Of Cabbages and Kings

Of Cabbages and Kings
Attribution
Series:	The Next Generation
Author(s):	Franklin Thatcher
Publication information
Printed:	July 1998, in Strange New Worlds I
Pages:	19 (156 - 174)
Chronology
Date:	2367

"Of Cabbages and Kings" is a TNG short story.

Summary

The USS Enterprise is transported, without its crew, to an alternate universe, and has to develop its artificial intelligence to survive.

References

Characters

Minuet • Jean-Luc Picard (hologram)

Referenced only

Data

Starships and vehicles

USS Carpenter (Excelsior-class cruiser) • USS Enterprise-D (Galaxy-class explorer)

Locations

alternate universe • unnamed stars and systems

Races and cultures

Human • Mec

Referenced only

Borg • Organian

States and organizations

Daystrom Institute • Starfleet • United Federation of Planets

Science and classification

Bussard collector • computer • computer core • deflector shield • hail • holodeck • hologram • hull • impulse engine • interphasic boundary • interspace • navigation beacon • optical data network relay • Paranoid Mode • phaser array • self destruct • sensor • shield generator • starship • subspace communication • targeting sensor • tractor beam • warp core • warp drive • warp nacelle • warp signature

Other references

angstrom • animal • battle bridge • blood • brain • bridge • class D planet • corona • day • glass • history • hydrogen • laboratory • light-year • month • nebula • orbit • philosophy • plant • pulsar • quasar • radiation • second • sleep • speed of light • star • star system • subspace • universe • year

Chronology

• 5 June 2334: The USS Carpenter is listed as missing.
• Enterprise experienced nearly three months in the alternate universe but returned at almost the instant she left.
• The communications code Carpenter used to contact Enterprise was nearly seventy years old, and Enterprise is noted to be seventy years more advanced than Carpenter at the time of its disappearance, which indicates this story takes place in either the 2400s, or Carpenter actually went missing around the turn of the 24th century and wasn't listed as missing until 2334.

Appendices

Related media

• TNG episode: "Emergence" - The Enterprise creates its own offspring.
• TTN novel: Synthesis - The USS Titan's computer becomes self-aware and takes on the holographic character Minuet as it's avatar.

Background

• The story's name comes from the Lewis Carroll poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter".

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: Civil Disobedience	Strange New Worlds I	Next story: Life's Lessons
Previous story: Civil Disobedience Strange New Worlds I	TNG short stories	Next story: I Am Klingon Strange New Worlds II
Previous story: first Star Trek story	Stories by: Franklin Thatcher	Next story: I Am Become Death Strange New Worlds II
chronological order
Previous adventure: Vendetta	Pocket Books Timeline	Next adventure: The Monkey Puzzle Box Strange New Worlds V