Knowing there may well be no Magog here did little to ease Dylan's restlessness at being here. He wanted to be back in his world, on his ship, rebuilding the Commonwealth and preparing to face the Magog. With that threat on its way to the Known Worlds, he had to get back.

There was more than just his dream at stake, and his dream had been enough on its own.

"The captain has been trying to do what he can, but so far, there's not much we can do. As far as they can tell, the being that brought us here likes to create challenges for the crew of this ship for his own entertainment."

Dylan's tone said precisely what he thought of being a piece in Q's game. It was, perhaps, the most honest emotion he'd displayed since Gaheris had appeared.

"There are threats." There were always threats. "On the last planet the Enterprise visited, there was an earthquake and the people it trapped were attacked by aliens."

It had been a situation more suited to Dylan's skills than waiting on the Enterprise for something to happen.