To The Qth Power

Suddenly there was a flash of light. It was Q.

"Intruder alert." Mister Chow yelled grabbing for his phaser. Q simply reacted by waving her hand and Chow disappeared.

"I told you I would be back." Q said her once playful voice was now replaced by anger.

"Q ! What do you want now ?" Devore asked angrily standing up.

"Now my dear Captain. All you had to do was give me some time out of your minute, insignificant life and I would have given you the galaxy."

"I know Q and I said that I wasn't interested."

"Interested in the gift I was willing to bestow upon you."

"Not interested."

The turbolift doors opened and Major Phanan and Commander Soliel piled on the Bridge followed by some security officers. Their phasers raised and aimed at Q.

"Stand down !" Devore yelled trying to de-escalate an all ready tense moment.

"But you cared only for this.. this.." Q glanced around the Bridge and shrugged. "This bucket of bolts."

"My ship.. yes !"

Q snapped her fingers and suddenly Sierra was on the Bridge. "And this woman ?"

"Marc, What is going on ?" Sierra asked as she regained her senses. "Who is she ?"

"I will explain later." Devore said as he approached his wife. "Now look here Q ! I don't understand what you want and what you are doing here, but if you don't have anything to say then leave."

"Leave ! You are telling me... the omnipotent, ever powerful Q what to do !"

"Yes !"

Q put her fingers together but didn't snap. "Did you know that I can reverse your evolution right now and make you a pile of goo.. you know the primordial 'stew', you came from ?" She snapped her fingers and Brayden who sat innocently at the helm was reduced to slime covering the chair.

"No !" Sierra yelled as she ran to the helm and dropped to her knees.

"Q ! Bring him back ! He didn't do anything to you." The Captain yelled as he ran up to her and grabbed her by the lapels.

"Touchy touchy !" Q said as she snapped her fingers. Instantly Brayden returned to the arms of his mother who engulfed him. Q reached up and pried Devore's hands from her. "I wish that you could touch me passionately."

"I would touch you if my life depended on it."

"You think ?" Q said with a devilish smile. "You are telling me that if everything you ever loved and cared for was gone and I was the only being that could bring it back for you, you wouldn't dare ask me."

"You're full of it !"

"We shall see. Let me ask you this Captain. You think that the Borg were the most deadliest adversaries you have ever faced."

Devore just looked at her. "So what are you saying ?"

"The galaxy is full of beings so evil, so bent on destruction that they make the Borg look like pansies. You like to think that since you have bested the Borg so many times that you can handle anyone well.. You haven't seen anything yet."

"Q, you're talking in riddles."

"I have reason to believe that you will come crawling to me, not now, but eventually, when all you love and care for are gone. And you know something I will love to see you grovel and plead to my benevolent ear..."

"Q you're many things but 'benevolent' isn't one of them."

"We will see."

"Have fun !"

Q snapped her fingers and a massive white light engulfed the Bridge. In an instant the the light was gone, Q was gone and on the viewscreen were new star systems, planets and even a new sun. Devore sat down at his chair followed by Commander Soliel who took his chair to the captain's right. Phanan looked around and stood just behind the Captain at security. The Ops station was now vacant with the untimely demise of Mister Chow. "Commander Devore take Ops till we can get Mac up here," Soliel ordered

Sierra gave Brayden a quick hug and took her post at Ops.

"Okay everyone. Give me a bearing, location something. I would like to know where we are." Devore ordered. "Old man. Put us at yellow alert until we can find out where we are and what is going on."

"Aye sir."

"Captain...." Phanan interrupted. ".....we are being hailed. It is the Ronin."

"The Ronin ? Very well on screen."

[Captain Devore...] Began Captain Ryan. [....what happened ? We were making repairs and all of a sudden ended up here. Um I am sorry sir, but where is 'here' ?]

"Captain. I am not sure myself. Why don't you and your senior staff come aboard and we will try to figure out what is going on ?"

[Understood Captain, but the Ronin is quite a wreck. We need to get repair teams on her right away.]

"Very well. I have a few people here that may be able to help. Why don't you see about docking to our aft section and we will initiate repairs, while we try to find out what is going on."

[That will be fine sir. I will see you in about thirty minutes. Ryan out.]

Just as the comm ended, Lieutenant MacLeod came on to the Bridge and approached his station. Sierra looked up and smiled as she got up from the station and relinquished it to him.

"Mac. I need some information and I need it fast." Devore said.

"Working."

"Captain," Commander Barker said from sciences. "I am running the figures again but I don't think that you are going to like it."

"Like what Mister Barker !"

"We are no longer in our own galaxy."

"Say again !"

"We are no lon....."

The Captain interrupted. "We are not in our galaxy at all ?"

"No sir. As far as I can tell, we are in the Andromenda Cirrius Galaxy."

"Where is that ?"

"The neighbouring galaxy sir."

"I want all information on this Commander Barker. Brayden set a course for the nearest M class planet."

"There is a planet about a parsec away, Captain."

"Set a course full impulse."

"Aye sir."

"I want all senior officers in the conference room including the Ronin's"

"Acknowledged."

In the conference room where the room seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the officers of the combined ships sat in whatever chairs were available. Of course Captain Devore and Commander Soliel had their chairs at the head of the table, around it were different officers, some of which were unfamiliar. Commander Barker sat in his chair with the PADDs of information he was able to draw up. Captain Ryan sat near the front near Devore. Commander Rashad stood at the end of the table against the wall. She allowed the other officers to have a seat.

Some of the other officers in the conference room were Major Phanan, Commander Devore, Ambassador Mual and her operation advisor Junora Loris, and Mac. Ensign Gordon had taken over at Ops during this meeting. Right now there was no chief of security since the untimely demise of Lieutenant Savage, so Phanan was acting chief until one could be determined.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. All right I am not going to beat around the bush and blow sunshine up your butts." Devore began. He had a flair with dramatics but not now. There was a sense of urgency and he needed to get answers fast. "I have just one word to explain what happened and why... Q."

The room was filled with murmuring.

"Captain ?" Began Ryan. "So Q put us here. But why the Ronin ?"

"I don't know Captain. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Okay, so we know who and what happened but now where."

"Mister Barker." Devore said giving the floor to Chu.

"As far as we can determine we are no longer in our own galaxy. We are in the Andromenda Cirrius Galaxy which is the neighbouring galaxy."

"What does this mean ?" Some one asked.

"We're stuck here." Another yelled.

"Captain." An unfamiliar officer interrupted. He may have been assigned to the Ronin. "Isn't the Leviathan equipped with a slipstream drive."

"Lieutenant Shaka."

"At full slipstream we could be back in Federation space in about five years." Lieutenant Shaka answered. "However, the adjustments are precise for the Leviathan itself. We wouldn't be able to sustain a stable slipstream field with the combined ships. So at maximum warp, it will take the Ronin a minimum of a hundred and seventy five years."

"Hold on everyone. We are jumping the gun. I think we need to first find out where exactly we are. Then we can initialise a plan." Devore said calmly.

"Well I think that we should get the Ronin up and running again." Ryan said.

"That is fine. Lieutenant Taline and an engineering team should be able to facilitate your repairs." Devore said.

[Captain.] Brayden said through the combadge. [We are approaching the planet.]

"Very good Brayden. Establish standard orbit." Devore ordered.

[Sir. Also I don't understand, but when we approached the planet, it came up with a designation.]

The room fell silent. "It did ?"

[Aye sir. Moria]

Rashad's eyes widened. She couldn't believe her ears. Her many years in Starfleet Intelligence and as a hacker uncovered millions of teraquads of data all believed to be useless. However, now, one piece of information she remembered came to the surface. "Captain..."

"Yes Commander." Devore said.

"I need to have a word with you in private."

"Very well. Commander Barker, continue gather information on this sector and of Moria, I want a report by 08:00. Commander Soliel and Mac. Let's get some readings on the planet. We may need to send an away team so Major Phanan prep your Marines. Engineering teams get to work on the Ronin. Dismissed." Devore said.

The room slowly dispersed and all that was left was Captain Devore, Captain Ryan and Rashad.

"Captain. You alone sir."

Ryan reluctantly left.

"Okay T'Kul. Go ahead what does it have to do with ?"

"Moria and this sector."

"You know about this sector ?" Devore said puzzled

"Yes sir. I had no idea we were here."

"We need Ryan here. I think that Captain Ryan needs to hear what you might have to say."

"Fine sir."

Devore tapped his combadge. "Captain Ryan please return to the conference room."

A minute later, Ryan came through the door. "Damn Marc, I didn't get that far." He said with a smile.

"I think that you may want to hear this. Whenever Intel has anything to say about something I have made it a habit to listen especially when it comes from Commander Rashad."

"Okay."

"Captain's please understand, I had no idea about this until Cadet Brayden said Moria." Rashad said.

"Okay. Go ahead."

Rashad began at the beginning.

........In 2098 there was a planet called Galgadon Corea, a humanoid planet in the Alpha Quadrant. In 2230 the planet was destroyed by a massive asteroid that obliterated the entire system. However until this time the Coreans created a very powerful organisation called the United Power League (UPL), overthrew the planet fledging provincial government. Its society was based on trade with the outer planets and even some with a post warp era Earth. But the people were infantile and crooked creating a need for the UPL. The UPL had become the ultimate incarnation of the vision for a unified society. So this new order encompassed and controlled over 93% of the Corean population and ruled with a stern fist. The UPL was founded upon the basis of enlightened socialism, but often resorted to harsh , fascist police actions to maintain the public order. For over eighty ears, the UPL began to devise rigid agenda that would unify the various cultures. Till this time their society was diverse and refuse to "melt' into one. So the UPL took greater lengths to eradicate the last vestiges of racial separatism by instituting an ethnic cleansing.

However the UPL, upheld an almost zealous belief of the purity of species. This dogma called for the immediate eradication of any non-vital prosthetic or mutations amongst the pure gene pool. It was argued that genetic alterations, cyber technology, and the use of psychoactive drugs all led to the eventual degeneration of their species. So the UPL then devised a plan to round up these people with said 'enhancements' under the Project Purification. This genocide crusade was the UPLs final solution to the matter of cleansing their society of its degenerate facets.

In a matter of years the UPL troops rounded up everyone who did not conform, dissidents, hackers, synthetics, the cybernetically enhanced, tech-pirates, and criminals of every kind and systematically executed millions. Eventually those that survived the genocide were forced into exile and with the help of some people in high facets of the UPL took to the empty, unknown. In 2159, They were moved via large supercarriers to the outlying planets. By 2171 the remaining ethnically unpure were en route to Gantris VI.....

"Okay Commander, Where does this all fit in with Moria ?" Devore asked.

"The Vixen was conducting sensor surveys on the outlying planets when it uncovered a data pod from the Argo, one of the supercarriers. It contained detailed information about the Corians and what happened to them."

"So what did happen to them ?"

"They had never made it to Gantris VI. Obviously, we have colonies and a science station now on the Gantris Prime. But these refugees went beyond our galaxy and settled on what they called Moria."

"Let me guess, " Devore interrupted. "Since Starfleet Intelligence got their hands on this data pod, they went ahead and designated some planets out here.. This being Moria."

"Yes sir. But sir, not only does Starfleet Intelligence have a stake out here...." Began Rashad.

"Great.. Section 31."

"Exactly."

"Why ?"

"Not because of these people, but because of what is out here,"

"What is out here ?" Ryan asked.

"Yes sir."

Suddenly the red alert klaxons came on and the ship rocked from some kind of hit. It was unlike any phaser blast. [Captain to the Bridge]

"On my way." Devore said tapping his combadge. "T'Kul. You are going to have to finish this story later."

"Understood sir."

Devore and Ryan ran to the Bridge followed by the Intel officer. As they got on to the Bridge, Commander Soliel immediately reported in anticipation, "Captain. We were conducting survey scans of the surface as instructed when this thing came and began to attack us."

"On screen."

The creature on the screen was large. It was about seventy-five meters across and about twelve meters high. It was covered in spiked, rock hard caprices and a tail similar to that of a modern day scorpion. Its eyes, which were on both sides of of his head, glowed orange with intensity.

"Can we speak to it ?"

"Getting no understandable response from it."

"Try all channels."

The creature opened its mouth a gaseous cloud was propelled. It hit the Leviathan and shook her.

"Shields down to 74%. Request to return fire." Phanan yelled.

"No Major. Not yet. Let's try to communicate with it first." Devore said rubbing his chin.

"Still no response." Phanan yelled perturbed.

"Captain, I am getting multiple targets bearing 002 mark 19. They are coming from the planet surface." Mac said.

"Captain. They match the configuration of that in front of us."

"ETA ?"

"Two minutes."

Two minutes !" Devore yelled. "Scan for a nebula or something ?"

"Nothing."

"Set a course away from here."

"176 mark 0 sir." Brayden said.

"Engage."

The Leviathan spun and began to head out of the area, but the massive creature was in pursuit. It fired its gas again.

"Captain direct hit, shields down to 54%" Phanan yelled.

"Arm quantum torpedo. Fire on my command."

"Aye sir."

"Sir the creature is firing again."

"Evasive manoeuvres, Mister McCaffee." The ship banked causing the cloud to overshoot. "Fire Jon."

The torpedo launched out of its aft tube and struck the creature dead centre. It exploded sending 'debris' all around.

"What is the status of the other creatures ?' Devore asked.

"They are not in pursuit."

"Stand down from red alert. Keep full sensor sweep. I want some answers now and I think that we are going to only get answer from the planet. Mister McCaffee set a course back, but Jon, engage the refractive shielding. I don't want know more surprises.