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Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: Not mine blah blah blah no infringement intended.
Author's note: the TNG aspect of this story is set during the seventh season, not after the movies, for my own reasons. This is dedicated to Mandy, for all her support and encouragement, and Danielle:-), she'll get a kick out of this.
Echoes Of A Memory
part I
By Melody.
Interesting, he thought. Humans had always been a source of amusement to him, but these ones were better than most. Almost better than Picard and his crew, but not quite. The female was beautiful by Earth standards, and he found he had a grudging respect for the strength of her character. The male was bizarre, a mixture of childishness and intelligence, but in a good way. Indeed, this trip back to twentieth century Earth had been fruitful.
Q watched the standoff between the male and the female, with interest. The rebel from the Q Continuum had known exactly where to fiddle. Sure, it was all fun and games when Q messed with the humans, but it never did any permanent damage, and he certainly never messed with their past! This rebel had gone back and possibly altered the entire future of the human species! So Q was here to fix it. But he'd do it his way, and he'd sure as hell have some fun first!
Captain Picard of the starship Enterprise loved his job. Everyday when he got off duty he would go back to his quarters and reflect on the day that had passed, and he was never disappointed. His crew, the ship, space itself gave him endless pleasure, and if he had one regret it was not having commanded this ship sooner.
Now, as he stepped off the turbo-lift and onto the bridge, he felt that familiar swell of pride that had never faded during seven years of command. Marching down the ramp to his seat, he nodded greetings to his senior command. Worf, with his gruff respect and unfailing loyalty, Deanna, a serene smile gracing her features as she recognized his contentment. Riker, who would head this ship once Picard finally retired, whom as well as being second in command had become a good friend. And the back of Data's head, who was surely aware of Picard's presence but still hadn't figured out the idea of acknowledging a friend and Commander's arrival.
A wry smile flitted across Picard's features has he noted this, and Riker cocked his head with interest at his Captains sudden amusement.
"Report?" asked Picard as he took his seat, Riker and Troi taking the seats beside him.
"Smooth sailing, Cap'n. Not a Romulan in sight, apparently they've decided to stay their side of the neutral zone." Riker supplied, and shrugged at Picard's frown.
"So what of the distress call Starfleet received?"
"A ruse, I suppose. Upon finding nothing but empty space we contacted the Romulan home world, but they haven't heard anything either."
"But who would go to the trouble of something as elaborate as getting a Starfleet ship out here?" Picard asked rhetorically, confused. "Starfleet's damn hard to fool!"
For several seconds the crew pondered this question, but a bright flash soon settled the answer in most people's minds.
"Q." Picard spat angrily, but the man before him only smiled. "I should have known. To what do we owe this questionable pleasure Q?" Picard asked, rising to his feet and jerking his uniform tunic straight. Q smirked, mimicing the action with the identical uniform he wore, watching the fury glitter in Picard's eyes.
"Questionable indeed! Perhaps now I won't help you!" he huffed, and raised his fingers. Picard sighed resignedly.
"Help us how, and with what? I suppose you were the one to drag us out here?"
"But of course, Mon Capitan! And I won't be helping you personally, rather the human race! And I couldn't do it in front of Starfleet's prying eyes, thus the location!" Q cried delightedly, and Riker stepped forward.
"What exactly are you helping the human race with?" he asked, and Q smiled in triumph.
"See? I knew you'd want my help! Regarde!" and with a wave the view screen was filled with the frozen image of two people, clad in strange clothes, at a standoff.
"Who are they? The man looks familiar" stated Troi, moving forward to study their images better. Q sighed, he'd been hoping their identities would be obvious to the crew of the Enterprise, but apparently not.
"I guess you people don't know the history you pride yourselves on! The man is Jarod Russel, a genius unparallel to anything before or after him. The last of his kind, known as Pretenders, specifically bred for their abilities."
"I remember now!" exclaimed Troi, her face filled with excitement. "A corporation, called the middle or something, was breeding these Pretenders. The man, Jarod, later destroyed them, thus no more were created! We read about Pretenders in University!"
"Exactly, Mon Cherie!" Q exclaimed, pleased with her progress.
"So what does this have to do with us?" Picard asked, desperately hoping Q would get to the point, he was losing patience.
"All in good time, first you must have all the information. The woman is Melody Parker. In history as you know it, she grew up in the Centre with Jarod, left for boarding school and trained to be a lawyer, visiting him often. He escaped, destroyed the Centre, they got married and he went on to do research which later helped your Zefren Cochran to develop Warp speed. However, you humans don't have a lot of supporters in the Q Continuum. A rebel Q has been rallying to forgo the judgement made to keep humans alive, until recently when several crimes against the Continuum caused him to become an outcast. For revenge he went back to the twentieth century and altered the path of your history in a minor, but potentially significant way. Instead of getting married, Melody Parker and Jarod Russel are enemies. She now works at the corporation which created him, the Centre, and is the one responsible for returning him.
As you know, time happens in loops. Thus, the situation has not yet affected your time now, its still playing out in the past. None of us in the Continuum are entirely sure of the consequences, but the general consensus is that, living this nomadic lifestyle, Jarod will never settle down enough to complete his research. Which means that history as you know it will be completely altered, and you will still be the barbarians you once were, having never had the advantage of learning to cooperate with other species." Q finished, and for a moment the whole of the bridge was silent.
"So what are you going to do?" Picard asked finally, and Q grinned evilly.
"The question, rather, is what are you going to do?"
Feedback please! haunted_melody@yahoo.com
Author's note: the TNG aspect of this story is set during the seventh season, not after the movies, for my own reasons. This is dedicated to Mandy, for all her support and encouragement, and Danielle:-), she'll get a kick out of this.
Echoes Of A Memory
part I
By Melody.
Interesting, he thought. Humans had always been a source of amusement to him, but these ones were better than most. Almost better than Picard and his crew, but not quite. The female was beautiful by Earth standards, and he found he had a grudging respect for the strength of her character. The male was bizarre, a mixture of childishness and intelligence, but in a good way. Indeed, this trip back to twentieth century Earth had been fruitful.
Q watched the standoff between the male and the female, with interest. The rebel from the Q Continuum had known exactly where to fiddle. Sure, it was all fun and games when Q messed with the humans, but it never did any permanent damage, and he certainly never messed with their past! This rebel had gone back and possibly altered the entire future of the human species! So Q was here to fix it. But he'd do it his way, and he'd sure as hell have some fun first!
Captain Picard of the starship Enterprise loved his job. Everyday when he got off duty he would go back to his quarters and reflect on the day that had passed, and he was never disappointed. His crew, the ship, space itself gave him endless pleasure, and if he had one regret it was not having commanded this ship sooner.
Now, as he stepped off the turbo-lift and onto the bridge, he felt that familiar swell of pride that had never faded during seven years of command. Marching down the ramp to his seat, he nodded greetings to his senior command. Worf, with his gruff respect and unfailing loyalty, Deanna, a serene smile gracing her features as she recognized his contentment. Riker, who would head this ship once Picard finally retired, whom as well as being second in command had become a good friend. And the back of Data's head, who was surely aware of Picard's presence but still hadn't figured out the idea of acknowledging a friend and Commander's arrival.
A wry smile flitted across Picard's features has he noted this, and Riker cocked his head with interest at his Captains sudden amusement.
"Report?" asked Picard as he took his seat, Riker and Troi taking the seats beside him.
"Smooth sailing, Cap'n. Not a Romulan in sight, apparently they've decided to stay their side of the neutral zone." Riker supplied, and shrugged at Picard's frown.
"So what of the distress call Starfleet received?"
"A ruse, I suppose. Upon finding nothing but empty space we contacted the Romulan home world, but they haven't heard anything either."
"But who would go to the trouble of something as elaborate as getting a Starfleet ship out here?" Picard asked rhetorically, confused. "Starfleet's damn hard to fool!"
For several seconds the crew pondered this question, but a bright flash soon settled the answer in most people's minds.
"Q." Picard spat angrily, but the man before him only smiled. "I should have known. To what do we owe this questionable pleasure Q?" Picard asked, rising to his feet and jerking his uniform tunic straight. Q smirked, mimicing the action with the identical uniform he wore, watching the fury glitter in Picard's eyes.
"Questionable indeed! Perhaps now I won't help you!" he huffed, and raised his fingers. Picard sighed resignedly.
"Help us how, and with what? I suppose you were the one to drag us out here?"
"But of course, Mon Capitan! And I won't be helping you personally, rather the human race! And I couldn't do it in front of Starfleet's prying eyes, thus the location!" Q cried delightedly, and Riker stepped forward.
"What exactly are you helping the human race with?" he asked, and Q smiled in triumph.
"See? I knew you'd want my help! Regarde!" and with a wave the view screen was filled with the frozen image of two people, clad in strange clothes, at a standoff.
"Who are they? The man looks familiar" stated Troi, moving forward to study their images better. Q sighed, he'd been hoping their identities would be obvious to the crew of the Enterprise, but apparently not.
"I guess you people don't know the history you pride yourselves on! The man is Jarod Russel, a genius unparallel to anything before or after him. The last of his kind, known as Pretenders, specifically bred for their abilities."
"I remember now!" exclaimed Troi, her face filled with excitement. "A corporation, called the middle or something, was breeding these Pretenders. The man, Jarod, later destroyed them, thus no more were created! We read about Pretenders in University!"
"Exactly, Mon Cherie!" Q exclaimed, pleased with her progress.
"So what does this have to do with us?" Picard asked, desperately hoping Q would get to the point, he was losing patience.
"All in good time, first you must have all the information. The woman is Melody Parker. In history as you know it, she grew up in the Centre with Jarod, left for boarding school and trained to be a lawyer, visiting him often. He escaped, destroyed the Centre, they got married and he went on to do research which later helped your Zefren Cochran to develop Warp speed. However, you humans don't have a lot of supporters in the Q Continuum. A rebel Q has been rallying to forgo the judgement made to keep humans alive, until recently when several crimes against the Continuum caused him to become an outcast. For revenge he went back to the twentieth century and altered the path of your history in a minor, but potentially significant way. Instead of getting married, Melody Parker and Jarod Russel are enemies. She now works at the corporation which created him, the Centre, and is the one responsible for returning him.
As you know, time happens in loops. Thus, the situation has not yet affected your time now, its still playing out in the past. None of us in the Continuum are entirely sure of the consequences, but the general consensus is that, living this nomadic lifestyle, Jarod will never settle down enough to complete his research. Which means that history as you know it will be completely altered, and you will still be the barbarians you once were, having never had the advantage of learning to cooperate with other species." Q finished, and for a moment the whole of the bridge was silent.
"So what are you going to do?" Picard asked finally, and Q grinned evilly.
"The question, rather, is what are you going to do?"
Feedback please! haunted_melody@yahoo.com
