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how long I waited for you. An eternity. And you were nowhere to be found. And now here you are, gallivanting about with humans.." well, human. Picard! It would be Picard. Face it, Father," and his voice dropped to such an angry whisper that I could barely hear him, "they were always more important to you than I was." "That's ridiculous!" I told him. "Don't you see that there are time distortions of all manner here? To me, you disappeared a short time ago, but for you, a great deal of time has passed, I'm sorry about that. But I'm not responsible for this perception, I'm--" But Q wasn't listening. Instead he had descended from his hill and was walking back and forth in front of us. "I found someone else. When I waited and waited and you didn't come, another did. God came to me, Father. God." "Nonsense I" He stabbed a finger at the charred place where Data had been standing. "You call that nonsense, Father? I don't see you flashing your powers about! Go ahead! Display your might for me, I dare you!" "You're telling me," I said slowly, trying to grasp what he was saying, "that you derive your power.." from this 'god." From the 'creator of the universe." From the 'almighty." " He nodded. "That is correct. All that I am... comes from Him." "Where is He now?" I asked. "I'd like to speak with "Him." " "He does not wish to speak with you." "Perhaps "He's' too afraid to," I said. "Perhaps He does not care what you think," replied my son, but his eyes flashed in warning. Clearly he did not like having his new mentor spoken of in such a disrespectful fashion. "Where is "He," then?" "He is here," my son said and spread wide his arms to take in the entire firmament. "He is in the ground.." and the skies. His power is everywhere.." and I only feel sorry for you that you cannot feel Him." "And "He' speaks directly to you," I said. "And I to Him." This was sickening to me. I had seen this before. This, "I am the prophet of the Lord, bow before me, scrape before me, give me your money, your trust, your life in HIS service." It made my teeth hurt. There had to be a way to reach him. I draped my hands behind my back. "All right," I said after a moment's thought. "You tell this god of yours..." "He's yours as well." "... your 'god," "I continued, "that I am not leaving with out my son. So He might as well let you go right now, be cause I have gone through too much to leave without you. Furthermore, tell Him that I haven't given up... that I am going to save the universe. I don't care about entropy, or the grand, divine scheme. He's no mysterious, unknowable entity to me. I will stop Him, somehow, no matter who or what He is." "You can't." "I will. And you will, too, because you're going to come with me." "I'm going nowhere, Father. I'm needed here." I reached out, grabbed him by the wrist. "Why? Why are you needed? What does a god need with a deluded young boy?" "I'm neither a boy nor young, and the only one deluded here is you!" he snapped at me and yanked his hand away. "I am here to rejoice in His power. I'm here to worship Him .... " "Worship!" I threw my hands up in disgust. "What sort of superior being has a need for inferior creatures to worship Him?" "What sort? How about yourself, Father? How about a being who is not content to simply reside with his fellow superior beings, but instead has to seek out new lives and new civilizations so that they might worship his presence." "I seek knowledge, not worshipers." "Delude yourself if you must, Father, but do not for a moment seek to delude me! Admit it! You cannot be truly content unless there are poor, powerless beings who are terrified by your presence. That's why you've found such creatures as Picard and Janeway so irresistible. They stand up to you. And you keep coming back to them, time after time, not out of curiosity, not out of a need to explore, but because you keep hoping that sooner or later you're going to be able to batter them into submission and force them to worship at your altar." Picard stepped forward and said, "No. You are wrong. I hardly would consider your father an exemplary instance of the proper use of power. But he has more genuine human emotion within him than you credit him for. Than I think he would credit himself." "I'm not sure you're helping here, Picard," I said under my breath. "And," continued Picard, "being worshiped is not what your father is about." Q turned away and looked to the skies. "I made a bargain with Him, Father. A most excellent bargain. I promised to serve Him, to worship Him... and in return, He not only gave me power.." but He promised that He would never, ever leave me alone. You can sense Him, Father, if you try. That much, I think, you are capable of. Sense Him. Feel Him. Let Him into you, and you too will understand, or at least begin to." He was right. I did sense another presence there. Freefloating, powerful... and malevolent. A malignant, festering thing. If it had a name, it would be a name that would be called out in terror, not blessed with reverence. And I sensed its power as well .... "No," I said softly. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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