Blade

by January in June

Picard took a step closer. “I make it a practice to meet visitors on my ship.” Pim straightened rapidly and shot him a suspicious glance. “Do you?” “You may refer to me as ‘sir.’” “Sir.” The word dripped sarcasm.

1. The Beginning

"Captain, we are being hailed."

"On screen."

The screen flickered, a bit fuzzy as it tried to connect with the planet below. The image focused to reveal a male humanoid, wisps of tan hair framing a balding head. The man on the screen frowned as his hands twisted around a wide brimmed hat made of straw. He wiped his brow with his arm and began to speak.

"Please excuse me, I don't know the proper ceremony for your station. My name is Klaud fa He, and I believe that I may have recovered one of your slaves."

"Greetings, Klaud fa He." Picard stood and approached the view screen. "You must be mistaken, Starfleet is not in the practice of owning slaves."

"Oh, many apologies. Do you have servants? You see, I recovered a woman, alone, unconscious, in the desert. She was wearing this." He held up what was unmistakably a Starfleet communicator.

Picard shot Riker a surprised glance. Riker smirked. "Man overboard?"