CHAPTER TEN

                "We're as ready as we'll ever be," O'Brien reported to his  commander.

                Sisko nodded, "Time?"

                "Twenty minutes till they bring their weapons to bear."

                "The Rio Grande?"

                The Chief Engineer checked his console. "Docking now."

                Sisko nodded, relieved, "Have Major Kira and Lt. Dax report to Ops immediately. And have the others transported to their respective Enterprises. They are going to be needed there."

                Moments later, Sisko's First Officer and Science Officer arrived. Their commander looked up at them intently. "What was it Major? What was down there?"

                Kira looked flabbergasted, "A wildman, Sir. His eyes were  intense. I haven't seen anything like that since the Cardassians occupied Bajor and saw their marksmen shooting our children in cold blood..."

                Sisko's brow ruffled in concern, "Dax, your report?"

                The Trill shrugged, "Definitely humanoid in appearance, but my tricorder registered nothing."

                O'Brien's eyed brightened. "A Q?"

                Dax shrugged again, "The possibility exists."

                Sisko shook his head, "It doesn't match his style. I think we're dealing with a creature who will do anything it pleases including annihilating whole cultures. That isn't Q."

                Odo spoke up, "Might I remind everyone that why we're speculating so freely, the Cardassians are getting closer."

                Jean-Luc Picard span his chair around 360 degrees. These people on this bridge defined Starfleet in their time. Their missions, their exploits were legendary. Through his readings and studying, Picard came to know these people and their accomplishments from a perspective even they would never understand. 'I know you better then you know yourselves,' he found himself thinking.

                So why did Jean-Luc feel so uncomfortable around them. Was it because he suddenly felt as if he was flying into battle with a boatload of children? Ridiculous, but the Captain of the Enterprise couldn't shake the irrationality. 'I'm the fish out of water here,' he thought.

                "Deep Space Nine rendezvous in six minutes," Lt. McGarity reported from the helm.

                Picard nodded.

                "Sensor report," Riker called.

                Chekov hovered over the rear science console. "Sensors indicate five Cardassion warships bearing down on the

station and the Enterprises. Their weapons are discharging."

                "Red alert," Riker intoned.

                "Full power to the shields and weapons," Picard ordered. He met Riker's eyes briefly. They were about to take the most renowned ship and crew in Starfleet into an impossible battle.

                Even if they were victorious, they had no home.

                "Time till Organia," Kirk asked.

                "Thirty minutes," Data and Spock replied simultaneously.

                "Keep your eyes peeled," Kirk said.

                Suddenly, an incoming communication announced itself on Mr. Worf's rear panel. "Captain Kirk," the Klingon said as he tapped some buttons on his board. He growled, "It is our opponent."

                Kirk slowly stood. "On screen."

                Q bounded out of the ready room as a transparent figure coalesced against the starfield on the main viewer.

                Kirk's memory swam with images of Apollo and 'Abraham Lincoln.' Ayelborne's presentation was similar to theirs many years ago.

                "This is Kirk."

                "DO NOT PROCEED, CAPTAIN."

                Q bounded toward the screen. "Getting scared, Organian? Are we touching nerves?"

                "Q!!" Kirk grabbed the entity's arm. "Worf, restrain him."

                "Aye, Sir," Worf replied with a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.

                "Don't you dare, Kirk, Klingon," Q barked. "This is personal." Then Q spun back toward the screen, venomously thundering at the screen. "Frightened of humans and machines. Why not finish your cowardly act, Ayelborne? Wipe us out of existence, too."

                Kirk stepped forward, leaving Q be. "Or raise the entertainment factor more, Ayelborne. If it's a game you want, a challenge, a battle, we'll give you one. But you have to play more fairly..."

                "...To get the full value, to relish in the conquest," Q continued.

                Kirk stepped past Q, almost nose to the viewer. "Up till now it's been so easy, Ayelborne, wave a magic wand and wipe away the challenge before it's begun. No guts, no glory, no victory, Ayelborne. Championship. You have no idea what it is, because you've raided the game. But you have a reprieve. A fair fight and all the rewards are yours, but you have to let us get our sword, before we enter the arena. And then its a fight you will never forget. I promise."

                The visage on the screen hardened and then exploded in a phantasm of lights and sounds, buffeting the Enterprise and throwing Kirk back...

                ... Into Q's arms. He smiled as the captain straightened. "The ultimate battle is about to begin, my ally. And the only thing we have to loose ... is everything, everywhere."

                Kirk glared at Q and then turned toward Spock and Picard's crew. "At least we get a chance to fight. Continue on course for Organia, best possible speed, Mr. Data."

                Q stepped toward the screen as the ship jumped into warp, "To boldly go where all men have died before..."

                "Captain's Personal Log. No Stardate. On final approach to Organia, with a starship and crew a generation beyond me. Never-the-less, Spock and I have been here before. The Organians insisted on a society without violence and war. Their peace treaty forged the way for what I now know to be an alliance between the Klingons and the Federation. In fact, it was Ayelborne of Organia who told Captain Kor and me that such a forging of powers was inevitable. Now, it seems Ayelborne has destroyed humanity. How can such a difference of personality occur? And if he is such an unstable entity, how am I going to restore humanity, next generation allies or not?

                "It is simply not there," Data said from the conn.

                "Recalibrate the sensors," Kirk ordered as he looked over the android's shoulder. "Spock, are these the correct

coordinates?"

                Captain Spock, at Science station one at the rear of the bridge, keyed the padd. The screens in front of him looked like a kaleidoscope. "Affirmative, Sir. Sensors indicate we are where we're supposed to be."

                Kirk grimaced. "Explanations," he said to no one in particular.

                Worf scowled, "The planet could have been destroyed, like Earth."

                "Unlikely," Data replied.

                "Indeed," Spock concurred. "A planet's destruction would leave some residual indications, even if it occurred millennia ago. There is no such evidence."

                'That's a relief,' Kirk thought. If the Organian's were destroyed...

                "There is another explanation," Q said, from his position next to Spock. He walked toward Kirk, "The bad guy could have stuffed it."

                Kirk turned, annoyed, "Come again?"

                Q laughed, "You humans. Stuffed it away. It's cut off from the rest of the universe, while the inhabitants don't know anything's wrong. It's like putting the whole planet inside one of those holodecks."

                Everyone on the bridge stared at the entity.

                Q spun around slowly so he could see everyone as he spoke, "The Q would do it all the time. If there was some cosmic event - actual or helped along- and we didn't want primitives to know about it, we would stuff them for a while until we were finished. They would have no clue there were fireworks going on in their galactic back yard because everything looked normal from the planet's surface, or orbit, or star system, whatever was necessary. We even practiced on starships at times." His smile grew very broad on that last remark.

                "Fascinating," Spock said.

                "Annoying is more like it," Kirk replied.

                "How often would you practice this stuffing, Q?," Troi asked.

                He shrugged, "Me? Hardly ever. If I take the time to set off fireworks, Counselor, I want everyone to enjoy the show."

                 Kirk returned his gaze to the viewscreen, stepping forward, "Is there any way to tell if Ayelborne has ... stuffed ... Organia?"

                Q put his palms up in front of him, "Not in my condition, and certainly not with this equipment."

                Kirk spun and faced the entity, "That's not the right answer, Q. I want you, Spock, and Data working on a way, immediately."

                Spock and Data were about to respond when Q put up his hand. "If it's that important -- which I guess it is -- I can give you a solution, but you're not gonna like it."

                Kirk put his hands on his sides, "And that is?"

                "Plow right into the center of the planet. If it's there, if it's not there, we'll know pretty quick."

                "We'll break into the pocket?"

                Q laughed, "Oh, yes."

                Worf's scowl deepened, "... and crash into the planet."

                "A side effect," Q snipped.

                Kirk turned toward the front again. "We don't have a lot of time to second guess. We need to know now. Mr. Data, set a course for coordinates: planet center. One quarter impulse power."

                "Faster," Q said.

                "Faster?," Troi gasped.

                "If we don't want to bounce off the pocket," Q replied.

                Kirk stared hard for a moment, "Full impulse power." He ordered, glancing at Q.

                Q nodded, "That ought to do it."

                And Enterprise-D leapt toward it's destiny.