Enigma

Chapter One

As Jean-Luc Picard made his way down the long, curving corridor on his way to Transporter Room One, he saw Lieutenant Urajel coming from the other direction.

"Lieutenant," he said, favoring the Andorian with a nod.

"Captain," she returned.

But she wasn't looking him in the eye. She was looking at his head -- a common problem of late, as he had been compelled to shave it weeks ago in a place called Oblivion, and his hair was growing back more slowly than anyone had expected.

At the moment, it was little more than stubble, and itchy stubble at that. Rather a nuisance all around, the captain reflected, as he passed Urajel and continued on his way.

Unfortunately, his hair was the least of his problems.

At the end of the corridor, he found a set of double doors, which hissed open at his approach. Beyond them, two of his people were waiting for him.

No, he thought, amending his observation. Just one of them is still mine.

That was Goetz, the red-haired junior operator on duty in the ship's primary transporter room. She was standing behind the enclosure's lone c ... read full excerpt from Star Trek: Stargazer #5: Enigma ebook