I do not own any character, object, or etc. relating to either Star Trek or StarCraft, but original concepts, such as plot, are mine.
Old Friends
Picard appeared in the transporter room, with Captain Nog waiting for him. He saluted. Picard was somewhat amused at the notion. If there was any race he never expected to have a member in Starfleet, it was Ferengi. Nog was the first to join, but he wasn't the last. Ever since the economical reforms started by Grand Nagus Zec, Feranginar had become a much more Federation-like society. Grand Nagus Rom had been ready to apply for membership into the Federation, but decided not to. Not because he didn't believe in it, but because he knew Feranginar wasn't ready for that reform just yet.
"Welcome aboard, Admiral Picard. I'm Captain Nog." He shook Nog's hand, who then waved his right arm towards his two crewmembers and continued. "This is my first officer, Commander Jorzi Dax, and my Head of Security, Lieutenant Commander Alexander Rochenco." He shook Dax's hand, and then proceeded to shake the hand of Roschenco. The last time he'd seen Alexander, he'd been half his height. Alexander himself seemed nervous just to shake his hand. Seeming to notice the lieutenant's discomfort, Captain Nog interjected.
"If you'll follow me, sir, I'll show you to your quarters. You must be tired after your journey from Earth." Picard glared at him for a moment, just to let him know that the opinion was not welcomed. He may be old, but he certainly wasn't feeble.
"Very well. If you wouldn't mind, Captain, I would like Commander Roschenko to escort me." The captain looked ready to complain, but before he could, Picard stopped him. "That wasn't a request, captain." The captain seemed annoyed, but that was to be expected.
He glanced at Alexander before giving the customary "Yes, sir." He waited a moment, and then asked: "Is there anything else you need, sir?"
"Not at the moment, but I would like to be notified before you beam aboard Admiral Riker. I wish to be present when he arrives."
"Yes, sir," replied Nog before walking out of the room, followed closely by Commander Dax, leaving just him and Alexander in the room.
"Shall we, commander?"
"Yes, sir," he replied. "Sorry, sir."
"No need to apologize. And at ease." He seemed to relax, but the tension was still there in his face. He walked to the doors, which opened at his approach, and entered the hall outside as Picard followed him.
"It's been a while, Commander." He seemed to jump out of his skin at the near lack of protocol.
"Yes, sir."
"How is your father doing? I imagine it must be, difficult to convince the high council that joining the Federation is a wise decision." His face loosened as the focus of the conversation was directed away from him.
"Yes, sir. After the assassination of Chancellor Martok, it won't be an easy task to convince them of the benefits, but ever since the Dominion War, the Empire has been making blunder after blunder." His faced tightened up again, obviously nervous about discussing political issues with an Admiral, even if he was a family friend. Worf's sense of duty had apparently rubbed off on him during his time with the Empire. "I believe he can do it, sir. It will just take some time." Disappointed that he'd bottled himself back up again, they continued to walk down the hall in silence. After another fifteen meters, the commander stopped in front of a door labeled "Guest Quarters". The commander put his hand against a panel on the wall, which then proceeded to project a holographic image of a sphere with controls on it. Roscenco then began to speak out loud.
"Computer, transfer all command codes for these quarters to Fleet Admiral Picard."
"Scanning." A beam of light projected from the sphere, briefly moving over the commander and then Picard before disappearing. "Identity confirmed. These quarters are now assigned to Fleet Admiral Picard, Director of Starfleet Academy." Not wanting to push him, Picard opted to let the commander go.
"Thank you, commander. I require nothing further, you're dismissed."
"Thank you, sir," he said as the tension drained from his face, replaced by an aura of professionalism not unlike that of his father. He walked away towards the transport lift at the end of the hall. Making it look like he was fiddling with the holographic controls, he watched as Alexander stepped onto the transport pad and disappeared in a shimmer of light. He proceeded to walk towards the door, which then opened at his approach, and walked inside.
The layout wasn't unlike his quarters on the Enterprise-E, but without a personal touch it lacked the feel of home. The wall about one and a half meters to his left had a standard replicator unit embedded in the wall. About eight meters in front of him was a window through which he could see in front of the ship, which at the moment was docked at Deep Space Nine. About half a meter front of the window was a couch that faced inward towards a monitor, which would only be used if the holographic projector should fail. Twelve meters to his left was the door that led to the bedroom. A painting was on the wall blocking the bedroom, a typical replicator copy of 22nd century art, and the couch had a glass table in front of it.
He walked over to the replicator unit, which protruded about half a meter into the wall and was about half a meter tall and wide. Its walls were walls lit up by the ever-waiting matter-energy converters. As he approached, another spherical control panel appeared in front of him. He touched one of the buttons on it.
"Tea. Earl Gray. Hot." A shimmer of light came from the indent, which, when it died out, was replaced by a steaming cup of tea. He took the cup out of the unit and went over to the couch and sat down.
"Computer, give me the Dixon Hill novel entitled 'The Listening Man'." A moment later the requested book appeared on the table in front of him. He picked it up and began reading it. For some reason, this was the one Dixon Hill story he'd never got around to reading.
After about thirty minutes he placed the book on the table and turned around to look out the window. He had spent so much time in space, it felt as if a starship was as much a home to him as his hometown of La Barre. Suddenly a small but bright flash of blue light appeared in the distance, and the USS Hamoka seemed to burst from nowhere, briefly covered in a glowing blue sheen before returning to its normal appearance. It proceeded to approach the pylon opposite them, preparing to dock at Deep Space Nine.
"Captain Nog to Admiral Picard."
"Yes, captain?" he asked, but he already knew why the Captain had called.
"Sir, the ship carrying Admiral Riker has just arrived. He will be beaming to transporter room four in a few minutes."
"Very good, I will be there shortly, Picard out." He stood up and started to walk towards the door. "Computer, save location in book and end program."
"Command confirmed." The book on the table disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He proceeded to walk to the door and into the hall outside.
Sorry about having spelled Alexander's last name about 5 different ways, but I wasn't sure how to spell it.
