posted
Everyone seems so keen to remember that Picard lost the Stargazer, but I haven't seen any mention of what he did to save the crew. It was evidently so effective they named it after him and taught it at the Academy.
Remember also that April was a roving Ambassador-at-Large, as recounted in "The Counterclock Incidnet", and Picard was, too, in no less than two alternate/illusory futures.
We know Crusher requested the Enterprise, and presumably Riker did, too, as Picard seemed to be uncomfortable with Beverly there, and didn't know Riker at all. He tapped (no, not like that) Tasha, but seems to have mostly gone with Starfleet's judgement on crewing the Enterprise -- so he wasn't hand-picking a crew. He might have been a part of the diplomatic team that helped put together the first Cardassian treaty. He wouldn't have needed a ship for that. I personally think there was enough stuff around the end of the Cardassian Wars to keep him busy long enough for Starfleet to finish getting the Enterprise ready.
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged
posted
Didn't Picard have a whole angry encounter with Riker about Riker's attitudes towards a captain's prerogative in "Encounter at Farpoint"? Therefore implying a certain degree of familiarity with his record?
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Well, we later learn -- I think in Pegasus -- that Picard DID in fact hand-pick Riker from scores of officers applying for the Enterprise's XO position. The encounter over Riker's attitude towards COs beaming to planets seemed to be Picard's final test for his XO, and I think Picard mentions at some point that if Riker had caved on it, Picard would've stopped the orders and sent Riker back to the Hood.
I don't know how much latitude Picard had in picking the ship's senior staff -- remember, he also picked LaForge (who I thought had been a member of the Hood's crew, but apparently not), and of course, as mentioned, Yar -- but it seems Starfleet gives some free-reign to COs for some at least some of their staffing needs.
Given the frequently changing CEO position, it seems unlikely Picard had much of a say in that (although perhaps he picked LaForge for that, then had to wait as Starfleet kept assigning officers). Worf might've been a political apointment by Starfleet Command -- a Klingon on the Federation flagship? I don't think Picard would've requested Beverly Crusher, given their past, and there's also no evidence either way on Data or Troi (although perhaps Troi requested the Enterprise after learning Riker had gotten the job).
posted
Oh -- I think the most possible explanation for Picard's post-Stargazer assignment would be some sort of diplomatic trouble-shooting post. It makes sense -- you wouldn't want someone who would shoot first in command of the flagship, and since you'd most likely be sending that same flagship in for trouble-shooting on sensitive issues (how many times did the Enterprise actually "Boldly go exploring", anyway?), you'd want someone with a proven track record.
I'm not suggesting Picard went directly from the Stargazer to trouble-shooting, no, hardly, but he could have started negotiation for Federation Archeologists to have access to off-world planets, a position where he would've been able to enjoy his hobby and at the same time demonstrate his diplomatic abilities. We've often seen Picard mediate disputes between two races, and I would say Picard has a background in diplomacy.
Also -- I don't put too much weight in Picard seeming to know all of these Admirals. We know he's put off his own promotion to flag rank several times -- these could be old classmates of his, as opposed to respecting him for some possibly imagined heroics in his pre-Enterprise life (and perhaps old classmates of his were the ones who put him in Enterprise, I think he was until Tyrla Scott, the youngest person to make captain ever?), alternatively, wouldn't every Admiral want to be on a first-name basis with the captain of the symbol of the Federation and Starfleet?
posted
Mabye he went to Romulous, knocked up some Romulan babe, she gave birth to Shinzon nad croaked during labor. The baby got shipped off to work the mines and to be potential blackail fodder for Picard, caught some radiation-based rapid ageing sickness and was just told he was a clone.
Dr. Crusher could have been wrong about that last part- god knows she's an idiot most of the time.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
posted
Here's a little detail of Picard's story to Ishara: Doesn't he pretty much say that he saw Tasha do her hero thing on the planet? If he was down on the planet's surface, there would have had to have been some reason for him to be down there. I can't remember if he gave the background on why the ships were going on the rescue mission. Was there a diplomatic incedent of some kind? If there was, I can accept the fact that he was not the CO of the ship, but merely on board in some kind of ambassadorial capacity. But if it was just something more action-based, why would he be on the planet during the action were he not a member of the crew?
The impression I had was that he could've been on this random ship as a passenger, being taken from some distant location to Earth, where he would take command of Enterprise (he might not have even known what ship he was being given). In his capacity as passenger, when this disaster struck, he volunteered his services to the captain of the ship he was on, and found himself coordinating some sort of action on the planet's surface.
posted
Could be. It's not as if we've never seen Picard in civilian situations before. I just find it less plausible that he would refer to such a ship as "his", or that a high ranking Starfleet officer would be traveling on a civilian vessel. I suppose it's possible that he was being transported on a Starfleet craft with a lower-ranking CO, and when the distaster struck, he took command of the ship.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- I think Picard was over-simplyifing the circumstances for the benefit of Tasha's sister. Why would she need to know all the background information? All she needed to know was about the bravery her sister displayed.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
