Again, there was no silence, just the way Picard liked it. His eyes shut, he drew in another breath of arid air from the dusty winds of Vulcan's Forge. That was, the holodeck's recreation of it. Beverly was beginning to think that he was becoming a holoaddict just like Reginald Barclay had been. Well, he certainly knew who to go to for advice on not becoming a holoaddict – Reg had joined who he described as the "motley crew" on the new Enterprise, serving as one of Geordi's assistants.

Picard breathed again, listening for any sehlats that might be wandering around in the desert, but there were none. He had changed the program slightly, by getting rid of the sandstorms that occasionally ravaged the area, to give him a good few hours of meditation. Not that he wouldn't have enjoyed the running challenge of course, having won the Danula II marathon as a freshman. A long time ago now.

Picard went through his mind how he'd arrived at this point, sitting at Vulcan's Forge, meditating. He had supposed that it was an after-effect of his mind-meld with Sarek, Spock's father and fellow diplomat, several years ago, but it had never really kicked in until now. Maybe he was just enjoying the peace it brought him. Picard was glad of one thing – he had taken on board Sarek's violent mood swings during those negotiations, but now he mused that he was being a "calm" Vulcan. Basically, being normal, but Picard felt emotion.

From behind him, a pneumatic hiss was heard, as the holodeck doors slid open. Probably Beverley checking up on me and my holoaddiction. Picard heard solid but slow footfalls, and knew that the person who had entered the room was in fact Commander Riker, no doubt taking in the view. Picard opened his eyes and swivelled round.

'Will, how nice to see you.'

Riker stooped down to a crouch, an almost sarcastic look spreading across his steadily aging face. 'I didn't know you meditated.'

Picard smiled. 'Neither did I. The benefits of Vulcan mind-melds, eh?'

His first officer looked around once more. 'Would this be the legendary Vulcan's Forge?'

'The one and only.' Picard gazed across at the Summit of T'Kara, its sharp, jagged façade inviting only the most daring to scale it; after all, it was the only way to climb to the top.

'I've always wanted to come here. Well, the real Vulcan's Forge.'

'Tell you what,' Picard started. 'Next time we're at Vulcan we'll send an away team to the Forge.'

Riker grinned. 'Is this your version of the away team or mine?'

The two laughed. Picard always had a fixation against one of Starfleet's regulations, where away teams had to be led by the first officer. He preferred to go himself, otherwise he would "feel like an admiral" as he had once put it. Naturally, if Picard went, Riker rarely would. It had become something of a habit. Riker had the tendency to remind Picard of the regulations he knew very well – whether he still did it because he had to or because he wanted to was debatable, but it had become a running joke amongst the senior staff.

'Anyway, back to business. Come to deliver a message, Will?'

'Yes, sir.' The first officer got to his feet, performing the "Picard Manoeuvre" – where someone pulled down his jumpsuit to straighten it out, another in-joke on the Enterprise – and continued. 'The voices of diplomacy are at your door once again.'

'Oh?'

'The Federation Council asked me to inform you of a petition made for entry into the Federation by a race that we know next to nothing about. They wanted to send their top man right away, and as this ship hasn't been doing much besides battle drills on the holodeck…'

'Hmmm.' Picard wiped a thin layer of dust from his face, blown there by the gusty and thickening wind. 'In other words they want us to be the middle man – sending us there, and then we can relay information to the Council instead of their sending a representative. How thoughtful.' The captain had been the Council's "puppet" many times – he was evidently very good at being a diplomat, he thought, with a smile. With the most first contacts under his name than any other Starfleet captain in history, Picard was the obvious choice. 'Still, duty calls. Where is this place?'