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Takes place in: 2371 - 2372 (Main story), five months after the events of Star Trek Generations
Takes place in: 2278, 2368 (Past sequences)
In 2278, a Klingon vessel under the command of Commander Kozara planned to destroy Starbase 12, and a false emergency was created in the Benecia sector so as to draw the Federation fleet away from the Klingons' real target. A Federation starship, the USS Bozeman, commanded by Captain Morgan Bateson, was able to detect the Klingon vessel, and the Bozeman engaged the Klingons in the Typhon Expanse. Bozeman suffered heavy damage, and was able to send a warning to Starfleet about the planned attack on Starbase 12. While evading from the Klingons, the Bozeman entered into a temporal distortion, and nearly collided with another vessel, which later identified itself as the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D.
Three years later, in 2371, it has been five months since the destruction of the USS Enterprise-D. Picard arrives at Starbase 12 to receive new orders from Starfleet. The Bozeman is now docked at Starbase 12 and she serves as a museum, while Captain Bateson and his crew were also stationed at the starbase, with Bateson supervising the construction of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E, which was nearing completion. Scotty is also involved in the building of the new starship.
Starfleet assigns a new mission to Picard. Relations between the Klingons and the Cardassians had deteriorated, and the Cardassians are motivated to maintain good relations with the Federation. Starfleet has decided to use this opportunity to send Picard into Cardassian space to secure the release of Federation citizens and Starfleet personnel suspected of being held by the Cardassians. Starfleet also offers to Picard a promotion to rear admiral, which Picard turns down.
Starfleet assigns to Captain Bateson the command of the USS Enterprise-E for her shakedown cruise. This upsets the former crew of Captain Picard, most of whom had also been assigned to the Enterprise-E. Deanna even suspects that Bateson's qualifications may be out of date, but Picard tells his former crew to do their duty, especially Riker, who would now serve with Captain Bateson as Enterprise-E's First Officer.
Meanwhile, Kozara, and the rest of his crew, had been living in disgrace for the past 90 over years for failing in their mission to destroy Starbase 12 and as a result embarassed the Klingon Empire. Kozara learns from his son, Zaidan, that Captain Bateson has returned and he was working on the Enterprise-E. Kozara swears that he would have his revenge on Bateson and reclaim his honour by vilifying the name of Enterprise. Kozara then reveals that there is a Klingon operative among the Bozeman's crew.
The Enterprise-E launches from Starbase 12, and for her shakedown cruise, Bateson orders the Enterprise-E to the Typhon Expanse for war games, near the Klingon Neutral Zone. This alarms Riker, since this operation could possibly provoke the Klingons and lead to hostilities. Bateson argues that the Federation needs to be prepared for war if and when it arises, while Riker accuses Bateson of being paranoid. But Riker agrees to continue to do his duty as First Officer, at least until the shakedown cruise is over.
Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher travel onboard the merchant explorer Half Moon for their journey to Cardassia Prime. Along the journey, Picard views some holoprograms sent to him by Riker. They were holographic simulation of Captain Kirk's missions, including the USS Enterprise's pursuit of the Romulan bird-of-prey when the bird-of-prey destroyed several Federation outposts, and the USS Enterprise's mission to Alfa 177 when a freak transporter malfunction not only stranded a landing party on a hazardous planet, but also resulted in the creation of a duplicate Kirk which Captain Kirk had to deal with. Picard had been filled with self-blame ever since the Enterprise-D was destroyed, but after viewing the holoprograms and learning how Kirk dealt with great adversity, Picard's confidence was restored.
The Enterprise-E arrives at the Typhon Expanse to conduct war games with the starfleet vessel Nora Nicholas. However, the Nora Nicholas attacks the Enterprise-E with full force, causing severe damage. Scans reveal that the vessel said to be the Nora Nicholas was not the actual vessel. Kozara then hails the Enterprise-E and mocks Captain Bateson, revealing the attacker to be a Klingon ship. The Klingon ship continues its attack, and systems on the Enterprise-E begin to fail, leading Riker to suspect sabotage. The Klingons eventually capture the Enterprise-E and detained her crew. They take over the Enterprise-E, and transfer the Bozeman's crew to their damaged ship.
Half Moon arrives at Cardassia Prime, and Picard negotiates with Madred for the release of Federation prisoners which are believed to be held by the Cardassians. Madred mocks Picard, especially since he had tortured Picard before. Picard suggests Madred cooperate, if the Cardassians expect Federation assistance in fending off Klingon aggression. Picard then brings Madred's daughter, Jil Orra, into the room. Jil Orra is Picard's captive, and Picard threatens to kill her with a countdown neural disruptor unless Madred reveals the location of the prisoners. Madred becomes desperate and finally provides the location of the Federation prisoners. Picard lets the countdown continue anyway, but when the device activates, it does not kill Madred's daughter. It was a bluff.
Bateson, Riker, and Scotty regain consciousness, they break free from their cell and quickly make plans to retake the Enterprise-E. Soon they incapacitates several Klingon warriors, and proceed towards the bridge.
Arriving at the coordinates provided by Madred, Picard finds that the captured Federation citizens had been kept in installations used by Cardassians for training their soldiers for combat. Picard forces Madred to apologise to the prisoners and shut down all other similar installations. Jil Orra then admits to Madred that it was she who contacted the Federation in the first place, as she was ashamed of Cardassian brutality to other races.
Picard then receives a message from Starfleet saying that the Enterprise-E has been hijacked by Kozara and is heading to attack Cardassia Prime. Picard intends to stop Kozara from harming innocent lives, he appropriates three Cardassian ships to the released prisoners and returns to the Half Moon. Together they intercept the Enterprise-E.
Bateson and Riker arrive at the bridge and attack the Klingons. Bateson then confronts Kozara, saying that Kozara had already won by capturing the Enterprise-E from him, and there's no need to kill millions of innocent lives. Kozara agrees and stands down, despite pleas from his son Zaidan not to do so. He then surrenders control of the Enterprise-E. Picard arrives and commends Kozara for his actions. Kozara's Klingon ship arrives, and it is controlled by the Bozeman's crew, who had discovered who the saboteur was.
Shortly thereafter, Picard is assigned command of the Enterprise-E, while Bateson is assigned command of a new starship, the USS Roderick. Picard then reveals that Starfleet, in appreciation for Bateson and his crew, has agreed to redesignate the USS Roderick as the USS Bozeman II NCC-1941-A.
. USS Bozeman NCC-1941 is a Soyuz-class starship and she had left Starbase 12 for three weeks before she was lost in the Typhon Expanse in 2278. The Bozeman was actually trapped in a temporal causality loop for 90 years before she was freed by the Enterprise-D in 2368. Following her recovery, the Bozeman was docked at Starbase 12 and she now serves as a museum.
. A Sovereign-class starship was already being built at Starbase 12 and had been under construction for two years when the Enterprise-D was destroyed at Veridian III in 2371. A decision was then made to name the new starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E.
. Scotty was also involved in the construction of the Enterprise-E. He had taken courses to refamilarise himself with current Starfleet technology. For the shakedown cruise, Scotty served as the Enterprise-E's chief engineer.
. The Cardassians had been taking Federation citizens and Starfleet personnel as prisoners for the past three years. They include the crew of the USS Durant, several merchant vessels, and one satellite tender. The prisoners were kept in installations on Cardassia Prime, where they were forced to fight against Cardassian soldiers as part of their combat training. These installations were under the command of Madred, hence they were called "Madred villages".
. Captain Bateson keeps a decapus named George Hill on his ship. The creature is similar to an octopus, except that it has ten legs, it does not have suction cups on its legs, and It does not appear to be aquatic. The crew believe that George Hill is a constrictor. Bateson had rescued George Hill from an illegal animal smuggler, but it was not known what planet the decapus came from, so he had kept the creature on his ship.
. The book states that the current year is 2371, and Bateson repeatedly states that 93 years had passed since Bozeman's disappearance in 2278, which concurs with (2278 + 93) = 2371. However, Picard mentions that he had contacted with Captain Sisko of Deep Space Nine, and the Half Moon would stop off at the space station to pick up Worf for Picard's mission. While Sisko indeed attained the rank of captain in 2371, Worf was assigned to Deep Space Nine only in 2372 and not before.
Hence, I believe that the main story of Ship of the Line actually takes place over 2371 - 2372, with the beginning in 2371 (since the book says so), proceeding into 2372 (after Worf is assigned to the Deep Space Nine).
. It is mentioned that five months had passed since the destruction of the Enterprise-D, although the Klingon Zaidan claims that four months had passed. It can mean that Zaidan told Kozara about the Enterprise-D's destruction four months after it happened, and that it was one month later when Picard arrived at Starbase 12.
. Bateson says that the Enterprise-E would conduct war games with the vessel Nora Nicholas, but Kozara mentions that the vessel participating with the Enterprise-E in the war games is the Nora Andrew. Kozara may have been misinformed.
. According to The Captain's Daughter, Sulu was supposed to assume the position of First Officer of the USS Bozeman in 2278, but he decided to stay on Earth to take care of his daughter. The First Officer of the Bozeman is Gabriel Bush.
. The types of Klingon ships used by Kozara to attack Bateson in both 2278 and 2372 are not mentioned.
. The starship class of the USS Bozeman II NCC-1941-A is not mentioned.
. It is not stated whether Madred still possessed the Cardassian rank of Gul, as mentioned in TNG "Chain of Command".
The Ashes of Eden
The Return
Avenger
Spectre
Dark Victory
Preserver
Captain's Peril
Captain's Blood
Captain's Glory
Ex Machina
The Fearful Summons
The Last Roundup
War Dragons
The Captain's Daughter
The Sundered
Dark Mirror
Crossover
Ship of the Line
Dark Passions, Book 1
Dark Passions, Book 2
Vulcan's Soul, Book 1 - Exodus