Chapter One

Captain's Log: Stardate 57056.9: The Enterprise has just left space dock after forgoing repairs from our battle with the Reman Warbird Scimitar. It has been nearly three months since that battle which ended in the death of a dear friend. Will and Deanna officially departed the ship today and Captain Riker assumed command aboard the Titan. I will dearly miss having the two of them aboard. My new first officer, Commander Martin Madden, came aboard today as well. I am unsure what to think of him as of yet, but I am sure he is a fine officer.

v v

Captain's Log: Stardate 57076.6: Dr. Beverly Crusher disembarked today when we made a stop at Earth. She is taking up command at Starfleet Medical. We had to stop to take on personnel, many fresh from the Academy. It's starting to feel to me as though I was in command of a training vessel and not the flagship of the United Federation of Planets.

v v

Captain's Log; Stardate 57078.4: After giving the new crew members time to examine the ship for themselves, I called a senior staff meeting, where I met an almost entirely new batch of crew. The only familiar faces were Geordi La Forge and Worf, whom I am pleased to announce, has been reassigned to the Enterprise. He himself admitted he did not like his posting as Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire and said it was "unworthy of a warrior". Among my new senior staff is a new counselor, Chief Medical Officer, helmsman, and operations officer.

Our new counselor, Lukiana Laurence, is a full blood Betazoid, but is married to a human man who resides on Earth, hence the surname. Of course, it is odd because in Betazoid culture, the male takes the female's name. But back on the subject, she has a greater amount of telepathic abilities than Deanna Troi, and has been very useful, but she does not have the understanding of the crew that Deanna had. But I'm sure she'll get to know us all in time.

The new CMO is Doctor Clint Neilson. He is a highly trained and experienced man, and I am very confident in him. He has also been known to be a good people person, often talking with crewmembers about their personal problems while they come in for routine check ups. It's almost as if we have two counselors.

Our new helmsman is a fresh, young lieutenant named David Reeves. He'd had a few problems with security while at the Academy, but it's my hope that his exemplary service record made him deserve this posting. David is a damn fine helmsman; I must at least give him that much credit. Apparently he's also a very handy engineer, as well, being an avid collector of antique vehicles.

We have also gained a new operations officer, an Andorian chen, Lieutenant Junior Grade Therashon ch'Serikth. This is his second posting onboard an actual starship, having previously served as a shuttle pilot on the Earth-Jupiter shuttle route and as an operations alternate onboard the Montgomery. He was, however, highly thought of by his commanding officers.

I am sure my new crew will do a fine job handling the Enterprise

v v

Captain's Log: Stardate 57539.3: It has been nearly nine months since the death of Data and, on a lesser note, Shinzon, aboard the Reman Warbird, Scimitar. Will and Deanna contacted me earlier today and assured me that everything was fine aboard the Titan. They were sent out three days ago to begin peace talks with the Romulans. Apparently Ambassador Spock is heading up the talks and they are going well due to the Romulans' newly found trust in the Federation. A new Senate is already in place and morale is high on both sides of the Neutral Zone. I have a feeling we are one step closer to the abolition of the centuries old Neutral Zone, which would bring a new degree of peace in the Alpha Quadrant. I, however, can feel a bit of suspicion towards the Romulan government. It would not be the first time that a new regime talking of peace is quickly overthrown by the military. I fear that a Romulan civil war may actually occur if the new Senate stays in power.

Of course, other than the various fears brought about by a newly ran government on Romulus the Quadrant is in peace. Even the Cardassians are quiet, but as of lately there have been more and more "incidents" involving the private ownership of Cardassian warships under renegade citizens. But these disputes are quickly handled because after the Dominion War, the Cardassians no longer have the resources or means to make any large attacks on the "Federation Aggressors". I am only reminded of the state of the Klingons after the moon known as Praxis exploded. That event eventually led to a lasting peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. And still, a majority of the Cardassian people favors the Federation, but as I stated before, a select few who were loyal to the Dominion still feel that they are at war.

I spoke to Beverley last night about her position as the head of Starfleet Medical. She was very enthusiastic about some of the new breakthroughs they've had recently, including finding a way of preventing certain recessive genetic diseases from being passed onto children, including Shelaft's syndrome, which ailed me as a child. She also complained a slight bit about Admiral McCoy's flirtatious attitude toward her. But, at least the one-hundred-fifty-two-year-old admiral is still alive. In fact, he is the oldest known human to have lived. Beverley also made a few comments towards the Voyager Emergency Medical Hologram. She never did like to use EMHs, but found that "The Doctor's" knowledge on fighting unknown diseases and foreign substances as valuable and he could not be wasted. She does, however, seem to miss serving as the Chief Medical Officer here onboard the Enterprise

It's also been reported to me by the Daystrom Institute that B-4 has shown no further signs of his "brother" Data's thoughts and memories. All he does is sing "Blue Skies". He is reported, however, to at least get a word or two further into the song every week or so.

Commander Madden is proving himself to be a fine first officer. I still don't know what to think of him. He is a very by-the-book officer, much like a few other officers of my acquaintance. He still however, refuses to let me go on away missions. Lately I have been breaking the rules a bit and refusing to listen to him though. From what I can tell, he is a very gullible man, having called me Jean-Luc the first time he met me and then asking me if Captain Riker was "pulling his leg". He is a fresh face, as are a lot of the faces onboard this ship.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise sighed, ever since the ordeal with Shinzon had ended; life had not been the same. He felt as though everything else around him was moving forward while he stayed in place, as if time stood still for him.

He felt as though he had done nothing since Data's death and the subsequent departure of his friends from the Enterprise.

Yes, he had made one successful first contact, helped a few wayward races write some treaties, and even started a new poker night with Geordi and Worf so they could all get acquainted with the new officers. Poker night, however, was not the same without the friendly bickering of Riker and Worf, Data's fascination with Riker's bluffs, and the knowledge that an empathic was sitting across the table from you. Now it's not just an empathic, it's a telepath sitting across from you, Picard laughed. Counselor Laurence, however, rarely appeared for poker, and neither did Commander Madden. And not only were there a telepathic player, but also a player who was practically empathic in the form of Lieutenant ch'Serikth. Andorian antennae were capable of picking up the pheromones of those around him, making it easier to detect the moods of those around him.

Picard however, would take advantage of this and notice whom Shon, which was the familiar name that the chen always insisted those at the poker table called him, by examining who he was directing his antennae at.

Picard looked over at the chronometer on the wall of his quarters, the Ressikan flute from his simulated life on the planet Kataan sat in its case beneath the timekeeper. Its position had changed several times in the past few months due to Picard's constant rearranging, which he did just to make the room feel new. Various artifacts were displayed throughout the room including a twelve-thousand-year-old Kurlan neskos given to him by his former teacher Professor Richard Galen, an antique Risan horga'hn, a sign of virility and that the owner was seeking jamaharon, as an ancient Earth maritime navigational tool known as a sexton.

Picard's love for artifacts and the history of them was only outweighed by his love for his ship.

Picard saw that the time was 2200, if he expected to be to the bridge on time the next morning and function well, he knew that he needed to get to sleep. After getting into his sleeping clothes, he told the computer to turn off the lights in his quarters.

v v

Picard awoke at 0600 the next morning and hurriedly took a sonic shower, followed by a breakfast of hot Earl Grey and croissants. He pulled on his black and gray duty uniform over his red command shirt. He then attached his four rank pips to his collar and pinned his communicator to his chest. He gave the waist of the uniform a quick tug and headed out of his quarters for the nearest turbolift.

"Bridge," he informed the computer as soon as the doors shut. The 'lifts on the Enterprise were fairly good sized compared to most. It was circular and about two meters across. A screen on the back wall displayed a layout of the Sovereign-class vessel and had small flashing lights indicating the positions of each of the 'lifts and clearly marked decks and sections. The small, bright red dot indicating Picard's own lift quickly made its way towards the bridge of the ship. He drew in a few deep breaths to ready himself for another dull day before the turbolift doors opened into the bustling nerve center of the starship. He instantly headed for the large, center chair that he came to every day. An energetic young crewman stood readily by the chair, a datapad in hand, waiting to give it to his captain.

"Good morning, sir," smiled the male crewman who could have been no older than twenty-one. "Here is the morning report for you."

"Thank you Crewman Michaels," said Picard, taking the pad from the over-eager crewman's hand.

"You're welcome, sir," enthusiastically said the crewman. He headed away from the command chair to the turbolift to continue on with his duties. He swiveled the chair around to look at Worf, who was eyeing Picard with a "Do you want me to take care of him?" look.

Picard could do nothing but smile and laugh, it seemed that all the new crewmembers were thinking they were under the command of some kind of god or holy deity. Picard just shook his head and returned to his duties.

As Picard relaxed into his chair, he took note of his officers socializing. The new CMO, Dr. Clint Neilson, was standing in front of the helm and operations stations, arms outstretched and placing his weight onto the panels. Lieutenant David Reeves was sitting at the helm station, moving his hands about in an animated fashion, as if he were telling an amusing story. Lieutenant Therashon ch'Serikth sat at the Ops station and was listening intently with a smile on his face.

"So you actually dressed him up like a lizard?" Neilson asked Reeves with an accent that Picard could only determine was northeastern American. "Boy I would have liked to have seen that."

"Yeah," Reeves smiled with his light British accent, "We dressed him up so he looked kind of like a Gorn, except a little bit more cuddly."

Ch'Serikth laughed at this, "Right," he began, "And I bet any Gorn who was to see pictures of him as a lizard would think he was about as attractive as a Denibian slime devil."

Reeves shrugged at this, "Well, to each his own, I guess. But you should have seen the look on my roommate's face. Priceless."

Picard loudly cleared his throat at this point, "Well, if you're all quite done gentlemen, we have duty to attend to."

Reeves and ch'Serikth shared a glance, gave a quick "Sorry, sir," and returned to their duties.

Picard laughed to himself about the two officers' quirky friendship that had evolved since their postings to the Enterprise. But the thought soon slipped his mind, for he'd just remembered that Dr. Neilson was on the bridge and turned his attention to the man.

Neilson was an older man, he was seventy-six years old, just a little older than Picard's seventy-four years of age. The captain found it surprising that a doctor his age was still serving on a ship, but then Picard thought of his own age and stifled the thought. Neilson was about average height for a human male, just less than six feet. He had gray hair, but with a few streaks of natural black somehow still in between. His face was very lean and clean-cut. Only a few signs of age were apparent. In fact, if Picard hadn't already read Neilson's record, he would have guessed the man was no more than fifty or so years of age. He constantly wore a smile and would always be happy to fix up even the mildest of abrasions. He was relatively thin, but muscular, having taken good care of himself throughout his life.

According to Neilson's record, this would be his fifth assignment as a ship's CMO, having served onboard the Hood, the Ulysses, the Kitty Hawk, and most recently, the Archer. He was a man who did not like to linger; he was always looking for new experiences. He had spent the last fifty-eight years in Starfleet.

"Dr. Neilson," Picard said to get the man's attention, "Do you have some business on the bridge?"

Neilson smiled politely at the captain and walked to him with an elegant, proud stride. "Yes, sir, I do," he started, "I've come to recommend several officers that are in dire need of shore leave due to over work or recent stress."

Picard suddenly wondered whom the doctor would be recommending. It was not uncommon for doctors to order crewmembers to take shore leave to help them recover from overwork, recent extreme stress, or a recent death. Picard scanned through the list approvingly, first he noticed Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge, and then looked at the rest, knowing each crewman on the list greatly needed time off, but one name caught his attention.

He looked up questioningly at Neilson, "Why am I on the list, doctor?"

"Because you have not taken any time off since the incident nine months ago," Neilson stated. "I believe a week's shore leave would do excellent things for you."

"But doctor," Picard started, his eyebrows raised and a slight flattered smile appeared on his face.

The ship's CMO, however, interrupted, "May I recommend Risa or perhaps even going to Earth? I'm sure there's a transport or another ship in the area that you could catch a ride on."

"I don't believe I need shore leave, Dr. Neilson," Picard told the doctor.

Neilson gave the captain a stern look, "Captain, don't think I haven't taken notice of your constant rearranging of your quarters, or the things that Counselor Laurence has told me concerning your behavior. I strongly advise you to take the opportunity, or I will have to order you to take it."

Picard knew the doctor was not bluffing, he sighed and looked down at his knees for a brief second and looked back to the doctor. "Alright, I'll take shore leave, but only for a week."

"Very good, Captain," replied Neilson, and he headed for the turbolift, leaving the pad with the list of crewmembers with Picard.

v v

Picard started passing the cards around the brightly lit table, "Five card draw," he said, "and Deuces wild". He passed one card to each person at the table, going around clockwise and continued until each person had five cards in front of them. Each of them had various amounts of chips, due to each of their wins and losses. Lieutenant Reeves was on an especially good streak, having taken the winnings of the past five rounds. Picard feared they had another William T. Riker quality poker player on their collective hands. Shon also had quite a pile of winnings himself, due to his stern Andorian upbringing, which made him able to both hide and express his feelings in powerful ways; he was a killer when he bluffed. His grayish eyes gleamed in the light of the poker table, contrasting greatly with his blue skin, giving him a particularly menacing appearance.

Picard eyed his own hand, the king of hearts, three of diamonds, the king of spades, the eight of spades, and the ace of clubs. The bets were placed and the drawing began. The others at the table put down the cards they didn't want in their hand and signaled for different cards. Worf put down two cards, Geordi put down one, Shon dropped two, and Neilson put down three. Reeves, however, gained a sly look in his eyes and declined.

"Alright," started Picard with a smile and began giving cards, "Two for the Klingon, one for the blind man, two for the Andorian, three for the doctor, none for the hotshot, and three for the captain."

He finished giving the cards to the players, took his own, and then discarded the unwanted cards. Picard looked at his newly acquired cards, the four of clubs, the king of diamonds, and the four of diamonds. Along with the two kings that he had from the previous draw, he had a full house. A good hand. He placed a hundred dollar chip down for the initial bet.

Geordi's eyes widen and he threw down his cards, he had not been doing well that night, "Already too much for my money. I fold."

Worf grunted and called the bet, as did Shon and Neilson.

Reeves, however, placed called and then smiled, "I see your hundred, and raise you two hundred." He then placed down two more blue chips. When they hit the other bets, the clanked together with a loud click.

Picard smirked and called the bet, hoping he made the right choice.

Shon and Neilson both folded.

It was a stand off between the captain and the helmsman. It was a challenge that Picard welcomed. Reeves gave a smirk and put down his hand, "You bloody got me, sir." He displayed his hand; it was a runt. Picard smiled and took the chips. "May I inquire as to what your hand was?" Reeves asked.

"Better than yours, for sure," Picard slyly replied, he showed the hand to Geordi and Worf, who were to his left and right, and they nodded in reply. "We'll just leave it at that."

Reeves laughed, "One of these days I'll figure out what that hand was."

"I'm sure you will," Picard said smugly.

The game continued for a couple hours until everyone had dwindled away. It was only Picard, Geordi and Reeves who were still remaining. Picard was just about to deal when Reeves checked the chronometer, "Well, sirs," he began, "I must be going. I had a lovely time tonight and I look forward to next week." He stood up from his chair with a nodded and headed for the door. Picard and Geordi both placed their hands to the table and leaned back to relax.

"He's sure of himself, that's for sure," said Geordi with a smile.

"He most definitely is," Picard replied. "He's damned cocky, but with his skills, he deserves to be."

Geordi raised his eyebrows and nodded, "I've never seen someone take to piloting a Sovereign-class ship so easily."

Picard had to agree. No helm officer the Enterprise-E had seen was able to control it so easily. Reeves, however, had taken to it like a fish in water.

Geordi then leaned into the table and rested his elbow on the table and the proceeded to rest his cheek on his hand. "Is it true what they said about him being an engineering major for three years and then switching to helm and going to the Academy for an extra year?"

Picard had read that same story in the lieutenant's profile. "Yes, he'd been using his skills at engineering for the wrong purposes. Fixing up freighters smuggling contraband and such. When he got around to going to the Academy, he'd cleaned up. Most of his professors gave him high honors. He simply decided he didn't want to be an engineer and would rather fly the ship than fix it."

"Well, nevertheless, he'd be good to have in engineering is I wasn't there," Geordi mused.

Picard chuckled, "Well, hopefully we don't find ourselves in a situation where that would happen."

Geordi shared in the captain's laugh, "Yeah, but you know what can happen on this ship. Or maybe he'll decide he does like fixing things more than flying them."

"So, how are things with Leah?" Picard asked.

Geordi smiled at the mention of the woman's name, "Fine, I was planning to take my shore leave on Earth and see her."

"I was also considering taking shore leave on Earth," Picard said, "Maybe see some old friends."

Geordi smiled at that, "Well, perhaps you, Leah and I can all get together."

Picard smiled tiredly at La Forge. He sighed, "That sounds good. But I am going to take some time for... for remembrance."

"Data?" asked Geordi.

Picard nodded, "And for some of those who died while I was on assignment." He thought back on his brother, Robert, and his son, Rene. But they were not the only ones who had died while he was on duty. Too many, in fact, had.

"Well, if you're going to have something for Data, I would like to be there."

Picard nodded and looked away from his friend. Another sigh came. "You were his best friend."

"And you were his mentor," Geordi said. The engineer got up at this, "Well, I hear the Intrepid is in the sector and his en route to Earth. I suppose that's our ride?"

Picard nodded. "We're going to rendezvous with it in fifteen hours. I recommend getting some sleep." He smiled.

Geordi smiled back, "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Good night, Captain." He got up, taking a deep breath through his nose as he rose from his chair. He exited through the doors, once again making the swoosh sound.

v v

Elsewhere in the galaxy, Captain William Thomas Riker was also ending his own poker night. The last of his crewmen left, leaving Riker and his wife, Deanna Troi, alone in the quarters. Riker wasn't used to his new crew. Yes, they all respected him, but they didn't see him as a friend yet. He wanted the crew's trust, not just their respect. Like his days on the Enterprise, Riker won almost continuously, even jokingly accused of cheating by his science officer. Poker was quite relaxing to Riker, after long days of negotiations along side the legendary Ambassador Spock. Even the Ambassador had made a few brief appearances at poker nights. Riker was amazed at how well the Vulcan could call his bluffs, but then again, he was no ordinary Vulcan either. Somehow, the Vulcan had managed to make the other players laugh by logically referring to Riker as "Captain Troi". I need to erase that part of Betazoid culture out of the Starfleet database, Riker thought to himself, or all Vulcans will think it's logical to call me that.

Since then one or two of the bridge crew had accidentally called him that, but quickly corrected themselves. This, of course, would cause subsequent giggles from everyone on the bridge that could giggle.

But other than the few jokes on the bridge, the new captain was very satisfied with the way everything was going. Spock was working very closely with the Romulans and Riker got the feeling that he may be present for the downfall of the Romulan/Federation Neutral Zone. The crew was learning Riker's style, and had quickly adapted to the way he wanted things. Riker was unsure why his first command was a Sovereign-class like the Enterprise, but he sure did like the ship. His ship. He figured the most likely reason he got the Titan was his long years onboard the Enterprise-D and E.

Riker was so deep in thought that when his wife wrapped her arms around him, he was startled. He calmed himself very quickly and smiled at his wife.

"Come to bed," Deanna told him.

He sighed and nodded his head, "I'm coming."

As he was readying himself for sleep, his mind wandered again. It sure is nice to talk to the Romulans and not try to shoot them, Riker thought. He was literally amazed at how well the peace process was going and how well the Romulan people were welcoming the Federation. In fact, they were allowing the Titan's crew to come down to the planet and see it for themselves. Of course, there were certain risky areas where the Federation citizens were told not to enter, due to a majority of negativity toward the Federation. These were areas where the traditionalists lived. And these areas were quickly diminishing.

In fact, Riker had gone down to the planet several times to sample local cuisine and look for souvenirs. It was an incredible experience, being a human and being able to freely show your face in the Romulan public. In his five times that he went to the planet for non-diplomatic purposes, he had only gotten a few hostile looks from any Romulans.

They were a quite friendly people, the Romulans, when you got past the military. And the military was rarely showing its face at all. This was the most surprising fact to Riker. Had the Imperial Military lost so much power in the government since the fall of Shinzon's regime that they barely even attended diplomatic meetings of historical importance?

That was the biggest question on Riker's mind. He made sure to try and not become too relaxed. He knew that there were always possibilities of hostile action when it came to the Romulans.

But now he needed rest, the Corps of Romulan Diplomats, as they had been dubbed, were due to tour the Titan the next day and proceed to continue treaty discussions onboard.

He lied down next to his wife and let himself drift to sleep, welcoming the challenges of the next day.