"Sometimes the Q don't get along."

"They don't really get along with anybody," La Forge pointed out.

"That's true, but sometimes they also don't get along themselves. There's been at least one civil war in the Continuum that we mere mortals know about."

"Yeah . . . that's right! Voyager Voyager's logs mentioned it. There was a report to Starfleet by Kathryn Janeway about a Q civil war," Barclay said.

"I believe it. I've had dealings with Q," Guinan reminded him.

"And do you know anything more about this civil war?" La Forge asked.

"No, but I know them. It made me think about the kinds of weapons they might use."

"Anything they think can be made real," said La Forge.

"So, if things like this spatial fold are lying around the galaxy like a mine field . . ." offered Guinan.

"That's a scary thought," Barclay said.

"No, that's not the scary thought. The scary thought is if that's what's left lying around by the Q, what else could there be?" With that Guinan got up and left.

Leah and Geordi went over to the table where Kat, Nog, and Vol were sitting. "Any plans?"

"The same plan I've always lived by," Nog said. "I call it the O'Brien strategy: Fix it and go home alive at the end of the shift." Vol and Kat laughed uproariously, and then all five of them drank to that particular plan.

By the end of the night, only Leah and Geordi remained. "Geordi . . . Why don't you come back with me? Work on new engines and new starships. You'd be such a great a.s.set to the development program." She hesitated. "There's an opening for a head of the design bureau at Utopia Planitia, and you'd be per-"

He let his head droop slightly before answering softly. "I can't, Leah. The Enterprise Enterprise is home. So many star systems to visit, so many cultures' engineering methods to learn about . . ." is home. So many star systems to visit, so many cultures' engineering methods to learn about . . ."

"I thought you might say that."

"You could come with me. Back to the Enterprise." Enterprise."

She took his hand sadly. "I couldn't tie myself to one engine, and one ship."

"Oh." La Forge couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice, even though he completely understood her position. "Could you . . . tie yourself, as you put it, to one-"

"Person?"

He wasn't even sure until she finished his sentence for him that that was what he was going to say.

"Could you?"

"That I could do," she said.

EPILOGUE.

Geordi and Leah materialized aboard the Enterprise Enterprise and were greeted by Picard and Worf. "Welcome back, Geordi." Picard's smile was genuine but not large, as the memorial service for Scotty was due to be held that evening aboard and were greeted by Picard and Worf. "Welcome back, Geordi." Picard's smile was genuine but not large, as the memorial service for Scotty was due to be held that evening aboard Enterprise Enterprise. It was La Forge's first day back as chief engineer, and not one he had been looking forward to.

"Doctor Brahms," Picard continued, "to what do we owe the honor of this visit?"

As if he didn't know, Geordi thought. Worf could hardly keep a straight face. Geordi thought. Worf could hardly keep a straight face.

"Doctor Brahms has agreed to stay with me for a little while, Captain."

"A little while?" Worf echoed.

"Congratulations, Geordi," Picard said softly. "Now there is one other matter we have to attend to. We must do something about your rank."

"Yeah, Captain, don't worry. I'm perfectly happy to-"

"Do you know what a post captain is?"

"No . . ."

"In the eighteenth-century Royal Navy, a man could be promoted to the rank of captain without having a ship. When he was a.s.signed a ship he was a post captain."

"Yes, sir."

"Until then he was retained at half pay. Now, I do not propose to restrict your benefits and privileges for no longer having a ship of your own, but I have found that there is a rank in Starfleet of captain of engineering."

"Scotty's rank."

"And now yours. Starfleet has approved and amended your service record appropriately." Picard offered him a hand to shake. "Welcome aboard, Captain La Forge."

The memorial that night was a solemn affair. La Forge had expected to see various members of the Corps of Engineers at the memorial, and sure enough Sonya Gomez and her Tellarite first officer were there, but La Forge had not expected to see the tall man who held himself apart from the crowd.

Geordi walked over, trying to figure out how to apologize for getting Scotty killed, or at least for not looking after him well enough. As he approached, the man shook his head slightly, and caught La Forge's gaze with calm, wise eyes. "You do not need to make any special statement before me, Captain La Forge," Amba.s.sador Spock said. "Mister Scott knew, as do we all, that our occupation is not entirely safe. You have nothing to explain."

"I just wish I could have done something-"

"But there was no more you could have done. The actions of the s.p.a.ceborne ent.i.ties, and indeed the fact of their existence, were an unpredictable factor." Amba.s.sador Spock's craggy face softened as he allowed an eyebrow to rise slightly. "In my experience, Mister Scott has always been, shall we say, a man of great ingenuity."

"A miracle worker, in fact."

"Indeed. In his own way, he is as adept at finding ingenious solutions to his apparently certain fate as was Captain Kirk."

La Forge nodded. "Captain Kirk still died, on Veridian III." He fell silent, remembering how close everyone on the Enterprise- Enterprise-D had come to dying there.

"Every probability curve must have a far end. Nevertheless, if there was any means to escape the destruction of the Challenger, Challenger, Mister Scott will have found it." Spock continued, "There are certainties in life, Captain La Forge, but they are finite in number. Extremely finite, in fact. The possibilities, however, are not. There are always an effectively infinite number of possibilities." Mister Scott will have found it." Spock continued, "There are certainties in life, Captain La Forge, but they are finite in number. Extremely finite, in fact. The possibilities, however, are not. There are always an effectively infinite number of possibilities."