by Dayton Ward
This ship carried a rich, celebrated history. Its heritage was a sacred trust, passed down for centuries from every ship christened with its storied name, and now in Riker’s hands. He was the captain of this Enterprise, and he was morally bound to preserve its legacy just as everyone he had succeeded.
But he would have to do it his own way. Riker knew in his gut that Jean-Luc Picard, wherever he might be in this reality or any other, would expect nothing else and accept nothing less.
Play the hand you’re dealt.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, thanks to my editors at Pocket Books, who keep asking me to carry forward with the adventures of Captain Picard and the Enterprise-E. 2017 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s premiere on television. I still remember where I was that night in the fall of 1987, watching “Encounter at Farpoint” with a bunch of Marines on a very subpar barracks rec room TV. Back then, I had doubts that the show would even last, let alone step up to carry as it has the banner first unfurled by Gene Roddenberry in 1966. Now here we are, three decades later, and Picard and his crew are still our friends and guides through the final frontier. Pretty cool, huh?
Thanks once again to Doug Drexler and Ali Ries, who teamed up to provide yet another gorgeous cover to wrap around my words. I have benefited from their talents on several occasions, and this is no exception. Bravo Zulu, you two!
And no acknowledgments are complete without tipping my hat and raising my glass to you, dear reader. Thank you for your continuing support of my work. I get to do what I do within these pages by your good graces, and I never let myself forget that fact.
Let’s do this again soon, all right?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dayton Ward has been modified to fit this medium, to write in the space allotted, and has been edited for content. Reader discretion is advised.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Pocket Books paperback edition February 2017
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Cover art by Doug Drexler and Ali Ries
ISBN 978-1-5011-1131-0
ISBN 978-1-5011-1132-7 (ebook)