#simon tarses

Lilip’s Personal Log, Stardate 43703.0.

There’s a ship I don’t recognize not far outside the window of my quarters. I was asleep moments ago, but then there was this flash of light that had come from it when it arrived that must’ve woke me up. Its color almost reminds me of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, but it’s too small to possibly be that. It looks more like a shuttlecraft of some sort…

It’s likely it belongs to a species I just haven’t seen yet, but there’s always that chance it may possibly be something entirely new!

The thought filled them with a certain child-like excitement and wonder, even when the ship had unceremoniously roused them from sleep moments earlier. A new species! A sapient species! When was the last time they’d seen one? It felt like eons ago, and to know there was a sliver of a chance that there was one just outside the Enterprise’s hull, it left their mind to wonder what they might possibly look like.

Leaning up close to the chilled window and staring at the shuttle’s exterior hardly helped. It was oblong with wings that curved toward inwards as if gesturing to itself. At the bow and stern, it appeared to have almost bulbous growths. The only thing all that pointed to was that, whoever these people were, they had very different ideas of what a ship should look like.

Lilip was able to identify some sort of title near the bow, but with the darkness of space, it was hard to tell anything other than for the top of a few letters they could not immediately recognize in that moment.

I wonder…

They picked up one of the PADDs they had left out the night before and began looking through it eagerly, sitting down upon whatever nearest surface was available. Surely, someone at the bridge had to have made documents of the ship.

Second Officer’s Personal Log, Stardate 43702.9.

It appears that we have made first contact with an individual named Bahf of the Welfanite people, a sentient, sapient, warp-capable species belonging to the Welfanite sector located in the Gamma Quadrant…

Lilip’s mind whirled. First contact! Welfanite! Gamma Quadrant! The mere news felt like a burst of electricity in their system. No amount of sleep would ever suffice again! They could only hope to get a glance at this character, “Bahf,” whoever they were. Was it foolish to ponder what sort of adaptations they may have such late hours? Where did they come from? How did they evolve into what they were now? What did they even look like?

“Welfanite,” they whispered onto the cold, night air, testing the name for themself as they stared up into the ceiling. “Welfanite…” The name only caused a shiver of excitement to run through them.

However tempting it was to try and creep up into the bridge and try to get a look at this Welfanite for themself, they knew they were not scheduled for night shift. The thought was a little disheartening, but those on the bridge likely had it handled. Maybe Lilip would be able to see Bahf somewhere else on the Enterprise later on…

Turning their attention back to the PADD, they looked to see if Data had left any other bits of information regarding the discovery in his log. 

…Bahf seems to avoid giving context for as to why she had left her homeworld and her people. Neither does she indicate how she had arrived in the Alpha Quadrant from the Gamma Quadrant. She is currently seeking political asylum within the Federation in exchange for any and all information she may be able to provide on the Welfanites.

Subspace scans showed no signs of verteron particles or other similar anomalies that may explain a possible wormhole or other spatial passageway. It is best advised to alert Captain Picard as soon as possible.

That’s odd… Lilip could not help but think at seeing no explanation for how they arrived. How were they able to travel from all the way out there to here? Did they have some sort of special technology to safely travel from the Gamma Quadrant? They could not help but wonder what Geordi would think of it.

Tail twitching, they looked over the log again, whether it be for something they may have missed or just to reassure themself they had read that right. Welfanite… Lilip’s thoughts repeated quietly in awe. From the Gamma Quadrant… All the way out there? Their mind whirled with ideas and thoughts regarding this person, and for a moment, they sat there, staring at the PADD in their hands.

What are they like…? Are they even humanoid? Why are they here, of all places to be? Nonetheless, they were grateful for their unexpected arrival. It was something new and exciting, and maybe something they could even study in the near distant future, even if only through second-hand reports about the Welfanites…

They could only eagerly await those reports.

…

“Picard to Lilip.”

“Mmph…?”

They sluggishly opened their eyes, slowly attempting to rouse themself out of sleep. Untangling themself from Tango, Lilip sat up in bed and rubbed their tired eyes. What was that noise? Hopefully nothing important. “Computer, time?” “The time is 0500 hours,” it responded mechanically.

Lilip cringed at hearing that. 0500 hours? That’s awfully early… Not to forget waking up earlier.

But the thought of the ship from last night quickly drowned any thought of sleep again and was almost instantly replaced with a sense of exhilaration at the idea of a new species once more. It felt as if adrenaline had been pumped into their veins at the mere thought of it.

“Picard to Lilip. Please respond.”

They looked up, startled to hear the captain’s voice over the intercom system. Lilip’s tail involuntarily settled itself over their lap as they considered why he would contact them so early on in the morning.

“Lilip here,” they answered, hoping he did not hear the morning hoarseness in their voice. They quietly coughed in an attempt to clear it.

“Please come to my ready room. There is something we need to discuss."

The phrase ready room caused their eyes to widen. “Yes, sir! Right away!”

“Thank you. Picard out.”

Lilip immediately leapt out of their bed and scavenged for whatever more appropriate clothes they had on hand, even if it meant wearing another one of Wesley’s hand-me-downs, and hastily prepared themself for the day.

Rushing out of their quarters, Lilip nearly ran into several people minding themselves in the corridors. Although many did cast odd glances at the alien nearly sprinting down the halls like a madman, they hadn’t the time to even acknowledge them. They only slowed their gait to a slightly more leisurely pace when they saw Simon Tarses similarly headed toward the turbolift.

“Hey, Simon!” Lilip gave a friendly smile at sighting him, though they sounded a little hurried.

The quarter-Vulcan returned the expression, although a bit hesitant. “Captain Picard has requested my appearance in his ready room.”

“Oh, you too?” They raised their brows. “Maybe it's something to do with the medical and science departments.”

Entering the turbolift after them, Simon gave the computer orders for the bridge, and then answered Lilip, “I suppose so.”

There was this anxious feeling that bubbled in their chest, an eagerness to physically move and make their way to the bridge on their own, but it was a pointless desire once the turbolift shut its doors and hummed to life. It moved through the Enterprise like a red blood cell through capillaries, its passengers the oxygen it carried up to the heart of the ship.

Standing idly, Lilip’s tail twitched erratically. They hoped, silently, they knew what Captain Picard was implying by “discuss,” but it felt wrong to assume such a thing, for it sounded almost too extravagant to imagine.

Simon quirked a brow at their tail, but he made no remark.

“Did you see the ship outside earlier?” Lilip asked, hoping to break the silence.

“It’s impossible to miss with the light that had preceded it. It vaguely reminds me of a Terran peanut. I don’t believe I’ve seen any other ship quite like it.”

“Data said that it belonged to the Welfanite people, to a person named Bahf.”

Simon furrowed his brows at them. “The… ‘Welfanites…?’” He echoed, sounding incredulous. Pausing, he then inquired with a look of concern, “How were you able to get this information? You weren’t looking at personal logs, were you?”

Lilip stiffened, and they then pulled an anxious smile at him. “Uhm, maybe…?”

He opened his mouth to object, but the turbolift doors opened to the mostly-empty bridge before he was given the chance to speak. One or two crewmen tossed glances in their direction as the two stepped out, but they were quick to return to their own duties. With Simon in tow, Lilip led the way to Captain Picard’s ready room, more than relieved to find an excuse to abandon that conversation.

Upon entering, they found him warily watching a figure leaning over his pet lionfish’s tank. When the doors shut, the figure flinched and straightened up, as if broken from some sort of trance, and she swiveled on her hoof toward the two.

Lilip was startled by her and could only assume the individual to be Bahf. She seemed to be nearly seven feet tall, with thickly-furred digitigrade legs and a lengthy, muscular tail that almost entirely lacked hair. Green was the only color Lilip could really define her as having, and if her clothes nor fur were not such a color, she would’ve been entirely varying shades of green.

“Crewman Simon Tarses, Miss Lilip,” Captain Picard started dryly, nodding to each of them. He then moved his hand in the direction of the figure. “This is Miss Bahf of the Welfanites. She will be staying with us for the time being.” The Welfanite’s eyes were pinned upon Lilip. For a species with protruding fangs, her pupils were strangely horizontal, reminding them of… their mind came to a blank.

What was that species from Terys Beta called again?

Turning her gaze back to Captain Picard, Bahf made the first move. “You are joking, right? You jest! That is a diplomat! You’re not sending a diplomat to do a scientist’s work.” She waved a clawed hand in Lilip’s direction. “Try again, Mr. Picard. I would think a Human such as yourself would know his positions of command,” she spoke dismissively, practically tauntingly.

Captain Picard let out the most restrained of exasperated sighs, steeling himself for his next words. “Miss Bahf, I do not know your people nor your culture, but Miss Lilip here is a very fine xenobiologist—” “‘Xenobiologist?’” Bahf interrupted and pulled her lips back in a wide grin, revealing sharp teeth. Turning back to Lilip, she continued, “I would never have expected that from you, but I suppose it would make sense considering your people’s history. Please, do enlighten me: What led you here?”

A shiver ran down Lilip’s spine. They weren’t exactly certain of whether it was from her choice of words or her oddly knowing expression. Hesitating, they opened their mouth to try and make a reply or defense of some kind, but they were thankfully saved by Captain Picard, who raised a silent hand to stop them.

“Bahf.” Hardening his gaze, he stood and paused, waiting to gather her attention. “As I was saying, Lilip here is a fine xenobiologist, and I am more than glad to have them on this ship. If you wish to argue with command, save it for another time.”

Pride swelled in their chest at his words. Though they were taken aback, it was nice to hear someone think that of them, let alone from Captain Picard. Turning to the two at the door, he continued, “Crewman Simon, Miss Lilip, you two will be in charge of collecting information regarding Welfanite biology. At this point in time, I do not require an in-depth study, but some basic scans and tests will do just fine.”

Simon cast a brief, wary glance toward Bahf. “Sir, not to question your orders, but why are we doing this?”

“Why, political asylum, of course!” Bahf replied before Captain Picard could gather his words. “It’s only a fair trade.” Captain Picard sharply inhaled but gave no other acknowledgement toward her. “Miss Bahf is the first Welfanite we’ve made contact with, and one of the first species hailing from the Gamma Quadrant through technological means. With her permission, it is best we gather this data now rather than later so when, presumably, more Welfanites make their way here, we can assist them as needed.” It was obvious to Lilip that he purposefully neglected the fact that she refused to explain why she was here or why she sought such a thing.

There was something strange to them, though. Why would Bahf willingly hand herself over to science? Glancing at her, there had to be something Lilip was missing…

…or something Bahf is missing.

“You’ll have access to one of the workspaces on Deck Eight,” Captain Picard concluded. “Everything should be there, but you may contact Dr. Crusher if you require anything. 

“Dismissed."

Once the three of them funneled out of his ready room, he let out a small sigh. He hoped he hadn’t made a mistake by letting Lilip partake in this. In a way, this was a small test of his. If it went smoothly, as he preferred, it would give him reason to speak with one of the admirals on promoting them from a civilian position.

If not, well… Only time would tell.

…

En route to Deck Eight, the three of them stood tensely about the turbolift. Simon knit his brows together in worry and tried to avoid staring at Bahf, mostly focusing on the doors. Lilip leaned against one of the walls with their tail coiled around one of their legs. Entirely ignoring Simon like he didn’t exist, Bahf blatantly stared at Lilip as if they were the most fascinating thing she’d seen in her lifetime.

“Lilip…” Bahf started, sounding as if she were testing something, “what are you?”

Cringing, it took everything in them not to viscerally recoil at the question. They looked toward Simon for assistance, who soon stepped in for their aid.

“They aren’t quite sure. It’s a personal matter for them.”

Hearing Simon speak, Bahf gave a startled expression, for once dropping the constant smile. “Oh, oh! I see, I see. I hadn’t meant it that way in the slightest.” Leaning down toward her, Bahf gave a more empathetic look, but something about it felt oddly detached. Was it the way her elongated, deer-like ears still perked up with vapid excitement despite the softened features of her face? Or the way the tufted tip of her tail still raised upward in some sense of delighted surprise?  “I do apologize. The past is a fickle thing. You never know what people have behind them these days.”

“It’s okay,” Lilip assured her with a half-smile, although internally still a little discomforted. Surely, they were reading her wrong. Maybe Welfanites had different ways of expressing themselves. A small part of them wondered what could have resulted in the species appearing this way.

Standing back up, Bahf returned the smile. “Good, good. It would truly be awful if I had upset you otherwise. Not a very good impression from my people!” She laughed, waving a hand. “Please, feel free to yell at me if I make a mistake. It would be better for my ears to go deaf from the consequences than if I were to repeat such a thing mindlessly over and over again.”

They perked up at that. “‘Yell at you?’” Lilip echoed incredulously. “Why would I yell at you?”

“You lot don’t yell at each other?” Bahf looked at them with wide eyes, then looked to Simon. “At all?”

“No…?” Furrowing their brows, Lilip tilted their head at her. “Why would we yell at each other?”

“We work together just fine,” Simon added.

“Well, of course you both don’t yell at each other. Otherwise, how in all the stars would you get anything done?” Bahf shook her head. “I mean, your… Picard. The captain. He doesn’t yell at either of you? You’re not telling me you never make any sort of mistake!”

“No, of course we make mistakes, but I don’t think Captain Picard has ever… yelled at any of us,” they tentatively answered, trying to recall any instance of that.

“...I heard from someone that he told Wesley to shut up on the bridge once,” Simon answered, “but I don’t believe he yelled at him, per se. Maybe he raised his voice, as he’s done it some other times in the past, but I wouldn’t know. There’s little I’ve seen from him personally.”

“He did?” Lilip turned to him, surprised. “Wesley’s been told to shut up by Captain Picard?” They covered their mouth with their hand, hiding their amused expression. Perhaps it was not ideal to find it funny, but they could not help but find the situation at least a little bit amusing.

“It was a stressful situation…” Simon muttered sheepishly.

“So, he does raise his voice!” Bahf grinned, strangely pleased with the answer. “It would be peculiar if he hadn’t.” She paused, a perplexed look settling on her face. “Or perhaps it’s peculiar that he does at all for you lot. After all, you aren’t exactly Welfanites.” There was an exchange of uncertain glances between Lilip and Simon, but no word was uttered when the turbolift opened up. The three of them walked down toward the workspace and soon entered.

…

Lilip had to bury the almost nauseating feeling down into their stomach. It was like the station on Terys Beta all over again, only they were the one studying her. The only thing about it that made it any easier was the fact that Bahf was… mostly compliant. Anything else, and they were unsure if they would have been able to do any of this.

Sitting up on the examination table, Bahf impatiently scowled. “Are you done yet?” She grumbled for the umpteenth, twitching and pulling away whenever the scanner of the tricorder was waved too close. “Almost,” Lilip assured her. They were almost as miffed about this as she was but solely because Bahf was almost constantly moving and fidgeting, thus making scans—or really, anything—difficult and near meaningless. “If you could sit still, please?” They gave an award-winning smile combined with big, rounded eyes that could surely convince even the coldest of hearts.

Bahf scrunched her nose at them in distaste, but she couldn’t fully stifle her grin. “Fine,” she muttered and crossed her arms, turning her gaze elsewhere in bitter relentment. “I suppose…”

“Thank you!”

“Uh-huh,” she grumbled while her tail twisted around her lower leg.

“Lilip?”

Pausing in their scans, Lilip twirled around toward Simon, tail accidentally hitting the side of the examination table in the process. “Yes?”

Hesitating from one of the stationed panels, Simon looked from them to Bahf to them again. “Could you come over here quickly?” Glancing down again, his hands remained stagnant on the screen. “There’s something here I think you should look at.”

Lilip furrowed their brows but came over to him swiftly, walking around one of the desks and to the other side where the panel was located just out of Bahf’s sight. “What’s the matter?” They tilted their head at the screen. He nervously looked over his shoulder toward Bahf again, met her suspicious gaze, and quickly tore apart their eye contact. The glistening of sweat formed upon his forehead. “There’s something off about her biometric data,” Simon explained in a low voice to them. “It’s as if it keeps fluctuating every other scan.”

“Well, it’s not exactly easy to scan her,” answered Lilip. Although they could not understand why Simon was so nervous, they respectfully mimicked his concern and kept their tone quiet. “She’s a bit fidgety.”

“It’s not simply the scans. Even the blood drawn earlier does not match up with any of the gathered data at all.” There was another quick glance over his shoulder. “There is something very, very wrong here, Lilip…”

Shock struck their face. “That doesn’t make any sense!” Their whisper may as well have been shouted across the room. When Simon gestured to keep their voice down, they quickly corrected themself. “That doesn’t make any sense. How is this happening?”

“I am not entirely certain, but take a look at this.” He pointed at the screen before him. “See how Bahf’s pulse rate is rather high right now? It was like this in the initial scans: 242 bpm. Combined with how dilated her blood vessels are, I thought it might’ve been a sign of—possibly—some sort of Vulcanoid. She does not physically resemble them perfectly, considering her ears aren’t exactly pointed, but her blood does have signs of copper in it; not to negate the fact her tail somewhat resembles that of a Romulan one…

“But I digress,” Simon continued. “My point was that I initially believed that this proved the chances of Vulcanoid lifeforms out in the Gamma Quadrant. However—” Finger swiping across the screen, he flew through past data points before pausing on a past scan. “Here, her heart rate was incredibly low and went down to only 40 bpm. Although nothing physically appeared to change, all the other vitals changed as well. Lowered respiration, increased body temperature, increased blood circulation, high brain activity—”

“It seems like all these vitals show high brain activity,” Lilip interrupted, encased in thought. “It looks like the only thing that stays stagnant.”

“I was about to point that out,” Simon murmured beneath his breath.

“May I?” They looked up to him and reached a finger out to the screen. When he nodded, Lilip swiped their finger across the panel, looking at the various vitals taken. Their theory seemed correct about brain activity. It was odd, they supposed, but at least it meant there was nothing wrong with her brain.

…Hopefully.

If anything, the brain activity was unnaturally high.

“Is something wrong over there?” Bahf eventually called, her tone bored laced with mild suspicion. “You don’t seriously expect me to sit here and wait while I watch you two whisper among yourselves like you could actually hide the fact you’re clearly talking about me, do you? Surely, a Romulan and a—an ‘unknown alien’ would be better secret keepers than this.” There was a touch of vague amusement at the latter half of that statement.

“‘A Romulan’?” Lilip echoed, turning to her. “Simon’s not a Romulan. He’s a quarter-Vulcan.” What is she getting at by the way she said “unknown alien?”

Unless…

Eyes squinting, Simon knitted his brows. “I assure you I am not any bit Romulan.”

An amused grin pulled at Bahf’s lips, showing sharp teeth beneath. “I misunderstood.” The tip of her tufted tail raised in a Welfanite sign of peace. “I hope you can forgive me. I am still learning of the different species here.”

“It’s okay,” Lilip assured her. How is she aware of the Romulans? A sense of suspicion ran through them. Surely, it was a vain feeling, though? Bahf may have just overheard someone mention them and misunderstood. Or perhaps she had contacted another ship before them that had a Romulan onboard and confused them for Simon’s Vulcan features.

Out of the corner of their eye, they noticed Simon’s blatant discomfort beside them. He was stiffly frozen in place, petrified, and he stared at Bahf as if he were a child caught in a lie. His hands seemed to shake.

“Are you okay?”

“I am fine,” Simon insisted, although his face told otherwise. Only when Lilip tried to reach out comfortingly did he seem to snap out of it, pulling away from her. “All is well. I am perfectly fine.”

They tilted their head at him. “You sure?”

“Quite so.”

Lilip watched as he turned back around the console and returned to logging results, but his face appeared ever distracted. Looking back to Bahf, however, revealed something oddly similar. With eyes focused elsewhere, she slowly scratched at the olive-colored hairs that grew along the side of her face. Her expression lacked the same, deep-rooted concern Simon held, but there was still some thought in the expression.

But what is she thinking of? The mistake she had just made, the outcomes of it? 

Or… something else, like her people and what led her here? The latter thought made their heart sink a little. Without much understanding of Welfanites or their culture, Lilip could hardly imagine what had led her here, so far out from the Gamma Quadrant and from her homeworld.

“Hey, Simon?” They said softly.

“Yes?”

“How about we take a break for a while? We can come back to this later.”

Simon hummed in consideration. “That may be an ideal course of action…” He paused. “I wish to send the biometric data to Dr. Crusher and see what she thinks of it. I may also see if engineering has any thoughts. Perhaps there’s something wrong with the equipment in this workspace, or there’s an outside factor I’m not thinking of. You go on ahead and take Bahf with you.”

“You don’t want to come with us?” Lilip sounded a bit more hurt than they would have liked and winced.

Hearing them, Simon halted in his work before hanging his head. “I desire to continue working on this,” he answered as evenly as possible, although his voice gave way to a hint of nervousness. “I sense there is some sort of… breakthrough of some kind up ahead. I only require more time.”

“Alright, I understand.” Their tail nearly dragged across the ground as they approached Bahf. It was evident something was wrong with Simon, more than he wanted to show, but Lilip could not help but wish he were just a bit more willing to let it go for now. They were just as concerned about the matter as he was—after all, weird vitals weren’t exactly a good sign, yet Bahf here seemed fine otherwise. It could easily be summed up to Welfanite physiology…

But his concern seems to be more than just the vitals. He seems to be upset about Bahf—

“A break, I hear?” Bahf grinned eagerly before Lilip could even open their mouth. “I could go for a break. Beats sitting around.” Hooves clacked against the metal ground as she leapt to her feet. She nearly lost her balance and slipped in the process. Quickly, Bahf grabbed the examination table for support and gritted her teeth, hissing beneath her breath.

Lilip tensed. “Are you okay?” They gasped and offered a hand for assistance. “No, no. I am well. Your floors are… slippier than I imagined,” she replied coolly, slowly situating herself again. There was still a certain stiff hesitation in her movements while Bahf readjusted herself. Eventually, she let go of the table. Despite it all, a smile once more formed upon her features like nothing had happened, and she clasped her hands. “What do you have in mind?”

“I was thinking the holodeck might be fun.” Lilip returned the expression, but they could not help but wonder if the holodecks would be too much for her. How will that affect her vitals?

Her eyes eventually narrowed at the word. “‘Holo… deck?’” Bahf echoed with uncertainty.

…

The holograms that encompassed Lilip and Bahf came in the form of a late, twentieth-century suburban neighborhood. Surrounding them was a picket fence in the backyard of a Terran house. In the back of it stood a few instruments atop a wooden platform as a makeshift stage.

The program still had a few problems that needed to be worked out, but Lilip felt confident in their choice. It wasn’t too overstimulating nor something that could cause overexertion—although Bahf had not shown any signs of being in any kind of pain, other than the odd vitals—, so it should be safer for her. They just hoped the holodeck wouldn’t trap them in here and malfunction again, like it had in the past when they were with Riker and Troi. The last thing they wanted was for Bahf to have a bad impression for her first time in one.

“They’re able to fit all of this within the Enterprise?” Using her hand to block out some of the moonlight, Bahf squinted up at the sky. “How in the name of all the mountains are you lot able to do that?”

Lilip snickered, admittedly amused at her misunderstanding. “It’s not actually here. It’s only holograms made to look like it is.”

“It’s all an illusion, then…” She quietly answered in understanding, her eyes glancing at the instruments. “My species would find this utterly revolting, but truthfully, I find this absolutely fascinating.”

Surprise crossed their face at that. “‘Revolting?’ Really?” Their mind lingered back toward the time they had tried to fall asleep in here, and it took everything not to viscerally shudder at the memory of the off-appearance of the Caitian woman. “I mean, I could see why.”

“You see, Welfanites don’t entirely… understand the idea behind lying,” Bahf explained vaguely. “It’s not in our blood, so the story goes. Something as this would bring many questions to the government and our tradition. ‘Do holograms count as a lie? What makes it a lie? What qualifies as a lie?’” She waved a bored, dismissive hand. “Our philosophers would be bickering for hours.”

“You’re saying your species doesn’t lie, then? At all?” Lilip’s eyes went wide.

“Even the whitest of lies would lead to exilement,” Bahf grumbled, but it was soon swallowed back with a more pleasant expression. “But, who cares what Welfanite tradition thinks? I get to stay on a lovely ship with some of the most interesting individuals.”

They returned the expression, but her grumblings of exilement did cause a twinge of curiosity to run through them. So, Bahf was exiled due to lying about something… What was it? As much as Lilip would love to ask, it wasn’t the time.

“This isn’t where you grew up, is it?” She commented idly while eyeing the trees overhead. Crossing her arms, she buried her hands into the sleeves of her silk coat, as if chilled by the night wind.

“No, it isn’t…” Lilip responded slowly, their magenta face turning a shade darker. “But it’s just a little program I’m working on. It’s not done yet, but I think you’ll like it! There’s some chairs somewhere…” They looked around momentarily, searching for them.

They noticed how the insects and frogs suddenly went silent. The lack of their song was deafening in the otherwise peaceful air. That was odd. Nothing should have scared them… Lilip could only sum it up to the program malfunctioning. Already.

They smothered a frown.

Seeming to notice, Bahf cast a glance out past the fence but otherwise said nothing on the matter. “Don’t worry yourself. I can stand fine enough as it is,” she answered their earlier offer. Approaching the folding table that was set near the side gate, she picked up a pitcher of dyed, artificially flavored water. 

Immediately, she cringed and recoiled at its smell and set it back down before it could spill. “You drink this?” Her teeth were still bared in a distraught, almost distrusting look with her tail lashing behind her. “You jest! I know you lot drink poison on purpose, but this is an outrage! Surely, this could kill at least a whole planet.”

“What? No, it’s not poison!” Lilip was equally as unsettled as she was and held out their hands in a sign of peace. “As far as I know, just about anyone on the Enterprise can drink it. It’s only a sugary drink… that might be slightly spiked…” They winced at their own words. Not a good time for that!

There was an undeniable intensity in the air, even when Bahf relaxed enough to crane her neck to glare at the pitcher with suspicion. “Even worse,” she hissed. “The poison is poisoned.”

“It’s not poison in itself—”

“Poison or not, that stuff is vile.” Bahf could not bear to look at it any longer. “What is the point in this? Please don’t say you’ve brought me here simply to make a mockery of my people, even if I am the one in exile from them.” “‘Mockery of—?’ Bahf, I never meant that!” Lilip tried to reassure her, among their own bafflement. “I can remove it from the program or replace it with something else, if you’d like.” Worry rose within them, and it took everything not to respond in a nervous manner. The last thing they wanted at the moment was to upset her further.

“Oh, keep it. It doesn’t matter enough,” Bahf huffed dejectedly and crossed her arms behind her. “You know nothing of my own, as you know nothing of your own.” Walking around her and toward the stage, her tail dragged along the grass, pushing past drying and dead leaves.

“As you know nothing of…—” Wait.

“You know something, don’t you?” Lilip blurted before they could think through their words. “About my people?” Hesitation welled within them as they began to fidget with their hands, and they added, “You… implied earlier…”

A coy smile twitched at Bahf’s lips; it was a sudden and stark contrast from the miserable figure just a second prior. “Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. The Gamma Quadrant is quite a large place, and I haven’t explored all of it. But I’m wasting your time and boring you to death, aren’t I? I’m afraid my species is known for that.” 

Before Lilip could get a word in, Bahf gestured to the stage. “Well, do you play?” She asked in a lighter voice.

“Yeah… Yes, I do,” Lilip stammered out. Their mind was still reeling from the small bite of information. Bahf knew something, but what that was, and how much she knew… It could be the very difference between finally understanding what they were or wasting another who-knows-how-many-years in waiting. “A simple solution then!” Smiling, Bahf clasped her hands together with a small clap! “A trade, if you will. You see, I’m interested in these instruments you have. My species has none like it, and I wish to hear what they sound like. In turn, I may be able to provide a little bit of information.”

“...Okay, right!” It dawned on Lilip why they had brought her here again. “I can do that! But the program isn’t fully complete yet, just so you know, so maybe don’t be too critical…” 

Leaping onto the stage, they grabbed the microphone and leaned into it. “Where’s the band?!” Lilip shouted into it. Feedback whined in response, and they smothered a flinch. However, their audience member visibly cringed and tensed at the noise, her tail coiling in the grass.

“There is No Band!” Shouted three voices from all around, causing Bahf to frantically twist her head about to find the source.

“I said…” They repeated with growing bravado, “where’s the fucking band?!”

“There is No Band!”

Instantly, the area fell into darkness. No more than a few moments later, Lilip and three Humans of nondescript appearance were illuminated on stage, each attending their respective instrument. The song started somewhat slow before soon picking up with the guitar. 

Lilip leaned into the microphone again, as they started to sing,

“I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour,

“But Heaven knows I’m miserable now.

“I was looking for a job, and then I found a job,

“And Heaven knows I’m miserable now.

“In my life, why do I give valuable time

“To people who don’t care if I live or die?”

Resting her chin upon her propped up hand, Bahf appeared to initially show little interest in the song. However, her tail flicked in the beat of the drums. Just that little bit of enjoyment encouraged Lilip onward:

“Two lovers entwined pass me by,

“And Heaven knows I’m miserable now.

“I was looking for a job, and then I found a job,

“And Heaven knows I’m miserable now.

“In my life, oh, why do I give valuable time

“To people who don’t care if I live or die?”

The bassist suddenly froze in place, although the sound of the bass could still be heard. Lilip fumbled the chords when they noticed, but still, they continued,

“What she asked of me at the end of the day,

“Caligula would have blushed.

“‘Oh, you’ve been in the house too long,’ she said,

“And I naturally fled.

“In my life, why do I smile

“At people who I’d much rather kick in the eye?”

Then the drummer entirely disappeared, along with the drums themselves. Twirling around on their foot, Lilip looked to see if the electric guitarist was still there at the very least, only to find the Human replaced by a livid ichkhari with bared fangs.

Yelping, Lilip quickly tossed the guitar in its direction, and it hit the armored creature squarely in the face. It was enough of a distraction for them to leap off from the stage and manage a little distance from the creature.

“That’s not supposed to happen!” They shakily whispered to Bahf, who could only stand and stare.

Furiously, the ichkhari tore its serrated claws into the instrument, ripping the strings apart almost instantly. The wood splintered beneath its heavy paws, and the neck broke from the body the second it bore its teeth into it. Lilip’s heart broke at the sight of the crushed guitar when the creature was finished making a mess of it.

Tail lashing behind it, the ichkhari then turned its vile face toward them in a wild glare. Although hailing from the ‘tcharian homeworld, it appeared like that of a Terran lion. Only this animal lacked the light pelt or long mane, and instead was covered in keratin plating resembling scales that could take what would feel like lifetimes to break through to kill it.

“Can’t you get rid of it?” Bahf hissed through her teeth. Petrified, Lilip was too frightened to respond.

It fell into a crouch, and its ears pinned back at Bahf’s speech. The change was enough to cause Bahf to take an unsteady step back in uncertainty.

Suddenly, it lunged from the stage and pinned Bahf to the ground. She screeched and writhed beneath it, tail flailing wildly. Her claws uselessly scratched at the beast’s armor while it tried to bury its own teeth into her throat.

“Computer! End program!” Lilip called out frantically as they rushed over.

Instantly, the ichkhari, along with the once peaceful scenery, disappeared. Once again on the Enterprise, they instead stood in a room with vibrant, yellow lines that treaded along the ebony-colored walls like graphs. The dull humming of the ship soon became apparent once more.

Hissing audibly, Bahf curled up on the floor. She covered her face with her arms and moved her knees to her chest. Lilip could hear her muttering something beneath her breath, but it was entirely inaudible to them. Nonetheless, it only drew out worry from them for her.

Were the safety protocols not in place? Kneeling next to her and resting a hand on her shoulder, Lilip asked, “Are you okay?—” 

“Agh!” She yelped and seemed to convulse and flail on the ground at the mere touch. 

Narrowly missing being hit by her tail, Lilip was forced to stand and stared at Bahf with wide eyes. “It’s okay! It’s me!” They tried to calm her, but she gave no response or sign that she even heard. Eventually, Bahf came still, but her gaze was entirely distant, and she shivered.

Not good. Not good at all.

As concerned as they were, they couldn’t see any blatant wounds or any other obvious sign she was injured. Still, however, their uneasy worry for Bahf lingered. After all, as far as they’ve seen, this wasn’t a normal response to the holodeck.

Although the ichkhari appearing wasn’t normal either, Lilip realized. …and neither were Bahf’s vitals. Their stomach twisted at the thought.

“I’ll be right back, okay? Just, stay here!” It came out a bit more anxious than they would have liked, but it was all they could muster in that moment. Swiftly, they rushed outside of the holodeck and into the hallway. They couldn’t spot it at first glance, but they speedily came to the computer terminal.

“Lilip to Sickbay.” They paused, impatiently waiting for a response.

“Crusher here.”

How was Lilip to even explain this? “There’s a… There’s a medical emergency on Holodeck 3!” They shouted through the terminal. It was the fastest thing they could think of, even if it wasn’t descriptive at all.

“I’ll be right over.”

A sigh escaped Lilip that they hadn’t realized they had been holding. It was not quite relief, but there was a little bit of peace in knowing Dr. Crusher was on her way.

She’ll be here soon… before anything worse happens.

…I hope.

…

When Dr. Crusher arrived, she immediately recognized the figure on the floor as the one Simon had spoken of with her moments earlier in regards to Bahf’s vitals, and an uneasy look settled on her features. “Hello there, Bahf. I’m Dr. Crusher,” she greeted as calmly as she could manage in a somewhat maternal manner. Taking out her medical tricorder, she knelt down next to her. “I’m just going to do a few quick scans, and then we’ll get this figured out, alright?”

Bahf gave no sign of acknowledgement—a discomforting sign in itself.

“I wouldn’t suggest sitting there,” Lilip advised, watching a fair few feet away. “I set my hand on her shoulder, and she nearly hit me.”

“‘Hit you?’” Dr. Crusher echoed back in surprise.

“I was trying to comfort her, and she had some sort of full-body spasm…” They trailed off, shuddering.

Dr. Crusher stared at Bahf’s curled up body for a moment, processing this new information with a growing distraught look. “That could be from any number of problems…” She murmured before raising her voice to normal levels, “What happened before she ended up like this?”

“We were in a program I was still working on based on a suburban neighborhood,” they explained swiftly. Their tail twitched as they recalled the event. “I was playing a song for her, but this ichkhari suddenly appeared and tried to attack her.”

“And I can assume that’s not supposed to happen?”

Pocketing their hands to keep themself from fidgeting, Lilip shook their head. I knew I shouldn’t have brought her here…

Dr. Crusher frowned, looking at the tricorder. “These readings aren’t any different from the ones Simon showed me, but I need the equipment from Sickbay to get a better look.” 

“Is she going to be okay?” Lilip asked quietly. It was a question they didn’t really want to ask.

There was a pause. “We’ll have to wait and see,” Dr. Crusher answered, “but I would like to think so.” Setting the tricorder back, she stood back up and tapped her combadge. “Crusher to Sickbay. Three for emergency transport.” Streaks of light formed about them, and before Lilip knew it, they were rematerialized in the Enterprise’s Sickbay.

Bahf was already laid out on the biobed. The sudden transport alone seemed to rouse her out of her previous state. Twisting her head this way and that at the various medical staff that tended their stations, she angrily hissed, “What is this? What have you lot done to me?”

“You were unresponsive on the holodeck floor,” Dr. Crusher explained while looking over vitals. Although she remained collected, she couldn’t conceal the look of surprise in seeing Bahf come-to so quickly without any intervention other than beaming her over here. “There was no other choice but to bring you here to Sickbay.”

“‘Choice!’” Bahf loudly scoffed and turned her head away from Dr. Crusher, eyes landing on Lilip. “How I wish I had such luxuries.” 

Taking out her tricorder, Dr. Crusher began to scan the Welfanite’s head. “I’m sorry, but we had to transport you here. I couldn’t leave you there without any sort of help,” she replied. Her brows furrowed at the results before walking off to speak with one of the nurses.

With Dr. Crusher gone, Bahf went on, unprompted, “I was forced into this, you know. Coming here wasn’t my choice.”

“About coming to Sickbay?”

“No, here. The Enterprise,” she answered sharply. A feeling of sympathy washed over Lilip at hearing that. “I could understand that. I didn’t get much of a choice in coming here either.”

Bahf’s eyes lit up, and there was an emotion that followed that they couldn’t quite pinpoint. Anger? Shock? Anxiety? Whatever it was, it soon was swallowed up and replaced with a similarly sympathetic expression. “What happened?”

They tensed at the sound. It was a question they should have expected, but even when they knew it was coming, it wasn’t one they fully enjoyed answering. Pausing to gather themself, they answered briskly as to move on from the topic, “The station on Terys Beta, my home moon, was crushed from an expulsion of atmosphere coming from the planet it orbited. I was the only survivor.”

Humming came from Bahf in thought, a pause while she processed the information. She leaned her head back in rest, although there were signs of mild irritation at Dr. Crusher for the current situation still. 

“I’m sure you’ve put together I was exiled by my own, based on my earlier statement,” she eventually answered, tilting her head toward Lilip. “I lied about something menial. A horrid thing, I know, but I had done it to save my own skin.” She didn’t look the slightest bit proud of herself at that statement, but it was plain she was prompting them to ask.

“What did you lie about?” Lilip gave an inquisitive look. “Menial?” I know they’re not supposed to lie and don’t understand the need for it, but how small could it have been for something as big as exile?

Bahf glanced around to see if anyone was listening and leaning in as best she could, she whispered, “I said I had no favorite color; when in reality, I did, I just didn’t have the time to explain the exact shade of green.”

Two emotions hit Lilip at once at that confession: The first of which was amusement they had to conceal at the mere idea of that being the whole reason for Bahf’s exile, while the other was bafflement at the concept of that being the cause for exile. Although they understood why that was the reason, they still couldn’t wrap their brain around the whole idea.

There was only one question they could ask then: “What is your favorite color?”

She paused, thinking of how to explain it. “When the sun sets and hits the horizon, depending on a multitude of factors–such as how high you are from sea level or the weather that day–there’s a chance for a green flash of light to occur. That green is my favorite color. What about you?”

“Purple, but I like just about any shade. No only-when-this-phenomenon-occurs needed,” Lilip joked lightly.

That, by some miracle, made Bahf laugh as well, but it wasn’t simply a mere snicker. She barked a laugh like it was the funniest thing she’d heard in lifetimes, and she hit the surface of the biobed with her fist, causing a loud clatter. “You jest! You jest!” She wheezed out among her chortling.

They were, admittedly, a little startled by how amused Bahf was by such a small joke, but Lilip couldn’t help but laugh with her. How different this was than the odd alien that arrived only the night before! It was a different side to her, but it was one they could easily grow used to.

“I know you two are having fun, but please don’t hit the biobed,” Dr. Crusher requested, returning with a PADD. There was a face of growing concern that cracked through beneath her more composed expression. “It messes up the vitals.” Tail flicking, Bahf snorted bitterly but stopped accordingly.

“Lilip…” Dr. Crusher hesitated. “I think Bahf may need to stay overnight for observations. These vitals match the ones Simon Tarses provided and haven’t evened out in the slightest.” Seeing Bahf’s expression, she did not pause and urgently continued, “Since the captain assigned you and Simon to gather data surrounding Bahf’s biology, you can stay here if you’d like to help, but I believe my medical staff can assist just fine.”

Any humor drained from both Bahf’s and Lilip’s faces, and although they opened their mouth to speak, it was Bahf who was first to argue.

“You can’t keep me here! I won’t allow for it!” Bahf snarled and writhed from beneath the vital sign display. Her tail nearly hit a nurse passing by while she attempted to squirm her way out. Several officers twisted their heads toward the sudden scene. “I don’t need to be here! This goes against all my principles!”

“Hey! Hey! It’s okay!” The fur of Lilip’s tail bristled in startlement while they tried to calm her, raising their hands in vain peace.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Shouted Bahf insistently.

Swiftly preparing a hypospray, Dr. Crusher called out, “Ten ccs of kayolane.” In the time it took for her to prepare it, however, Bahf managed to free her hands and swat the hypospray out of Dr. Crusher’s. “Bahf!”

“Bahf, it’s okay!” They tried to offer comfort by taking her hand into theirs. “She’s just trying to—” However, the mere touch instantly worsened the situation.

Before Lilip knew it, sharp teeth sank into her hand.

Hard.

The scream that followed was enough for multiple officers to immediately contact security.

Although she quickly let go at the sound, Bahf had undeniably drawn blood, and the purple stood out sorely against her species’ naturally green complexion. 

Agonizingly, Lilip stared stiffly at their hand and turned their palm shakily toward them. The color oozed out agonizingly slow on both sides of their hand and dared to trickle down their arm and stain their sleeves. They could count up to eight puncture wounds on their palm alone, and it felt like… like… They couldn’t look too closely. Their stomach twisted into knots.

What followed after was a blur of movement as a rush of hands came over to tend to the wound. One set dabbed the residual blood, another came with a tricorder and said something about a fracture, a third came with a osteogenic stimulator for the bones to heal, and a final pair came to take a dermal regenerator to their skin to heal the otherwise apparent marks left behind…

They suddenly found themself sat up on one of the biobeds. It only occurred to Lilip now when they could focus again that Dr. Crusher was saying something to them. Her face was wrapped up in worry and concern, as if afraid.

“...going to be alright. Bahf is gone. Your hand is going to be alright. You’re going to be alright.” Her voice was soft and gentle, despite the trepidations on her face. Lilip felt her hands against their face before realizing how damp their face was. Although it was clearing up now, their vision was still cloudy with tears they were formerly unaware of.

“Bahf… She’s gone?”

…

Lilip’s Personal Log. Stardate 43704.6.

According to Dr. Crusher, Worf and other security personnel came quickly after Bahf’s “outburst” yesterday to take her and confine her to her quarters. Simon, who had also witnessed it, added that she went shouting and yelling about how this whole thing “wasn’t fair” and that she hadn’t done anything wrong. Dr. Crusher is now sending someone every hour to check on her and take vitals, since she’s still concerned about her health. I offered to help, but she said she didn’t want to risk me getting bitten… again.

I… forgive Bahf already. It was so quick, and the staff in Sickbay already fixed up my hand. It was like it never happened in the first place.

She was obviously upset about the fact she was being kept in the Sickbay. Her reaction is probably normal in her culture. I mean, they yell at each other when someone does something wrong, right? What’s so different about biting when upset?

I just wish that…

Their voice couldn’t form the right words to express their emotions, and they instead cut it short. “Computer, end log.”

Leaning their head back against their couch, Lilip sighed and stared at the ceiling of their quarters with melancholy. Despite what they were telling themself, it didn’t feel anymore comforting. The two of them had been laughing together just moments prior over a joke they had made, but then Bahf had…

Lilip gently squeezed Tango’s paw to reground themself before their thoughts could develop into a whirlwind of emotion. Falling asleep last night would’ve been fruitless without the plush ferret’s comforting breathing. Beneath their own breath they silently thanked Lt. Clancy for being so generous in gifting him to them.

They had brought out the plush ferret with them into the living room to try and help cope. As tempting as lying in bed the entire day was, Lilip wanted to at least be able to monitor anything new on Bahf through the various logs. Maybe somewhere in this PADD there was someone talking about her and how she felt about—

The chime disturbed their thoughts, and Lilip twisted their head to the door, sitting up. “Come in.”

“Lilip?” Craning her neck, Counselor Troi peered in and entered upon sighting them. Her face, although solemn, typically held a distinct open and welcoming look about it. However, this time, there was the faint expression of reflected anguish. It only made Lilip wonder if that was how pathetic they looked at the moment, and they had to smother a cringe at the thought. 

Troi’s expression seemed to worsen at that—a sore reminder of her empathetic abilities. “Are you feeling alright?”

“My hand’s fine,” they answered and held it up and turned it back and forth as if to show there were no wounds or marks. “Although, it aches a little, but I think that’s just phantom pain.”

Her eyelids drooped a fraction. “That’s not what I meant.”

There was a pause before Lilip shuffled over on their couch, making room for Troi to sit.

“I was worried when I didn’t see you on the bridge this morning,” she started. When Lilip moved to stand at the sudden reminder, she swiftly went on, “Captain Picard said that you don’t need to worry about it since it would’ve only been a report in regards to Bahf, and now that Dr. Crusher is looking over her, there’s no need for it.”

Lilip wished they could sink into the couch. How could they have forgotten? “...So you heard what happened?”

“Dr. Crusher informed me,” Troi answered gently. “She said you didn’t seem wholly yourself after Bahf had bitten you.”

Looking away, they hummed at the memory. “I don’t really remember what happened after very well,” Lilip admitted quietly while frowning. It was a little embarrassing to say aloud. When did their voice start to sound so foreign to them? “I only really remember that Dr. Crusher was saying everything would be okay, and it is…”

“You don’t sound very convinced,” she commented.

Startled, Lilip turned to her. They weren’t surprised by the answer itself, but it felt forbidden to hear it spoken aloud. “But it is okay,” they insisted, almost irritated to be told otherwise. “There’s nothing wrong about it.”

Crossing her legs, Troi paused as if in contemplation. “I met Bahf briefly when she first arrived on the Enterprise. Even before that, the captain had spoken with her over subspace. I already sensed there was something odd about her, but when O’Brien beamed her over, it was only all the more strange: I couldn’t read her emotions at all.”

Temporarily forgetting their struggles, Lilip perked up at that. “Only Ferengi and certain species related to them have telepathic immunity…” They went silent as they thought for a moment. “And the Welfanites couldn’t possibly be related to them, since their homeworld is all the way out in the Gamma Quadrant… unless somehow the Ferengi, or another related species, had the sort of technology to get out there who-knows-how-long-ago.”

A light, happy look crept upon Troi’s face, pleased to see Lilip cheered up, at least for the time being. “Are you suggesting the Welfanites are to Ferengi as Romulans are to Vulcans?”

“It wouldn’t be the same sort of relationship, but… maybe. But it doesn’t make any sense at all or explain much of anything other than the fact Bahf’s mind can’t be read.” Simon had theorized Welfanites might be Vulcanoids, but with this new information… They shook their head, as if dispersing the thought.  They’d have to look into that another time. “What were you trying to say before about Bahf?”

“I was saying that Bahf appears to be a strange character,” Troi said in a more serious tone. “One moment she’ll be delighted about something, the next she’ll act as if it’s a horrible thing and that we should all be panicked about it.”

“She seemed pretty confident on not wanting to be in the Infirmary,” Lilip mumbled with half-bitterness while leaning back into the couch dejectedly. What could I have done differently? Maybe I just should’ve helped Dr. Crusher get that hypospray or backed off from Bahf the second she started acting out…

“It’s not your fault, Lilip,” she responded, as if reading their mind. “There was no way of knowing how Bahf would’ve reacted.”

They nodded agreeingly, but they couldn’t shake the feeling. Truthfully, how were they supposed to know how Bahf would react? Yes, she had reacted strangely prior upon the mere touch of her arm, but that was while she was still in that odd state of limbo between conscious and unconscious. Surely, then, they’d thought it’d be fine. Now, perhaps it really was just some strange quirk of Bahf’s.

But…

“How was Bahf supposed to know?” Lilip murmured, brows furrowed.

Troi blinked. “What do you mean?”

“How was Bahf supposed to know she’d be restricted to her quarters?” Somewhere during their thoughts, their gaze had ended up lingering on the floor, but those violet eyes quickly snapped to Troi’s ebony eyes. “She’s not from here. She doesn’t know the Enterprise’s rules.” I should’ve told her!

“That would be correct…” Although Troi sounded like she had more to say, she cut the sentence off prematurely, letting Lilip go on. Setting Tango aside, they stood up with sudden resolution. Their tail twitched with renewed vigor. “Someone has to talk to Bahf. It’s not fair to her. She had no idea!”

Troi’s eyes went wide, almost startled. “Well, Lilip… I’m not sure if that’s entirely a good idea. Bahf is currently confined to her quarters and has nurses taking care of her. From what I’ve heard, it sounds like she may not want more visitors.”

“But I’m not going in order to bother her with questions and take vitals and the like. I’m going in order to help her. She’s probably sitting there, wondering the same things I am!’

Slowly standing, she appeared to hold trepidations. “I think your heart is in the right place, Lilip, but I don’t believe it to be a good time quite yet. You should give it some time to think it over and then make your decision. Bahf may need space right now, and it may cause her distress if more people come to visit her.”

That is a good point… Their shoulders slumped and tail drooped a fraction.

“I don’t mean to disappoint you,” Troi added as she made her way over to the door. “I think it’s a wonderful idea, but I also think you should give Bahf a little time. See if she contacts you at all, or at least wait to see if there’s been any updates from Sickbay.”

“I’ll make sure of it,” they assured her.

“I’ll see you around, Lilip. Make sure to contact me if you need anything, alright?” She smiled softly at them.

“I will, thank you.” They returned the expression and watched as she left.

So now we wait…

…

By 1830 hours, Lilip had found a log from Nurse Ogawa that Bahf’s vitals had been stable by now. It may not have been the kind of update Troi meant as a sign for it being fine for them to visit her, but it still was a good update, right? Plus, it was relatively close to dinner time, after all, so surely she wouldn’t want to eat alone?

Heading over, they were easily able to locate her quarters. Data’s logs from the night of her arrival were more than helpful in that department. It was only a matter of getting inside that might be an issue…

Peering around the corner, Lilip recognized the security personnel stationed at the door to Bahf’s quarters. It was the same one from the time that Romulan defector had come aboard the Enterprise. They stifled a shudder at the memory and carried on. Surely, if they let them in once, they’d let them in again.

The officer gave a sideways glance as they approached. Soon realizing who this was, they sighed, exasperated. “You again?”

“Uhm, maybe?” Lilip tried to pitch a charming, convincing smile.

Brows furrowed, the officer shifted their weight from foot to foot in thought. Eventually, they asked, “I’m assuming you’re looking for the Welfanite?” Before Lilip could respond, they huffed. “I hate to break it to you, but I can’t just let anyone in there, y’know. I heard she bit someone, and it can’t happen again.”

Their heart sank at that. “It’ll be quick! I won’t take long, I promise!” They insisted pleadingly and clasped their hands together. “You said to just ask last time.”

“I did, didn’t I…?” They muttered to themself. Hesitating, they looked down either end of the hall and paused. “Alright, well, I can’t let you in, anyhow,” the officer said just a bit too loudly while moving away from the door. “You’re not supposed to be in there.” They discreetly made a gesture for Lilip to enter, eager to get them out of their hair.

Suddenly understanding what was happening, Lilip raised their voice to add to the scene with the best mock-bitter impression they could manage, “Okay! Fine! I’ll just go back to my quarters then! Never to be seen again!” Hastily, they went inside.

Thank you, security officer! They thought, relieved.

The light from the hallway was quickly hidden when the door hissed shut behind them. Bahf’s quarters were unfathomably dark. The only light source came from the dimly lit buttons of the replicator, hardly illuminating much more than the vague silhouette of… something that wasn’t Bahf. It was far smaller and seemed to float.

“...Bahf?” Lilip whispered, their muscles tensing in fear.

“Computer. Lights,” she ordered. For a fraction of a moment, the lights came on far too bright, or maybe it simply was their eyes needing time to adjust from the prior darkness. Sitting idly on the edge of one of the lounge chairs, Bahf appeared as normal. If anything, she looked just as startled as they did. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you not allowed here?” “Well, I was just thinking you might want to have dinner,” Lilip replied cautiously as they entered further into her quarters. They still weren’t quite over whatever it was they saw. Of course, it could’ve simply been their eyes playing tricks on them, but…

“Ha, ha, very funny,” Bahf scoffed dryly. “I don’t eat, so you can save yourself the trouble.” She stood up, seemed to overestimate her own height, and hastily threw her arms out to balance herself again. “Curse these…!” Stomping her hooves, she grumbled something inaudible beneath her breath.

“You don’t eat?!” Lilip’s eyes went wide. How’s that possible? Could Welfanites photosynthesize? That might possibly explain why Welfanites were green, as it would’ve been from the chlorophyll—

“I don’t—” Bahf waved a hand about like trying to wave away that annoying fly that wouldn’t just leave. “I do eat. I’ve eaten in the past. I know what eating is like!” She declared defensively. “Do you eat? Have you eaten before?”

What sort of question is that? “Of course I have—” 

“Great! Grand! We’ve both eaten before!” She threw her hands in the air. “So much empathy happening here!”

Lilip stiffly remained where they stood, idly watching as Bahf began to pace around the small living area of her quarters back and forth like an anxious sehlat. Her hair was bristled, and her tail lashed behind her. They dared not to disturb her in this state, for they feared upsetting her again unless it were to result in them being the source of her anger.

Pausing with her back turned on them, she began, “You know—I just—I can’t—” Bahf hissed beneath her breath, trying to find her words. “You want more than dinner. I can tell. This isn’t just reaching out for the sake of ‘friendship.’” She spat out the last word like it was poison to her tongue and looked at them expectantly.

Their bushy eyebrows shot up, and they winced. “Well… I wanted to talk about what happened in Sickbay…” Lilip trailed off, eyes shifting to the ground. It sounded a bit awkward to say out loud now that they heard themself, but they stuck to it.

“Oh, now, you’re making a mockery of me? How caring. Might as well get the entire crew in here too.”

They were surprised at the harshness of her words. “I’m not making a mockery of you. I just want to talk—” “But would the crew find this at all humorous?” She muttered, gaze distant. “Or would that just be the…?”

“Can we talk about this?” Lilip asked, taking a step toward her.

Staring at an empty wall where a window would’ve been had this not been interior quarters, Bahf mumbled onward, “Soon this little game must end…”

“Bahf? Are you listening to me?” They took another cautious step closer. “Can we please talk about this? You bit my hand. I know you didn’t mean it, but can we—”

“What are you on about, insect?” She snarled, whirling around to look at them. “What’s so important that we must talk through it like civilized beasts with your social fashions and opaque mannerisms? This wouldn’t matter in another society!”

Pausing where they stood, Lilip looked at them in shock and confusion. “‘Social fashions and opaque mannerisms?’ What is that supposed to mean?” They recoiled just slightly, tail twitching. Where was any of this coming from?

“It’s so obvious! So blatantly obvious!” Bahf snorted and laughed, amused yet still irked. “How is it none of you understand? Figure it out! Write it out and annotate it for all I care!” She leaned in, causing Lilip to realize how tall she really was. “Am I supposed to spell it out for you?”

“Maybe…?” They murmured, an anxious smile tugging at their lips. Admittedly, Lilip was a little hurt by this, but what was there to say? This was the result of their own actions.

Any amusement drained from her face. There was a long pause before she stood straight again and scoffed. “What I am saying is your societal norms are meaningless and your confounding ways of communication are vague and pointless. There, happy?” She explained dryly but threw in a forcefully happy expression.

Gibbering, Lilip struggled to form something coherent. What was there to say in response?

Bahf scoffed. “Forget this. What was it you wanted earlier?” “I… wanted to apologize about yesterday,” they mumbled, fidgeting with their hands. Their tail curled half-around their leg, anxious about her response. “I shouldn’t have tried to stop you. You were upset, and I didn’t realize…”

A moment passed before Bahf’s ears drooped just slightly, her face softening. “Oh, come now. You’re acting as if this is your fault,” she spoke with sudden rationalism. Gracefully, she approached yet stiffly took Lilip’s hands just a bit too tightly. Discomfort flickered across her face at the touch. “Truthfully, Lilip, it’s all my own.”

Admittedly, they stiffened at her gesture. Although they were anything but adverse to touch and affection, Lilip was startled that Bahf would hold their hands. Something about it just didn’t sit right with them. “But it’s not your fault.” Their eyes wouldn’t leave their intertwined hands. “You didn’t do anything wrong…”

“Ah! But I did! I bit your hand!” There was no remorse in her voice, merely correction for their understanding of the situation. “Is that not wrong here?”

“Uhm, yeah…” They stammered out.

“Well, it’s simple then!” Laughing almost hysterically, Bahf threw her hands in the air like her words were of divine province. “I made the choice! and I made the wrong choice!”

Wide-eyed and staring at her, Lilip took a step back. What was happening right now? They almost felt as if they were not meant to be here, as if a certain danger was lurking around the corner.  “Are we still talking about you biting my hand?” The question was quiet, and they weren’t sure if Bahf even heard them.

“And you don’t even know!” She declared and tapped Lilip on the nose tauntingly. “I’m speaking only of the reason, and one reason only. The choice I made, the cause of this entire conversation itself!” Leaning in like she was sharing a secret, she went on, “You must wonder what I’m on about, right?”

“Well—” “Perfect! Vile, even!” Bahf chortled and turned to the rest of the room as if there were an unseen audience. “This ship is my mistake! My wonderful, wonderful mistake! My choice, my mistake! You lot are no fun, and I see why you stay here. Really, Lilip, I don’t know how you got all the way out here, but you couldn’t have chosen a better ship. You could do so much with the Enterprise if you play your cards right. But for me? These people don’t even follow the script. They’re so lacking in character.”

There were a number of things Lilip wanted to point out with that… monologue?, but they were given no moment to speak. A thousand thoughts whirled in their mind, yet nothing was tangible enough for them to grasp onto and speak out before she went on another incoherent tangent.

“Look, let’s play this game a little while longer, shall we?” Bahf offered eagerly. “And let’s make it more exciting! Up the antics, double the risk, and go all in! What’s the worst thing that could happen, amirite? I’m already stuck here!” She snapped her fingers, and Lilip practically expected for all hell to break loose. 

When nothing immediately came, they nearly cursed, “What the—”

The wail of the red alert signal went off, and Lilip visibly flinched, the fur of her tail bristling wildly. Had Bahf not gone on that bizarre rant, they likely would’ve been clinging to her by now. Bahf, however, seemed perfectly content and not at all bothered by the situation.

“Picard to Lilip.”

The captain’s voice over the intercom system almost felt foreign to Lilip’s ears at that moment. “Lilip here,” they answered shakily.

“There’s a situation up here, and I need you on the bridge.”

Hesitating, Lilip looked at Bahf, who was now sitting in one of the chairs idly and watching them. “On my way, Captain.”

“Thank you. Picard out.”

They stood for a moment. They expected her to do or say something, whether in objection to or agreement with Captain Picard, but nothing ever came. She only ever moved her head to watch as Lilip left the room and into the halls of the Enterprise.

…

Turbolifts were typically fast, an easy mode of transport with little effort attached to them, but this particular turbolift ride felt like a century in itself, lifetimes wasted in waiting for it to reach its final destination. Lilip knew it was only in their head, but the memories of Bahf’s baffling behavior wouldn’t just leave their thoughts. Troi really was right about her odd actions…

“They aren’t answering our hails, sir.”

The doors whooshed open, pulling them out of their thoughts. The bridge was tense. Crewmembers were anxiously tending their stations, all waiting on the orders of Captain Picard. They didn’t understand what all the hubbub was about until they saw the viewscreen:

Roughly, they’d say, there were about fifty of those similarly, oddly shaped ships from the day before. They scattered the viewscreen and threatened to block out the stars themselves. Lilip could just barely see the inky darkness of space beyond the brigade. How did they all get out here so fast?

“Lilip.” Captain Picard came over with Simon, who nearly looked just as hesitant as everyone else. In all honesty, they were a little surprised to see him here. “Do you have any idea what’s going on here?”

“Uhm, no,” they answered sheepishly but quickly shook off their nervousness. They had to focus here, for Captain Picard! “I’m only a xenobiologist, sir,” Lilip added earnestly. “I don’t know very much about ships.”

“If it means anything,” Simon said, “these ships almost resemble Bahf’s ship. The text on the side looks similar to the one seen on her’s.”

“Yes, that’s what I was thinking,” Captain Picard replied before focusing on Lilip again. “You do realize out of the few people that have interacted with her, you have spent far more time with Bahf than anyone else on this ship?” The tone in his voice sounded almost disappointed in them, and their heart sank.

Eager to fix this, they tried to think of something on the spot. “Well, if these are the Welfanites, maybe they’re here to collect Bahf?” They offered. But how does that make any sense when she was exiled?

…so she claims.

Furrowing his brows, Captain Picard hummed and gazed at the screen again. “So, we could be harboring a criminal now. What gives you that idea?”

“Well, she mentioned being exiled by her people earlier.” “I heard about that from Dr. Crusher,” Captain Picard replied while returning back to his chair at the front of the bridge with Lilip and Simon in tow. “She said that Bahf mentioned that to you while she was in Sickbay, something about lying about her favorite color. I would say that’s an odd thing to be exiled over, but if the Welfanites deem it important enough for that to be a just punishment, I suppose there’s little we can do about it, especially when they’re so far away in the Gamma Quadrant.”

“Do you think she could be lying about that?” Simon inquired quizzically. “On the other hand, if she is being truthful about that, why would the Welfanites come here?” “If those even are the Welfanites,” Riker chipped in from his seat. “They could just be another species entirely.”

“Two first contacts within days of each other, and we haven’t even sorted out the first one yet,” Captain Picard mused dryly.

“Sir, if I may add—” Lilip tried to speak before the turbolift doors opened abruptly.

“Mr. Picard! I have had enough!” Bahf shouted across the room. Shoving aside a startled crewman, she stepped out of the turbolift, marched down to the front of the bridge, and pointed a clawed finger at him then the viewscreen. “You purposefully lured these ships here!”

A moment passed before anything followed. Eventually rising from his seat, Captain Picard evenly looked Bahf in the eye. “Bahf, how did you get up here?”

“Magic,” she sardonically scoffed with disinterest. “These ships are more important!”

“You know where these ships came from?”

“Of course I know. I know everything there is to know,” she snapped at him and whirled around to the screen, tail nearly hitting them in the process. “Hail them!”

There was a low growl from Worf at the demand, and Captain Picard was quick to speak before a quarrel could break out. “Belay that order, Mr. Worf.” He raised a hand in his direction as an expression of ease before addressing the problem at hand. “Miss Bahf, I order for you to explain this at once.”

“Ugh! You’re ruining the game.” She glared at Captain Picard. “Hail them, Worf! They’ll answer now! Any subspace frequency! They’ll answer, I swear!”

“Mr. Worf, please disregard any orders Bahf tries to give you,” he ordered, a tone of rising irritation in his voice.

“Yes, sir.”

Despite the annoyance, Captain Picard still gave the appearance of being mostly calm, aside the mild furrowing of his brows. “Bahf, it seems you have a better understanding of what’s happening here than we do. Do you care to explain why these ships are here?” He gestured to the screen.

“What’s so urgent to find out this second?” She hissed. “Just wait and you’ll see!”

“That’s ironic considering your own urgency,” Riker added, now standing as well.

“See what, Bahf?” Captain Picard inquired. “You’re acting as if this is a dire thing that requires our full attention, yet you refuse to explain any of what’s happening here. Do you wish to explain, or are you simply wasting our time here?”

“Explanations, explanations!” Bahf rolled her eyes. “All you people want is explanations! ‘Explain this to me,’ ‘explain that to me.’ You people always want to know the why for things, yet you don’t even bother to ask yourselves why Lilip is even here!” She pointed at them angrily. “For all you dopes know, they could be here to stir trouble. These ships could be their own people!”

“What? My people?” Lilip gestured to themself. It was odd, however. They felt they should’ve been more shocked than they were. Maybe all these bold claims Bahf had made in the past few hours were beginning to become the new norm… or maybe they were growing to become distrustful of her. Why would they be here so suddenly, anyhow?

“Well, of course, they’re not your people,” she grumbled, conflicting with her earlier statement. “They’re clearly mine.” 

“Then why suggest—”

Hollering in a last ditch effort, she looked to Worf again. “Hail them!”

“No, petaQ!” Worf snarled, leaning toward her over his console.

“Bahf, why are you so concerned about hailing these ships?” Lilip asked in a placating voice. “I thought you said you were exiled by your people.” Unless…

Hair bristling, Bahf glared wildly at Lilip then Captain Picard, tail lashing behind her like that of an aggravated cat. “This isn’t how this is supposed to work!” She snapped. Half a second later, and what was the Welfanite soon was something else entirely as she floated upward. “You lot are all going off-script! I should be far, far away by now on one of those ships by now!”

Faces of alarm and bafflement spread across the bridge like wildfire as eyes of every color honed in on the floating figure. There was an unearthly silence on the bridge; the only thing to fill the leftover space was the humming of the ship itself combined with an uncertain intensity of what could possibly follow.

Inevitably, someone would have to break it.

“How… is it supposed to work?” Lilip’s voice was barely a whisper, but it felt awfully loud to their ears.

“Oh, why bother?” Bahf lamented, leaning backwards and lying upon nothing at all above their heads. “You people have already ruined it. The show’s over. The jig is up. You already pulled apart the curtains and have seen the people who work the lights and dress the performers. Spoiled it. You spoiled it!” 

“Bahf, you may have avoided explaining the ships, but this has gotten out of hand.” It was becoming evident to Lilip that Captain Picard had had enough of Bahf’s antics. “I order you to explain yourself at once!”

Giving a bored look, she scoffed. “Does this answer your question?” In a blinding flash of light, the ships disappeared entirely and what was Bahf turned into a short figure dressed in a Starfleet uniform. “Say it with him, folks!” 

“Q…?”

A disappointed look crossed what-was-Bahf’s face. “I was expecting a better reaction.”

A… Q? Bahf is a Q? Lilip’s mind whirled. She still looks like a Welfanite… but with plantigrade legs and more Human-appearing eyes… Wait, does this mean the Q can shapeshift?

…Are Welfanites even a real species?

“But yes… a Q from the Q Continuum! How brilliant of you for being able to recognize me as what I truly am! We should throw a party to celebrate!” She laughed with the most earnestly amused look Lilip had seen from her. “But, I fear the name you're looking for is Quixotic. There may be more Q than your or any number system can count, but there is only one Quixotic! And isn’t that just quixotic?”

Simon furrowed his brows. “That is not the proper use of the word—”

“It’s an adjective, isn’t it?” Quixotic huffed.

From his console, Data added, “Simon is correct. Although it is an adjective, it is usually used to describe an unrealistically idealistic concept. Quixoticism often coincides with a rash or lofty individual and is generally not viewed as a ‘good’ thing, unlike the implications of your use of the word.”

Irritated, Quixotic childishly stuck her tongue out at him. “Aren’t you so sharp?”

“B—I mean, Quixotic—” That was a name Lilip would have to remember. It wasn’t like the name Bahf, but it was almost equally odd. “Why… Why did you do any of this?” They gestured to the now empty viewscreen. “The ships, your species, your name, even the vitals… Why?” All that time and energy… wasted.

“It’s simple! Very simple!” She said all too cheerily. “You lot are mortals—one of the main dividing factors between us. You live, and you die, and the cycle continues. With such short existences, you have very little say in the matter, so you think of distractions and diversions. You become obsessed with the tiny, meaningless things—science, art, relationships, and whatever else you lot create for yourselves as diversions. Your own mortality has shaped and molded you into fine actors, and your reactions are quite convincing! It’s a shame you live so short a life in comparison to everything else. What more you could have done, what more you could have achieved if you just had that one, single extra second. I loathe the idea more than anything. I could not wish mortality upon my worst enemy!” Falling backward in the air, Quixotic then broke into hysterics at what felt like out of mockery of those about her.

“I could not wish mortality upon my worst enemy,” Lilip’s mind echoed, pained.

“Truly,” she went on without prompting, “the worst of it is your desire—your need for relationships and socialization. You are like Terran sheep, needing the comfort of and doting after your herd. What point is there in that? Who needs friendship?”

Staring up at Quixotic, Lilip only felt more and more foolish for ever trying to reach out to her with every word uttered. She was hardly anything of what she said she was. The second she ever mentioned lying being the reason for her exile as Bahf, it should’ve been obvious to them she was a liar in all things. How could they have ever thought otherwise of her?

“So you’re saying this is all a game to you?” Captain Picard furrowed his brows, trying to understand.

“Perhaps so,” she answered slyly.

“But out of all the ships, all the people, all the crews you could have chosen, why the Enterprise?”

There was a pause where there came no response before Quixotic began only laughing again, amused by something none of them knew nor understood. “You—ask—You need—You don’t—” She couldn’t get the words out, her own amusement speaking for itself.

“Q, I demand an answer at once.” Gathering herself finally, she huffed, irritated. “Oh! That’s all I am now? ‘Q.’ I told you my name, yet all you think of is the other Q that constantly bothers this ship. How kind of you.”

Exchanging glances with Captain Picard, Riker tried, “Quixotic, that’s enough. Answer the question.”

“You want an answer? Fine!” Throwing her hands, she twirled around in the air before landing on the ceiling and crossing her arms. Despite being consumed by their own guilt regarding the situation, Lilip couldn’t help but find it at least a little humorous how much she resembled a bat from here. 

“You see, I thought it’d be incredibly obvious. Why, Mr. Picard, I was expecting you to be far sharper than this.” Prideful, Quixotic tilted her chin upward. “But, I suppose you don’t actually know any of what I’m talking about, nor do you know all the insignificant details and the like,” she nearly sounded disappointed. 

“Plainly put, I heard word in the Continuum of that one.” Without hesitation, she pointed down at Lilip. “I just had to see them for myself!”

Taken aback as people quickly began to look in their direction, Lilip stiffened where they were. “Why me?”

“You’re the only mortal here who actually matters, and, by the Continuum itself, Lilip, you’re the most fascinatingly cruel mortal I’ve ever met.” Quixotic grinned toothily, floating downward to meet them at eye-level. “Never could I have imagined one of the Dominion’s own kin to be all the way out here, posing as a friend to these troglodytes! Just when will you reveal to these people how inferior they are to you?”

Lilip froze instantly as a whirlwind of thoughts bombarded and cluttered their mind. What is “the Dominion?” and how am I their kin? …Is the Dominion the name of a species? of my species? The thought was surreal, but why did it feel so horrid? Because she’s… she’s not your friend. She never was, and she never actually tried… She lied about her own species and history. What reason do you have to trust her?

But what if she is being truthful? What if she actually knows? But if she is being honest, what does she mean by “when will you reveal to these people how inferior they are to you?” The mere thought felt wrong; to finally find out something possibly concrete, only for it to sound so horribly wicked. 

There was a moment of tense silence, where Quixotic opened her mouth to speak. An expression of recognition flickered across her face, and she seemed to hesitate before swimming back above everyone and ranting and raving about something Lilip couldn’t quite follow.

She can’t be right. She has to be lying about this… They tried to comfort themself. She made up an entire species for the sake of a game none of us knew we were playing. It’s all to draw a reaction out of us…

But what if Quixotic convinces them not to trust me? Lilip looked down at their hands, and they noticed how they began to viscerally shake. What if… everything… everyone… gone because she thinks I’m something I’m not… All because I trusted her… believed she was something else… 

Their vision began to blur.

“...and not to mention how foolish it is you even let yourselves be so easily deceived,” Quixotic scolded the crew while casting less-than-discreet glances toward Lilip. “Really, it’s a joke that you think any hapless whelp truly is what they say they are. Thank whatever gods it is you lot believe in because truthfully, I could’ve been far worse than—”

The moment the tears welled and began to cascade downward toward the floor, it felt as if time had stopped. Emotions swirled in their head, and they could not grasp onto a tangible thought. Looking up, they made eye contact with Troi, but her gaze felt oddly… frozen and glazed over. No person moved from where they were on the bridge, and there was another bout of otherworldly silence. 

“I don’t get it.” Quixotic’s voice startled Lilip from behind. They twirled around to find her inches away from their face with an inquisitive expression, and Lilip quickly stepped backwards for space, startled. “Why are you so distressed? Isn’t this what you want secretly? to act upon the instincts of your people and absolutely destroy everything these horrible creatures love?”

“No! Of course not!” Wiping their tears with the back of their sleeve, Lilip tried to pull themself together. “These… these are my crewmates, my friends…” They sniffed. “Why would you think that I want that?”

“What do you mean you don’t want that?” Quixotic was shocked. “That’s like saying you aren’t plotting something and biding your time here until you can get off of this ship. Clearly, this isn’t where you belong!”

Stunned, Lilip hadn’t the words to respond, and their tail twitched uncomfortably. It was hard to tell whether this was some second part of the “game” Quixotic’d been playing earlier and that she was only seeking to draw a reaction out of them, or if she genuinely thought this. Hesitantly, Lilip eventually asked, “Then where do you think I belong?”

“To the Gamma Quadrant,” she answered with a half-laugh. There was a hint of concern in her eyes, as if in disbelief. “You’re… not serious, right? You jest!”

They furrowed their brows at her. “I am…” Lilip said slowly. “You do realize I don’t know what I am…?’

“Well, obviously.” Rapping the side of her head playfully, Quixotic went on, “I remember everything that’s ever happened to me! But, really, you don’t even know that?”

“No, I don’t,” they answered cautiously. Taking another step backward, Lilip accidentally brushed against a frozen Simon and recoiled while he remained stagnant, unaware of their presence and staring off at something that was no longer there. A chill ran down their spine, and they turned to Quixotic again, only to find she was missing. Hastily, they twisted their head around and quickly found her idly poking the side of Captain Picard’s face. Lilip paused before asking, “Can’t you resume time?”

“I still don’t get why you value these people. So what if they saved you?” Quixotic grumbled, ignoring them. “I’ve saved plenty of mortals, and they never so much as thanked me in return.”

Their shoulders slightly slumped at her lack of a response. With slight reluctance, Lilip came over and craned their neck to get a better look at her. “What did you save them from?” They prompted.

Deer-like ears perking toward them, she crossed her legs and sat upon the air. “Plenty of things! Diseases, enemy ships, angry alien fauna, time travel! Anything, everything! I’ve done it all!” Quixotic grinned just a bit too eagerly. “Saved them every time!” 

As much as they hated the thought, Lilip had to ask, “Was that because you were the one to cause it?”

Her amusement soon disappeared into mild frustration, and she waved a dismissive hand at the direction of the conversation. “Whatever! Whatever! This isn’t about me anyway. This is about you.” Landing on the floor for once, she was just barely taller than Lilip, and a flicker of amusement passed through her expression when she recognized it. However, it was quickly swallowed back by an air of directness. “Look, I could take you out there, to the Gamma Quadrant. Away from all these… people.” With a look of mild distaste, Quixotic gestured vaguely to the bridge.

Lilip’s brows shot up instantly at the offer of her taking them there. It took them a moment to even process it. I could finally find out what I am… after all these years… The thought was surreal. To not just know but to meet them… to see what they were like for themself… It was as if she’d offered them the answers to everything they could possibly want to know, and truly, that was the answer to everything Lilip wanted to know, even if it felt a little unearned.

But the way Quixotic speaks of me makes them sound like they’re awful by the way she assumes I could possibly hurt them… Their stomach twisted into knots. Are they really all that bad? She makes them sound like murderers and criminals, seeking to destroy for the sake of destruction. That can’t possibly be that awful. Surely, not…

Yet, she’s a known liar. Maybe they aren’t as bad as she makes them seem.

“You mean it?” Lilip finally whispered. “That you could take me there?”

“Of course I do!” She grinned, pointed teeth showing. “You don’t need to stay with these mortals. You don’t even need to be here. So they saved you from dying, what about it? Mortals die all the time, and no one was there to save them. Besides, these ones clearly have enough on their hands. They don’t need some pesky alien that doesn’t even know what they are and that may be plotting to kill all of them in their sleep.”

Her attempt at reassurance only worsened the wave of nausea that washed over them. What if Quixotic was being honest? What if she was being truthful? Was it worth the risk of knowing for certain? Is this really what you want, to meet them personally?

And what of those left here? Lilip’s gaze wandered around to the motionless figures about the bridge. Captain Picard, Simon, Riker, Troi, Data… even Worf… and all those on the rest of the ship. Guinan, Geordi, Crusher… Spot. All of them. Everyone. Left behind here on the Enterprise. The Gamma Quadrant is awfully far away. I wouldn’t just be able to see them anymore.

“I can’t. I can’t go.”

Astonished, Quixotic nearly tripped on her own tail. “Wait, wait, wait! What? You have to be kidding me! This is a once in a lifetime deal, Lilip, and you’re no Trill!”

At least we can agree on that, Lilip wanted to say but held their tongue. “You keep acting like I’m going to kill everyone or something like that! That’s not what I want. That’s the last thing I could possibly want!”

“Lilip! C’mon! This is ridiculous! Why would you think that I would ever think that?” Quixotic gestured to herself, incredulous. “You’re breaking my heart here.”

As much as Lilip wanted to detest that statement, a trickle of doubt entered their mind. Maybe I’m the one overstepping and assuming things… They softened their expression. Everything in them was begging and pleading to take back their earlier statement, but Lilip answered, “I’m sorry, but I’m not going with you.”

“Didn’t you like Bahf? Didn’t you want to be friends with her? You clearly were fascinated with her. You wanted ‘friendship,’ clearly,” Quixotic blurted swiftly without thought. “Well, I’m Bahf. I’m the one you wanted to be friends with. You wanted to be friends with me, Quixotic.”

“Bahf was just part of the game—”

“Who cares if she was just a character? I’m Bahf,” she insisted. “Come with me to the Gamma Quadrant.”

Despite their trepidations, they still shook their head. “I said that I can’t. I’m not going to the Gamma Quadrant, Quixotic.”

Letting out a groan of resignation, Quixotic lifted herself into the air again and drifted upwards. “You’re making a big mistake here, sticking around with these uniformed cowards. They’re holding you back from what you could be, or maybe it’s already too late and that version of you is what could have been.” She sniffed, bored by her own theories. “I suppose either way, you’re stuck here. No use trying to get to the Gamma Quadrant now.” Before Lilip could get a word in, she went on, “As amusing as your concern about these mortals you’re so oddly attached to is, I fear I must let them off the hook. Don’t worry yourself about your mistake, and I forbid you to be concerned about me, alone, out in the darkness of space…” She rubbed her eye, feigning wiping away a tear. The next thing Lilip knew was a flash of light as Quixotic disappeared. Surprised expressions soon scattered across the bridge at the sight of the missing Q.

“Lilip, where’d Quixotic go?” Captain Picard inquired.

Lilip stared at where she was just moments prior, an odd sense of relief and remorse lingering in them. 

“She’s gone, sir.”

…

The chime of the door to their quarters rang out while Lilip was reviewing the logs from the past two days. Quixotic’s offer still buzzed around in their mind, and they were beginning to wonder whether they’d made the right decision by staying here instead.

“Come in,” Lilip said on instinct, not entirely paying attention. If I had gone, what would’ve happened? Who would I have met? Family members? Distant relatives? Would I have been able to even integrate into their society? Their mind these thoughts pondered aimlessly, and it felt as if they kept repeating them over and over again, trying to make sense of any of it.

“...Lilip?” Troi startled them when she gently set a hand on her shoulder, and it dawned on Lilip she’d been talking while they were distracted with their own thoughts. Embarrassment flushed their cheeks. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Swiftly, they turned off the PADD and cast it aside on one of the couch cushions. Watching it half-bounce before landing, Lilip cringed at their own lie. Who were they trying to trick? “...I think I made a mistake.”

Moving aside the PADD, Troi sat down next to them with a concerned expression. “What makes you say that?”

Humming, they tried to think of how to explain what happened. “I spoke to Quixotic before she left. She had paused time entirely, so it was just me and her, and she offered to take me to the Gamma Quadrant to meet my people there. I almost took it, but I just… It felt wrong to do so. I didn’t like the way she referenced them, but I wasn’t sure if she was lying, and…” Lilip shook their head, unable to meet her gaze. “I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave you—any of you behind.”

“Oh, Lilip…” Troi whispered, her voice aching in sympathy. She offered her arms out to them, to which Lilip gratefully wrapped their own around her in a hug. “I don’t think you made a mistake. Quixotic hadn’t been honest since the beginning of it, and even after she revealed herself as a Q, it would have been strange if she were suddenly wholly honest.”

Lilip held on tighter, thinking of their next words.

“She seemed lonely,” they mumbled, “and desperate”

Troi pulled back to look at them. “‘Lonely?’”

They shrugged, uncertain. “She insisted I wanted to be friends with her… or, well, Bahf. It was odd, but I think all of this… all of this was because she was just looking for company.”

There was a pause before Troi nodded slowly. “She was lonely and desperate. I can agree on that.” She then met Lilip’s gaze and gave a soft, reassuring smile. “I don’t think there was a right way to handle that, but I think you chose a good solution. She may have been lonely, but she was also lying to all of us. There was no way of knowing what would happen.”

“There’s no way of knowing the future, it seems, especially with her,” Lilip joked lightly before pulling Troi back into a hug.

One day, eventually, I’ll find out what I am and meet my people… 

“Can it really be called my first away mission if all I did was hang around the base camp to catalogue all the samples everyone else brought back?” Lilip bemoaned.

Keiko stepped down from the transporter and let her hand rest on Lilip’s shoulder. “I think you did very well!” Her praise was everything.

As the next team beamed up, Lilip placed their containers down. Data was with a yellow-shirted officer, the two of them carrying stacks of PADDs with the information collected from the planet’s surface.

“They got to go exploring,” Lilip recalled, “Got to see all sorts of stuff. They got to have an adventure, meanwhile we were just hanging around.”

“Hey, I thought you liked cataloguing stuff?” Miles said.

“I guess, it’s just—”

Keiko had dug through one of her containers, placing a jar of red goop in Lilip’s hands. “Why not conduct a study on this, then?”

After placing his stack of PADDs onto a shelf, Data approached the two ladies. “We had discovered this life form at the heart of the desert in a small oasis,” He said, “This one in particular was taken off the bones of an animal. I hypothesize that it could fill the role of a decomposer, similar to slime molds.”

“Oh yeah, I remember taking a look at those bones,” Keiko recalled, making her way to her fiancé across the room, “We’re letting the students examine them for a school project.”

“Please tell me you washed your hands.” Miles hoped as he beamed aboard the remaining crew. In response, Keiko let her palm press into his face, making him recoil and stick out his tongue in disgust.

Lilip gave the goo an introspective look, holding the jar up to their face and letting it catch the light. “Could be a mold, I guess…” They clutched the jar to their chest, beaming a shiny smile at Keiko in thanks before turning to Data. “Can I study this one?”

“I see no reason why you should not,” Data affirmed, “However, a study such as this is much different from the cataloguing you are used to. Instead of sorting and compartmentalizing information that is already available, you will be learning about this life form with no prior data attached. You will be starting at ‘square one.’”

“I’m aware…” Lilip once again stared at the container of goo, captivated at the red color glowing in the light. “Some of the animals from home were studied by me…”

Data nodded. “Then I shall leave it in your hands.”

Lilip was in their workspace on Deck Eight, a medium sized room with station panels around the perimeter, and plenty of PADDs, books, and containers littered around. Several science officers were hard at work, making notes on their assigned samples. Meanwhile, Lilip was stuck at a dead end with their own sample, which sat lazily in a shallow glass capsule. Starting a study was always the hardest part of doing one.

“Simon?” Lilip asked for, referring to the mostly human—quarter Vulcan several meters away.

“The organic composition is still being analyzed.” Simon Tarses said, not looking away from his device as he conducted his scan. While in the medical field, he was sent by his superiors to assist in the cataloguing.

“Oh.” Lilip sighed as they turned back to prod the goo with a sterile, glass rod. Maybe they should have asked to study the dentition of that hyena-like skull recovered, instead. At least with that, they’d have more context to work with.

Beside Lilip’s work station, the doors to the corridor outside slid open with a small hiss. Wesley Crusher stepped inside, the young man meeting Lilip’s eyes.

“Hey,” He greeted, “Um, I need to collect those rib bones for class, and was told that they would be in here.”

“Oh, yeah.” Lilip glanced around the room, their eyes landing on a crate by Simon. “They’re over there.”

Wesley stayed where he was for a moment, looking at the sample that Lilip was studying. “What’s that?”

“Data supposes it could be a kind of slime mold,” Lilip explained, “Actually, he found it on the skeleton recovered, the same one you’re looking for.”

“Really?” Wesley crossed the room and lifted the crate, arching back to keep it from falling out of his grip. He made it to the door before placing the crate down. “Do you think it was decomposing the thing?”

“That’s the idea.” Lilip went back to poking at the slime. “Actually, I wonder if it feeds exclusively on bones.”

“It’s a sound theory.” Simon returned with a PADD, looking over its contents. “There’s minute traces of collagen, calcium and phosphorus in the scan.”

“That could suggest it was after the skeletal remains due to a deficiency…” Lilip pondered.

“I have an idea!” Wesley suddenly perked up. Eyes darting to and fro, he scanned the room and landed on a cabinet filled with various materials. He collected a couple small flasks filled with liquid, and a glass container holding some powdered minerals. He placed his spoils on the counter Lilip was sat against. “Calcium phosphate, vitamin D concentrate, and sugar water.”

“Ah, makes sense if you don’t wanna damage the bones. Not enough to get by, but it’ll work.” Lilip, having picked up what Wesley put down, accepted the items and combined them into a bowl. The calcium phosphate had a soft, mailable texture as they mashed it into the liquid, becoming a runny slurry. They then took an irrigation syringe and let it lap up the mixture.

Wesley and Simon were leaning over the table, making Lilip feel constricted. “Excuse me?!” They yelled, the men getting the hint and backing off as Lilip found themself able to breathe yet again.

Hovering the syringe over the slime, they let a few drops fall onto the creature. The outer layer of the slime stirred. It shivered as it let the liquid absorb into its body. A thin blob of gray mixed with the slime’s translucent red color.

“Check it out, it ate it!” Wesley exclaimed as the three of them started to glow with enthusiasm.

The air of suspense completely disappeared. Lilip let their sample have a few more drops of the solution, the slime gobbling it up with gusto. “Guess you’ll have a nice report to turn in,” They said to Wesley, “Now you can see if there’s any bites out of your bones, and connect it to this thing!”

“Only if I can collaborate with you.”

Wesley’s offer made Lilip jump. “Extra credit calling your name?” They smiled slyly.

Wesley laughed. “You know it!”

Lilip grinned. “If you wanna help me out with my study, who am I to say no?” They returned to the gooey sample, giving it a few more drops of the mixture. “I think I’ll try something with more sugar next time… See how it reacts…”

After Wesley departed with his crate, Lilip went back to focus their concentration on the sample. The red slime writhed around in its petri dish. Lilip’s eyes grew wide as they watched it wriggle on its own. Another moment had passed, and Lilip could swear that the thing managed to grow in size. Or, perhaps it was just adjusting itself in its glass, getting comfortable. Does this sample even have a nervous system?

Hours had gone by. Lilip had taken diligent notes, and decided that organizing them would come tomorrow. Now though, they were the only one left in the room since everyone else had gone to their respective quarters for the night.

Finally deciding that the day was done, Lilip rose from their seat and looked down at their slime mold affectionately. They made sure to place it in a safe container, free of any foreign objects or germs. It would rest in its little cubicle for the night. Lilip set it back down on their desk, letting it lay against the wall before departing to their own bed. The dim light reflecting off the walls made the slime look like a brand of fire as it continued to move.

Act Two

The two tone chime rang throughout their quarters as Lilip tried desperately to return to their dream. They were in a strange mall-like building that kept going on forever. Infinite corridors, stairs, and rooms branched out and welcomed them to play, and somehow it was a comforting familiarity that soothed them. Instead, now they were back in reality as the chime sounded again.

“C’mon, Lilip!” Wesley’s voice could be heard, muffled from the separation of wall. “I’ve got something for Mooshy!”

Leaving their bedhead unkempt, Lilip roused themself into a sitting position, finally standing and striding to the door as their sleeping gown wrapped around their knees, the faded graphic of Alaska just barely accenting the pale color. The door opened on their command, the young man bright and eager in front of them. “…Mooshy..?” Lilip echoed, still groggy.

“It’s what I named the slime! It’s a mushy fungus, right? Mooshy is a fun play on words. I-if that’s alright…” Wesley shuffled his feet anxiously. “I didn’t mean to wake you up, sorry…”

“It’s fine,” Lilip yawned, “It’s actually not a fungus, but a colonial organism. Still though, I kinda like that name, haha…” They gave their hair a ruffle through, letting it cascade in purple ribbons over their shoulders. “Yup, yup… I’m awake now… okay,” They put on a pair of slippers. “Let’s get to work.”

“In your pajamas?”

Lilip pulled at their gown. “It’s a shirt…” They lowered their voice to a barely audible whisper. “That I stole from Riker.”

The walk to the workspace was not all that long. A brief ride in the turbolift, and the pair were there. Simon Tarses from yesterday was the only one in the room at this point. The quarter-Vulcan cast a glance towards the door when the newcomers arrived, giving the two a smile in greeting. He eyed Lilip up and down, clearly judging their choice of attire.

“Alright,” Lilip said, clapping their hands together, “Let’s see how—woah!”

The container that Lilip had stored Mooshy in for the night had every inch of it covered in the slime. It looked like a translucent red cube.

“Did we overfeed it?” Wesley pondered as he made his way over to the desk. He unlatched the lid of the container, and the slime spilled out, finally able to breathe after being contained for hours.

“It’s possible…” Lilip put their hand over their mouth, furrowing their brow as they started to think. “It's a colonial organism, so perhaps we gave it plenty of sustenance to work with in order for the individuals to reproduce this much…” They turned to face Wesley. “Oh, right! You said you had something for it?”

“Right!” Wesley pulled out a small, clear sack. Inside was half of an apple, its skin wrinkly and dull and its flesh browned from time. “It’s a fermented apple! Mooshy took to the sugars in that broth we made yesterday, so…”

“Ooh! We can see how it reacts to fermented sugars!” Lilip hopped on the balls of their feet excitedly, their tail curling upwards. “As a decomposer, it might have a taste for it!” They got a glass tray and poured the slime onto it. Compared to yesterday, it had a more viscous texture similar to brownie batter. Lilip assumed that the calcium from the mixture it ingested was aiding in it getting more firm.

While Lilip was setting up the slime, Wesley had taken out the apple, using a small knife to cut a piece off of it. The quiet squelching noise from the softened fruit made Lilip cringe, their body shivering in disgust.

“Eugh… never do that again.” Lilip hissed.

“Yeah, that was disgusting, wasn’t it?” Wesley held a smile on his face, amused at the interaction. He moved his hand over the tray, and as he did so, a glob from Mooshy rose, as if it were reaching for the fruit. “Woah!”

Lilip’s eyes glowed with excitement. The colony of microscopic creatures were working together to reach food before they had even touched it. Could it be that they have some sense of smell?

Wesley let Mooshy have the apple slice. The red batter surrounded the fruit, engulfing it within its body. The glob returned to rest on the countertop, and it shivered as it maneuvered the food into its body.

“Hey, looks like he likes it!” Wesley noted. He was about to slice off another piece, but Lilip held up their hand.

“Wait,” They said, “We should wait a bit and see how Mooshy reacts to it.”

“Good idea.” Wesley placed the apple on top of the clear baggy as a coaster to avoid a mess on the counter.

Mooshy’s translucent color solidified, making it look like a blob of red paint. Lilip used a small, spoon-like device and scooped out a chunk of the red slime, which now had a more doughy texture. They placed it in a petri dish, and watched as the sphere slowly melted into a small, shapeless glob.

“Let’s see what’s going on on a microscopic level!” Lilip said. They rolled their chair away from their station, making it to where Simon was with a single push of their feet. Wesley followed, watching as they placed the sample beneath a microscope.

From the screen that shared the microscope’s viewpoint, everyone could see a group of small, amoeba-like creatures linked together in uniform. They writhed around each other, and as they brushed against their colony members, they developed a tough outer skin. This would explain why the slime became more vicious, and why their color grew more opaque.

“Wonder what caused them to evolve in such a way,” Lilip said, eyes glued to the screen, “Do you think it’s for defense?”

“Could be an involuntary thing they do when they absorb nutrients,” Wesley theorized, “Or something to do with respiration.”

“Maybe they’re closing themselves off because the alcohol in the fruit is toxic to them.” Simon said from behind the pair, not looking up from his own work. “Just because we can break it down doesn’t mean it can, Lilip.”

“Oh yeah…” Both Lilip and Wesley figured, looking at each other.

Several of the individual Mooshies scraped together hard enough that their thick outer membrane tore on impact. The runny insides melted together before a blob formed between them and swelled in size. Lilip glanced at the sample, seeing a red dot well like a spot of blood.

“They’re procreating!” Lilip gasped. They continued to stare at the screen. “I guess all those sugars gave them the energy to do so?” They picked up the dish and pushed their chair to roll back towards the rest of Mooshy. Amidst the solid red colors were dots of translucent goo. They gasped when they saw it stretch out a segment of itself, reaching for the rest of the apple. “Wesley, look!”

Wesley turned and watched as Mooshy wrapped its appendage around the fruit. The rest of it pulled itself towards its meal, completely covering the apple. It looked reminiscent of a candy apple with a sugary sauce dripping from it. The blob began to shiver, a motion telling of it processing its food as it let the fruit be swallowed whole.

“Hey, I guess it really liked the apple.” Wesley said.

“Yeah, no kidding!” Lilip reached over and lifted Mooshy, careful to make sure it kept its hold on its meal. “Careful now, you wouldn’t want a hangover!” It started to wrap around their fingers. “Gah!” Lilip quickly placed Mooshy back on its tray, then deposited the scooped sample back onto it as well. “It's ravenous!”

Wesley laughed. “Hey, I’ve gotta get to class,” he said, “But I’ll absolutely write this down for my essay!” With that, he parted.

Lilip let their elbows rest on the counter, placing their chin in their hands as they watched Mooshy wriggle around. They could see the lump in the mass that made up the apple was slowly shrinking as its nutrients absorbed into the slime.

Act Three

Picard sat behind his desk in his Ready Room. The light of his computer monitor reflected off of his face with a blueish shine. He was looking over some of the data collected from the planet’s surface. From what was discovered, the storms were a domino effect caused by a hypercane on the coast of an eastern landmass. After that, weather patterns became erratic, natural disasters cropping up all over the planet. A small desert had completely flooded, displacing or killing its entire population.

The lionfish in its tank against the wall swam away when the doors to the bridge opened. Data made his way inside, taking a seat in front of the captain's desk. He held several PADDs in his hands, and placed them on the desk. “I have the first day reports, and field reports from Keiko Ishikawa, Lilip, Ensign Varne, and Lieutenant Richter.”

“Very good.” Captain Picard plucked the topmost PADD, scanning its contents. “How are Lilip and Varne doing?”

“Lilip is conducting a study on the slime collected in the desert after the flood. Both she and Wesley Crusher are collaborating on the project, as the bones he is studying for school were being ingested by the slime,” Data explained, “Ensign Varne tells me that he is struggling to put his ecological survey into words, but I understand that—”

Picard furrowed his brow as he pursued the report he was reading. “Data, come look at this.” His tone was heavy.

Data cocked his head to the side as he accepted the PADD from his captain. He browsed its words, yellow eyes darting back and forth. “Captain,” He said, “This seems to suggest that the desert on the eastern continent was the result of an invasive species with the ability to destroy all vegetation in a given area.” His own brows furrowed, and he blinked back a fury of questions. “If this species did not destroy the local ecosystem, it is possible that the flood would have been managed better.”

“And the only life form your team found in the desert..?” Picard motioned.

“That was the colonial slime.” Data’s brows shot up in realization. “As I recall, it was on the edge of a small oasis, absorbing the nutrients from the bones it had been attached to. Surrounding it was a patch of dead ferns, as I remember.”

“Could this life form be capable of hunting and killing the animals that are desperate for water and vegetation in such a barren landscape?”

“It is a possibility, Captain. Lilip is continuing her study on the creature. I am certain that they will find this information most invaluable, as they have noted that it reacts to ingesting sugars.” Data set the PADD down, letting his palms rest on the device. “I will bring this analysis to her, if you permit me to.”

“I do.” Picard confirmed. He gave his shirt a tug after standing. “Then, I want you to continue with your own analyses on the planet’s weather patterns.”

“Understood, sir.”

By now, Lilip had placed Mooshy in a large enough container for it to relax in, resting on the work desk as they tapped away at a PADD. It was time for a break on interacting with the slime, which still had its opaque red color. Lilip was organizing their notes, getting ready to start on their report for the day. They had noted Mooshy’s color change, texture change, and the fact that it had remained stagnant since ingesting the fermented apple.

After inputting brief notes on that data, Lilip looked up from their PADD, eyes on the slime. A jolt of anxiety struck them like an arrow. Mooshy hadn’t been active at all since its last meal. Could it have died via poisoning?

Immediately, Lilip set down their work and grabbed the container. They let Mooshy pour onto a glass tray. It flopped miserably onto the sheen surface, unmoving. After a brief think, Lilip retrieved the calcium mixture from yesterday, desperately letting several fat drops fall onto the slime. It didn’t even shiver to signal it was feeding.

Cupping their hands over their mouth, Lilip tried desperately to suppress a choked sob. How stupid they were to think this strange creature could handle such a thing! Stars above, how could they have let this happen? Lilip continued to let their mind be warped by destructive thoughts as they reached a soft hand to the slime. Their fingers pressed on what felt like putty, leaving several small grooves in its amorphous shape.

Mooshy moved. It wrapped itself around Lilip’s digits. Lilip had let out a breath of relief, having only now noticed that they were holding it in. They watched as Mooshy used each individual of itself to climb up Lilip’s hand, rolling like a cloud over their flesh. Then it started to grow—and it did so rapidly.

“Hi Data, Hi Commander.” Wesley was walking down one of the corridors to return to his and his mother’s quarters, as he had forgotten his math textbook, when he ran into the android and first officer. He adjusted the strap of his book bag, which was awfully lighter than he liked to admit.

“Hey Wes, how’s school?” Commander Riker returned. He gave the young man a pat on his shoulder.

“It’s fine,” Wesley answered, “Just heading to my room real quick because I forgot my math book.”

“Ah.” Riker was about to speak when his badge chirped.

“Commander!” The voice sounded terrified. “Quick, there’s something going on in the biology station on Deck Eight!”

Riker tapped his badge. “Be right there.” He turned to Wesley. “Be quick with your errand, alright?”

“Wait, the slime thing Lilip and I were studying is there! I should make sure it’s okay!”

Riker smiled. “You’ll make a fine officer in no time. Let’s go!”

The three of them made fast work of getting to the workstation on Deck Eight. Behind the door, a loud thumping could be heard, like whatever was in there was thrashing about. Data was superhumanly fast, getting the door open in less than a second. The android could say he has no emotions all he liked, but from an outside view, one would see his actions to be fueled by deep concern.

Inside the room, a solid red mass writhed around formlessly, peppered with translucent, gooey spots. It knocked over a computer terminal, and slammed into a desk. As it turned, Wesley noticed a body within the mass. Lilip was nearly covered in the putty, unable to free themself as Mooshy knocked itself this way and that. One arm and most of their bottom half were completely engulfed, but they luckily still had their head and their other arm exposed.

“What the hell happened?!” Riker exclaimed. He had to duck as Mooshy thrust an appendage his way, hoping to get a hit in.

Lilip grunted as Mooshy fell against a wall before pulling itself back up. “Gave it something it couldn’t digest well,” They said between gasps, “I think we can say it’s definitely an angry drunk!”

“Any ideas on what we can do to calm it down?” Riker asked, once again ducking to avoid a blow from the organism.

“If we try to stun it, we may end up angering it even more,” Data said, “To say nothing of hitting Lilip with a phaser blast.”

“Please, don’t hurt it!” Lilip pleaded. They had to force their arm against a table so as to avoid getting their head smashed in when Mooshy threw itself down.

Wesley was frozen, but managed to break through the glacier that was his mind. “I have an idea,” He said, “We need to bring it to a transporter!”

“I see.” Data nodded. “We can separate both genetic signatures to free Lilip.”

“And transport that thing into a safe container!” Wesley finished. “Commander Riker, if you can go to Transporter Room Three and let them know to stand by with a container of some kind, Data and I can get its attention and lead it over there! Meanwhile, I have just the right bait to lure it out of here.” He reached into his bag and pulled out the other half of the fermented apple and unwrapped the plastic it was housed in.

Mooshy stopped its thrashing as it supposedly scented the delectable fruit. The outer layers of the slime shivered, causing Lilip to sink deeper within it. All that remained of them was their nose and three of their fingers. They weren’t in too deep, as through the solid red, the purple line marking their tail curled in on itself.

Riker nodded curtly before taking off to fulfill his role in the plan. Data held himself between Wesley and Mooshy, an arm out to keep the young man away from the threat. The two backed away towards the door, Wesley holding the fruit high to lure the life form. It slithered along, wanting nothing more than to claim its prize.

The mass of putty changed its shape, as it made two thick appendages to anchor itself onto the floor. It used its new limbs to make massive steps, pulling the rest of it behind like a tortoise. Mooshy may not have taken to the apple well, but the bait was tempting. It pulled itself forward as Wesley and Data cautiously backed up through the corridor.

“Wesley,” Data addressed as the pair edged closer to the turbolift, “Once we have contained this organism inside the turbolift, I suggest you stay behind me. As I am inorganic, I can shield you from it safely, since it would not be interested in digesting an android such as myself.”

“Yes, sir.” Wesley said. He backed up enough that the lift doors opened to his proximity. He glanced behind him before pressing himself to the back wall. He clutched the apple close to him, careful to keep it out of Mooshy’s reach.

Data soon joined him, and kept himself between Wesley and the slime. He made himself look bigger—like one does when encountering a bear—in order to keep Wesley out of the organism’s reach.

Mooshy pressed itself into the android, But Data managed to hold it back. It was much stronger and heavier than he anticipated, but he still held firm. One of his feet slid back from the force, but Data quickly corrected himself. Through the doughy texture, Data could feel a solid mass within. Lilip!

The turbolift opened, and Wesley had to shimmy around Data, who kept his back to him. The second he had room, he bolted out of the lift and into the hallway.

Commander Riker made his way back to the group. “Everything’s ready!” He said as he placed himself in front of Wesley.

“We have to hurry, or Lilip might get digested!” Wesley said. He took off into a jog, holding the apple above his head.

Mooshy managed to knock Data over as it pelted its way out of the lift. Riker took careful steps back, almost skipping in a way as he tried to keep his distance from the slime. When Data rose to his feet, he joined his commander in a half-jog.

Everyone made it to the desired room. In the transporter pad was a large drum with hydraulic seals. Miles O’Brien was waiting at his terminal with bated breath. “Everything’s ready! Just say the word!”

Wesley finally let his gaze leave the creature as he turned towards the transporter pad and threw the apple onto the platform. It smashed into soggy pieces, leaving a gross pile on the pad. Mooshy barreled through Data and Riker, knocking the two men onto their backs as it pulled itself along. It dragged itself onto the transporter platform and drew itself over the apple. As it shivered, Lilip’s nose and fingers were engulfed, their body entirely within the mass of slime.

“Energize!” Wesley demanded.

Miles O’Brien wasted no time. With a slide of his fingers on his control panel, the transporter lit up. Mooshy was surrounded by a beam of light, its form disappearing in thin air. O’Brien continued to thrum away on his console.

After several seconds that felt like hours, the beam of light returned, and Lilip materialized. They were curled into the fetal position, the fur on their tail bristling. Another beam of light surrounded the storage drum, which remained unchanged. However, it was clear that Mooshy was contained within the cylinder, as it rocked back and forth from the creature trying to escape.

Lilip stirred. They placed their hands on the platform and raised their upper half off the ground. Confusion clouded their gaze as they looked around. They rolled onto their back and let their eyes rest on the other four in the room. With bambi legs, they staggered to their feet and shuffled off the platform.

Data stepped over and let Lilip balance against him. “Are you alright?”

“Skin feels a little tingly, but I’m okay…” Lilip gasped, “What happened to..?”

“Mooshy’s in that cargo drum.” Wesley pointed to the container behind Lilip.

“What do you all say we take that thing to the next science station?” Commander Riker suggested.

Such a suggestion made Lilip’s stomach drop. Would this be the solution to them acting out as well? Would they be so easily thrown away?

“I believe that is a valid choice of action.” Data’s approval was met with Lilip tightening their grip on his shirt. He looked down at them and perked up an eyebrow.