It took only a moment for him to spot her. Upon seeing the peripheral flash of red out of the corner of his eye, Rhade wheeled around to face his nemesis…Q.

“I am going to kill you!” screamed Rhade and began to lunge towards the woman in red. She only looked at him with surprised bewilderment and panic, as a trapped animal would look when a predator is about to lunge it’s prey, and there’s nowhere for her to go. Before he could pounce on the buxom brunette, however, Worf was to the rescue and grabbed Rhade from behind, holding him back from tearing her limb from limb.

“Are you insane?! What kind of mating ritual is this? You are going to kill her!” Worf screamed as he continued to hold Rhade back from the woman, who by this time had tears welling up in her eyes.

“Let me go, you smelly ape! She is not who she appears to be!” snarled Rhade as the Klingon used all his strength to hold back the hysterical Nietzschean, who by this time was growling fiercely.

Dylan, turning around to see what all the commotion was about, was bewildered by the sight of Rhade trying to physically harm the best looking female he had seen since his arrival on Seefra-1. ‘Too much whiskey and too many homely women have made this guy insane…and blind,’ thought Dylan sadly. Still, despite his pity for his Nietzschean friend, Dylan saw this as a golden opportunity for him to finally get the girl instead of Rhade. Springing from his barstool, Dylan immediately rushed to the side of the now weeping woman, fully prepared to take on the role of her knight in shining armor.

“Stand down, Rhade!” Dylan commanded.

“I will not, Dylan Hunt! She’s Q!” screamed Rhade, still being held back by Worf.

‘He is insane,’ thought Dylan to himself. ‘Still, Trance did say that Q could take on any persona he wishes. And Rhade was in a very strange mood this morning – not to mention he smelled unusually clean.’ Dylan turned to face the woman with a quizzical look on his face.

“Is what he says true? Are you Q?” Dylan asked suspiciously while wishing with all his heart that Rhade had indeed lost his mind – and was not telling the truth.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about!” sobbed the woman. She looked even more beautiful with the tears glistening on her cheeks. “I’ve only just arrived today. I don’t know who I am or how I got here!” The woman buried her head in Dylan’s chest and sobbed uncontrollably.

“There there, it’s okay.” Dylan continued to sooth the woman until her sobbing eased to a somewhat controlled whimpering. By this time, Picard had gotten into the act.

“Captain Hunt, appearances can be deceiving. Q has appeared to me on quite a number of occasions, wreaking mayhem wherever he goes. However, I must admit that on the times he has appeared to me, he has always looked like Q, despite any persona he has chosen to appear as. Still, we must proceed with caution. You never know what he might be capable of – and more than willing – to do. At one time, he thought it not out of the ordinary to appear in my bed. That was a dirty trick. Dirty, indeed!” Picard shuddered involuntarily at the memory of waking up, shirtless and vulnerable, only to have Q smiling back at him from the other side of the covers.

Dylan took Picard’s words to heart. After all, Dylan surmised, this Picard had more experience dealing with Q than anyone else in the bar – except for maybe Trance – and for some strange reason she was nowhere to be found. “Rhade, we are going to get to the bottom of this. However, you will never know the truth if you maim her first.” Rhade glared at Dylan, but Dylan’s eyes would not falter from boring into the Nietzschean. Finally, Rhade relaxed enough for Worf to ascertain he was ready to calm down. The Klingon released his grip and the both of them sat back down at their barstools, Rhade still glaring with hatred and disgust at the woman in red – who by this time had stopped crying, but was still holding on to Dylan, as if to cling for dear life.

Data and Doyle, both watching the scene with interest, decided that the group needed their superior expertise and knowledge in such matters. Data was the first to speak up.

“Captains…I believe Doyle and I have a way to determine if this woman is telling the truth.”

“Please tell us, then,” replied Dylan and Picard in unison.

Data motioned for the woman to approach. The lady in red hesitated; then looked up at Dylan who gave her a reassuring smile and nod. Slowly and with caution, the woman approached the golden skinned android, who gently took her by the hand.

“Speak, Miss…tell us who you are,” said Data gently. The woman looked over at Doyle, who nodded for her to proceed.

The woman stammered. “I…don’t remember…” Her voice trailed off.

“It’s okay,” said Doyle with reassurance. “Tell us the last thing you do remember.”

The lass thought for a moment, then continued. “I remember sitting at a terminal, reading data of some sort. Then there was a flash of bright light, and the next thing I know I’m in a cave, running for my life from some odd skinned creatures. Finally I came to a ladder, climbed up as fast as I could, came here and, well…you know the rest.”

“She’s lying!” cried Rhade.

“I will be the judge of that,” replied Data matter-of-factly. I can tell by her algorithms. “Processing….processing…processing. Captains – this woman is telling the truth.”

“WHAT??” Rhade had had enough. He leapt up and once again lunged toward the lady in red, who screamed in terror. But at the very instant Rhade would have torn into her milky white flesh, a flash of bright light appeared in between them, and another red figure appeared – this one identical in appearance to the object of Rhade’s rage. The Nietzschean stopped, paralyzed with confusion.

“Rhade, so we meet again!” exclaimed the second figure in red. “I’m afraid we didn’t finish our little meeting last time, and for that I am truly sorry. But I had some business to take care of. Ah, Jean-Luc, Riker, Data…and Worf! All of you together in one place! This is so exciting!”

Everyone stood in stunned silence at the scene unfolding before them…and it was a sight to see. Two identical females, each wearing identical clothing. The only difference between them was that one had a masculine voice, and the other had tear-stained cheeks. The tear stained woman, after blinking a few times, walked slowly to the side of the masculine red figure and studied him closely.

“Who are you? And why do you look like me?”

“I am Q, my darling. Don’t you remember? Or have you forgotten so soon?”

“I don’t remember anything.”

“Ah yes, I’m afraid I had to alter your memories in order to get you to play along in our little game. I am really sorry, but you were such a spoilsport. Are we having fun yet? Shall we continue, or would you rather submit to our original agreement?” Q turned and surveyed the crowd. “Aw, all of you look so depressed. That simply will not do. Come, milady…let’s play some more with these humanoids!” And with that, Q took hold of the woman’s arm and the both of them flashed from sight.

“What was that all about?” questioned Beka.

“I don’t know,” replied Dylan. “But we’re going to find out.”

“That woman…she was telling the truth. And I tried to kill her.” Rhade’s initial shock began to wear off into an expression of remorse…and something else he couldn’t quite place. He had never met this woman before, yet he felt drawn to her. She was so beautiful, so sweet and innocent, and so provocatively scrumptious to the eyes…and he had tried to kill her. Surely, if there were any doubt before, there wasn’t now…Dylan was definitely going to get this woman…that is, unless he played his cards just right.

“We must rescue her,” stated Rhade with determination. “Obviously, she is being held against her will by this maniac.”

Rhade didn’t know whether he could ever completely redeem himself with this vision of loveliness for his rude behavior. But one thing was for sure…he wasn’t going to give up trying until she was his, and his alone. ‘To the dogs with Dylan Hunt,’ thought Rhade. ‘You’re not going to take this one from me.’

Rescue her he would…but where should he begin?

Back to Fanfics