"Scramble" is a TNG short story published in Star Trek: Explorer magazine. It was written by Greg Cox and released in May 2023 in Explorer, Issue 7. It was collected in Titan Magazines' "The Mission" and Other Stories omnibus in 2024.

Description

A return to the noir world of Dixon Hill.

References

Characters

Jean-Luc Picard • Deanna Troi

Referenced only

Geordi La Forge • James T. Kirk • Q

Holodeck characters

Laurel Dupree • Durango (character) • Sigmund Freud • Mickey Giza • Dixon Hill • Slugger Kagan • Goddess of Empathy

Referenced only

Calamity Jane • Kahless • Annie Oakley

Starships and vehicles

USS Enterprise-D (Galaxy-class explorer) • Orient Express

Referenced only

USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • hansom cab • sailing ship

Locations

dark matter nebula

Holodeck locations

Earth (Eiffel Tower • Golden Gate Bridge • London) • San Francisco • Vulcan's Forge

Referenced only

Moors • Romulus

Races and cultures

Andorian • Betazoid • Ferengi • Human • Klingon • Orion • Tellarite

Science and classification

badminton • bat'leth • brass knuckles • computer • firearm • holoprogram • holodeck • hologram • hypospray • impulse • monocle • painstik • pistol • railroad • rapier • six-shooter • umbrella

Occupations and titles

coachman • comedian • counselor • cowboy • criminal • detective • flapper • gumshoe • gunfighter • mobster • musketeer • nun • socialite

Other references

1941 • Aida • bridge • champagne • chocolate • cigar • cowboy hat • custard pie • dark matter • Eugenics Wars • fedora • French language (Merde) • haiku • horse • Klingon language (Qapla') • Macbeth • money ("bucks") • nebula • pea soup • peanut butter • Roaring Twenties • robe • sickbay • sonnet • suit • targ • The Three Musketeers • trench coat • tuxedo • Victorian era • Wild West

Appendices

Related media

• TNG episode: "The Big Goodbye"
• TNG episode: "A Fistful of Datas"
• TNG episode: "Emergence"
• TNG episode: "Phantasms"
• Last Unicorn RPG module: Holodeck Adventures
• TNG novel: A Hard Rain

Background

• A chronological placement is difficult. But taking into account the (holographic) characters appearing and the estimation that the story takes place on USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) for the same reason, the events occur towards the end of the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• Dixon Hill was introduced in TNG episode: "The Big Goodbye" as part of a holonovel in 2364, while Durango was introduced in TNG episode: "A Fistful of Datas" as part of the Ancient West Program in 2369. Sigmund Freud was introduced as a holodeck character in 2370 in TNG episode: "Phantasms".
• The story Dixon Hill and the Case of the Golden Serpent was featured in Last Unicorn RPG module: Holodeck Adventures.
• Beverly Crusher had an Orient Express holodeck program by 2370 as provided in TNG episode: "Emergence".
• A Dixon Hill mystery threatened the Enterprise-E crew in 2377 in TNG novel: A Hard Rain.

Images

Connections

Short stories published in magazines
TV21 Weekly	TOS stories	"Gateway to the Future"
Stardate Magazine	TOS stories	"Force of Law" • "The Killax Vendetta" • "Planetfall" • "Coronation Presumptuous" • "Boarding Party" • "Roleplaying in the Final Frontier"
Amazing Stories	TNG stories	"Last Words" • "On the Scent of Trouble" • "Life Itself is Reason Enough" • "Bedside Matters"
	VOY stories	"When Push Comes to Shove" • "A Night at Sandrine's" • "The Space Vortex of Doom"
Star Trek Magazine	STO stories	"Unexpected Honor" • "Shakedown" • "The Gale, Part 1" • "The Gale, Part 2" • "Mirror Image, Part 1" • "Mirror Image, Part 2" • "Chief, Part 1" • "Chief, Part 2" • "Of Chaos and Kal-toh, Part 1" • "Of Chaos and Kal-toh, Part 2" • "Dove" • "Backchannel Negotiations" • "There's No Place Like..." • "Locks Without Keys, Part 1" • "Locks Without Keys, Part 2" • "Hope Remains" • "After the Storm" • "Recruitment Drive" • "Time of the Scotsman" • "An Honorable Frontier"
Star Trek: Explorer	stories	"All That Most Maddens and Torments" • "Q and False" • "A Night In" • "The Offer" • "Seven ﹥ Seven" • "Quality of Life" • "Retribution" • "Broken Oaths" • "The Way to Exile" • "Kill Captain Proton!" • "Cumulative Damage" • "Explorers of the Storm" • "Prey" • "Growing Pains" • "Pulaski 2.0" • "The Disavowed" • "By Special Request" • "Paghabi" • "The Expert" • "The Guardian" • "The Mission" • "Things Can Only Get Better" • "Frontier Medicine" • "Control" • "The Victim" • "Scramble" • "You Can't Buy Fate" • "Summer Days Can Last Forever" • "The Kellidian Kidnapping" • "Lost and Founder" • "A Year to the Day I Saw Myself Die" • "See and Seen" • "Work Worth Doing" • "The Trouble with Jones" • "Sundering" • "Academy Acquisition" • "Jack of Diamonds" • "A Dish Served Cold" • "Forewarned and Three-Armed" • "Working Miracles" • "Confirmation Bias" • "Dignified Transfer" • "Attempted Break-in" • "Cat and Mouse" • "Housewarming" • "The Sirius Snarl" • "Memoriam" • "The Simulation" • "Chekov's Challenge" • "The Snake and the Worm" • "Freeblade" • "The Needs of the Many"• "Family History" • "In Two Minds" • "My Name is Mudd" • "The Lost Noel" • "Into the Cardassian Quagmire"

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: The Victim	short stories (Star Trek: Explorer)	Next story: You Can't Buy Fate
Previous story: The Expert	short stories ("The Mission" and Other Stories)	Next story: The Mission
Previous story: The Expert Star Trek: Explorer	TNG short stories	Next story: Dignified Transfer Star Trek: Explorer
Previous story: Pulaski 2.0 Star Trek: Explorer	Stories by: Greg Cox	Next story: The Trouble with Jones Star Trek: Explorer
chronological order
Previous adventure: Antimatter	Memory Beta Chronology	Next adventure: The Naked Truth Strange New Worlds I