Don't own anything. Don't know anything. I am saying this of my own free will.

Six: Ruminations

Ratchet and Clank sat in the brig, contemplating their situation.

"I knew we shouldn't have done it." Ratchet complained. "They were helping us! We could have just figured out where the thief was by ourselves. By the time we get ourselves out of this it might be too late."

"You went along with it, Ratchet." Clank retorted. "It wasn't completely my idea."

"Oh, so now it's my fault we're stuck in here?"

"You're the one who forgot to check their security protocols."

"Yeah, well you're the one who…"

"You two in there!" The guard outside called in. "Pipe down! The captain's coming down!"

Ratchet sighed. Now they were for it. Captain Picard would want an explanation, but he wouldn't listen. He didn't understand the seriousness of the situation. His 'Prime Directive' told him to just sit back and watch other civilisations destroy themselves.

Picard strode in and walked right up to the forcefield. So close his nose almost got caught in the electricity.

"Right. Now I want an explanation." He demanded. "What the hell do you think you were doing?"

"We were only trying to…"

"I don't want to hear it." Picard interrupted.

"But you just…"

"No!" He began pacing up and down in front of the cell. "We were helping you. We were giving you a ship, we had rescued you from the authorities, and this is how you repay us? By sabotaging our ship?"

"We weren't trying to sabotage the Enterprise Captain." Clank cut in. "We were only trying to use your sensors to locate a the criminal we were in pursuit of before we encountered you."

"I already explained to you, we cannot allow members of an inferior civilisation to use our technology."

"So now we're an inferior race?" Ratchet stood up and faced Captain Picard through the forcefield. "You talk of your moral standards, but every species you come across who isn't quite as developed as you are is automatically inferior? You can't even give them a helping hand when they need it? I've checked your history database. The Vulcans 'interfered' with your 'natural progress' after Cochrane's warp flight."

"After a certain point, it is acceptable to…"

"Hypocrisy! That's what it is. Hypocrisy! You and your Federation parade around your galaxy poking and prodding into every little system in the name of exploration and any other conflict you find, a war that you can help the right side with you pass over, letting evil prevail in those civilisations. At least in my galaxy we know what is right, and don't lord over other species we come across with lardy-da, hoity-toity, stiff upper lip, bureaucratic nonsense!"

Picard was fuming. Ratchet could see a vain on his temple throbbing, giving him the look of a bruised potato.

"We will prepare your ship," He said, so quietly it was almost whispering. "And see you on your way once repairs have finished. You shall remain here until that time."

Picard span on his heel and strode out the door. Ratchet turned and began to pace the cell.

"That pompous… miserable old… Who does he think he is? Locking us up in here as if he's all that."

"He is the captain of this ship," Clank reminded him. "And that gives him the right to lock up anyone he considers to be a threat to his ship or his crew."

"A threat? All we were trying to do was use the sensors for a few minutes! It was hardly sabotage."

"But you did seem to injure that Lieutenant Data. It was slightly rash of you to electrocute him."

Ratchet sat down on the bench again and covered his face with his hands.

"Oh, Clank. What have I gotten us into now?"

Picard positioned himself, ready to launch himself forward at the slightest sound. He tensed his legs, lowered his body and prepared to spring.

BANG! There was the starting pistol. Picard launched himself forward, focusing on the finishing line a hundred metres ahead of him. The other men racing against him were good, but Picard had the discipline of a trained marathon runner. He had only recently taken up an interest in sprinting, but it did have a satisfactory stress-releasing quality. As his anger against the stubbornness of Ratchet burned within him, he channelled it into his speed, flying forwards towards the finish line. He was racing forward. He leant forward to reduce the air-resistance. He was going faster, faster…

"Captain Picard?"

The track around him evaporated, and Picard stopped himself, almost colliding with the figure of Deanna Troi.

"Deanna." He panted, suddenly very aware of the flimsy running suit he was in.

"I heard what happened in the brig, and I wondered if you were okay."

"Oh, oh no. I'm fine. Just fine, thank you."

"Well, I'm glad to hear…"

"The arrogant, rude little rebels!" Picard began pacing the holodeck. "Do you know what they said? They said that the Federation was bureaucratic and hypocritical!"

"Well, try to look at it from their point of view." Deanna said, calmly. "Did you call them primitive?"

"I said that they were inferior! If they can't accept that simple fact, then that just makes them…" Picard stopped, struggling to think of a word that would encompass his feelings for the two prisoners that he could say in the presence of a female commanding officer.

"Captain, I know what the Federation means to you. I know you feel hurt when it comes under verbal attack, but you've negotiated with races with unreasonable views about us before. What made you so angry this time?"

"I don't know, Deanna." Picard sighed. "Maybe it's the stress of the war. Maybe it's the fact that we were so close to finding an ally that could help us against the Dominion, and instead we found… them."

"Captain," Troi soothed. "It's perfectly natural for them to be a little upset. You did just lock them up. Maybe they're not used to this sort of corporate punishment."

Picard sighed again. "I call myself the Captain of the Flagship of the Federation and I get this upset over a simple difference of opinion?" He turned to Deanna. "You know, I've seriously been thinking of retiring lately."

Deanna smiled. "Maybe you should. Or at least take a break. You've been under a lot of stress lately."

Picard smiled back. "Thank you, Deanna." He turned and walked out of the Holodeck, leaving Deanna standing there. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She was getting older, too. The war was affecting everyone. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea putting the idea of rest and relaxation in the Captain's head, she thought. In these dark times, Starfleet needs every man it has.