- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: You having a good laugh now, Q? Does it amuse you to think of me living out the rest of my life as a dreary man in a tedious job?
- [turbolift doors open, and Picard finds himself back in the otherwordly realm with Q]
- Q: I gave you something most mortals never experience: a second chance at life. And now all you can do is complain?
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: I can't live out my days as that person. That man is bereft of passion... and imagination! That is not who I am!
- Q: Au contraire. He's the person you wanted to be, one who was less arrogant and undisciplined in his youth, one who was less like me. The Jean-Luc Picard you wanted to be, the one who did *not* fight the Nausicaan, had quite a different career from the one you remember. That Picard never had a brush with death, never came face to face with his own mortality, never realized how fragile life is or how important each moment must be. So his life never came into focus. He drifted through much of his career, with no plan or agenda, going from one assignment to the next, never seizing the opportunities that presented themselves. He never led the away team on Milika III to save the ambassador, or took charge of the Stargazer's bridge when its captain was killed. And no one ever offered him a command. He learned to play it safe. And he never, ever, got noticed by anyone.
- [turns to walk away]
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: You're right, Q. You gave me the chance to change, and I took the opportunity. But I admit now, it was a mistake.
- [Q stops walking, looks back over his shoulder]
- Q: Are you asking me for something, Jean-Luc?
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: Give me a chance to put things back the way they were before.
- Q: Before, you died in sickbay. Is that what you want?
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: I would rather die as the man I was... than live the life I just saw.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Q, what is going on?
- Q: I told you. You're dead. This is the afterlife. And I'm God.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [laughs scornfully] You are not God!
- Q: Blasphemy! You're lucky I don't cast you out or smite you or something. The bottom line is, your life ended about five minutes ago, under the inept ministrations of Dr. Beverly Crusher.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: No... I am not dead. Because I refuse to believe that the afterlife is run by you. The universe is not so badly designed.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: There are many parts of my youth that I'm not proud of. There were... loose threads - untidy parts of me that I would like to remove. But when I... pulled on one of those threads - it had unraveled the tapestry of my life.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Q. Even if you *have* brought me back in time, somehow, surely you must realize that any alteration in this timeline will have a profound impact on the future.
- Q: Please! Spare me your egotistical musings on your pivotal role in history. Nothing you do here will cause the Federation to collapse, or galaxies to explode. To be blunt, *you're important, but you're not that important.*
- Q: Well, let's see... You've managed to get slapped by one woman, a drink thrown in your face by another and alienate your two best friends. Doing pretty well so far.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [about his time as an ensign] I was a different person in those days - arrogant, undisciplined... with far too much ego, but too little wisdom. I was more like you.
- Q: Then you must have been far more interesting. Pity you had to change.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: [in an alternate timeline, as Junior Lt. Picard] Excuse me, am I interrupting?
- Commander William T. Riker: No, not at all. Have a seat.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: Thank you. I'd like to talk to you for a moment about my future on the Enterprise.
- Commander William T. Riker: Of course, Lieutenant. Jean-Luc, is it?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Maybe I should go.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: No, please, Counselor, I would very much like to hear your thoughts. First of all, and I would like you to be absolutely straightforward with me... how would you rate me as an officer?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Well, um... your performance records have always been good. You're thorough, dedicated...
- Commander William T. Riker: [searching desperately] Steady, reliable... punctual...
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: I see. What would you say if I told you that I believed that I was capable of being very much more?
- Commander William T. Riker: Perhaps we should discuss this at your next evaluation.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: I would appreciate it if we could discuss it now. You see, I feel that I would like to move beyond astrophysics to engineering or security, something that might even lead to command.
- Commander William T. Riker: Frankly, Lieutenant... I don't think that's realistic.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: Why?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: I really don't think this is the place to be discussing this.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: Please. This is important to me. I believe that I can do *more*.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Hasn't that been the problem all along? Throughout your career you've had lofty goals, but... you've never been willing to do what's necessary to attain them.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: Would that be your evaluation as well, Commander?
- Commander William T. Riker: I think I have to agree with the Counselor. If you want to get ahead, you have to take chances. Stand out in a crowd. Get noticed.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: [dismayed] I see.
- Commander William T. Riker: Now, we don't want to lose you. You're a very good officer.
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: Just not one who stands out.
- Commander William T. Riker: Why don't I talk to Commander LaForge in engineering and see what we can do?
- Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard: But... command?
- Commander William T. Riker: [smiles sympathetically] Well... we'll see.
- Q: Now that you've shuffled off the mortal coil, we're free to spend a little time together.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: A little time together? How much?
- Q: Eternity.
- Q: I see you've found your Nausicaan friend. You seem unimpaled so far.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm sorry to disappoint you.
- Q: ... Attention on deck, Ensign Picard!
- Jean-Luc Picard: ... Q.
- Q: That's "Captain Q" to you, young man.
- [last lines]
- Commander William T. Riker: I was just trying to imagine a hellbent-for-leather young officer insulting a Nausicaan twice his size. I wish I'd had a chance to know that Jean-Luc Picard.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, well, to tell the truth, that wasn't the first run-in that I had with a couple of surly Nausicaans.
- Commander William T. Riker: Really?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, yes. During my sophomore year, I was assigned to training on Morikin VII. Well, there was a Nausicaan outpost on one of the outlying asteroids, and one day...
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: You know, there's still part of me that cannot accept that Q would give me a second chance; or that he would demonstrate so much compassion. And if it was Q... I owe him a debt of gratitude.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Corey, I'm not here to help you. I'm here to stop you from making a serious mistake.
- Corey: You sound like my mother.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Cheating the Nausicaans could have serious consequences for all of us. It's a risk we can't afford to take.
- Corey: You *are* my mother!
- Jean-Luc Picard: What if I don't avoid the fight? What if I won't make the changes?
- Q: Then you die on the table - and we spend eternity together.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Wonderful!
- Q: I'm glad you think so.
- [Picard wakes up in Marta's bed, but finds Q lying next to him]
- Q: Morning, darling.
- [Picard jolts and covers himself with the bedsheets]
- Q: Feeling a little jumpy this morning? Are we... guilty, perhaps?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I don't feel guilty about anything, Q.
- Q: No? "We're just friends, Q, nothing more."
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: And we're still friends.
- Q: So what's next?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [beat] I don't know. What I do know is, things will be different.
- Q: I'm sure.
- Q: You never told me you were such a ladies' man.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I wasn't. I was a puerile adolescent, who allowed himself to be led by his hormones instead of his head.
- Nausicaan #1: Coward! Like all Starfleet, you talk and you talk, but you have no guramba!
- Jean-Luc Picard: [steps forward] What did you say?
- Nausicaan #1: I said, you are a COWARD!
- Jean-Luc Picard: That's what I thought you said.
- [drops the Nausicaan with an elbow to the stomach, thus starting the fateful brawl]
- [Corey has accepted the Nausicaan's challenge for a game of dom-jot]
- Jean-Luc Picard: He's gonna lose. The Nausicaan is cheating.
- Q: Really? I'm beginning to like these Nausicaans.
- Q: I see you've found your Nausicaan friend. You seem unimpaled so far.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I'm sorry to disappoint you.
- [Q laughs]
- Q: [Corey is playing Dom-jot with the Nausicaan] Ensign Zweller seems to be doing well.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: He's going to lose - the Nausicaan is cheating.
- Q: Really? I'm beginning to like these Nausicaans.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: If history repeats itself, Corey will figure it out later tonight, and then he'll want revenge.
- Q: And will you help your best friend avenge this injustice?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I did last time. I rigged the table so that he would win in a rematch.
- Q: [incredulous] Picard! You cheated! I'm impressed!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: It was a stupid mistake. The Nausicaan didn't take kindly to losing... nor his friends. They were outraged. They wanted a fight. I gave them one.
- Q: That's a beautiful story.
- [points at his chest]
- Q: It gets you right here. Doesn't it?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Q, what have you done?
- Q: I've done exactly as I promised. I returned you to the present.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: But this is not the present I remember. You said nothing would change.
- Q: Nothing has changed, Jean-Luc... except for you. But then again, that's what you wanted, wasn't it? To change the man you were in your youth? Well, you did it. This is the man you are today. And you should be happy. You have a real heart beating in your chest, and you get to live out the rest of your life in safety, running tests, making analyses, and carrying reports to your superiors.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: If I'm really dead, then my only regret is dying and finding you here.
- Q: You wound me, Jean-Luc.
- Q: It wasn't very smart of you to take on three Nausicaans, was it?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: No, it wasn't.
- Q: And did I hear a laugh? It's so unlike you, Jean-Luc, to have a sense of humor, especially about getting stabbed through the back.
- [first lines]
- Doctor Crusher: Bring the stasis units in here and have them online.
- Crewman Martinez: Yes, Doctor.
- Doctor Crusher: Tell Doctor Selar she can use ward three for the ambulatory cases and I'll stay here.
- Transporter Operator: [over comline] Transporter Room 4 to Sickbay. They're coming in now.
- Doctor Crusher: Acknowledged. Stand clear and be ready.