The Redoubtable Commander Riker (Whom I Noticed, Before.)

PICARD: 

You're no Starfleet Admiral, Q!

Q. : 

Neither am I an Aldebaran serpent, 

Captain, but you accepted me as such.

RIKER: 

He's got Us there, Captain.

Q: 

Ah! The redoubtable Commander Riker, 

whom I noticed before —

You seem to find this 

all very amusing.

PICARD: 

You interfered with our Farpoint mission. 

You threatened to convict us as ignorant savages, if, 

while dealing with a powerful and complex life form, 

we made the slightest mistake, and 

when that didn't happen --

Q : 

The Q became interested in You. 

Does no one here understand 

your incredible good fortune? 

'Seized my vessel'. These are the complaints of 

a closed mind too accustomed 

to military privileges. 

But you, Riker, and 

I remember you well -- 

What Do You Make 

of My Offer?

RIKER : 

We don't have time for these games.

Q : 

Games? Did someone say 'games'? 

And perchance, for interest's sake, 

a deadly Game? To The Game --

redoubtable (adj.)

late 14c., of persons, "worthy of honor, venerable" (a sense now obsolete); late 15c., "that is to be dreaded or feared, formidable, terrible," also often "valiant," from Old French redoutable (12c.), from redouter "to dread," from re-, intensive prefix, + douter "be afraid of" (see doubt (v.)).

The verb also was in Middle English, redouten, "to fear, dread; stand in awe or apprehension of; honor" (late 14c., from Old French) and was used through 19c., though OED marks it "now rhetorical."

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to redoubtable

doubt (v.)

c. 1200, douten, duten, "to dread, fear, be afraid" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French doter "doubt, be doubtful; be afraid," from Latin dubitare "to doubt, question, hesitate, waver in opinion" (related to dubius "uncertain"), from duo "two" (from PIE root *dwo- "two"), with a sense of "of two minds, undecided between two things." Compare dubious. Etymologically, "to have to choose between two things."

The sense of "fear" developed in Old French and was passed on to English. Meaning "to be uncertain, hesitate or waver in opinion" is attested in English from c. 1300. The transitive senses of "be uncertain as to the truth or fact of" and "distrust, be uncertain with regard to" are from c. 1300.

The -b- was restored 14c.-16c. in French and English by scribes in imitation of Latin. French dropped it again in 17c., but English has retained it.

It replaced Old English tweogan (noun twynung), from tweon "two," on notion of "of two minds" or the choice between two implied in Latin dubitare. Compare German Zweifel "doubt," from zwei "two."

*dwo- 

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "two."

It forms all or part of: anadiplosis; balance; barouche; between; betwixt; bezel; bi-; binary; bis-; biscuit; combination; combine; deuce; deuterium; Deuteronomy; di- (1) "two, double, twice;" dia-; dichotomy; digraph; dimity; diode; diphthong; diploid; diploma; diplomacy; diplomat; diplomatic; diplodocus; double; doublet; doubloon; doubt; dozen; dual; dubious; duet; duo; duodecimal; duplex; duplicate; duplicity; dyad; epididymis; hendiadys; pinochle; praseodymium; redoubtable; twain; twelfth; twelve; twenty; twi-; twice; twig; twilight; twill; twin; twine; twist; 'twixt; two; twofold; zwieback.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit dvau, Avestan dva, Greek duo, Latin duo, Old Welsh dou, Lithuanian dvi, Old Church Slavonic duva, Old English twa, twegen, German zwei, Gothic twai "two;" first element in Hittite ta-ugash "two years old."

redoubt (n.)

also redout, "small, enclosed military work," c. 1600, from French redoute (17c.), from Italian ridotto, earlier ridotta, "place of retreat," from Medieval Latin reductus "place of refuge, retreat," noun use of past participle of reducere "to lead or bring back" (see reduce). The unetymological -b- was added by influence of unrelated and now obsolete English verb redoubt "to dread, fear" (see redoubtable). As an adjective, Latin reductus meant "withdrawn, retired; remote, distant."

(Riker is sitting on a rock, laughing --

Q suddenly now has Three Commanders' 

pips on the collar of his fake uniform. )

Q. : 

Something amuses you? 

Perhaps you'll share 

The Joke with me?

RIKER: 

The Joke is You.

Q. : 

Strange gratitude, from one who has been granted 

a gift beyond any human dream. 

How can you not appreciate being able to 

send your friends back to their ship, or 

sending the soldiers back to the nothingness 

from which they came? 

Certainly, you must understand that 

at this moment you can send yourself 

back to the ship or to Earth, or change your shape 

and become anything else you want to be.

RIKER: 

What do you need, Q?

Q. : 

Need?

RIKER: 

You want something from Us, 

desperately. What is it?

Q. : 

Want something from you 

foolish, fragile, non-entities? 

Oh come, Riker. You're beginning 

to sound like your Captain.

RIKER: 

Now that's a compliment, Q. 

But that's not An Answer.

Q. : 

Riker, we have offered you 

a gift beyond all other gifts!

RIKER: 

Out of the goodness of your heart.

Q. : 

After Farpoint, I returned to 

Where We Exist. The Q Continuum.

RIKER: 

Which means exactly what?

Q. : 

The limitless dimensions of 

The Galaxy in which we exist.

RIKER: 

I don't understand.

Q. : 

Of course you don't, and you never will 

until you become One of Us.

RIKER: 

Until? Would you mind going over that again?

Q. : 

Well if you'll stop interrupting me. 

This is hardly a time to be teaching you 

the true nature of the universe. 

However, at Farpoint we saw you as savages only. 

We discovered instead that you are 

unusual creatures in your own limited ways. 

Ways which in time will not be so limited.

RIKER: 

We're growing. Something about Us 

compels Us to learn, explore.

Q. : 

Yes, the human compulsion. 

And unfortunately for Us, it is a power 

which will grow stronger century 

after century, aeon after aeon.

RIKER: 

Aeons. Have you any idea 

how far we'll advance?

Q. : 

Perhaps in a future that you cannot 

yet conceive, even beyond Us. 

So you see, we must know more 

about this human condition. 

That's why We've selected You, Riker, 

to become part of The Q, 

so that You can bring to Us 

this human need and hunger, 

that We may understand it.

RIKER: 

I suppose you mean that as a compliment, Q. 

Or maybe it's my limited mind. 

But to become a part of you? 

I don't even like you.

Q. : 

(grins) ......You're going to miss Me!