Paul Rice

Paul Rice (died 2364) was a human from Earth who served in the United Federation of Planets Starfleet during the mid 24th century. A Captain at the time of his death, Rice served as the commanding officer of the USS Drake (NCC-20381).

A classmate of William Riker at Starfleet Academy, Rice developed a reputation of being confident nearly to the point of being arrogant, of being willing to take risks. In one of the final examinations in an advanced navigation course, one of the questions gave the students three possible answers. Rice rejected the three existing answers, and proposed his own answer. The risk paid off as Rice received the highest score for the exam, and the exam was modified to include Rice's answer as one of the possible options.

In 2364 Rice's former classmate Riker was offered the Captaincy of the Drake, however Riker turned it down in order to accept the position of first officer on board the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). Rice was then offered the command, which he accepted.(TNG episode The Arsenal of Freedom). Rice visited Farpoint Station in 2364, just prior to the arrival of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). (TNG episode All Good Things...).

Later in 2364, the Drake went to Minos to discover what had happened to the population of the planet. Shortly afterwards, the Drake was destroyed with all hands lost by the automated weapons which had destroyed the people of Minos. During the battle, the weapon systems learned enough about the Drake, Rice, and Starfleet to construct a holographic recreation of Rice, which it then used on William Riker when the Enterprise arrived to determine the fate of the Drake.