Stardate 75138.95 (February 20, 2398)
The sun was just beginning to set as an old man returned to his family home after working in the vineyards. Retirement did not set well with him, but at the age of 93 there was no choice. Jean-Luc Picard was no longer the commanding presence that he had been 20 years ago. He wasn't the man he had been as an admiral a mere 10 years ago. Irumodic Syndrome was making him easily confused and age was taking its toll on his body. Yet each evening his heart danced as he looked up at the sky and watched as the stars appeared. He longed to once again be among them exploring the many corners of the galaxy on the Enterprise. He had always loved adventure and exploration . . . his heart still did, but it was not all he missed.
Sitting down in his high back chair, he sipped his earl grey tea as his sister-in-law, Marie, brought him his PADD. On it were numerous communiqué's waiting for him to respond to as well as Federation news. At this time in his life he no longer had the focus or patience to sort through it all anymore. Ignoring everything else, he instead brought up a file of images and began to look through them. The faces of many old friends appeared before him, some which were no longer around, like Data. Though they made him smile, he still continued to scroll pass them. He finally stopped on a very particular photograph. It was of a young woman dressed in the uniform of a Starfleet Cadet. She had blond curly hair pulled back in a chignon with a few curls framing her smiling face.
This lovely young cadet had inherited his eyes and desire for exploration. Each evening he looked at her picture and thought about his daughter, Danaë. He had not seen or heard from her in fifteen years, not since this photo was taken. He did not fully understand the resentment she had for him, but he suspected he knew some of it. She left the Academy at the conclusion of her freshman year after they had quarreled and there had been no contact since. He could've had her found and brought back to him, but he didn't. That could only have wedged the gap between them even wider and he didn't want that. She needed to find her own way. He could not decide her future for her. Still, he often thought of her and wondered if she was safe, warm and getting enough to eat. Where are you child, he wondered to himself.
He moved on to the next picture and his smile grew brighter. It was Danaë again, but this photo was of her when she was a little girl dressed in light blue sitting on the floor of his old captain's quarters playing with a model of the Enterprise-D. Back then, no one could ever have convinced him that he would become a father, especially at his age. Not a single day went by that he didn't think of her and wish for a moment to talk things over. Perhaps it was because he felt his life was beginning to come to a close. Maybe he simply didn't want things to go on unresolved the way they had between himself and his father. There were certainly a lot of things he wanted to tell her about himself and especially about her mother. It was time to pass on to her the Picard inheritance and all the land, vineyards and tradition that went with it.
Looking out his window the sky was beginning to take on a warm orange glow against the green rows of vines. The bright, hot sun hung just above the horizon. The stars would be here soon and his telescope was ready. It was true that he had mapped the stars that silently watched over earth at least a dozen times since he was a boy, yet it still held wonder for him. Despite his anticipation of this nightly ritual, Picard soon found his eyes growing heavy as he listened to the sound of a bird happily chirping its song. For a moment he dozed off only wake himself back up with a quick shake of his head. As he opened his eyes he realized he was no longer seated in his chair at the window. Even worse, he was not in France. He was uncertain as to where he was beyond the fact that he was laying under a tree.
Picard looked at the gnarled tree and its blue green leaves and immediately knew that this was no earth tree. This place was clearly a class M planet and had many similarities to earth in look and make-up, but there were subtle differences in the fauna and flora. Where was he and how did he get here? He stood and walked about marveling at its beauty. The mountains, with their white peaks, seemed higher than anything back home. The air was crisp and the grass beneath his feet was soft as velvet.
"Well, well, Rip Van Winkle has finally awaken." Said an all too familiar voice. He turned around and his eyes instantly narrowed as he saw his old nemesis leaning casually against the tree he had awaken under.
"What is this about Q? Where are we and why have you brought me here?" Picard demanded.
"Tut, tut Picard. I take you on a special trip to break up the monotony of your life and this is how you thank me?"
"Q, I am an old man. I no longer have the patience and energy to fight with you. Surely you can find some younger man to grapple with." Picard responded wearily.
"Plenty, but the reason for my visit is less about you and more about keeping a promise I made. Someone we both know requested my help delivering a gift, of sorts, to you." Q's words were only met with a skeptical sideways look from Picard. It was not that Q never did anything out of kindness or to be helpful, it was just that it was always part of some bigger game or motive that only he understood. It was also a point of fact that whenever he appeared there was always trouble. That was one thing Picard could be always sure of. "Your distrust of me hurts, Jean-Luc. Over the years you have been a great source of amusement to me and I thought in return I would give you the chance to know the fate of Danaë Picard. Perhaps I was wrong, perhaps it would be better not to tell you at all." At this Picard became alarmed and quickly came towards Q, clearly agitated.
"What have you done with her!?"
