Free Enterprise - A Measure Of A Man - Part 2 - #121

Free Enterprise - A Measure Of A Man – Part 2 - #122


The next few hours flew by. At Fatou's suggestion Tamara had two important meetings. One was with her Sister Wives, Gilgamesh, Harper and Monique. They all promised to be present with her to welcome Tyr back to consciousness and to help him as much as possible.

The next meeting was with all of The Insurrection's department heads where Tamara carefully explained Tyr's condition to them. Fatou further explained the importance of informing all of their staff, so that cohesiveness and respect for the Rear Admiral would remain the same.

With Nietzscheans, when males sensed weakness in each other, especially in a high-ranking male like Tyr, there was a chance he would be challenged. Since the Insurrection had a 35% ratio of male Nietzscheans as crew, the command staff needed to firmly nail the issue of loyalty to The Rear Admiral down, right now.

The meeting ended and the department heads filed out. Tamara looked up from her desk and found Kesha standing in front of it.

“Ma'am, may I have a word with you?” she asked.

“Yes, Kesha. What is it?” Tamara asked, as Fatou sat quietly and watched.

“Technically, at warp nine we should have reached Deep Space Ten already, but. . . . .” Kesha started.

“But, what?” Tamara prompted.

”I always hate when there is a but.” Fatou thought.

“We have not yet arrived. In fact, we are no closer to our destination than we were three hours ago.” Kesha replied.

”My, something tells me that we are not going to like hearing the rest of this.” Fatou thought.

“Why not?” Tamara asked.

“As near as I can determine, we seem to be caught up in some kind of time dilation loop which is not allowing us to return to the station.” Kesha replied. “I will need more time to further study the phenomena because the stars are not right.” she continued.

“The stars are not right?” Fatou asked, fascinated.

“Yes, I've flown thousands hours in the Klingon Imperial Navy and for Starfleet and I KNOW our stars. These are not the same stars. I would have to go down to cartography to compare star charts and verify this theory though.” Kesha stated. Tamara nodded because she understood that certain heavenly bodies were guideposts to certain worlds. The Milky Way Galaxy was to Earth, T'Kut and Eridani were to Vulcan, etc. As cutting edge as Starfleet was, they still depended upon the stars to steer by. . . . . .

“Thank you, Kesha. First, you are hereby temporarily relieved of your helm duties. Second, report to Cartography. Third, get back to me with the results, ASAP.” Tamara stated.

“Yes Ma'am.” Kesha replied, and executed a textbook right and left.

Tamara immediately called Gilgamesh and informed him of the changes. He in turn ordered Ensign Anita Coleman to spell Kesha at the helm.

“That bastard!” Tamara cursed, after she had finished. From what she already knew about Q, he was more than capable of doing what Kesha said.

“So, in addition to hamstringing Tyr, Q has placed us in a nice, little goldfish bowl.” Fatou stated. In response, Tamara grumbled something uncomplimentary in Vulcan, which in turn caused Fatou to turn her ears backwards.


* * * * * * * * * * * *


In the meantime Q sat in his special front row seat with a bowl of popcorn in his lap and a tall glass of ice tea on the table next to him.

When Tamara cursed him, Q howled with mirth. However, when Fatou glowered unerringly up at him from where she sat. Q saucily stuck his tongue out at her and continued to laugh.


* * * * * * * * * * *


“You can see him, can't you?” Tamara asked. She'd seen that look on Fatou's face before, and just now realized what it meant.

“No, I cannot see him, but I can sense his presence. He his definitely somewhere close. . . . .” Fatou started.

“. . . . . . and watching us like we are animals in the zoo. I'd love to get my hands on. . . . No, I'll let Tyr take care of him.” Tamara finished.


* * * * * * * * * *


“Oh! I just cringe with abject terror!” Q mimicked in a falsetto, then laughed himself silly.


* * * * * * * * * *


Meanwhile, in another part of the multi-verse The Continuum was having an emergency meeting.

“What do you mean you cannot find him?” the presiding female Q asked.

“We simply cannot find him.” a male Q replied.

“This is precisely why I ordered him to be watched. When he disappears like this, it often means trouble. There's no telling what damage he will cause.” the presiding Q said.

“We understand.” the male Q replied.

“I want you to redouble the search. Do not discount the fact that he may have created his own mini-universe in order to have free reign to wield his mischief.” She order.

“Yes, Q.” the male Q replied, as he and thirty-five other Q blinked out of her presence.

The female Q sighed, as she stood.

“I could use a nice, hot mug of Raktigino right now.” she said to herself. She smiled as a steaming mug of the liquid appeared in her hands. “Ah, and in my favorite mug too.” she added. The Starfleet issue, insulated mug, depicted the logo of the U.S.S. Voyager . . . . . . .




Note To Readers: Would anyone hazard to guess who the Lady Q is?