Suddenly instead of a blaster he was holding a fish. "Your feeble little mortal mind cannot comprehend what I am. Now hush, your betters are speaking."
(I asked ma what she thought of this post... she said it needed a bit more arrogance.)
Cassian managed not to drop the fish. But… yes, he was quite prepared to admit: there was something going on here that was way beyond anything he'd encountered before.
But he stayed where he was and looked instead at Ro.
"That's your game this time, Q? Seems too simple for you. What's the real game here?"
"Why Ro Laren. I'm hurt. Truly. If I had a heart it would be broken." He vanished and reappeared dressed in clothes more familiar to the rebels than to the Federation. He even had the proper insignia and rank markings that placed him very high in the command chain. "But fine. There might be a few small details. One. You violate the Prime Directive, I'll help. You decide to arm them, I'll arm them. Out of the goodness of my... well." He smirked. Another flash and he was leaning back on a chair just like the one from his ship. "And before you start to worry, no one will be using the weapons I will take for them. Off old decommissioned Federation ships."
Ro's jaw clenched.
"What else, what else. Ah yes. There is the issue of which side you'd help, isn't there. I mean this poor fellow here.." He vanished with the light and sound again then reappeared beside Cassian, grabbing his face and pushing it into duck lips "Well, his are a desperate people, ready to martyr themselves..." Her fists clenched. Q patted his head then reappeared into the seat. "But, I mean, well by Federation standards, they're terrorists. But then there was a time when the Federation said that about the Bajorans too, wasn't there."
Ro looked ready to hit someone.
"So there it is, all spelled out so that even someone with as little brain as the two of you can understand it. Three years, Ro Laren. Side with the proper government, side with the rebels, or hide and eek out a desperate life all on your own while the galaxy. Running away again, like the scared child you once were. Still are perhaps. We'll see over the next three years, won't we? Me, the rest of the Continuum, and your precious Federation. But then... if you help them... it would hardly be the first time you were court martialed and put in prison. And if you don't help them... well it wouldn't be the first time people died because of you." With a smirk he vanished. The shuttlecraft reappeared.
Cassian's facade broke when Q appeared beside him—then touched him. He jolted, but couldn't break away; before he could try a move designed to deck Q, the being was gone again, and Cassian overbalanced and nearly fell. Cassian used the stumble to grab his secondary blaster out of his ankle holster, but by the time he snapped upright and aimed… Q was gone.
Training meant that where Cassian, as a child, would be trembling now, the adult was stone still. As he turned his eyes again to Ro.
She put her arms behind her back, scowling. "The Q is the name of both a race, the Q collective, and that one particular Q. He, or it, in particular seems to have it out for my Captain and ship. Supposedly all powerful." She shook her head. "He toys with lives as if they were games and then claims the supposed moral high road."
Cassian opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked around them, still trying to figure out where the Ferengi, and then Q, had gone. Then finally, looked back at Ro. Demonstrating that he didn't really understand, but simultaneously did grasp enough of the danger: "We should get out of here."
"Those guys... were probably never here in the first place, except Q. And there is nowhere you or In have the power to get to that he couldn't reappear at, if he had a mind to."
He spread his hands (one still holding the small blaster) in frustration. There were few things he didn't know about in this universe, and this was particularly frightening and infuriating, but the most urgent thing wasn't necessarily to understand it. Yet. "So what do we do?"
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she spoke. "We do nothing. I find some place to live unnoticed for the next three years on the off chance Q actually keeps his word, or better yet someone from the Federation finds me and I get to find out when and where I actually am. You go about as if you never met me. Forget me if you can."
It wasn't just about her anymore. He'd just encountered something that could threaten the whole Alliance. He wasn't about to turn his back. That was how you got stabbed in it.
Was he serious? "Even you have to see by now that I am hardly a child. I can take care of myself for a few years. I've done it before, back when I actually was a child, I can do it again." Without slavers hunting for her this time.
"This isn't just about you. I can't just go about my business knowing… whatever the hell that was… is out and about in the universe. You know something about it. That might help me make sure it doesn't hurt my people."
She gave him an incredulous look. "You think I know how to stop Q? The Federation has been trying for years. If they can't do it, how do you think that I have the answer? You saw him the same as I did. You don't stop Q. You don't reason with him. You endure him and hope he gets bored and wanders off."
"Do you want me following other avenues to pursue this? Or do you want to contain it by just telling me? Those are the choices: I'm not just going to forget."
He wondered if this was how Kay felt dealing with… everybody. He considered demanding the parts back unless she told him; not wanting to aid an organization that might be at odds with his own. But the lack of a hint of any of this from his spy network… and, really, he'd already offered them without conditions. Foolish, maybe. Wanting for just a moment to make a universe different than his had been at her age.
Finally, he shook his head and uncrossed his arms. No… he wasn't going to do to her any of the things he might have done to an adult with a lead he needed. He just wasn't. Besides, who's to say she and "Q" weren't a swindler team trying to get more out of him. He was done.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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"Who are you to keep her here against her will?"
If you need me to edit, let me know.
(I asked ma what she thought of this post... she said it needed a bit more arrogance.)
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But he stayed where he was and looked instead at Ro.
Again, let me know if I need to edit
"Why Ro Laren. I'm hurt. Truly. If I had a heart it would be broken." He vanished and reappeared dressed in clothes more familiar to the rebels than to the Federation. He even had the proper insignia and rank markings that placed him very high in the command chain. "But fine. There might be a few small details. One. You violate the Prime Directive, I'll help. You decide to arm them, I'll arm them. Out of the goodness of my... well." He smirked. Another flash and he was leaning back on a chair just like the one from his ship. "And before you start to worry, no one will be using the weapons I will take for them. Off old decommissioned Federation ships."
Ro's jaw clenched.
"What else, what else. Ah yes. There is the issue of which side you'd help, isn't there. I mean this poor fellow here.." He vanished with the light and sound again then reappeared beside Cassian, grabbing his face and pushing it into duck lips "Well, his are a desperate people, ready to martyr themselves..." Her fists clenched. Q patted his head then reappeared into the seat. "But, I mean, well by Federation standards, they're terrorists. But then there was a time when the Federation said that about the Bajorans too, wasn't there."
Ro looked ready to hit someone.
"So there it is, all spelled out so that even someone with as little brain as the two of you can understand it. Three years, Ro Laren. Side with the proper government, side with the rebels, or hide and eek out a desperate life all on your own while the galaxy. Running away again, like the scared child you once were. Still are perhaps. We'll see over the next three years, won't we? Me, the rest of the Continuum, and your precious Federation. But then... if you help them... it would hardly be the first time you were court martialed and put in prison. And if you don't help them... well it wouldn't be the first time people died because of you." With a smirk he vanished. The shuttlecraft reappeared.
Nope! Love it!
Training meant that where Cassian, as a child, would be trembling now, the adult was stone still. As he turned his eyes again to Ro.
In a very low voice: "What… the hell…"
YAY! I'm glad!
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She looked disgusted.
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It wasn't just about her anymore. He'd just encountered something that could threaten the whole Alliance. He wasn't about to turn his back. That was how you got stabbed in it.
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Was he serious? "Even you have to see by now that I am hardly a child. I can take care of myself for a few years. I've done it before, back when I actually was a child, I can do it again." Without slavers hunting for her this time.
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Finally, he shook his head and uncrossed his arms. No… he wasn't going to do to her any of the things he might have done to an adult with a lead he needed. He just wasn't. Besides, who's to say she and "Q" weren't a swindler team trying to get more out of him. He was done.
"All right." He turned away.
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