CHAPTER TWELVE

                Quark looked at the blood on his hands.

                "Just keep at it, Quark," Dr. Julian Bashir cried out from across the Promenade. Quark glanced at him. The young doctor was covered with the blood of the wounded personnel and civilians splayed across the deck. "Apply pressure. Stop the bleeding. I need your help while everyone else is in ops."

                "It's not that," Quark looked down, through misting eyes, and placed his hand back on his patient's bleeding chest. "Just hold on. You will be okay."

                "Thanks, Quark," Jake Sisko said weakly as he lost consciousness.

                Benjamin Sisko watched the disrupter blast tear into Christopher Pike's Enterprise. "Maintain shield integrity around 1701!"

                "We can't expend the energy," O'Brien called out.

                "We're barely shielding the station," Kira said.

                "Damn," Sisko muttered under his breath as his peripheral vision registered another blast strike DS9. He braced himself for the buffeting. He knew the battle wouldn't last much longer. Not much at all. Images of Jennifer and Jake flooded his mind as he gave the order to fire one of the last of DS9's photon torpedoes.

                "Station Deep Space Nine can no longer protect us," Spock raised his voice above the sounds of crashing circuitry and exploding consoles.

                Christopher Pike assessed the situation and thought about the actions of Enterprise-B. "Number One, theoretical analysis. What would be the results of a space warp-powered collision with one of our Cardassian friends out there?"

                Number One turned to her Captain, "Just what you would expect, Sir. However, I do not recommend such actions."

                Pike shrugged, "I don't know, Number One. I once read somewhere about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few."

                "Charles Dickens," Spock said.

                "Yes, Mr. Spock. A prolific man," Pike nodded. "Prepare parameters for a space warp drive collision sequence, Number One. I want all options open."

                She turned to her board, "Yes, Sir." So much for commanding a starship, she thought. Then chastised herself, she wasn't -- they weren't  -- dead yet.

                Castillo held on for dear life. Bridge duty was more challenging than he imagined. Suddenly, the Conn panel erupted into flame. Ensign Johannson was flung to the deck. Castillo turned to her.

                "Maintain your post," Garrett ordered above the din. "Engineering, emergency bypass: Conn control to aft bridge stations. Medical: Dr. Cochrane to the bridge. Hold on people. Phasers..."

                "Emergency full, on your order, Captain."  Castillo reported, ignoring the unmoving body of Johannson.

                "I'm sending a nurse up, I can't leave with all the casualties, Captain."  Cochrane's message registered in the Captain's mind as she concentrated on the flickering viewscreen.

                There they were ...point-blank.

                "Fire, Castillo!"

                The starship let loose. The Cardassian took the full force of the third generation's phasers. And exploded.

--             Engulfing Enterprise -C in a plasma explosion.

                The ancient doors mysteriously swung open to reveal the chamber of the Organian Council of Elders. Sitting behind the table were a group of ancient men, all with far away looks on their faces. Ayelborne took his place seated at the center, facing Kirk and the away team.

                Q took a step forward, "What! These ... sheepish old men, with their corny smiles, are going to help us?"

                Kirk stepped past him, "Others once made the mistake you are making now, Q."

                Worf nodded, "Indeed. My people's history tells us they are not to be underestimated."

                Ayelborne spoke: "You, Kirk, and a Klingon working together."

                Kirk nodded, "It seems you were correct all those years ago. But we have more pressing matters."

                Another council member spoke, "It has been 90 cycles, yet the visitor looks so young. I did not think humans were

so long-lived. How are we mistaken?"

                Ayelborne reached and touched the man's arm. "Not to worry, Trefayne. Captain Kirk indicates Organia is enveloped in a temporal pocket. Indeed, his youthfulness tells us something is very wrong."

                Trefayne looked puzzled, "A pocket, impossible."

                "The evidence indicates he is correct, my friend," Ayelborne said. "What can you sense?"

                The older-looking man concentrated.

                Dr. Crusher touched Troi's shoulder, "Deanna, can you sense anything?"

                Troi shrugged, "I know this sounds a bit cliché, but I sense power beyond anything I've ever encountered."

                "Ohhhh..." Trefayne moaned and slumped over. Crusher jogged around the table, Med-kit in hand.

                Q laughed, "Give it up, Doctor. Your inept ministrations can barely help humans, let alone entities."

                Kirk shot him a glance.

                "What?!,"  Q said.

                Ayelborne put his hand on Trefayne's temple, reminding Kirk of a Vulcan mind meld. Trefayne stirred and sat up. "Incredible," he said.

                "Please explain, my friend," Ayelborne prompted.

                "The universe seems correct, then I peered beyond and saw nothing is as it should be. Most distressing," Trefayne shook his head sadly.

                Ayelborne and the elders sat up in astonishment.

                Q laughed, "You boys have been duped. Tell me, how does it feel to join our club?"

                Spock stepped past him, "Gentlemen, what can we do now to correct this problem? It seems someone or something is impersonating Ayelborne and is responsible for annihilating Earth and paralyzing the Q Continuum, altering the dynamics of the universe."

                The leader of the Elders nodded. "It is obvious now what you say is true. We must take action."

                Trefayne shook his head, "If we act too rashly he will know. We will give up our advantage."

                "Surely," another Elder spoke, "The fact the humans have penetrated the pocket has alerted Ayelborne."

                Kirk's brow furrowed, "Ayelborne?"

                The leader stood up and pointed at Q, "You penetrated the pocket with the starship. You are not human."

                "Thank goodness," Q said.

                Ayelborne stepped around the table, toward Q, "You are an energy being, like ourselves. We can merge with you. Then Ayelborne will be caught off guard, thinking we did not leave the pocket."

                "You know that will not be enough," Trefayne said.

                "It is a start."

                "If he can create a pocket, then so can we," Trefayne said.

                Kirk nodded, annoyed that he was not more involved in the decisions occurring around him, "A cloak."

                Spock raised an eyebrow, "Indeed, if we can find a way to cloak the Enterprise, it would perhaps give us an advantage."

                Q coughed, "You have got to be kidding. A cloaking device will be useless against someone of such abilities. After all, I can see right through them."

                "Q is correct. A standard mechanical device would be useless. However a temporal cloak would fool Ayelborne the same way it has fooled us," Ayelborne said.

                "Excuse me," Dr. Crusher interrupted. "Aren't you Ayelborne? To whom are you referring?"

                "Perhaps an explanation is in order. I am Ayelborne. One time, many cycles ago, we were like you. However, as we evolved, we were able to separate the violent part of ourselves, just as you are able to repress your own violent tendencies."

                "And this Ayelborne is your violent self?," Troi asked.

                Trefayne sighed, "We were able to separate and extinguish the worst part of ourselves. My friend, Ayelborne, however, was hesitant."

                Ayelborne nodded, "I concluded that extinguishing a part of myself was in itself a violent act. So I refused. Instead I, for lack of a better term, locked it away."

                "Locked?," Kirk asked. "Where?"

                "First, inside my self. However, as we evolved and became more powerful, I thought about banishing it.  It was becoming too dangerous.  So, I did, making sure it would be powerless, but free."

                "Something went wrong," Q said.

                Ayelborne nodded, "Apparently my violent half was able to rebuild it's powers after all these millennia."

                "So, because you were weak we are all now paying the price," Q said.

                "Enough, Q," Kirk scolded. "Ayelborne, your violent half is only as powerful as one Organian, correct."

                "However, he has altered the universe into his image, which gives him an advantage."

                "How much of an advantage?," Worf asked.

                Ayelborne shrugged, "We should be able to equalize things by using Q's body."

                Q stepped back, "Now wait one moment, I don't know if I can approve of this."

                Dr. Crusher put her hand on Q's shoulder, "Frightened, Q?"

                The entity frowned, "I thought the Betazoid was the shrink, Bev."

                Troi nodded, "I would say terrified ... Bev."

                "I had him marked as a coward since Farpoint," Worf snarled.

                "And we didn't know him before that," Crusher said.

                "Once a coward...," Worf began.

                "Okay!," Q bellowed, turning to the Organians, "Do what you must ..." Then he spun menacingly toward the Enterprise-D crew, "As for you, I will someday have my powers back..."

                Suddenly, the chamber was filled with bright light and a chilling noise. The Starfleet officers covered their ears and squinted.

                Then, Q collapsed into a fetal position ... eyes glazed over, face frozen in shock.