Chapter 3 - Close Encounters
"So, you know this Osmand creep?"
Mei-Wan looked at Melissa and nodded. "He was one of my instructors at the Academy."
"He just snap for a reason, or does he just like violating the Prime Directive for giggles?"
Mei-Wan took a bite of her salad. She and Melissa Vargas sat at a table in the crowded lounge on Deck Nine.
"I'm not sure what happened to him, except it has something to do with the death of his wife."
"Losing someone you love could make you do things you might not normally imagine, I guess," Melissa said.
Mei-Wan stopped eating and looked at her friend. "I'm not losing Jack."
"Really?"
Mei-Wan set her fork down. "Let's hear it, Melissa."
Melissa's eyes widened. "What?"
"You've been dying to say something about my transfer all afternoon."
"Me? What would I have to say about that except, congratulations?"
Mei-Wan leaned forward. "Well, since you haven't even said that, I kind of figured you had a lot more on your mind."
Melissa took a drink from her glass. "You're getting paranoid. Your transfer is approved. What more is there for me to say?"
"And that talk about losing someone you love had nothing to do with Jack and me?"
Melissa grinned. "Are either of you dying anytime soon?"
"I hope not."
"Then it wasn't about you."
Mei-Wan picked up her fork and went back to work on her salad, but she still didn't believe her friend.
After almost a minute, Melissa looked up at Mei-Wan. "But are you sure about this, Mei? I mean it's a year at least, right?"
"I don't know if I'm sure about anything anymore, but I am going."
"Well, who exactly am I supposed to get to jog with me in the morning from here on out?"
Mei-Wan smiled. "I've taken care of that."
"Really? I can't wait to hear this."
Mei-Wan reached down to her feet and brought out an ornately wrapped box. She handed it to Melissa.
"What the hell is this?"
"Open it."
Melissa tore into the thin paper surrounding the flat package. After the paper was taken care of she pulled the top off and pulled out a PADD.
She held it with two fingers.
"And the point of this is?"
Mei-Wan tried to keep a straight face. "Activate it."
Melissa touched the control and Mei-Wan's voice came out of the PADD saying, "Hold up Melissa," and "Can we take a break for a minute?" then "Another kilometer, are you crazy?"
Vargas descended into laughter quickly joined by Mei-Wan.
"There are over two hundred of all those little gripes I blurt out every time we jog. Just carry that with you and it'll be like I never left."
Vargas shook her head still laughing. "You're ridiculous, you know that? But I love you anyway."
Two alluring Deltan women wearing tight fitting civilian clothing walked up to the table as the laughter began to die down.
"Excuse us?"
Mei-Wan and Melissa turned.
The new arrivals looked directly at Mei-Wan. "Are you Mei-Wan McCall?"
She nodded. "Yes, I am."
One of the bald women smiled. "We caught your presentation back in December on sub-space feed about the Ancient Progenitors. It was wonderful."
But before Mei-Wan could respond to the praise, the other one asked, "We were wondering, are you married to Jack McCall?"
She hesitated, curious as to what this was about. "Yes, I am."
The bald woman grew a wide smile and turned to the other. "See, I told you."
The other spoke unemotionally. "We know that humans tend to have some odd customs regarding their mating practices, so we thought we'd check with you first, just to be courteous."
"About what?" Mei asked.
The other jumped in just as Melissa was taking a drink from her glass. "We wanted to know if you'd mind if we had sexual intercourse with Jack."
The dark liquid shot out Melissa's nose onto her plate. She tried to breath in, but got lost in a fit of coughing.
Mei-Wan sat completely still, her eyes wide as the Deltan woman continued. "You see we had met Jack a number of years ago and well, compared to a Deltan male he was mediocre which for your species' males, is actually quite remarkable."
Melissa was still busy clearing her throat as Mei-Wan sat stunned.
"We wanted to find out if that had changed as he gotten older."
The other smiled. "We've got a friendly wager going about it. I say he's gotten better. Darslena thinks he's probably lost his skill."
"And endurance," Darslena interjected. "So, if you don't mind we'd like to settle this based on experimental evidence."
Mei-Wan looked over at Melissa who fought off descending into another fit of laughter like the one that had caused her beverage to go up her nasal passages.
"Uh, I don't think so," Mei-Wan said in a barely perceptible whisper.
"Why not?" Darslena asked with a frown.
Melissa jumped in. "Humans don't generally allow their mates to engage in sex with anyone else."
Darslena thought for a moment. "But we've been with numerous married human males for the last three years we've worked with the Corps of Engineers. No one ever said anything like that. We were told it was common practice."
Melissa smirked. "Did their wives tell you that?"
"Well, no. Most of their wives weren't anywhere near the places we've been stationed."
The two beautiful Deltans looked at each other a moment and then back to Melissa.
"You mean they were lying to us?" Darslena asked.
Melissa nodded. "Most likely."
The other Deltan frowned. "Let's go."
Darslena let out her breath. "We just wanted to get your permission since you were here, Lieutenant McCall. We didn't want to schedule our encounter with him when you were expecting to... "
The other chimed in. "Perhaps we should just go speak to Jack."
Mei-Wan's eyes widened. She had reached her limit. "Don't go anywhere near him or I'll have you thrown out the nearest..."
Melissa jumped in. "Uh, I think you better leave, ladies. And please, stay as far away from our captain as you can."
The two Deltans seemed puzzled, but followed Melissa's suggestion to leave.
Mei-Wan stared at her plate for a full minute.
"You okay?"
Mei-Wan didn't move. "Deltan women? I thought it was illegal for Deltans and humans to..." She couldn't finish.
Melissa took a bite of her salad. "Not technically. It's against regulations for Deltans in Starfleet to, uh fraternize with less able species, but for civilians what they do is their business. Though I've never heard of Deltan women wanting to get involved with human males."
"I guess Jack's the exception to that," Mei-Wan's voice stammered.
Melissa put down her fork. "Hey, you don't for a minute think he was involved with them since the two of you have been together, do you?"
"I don't know what to think anymore."
"You can be certain he hasn't. He loves you, Mei. He hasn't been with anyone else. I could never believe otherwise."
Mei-Wan looked up at Melissa, "You have that luxury. I don't." She rose from the table.
"Mei, where are you going?"
"To talk to my husband."
"About what? A sexual encounter from years ago? Do you really think that's the best way to spend your last week together?"
"Why not? It will be a perfect match for everything we've been through up to this point."
She walked out and into the corridor and after a few seconds Melissa jumped to her feet and followed. "Damn it."
Out in the corridor Mei-Wan approached a turbolift as Melissa ran up.
"Mei, stop. Don't do this to yourself or him."
Mei-Wan spun around. "Mind your own business, Melissa."
"Oh no. You are not going to start that kind of shit with me. Not now."
"Melissa, don't push our friendship past the point where I won't care anymore."
"That's crap and you know it. You wouldn't end our friendship over something you know I'm right about."
"Right about what? My husband has women wandering about his ship looking for opportunities for sexual experiences with him just a few weeks after he insisted I go on this expedition. Do you think he doesn't know they're aboard?"
"You don't believe that anymore than I do!"
"How in the hell do you know what I believe about Jack? What do you know about him, Melissa? Especially about his sex life? Or is there something else I don't know about?"
Melissa's eyes narrowed and her voice calmed, not because she was, but because she knew it was the only way to control her half-Vulcan seething emotions. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. I know that my best friend would never, ever, even begin to think that about me."
Mei-Wan had never seen Melissa this angry, not even after she had followed Jack's order to investigate Lee McGuire.
The turbolift door opened and Mei-Wan turned about and entered it. She looked up at Melissa and started to say something, but closed her eyes, knowing she had said the wrong thing.
A moment later the doors closed and Melissa shrugged her shoulders. "Mei, you're going to make the biggest mistake of your life today."
***
In Jack's ready room, he and Hank Evans looked over the Starfleet Corps of Engineers' plan for the construction of the spacedock with Lak Negev. Lee McGuire was there explaining his frustrations with the operation.
"I say just open the bay doors and let everything fly into space," McGuire said.
Hank smiled wide, but Jack wasn't in the mood. "While we might all want to fulfill that emotionally satisfying urge, I don't think we can convince the engineers of that, Mr. McGuire."
"I wasn't planning on telling them before I did it, sir."
Even Negev smiled at that. "A malfunction might..."
Jack glared at his executive officer. He had wondered about Negev's tendency toward dry humor the last month or so--- at least Jack hoped that's what it was.
He took a deep breath and sat in a chair. "Gentlemen, let's get back to reality, shall we? I want a plan that doesn't involve explosive decompression to get all of that... material in the main bay out and into orbit in the shortest time span. Is that clear?"
"How about the transporters?" Hank asked.
Lee shook his head. "I already asked them about that. They said no."
Hank frowned. "I just can't see how we can get it out in less than five days."
Negev nodded. "Not with the restrictions that the Corps of Engineers have insisted upon."
"Maybe we should ask Bishop if she thinks there's a way around this," Jack suggested.
Hank shook his head. "Engineers don't stab each other in the back like that. She'd just ask them and we'd hear whatever they wanted us to hear."
They all turned to the sound of the ready room doors opening a distance away. Several moments later, Mei-Wan stormed up the stairs.
She glared at them. "I need to speak to you, Jack."
Jack looked at her a moment and he could tell she was upset. "Mei, we were in the middle of..."
"Jack we need to talk, right now."
"We can talk later. Right now isn't..."
McGuire and Negev got up and started for the stairs, they knew they didn't want to be a part of this. Jack moved to block their path. He looked directly at his wife.
"Lieutenant, we are in a meeting. I will speak to you later."
Her breathing sped up. "Damn it, Jack. Don't you dare pull rank on me this time."
Jack McCall feared little in his life. But there was something primal in this woman's eyes that told him he was in danger of something truly dreadful.
He stepped back and allowed Negev and Lee to exit. Mei-Wan turned to Hank Evans.
"Hank, please go."
"I don't think so."
Her eyes narrowed. "Leave!"
He took a step toward Mei-Wan as Jack remained silent. "No one else will tell you two you've been acting like damn fool idiots for the last several months, but I've had it. You want to chew Jack's ass out about something, go ahead. But afterward I'm going to knock your heads together and make you get your marriage out of the toilet."
Jack sat down in a chair. "What did you want to say to me, Mei?"
She walked away from Hank, still angry at him, but she knew who she wanted to let it all out on.
"Do you know there are two Deltan women aboard looking for you?"
Hank rolled his eyes, "Uh oh."
She shook her head. "So you're in on this? I should have guessed."
"Now just a damn minute," Hank started.
"I don't owe you anything, Hank," Mei said dismissing him.
"Well, since I can assume you do know about them, Jack..."
Jack McCall leaned back and closed his eyes.
"I assume you also know they're looking for you to have sex with them."
Jack didn't move. He knew there was nothing he could say.
"So was that why you wanted me to go on the expedition? All of that about how you were worried Zachary might come after me again was just crap to get me off the ship?"
Jack's eyes opened fast and he looked at her. "No, it wasn't. I am worried."
"So worried, you had a couple of Deltan women brought aboard to calm your fears."
"This is absurd, Mei," Hank started. "Jack didn't even know they were coming aboard."
"But he does know them, doesn't he?"
Jack took a deep breath into his lungs. He was going to need it. "About fifteen years ago, I, well..."
Mei-Wan frowned. "I don't need to hear the details, Jack. You were intimate with them, right?"
He simply nodded.
"Deltan women, Jack? You felt the need to prove something?"
Hank looked at her. "Jack didn't know we were going to meet them that night."
"But he didn't say no, did he?"
Jack stood. "No, I didn't. I didn't say no that night. I didn't say no to Larissa James at the Academy, or to Tricia Powell, or to..." He stopped himself.
Mei-Wan looked at him. "Or who, Jack? How long is this list?"
"It doesn't matter," he said. "The point is all of those women happened before we were married. I have never been unfaithful to you. And I never will be."
"Deltan's have very few inhibitions about sex, Mei," Hank said. "They don't tend to understand human exclusiveness. To them it's like eating one food at every meal for the rest of your life."
Mei-Wan turned to Hank. "Can we have at least a little privacy?"
Jack motioned to Hank who complied. He walked down the stairs that led out of the ready room, leaving Jack and Mei-Wan alone.
She couldn't look at Jack. "With everything I said about Kyle and me, I thought maybe you had decided to give up on us."
Jack smiled. "Mei, I'm scared out of my mind you're going to end up in that worthless idiot's arms, but I would never go to another woman."
"Why not?" she asked. "Why settle for me when you can have a Deltan woman?"
She shook her head and took a step back from Jack. "No, you don't even have to settle for that, do you? The great Jack McCall gets two Deltan women!"
Jack took a deep breath. He was about to shout at Mei-Wan, but stopped himself and turned away.
She grabbed his arm and forced him back around to face her. "Don't you dare turn away from me, you son-of-a-bitch! Don't you dismiss me like that!"
Jack looked into the rage filled eyes of his wife and realized for the first time there was something else there as well.
She's afraid, he thought. My God, she's really afraid.
"Why are you even pretending to want me anymore, Jack?"
Jack's mouth opened, but nothing came out. He couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make the situation worse.
Fortunately for him, he wouldn't get the chance.
A figure wearing the uniform of a Starfleet captain appeared in a flash of light in the chair behind Jack's desk.
"Yes, my dear, those two Deltans satiated desires you can't even begin to imagine."
Jack and Mei-Wan turned to the voice of the being Jack had met once before.
"Who the hell are you?" Mei-Wan asked as Jack frowned.
"He's one of the Q."
The entity grinned. "Can you two idiot primates possibly move this emotional crisis along? I have a matter to discuss with you concerning your current mission, Jack McCall."
Mei-Wan looked over at the Q. "Perhaps what's going on here seems trivial to a creature like yourself, but it does have meaning to us."
Q rolled his eyes. "Please... 'meaning'? I've seen more meaning watching gas molecules interact. At least when they get together something happens. Human mating is pointless."
Q looked up at the ceiling. "I can sum it up for you. 'Uh, uh, uh... Oh, Jack... Oh, Mei.'"
He turned to them. "That's exciting isn't it?"
Q stood from the chair. "Yawn!"
He walked over to the window behind Jack's desk. "Add the two Deltan females and you might actually get someone to pay attention."
Mei-Wan's stared in shock. "You watch us?!"
"Let's get in a little closer and see if the male can convince the female he has been faithful," he said mockingly. "This species females insist on that. She's sniffing his hind quarters, still not convinced." Q smiled. "It's a boring Galaxy--- all those planets and still nothing to watch."
Mei-Wan, enraged, turned to Jack. "He watches us make love?!"
Jack was glad that she was angry at someone else now, but the thought that every time they were intimate some galactic peeping-tom watched them was unsettling for him as well.
"Q, isn't there someone else you can go torment?"
The being thought a moment and then shook his head. "Not right now there isn't. Besides, I thought humans liked the Q."
Jack frowned. "Not especially."
"Oh, come on. What's not to like?"
Jack tilted his head as he considered that. "How much time do you have?"
Mei-Wan closed her eyes. "Will you just go away and leave us alone?"
"But I'm fun to have around," Q said. "All my friends say so."
"Well, since we don't fall into that category, you could do as she asked," Jack said.
Q looked down for a moment and then back to Jack. "Perhaps I'm not following your social customs as well as I thought."
He walked away from them toward the lounge area of the Ready Room and sat down in one of the couches. A smile came to his face. "I know! Your species likes humor doesn't it?"
Jack rolled his eyes while Mei-Wan leaned against the desk.
"There's a great joke going around the continuum," Q began.
"Oh, please," Jack whispered.
"How many humans does it take to reorder the quantum state of a proton?" He looked at Jack and Mei-Wan expectantly. "Plus or minus forty-two!" he finished with a howl of laughter.
Jack looked at Mei-Wan who shook her head.
"Does he go away if you ignore him?" she asked.
"I doubt it," Jack replied.
Mei-Wan looked up at her husband and smiled.
Q, however, frowned. "I guess I shouldn't expect lower lifeforms to understand such things."
"Do you see us bothering less advanced lifeforms when we want to be entertained?" Jack asked.
Q stared at him. "Should I mention circus monkeys?"
Jack thought a moment. "Okay, you've got us with that one."
Mei-Wan grinned while Jack tried to out think a being as far removed from humans as humans are from insects. She thought, I guess I have to admire his courage.
"How about you get to whatever brought you here?" Jack asked.
Q let out a long breath. "Oh, that. I'm supposed to let you know this planet you're going to, Cajma, I think. Well, that this planet..." Q laid his head back on the couch. "Well... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! And who cares!"
Q leaped to his feet with a burst of anger. "You know I could be doing something interesting like watching mold grow, but no! I get sent to play with the primates again!"
He walked back toward Jack and Mei-Wan. "I really don't understand what certain members of the Continuum see in your kind. You're hardly a sentient species and your place in galactic affairs is less than irrelevant."
Jack grinned. "The Vedala seem to have the same opinion of the Q"
Q stopped, frozen in place. "The Vedala?"
His head turned looking about the room as if searching for something.
After a moment he turned to Jack and glared. A second later they both disappeared in a flash of light leaving Mei-Wan alone.
"Jack!"
Darkness surrounded the captain of the Chamberlain. He turned every direction and saw nothing but nothing. However, when he looked down at his hands and arms they were as illuminated as they had been back in his Ready Room a moment before.
Q stepped out of the blackness and up to Jack with an air of urgency to his face and his movement.
"You have little time, human. Answer my questions directly and completely and you may survive this."
Jack shook his head. "Why the hell should I answer anything you ask me? You're the advanced lifeform. Get your own damn answers."
Q's eyes darted from side to side. Something appeared to have his attention, but Jack saw only the two of them.
Q winced as if in pain and turned behind him. "If we do that we may damage the creature and learn nothing!"
Jack bent to his left a bit to try to see beyond Q, but he saw only darkness.
Q turned back to Jack and lowered his voice. "For your own sake, Jack McCall. Answer my questions. The others of the Continuum are not likely to show you any compassion."
Jack almost replied, but saw the stress in Q's features and thought it better to go along with whatever he found himself in. It wasn't like he could find his way home without the help of this Q.
"All right. Ask your questions."
Q nodded. "You have spoken with the Vedala?"
"Yes."
Q hesitated as if listening to something. "Do you know which one?"
Jack took a breath. "If you mean did it give me a name, no."
"Are they the ones who gave you the advanced shield system your ship has?"
"Yes, I believe so."
"Why did they give it to you?"
"I don't know their exact reasons, but they wanted us to investigate the planet Hel'yra for them."
Q frowned. "Hel'yra? Why would they want you to investigate that? It's an ancient world, long dead."
"Why indeed," spoke a female voice.
Both Jack and Q turned to look out into the darkness which had now taken on a dark blue color and Jack thought he could make out clouds of gas swirling in the distance.
Q turned back to Jack. "Did they ever tell you why that world?"
Jack hesitated. He didn't want to anger the Q, but he didn't want to betray the Vedala either. They had after all, solved his ship's drive problems. And they were much more polite than the Q.
"I don't think I should answer any more questions."
Q started to walk toward Jack, but the female voice spoke again. "Wait."
Jack saw that there were figures in the now bright blue haze surrounding them. He couldn't judge the distance very well, but was sure it was fifty feet or more. Swirling wisps of white gas mixed with the blue making it difficult to make out the figures.
Out of the mist walked a shapely woman who Jack found instantly attractive. Her roundish face was accented by eyes that seemed they could peer into his very soul.
She stopped next to Q and looked Jack over. "They may have tampered with his mind to prevent him from telling us. If we attempt to force it from him he may die."
Q shook his head. "We have to know why they are interested in that world."
The female smiled at Jack. He noticed the tight fitting dark red outfit she wore and for some reason it reminded him of blood--- spilled blood.
"Tell me, human. Did the Vedala say they feared Hel'yra?" the female Q asked.
Jack shook his head. "No."
"Does the apparatus still function on that world?"
Jack nodded slowly. "Yes."
The two Q turned away from Jack speaking in whispers. He noticed the figures in the distance now appeared closer, perhaps no more than ten feet away.
The female looked at Jack. "Did you or your kind tamper with anything on Hel'yra?"
"We activated a holographic message and went into one of the lower chambers. We found a two kilometer wide subspace field."
Both of the Q turned back to face Jack. The female forced a smile. "Understand, the Vedala are obsessed with the past. They center their entire existence about it."
The male Q spoke up. "We look to the future human. We always have."
The female looked directly at Jack. "It isn't often the Vedala communicate with anyone outside themselves. They have knowledge which could benefit many, but rarely share it. It concerns us they have chosen your Federation to speak to."
Jack shook his head. "I don't think that's it at all."
Both Q did their best not to react.
Jack stepped closer to them. "I think you're just as afraid of what's on Hel'yra as the Vedala are. Maybe even more than they are."
"Absurd. We are the Q," the male said.
"All I see is blue and white smoke and you two," Jack said. "I don't ever remember hearing about the Q doing anyone much good. The Vedala were at least helpful."
"They interfere when they are not wanted and sit by when they are needed," the female said with just a touch of anger in her voice.
"They won't tell you what's going on, will they?" Jack asked with a grin.
"We know what's going on human."
"Then why am I here?"
The female and the figures in the mist instantly disappeared. The male Q strolled up next to Jack.
"That helped you, McCall."
Jack smiled. "The Vedala said there was something that 'never should have been' on Hel'yra. They seemed to be very concerned that it stay as it is... as it has been for billions of years."
Q seemed disinterested. "Your point, primate?"
Jack stepped to just a few feet from Q. "Whatever it is, terrifies you, doesn't it Q?
Q looked down for a moment and then back to Jack. A grin came to his face. "Why should I be terrified, Jack? I'm not the one with a target painted on my back."
The next moment, Jack found himself back in his Ready Room. Mei-Wan ran up to him.
"Where were you?" she asked.
"In the Q Continuum I think," Jack replied as he looked about the room for the entity that had taken him away.
"Did you call Hank?"
"I was about to. You were only gone a few seconds."
Jack turned to his wife. "I was gone for almost ten minutes, Mei."
She shook her head. "I just stood up as you disappeared. I was reaching for my comm badge and then you were back."
"I guess when you're omnipotent, futzing around with time isn't that hard a thing to do. But why not just put me back here ten minutes later?"
