Author's note: I don't own any of the characters in this story. This story is rated M for strong language and situations. The language won't be as bad as the source material, though. It was harder writing for these characters than I thought it would, but hopefully half of them will maintain their dignity if not their tempers. The other half didn't really have any, but hopefully they'll keep whatever made them who they are. If I violate these characters make sure to let me know.

Chapter 1: Encounter at Blood Gulch

The Enterprise D had been on a good streak of easy missions over the last several months ever since Q had decided to continue his test of whether humans had the right to explore space. There had been no casualties and only a few minor problems the crew had been forced to deal with. This is exactly what Captain Jean-Luc Picard was thinking as he stepped out of the turbolift and onto the bridge. 'It's not normal for us to have things this easy,' he thought. 'I have the feeling something big is going to happen in the near future.'

As soon as his sensors picked up the presence of his captain, Lieutenant Commander Data rose from the captain's seat and turned to face Picard. "Good morning, Captain."

Picard nodded. "Good morning, Mister Data. Is there anything to report?"

Data took a brief moment to analyze his databanks. "The only incident to report involves our discovery of a new comet in the Zargos system. We have already scanned it and sent the information to Starfleet. There is nothing else pertinent for me to report."

"Thanks, Mister Data, you stand relieved," Picard said.

Data nodded and walked over to the Conn and motioned the Ensign there to be relieved. Then he sat there and started monitoring the controls.

After Picard had sat in the Captain's seat and made a mental checklist of the ship's goals for that day, he tapped the communicator on his chest and said, "Captain Picard to Commander Riker."

After only a second's delay, the First Officer's voice responded, "Yes, sir?"

"Could you report to the bridge a few minutes early this morning? There is something I need to discuss with you."

"I will be there in five minutes," Riker responded.

"Thank you, that will be all." Picard sat there and starred at the viewscreen. He kept expecting something to materialize. He ran through the possibilities. A Romulan warbird? A Klingon bird of prey? Possibly even a Borg cube? He knew deep down that this long peace was building towards some huge crisis, he just didn't know what.

He was shook from his thoughts by the voice of his first officer. "Captain, you asked me to report early, sir."

Picard quickly regained his composure. "Yes, Number One, could you step into the ready room?" the captain stood and started walking towards his office. "Commander Data, you have the bridge."

Once inside, Picard took his place behind the desk. He quickly gathered the right words and said, "In your personal opinion, how prepared do you think the Enterprise is if it faced a major crisis? Any crisis. From within our ship or an outside source."

Riker thought for a second. "I believe that there is a good reason that the Enterprise is the Flagship of the fleet. Our people are the best that Starfleet has to offer and that we are heads and shoulders above the rest." He paused. "But a crew can never aim too high. Here lately the crew have been too relaxed. There haven't been any major offences, but there have been more and more crew members being late for shifts. Only five minutes here, three minutes there. Almost all of our crew used to report early just in case they were needed."

"And what course of action do you think should be taken to correct this problem?"

"One thing we could do is run daily drills, rather than weekly ones. This would send an important message to the crew the we must stay on our toes, no matter how long we've had it easy."

Picard smiled. "That was exactly what I was thinking, Number One. Make it so."

Riker nodded to his captain and left the room.

Picard stood and looked out the view-port. "If nothing else this might make things a little exciting aboard the Enterprise. It is unnatural for a starship captain to be bored."

"Why, if you need a cure for boredom, Jean-Luc, all you had to do was ask," a voice said behind him.

Picard took a deep breath and turned around. An all-too familiar face was grinning back at him. "Q, I didn't ask for anything. I was just thinking out loud. That is all."

Q gave Picard a knowing smile. "Now, we've been friends for over seven years now and you really have nothing to hide. We both know that you really get your kicks when your back is against the wall. You may enjoy peace, but in the corner of your mind you love it when the challenge arrives."

Picard raised his hand to silence Q. "Firstly, I am not and never will be your friend. And secondly, while I do like a challenge, I don't enjoy my crew being in any danger."

Q pretended that his feelings were hurt. "Why, Mon Capitan, you truly do me a disservice. Here I am, taking time out of my busy schedule to help a friend out, and this is how I am treated. I have a mind to leave right now."

The two starred at each other for a few moments. Finally the captain broke the silence. "I don't suppose you really will leave, will you?"

Q shook his head. "Not when I have such a pleasant surprise planned for you and this ship. I know this little place in another universe that the Federation has yet to explore. Actually, if it weren't for me, you would never have a chance to see it. I doubt mankind will develop technology that sophisticated for quite a while." Q touched the wall of the ready room. "By the way, Jean-Luc, have I ever told you how quaint starship travel is? It really is a wonder that your kind have survived this long."

Picard ignored the insult and said, "Q, we don't need any help from you. We're not interested in exploring any place you would find interesting."

"You continue to disappoint me, Jean-Luc. What if Columbus said, 'I am not interested in finding another way to India' or if Zefram Cochrane had said, 'I don't care anything about spaceships.' I thought that the great Captain Picard would jump at any chance to further humanity's knowledge." Before Picard could respond, Q continued. "I will sweeten the deal even more. This is something that I will never say to you again. We both know that whether or not you agree with this, I'm going to do it anyway. Here's the promise. This place will be the safest place I have or ever will send you. The chances of somebody on this ship getting hurt is one in a hundred and the chances of someone getting killed are even lower. I give you my word."

Picard tried to read Q's face. Finally he said, "Well, I've never been able to stop you before. At least this time we can go into it prepared. When do we leave?"

Q smiled. "We'll be there just about now," he said, and snapped his fingers at the end of the sentence. The Enterprise jerked as if was spinning at high speed. It continued shaking for only seconds before it stopped as suddenly as it began. "Have fun, Jean-Luc," Q said, before disappearing.

Picard quickly walked out of his ready room and surveyed the bridge. He noticed that everyone was looking at the viewscreen. What he saw wasn't entirely surprising, but it wasn't normal either. He saw a planet that appeared to have a ring circling it. He turned to Riker. "Report, Number One."

Riker was walking around, glancing at monitors. "We appear to have jumped from one point in space to another without warp travel. We're not in any previously explored space. None of the star formations match up with any in our database." He looked up at Picard. "There is no way for us to know where we are. Except for possibly on that planet. It's a little too convenient that we happened to appear right beside a planet."

Data took this chance to give his report. "It is highly improbable for us to be transported to a random destination that is in proximity to a inhabited planetoid."

"So," Picard said, "there are signs of life. That ring doesn't look natural. Is it constructed around the planet?"

"Yes, the ring is made up of elements and alloys that are unknown to the Federation at this time. Also, scanners are registering several humanoid lifeforms clustered in a canyon near the equator." Data continued to analyze his screen.

Riker leaned over and whispered to Picard, "Do you think that Q might be involved? This has his fingerprints all over it."

Picard smiled. "It is Q. We had a little talk right before this happened. He thought that we could use a little excitement. He did try to ensure me that whatever was on that planet wasn't dangerous."

Riker sighed. "Do you think that we can trust him?"

Picard shook his head. "No, we still can't trust him. But if we don't try to do something, he'll probably just let us sit up here until we die of old age. Take two crewmen and beam down to where those lifeforms are." Picard looked his first officer square in the eyes. "Don't do anything too risky. Q can be clever when he wants to be."

"Understood," Riker said. Starting towards the turbolift, he said, "Commander Data, Lieutenant Worf, you're with me." The two crew members followed him into the turbolift.

"Transporter room three," Riker ordered the lift.

Worf studied Riker. "Are we expecting hostility from these lifeforms?"

"We don't know anything for sure. Just be ready for anything."

Worf showed a slight smile. "Aye, sir."

As soon as the doors opened, the three Federation officers stepped off and walked towards the nearby transporter room at a brisk pace. Riker glanced at the transporter chief as they entered the room and said, "Set coordinates near the location of the unknown lifeforms." The three stepped up onto the pad and waited for the chief to configure the transporter. When Riker saw that he was ready, he gave the order. "Energize." With a low hum of energy the three officers disappeared from the room.

When Riker, Data, and Worf materialized, they found themselves in the middle of a large grassy canyon. "This is peculiar," Data said. "This canyon is artificial. If it was natural, then there would be an area for water or wind to flow from one direction to another. It would appear that this area was excavated within the last several decades."

Riker pointed to one end of the canyon to where a large grey building stood. "Do you think that was buried under the dirt?"

"It is possible, but without further information, I can not draw any absolute conclusion."

Worf was looking in the other direction. "There is another building on the other end. Do you think they dug the canyon, then built these bases? If that is the case, they are only vulnerable by air or space. Unless the enemy had a weapon that could tear down these walls. It would take a flawless strategy to invade this place."

"If I might add another possibility, "Data started. "This would be an exceptionally fortified position, but if you had a group of beings that needed to be imprisoned, this would be an excellent place as well."

Riker stroked his beard. "So this could be an important base to these people, or it could be a prison. Is there anything else that we're missing?"

Data suddenly looked towards one end of the canyon. "My internal sensors are indicating two lifeforms heading this way. According to the speed they are traveling, they must be in a vehicle of some sort."

Riker motioned for Worf and Data to stand behind him. "I will do the talking. Be ready for any hostile actions." He tapped his comm badge. "Riker to Enterprise, monitor our vital signs and beam us aboard should something go wrong."

"Understood," came the response.

At that point, a car resembling a jeep came tearing over the hill and came to a skidding stop just in front of the officers. Two humanoids got out of the vehicle and stood in front of the Enterprise crew. Riker was instantly taking note of the armor the two wore. It covered their bodies from head to toe. He was also trying to decide why one had maroon armor and the other had orange armor. Did it have something to do with rank? It did appear that they were in the same army.

The one in maroon was the first one to speak. "Are you the reinforcements from red command?"

"No," Riker answered.

"Ah, shit, then that means your a blue," the maroon one said, pointing his gun at Riker.

Riker held up his hands. "Calm down, I'm not a blue, either, whatever that is."

"You're not a blue and you're not a red. Does that make you freelancers? If so, we're royally screwed. The only money we have is going to be used to fix the bullet holes on the ten foot statue of Sarge."

The one in orange turned towards his partner and said, "It was pretty smart of you to build that statue. That way you didn't have to keep bending over to kiss his ass all the time."

Riker exchanged confused glances with Data and Worf while the two soldiers continued to bicker.

"Screw you, Grif," the maroon one said. "Just because I respect my captain doesn't mean I kiss his ass."

"Simmonds, you passed the respect level a long time ago. I caught you one night starring at Sarge while he slept. You kept muttering stuff like, 'You're the greatest, Sarge,' and 'You ensure our victory.' I'm pretty sure I even heard you say, 'Grif sucks like a blue."

"You're just jealous that Sarge takes notice of me and not you."

"No, I'm not jealous. I'd have to give a fuck to be jealous. If Sarge were to walk up to me right now and say, 'Grif, I always thought you were the best soldier in this army,' I'd say, 'So, what. That makes this a shitty army then."

Riker cleared his throat. "Have you forgotten us? You asked if we're freelancers. No, we're not freelancers. We would like to speak to whoever is in charge here."

Grif and Simmonds looked at each other. Then Simmonds said, "You know, we think you're blues in disguise. We better make you our prisoners. Having prisoners will give us an advantage."

"What? How many times have prisoners ever helped us out? They either annoy us, shoot us, hit us, or make us get attacked. Whenever we get a prisoner, all it gives us is grief." Grif paused for a second while Simmonds waited. Finally he continued, "And it's extra work taking prisoners."

"Breathing is extra work for you."

"No it's not,"Grif said, checking to see how much oxygen was in his respirator.

Simmonds thought for a moment. "You three go over to that base over there. You can be their prisoners." The two red soldiers hopped in the car. "I'm glad you reminded me of that. The last thing we need is another Doc." Simmonds started it up and started driving towards Red Base.

Grif turned around and waved at the three strangers. "Good luck over at Blue Base. You don't want to know how much you'll need it. Cockbites!"

Riker studied the other two officers. Data seemed amused, for Data anyway. Worf, however, looked like he about to give chase after the two offensive Reds. Riker tapped his comm badge. "Riker to Enterprise. Please beam us up."

As the three began to dematerialize, Riker could swear that he heard someone shouting in the distance. "Bow, chicka, wow, wow!"