Tales from the Captain's Table

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Cover image
Editor:	Keith R.A. DeCandido
Publisher:	Pocket Books
Series:	Star Trek: The Captain's Table
Published:	14 June 2005
Pages:	352
Year:	Various
Stardate:	Various
Reference #:	ISBN 1416505202

Inspired by the The Captain's Table series, this anthology has popular Star Trek authors writing short stories about Starfleet's finest captains from the novels and TV shows.

Summary

From the book jacket

In this follow-up to the bestselling Captain's Table series of books, nine new Star Trek captains belly up to the bar to tell their tales of adventure and romance, of triumph and tragedy, of duty and honor, of debts paid and prices exacted, including:

* Jonathan Archer of the Starship Enterprise NX-01, as told by Louisa Swann

* Chakotay of the USS Voyager, as told by Christie Golden

* David Gold of the USS da Vinci, as told by John J. Ordover

* Kira Nerys of Deep Space 9, as told by Heather Jarman

* Klag, son of M'Raq, of the IKS Gorkon, as told by Keith R.A. DeCandido

* Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Stargazer, as told by Michael Jan Friedman

William T. Riker of the USS Titan, as told by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels

* Elizabeth Shelby of the USS Trident, as told by Peter David

* Demora Sulu of the USS Enterprise-B, as told by David R. George III

From the weekly episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise to the monthly adventures of SCE, from the bestselling novel Serpents Among the Ruins to the bestselling series Star Trek: New Frontier, from the past tales of Stargazer to the new stories of Titan, from the glorious exploits of IKS Gorkon to the post-finale chronicles of Deep Space Nine and Voyager, come nine new stories from the nine newest members of Star Trek's finest and bravest shipmasters.

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Introduction

• How We Built the Bar by Dean Wesley Smith

Riker

• Improvisations on the Opal Sea: A Tale of Dubious Credibility
  • by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels
  • William Riker, USS Titan

Picard

• Darkness
  • by Michael Jan Friedman
  • Jean-Luc Picard, USS Stargazer

Shelby

• Pain Management
  • by Peter David
  • Elizabeth Shelby, USS Trident

Klag

• IoDnl'pu' vavpu' je
  • ("Brothers and Fathers")
  • by Keith R.A. DeCandido
  • Klag, son of M'Raq, IKS Gorkon

Kira

• The Officers' Club
  • by Heather Jarman
  • Kira Nerys, Deep Space 9

Archer

• Have Beagle, Will Travel: The Legend of Porthos
  • by Louisa M. Swann
  • Jonathan Archer, Enterprise NX-01

Sulu

• Iron and Sacrifice
  • by David R. George III
  • Demora Sulu, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)

Chakotay

• Seduced
  • by Christie Golden
  • Chakotay, USS Voyager

Gold

• An Easy Fast
  • by John J. Ordover
  • David Gold, USS da Vinci

While fasting for Yom Kippur, Gold inadvertently angers several alien captains who try to buy him a drink. But he offers to tell them a story instead, as an alien Captain from the future walks in.

Gold tells the story of one "Abraham Silver," who as an Ensign on his first shore leave is killed by three people in a casino after being scammed. Without the scammers knowledge, his starship beams him to sickbay and is able to resuscitate him. After months of rehabilitation, he is back to full health, but now has a taste for vengeance.

Finally finding the first person, he finds that he has a family now, and has become a peace loving politician loved by millions who truly regretted what he did. Abraham decides to forgive him, and instead goes after the other two. The second has become a hugely successful business man, who is sponsoring the arts and on a planet whose economy had once hit rock bottom. When the alien offers Silver 5% of the profits from his company, Silver says to give it to the workers instead, and he can live. Finally, as a Captain, Silver comes across the third alien that wronged him. He is in prison due to be executed on a distant planet, and has in fact done many worse thing since attempting to kill him.

The alien shows no remorse, and in fact reminds Silver of why he killed him in the first place - (scammed gambling debt) - and still demands his money. The planets government auctions off executions, and the highest bidder can decide when the prisoner dies and how. Silver is the highest bidder, and even though the alien is still the horrible murderer he was years ago, Silver leaves the control in his hands and walks away - allowing the alien to pick his time and way of death, as there was no escape from it, he would get his punishment. As Gold finishes his story, the Alien from the future thanks him - and as a token of appreciation, tells him that "the second he walked in he recognized Gold, even being from two centuries in the future."

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Novels The Captain's Table

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