THE GENERATION GAP: Part One                    By Ryan Nicol

--------------------------------------------------------------


"Jim, I want to help."

James Kirk didn't turn towards the pleading voice of his
friend; instead, he continued to stare ahead of him, at the
bronzed model on the mantel peice before him.

"There's not much one can do about old age, Bones."

"That's not the damn point, and you know it."  McCoy said, not
even trying to hide the exasperation he had been feeling since
he had struck up this particular conversation minutes before. 
"But staring at that damn model and thinking of the good old
days isn't doing you much good either."

The good old days.  What had happened to them? Kirk wondered. 

  After the prospects of peace with the klingons had been     

 announced, Kirk had succumbed to the pressures for his
retirement.  With the breaking of links with starfleet, he
began to lose track of people; people he had worked next to
for years.  The last he heard, Sulu was maintaining his
position as captain of the Excelsior.  McCoy had recently told
him that his ex-helmesman had been involved in a recent first
contact that had ended very successfully.  Hear-say
information.  And Scotty?  What the devil had happened to
Scotty?  His old chief engineer had disappeared into the
darkness of space, never to be heard from again.  That had
been two years ago, not long after Kirk's resignation.  As for
Spock, he had recently been appointed as an Ambassador.  Other
than that, Kirk had very little information.
"Do you hear me, Jim?"  The voice of the irritated doctor
broke through his melancholy, forcing him back to the cold
reality of his San Francisco apartment - the same one he had
bought after he had first resigned from the Enterprise, before
the V'ger incident.

"I hear you, Bones.  Now is there something new you'd like to 
tell me."

Kirk could tell that his old friend was ready to fly into a
rage.  The doctor gets even more crabby with age, he had noted
long ago.  That still seemed to hold true.

"Forget it, Jim.  If you're not willing to see it, there's not
much I can do for you."  McCoy turned to stalk out the
apartment.

The door hissed shut behind the physician, leaving Kirk once
more alone.  He moved to the large window that looked out over
the San Fransisco Bay.  The clouds had begun to roll in,
causing a strange, yet calming, twilight over the area.  No
stars to be seen tonight, he thought to himself as he turned
to fetch himself another drink.

His chest contorted into a spasm of pain that flashed up his
left side, stiffling the cry that was forced from his lungs. 
He fell to the floor, rolling onto his stomach.  Paralysis
seemed to hold him there, his left elbow tightly tucked into
his side.

A sudden fever seemed to wash over him.  Face contorted in the
agony of the attack, Kirk looked up to see the comm-link
meters away.  If he could reach it....

Another burst of pain darted up his left side and this time
the cry escaped his lips.

Heart attacks were not common.  Indeed, the signs were easily
detectable before any such attack occurred, and the necessary
precaustions were then taken.  But then again, Bones was never
good at getting me on the diagnostic bed to begin with, Kirk
thought as he crawled towards the wall communicator, his left
hand clutching his side as he moved.

He was mere meters away when he had a second attack.

The world swam in a dizzy haze; his body was on fire.
James Kirk's hand let go of his side; he let go of his life.

"Oh, I say.  You do give up too easily."

The voice broke through the seemingly-impenetrable darkness
that had enclosed him, snapping him back into the pain and
fever of reality.

"My dear Kirk.  You should get a hold on yourself."

That voice...  It was familiar.  Kirk pushed himself up onto
his right elbow.  Suddenly the world swirled violently and he
was again lying face down on the floor of his apartment.

"Oh, James.  You look truly awful.  Perhaps I could be of some
help."

"Trelane?"  Kirk muttered through the dizzy haze surrounding
him.

The next moment the apartment, the pain, the dizziness
vanished.  Trelane followed soon after.

                         * * * * * * * 

Jean-Luc Picard stared at the readout on the screen before
him.  It certainly wasn't the first time he had read the logs
of the previous Enterprises, but something about these
particular logs captured his attention more so than any others
had done before.  They were the last logs made by Captain Kirk
before he was promoted to Admiral.  And the last ones he made
before he resigned.

What happened to this man?  Picard wondered.  This man, who
had been revered in his time, but whose ways and means of
solving problems were now considered amateurish and brash, had
vanished from the face of the Earth.  What insight would he
have into the dilemma Picard now faced?

"I hear you're planning to leave us."

Picard looked up with surprise, which soon turned to dismay. 
"Q."

"I can't say I'm totally happy with your decision, however. 
Though I guess Riker as captain could provide some amount of
amusement as well."  Q sighed with mock despair as he lounged
in the chair in front of Picard's desk.

"I had hoped my memories of my last days on the Enterprise
would be fond ones, Q.  You should have stayed in the
After-life."

"Au contraire."  Q smiled.  "I welcomed you aboard at the
beginning of your voyages.  It is just as fitting that I'm
here to deliver a parting gift."

"What parting gift?"  Picard did not like the sound of that.  

"A re-think, if you will.  Are you really doing what is best
for you?"

"I've been given a promotion, Q.  I've made up my mind; the
decision has been made."

"James Kirk made that same decision, did he not?"  Q seemed to
be enjoying himself; that much was clear to Picard.  But where
he was leading wasn't clear.

"And he came to regret it.  I know all that, Q." Picard
replied.  He knew Q had something else in mind, but whatever
it was, there was no reason to rush him.  If anything, Q would
not be rushed.

"What if I were to arrange it so that you could speak to him? 
You were wondering what his advice would be, were you not?"

"Absolutely not!" Picard exploded. "My decision is based on my
own judgement.  Whatever I may have been thinking before you
arrived has no bearing on the matter."

"Temper, temper." Q shook his head. "Admirals must command
their passions before they command their minions."

"What do you want, Q?  Out with it." Picard said, getting up. 

"I'm tired of listening to you skirt the issue, so just get on
with it."

Q paused for a moment.  For the first time, it seemed to
Picard that he seemed unsure, trying to choose the right
words.

"I'm offering you one final mission."  Q said, slowly.  "Speak
to Captain Kirk, see if there is anything you can do for him. 
You get to reconsider your decision, I get to see you stumble
around, looking buffoonish as usual."

Well, his interest was piqued, Picard had to admit.  He had
wanted Kirk's insi...

"Splendid!" Q stood up, quickly.  "Shall we go, then?"

"Wait!" Picard said.  "What about the rest of my crew? 
What'll they do while I'm gone?"

"Oh, they'll get on fine without you, Picard." Q shrugged the
questions away.  "Besides, Riker will go down in history as a
better captain than you, so you needn't be concerned about
them.  They're in safer hands than they were before."

There was a flash followed by nothing.

                         * * * * * * *

"Q, where are we?"

"Oh, in a little pocket of time and space.  Where and when
wouldn't make much sense to you." Q replied.

"What are we doing here?" Picard asked, still looking at the
nothingness that stretched around him.

"You ask too many questions."  Q berated him, then sighed. 
"We're waiting for the act of creation.  It took God seven
days so forgive me if it takes me a little longer than an
instant."

"I don't believe you." Picard shook his head.  "You're up to
something.  There's more to this than you're letting on."

"You know, you've been developing quite an inferiority complex
since you met me."

Before Picard could answer to that, reality swelled up around
him.  The next moment he was standing in a long corridor.

"This way." Q motioned him forward.  After a slight
hesitation, he followed his nemesis down the dimly-lit
passage.

"Reminds me of the Dark Ages." Picard said, noting the flames
that breathed out of their holders along the walls of the
passage, illuminating their way forward.

"Yes," Q nodded, absently.  "The Dark Ages were a
preoccupation of mine for a while.  Then I had the misfortune
of meeting you.  What can I say, it was love at first sight."

Picard shook his head slightly, but continued to move on down
the gloomy corridor.

"What the devil is James Kirk doing in a place like this?" 
Picard finally asked, not without a hint of suspicion.

Q didn't answer the question; instead, he said: "Aah, here we
are."

The corridor widened to a small, circular room.  In it there
was nothing but a stony slate.  And on it lay a crumpled
figure.

Picard hesitated next to Q, then looked at him questioningly.

"Oh, that is James Kirk." Q assured him. "As for what he is
doing here, he's in Hell for his past crimes against a
superior life form."

"You." Picard said, slowly.

"Oh, Jean-Luc, I am totally innocent in all this." Q said,
quickly. "Why, I haven't even met the man until now."

"You're a liar, Q." Picard said, angrily. "There's only one
person sadistic enough to rip a man from his deathbed and into
the jaws of Hell."

"Au contraire, Captain." Q shook his head. "As you learnt from
our last encounter, I belong in Heaven."

Picard turned from Q, and walked to the figure on the stony
slab.  He could make out the grey wisps of hair, the loose,
weathered skin.  This was Captain James Kirk.

"Q, I want some answers, and I want them now."

"I'm not to blame, Picard.  Would I treat such an old man with
ill-respect?  What kind of a monster do you take me for?"

Q's mock expression of hurt fuelled Picard's anger.  "The same
kind of monster who threw my ship into a battle with the Borg,
or who put me on trial for the crimes of humanity."

"Jean-Luc, this is a devestating blow to our relationship."

Picard turned to face Q once more.  "Fine.  If you're not
involved, then return James Kirk and myself to the
Enterprise."

"Oh, I can't do that." Q said matter-of-factly.  "I mean, this
other being is too powerful for me to do that."

"More powerful than you?" Picard could hardly believe Q had
said that, or considered that he, Picard, would accept that.

"What is with this accusing line of questions?  You've known
me too long to know I'd not do something like this." Q looked
over Picard's shoulder at Kirk's crumpled form, a look of mock
pity written across his face.

"You did do this!" Picard said.  This time it wasn't an
accusation.  It was a statement of fact.

"Well, if that is the way you feel, then fine." Q pouted. 
"Sort yourself out.  But I can guarantee you that you won't
survive long without me."

A flash later, and Q was gone, leaving the two Enterprise
captains alone in the bowels of Hell.

End Part One.

THE GENERATION GAP: Part Two                 By Ryan Nicol

----------------------------------------------------------

"Who are you?"

Picard turned to the voice behind him.  The crumpled form had
unravelled itself to reveal a man, grey with age, and yet with
a strangely resilient attitude.  He leaned on the stony bed,
as if in need of support.

"I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the United Federation of
Planets.  And you're James Kirk."  It was more a statement of
fact than one seeking confirmation.

"I don't know you." Kirk answered him.

Picard nodded, then said after a pause. "I come from the
future.  That is why my uniform is different to the ones
you're used to.  When, I cannot say.  Nor do I wish to tell
you too much, in case we get out of here alive."

Kirk accepted that.  He had been involved in far too many time
paradoxes to argue with the newcomer, provided what the other
had to say was true.  He continued to watch Picard wearily. 
After a pause, he said: "Assuming you exist, how did you get
here?"

"That is quite a long story." Picard answered.  He hesitated
for a moment, before asking, "Do you know the Q?"

Kirk looked puzzled, as if he didn't quite understand the
question.  "The what?"

"A race of omnipotent beings." Picard elucidated, then added.
"One of them brought me here."

"Why?"  Kirk asked.  Slowly, he began moving away from the
bed, but still kept his distance from Picard.  He looked down
the dark corridor that stretched into the distance from the
tiny room.

"I'm not quite sure.  At first I thought it was merely to meet
you.  But I think it's more than that."  Picard replied, then
said: "For how long have you been here?"

"Not long at all.  In fact I don't remember anything before
waking up to find you here."  Kirk said, continuing to look at
the cold and dark surroundings.  "It's not doing us much good
to stay here."

Picard nodded at that.  The two began to cautiously make their
way down the dark passage, illuminated only by the tiny flames
that flickered in their holders on the walls.

"The Q I mentioned told me that you were here to pay for your
crimes against a superior life form." Picard said, quietly. 
"Do you know what he meant by that?"

Kirk hesitated.  He still hadn't got a firm idea of who or
what to trust.  What Trelane had in mind by yanking him from
his death-bed, he did not know.  But whatever it was, it would
require him to move cautiously.  Then again, if this Picard
was one of Trelane's creations, to tell him about his creator
wouldn't supply Trelane with any more information than he
already had.  Besides, if he played along, he might learn
something.

"When I was Captain of the starship Enterprise, on my first
five year mission, I and a few of my crewmen were captured by
a strange alien who called himself Trelane."  Kirk continued
to elaborate, explaining how he tricked the strange creature
into freeing the Enterprise, and then played a game of death,
only to be rescued by the creature's parents.

Picard nodded thoughtfully.  By this time, they had reached a
fork in the passage, as it broke off to their left, but also
continued straight ahead.

"Which way?" He asked, hesitating.

"This way." Kirk said, moving into the left-turning tunnel. 
If he had to make sure he wasn't being tricked by Trelane,
then he'd have to make some of these decisions by himself. 
Then again, he thought, if Trelane wanted him to go towards a
specific destination, there was nothing he, Kirk, could do
about it.

Picard stood at the lip of the branching passage for a second
before moving into it, following Kirk.  Fifteen minutes later,
they were faced with a further problem: This time the tunnel
branched into three different directions.

"We're getting nowhere fast." He finally said to Kirk who was
straining to look down one of the three tunnels, to judge
which would be a better avenue for escape.

"Whoever put us here, put us here for a purpose.  They won't
keep us wandering these passages forever." Kirk told him,
looking up from the lip of the third passage-branch.

"I wouldn't put that past the Q." Picard muttered.

"That's the second time you mentioned the Q." Kirk noted. 
"Who the devil is this Q?"

A blinding flash of light flared through the corridor for a
split second.  When the dimness returned, Picard had to wait a
few seconds for his eyes to re-adjust before he could see who
was standing beside him

"Glad you asked."  Q said, smugly.  The smile soon
disappeared.

For a brief moment, Picard was almost sure Q was stunned.  The
omnipotent being merely stood there, staring into empty space,
a look of total surprise covering his face.

"What is it, Q?" Picard asked, a hint of irritation creeping
into his voice.  He turned to look at the spot which the now
slightly-recovered Q was staring at.

James Kirk had disappeared into thin air.  The empty corridor
stretched away from them, with no branches down which he could
have run.  Certainly, he hadn't chosen the three branches
which he and Picard had been looking down earlier, as Picard
would have been in his way.

"Where is he, Q?"

"You still think I have a hand in this madness, Picard?"  Q
asked, increduously.

"Everything about it smells of you."  Picard answered.  "If it
isn't you, then who is it?"

A look of hesitation crept over Q's features.  He looked up at
Picard.  The hesitation quickly turned to resignation.

First time for everything, Picard thought to himself.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, Picard." Q muttered.  "It won't
happen again."

The two of them disappeared in a Q-flash.

                         * * * * * *

Picard found himself drifting in space, a consciousness
without a body, without limitations.

"Take a close look, Picard."  It was Q's voice, but instead of
hearing it, Picard felt it.  It was more a matter of sensing
it than hearing it.

The universe was splayed out before him, a large galaxy - his
own, he guessed, though he didn't know for sure - blazing the
heavens near him, looming in the otherwise darkness of inter-
galactic space.

Then it exploded.  Picard was not sure how.  It was as if
every sun in the entire galaxy novaed.  It shone to a
brilliance that would have blinded his eyes, had he any, and
somehow he knew this was not an isolated instance.  The
knowledge of every galaxy, every cluster of stars, being
destroyed in a blaze of glory, chilled him as the thought of
every life, every consciousness being blown to the stellar
winds.

                         * * * * * *

"Oh, we will still be around, Picard.  We, meaning the Q."

For a moment he was unsure of where he was.  One moment he was
staring at the destruction of the universe, and the next he
was in an area of total greyness, becoming progressively
darker as it stretched off into the distance.

"What was that you showed me, Q?" Picard asked, still feeling
the chill at having witnessed the end of everything.

"That was your universe, mon Capitane." Q explained to him. 
"It was just destroyed."

Picard was silent for a moment.  Was it true?  Had Q shown him
the end of his universe?  It hardly seemed believable, but
then again, everything that had been happening since Q had
taken him from the Enterprise seemed totally preposterous as
well.

"Is this all an illusion?" He finally asked.  "Where's James
Kirk?  And where are we?"

Q paused for a moment, and Picard realised that this time it
wasn't a hesitation, but rather for effect.

"Picard, welcome to the Q-continuum."

"Then we're safe?" Picard asked, suspiciously.

"Oh no." Q replied, sinisterly.  "This is where all the danger
lies."

End of Part 2.

THE GENERATION GAP: Part Three                  By Ryan Nicol

_____________________________________________________________

"What danger?" Picard asked.  He had had quite enough from Q
by now.  Thrown into the underworld to join James Kirk, thrown
into who-knows-where to witness the end of the universe, and
now thrown here, to what Q said was the Q-continuum.

"There's been something I've been keeping from you."  Q said,
as if he was really sorry.  Picard was actually not surprised.
"It is rather personal, Jean-Luc, and this isn't quite so easy
to say."

"Well?"

Q looked up at him, and for the first time, Picard thought he
saw real concern in his nemisis' eyes, as if something had
happened; something distressing.

"There's been a change in power in Heaven."

Jean-Luc Picard had been prepared for many things, but not
this.  If the Q-continuum had indeed been overthrown by
something.... more powerful?

"What does James Kirk have to do with this?" Picard finally
asked. "And when exactly did this happen?"

Q looked at the greyness that surrounded him, as if he knew
and saw more than Picard did.

Was that possible? Picard wondered.  Was this greyness merely
a veil for something else; something that Q did not want him
to see?

"It had been brewing for some time." Q said, finally.  "It's
resulted in a few policies being reversed, a few decisions
being altered... and your universe being destroyed so we can
start on a clean slate."

"What?!?"  Picard was astounded.  At first he had believed the
Q to be such devious and pitiless creatures, especially after
his meeting with Q at Farpoint and when he tried to coax Riker
to join the Q-continuum.  But that had all changed after Q had
"fallen from Heaven", or so to speak.  In his previous
encounter with Q, he had actually got the feeling that the Q
wanted to help him.  But now...

"Not that I agreed with the policy changes." Q spoke up
quickly, as if reading Picards thoughts (actually he had).
"But then again, the majority rule.  Such is the nature of
democracy."

"You still haven't answered what James Kirk's role in all this
is, Q."  Picard said.

"That's rather a touchy subject." Q told him after a slight
pause. "In fact, I may have been wrong to bring you here
altogether."

Picard wasn't really listening.  For the first time, he
realised that he had nowhere to go.  The Q had taken that from
him.  And he was damned if he was going to spend the rest of
his existance with Q in this nether-world of grey and black.  

But then again, he thought, I guess I'm damned after all.

                     * * * * * * * *

James Kirk inspected his surroundings closely.  To say the
least, they were quite familiar.

"Ah, Captain Kirk!  Doesn't this bring back memories, hey?"  

There Trelane was lounging, looking as pompous and full of
himself as ever, in the Captain's chair.

"Trelane, what do you want?" Kirk moved towards him slowly,
not being able to stop himself from looking around the bridge,
though.  It had been quite some time since he had seen it
last.

"I bet you miss your crew!  Do you remember how much they
meant to you the last time we met.  You basically gave
yourself up to be killed for them." Trelane shook his annoying
finger at Kirk, who had just noticed he was now wearing his
old uniform.  "Terrible attire, though.  Your Starfleet makes
you dress in bloody pyjamas."

A flash from the corner of his eye caught his attention.  Kirk
turned to see a fairly young Spock, dressed in the blue top of
the science division, sitting at his old station.  Looking
around further, he noticed young versions of Uhura, Sulu,
Scotty and Checov, all at their respective posts.

"Captain!  What's happened to you?"  It was Sulu's voice. "You
look old!"

Spinning to face Trelane, Kirk yelled: "I don't need to see
this Trelane!  I know they're fake."

In the distance, he could see an intrigued Spock lifting his
eyebrow at that last remark.  Then they vanished, as did the
bridge.

"You're really boring, you know." Trelane said amongst the
greyness that now surrounded them.  "I remember how
interesting you were when we last met..."

"I've changed since then." Kirk told him, looking around. 
"Where the Hell are we, and where is that other man, Picard?"

"Hell is where you were." Trelane explained. "This is the
place where I come from."

"The Q-continuum?" Kirk asked, remembering what Picard had
mentioned before they had lost each other.

"In a way." Trelane smiled. "But that doesn't mean I'm a Q."

"What are you, then?"

"Oh, something higher, much higher."

                     * * * * * * * *

The smoothness of his sheets covered him lovingly; the
mattress gave at just the right amount.  Picard began to
nestle his head against the pillow, then opened his eyes in a
shot.

He was in his cabin.  A dream?  It had to be, thank God.

The door to his cabin slid open with the normal whoosh and Q
strolled in.

"Had a nice sleep, Jean-Luc?  You still look a little weary."

"Where am I?" It was a stupid question, but he had just woken
up...

"Oh, something I conjured up to make you feel better." Q told
him. "But we must get up; we have a busy day ahead of us."

"How so?" Picard asked, sitting up on the side of the make-
believe bed and resting his feet on the floor he knew wasn't
there.

"We're taking on the Q."

Picard looked at him for a moment, but there was no hint of
brashness or conniving on Q's face, only an unusual sincerity.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"We're going to challenge their decision.  Based on those
results, we may be able to get permission to re-create your
universe."  Q smiled re-assuringly, then, almost as an
afterthought, added: "There is something you have to do,
however."

Of course.  Picard hadn't doubted that for a second.  Perhaps
Q was predictable after all.

"They require a little test.  It isn't much; just to let them
see how you react to certain conditions and situations, that's
all."

"I'm not a laboratory rat, Q.  I'm an intelligent being."
Picard muttered, indignantly.

"Oh, I never doubted that for a moment, Jean-Luc.  But you
have to prove that to them." For a moment Picard thought he
had heard a hint of sarcasm in Q's otherwise serious tone.

                     * * * * * * * *

James Kirk was irritated, and that was putting it mildly. 
Trelane had promised to let him go only if he would play one
last game.  Reluctantly, he had agreed (not that he had any
choice in the matter) and now here he was, back in his command
chair, this time de-aged to suit the surrounding environment.

Strange being back in your old... young body, he mused. 
Almost as if it were not your own.

"We've just achieved standard orbit around Carnais Psychma II,
captain." Sulu's voice broke through his thoughts and brought
him back to "reality".

"Thank you, Mr Sulu.  Uhura, are we receiving any hailings?" 
The thought that a part of him was relishing in this make-
believe sent a slight chill up his spine.

"Negative, captain.  And no replies to all my hailings, but we
are still receiving the automated distress call." The young,
fake Uhura answered.

"Sensors indicate the planet has been under heavy
bombardment," Spock reported from his station, "of a scale
never seen before."

Kirk turned to the viewscreen.  As the image of the planet
came into view, so he could make out the massive scars on its
surface.

"Any sign of any ships in the vicinity?"

"Negative." Spock replied, still engrossed in the readouts he
was receiving.

"Very well," Kirk said out loud. "We'll beam down.  Uhura,
tell McCoy to meet me in transporter room 3.  Sulu, you'll
come along." Turning to Spock, he said, "You have the con."

Damn, that felt good, he thought as he strode to the elevator.

It had been a long time....

                     * * * * * * * *

"There seems to be extensive damage to the planet's surface."
Data reported from his console. "Similiar to the Borg, but
different in design."

Finally, he looked up at Picard.  "I can find no match in
Federation records."

"What about signs of life?" Riker asked.

"There seems to be a small cluster of life forms." Worf
reported from his station. "Not many, and they are very weak."

Picard nodded slowly.  Whatever Q had in mind with this
reconstruction, it was obviously intended for him to take a
major role in this game.

"We'll beam down an Away Team.  You have the bridge, Number
One." He said as he moved towards the elevator. "Data and Worf
with me.  Please inform Doctor Crusher to join us."

Before Riker could reply he was entering the elevator.  As he
turned, he saw the surprised look on his first officer's face.

"Not this time, Will." He said, knowing it wasn't necessary. 
After all, this wasn't real.  Still, it was slightly eerie....

                     * * * * * * * *

"Interesting, Q.  But hardly persuasive."

"Oh, no.  You haven't seen half of what they can do.  Give
them a chance."

"You'd better be proven right.  This is your final report, you
know."

"Don't remind me.  Next time, please give me a slightly more
challenging assignment."

"Oh, don't concern yourself about that.  We have great plans
for the next universe.  Great plans...."

End of Part 3


PART FOUR:

The warm, gentle breeze that blew across James Kirk's face
carried the smell of death.  It was hard to imagine that it
was a mere illusion.  Now back in this young body, so
different from the one he was used to, but strangely the same,
he was suddenly aware that he had been feeling that same
excitement that he had known with his days on the Enterprise;
an excitement that he hadn't felt since that battle with the
klingon, Chang, as he tried to save the peace conference and
stop an assassination attempt.

"Residual radiation readings indicate that this attack
happened only a day before we arrived, Captain."  Sulu's voice
reached him, seemingly from a great distance.

He looked up to see McCoy standing over the remains of what
looked like a man.  The attack had not been too kind to him,
and even though he knew it wasn't real, Kirk still had a sense
of revulsion.  As for McCoy, it felt strange to see him
looking so young, especially after having seen him a few...
days?... ago, just before the heart attack.

He thought back to that moment, when McCoy was chiding him
over spending the remainder of his existance staring at a
model of the Enterprise, wishing for an imaginary world where
he could relive those past, precious moments....

But now that he was here, in that imaginary world, supplied so
graciously by Trelane, he wanted it taken away.  Looking at
the young McCoy and Sulu, the realisation of how much those
fond memories had been diminished struck him.  And what was
Trelane's plan?  Tied behind this wish-fulfillment seemed a
deeper purpose, as if he were being toyed with for others to
amuse themselves by watching him.  As Captain Pike had been
trapped by reality, in his wheel chair, so he felt trapped
within this illusion.

"Any evidence of what form of weapon was used, or whether the
attackers even set foot on this planet?" He asked, the
splendour of the illusion having waned since he had considered
its true implications.  He had felt a strange sense of
excitement when he had found himself sitting back in the
command chair, and when they had beamed down a few moments
ago.  How foolish, pandering up to Trelane's games.

"No sign of either." Sulu told him.  "Whoever did this was
clever to leave no tracks."

"And the survivors?"

"Only a dozen or so, Jim." McCoy said, as he moved away from
the dead man's body.  "They've all been rushed up to sickbay,
so you can question them when we beam back up, provided
they're in any condition to answer any questions."

Kirk nodded a thanks, and continued to stare out across the
landscape.  What was Trelane trying to do, and what was his
game-plan?  Was Picard a part of that, and if so, was he real
or merely another creation of Trelane's madness?

"Jim, is something wrong?"  Kirk turned to face McCoy, who had
a slightly concerned look on his face.

Kirk tried a smile at the fake physician.  "I'm fine, Bones. 
But thanks for asking."

He turned back to look at the desolation around him, slightly
aware of McCoy's continuing gaze on his back.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Oh, truly splendid!  James, you're really going to enjoy this
next part."

"You really seem to hate him."

"Oh, hate is not the right word."  Trelane said.  "He beat me
once, I'll grant him that.  And I admire him, too.  But the
lower forms must know their place.  If they begin to act too
clever, one needs to put them back where they belong."

"But what about the Q?  Some are petitioning for a reversal of
Order."

"As workers they can sulk if they wish.  But they don't rule
the universe; no reversal is in order."  Trelane told his
companion.

"The Q may think differently."

"Let them.  But if it comes to revolution, they're in for a
sorry surprise."

"Coming from a Q, that's quite a statement.  What are your
plans for Picard?"

"Ex-Q." Trelane corrected him, then added. "As for Picard,
he's a three-dimensional pawn on a five-dimensional chess
board.  He'll amuse me for the moment."

                     * * * * * * * *

"Play it out, Jean-Luc.  Your universe is depending on you."

Picard looked around him, at the frozen faces of Beverly
Crusher, Data and Worf.  Beyond them, the smoking remains of
bodies and buildings scattered the surface of the desolate
world.  Besides him, the only thing moving was Q, adamant as
ever, and equally annoying.

"You whisk me away on the basis of meeting James Kirk so we
can discuss my decision about leaving the Enterprise."  Picard
berated him.  "From there, I'm thrown into a variety of hells,
and now you wish me to amuse you in a preposterous game. 
Well, I say no!"

"Your friends must have hated you at school." Q muttered under
his brief, seemingly exasperated.

"What the devil is the purpose of this chaotic mess you've
thrown me into, Q?  Normally you make your bloody purpose
plain!"

"Well, maybe now I'm not in control of it all, Picard!"  It
was a brief outburst, but it was enough to unnerve the
Enterprise captain.

"Who is in control, Q?  Why did you bring me here, and what is
this simulation of reality supposed to prove?"

Q gave an exasperated sigh.  "You're here to get those now in
control to change their decision regarding your universe, not
to mention your very existance, Picard."

Picard looked at the faces of Worf, Data, and Crusher.  It
seemed like aeons ago that he saw them last, real; not
illusions like these artificial dummies.

"How is my playing these stupid games supposed to change the
opinion of something akin to God?" He finally said.

"There is nothing akin to God, Picard." Q told him, wearily. 
At the look on Picard's face, he elucidated: "We never created
anything of that nature."

"You're not answering my question, Q.  Do you really think
this play-acting is going to change these beings' minds, or
are you just going through the motions for my sake, knowing
there is no way out?"

Q was silent for a moment, seeming to study the destruction
that surrounded them.  After a few seconds, he said: "If you
want the truth, Picard, there is nothing we, the Q, can do to
stop this.  We're talking about a very powerful species; more
powerful than us."

"Who?" Picard asked, in a tone that demanded an answer from
this slippery alien before him.

"I've been asking them for a better assignment, and they seem
pretty adamant about wanting to start a-fresh; not holding on
to the past - universes, ideals; the works, actually."  Q
continued, as if unaware of Picard's question. "You know,
there is something in this idea of not holding onto the past. 
I believe James Kirk would agree with that; it tends to deaden
the memory."

"If you're referring to the Enterprise, Q, the fact that it no
longer exists makes my promotion an unimportant issue at this
time."  Picard said, firmly. "But I'm still waiting for you to
answer my question as to who these beings are."

"They are part of the Q, in a sense.  More of an off-shoot,
rather." Q told him. "Their sense of basic morality is, shall
we say, different from us - less virtous."

At that, Picard raised an eyebrow.  "That's hard to believe."

"A hint of sarcasm, Jean-Luc?" Q said, disapprovingly.

"But why, if they're merely an off-shoot from your own
species, is it that you're so powerless against them?"  Picard
still wasn't sure if he could swallow all that Q was saying.

"If we pooled our resources, perhaps." Q nodded. "But we need
to focus it on something, using it indirectly to attack them. 
This, of course, goes against our whole moral code of
conduct."

Picard almost pointed out the time Q had used the two
creatures at Farpoint to further his aims, or the time  he
demanded a member of his crew be taken to the continuum
against her will because her parents were Q.

But what's the point, he thought.  It'll merely bring on
another pointless discussion when there was far more things of
importance to discuss.

"What will you need to attack them?" He asked.

"Why, Picard, are you actually suggesting an armed revolt?" Q
smiled.  "And here we thought you had grown out of your
primitive ways."

"I'm suggesting anything that will get my universe back."

                     * * * * * * * *

It was his fourth day in this un-reality, and it was making
him feel nauseous.  He hadn't seen Trelane in all that time,
even when he called out to the alien, telling him he had had
enough.  A part of him was beginning to think that this
perhaps was reality, and all the rest was merely a bad dream.

He remembered Spock's right eyebrow arching slightly as he
caught him calling out to Trelane a day ago, saying that
whatever Trelane was wanting, he had grown tired waiting for
it.  Trelane may have an eternity to wait; but Kirk didn't
have that long.

And now it had come to this.

"Jim, it is my considered opinion as your physician and friend
that you are nearing a complete mental breakdown."

Kirk looked up from the non-real table he was sitting behind,
at McCoy, who was standing before him, hands clasped
characteristically behind his back  McCoy did not meet his
gaze; instead, he turned to look, head slightly lowered,
towards Kirk's first officer, who stood beside him.

"I've brought this to the attention of Mr Spock, who has
agreed to take over command on a temporary basis."

"You will, of course, be able to return to command as soon as
Doctor McCoy has found the cause of your abherrant behaviour." 
Unlike McCoy, Spock returned Kirk's stare, and this time it
was Kirk who looked away.

For a moment, Kirk didn't know if he would laugh or break
down.  There was a strangeness about these artificial
creations of Trelane's confronting him in this manner.  For a
moment he toyed with the idea of telling Spock, to see the
Vulcan's reaction, but he pushed that thought aside
immediately.

"Gentlemen, I can assure you that I am perfectly fine." He
finally told them. "Thanks for the concern, but none is
needed.  I would rather you diverted your attention to finding
out what attacked this planet than wasting your time on a non-
issue."

"Your health is not a non-issue, captain."  Spock said,
stubbornly.  "As for what attacked the planet, it would appear
that whatever it was has left the system.  With no traces, it
would be difficult, if not impossible to trace."

God, he hadn't realised how much he had missed Spock in all
these years.  He could hardly believe it was more than two
years since he saw Spock last - the real Spock.

"If it would please you, I'm more than willing to submit
myself to the practised hands of Doctor McCoy.  I'm sure a
complete physical will determine whether I am fit to command
or not."  He said, after a pause.

The two officers in front of him looked at each other for a
moment, then Spock nodded.

Well, he had got out of that one, but for how much longer he
could hold onto his sanity, and a command that didn't really
exist, Kirk didn't have an answer.

                     * * * * * * * *

"They don't allow others so close to them that the attempt
would be a success, Picard." Q shook his head.

"Not even you?"

"Not even me." Q nodded.  "Besides, even if they did, I would
hardly want to give up my immortality so that your pitiful,
limited universe could come back to existence."

"What if I did?" Picard asked.

"They wouldn't allow you to be within an infinity of their
reach, and that is possible when you're dealing with five
dimensions and the Q-continuum." Q said.  "Besides, I wouldn't
allow it."

"There must be another way." Picard moved off a slight
distance from Q, staring at the sterile soil beneath his feet.

"Of course, Picard." Q answered. "There are always
possibilities."

                     * * * * * * * *

"Trelane!!!"

"Jim, relax." McCoy turned from his friend and looked at Nurse
Chapel. "Nurse, give him a shot."

"No!" He yelled out, pushing McCoy's hands away from him.
"Don't you understand?  This isn't real!"

Ten months.  He had existed in this make-believe world for ten
months, and what got to him was that he knew, somewhere,
Trelane was watching him, laughing.

"I can't take it anymore!!!"

"Damn fine time for a break down." He heard McCoy mutter to
himself. "Whole bloody Babel conference is going to hell, and
I've got two Vulcans, father and son, still in bed; as if that
weren't enough."

"Is it possible that this is a result of the Tellarite
attack?"  That was Chapel's voice.

"No." He heard McCoy answer. "I've been seeing this thing
brewing for a while, but I was just too damned stupid to do
anything about it, or accept the possibility that it was
really happening."

"Trelane, show yourself!" He cried out.  It was painful,
listening to copies of his old friends considering whether he
was suffering a mental break down or not.  It was an
abomination on all his most precious memories, souring them
and distorting them to horrendous visions of what had seemed
most treasured.

He was sure that somewhere that powerful lifeform Picard had
referred to in that Hellish tunnel was watching him, lavishing
in his "punishment" for his "past crimes".  But were those
memories real, or was Picard merely another construction of
Trelane's insanity?  Kirk was unsure.  And when did this all
begin?  Was his final meeting with Bones McCoy in his
apartment the last moment of reality, or was that too a
construction that he had not yet realised?  Trelane's make-
believe world had so intertwined with his reality that he
could no longer tell the two apart.  And it was that which was
tearing at him - the thought that it was an illusion which may
never end.  Was there ever a "real" Bones McCoy, or a "real"
Scotty?  The thought of never knowing, of losing those
memories to the idea that they were mere illusions was more
than he could stand.

"Spock, you've given up a lot of blood for your father, and
you're weak.  I don't think you should do this, especially in
your present condition."

"Nonsense, Doctor.  I am perfectly fine."

Through all this illusion, he felt another's mind, approaching
his own, feeling its way through the haze that seperated them,
penetrating.

"Spock."

For a long moment there was silence; the next thing he was
conscious of was Spock's voice:

"All I can safely say, Doctor, is that the captain is of the
firm opinion that you and I do not exist.  I believe he may be
correct."

End of Part Four.

Part Five 

"What do you mean he is correct?"  McCoy's voice grated.

"I did not say he was implicitly correct, Doctor." He heard
Spock correct the physician. "I merely stated that it is
possible he is correct.  It is a hypothesis I plan to test."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

Kirk didn't hear Spock's reply; instead he once again felt
that intrusion into his mind, and that familiar mind melding
with his - one.

Using the same technique the real Spock had used when dealing
with the Melkotian's illusions, the fake Spock reached into
Kirk's mind, seeking the truth and only that.  If he did not
exist, so be it, all he had to do was give Jim Kirk the mental
ability to use his mind, that theoretically was not an
illusion, to break away from the mental fascade that had been
built around him.

"My mind to your mind..."

It was a final moment of togetherness; and if it were not with
a Spock as real as the one he had known, what did it matter
when this one felt real, looked real, and was as real as the
life he, Kirk, had led?  What did real matter when faced with
corresponding nothingness?  Kirk held on to that
consciousness, a familiarity he would feel to the last
instant, he promised.  Memories of the beginning - "I believe
there is some hope for you after all" - to the end - "I have
been... and always shall be your friend" - overwhelmed his
existence.

Live long and prosper.

With a fury of the final instant of living, Kirk joined with
Trelane in a mental struggle.  Omnipotence surrounded him, as
the creation of Trelane linked minds with his creator; a
mental rape of god.  The creation had colluded against the
creator, and as Kirk died, so did the other two, linked in
mind and soul; the spiralled into the netherworld.

Of course, Kirk could not have done it without our assistance,
Q thought to himself.  They had given Kirk the ability to hold
on to Trelane long enough to complete that task, acting in the
image of Spock.  It may have given Kirk a little comfort as he
felt his doom, but that was not the point.  It was a way at
getting to Trelane, and it had worked.

The Q went back to their busy task of re-ordering the
universe.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Captain...." Riker looked at Picard, not without an
expression of puzzlement.

"Yes, Number One?" Picard asked automatically, and then
realised that Riker was there in front of him.  "Q...??"

"What about, Q, sir?" Riker asked, concerned.  Picard suddenly
seemed to look slightly disorientated.  No doubt because he's
soon to leave us, Will thought.

Picard looked around him.  One moment he had been with Q on
that deserted planet, with the frozen images of Data, Worf and
Doctor Crusher at his side, and now he was here.

"Aah, nothing, Number One.  Carry on." Picard said, then got
up and moved, as collectedly as he could, to his Ready Room.

Once inside, he took a deep breath; then released it as he saw
Q lounging in his seat behind his desk.

"Q, where are we, what happened, and is this the real
Enterprise?"  He said, all in one breath.

Q merely smiled.  "Care to hazard a guess?"

For a brief moment, Picard actually thought Q would disappear
in his flash, leaving him here for the rest of his days to
really wonder if this was all real, or merely an illusion.

"What happened to James Kirk?"

"By that question, I assume you accept this reality to be...
real?" Q questioned.

"Answer the question, Q." Picard was getting tired of this
game, and tired of Q.  He just hoped he would have more peace
and quiet as an Admiral...

"Oh, yes." Q nodded. "I leave those stuffy types alone.  Not
that you could get any more stuffy, Picard.  As for Kirk, he
died a hero's death and saved your universe.  Perhaps you
should take a closer look at his career; you might learn a
thing or two."

Q flashed out of existance, and it was only then that Picard
realised he hadn't really met Kirk, except for when they were
in the bowels of Hell.  But he had learn't something....

"Number One," he called through over the intercom, "Patch me
through to Starfleet; I have some bad news for them."

To hell with a stuffy office; saving the universe was more
important.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Q, this is actually rather cruel."

"Okay, okay." Q replied. "I'll take him back to the real
universe in a few minutes.  Am I the only one who isn't as
stuffy as Picard around here?"

END ->