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Full Circle
Part 1 of 1
Synopsis:  What if Q's appeal hadn't worked?

Full Circle

    Starfleet Academy didn't know what hit them.

    Sure, the return of Voyager only a few months before had caused a great stir, but nothing like the arrival of two new students for the fall semester.  The shock of the loss of Boothby only a few months before even that was now a faded memory, as the unlikely duo descended upon the unsuspecting campus.

    Chief O'Brien could only shake his head in wonder as the pair solved nearly every engineering problem he could devise.  Captain Killian could only look on dumbfounded as the two proved as efficient as any cadets he'd ever had.  Captain Stern could only sigh at their idiotic yet clever stunts, yet they never did anything that could get them in serious trouble.  The female cadets never stopped chasing them.

    In essence, Icheb and Junior were the life of the Academy.

    They also had the most interesting Academy applications.  Both bore recommendations from Admiral Kathryn Janeway.  Icheb listed his race as one that few in the Alpha Quadrant--all members of Voyager's crew, actually--had heard of.  His physical listed "Borg implants" and "assimilation-resistant biochemistry" as "unusual physiological features."

    Junior had a fixation with a single letter.  Under the "parents/guardians" section, he listed "Q" and "Q."  His own race was "Q" scribbled out, and re-written as human.  His planet of origin was "Q continuum."  And his full name was Q, Jr.

    But Icheb was no longer Borg, as Junior was no longer a Q.  Both, however were teenagers, and both were determined to prove to the Alpha Quadrant their worth.  Both were at the top of their class, with Icheb just a fraction of a point ahead of Junior.

    "Itchy" and "Q-ball" were also pranksters, the likes of which hadn't been seen since the days of William T. Riker.  There were few that believed Junior to actually be the son of Q... until he'd pulled a masterfully concocted prank on them.

    Academy officials agreed that the two would be in separate quarters for the next year.  That would limit the time they could prepare their plans.  But who among them could complain?  Captain Aielman, the flight instructor, detected the Tom Paris flare to their piloting skills, Chief O'Brien reported a certain ruthlessness to engineering, and Captain Sobek was nearly bowled over by their grasp of temporal mechanics--they understood it better than the Vulcan himself did!

    Captain Picard, during one of his rare visits to the Academy to "scout out" the graduates, ran into Junior in the garden and nearly fell over with surprise.

    "Q! What are you doing at the Academy?"

    Junior merely grinned, because he knew he looked a lot like his father.  "I'm sorry, Captain, but I believe you're mistaking me for my dad..."

    When the precocious young men finally graduated (first and second in the class), they had their pick of any post in the quadrant--naturally they both chose Voyager.

    Their home.

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