USS ENTERPRISE, EARTH
JUNE 22, 2376
Picard
walked swiftly into the observation lounge, he had no idea why he was at this
meeting. This meeting was of those
who were lucky enough to have survived the attack. He looked around the room, at old familiar faces, and sat down at his
chair. There was Admiral West, who
was on shoreleave at the time. There
were Admirals Hirohito, Shantee, and Sherridan who had been in the basement and
thus were protected from the attack.
West
spoke first, "We need to make a decision for an intern President."
Picard
spoke, "Admiral, perhaps I shouldn't be here."
"Oh,
no, Captain, you have to be here. We
have all made the decision to make you our new President."
Picard
was speechless, "Admiral, With all do respect, there are plenty of other
people much better suited than me, like you. You need all of the ships you can get, who would command the
Enterprise?"
"Commander
Riker could handle the job very nicely, don't you think." replied Sherridan.
"Well,
yes, of course. But there are
better equipped people to have this position."
West
answered, "As much as I would like to, I am about to take over the C-in-C's
job. All the other Admirals either
don't want to or have other duties now. You
are the next logical step. Jean-Luc
we need you, the Federation needs you. The
Federation is what you've worked your life to protect and serve, I know you
won't give that up."
Picard
slowly nodded his head, "Ok, I'll do it. I will relinquish command of the Enterprise to Commander Riker
immediately."
Two
hours later, Picard walked out onto the bridge for what would be his last time
for a while. He walked to the front
of the bridge, and turned to face his beloved crew.
He
spoke softly, dreading what he was about to say, "The fleet Admirals have
just asked me to become the intern President. It is a position I cannot refuse, at least not at this time. I therefore hereby relinquish command of the Enterprise NCC 1701-E to my
first officer, Commander William T. Riker."
No
smiles were exchanged, only faces of sorrow at the idea that the one of the
greatest captains in Starfleet was leaving them.
Picard
walked up to Riker, "Congratulations, Will. The Enterprise is your ship now, take care of her."
"Of
course, Sir.
As
Picard left the bridge, Riker said from behind, "Captain," Picard
turned to face Riker, "she'll be here when you get back."
Picard
smiled and walked off the bridge and into the turbolift. He turned down a corridor and into the transporter room. With one little word, "Energize." he left the Enterprise and
dissolved into the shadows.
DS9, BAJORAN SECTOR
JUNE 23, 2376
Kira
walked through the promenade, looking at the wormhole out the window. It was a beautiful sight, the wormhole opened and closed, in brilliant
flashes of blue light, almost rhythmically. It had been just one year since the Allied force had taken Cardassia
Prime from the Dominion. At that
moment she thought of the friends who had left her, O'Brien was back on Earth,
Odo was with his fellow shapeshifters, and Captain Sisko had disappeared in the
fire caves on Bajor. Then she saw
and heard the red alert sounds, as the wormhole opened and spewed ships, ships,
and more ships. Kira ran swiftly to
the bridge.
Kira
walked through the lift, and onto the bridge. "What is going on?" she asked.
"We
are reading over 300 Jem'Hadar ships coming through the wormhole." Ezri Dax
replied.
"How
is that possible!?" Kira replied.
As
she said this, the bridge erupted in flames. Sparks shot out of computer consoles all over the place.
"Shields
are down," Worf said.
"Give
the evacuation code signal," Kira said.
All
of the people on the station crowded into the small runabouts and the Defiant. They all made it to the docking ring. Kira walked onto the Defiant,
and closed the door behind her. As
the ship separated from the station, other Dominion ships were docking. Then the Defiant zipped away and in a brilliant flash of light, it was
gone. The Defiant traveled through
space and left the ruins of DS9 behind it. She headed for Earth, the planet where she had come to be. She was a shining beacon, all alone in the night.
STARFLEET COMMAND, PARIS
JUNE 23, 2376
Picard
walked into the temporary Starfleet Command Headquarters, in Paris, France. Paris had been chosen because it was voted the safest city on Earth in a
poll done last week. Picard walked into the courtyard, where he was about to be
given the oath of office. He walked
quietly up to his chair on the stage and sat down. He was extremely nervous right now, he couldn't believe it, he was about
to be sworn in as President.
Admiral
West began the ceremony, "Greetings. We
have chosen Jean-Luc Picard as our new President. I believe we have chosen very well. Hopefully, together Jean-Luc and I can rebuild some of what
we lost. I call now the the podium
Jean-Luc Picard."
Picard
got up of his chair, and walked to podium in the middle of the stage.
West
began the oath, "Raise your right hand, Do you swear to uphold Federation law,
keep this galaxy at peace, and work for the preservation of all races?"
"I
do." came Picard's reply.
"Do
you swear to put the safety of the Federation above your own? Do you swear never to let power deter you from doing what is
morally right."
"I
do."
"
People of the Federation, I now give you the new President of the United
Federation of Planets, Jean-Luc Picard."
Picard
came to podium, "June 22, 2376 is a day that will live in the hearts and
minds of all of us. For that was
the day that the city of San Francisco was ruthlessly attacked and destroyed. I do not know how to ease the pain of this, I only know that hope will
survive. For over 500 years, the
people of this world have fought. In all those years of fighting, some people thought that life
would end, but each time we survived. All
the world wars, the Romulan wars, even the Borg threats; through each somehow we
have survived. This is no
different, we will survive this as well, and one day the Federation shall rise
again. I have worked my life to
protect the Federation, and after over 200 years, I will fight until my very
last breath."
The
cheers he got were heartfelt, but he didn't want cheers, not at this time
anyway. He walked swiftly off the
stage and went to his new office. There
was so much to do and so little time to do it.
STARFLEET COMMAND, PARIS
JUNE 24, 2376
It was hard
being President, much more difficult than being Captain. Before this he was responsible for the lives of his crew, but
now his was responsible for an entire planet, and sometimes even the entire
quadrant. It had been only two days
since that terrible day, when everything changed. When the city of San Francisco was destroyed.
His
Secretary walked in, "Major Kira here to see you, Sir."
"Send
her in."
Major
Kira; Captain of the Defiant, and Commander of Deep Space Nine, at least after
the disappearance of Captain Sisko; walked in seconds later.
"Good
morning, Mr. President." Kira
began.
Mr.
President, Picard would have to get used to that one. "Major, come in, sit down." replied Picard.
"I
have very bad news. Deep Space Nine
has been taken over by a fleet of Jem'Hadar warships."
"Jem'Hadar? How is that possible? Have
you heard anything from Odo?" said Picard.
"Nothing
yet, Sir. It
still doesn't change the facts." said Kira.
"No
it doesn't. Thank you, Major. That will be all for now." Picard replied.
She
turned to walk out, "Sir, will you-. I
mean shouldn't we-"
"Major
you can be assured that the Jem'Hadar will pay for this, and you will have your
station back. Unfortunately, now is
not the time. With the destruction
of San Francisco, other governments are skeptical if the Federation will
survive. We need all the help we
can here, and we need it now."
PRESIDENT'S OFFICE, PARIS
JUNE 24, 2376
Picard
was talking to the Vulcan Representative Solok. He was trying to ally the skeptical leaders of Vulcan. He wanted to place a call to arms and take back Deep Space Nine from the
Dominion. The Vulcans, however,
were purely logical and wanted no part of illogical decisions.
"Solok,
we can take back DS9. That's the
key, without it the Dominion has no way to bring reinforcements from the Gamma
Quadrant." said Picard.
"Mr.
President, with the weakened condition of the Klingons, the Romulans, and the
Federation, a full assault on the Dominion is suicide. Suicide is not logical."
"Solok,
you must have hope for the future. Together
we can defeat them. The Federation
can be saved, but its up to us to try and hold it together."
"Mr.
President, the collapse of the Federation is inevitable. The Federation cannot hold. Hope
is not logical."
With
that her image winked out. Picard
knew what she said was true, the Federation was dying. After more than 200 years, that unprecedented assemblage of united worlds
had finally met an enemy it could not overcome: Itself. It had tripped over
itself to many times, and now stood on the verge of total annihilation.