Summary

Picard sends a return message to the original humanoid race, four billion years in the past.

References

Characters

Beverly Crusher • Data • Geordi La Forge • Jean-Luc Picard • William T. Riker

Referenced only

Deanna Troi

Starships and vehicles

Locations

Races and cultures

Android • Human

States and organizations

Other references

Chronology

Appendices

Background

• The "current day" sections of this story takes place sometime after TNG episode: "The Chase". The absence of Worf from the story suggests it may take place after TNG movie: Star Trek: Generations aboard the USS Enterprise-E.

Related media

• TNG episode: "The Chase"

Connections

Star Trek: The Next Generation collected short stories, novellas and short novels
Strange New Worlds	I: ("What Went Through Data's Mind 0.68 Seconds Before the Satellite Hit" • "The Naked Truth" • "The First" • "See Spot Run" • "Together Again, for the First Time" • "Civil Disobedience" • "Of Cabbages and Kings") • II: ("I Am Klingon" • "Reciprocity" • "Calculated Risk" • "Gods, Fate, and Fractals" • "I Am Become Death") • III: ("Whatever You Do, Don't Read This Story" • "A Private Victory" • "The Fourth Toast" • "One of Forty-seven" • "A Q to Swear By" • "The Change of Seasons" • "Out of the Box, Thinking") • IV: ("Flight 19" • "The Promise" • "Flash Point" • "Prodigal Son" • "Seeing Forever") • V: ("Bluff" • "The Peacemakers" • "Efflorescence" • "Kristin's Conundrum" • "The Monkey Puzzle Box" • "The Farewell Gift" • "Dementia in D Minor") • VI: ("The Soft Room" • "Protecting Data's Friends" • "The Human Factor" • "Tribble in Paradise") • VII: ("Life's Work" • "Adventures in Jazz and Time" • "Future Shock" • "Full Circle" • "Beginnings" • "Solemn Duty") • 8: ("Morning Bells Are Ringing" • "Passages of Deceit" • "Final Flight") • 9: ("Staying the Course" • "Home Soil" • "Terra Tonight" • "Solace in Bloom") • 10 ("Wired" • "A Dish Served Cold" • "The Very Model") • 2016 ("A Christmas Qarol" • "The Sunwalkers" • "The Seen and Unseen")
The Sky's the Limit	"Meet with Triumph and Disaster" • "Acts of Compassion" • "Redshift" • "Among the Clouds" • "Thinking of You" • "Turncoats" • "Ordinary Days" • "'Twould Ring the Bells of Heaven" • "Friends With the Sparrows" • "Suicide Note" • "Four Lights" • "'Til Death" • "On the Spot" • "Trust Yourself When All Men Doubt You"
Star Trek: Explorer	"Q and False" • "Quality of Life" • "Broken Oaths" • "Prey" • "Growing Pains" • "Pulaski 2.0" • "The Disavowed" • "Paghabi" • "The Expert" • "Scramble" • "Dignified Transfer" • "Attempted Break-in" • "The Simulation" • "Family History" • "Into the Cardassian Quagmire"
Misc. short stories	"The Captain and the King" • "Last Words" • "Bedside Matters" • "On the Scent of Trouble" • "Life Itself is Reason Enough" • "What Dreams May Come" • "Twilight's Wrath" • "Eleven Hours Out" • "Darkness" • "The Sacred Chalice" • "For Want of a Nail"
Misc. novellas & short novels	"The Other Side" • "The Worst of Both Worlds" • "Brave New World"

Timeline

published order
Previous story: I Am Klingon	Strange New Worlds II	Next story: Calculated Risk
Previous story: I Am Klingon Strange New Worlds II	TNG short stories	Next story: Calculated Risk Strange New Worlds II
Previous story: first Star Trek story	Stories by: Brad Curry	Next story: most recent work
chronological order
Previous adventure: The First Strange New Worlds I	Pocket Books Timeline	Next adventure: Year of Hell, Part I
Previous adventure: Upon the Brink of Remembrance Strange New Worlds 2016	Memory Beta Chronology	Next adventure: Year of Hell, Part I
Previous adventure: The First Strange New Worlds I	voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)	Next adventure: Planet X
The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 2374. The Pocket Books Timeline places events from this story in 1 other timeframe(s):
Previous adventure: Spock's World Vulcan: One flashback	4 billion years ago sections 1, 4, 8 & 10	Next adventure: All Good Things... chapter 20, section 5