How did you imagine 2399?

[F. King Daniel]

With Star Trek: Picard launching early next year and giving us a canon look at what happened when the Next Gen crew are old and grey, I'm curious how (or if) anyone imagined the era beforehand? How did you all see the Next Gen crew winding up?

I've read too many of the novels to imagine it differently from their version: Picard stays on the Enterprise with a mostly new crew (save for Worf and Geordi) forever, Riker and Troi fly around on the USS Titan having adventures. Data returns but with new priorities and builds a life outside of Starfleet.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I kind of imagined that Picard would eventually retire from Starfleet around 2390 or so and become a 24th-Century Indiana Jones, traveling the Galaxy on adventures of archaeology and occasionally helping people in trouble along the way. Riker & Troi are still on the Titan, with Lieutenant Commander Wesley Crusher as chief engineer. Beverly Crusher has left medicine and is now an admiral at Starfleet Command. Data is still dead and B-4 turned out to be only a marginal success, but lessons learned from the latter led to a new generation of Soong-type androids.

• Worf becomes the first Klingon captain in Starfleet as captain of the Enterprise-E. He had a new very Human female first officer that's somewhat Kirk-ish.
• Geordi is still chief engineer, but also now the Enterprise-E's second officer.
• The rest of the senior staff are all new characters, including a Soong-type female android that's too much like Data for Geordi's liking (causing some initial friction between them).
• Relations between the Federation and the Romulans have improved significantly since the destruction of Romulus, with the establishment of a more democratic Romulan Republic on New Romulus and an open trade treaty. There are even talks of dismantling the Neutral Zone (ala the Berlin Wall) and the Romulus joining the Federation and the Klingons in the Khitomer Accords. Even so, there are those on all sides who don't think any of this is a good idea.
• It's been decades since the last appearance of the Borg anywhere in the known Galaxy. There are those that believe they were destroyed by the actions of the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, but some don't think so.

 

[somebuddyX]

I only thought up two things about the TNG future. One was if they'd done a TNG special set in 2393 for the 50th anniversary, which would be as many TNG people they could get appearing on the Titan. I figured they could do it on the cheap with some digital sets or even just location shooting. I just wanted some traditional but modernised TNG style morality storyline.
The other was that by 2408 Worf was commander of the Enterprise-E. The Federation suffers a crisis whereby some former enemy state is blamed for unleashing a weapon on Earth that sends it out of space-time. Some Starfleet ships are trying to clear this enemy's name but are seen as rogues and the new head of Starfleet sends Worf and Enterprise-E to stop the rogues.

 

[at Quark's]

Erm ... simply like what we saw in All Good Things , but slightly better (e.g. no split between Worf and Riker)? Never read any of the novels.

Disregarding later movies that kill off the Ent-D and Data, I can see most of them ending up where they did, except perhaps for Geordi becoming a writer. As for Deanna dying young, these things happen, unfortunately. (I do not believe the ent-D, would have been mothballed so early.. the ship would only have been slightly over 30 years old by that time.) But Picard retiring after an ambassadorial career to live out his old days in a vineyard, Beverley getting her own (medical) command, Riker an admiralship, Data a professorship, Worf a governorship? Yeah, I can buy that.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

After DS9 I imagined Starfleet having to deal with the fear and having an internal battle between focusing on military development and going back to the TNG era Starfleet. Not aggressively militaristic so much as "To achieve peace we must prepare for war". And more coordination with Martok on that front.

I imagine Bajor joining on their own terms. In Cardassia a struggle between accepting Starfleet's peaceful overtures and Garak leading a nationalist (Or planetist) movement.

The TNG cast I mostly imagine just having standard successful Starfleet careers. Now that Worf is a member of the House of Martok I can see him governing Martok's lands and being an envoy between Starfleet and the High Council. The others just go as far as their career tracks take them and retire. Geordi maybe ends up teaching engineering at the Academy. Beverly might go into research.

And Wesley finally shuts up. Actually it would be amusing to see something like Wesley is a Commander of a vessel and has to deal with a genius know it all brat on his ship who makes him look stupid.

 

[F. King Daniel]

And Wesley finally shuts up. Actually it would be amusing to see something like Wesley is a Commander of a vessel and has to deal with a genius know it all brat on his ship who makes him look stupid.

I recall an old Next Gen comic involving a glimpse at a future where Wesley was captain of the Enterprise-D, and had a moustache. I would 110% be down for a mustachio'd Wil Wheton returning in Picard.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I recall an old Next Gen comic involving a glimpse at a future where Wesley was captain of the Enterprise-D, and had a moustache. I would 110% be down for a mustachio'd Wil Wheton returning in Picard.

It only works if he has a teenager on his ship who makes the adults look stupid. "...Shut up, T'Kona."

 

[Arpy]

I imagined Picard as an ambassador. I thought after the Enterprise, he’d do some admiraling but find that he could be more useful as an ambassador. Perpetual captaining was Kirk’s thing...he liked being on the scene, keeping active; the admiralty was too macro for him.

I don’t think Picard would have followed Kirk’s advice too long past GEN. He’d become an admiral at some point but find that he liked being on the scene in a diplomatic capacity, influencing relationships first-hand. Admirals win wars, ambassadors prevent them. I think Picard would have been invaluable in that way — setting up relationships for prosperity to flourish.

Riker I imagined captaining the Enterprise after Picard and then becoming an admiral as in “All Good Things...” Then Titan happened, so maybe Titan, then admiralty.

Data I imagined slowly becoming more emotionally sophisticated, eventually being as “human” as anyone, long after all we know have died. His nature is an immortal one, so I’m okay with him having relationships after these in his formative years. Though, it would be cool if at some point many years down the line, some mission brings him back to these old friends. Ultimately, he’d have an immortal family and people of his own.

Crusher heads into command in her later years, figuring modern medicine is a younger person’s game. She’s captain of her own ship and saving lives planet to planet. She and Picard marry and have twins together who take turns visiting her on her ship or him in different places whenever they’re not all together at the vineyard on Earth, or wherever else they’re do family-time together. Everyone is constantly in motion, but it works. The nurturing and the love are there.

...that’s one version. Maybe in another she goes back to Starfleet Medical so she can live on Earth with Picard and the kids on the vineyard. A second home on Luna where she grew up like some have a second home by the shore to go away to? ...It would be interesting to know more about what that looks like. Is it terraformed; does she have family there? Is it alien from what we’re used to?

Geordi installs himself Emperor of the Pakleds? Okay, I’ve gotta go. Maybe later...

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I have trouble seeing Picard truly happy in retirement, or as an admiral or ambassador. Until his body physically forces him to stop he’ll always find an excuse for an adventure.

 

[Qonundrum]

I honestly never thought about it and beyond the TNG movies I've not seen or read anything. Which helps, but it's still up to the actual series to hit a home run with where Picard's story stands as well as supporting characters.

 

[Arpy]

• Picard becomes an ambassador and is key in negotiating the peace with the Romulans during Reunification.
• Crusher leaves Starfleet after the Traveler returns to warn her that Wesley is in grave danger before he ceases to exist. She becomes the Lara Croft of subspace.
• Geordi marries Brahms and becomes a writer.
• After Lwaxana's passing, Deanna returns to Betazed to become head of House Troi, and Riker, not being a sucker and again appreciating what he's got, leaves Starfleet to go with her to raise their children.
• Worf does his stint as Federation ambassador, and, eventually (Reunification, assassination, Houses), the orphan claims the Iron Throne.
• Data returns and outlives them all, he sees whole civilizations rise and fall... As a machine, he eventually outgrows humanity, expands to unfathomable levels of consciousness, and, in fact, never, ever, dies.
• O'Brien retires to teach at the academy.
• Ro, miraculously, lives to join the Bajoran Militia. When Bajor finally joins the Federation, she leaves to start a family.
• Barclay, continuing to overcome his neuroses, rises to full commander and helps the Federation achieve a longterm presence in the Delta Quadrant...but then is sent to prison by a Starfleet court for a crime he didn't commit. He and three others promptly escape from a maximum-security stockade to the Delta Quadrant underground. Today, still wanted by the Federation, they survive as astronauts-of-fortune. If you have a problem...if no one else can help...and if you can find them...maybe you can hire...The A(lpha Quadrant)-Team.