by Rudy Josephs
They finally reached the bottom of the staircase. They were so deep below the upper level that the remaining light from that floor barely reached them. All they had to see by was Q’s glow.
With a smile from the powerful prankster, the glow intensified, quickly expanding to include Picard, Crusher, and the female Q, before spreading wider and lighting the room.
Enormous white columns were the first things to be revealed, reaching high up to a triangular roof. The columns guarded the entrance to a large stone building that spread out before them in all directions. Picard could not make out the full size of the building from his vantage point, but the front wall was enough to suggest that it was enormous.
Q raised an arm in presentation. “I give you the Library of Alexandria!”
This time Crusher was the first to speak. “You’re giving this to us?”
Q laughed. “Well, no. I meant ‘give you’ in the sense of ‘present to you.’ I like you people and all, but your actual wedding gift is a portable food replicator. The Myndrans went to a lot of trouble transporting this here, as they did with all the treasures. You can’t just take them away any more than Vash could take those gemstones she tried to sneak off with. You have to earn the right to a find of this magnitude. And as I have so often reminded you, humanity has not quite reached that level yet. Oh, but you’re getting there. You are getting there.”
Picard was still amazed by the discovery. If it was, in fact, the real Library of Alexandria from Earth’s ancient past, just being able to see it was almost enough for Picard. But, knowing Q, there was more to this than just a glimpse at history. “So, if you are not giving us the library, what is the purpose of this?”
Q pushed his way between Picard and Crusher and threw his arms around them. “Why, I’m giving you a wedding, of course!”
With another blinding flash of light, Picard was suddenly in his dress uniform and Crusher was gone.
“Q!” Picard yelled. “Bring her back this minute.”
“Now, now. It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.” Q let go of Picard and moved to the entrance of the library. “She’s inside, waiting for you.”
Picard approached the library with caution. No telling what was actually inside. He did note that the other Q had disappeared as well. Whether that was his present tormentor’s doing or an act of her own accord was inconsequential. All that mattered was finding Beverly.
Picard was assaulted by the scent of the papyrus as they entered the building. Scrolls kept in pristine condition lined shelves from floor to ceiling as they made their way through the rooms. Any other time, Picard would have stopped to at least take a peek, but his thoughts were focused on one objective only: finding Beverly.
It wasn’t as if he thought she was in danger or that Q wasn’t going to do exactly as he’d said: throw them a wedding. But Picard had long since grown tired of this game. He was not sure how much time had passed on Earth, but they had only a forty-eight-hour leave. If they continued to go along with this charade, they might wind up having to return to the Enterprise without having their actual, legal ceremony.
Still, Picard allowed himself to take the time to appreciate the fact that he was walking through the buildings of the library that no other human had set foot in in millennia. Part of him still doubted that any of this was even real, still thought that it was just another of Q’s illusions. Either way, he knew that if it were a re-creation, Q would have spared no detail to make sure it was an exact replica, so Picard was walking through history in one form or another.
After passing through several scroll-filled rooms, they came out to a fragrant garden, with greenery reaching up to the bright sunlight.
“I sent us back in time as well,” Q said, explaining the blue sky up above. “You were so adamant about getting married back on Earth, I decided to send the library along with us to the place it originally stood in the century in which it was at its best. So you’re seeing it exactly as it once existed. That is also my wedding present to you.”
“Thank you, Q,” Picard said, and he meant it. At times, the frustrations of dealing with Q made it easy to forget that he actually knew Picard well. To experience a living piece of history was an incredible gift.
“Oh, and one more thing!” Another wave of his hand, and the empty garden was filled with people sitting in row after row of chairs. Riker and Troi were in the front row, along with Picard’s current crew and other friends and family. Marie sat beside Guinan, who had a look of distrust on her face as she eyed Q. The other faces in the crowd were neutral, as if this kind of thing happened to them every day.
“What have you—”
“They won’t remember any of this,” Q assured him. “In fact, they aren’t quite aware of it even now. I will also make it so that you and the good doctor can recall this day only on your anniversary, so that it doesn’t conflict with your own memories. Consider that a gift as well.”
“Thank you, Q,” Picard said again, and again he actually meant it.
“I know you are a private man, Jean-Luc—sometimes too private for your own good. But you can’t experience a momentous occasion like this without the people who are most important in your life. You taught me that.”
“Glad someone finally taught you something,” the female Q said as she approached the archway. She wore a dress with feathers and metal that looked entirely out of place for any event.
“Every wedding needs a crasher,” Q said, by way of explaining her presence. “Besides, we require a witness. One that will actually remember that this took place.”
“I really do have to get back to my party, though,” the woman said. “So if we could hurry this along.”
“Yes!” Q clapped his hands together. “To the wedding.”
Music filled the air, provided by some unseen orchestra playing the traditional march that had been played at human weddings for centuries. All the guests rose from their seats as one, suggesting that the motion wasn’t entirely of their control. It wasn’t even remotely the wedding Picard had imagined for himself, but seeing the faces of his friends—the family he was almost closer to than he’d been to his own—made it feel somehow right.
And then there was Beverly, bedecked in a stunning blue dress. It was a unique color choice but perfect on her. She looked beautiful on her son’s arm as they walked down the aisle. Wesley seemed just as semiconscious as the other guests as he escorted his mother up to the archway and handed her off to Picard.
“You look beautiful,” Picard said as he took her hand in his.
“Thank you,” she replied, with a nod to Q. “It’s nice to know he can do something right when he puts his mind to it.”
Q ignored her comment as he addressed the gathered crowd. “Dearly beloved, you have been abducted here today to witness the marriage of Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher. Now, I don’t know if these two crazy kids have crafted some beautifully considered and well thought out words for their vows, but I’d prefer to use mine, if you don’t mind.”
“I assume you’ll still do it even if we do mind,” said Picard.
“Oh, Jean-Luc, how you do know me.” Q cleared his throat. “When I met you, I thought you were nothing more than an insignificant bipedal creature playing captain on a starship too small for the enormity that is this galaxy. But over time, I have come to learn that you, and your starship, are far more than you may physically appear. Because you are not just one man. You are a collection of people and shared experiences that make the individual parts of you combine into one fascinating whole.”
Picard was genuinely moved by Q’s words. It wasn’t often that he was complimentary.
“Didn’t know I had it in me, did you?” Q said softly to Picard, before continuing: “Of the many experiences and the people who share your life, there is none that have come to mean so much to you as Beverly Crusher. Together, you have found the only treasure that matters in this existence. And I am so pleased to be the one that allo
ws you now to bind it together through the great mysteries of the galaxy that I possess and share it with all that you know.”
Somehow, Picard knew that Q would bring the vows back to himself, but the message he was ultimately making trumped any egotistical statements. Beverly must have thought the same thing, because the smile she directed his way seemed to say the same.
“It is with great pleasure that, by the powers vested in me by the Continuum and all that is tied together in this galaxy, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
As one, the crowd burst into applause.
“What are you waiting for?” Q said. “Kiss her.”
Picard didn’t often follow Q’s advice, but this was one time he had every intention of doing what the troublemaker said. As he gently leaned forward, his lips met hers and they sealed their odd, impromptu, completely unofficial, and likely not legal wedding with a kiss.
A final flash of light emanated from Q’s fingers, and Picard and Crusher found themselves back in the guest house at the vineyard. But their whereabouts were of little concern at the moment. All that mattered was the kiss.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rudy Josephs is an author with eclectic tastes, having previously written books for Star Trek, the Footloose movie remake, and the WWE.
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ISBN 978-1-4767-7882-2
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
Table of Contents
Cover
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
Copyright
