Before she knew what was happening, the figure in red had grabbed her arm. Instantly and without warning, the scene in front of her dissolved; including the visage of one bewildered man - the one they called Rhade, the man who had initially tried to mangle her. Dizzy and disoriented, now she found herself in an open field, alone again, except for a male figure standing in front of her, who was smiling down at her with an air of superiority and arrogance.

“Ah, that’s better! Don’t get me wrong, my dear…you’re simply gorgeous…but I would much rather appear as my handsome masculine self.”

“Who are you, anyway?”

“Well, isn’t that something!” replied Q with mock hurt. “That really hurts, my sweets. You keep asking me that question, and over and over again I keep reminding you! I’m Q! If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were actually trying to forget me!”

“What is going on here?” the woman demanded.

“Why, we’re playing a game, my love!”

“I don’t find this game amusing…and I am NOT your love!”

“And how do you know you’re not my love? Or my plaything? Or even my pet? After all, you can’t seem to retain any sort of memory, can you? Really, the human mind is so simply pathetic. Really, I don’t know why I bother with you!”

“Then why don’t you just leave me be?” cried the woman in fear and utter frustration.

“Oh, but aren’t we having so much fun? I mean, really…you humans definitely need to develop your sense of humor!”

There was a sinister twinkle in the man’s eyes that infuriated yet terrified her. ‘If I’m going to get out of this alive, perhaps I had better play along,’ thought the woman.

“Okay Q…what’s the game, and what are the rules?”

“The game is whatever I choose it to be, and the rules…well, there aren’t any.”

“Then how do you expect me to play this game, Q?”

“Why, it’s simple my dear. Haven’t you ever played chess?”

“Yes.” At least she remembered that much about herself and her past.

“Well then. You know those things on the board, oh, what do you call them – pawns?”

“Yes.” How annoyingly patronizing this man was. The woman’s fists began to clench, eager to strike out and strangle his life away. However, she knew it was pointless. After all, had she the strength to kill him, he would probably disappear before she could get her hands around his slimy throat. As much as she hated this Q, more than that she hated the thought of being alone in this strange place, not knowing where or even who she was.

“That’s you…a pawn. Well actually, you’re the queen of this game. But as far as I’m concerned, all the pieces on the board are pawns, to be trifled with according to my whim and purpose.”

“And what IS the purpose of all this, Q?”

“Oh, I’m glad you asked that question! The purpose of this little game is to determine who becomes your king!”

“HUH?” This was getting weirder and weirder by the moment.

“Then again, if you amuse me enough, I might just pull you off this chessboard of mine and make you a player like myself…a manipulator of pawns, rather than a participant.”

“You mean, like you?” asked the woman.

“Of course! Now, wouldn’t that be an honor?”

“I would rather die than play with men’s lives like you do.”

“Is that your final answer?” asked Q with a sort of fake sadness.

“Yes.”

Suddenly, Q’s visage changed. His mischievous smile faded, and his face became dark, sinister, and terrifying.

“Very well, then,” answered Q. “Let the game begin.”

Suddenly and without warning, the thing she had dreaded most happened. In an instant, Q was gone and the woman in red found herself standing alone in this beautiful yet desolate place. Frightened, she looked around for some sort of shelter or refuge. Finding none within eyeshot, she made up her mind that the best course of action was just to begin walking. The sun was shining, the grass was green, and the birds were singing sweetly in the trees. Maybe she was indeed back home, or maybe this was all just a dream – she didn’t know. But one thing was for sure – she couldn’t stay here - not out in the open like this. Despite the utter peacefulness and serenity of her surroundings, something just didn’t feel right. Her instincts told her that danger was on its way – and this time, there would be no escape.

As the woman began her trek, suddenly she heard hoofbeats approaching from a distance. Gradually they became louder and louder, and the ground began to rumble and shake underneath her feet.

‘This cannot be good,’ thought the woman as she stood there, frozen, wondering which way to turn.

“Dylan, we’re wasting time!” shouted Rhade.

“And where exactly should we begin looking, Rhade?” uttered Dylan in complete frustration at the antsy Nietzschean.

Picard spoke up. “Relax, gentlemen. If we stay here long enough, Q will make himself known.”

“So you intend to do nothing?!” snarled Rhade.

“Mr. Rhade, I understand your frustration – believe me, I do. But I know Q far better than any of you. It is because of him that my ship and crew is stuck here. I have been a part of his little games before, and I smell another one. I think he is planning something really big this time – bigger than anything we have ever experienced.”

Worf’s eyes narrowed at the memory of one of Q’s previous games.

“Captain,” Worf replied with a low foreboding voice. “I hope he is not going to do that Sherwood Forest thing again. I must protest – I am NOT a merry man!” Worf cringed and shifted uncomfortably when he thought of how Q had manipulated he and his crew to play that insane game of his, even forcing them to wear costumes – in his case, a very unmasculine bright red outfit, including some very tight and revealing red leggings. He was told that he was the persona of some ancient earth legend, a character named Will Scarlet – whoever that was. Silly earth tales – not one batleth. And who ever heard of warriors running around in bright outfits and tights, anyway? The only bright spot in that miserable game was when he got to smash that mandolin of Geordi LaForge’s.

“Sherwood Forest?” Beka responded with amused interest.

“Never mind, Ms. Valentine,” answered Picard. The last thing Jean-Luc needed was to be reminded of that incident.

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” cried Rhade.

“We all agree about that, Rhade,” answered Dylan with a certain amount of annoyance.

Dylan Hunt was becoming more than a bit suspicious at the Nietzschean’s enthusiasm to risk everything to save a woman that, just a few minutes prior, he was bent on tearing limb from limb. ‘What is Rhade up to? He has plenty of women here on Seefra. Then again, none are as beautiful as that lady in red was. Surely, he wants her for himself. I think not, Rhade. This one’s mine,’ mused Dylan. He was determined. ‘To the dogs with you, Rhade,’ thought Dylan. ‘You’re not going to take this one from me.’

As Dylan pondered these thoughts, suddenly there was a flash of light, and the persona of Q appeared in front of them – looking like Uncle Sid this time, and not the woman in red.

“Oh, this is wonderful…all of you together. Are you ready to play the game?”

“AAAAGH! I’ll kill you!” Rhade lunged at Q, but was frozen in his tracks as Q lifted up his right hand.

“Ah ah ah, my little Nietzschean friend”, warned Q.

Instantly, Rhade’s feet were stuck to the ground by some unseen force. It was as if the gravitational pull of the planet itself had gone haywire, and he was unable to lift his feet. While he stood there, staggering to maintain his balance, he shouted every curse word he could think of at Q - including some he had never heard before, yet was sure they had been used by someone, somewhere, and at some time or another.

“I think you’ll be first in my little game. You have just way too much pent up energy to be sitting all cooped up in this miserable dump. It’s time I let my little Nietzschean pet out for a little exercise to stimulate his body and brain.”

Q’s left hand came up, and immediately there was a flash of white light as Rhade disappeared, seemingly and apparently into thin air.

Dylan was incensed. “Okay Q, these petty games are over! What have you done with my officer!? And I warn you…omnipotent or no, I am a Paradine!”

“Oh Paradine Dylan, don’t be so hasty and impatient! Don’t worry…you won’t be left out. Indeed, none of you will! My precious mon Capitans, the games are not over…they are only just beginning! Oh, this is so delightful! It’s the most fun I’ve had in ages!”

Q again lifted his left hand, and in another instantaneous white flash of light, Dylan, Picard, Worf, Data, Doyle, Riker, and Beka all disappeared from the bar. For a brief moment, Q stood there, gloating with a sinister smile…then another flash of light, and he was gone as well. The few local patrons that had remained in the bar stood and sat there in silence, stunned by the recent turn of events taking place. A moment later, there was another bright flash of light, and they all disappeared as well. A couple of minutes later, their chat finished for the evening, Harper and Trance appeared out of the back room, only to find the bar completely empty of its occupants.

“Hey, where’d everybody go?” wondered Harper.

“I don’t know,” answered Trance. “But I have a bad feeling about all of this.”

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