The three officers awoke in what appeared to be some sort of tent, and they were all chained to their seats. Down below them were three rings with various items arranged within and around them.

“It appears to be an old Earth circus.” said Evens.

The two men both looked at her strangely. “A circus?” asked the Captain.

“What’s a circus?” piped in Shrar.

Maddison pointed down toward the rings as she spoke again. “Families would go and watch performances that were performed down there. There would be clowns and animal trainers.” She looked up and saw the high wire. “And acrobats go up there and walk along that wire.”

“Clowns? inquired the Andorian officer.

“They were……” began Maddison, but she was cut off by a sudden light appearing over the middle ring which now held a man in a very large hat.

“Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth!!” he exclaimed loudly. “We are so glad that all of you could join us.”

The crew looked around to see who the man was referring to and found that they were the only ones present.

“He’s called the Ring Master.” explained Maddison. “He introduces the acts.

As if on cue, the Ring Master spoke once more. “Our first act tonight will be the Fabulous Fredricks.” And with a flourish of his hand, he directed their attention back up to the high wire they had previously discussed.

High up above the seats that held them firmly in place, there were three humans up on the platform that led out onto the wire. However, two of them were bound and gagged and the third held a weapon on the female.

“This isn’t right.” said Evens. “They shouldn’t be bound and there’s supposed to be a safety net below them.

The one with the weapon raised it level with the woman’s head. “Move.” he said, prompting the male out onto the wire. You could hear both the captives trying to scream to no avail as the man walked onward. Without his hands to balance him, he slowly wobbled his way out a few feet and didn’t get any further before plummeting to his death, some fifty feet below.

“Ahhhhh. What a shame. I thought for sure he’d get further than that. Oh well. Might as well let his wife join him.” said the man in the ring, and with a nod of his head, the one with the gun shot her and sent her down to her husband.

All three crew members made a futile attempted to stand but it was useless.

“This is all wrong. It’s supposed to be a fun, family show.” Maddison told the others.

“For the next act, we bring you, all the way from Andoria, the Beast master, the Targ Whisperer, Thaaaaaaaarn. This is the most terrifying act we have so I must warn you….DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.” The Ring Master directed them to the left side ring, where a cage had been placed with several smaller ones connected around the exterior. Inside was an Andorian and he too, like the crew, was strapped to a chair.

“He shouldn’t be tied up. He’s supposed to be free and be able to do tricks with the animals.”

That wasn’t what they got at all. The small, exterior cages opened and released five Klingon targs into the cage, and after a few seconds of posturing for each other and sniffing around the confined space, they turned their attention to the captive in the center. One of the bigger beasts released an ear piercing roar before they all attacked the hostage. All the officers could do was look on in horror.

“Wow. I thought Andorians were tough warriors. Sort of like Klingons.” the Ring Master said with a laugh. “Guess they aren’t as tough as we’d hoped. Oh well. Maybe the next act will be better. Put your hands together, ladies and gentleman and help me welcome the Clowns of the Cosmos, the Bozos of the Beltway, the Bajoran Comedy Club.”

They followed his gaze over to the third ring. It was occupied by several Bajorans and also held a few Naussicans. 

“Clowns were meant to be comedy relief but I’ve got a feeling that isn’t the case here. Those hammers and saws ans things look real. They are in danger.”

They crew once again made the attempt to escape only to be reminded of how tight their bindings were. All they could do was watch in horror and disgust as the Naussicans began taking turns with the weapons they possessed. They ranged from a large mallet that was used to bludgeon several captives in the heads to some sort of motorized saw that was swung at the necks of others causing their heads to go rolling across the ground. Krolo glanced over at Evens and saw tears running down her cheeks. He had never seen the Sausalito’s Security Chief look so vulnerable. His heart sank. He turned his attention to his other officer, Shrar. He was still staring back at the ring that contained the cage and the targs. Krolo felt sadness again. 

Briefly looking back at the slaughter that was taking place, he closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure what was taking place but he had to believe that it had something to do with the bright, white light that had enveloped him just before he awoke here. He recalled reading about the same sort of light in official records of Captain Picard and his crew whenever a visitor that called himself Q had come around but his antics were never described with this sort of violence. Could this be some sort of hallucination? Another being from the Q Continuum? He no sooner had that thought and he was in the white light once again. This time, when he opened his eyes, he was back in his quarters aboard his ship. He jumped up and looked around. Was it over? What the hell had caused it and why? he found himself wondering. Had it happened to to others? He found he had so many more questions than answers. He straightened his tunic and headed for the Bridge. He now has his next mission.