She couldn�t explain it, but suddenly apprehension crashed over her like a tsunami breaking on unprotected land. Her brows knit and her stomach lurched from the sudden flood of vaguely familiar feelings.

�Bridge, this is Ten-Forward,� she says; not yet sure that she even has a reason to make the call. What am I thinking? She wondered absentmindedly before dismissing the notion altogether. Something is wrong here and I know it�I don�t know how I know it but I know, Guinan silently assured herself.

�Guinan? I don't believe you've ever called the bridge before.� Commander Riker�s voice issued forth from the panel, instantly she caught the tone of curiosity in his baritone voice.

Taking a moment to gather her stray thoughts, Guinan could only respond with what she was immediately feeling. �I've never felt the need,� she replied. �Is everything alright?�

If it had only been imagined before, Commander Riker�s curiosity was definitely piqued now. �How do you mean?�

Unable to voice her concerns, unable to even pinpoint her concerns to something tangible, Guinan asked what she imagined sounded like the dumbest question ever asked. �Is there... anything... unusual happening?�

Commander Riker turned slightly in his chair. �Anyone notice anything unusual?� He looked over his shoulder to Worf who shook his head �no� in a very human fashion. I wonder if he even realizes how many human mannerisms he�s picked up? Riker wondered and then reminded himself to never bring the subject up in conversation. When he felt enough time had lapsed for each department to check for anomalous readings, he returned his attention to the comm system. �No Guinan, nothing out of the
ordinary. Why do you ask?�

Still unable to determine the source of her apprehension, Guinan thought a moment before responding, �I'm... I'm not certain�just a feeling�something that happened once before. It�s probably nothing.� Guinan waited a moment before resolving that whatever she was feeling was unsubstantiated. �Please forget I called. Ten-Forward out.�
Guinan turned toward the large forward windows. She hadn�t felt this way in years, maybe even centuries. Something most definitely is wrong, if only I could figure it out. Waiters rushed about around her, taking glasses from customers and delivering new ones. Guinan noticed none of it.

�Guinan?� It was Geordi LaForge�s voice that broke her reverie. She turned toward the sound and affixed her best false smile.

�Can I get you something?� she asked pleasantly.

Geordi stared at her a moment before answering, �No�we're fine. Is everything
all right?�

Inwardly she laughed, that was just about the same question she had just asked Commander Riker, and she had even less of an answer to give to Geordi than Riker had given her. It was just a feeling. �I don't know,� she finally managed. Geordi nodded, but the depth of her apprehension is apparent to all around her.

�I think I'll go check out Engineering.� Geordi suddenly looked as worried as she felt. Maybe it isn�t just me? Guinan thought bitterly, maybe something really is wrong in the universe. Geordi�s date stood just as abruptly which took Guinan by surprise, she had barely even noticed the woman.

�I'll go with you.� She nods to Geordi and then to Guinan as the pair leaves through the double doors of Ten-Forward. She returns her gaze to the stars for just one more moment before returning her attention to the bar and her customers.

Guinan had just about convinced herself that it was all just a figment of her imagination when a familiar flash of light filled the forward windows. Suddenly, she understood the knot in the pit of her stomach and was thankful it was late and there were few customers left in Ten-Forward. Captain Picard is suddenly standing before the windows in nearly the same spot she had vacated a few short minutes ago. Q, the biggest pain-in-the-ass, thorn in the side of the universe, for all eternity, is perched on one of the structural supports looking to the entire world like Puck.

Filled with a hatred she hasn�t been able to express for hundreds of years, Guinan lunges across the bar. She extends her hands like claws, ready to rip Q�s eyes out. The problem, she suddenly realizes, is that even if she could strike at him, it wouldn�t do any permanent damage. The mores the pity, she thinks as she noticed his sudden defensive posture, but he�s afraid of me�why?

�You?� Q cried out in surprise. To her credit, Guinan suppressed a wry smile before Q could catch it. She was surprised by his fear, but perhaps even more so by his inability to recognize her presence aboard the Enterprise.

Filled with a sudden boldness, her fear forgotten entirely, Guinan dropped her defenses and stood upright. This time she didn�t hide her smile. �None other.�

Flustered, Q threw up his hands and glared at Captain Picard. �Picard, if you had half the sense you pretend to have, you would get her off your ship immediately�and if you like I will be more than pleased to expedite her departure.�

Jean-Luc looked questioningly at the two beings, one seemingly humanoid and one omnipotent, each unable to confront the other without his permission. At least I still have some bargaining chips, Jean-Luc thought sourly. He couldn�t help but state the obvious. �You know him.� It wasn�t a question.

Unable to elaborate, Guinan cryptically answered, �We had some dealings.�

�Still struggling to suppress his anger, and his surprise, Q snapped, �Those dealings were two centuries ago,� pausing momentarily, Q chose his next words carefully, �This creature is not what she appears to be�she's an imp�where she goes trouble always follows.�
Jean-Luc smiled at that. He had known Guinan for years now and had never felt threatened by her, at least not until just now. Still, she was his friend and he felt obliged to defend her. �You're speaking of yourself, Q, not Guinan.�

�Guinan? Is that your name now?� Q fairly spat the accusation at here.

�Guinan's not the issue here�you are...We had an agreement that
you would stop meddling with us.� Jean-Luc was seething with anger now.

�And so I have,� Q placated.

�What do you want, Q? State your business and let's get on with it.�

Thoughts of Guinan faded from Q as he turned to Picard, �I agree Captain, enough about this creature�she's diverting us from the purpose of my being here.�

Jean-Luc sat in his ready-room replaying the scene from Ten-Forward, the Bar/Lounge aboard his former starship, the USS Enterprise-D. He was glad that Commander Riker had thought to record their second incident with Q before arriving on-scene with a security contingent. But it wasn�t Q Jean-Luc was interested in. This scenario had already played out, it was history now�history he was all too familiar with. No, Jean-Luc Picard had been trying to glean any slight bit of information about an unfamiliar history�Guinan�s. Her responses had struck him as cryptic then and even still hid a depth if history that he could retrieve no details from. He remembered this day, with or without the video replay, it was seared into his memory, because as close as he and Guinan had become, she had never involved Picard in this chapter of her life. He also remembered the last thing he whispered to her before she removed herself from the scene. �I will uncover the entire history between you and Q.� What surprised him was her response. Two words that held a depth of meaning as troubling as her history with Q.


�One day,� Guinan ominously whispered back.

[Voy_Girl]

Please post more!

[Frosty]

You breathe life into Guinan! Yaaaaaaay!

[Captain Michael Pike]

Chapter One

Jean-Luc looked up into the azure blue sky, wisps of white clouds lazily glided on wafting winds high above the Alaskan mountain peaks. He was amazed that he had grown up on Earth but had never truly taken the time to marvel at its beauty. He shook his head regretfully. He straightened his dress white uniform, the kind Starfleet Command loved to describe as elegant and majestic, but he would call uncomfortable and form-fitting. So much for fighting Command, he thought amusedly. Will Riker, still his First Officer even if it wasn�t for much longer, found him on the rear balcony. Jean-Luc had hoped to escape the wedding reception unnoticed, but obviously Will was here to return him into the wedding reception. He sighed wistfully.

�The winds of change are blowing Will, and I�m afraid I�ve forgotten how to turn them to my advantage.� Jean-Luc leaned against the wrought iron railing and gazed down to the winding stream beneath the balcony.

�I find it hard to believe that you could ever forget how to sail the tides of fortune Captain,� Will reassured him. �As a matter of fact, I have never met a man so adept at creating good fortune for himself and his crew.�

�Perhaps, Will, but this time the change is harder than ever. I find myself facing training another young crew, and asking myself if I�m still up to the task.�

�Change is never easy Captain.� Will felt foolish relating the old axiom.

Jean-Luc shrugged, helpless to deny the truth in the statement. He smiled wearily at Will and clapped a hand on his shoulder. �Let�s get back to the party.� Will smiled and walked with him.

As he approached the table where Worf, Geordi and Guinan were seated, he could overhear their conversation.

�Romulan Ale should be illegal.� Worf leaned heavily on the table, still suffering from the affects of the bachelor party the night before.

�It is,� Geordi reminded him ruefully.

�Then it should be more illegal,� Worf grumbled.

Jean-Luc smiled as he approached Guinan. �It�s been far too long,� he said as she stood to embrace him. He held her for a moment and then looked into her eyes. �Far too long,� he repeated.

�Well then, you�ll just have to get a bar on that ship of yours won�t you?� Guinan chided. The Enterprise-E wasn�t designed like her predecessor; there were no civilians aboard and few civilian amenities. Picard had to fight tooth and nail just to have his barber, the Bolian Mot, assigned to the ship. Picard and Guinan wandered to an empty table in the corner. They hadn�t spoken for quite a while and Jean-Luc wanted to find a place a little quieter. Data was singing up a storm and Will�s trombone added to the already amplified decibel level.

�So, I hear you�ve been busy?� Guinan wondered. �The Borg, the Gorn, the Son�a, the Baku? Fate seems to have picked you as its gladiator?� The tone of Guinan�s voice was obviously mocking.

�Funny you should mention that, Will and I were just discussing fate.� Jean-Luc smiled. �Gladiator?� he scoffed. Guinan merely raised an eyebrow and returned his smile. They let the moment pass, just happy to be in one another�s company again.

�So�what have you been up to?� Picard asked Guinan. He had heard she had opened a bar on Deep Space Five, but it was just rumor. Before she could answer, a young man neither of them recognized placed a hand on Jean-Luc�s shoulder.

�Excuse me Captain?�

Jean-Luc turned halfway in his chair to look at the boy. He was puzzled, the young man, no more than sixteen, hadn�t been at the wedding or the reception, at least not until this very moment. The young man seemed familiar. Perhaps the son of an officer I served with on the Enterprise, he thought. He looked to Guinan who seemed equally puzzled. As if in response to Guinan�s reminder of the Baku, time itself suddenly slowed until Jean-Luc could watch each particle of pollen drift lazily on the spring breeze.

�What is going on here?� Jean-Luc demanded. He offered Guinan his hand and intended to walk away from this intruder, but when he looked in her eyes, he saw that look. The one he had been reviewing for fourteen years, the look of apprehension and recognition. �Q!�

With the familiar flash of light, Q appeared before the trio. �Jean-Luc, I�d like to introduce you to my son,� Q announced without much fanfare almost disappointedly.

�Your son?� Jean-Luc wondered aloud.

�This can�t be good,� Guinan rolled her eyes as she responded.

�Meet Junior�my attempt at providing salvation to the Q Continuum,� Q proclaimed halfheartedly. �Little did I know it would be one fiasco after another.� Q threw up his hands and shook his head. �Now he�s actually convinced the continuum that he is their savior and he�s got a great new idea that he has no intention of sharing with me.�

�Actually,� the younger Q said devilishly, �I have every intention of sharing my plan with you�now!� The boy strode across the distance and sat in the vacated chairs, throwing his feet on the table and staring at the group with a gleam of amusement in his eyes. �I�ve decided to assign a�supervisor�to you and all the older Q generation for that matter. A guide to better morality, just like you did to me with Auntie Kathy�you remember that?�

�I remember�and regret that decision�now,� Q scoffed. �And who have you decided will be my �supervisor�? As if I hadn�t already guessed.� Q and Q both turned their attention to Jean-Luc Picard.

Shock and horror instantly flashed across the captain�s face before he could cover it behind his air of calm. He threw up his hands defensively. �Oh no!� I have far too much to do to babysit Q,� Jean-Luc assured them.

�But he would be at your beck and call�you could use him, command him to do good in the name of the Q Continuum,� the boy argued.

�Even still�I am a Starfleet captain, this responsibility would interfere entirely with my duties,� Picard countered.

�Perhaps you�re right,� the boy answered. He turned his attention to Guinan. �You and he have some history right?�

Apprehensively, Guinan answered. �Some.�

�Well then�how about you?� the younger Q suggested.

Guinan laughed bitterly. �I�m too old for this and we have far too much��history� to work well together. Maybe a few centuries ago�� And before Guinan could stop herself, the words had escaped her lips. The Qs and Captain Jean-Luc Picard disappeared in the flash of white light that always accompanied the Q.

[Captain Michael Pike]

Chapter Two


Ella Stanton crossed over from Broadway to Sixth Street. The atmosphere here was still somber more than a year and a half after the devastating terror attacks on the World Trade Centers. That site of destruction was just north of where she had parked her car in one of those pay-by-day parking garages. Ella had gotten too many tickets in the past to continue parking on the streets. The foreboding quiet that surrounded the attack site allowed Ella to hear her own footsteps resounding off the walls of the nearby buildings, an oddity anywhere in New York City. A shiver ran down her spine and she couldn�t tell if it was from the oppressive sadness that still pervaded these streets or the unusual cold that chilled her to the bone. January had been unusually cold this year and if there was anything Ella hated it was the cold.

She was still attached to City Hall, helping them cope with post 9/11 horrors and was now on her way home from that very job. She had just rounded the corner, one block north of the parking garage, her head down and body hunched to block out as much of the cold as possible when an outstretched hand surprised her.

�Spare some change?� the voice asked.

Ella followed the pinkish, frozen-looking hand, up the arm and looked directly into the face of a young man. She admired his handsome features, sharp blue eyes, tousled hair and devilish smile, but there was something else about him that caught her eye. His eyes held a depth of knowledge and compassion that she had never before encountered in her many years. She smiled at him and made a sudden, almost rash decision. �I can do better than that�come with me.� With that Ella grabbed the boy�s frozen hand and lifted him out of the garbage. �It�s too cold out for you to be lying about on the streets.�

�Where are we going? Cuz I�ve tried shelters before and I�ll never go back to one of those,� the boy argued while trying to pull his hand free of her engaging grip.

�Not to a shelter. I have an apartment here�well more uptown than this, but you�re welcome to come.� The boy looked at her quizzically. �I have a spare bedroom that no one�s going to be using. You can stay there�at least until this cold weather blows over.�

�Why would you do this?� the boy asked suspiciously.

�I have some children of my own and I�d hate to see them on the streets in this cold without anyone to care for them�besides I can tell you�re a good kid,� Ella assured him. �I�m Ella. What�s your name?�

�Um�I�d rather not say�you�d think it�s strange�at least not yet.�

The ride to the apartment was uneventful, for the most part. They sat in companionable silence, both enjoying the blowing heat from the dashboard. After a long silence the boy asked. �What is this?�

�I used to call it a car,� Ella laughed.

�What so you call it now?� he asked.

She glanced sideways at him. �Now, I call it a piece of crap.� She laughed again, but the boy seemed more confused than before. Maybe he just didn�t understand how someone with so much could be dissatisfied with it. That has to be it, Ella thought.

When they finally arrived at the apartment, Ella showed him his �room� and the bathroom. She handed him a towel and some sweats she had still lying around from the last time her son visited. �They might be a bit big, but you have to admit it�s better than what you�re wearing right now.� She looked him over again, his clothes where filthy and she had to admit smelled a bit like garbage. �While you�re in the shower, I�m gonna run over to the corner store and grab you a tooth brush and some other things.� The boy simply nodded before disappearing behind the bathroom door.

Q entered the bathroom. The car ride through New York City was just about the most frightening thing he had ever done or witnessed, and he was invincible. The ebony skinned woman, Ella she had said was her name, had proved his point so far. She was capable of great compassion and great caring. He removed the filthy garments, which were more for her benefit than his. She had to believe the role he was playing and so far she bought it hook-line-and-sinker.

He relished the hot water of the shower. He had spent quite some time waiting for Ella to find him in that trash heap. He knew that she couldn�t resist taking him home, her spirit was obviously a caring one and he knew it the moment he met her. But it was cold on the street and he made a note to try and help as many of those on the streets once his plan had come to fruition. He finished his shower, toweled off and dressed in the oversized clothes she had lent him. Just as he opened the door to the bathroom, Ella returned from her trip to the store. He walked down the hallway to greet her. �I don�t know how to thank you enough,� he said as he sat across from her at the counter between the kitchen and living area.

Ella was just about to respond when a knock came at the door. Ella rounded the counter and opened the door just slightly. A man she didn�t recognize stood on the other side, smiling like the devil. �I�ve come to collect my son, Madame.�

Madame? Now that�s something I haven�t been called in a long time, Ella thought. �Your son?� she asked skeptically.

�Yes the boy sitting at your counter, Guinan.� The name was like a slap to the face. She hadn�t been called Guinan in over a hundred years. Who now would know her name and where had he come from? Before she could ask he forced the door open and stepped into the living room.

�Q,� he said scoldingly, �Haven�t you had your fun?�

�Hello Q,� the boy answered.

Ella�s head twirled with the enormity of the whole situation, but what happened next was completely unexpected. Another man entered the room. Dressed in the modern clothes of New York City in the year 2003, he stood proudly before her, smiling. Her eyes traced the shape of his baldhead; his knowing eyes and she knew that though she shouldn�t, she knew this man. Unmistakably, Captain Jean-Luc Picard stood before her again, nearly five hundred years earlier than expected. Guinan fainted.

[Captain Michael Pike]

Two chapters for you today...I'm feeling creative! LOL!

[Voy_Girl]

You write good!

[Tyvek]

wow

[Captain Michael Pike]

Sorry for the delay with the rest of the story, my monitor blew up and I have limited access to the net. Will post when I get a new monitor...

[Chakotays Angel]

Super and Fantastic

[admiral]

very cool

[Matrix881]

its great!

[The_Doctor]

I love your storyit is fantastic, it felt like I was reading a book, you really should consider getting that publsihed when it's finished

[Melodramatic]

Very nice story
I always wanted to be a writer way b/4 I wanted to be a Lawyer
I realized my ideas were the same and the same they were always about TNG, Voyager, The X-Files and Walker, Texas Ranger but thats all I could write about...but some where down the line I lost my touch

[Tech]

Cool! Totally! Continue it!

[Tyvek]

I HATE YOU FOR NOT CONTINUEING IT!!!!!!!!