.  .  . 2296 . . . 2:48 Delta Afternoon. . .

. . . Foresti planet . . At a house of John-Luc's friend . . .July 1st . .

"So we are going to rescue a guy who used to be omnipotent because?" Riker asked.

"We are humans." John-Luc said.

"For all we know,Q could be staging this."  Riker said.

"Quarty would never do that to me."  John-Luc said.

"How long have you known Q?" Riker asked.

"Longer than you, Mr Riker," John-Luc said. "Before you were born."

"From the records I gathered in the database and my memories of the day Q left us," Data said. "This is not one of Q's games."

"It is one of Trelane's games, instead." John-Luc said.

John-Luc put down a flat disk that emitted a light blue hologram of a building.

"Hm  . . . " Worf said. "Isn't that the most secure place Star Fleet has for test subjects?"

Riker looked up.

"Surely he wouldn't put himself as a test subject," Riker said. "He has enough sense for that."

"He used to be based in a Nursing Home at Zako in Fort Madison," John-Luc said. "Due to the attack by a Dragon-Scanner they recently decided to move him and countless others to a 'secure place' for them to live out the remaining days. I have a bad feeling about that place. It is not good. It is nothing what they say. I have not received reports about my spouse in the last seven months and it worries me."

"Hey, does anyone want some tea?" Zarah asked.

"I'll take Earl Gray tea,hot."John-Luc said.

Zarah smiled.

"As usual," Zarah said, then turned toward the two new comers. "Wants some brownies?"

"I'll pass." Riker said.

"Are they any better than the failed attempt at meat brownies?" Worf asked.

"Meat brownies?"  Zarah repeated, blinking.

"Yes, meat brownies," Worf said. "Most of which are full of meat and chocolate. They are much worse than rotten potato."

"There is no such thing as meat brownies," Zarah said. "But  I'll try it."

Zarah turned away then went back to the kitchen.

"Her name is Zarak  Potazanie Cobowie." John-Luc said.

Worf gasped.

"Do you mean to say I am the reason why Meat Brownies are around?" Worf asked.

"Meat Brownies are not that popular on the Enterprise." Riker noted.

"Yes, I am," John-Luc said.  "It seems logical to assume you are creating a bootstrap effect and she is the creator."

"Me and my big mouth." Worf said.

"Wait, that is the woman who invented meat brownies," Riker said, recognizing a piece of furniture.  He laughed and laughed. "Oh my god, Worf, you just made the favorite food of the Ferengi come into existence!"

"Not funny." Worf said.

"Ferengi?" John-Luc repeated. "What are the Ferengi?"

Riker stopped laughing.

"Uh, you never met the Ferengi?" Riker asked, stunned.

"I was part of a Warship, Mr Riker." John-Luc reminded Riker.

"So you were scouring around for Klingon vessels rather than exploring the quadrant?" Riker asked.

"More like searching for a way to win the war," John-Luc said, in a low voice.   "Care to tell me what the Ferengi are?"

"Merchants." Riker and Worf said at once.

"Really short, they have big ears, and pretty intelligent," Riker said. "But very sneaky. They are brown and you better watch out for your belongings. I once met a Ferengi who was a kleptomaniac!"

"Are we really going to be busting Quarty out of the most secure place in the federation?" Data asked, concerned.

"First, Mr Worf will go in," John-Luc said. "And if they do not allow it  . .  . We will be breaking in."

"That is if we don't get caught."  Riker said.

"One of us has to get caught for the plan to work," John-Luc said. "And to lie. And it cannot be Mr Data."

Zarah came back with a hot tea cup then put it on the table.

"Here is Earl Gray tea," Zarah said. "Mr Worf, your Meat Brownies are not done yet."

"What have I done?"  Worf said, out loud appearing to be irritated.

John-Luc leaned back taking a sip of his tea.

"So who goes in,John-Luc?" Data asked.

Zarah returned to the kitchen.

"We will need a tour of this building to be sure of this plan before hand," John-Luc said. "Right now, you can be part of our back up in black."

"So what were you doing for ten years?" Riker asked.

John-Luc lowered the tea cup.

"We could not get  intergalactic wifi," John-Luc said. "We had to rely on the technology on this planet to create a machine to send us back in time . . . Unfortunately not all of us were able to get back in time." John-Luc hadn't told Riker about his untimely death. "A untimely end."

"That was a timeline where Quarty could have died and did not," Data said. "The timeline we were in  was the original timeline that we are now in the progress of fixing."

"And we'll need a ship to get where this 'Trelane' wants us to," Riker said. "Trelane sounds just like Q."

"That is because Trelane is his son," John-Luc said.

"I was unaware Q had a son." Riker said.

"Me too, until he told me." John-Luc said.

"He didn't seem like the father type, but more of a trickster." Worf said.

John-Luc took a sip out of the tea cup.

"We have  53 days," John-Luc said. "And we are not going to get everything done in two weeks."

"I am tempted to meet my grandparents." Riker said.

"I was unaware you had grandparents." Data acknowledged.

"I'll introduce you to them." Riker said.

Riker's Grandparents were Claudia Riker and Jefferson Davidson.