Chapter Text
Normally Terrans with traditional views didn’t come to a place like this, but that was why Ortegas chose it. No chance of running into someone who might betray them, and because Oretgas fully expected La’an to make good on her threats, the fewer people who recognized them the better.
The bar was dark, loud, and crowded with non-Terrans, with a live band playing music with lyrics that sounded nothing like any Terran language she had ever heard before. Horrific. Only a few years ago such open expressions would have been outlawed. it seemed like they had been bolder and freer in how the aliens lived their lives since Spock came to power. Ortegas might have stood out as the only Terran present, but her appearance and demeanor blended right in. She wore a black leather jacket, and kept to herself, hunched over a beer that was already half finished. This was odd, she was never the early one…maybe Sulu didn’t have the balls to stand up to La’an anyway.
“Charming little place you picked to meet.” That voice, dripping with sarcasm, was unmistakable, even if it was difficult to hear over the music..
Ortegas turned to face Sulu and offered him a sly smile. No Terran salute, that sort of thing wouldn’t be welcome here. “Safest place for us. Had to pick somewhere where I knew we wouldn’t run into anyone, and I don't think anyone could overhear us. Now stop complaining and get yourself a damn beer.”
“I’m not sure I could stomach anything served here.” Sulu held his head high as he perched on the barstool.
“It’s not awful. Fermented barley and hops is fermented barley and hops,” Ortegas shrugged.
“I don’t want to spend any more time here than necessary,” Sulu continued. “So I suggest we get right to it.”
“Right.” Ortegas took a long sip from her beer. “So La’an has been cagey as hell about her plans, which makes it well nigh impossible to work against her. All we know is that she’s off in space and claims that she’s going to come back with a band of genetically enhanced supermen to do her bidding. I’m not even sure if such a group of people exist. The rumors of Khan’s survival were tough for me to believe from the start, and without seeing proof, I’m beginning to think it might have been all part of La’an’s imagination. ”
“Oh, believe me, they exist, and Khan survived all those years.” Sulu answered coolly as he waved to get the Andorian bartender’s attention. “One more…” He glanced to Ortegas’s beer. “Of those. Anyway, I was on the Enterprise myself when it happened. We found Khan’s ship, Kirk tried to recruit him as an ally just the same as La’an hoped to do, and when Kirk realized he couldn’t control Khan he abandoned him and the augments on some harsh planet to die. They survived in space for hundreds of years, but did they survive for twenty five years on Ceti Alpha V? Who knows. It was supposed to be a death sentence.” The bartender returned with Sulu’s beer. He took one sip and wrinkled his nose.
Ortegas sat back to digest this new information. “Damn. I thought she made the whole thing up.”
“Not everything, but it seems too convenient for Khan to be dead but for his followers to be alive and well and eagerly swearing their allegiance to an outworlder with the same last name.” Sulu tried to have another sip of beer but looked as though he nearly choked on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she went out there and found nothing.”
“I know, me too, but what I can’t puzzle out is why she’s left Terra Prime if there are no augments to bring back here.”
“You don’t think she’s fled, do you?”
“Naw, no way. La’an isn’t a coward, and it would have been stupid to announce her departure like that. No, I think she’s got some friends out in the distant colonies who she’s going to bring back and claim that they’re enhanced, or something like that.” Another sip of beer. She was almost done with this one. “So, I think we should let her take the throne and then expose her, revealing that her and the kid not only built themselves up on a pile of lies but also that La’an is completely delusional.”
“And the more La’an trusts us, the easier it will be to betray her.” A wicked smile curled onto Sulu’s face.
“Bingo. Prove that her little friends are just regular Terrans, and the whole thing crumbles.” Ortegas took one more sip to finish her beer. “I’ve got one more question for you.”
“Go ahead.”
“I know you served with Spock on the Enterprise, so did I years before. Never once did he show any sign of any anti-Terran ideals, or anything odd at all. When did he change? It wasn’t while I knew him.”
“At first Spock was unremarkable. Talented, ambitious, but nothing that made him stand out in a bad way. The change was sudden, as if something radical was injected into his brain.”
The two Qs stood alone in the empty white room. The female Q had a broad grin on her face, her back straight, and her arms held behind her back. Meanwhile, the male Q did not look nearly so confident: his brow furrowed, shoulders rolled forward, resting his chin on the back of one hand.
“They’re close to a breakthrough,” the female Q teased. “So, are you still feeling so sure about your experimental evil universe?”
“Don’t celebrate so soon.” The male Q scolded as he stood straighter. “They haven’t been but a few hours, not nearly enough time for moral barriers to begin to decay.”
“How long then? Do you want to sit back watching and waiting in the hope that someone will eventually break down? Even with all the time in the universe to spare, I don’t have the patience for it.”
“Oh no, That shouldn’t be necessary. I only want to see how they react to seeing the worst possible version of themselves. It shouldn’t be long. Remember, the Terran Empire has its first peaceful leader, and these people are so repulsed by the idea of compassion that they are actively working to overthrow him. Our transplants might not be able to resist the lure of that kind of power. Few humans can.”
“And if they can?”
“Spock is saved! The Terran Republic is saved! They all live happily ever after for two years until the Klingons and Cardassians come. We know all the possible outcomes. Peace and equity for the Terrans leads to centuries of enslavement, keeping their fascist rule protects the Terrans for a few more years.” The male Q’s eyes brightened “And what if they knew that? Make the right choice, protect the man who wears the same face as your dear friend, save the world, and doom humanity for centuries. Isn’t that delicious?”
“I’m not following. Do I win if Spock is saved or killed?”
“My dear, you are so young and simple. There are no winners. Not in this universe.”
Maya couldn’t sleep, but that was hardly unusual, her sleep schedule was always wild and unpredictable. With nothing else to do to pass the time,she went back to the computer console. Maya had little interest in learning more about the Terran Empire, instead she poked around to see how much this ship was like the Portland from her own universe, how much her experiences from that ship would work to her advantage. Albrecht hadn’t yet gone to the trouble of adding in any additional security measures, so for now her access was the same. With a little creative programing, Maya might even be able to protect the access she currently had.
She Straightened out her spine and rolled her head to work out some tightness in her neck, and out of the corner of her eye she spotted someone who wasn’t supposed to be there. Maya turned around and sprang to her feet. The male Q was standing right in front of her.
“La’an!” She shouted. Q did not flinch.
“She can’t hear you, but you have nothing to be afraid of. I only want to talk.” he cooed.
“About what?
“About how you are so close to solving my puzzle, and yet so frightfully unaware of the implications of your actions.”
“You know what we were talking about earlier? About saving Spock and the Republic?”
“All that and more. I also know what happens to the Terrans if Spock dies.”
“What happens if he dies?” Maya's eyes were wide and curious.
“Hardly anything. La’an becomes emperor and does away with Spock’s reforms. The Terra Republic is barely acknowledged in the history books>”
“And if he lives?”
“I think that’s something best experienced rather than explained.” Q gestured toward the door. “Your answers lie just outside.”
Q vanished, and Maya’s gaze was focused squarely on the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she tried to talk herself out of these fearful feelings. This was a dream, there was nothing on the other side of the door except the empty corridor, or if it was real Q was playing mind games. She walked slowly toward the door, but when it slid open it was not the ship’s corridor that she saw. It was a city, burning. Maya took a deep breath, as long as she was still in the room she was safe, but then the room dissolved around her.
She had seen so little of San Francisco, but the city was unmistakable even with the destruction and chaos. Panic began to set in. Maya was alone in a warzone.
“Q!” She screamed as she looked around. No sign of him, but again she shouted. “Q! What have you done?”
Acting on instinct Maya began to run, searching for Q, or La’an, or any familiar face. The air was hot and thick with smoke, and Maya had hardly covered a few meters before her chest felt too tight and too hungry for air to keep going. She stopped,doubled over and gasping for air.
“Terran!” A deep male voice shouted at her. Maya looked up to see two Klingons standing in front of her. She hadn’t seen a Klingon in person before, only photographs from her studies of recent history. “Your kind isn’t supposed to be out unaccompanied.”
“Forgive my mistake,” Maya teased with an eye roll.
The Klingons didn’t appreciate her sarcasm. One knocked her to the ground and aimed his phaser at her, but the other grabbed his partner’s arm to hold him back. “Wait! That’s not just any Terran. That’s one of the ones who saved Spock. The regent has special plans for them.”
“How are you so sure? All Terrans look alike. All I see is a bug ready to be crushed.”
“Show some restraint, bringing her to the Regent will bring us both great honor!”
While the two Klingons argued, Maya tried to quietly sneak away, but she could not escape detection. The Klingons chased after her, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders. “I wonder what the Regent wants, to thank her for saving a leader so easy to destroy or to make an example of someone the Terrans look up to?”
Maya struggled to break free, but the Klingon was at least as strong as an augment. She smashed the back of her head into the Klingon’s face, and while the move was not as effective as it might have been against a human, but it was enough to throw off the Klingon’s balance enough that he loosed his grip when he tried to recover. That was enough of an opening for Maya to wiggle away and break into a sprint. Her lungs burned, but adrenaline let her push through.
She didn’t dare stop to look back, to see if the Klingons were following close behind or if she had lost them already. Maya turned around a corner…and found herself back in her quarters. The nightmare was over, but Maya was still reeling. There would be no sleeping tonight after that.