He said that Tasha was escorting wounded through a mine field on a planet that both Tasha's and His ship had been assigned to...
This episode was season 4 TNG
Tasha left the Turkana IV colony 15 years earlier to this episode so by Encounter At Farpoint that would have been 11 years prior...
Tasha was an officer who would have gone to the Academy... that is 4 years... she would have needed to apply once she got out of the colony... add a year...
that is 5 years.... from after the the time she left the colony till when she graduated... so that leaves 2 years between her graduating as an Ensign - presumably and coming aboard the E-D as a full Lt. so presumeably she spent one year as an Ensign and another as a Lt. J.G.
So Picard could have seen Tasha for the first time with in those two years... even if she had been on a Training ship as a Cadet that would still have left room for 4-5 years for Picard to have a command - before the Enterprise but AFTER the loss of the Stargazer.
Another point... In Samaritan Snare - Wesley says to Picard on hearing Picard's story about his encounter with three Naussicans... "Was this before the Klingons joined the Federation" - well we know the Klingons aren't part of the Federation - so I'm guessing that to let this line pass - Wesley must have meant when the Klingons became the Federation's Allies.
This too, might have been interesting with the Cardassian Wars arriving after that... And if the Klingons and The Federation were together against the Cardassians... it makes sense that Garak might have been stationed on Romulus... possibly the Romulans had a pact with the Cardassians - because the Klingons were with the Federation... This ALSO might explain the Tomed incident and the following period of isolationism from the Romulans...
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"Who wouldn't be the one you love
Who wouldn't stand inside your love." - Stand Inside Your Love, The Smashing Pumpkins
As for Wesley's remark (and Picard's reply where he's surprised and delighted that Wes knows something of history after all), it might be that this is a popular joke. The UFP propagandists have been promising that the Klingons will join the Federation for the better part of a century now - so if one wants to say that something happened a really long time ago, it's "before the Klingons joined the Federation"... Of course, it would be a bit strange for Picard to be delighted when Wes suggests that Picard graduated "before electricity was invented" or whatever the insult would be today!
Seriously, I'm all for the Klingon-UFP alliance being the reason the Romulans went to assist Cardassia. Apparently that assistance was relatively covert, though - it seems Dax considers it "long-missing proof" when she locates Romulan tech aboard DS9 in the first-seasoner "Dax".
The Klingon-UFP alliance seems to have been rather tedious up until the 2360s, though, since Picard in "Aquiel" considers it a big deal that there haven't been any Klingon raids into UFP territory for seven (!) years prior to the episode. The milestone Wesley is referring to may not have been all that big.
I suggest the 2344 defence of Narendra by the E-C as the historical turning point Wes was speaking of. it would come after Picard's graduation, and would be significant enough at least according to "Yesterday's Enterprise" dialogue.
Timo Saloniemi
Now as for the reason he has never spoken of this other command...well, I have a whole storyline planned out for that...
After the Stargazer.
Before the Enterprise.
There was another ship,
And another story.
Star Trek: Valhalla.
Oooooh, Ahhhhh!
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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore
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Remember December '59
The howling wind and the driving rain,
Remember the gallant men who drowned
On the lifeboat, Mona was her name.
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"Keep on Trekking"
-D. Kelly
He wasn't mentioning the E-D - he said something like - My ship and Tasha's ship...
He could have been hauling Garbage for all we know!
Andrew
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"Who wouldn't be the one you love
Who wouldn't stand inside your love." - Stand Inside Your Love, The Smashing Pumpkins
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"Blind faith is the crutch of fools"
And I think "Valiant" or "The Valiant" is just the name of the book, not necessarily the name of the ship in the book. I've seen a picture of the cover somewhere and I was almost certain it was about the Stargazer. At least it better be.
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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore
[This message has been edited by Aban Rune (edited May 16, 2000).]
1: The Title IS "The Valiant," but it refers to the pre-Fed, galactic-barrier-created-glow-eyed-supermen ship Valiant, descendants of whose crew figure prominently in the story.
2: It is about Picard taking command of the Stargazer when the ship is damaged, the captain is killed, and the first officer wounded.
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"Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore
OOOoohh, if the producers get ahold of this!
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We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the
obvious is the first duty of intelligent men."
George Orwell
Do we know he took over the captaincy in a crisis where the former captain perished? Do we know he held the rank of Lieutenant back then? Do we know the position he held? Do we know the exact year? Did Picard become the captain of the ship, or a Captain by rank, or both? The Encyclopedia is beginning to lay on the cumulating evidence too thick, so we are getting a James Dixon style "this all is canon, references in episodes X through Y" blanket statement in the "Picard, Jean-Luc" entry. It's difficult to remember what was said and where.
I guess it would be quite possible for Picard to be the 1st Officer of the smallish Stargazer even when holding Lieutenant rank. Even the captain may have been a mere Commander. Of course, Picard eventually captained the ship while wearing four pips (and Jack Crusher, who may or may not have been his XO, had 2.5 pips), but that was only in 2354.
Timo Saloniemi
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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore
No offence to you
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"Remeber, if there is a nuclear explosion, be sure to close your windows as the massive heat could cause objects within your home to catch fire".
Wise, wise words.
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"...that degenerative honky."
- Hermes
refering to fry in
Futurama