Goddard (NCC-1701-D/15)

For other uses, see Goddard.

Goddard
Class:	type-6 shuttlecraft
Registry:	NCC-1701-D/15
Affiliation:	Federation, Starfleet
Launched:	2360s
Assignment:	USS Enterprise-D; loaned to Montgomery Scott
Status:	detached service (circa 2371)

The Goddard (NCC-1701-D/15) was a Federation type-6 shuttlecraft in service to Starfleet in the mid-24th century. The shuttle was assigned to the USS Enterprise-D in the 2360s.

History

In 2369, Worf, Geordi La Forge and Ro Laren took the Goddard to a destination to receive briefings from Starfleet. On their return journey to the Enterprise their flight was disrupted by solar flare activity, forcing them to drop out of warp. The shuttle was hit by a massive wave and spiraled out of control, crash-landing into the snowy mountains of Riat. The shuttle's propulsion and navigational systems were damaged in the crash and the trio decided to abandon it and seek shelter at the nearby monastery. The party were eventually rescued by the Enterprise and the Goddard apparently recovered and repaired. (TNG comic: "Light of the Day")

Scotty boarding the Goddard

Not long after, the Goddard was "loaned" to Captain Montgomery Scott, who had recently been rescued from a seventy-five year period of suspended animation in a transporter pattern buffer, to allow Scott freedom to find his own route through his new life in the 24th century. (TNG episode: "Relics")

Aboard the Goddard, Scott rescued two Narisians - Garamet and Wahlkon - fleeing from their Proctor overlords. When he discovered that Garamet had used a B'rel-class Klingon bird-of-prey to escape Narisia, Scott claimed it as his own, stored the Goddard inside, and using logs from the original Enterprise, recreated the gravity slingshot back in time to 2293. Scott used the Goddard to transport James T. Kirk from the USS Enterprise-B at the moment where he was supposedly killed and lost to the Nexus. Instead of being a consequence-free action, it altered the timeline, and the Goddard was intercepted by the Wisdom, commanded by the Sarek of that universe. (Star Trek novel: Engines of Destiny)

By 2371 Scotty had re-christened the Goddard to Romaine, named after an old acquaintance. Scotty also made modifications to the shuttle's systems, obtaining a marginal increase in engine efficiently (despite the computer's insistence his design would not improve things) and programming the computer to scan communications for things that might interest him, including mentions of certain names, such as those of Leonard McCoy and Spock. In that year his computer picked up one such communication, an encrypted Priority One communication to Admiral McCoy concerning the recent Romulan capture of Spock and a group of unificationists. With Spock's life at risk Scotty hatched a rescue plan and plotted a course to Starbase 178.

At the Starbase Scotty quickly put his plan into action, stealing the USS Yorktown from the Starfleet Museum, planning to use the cloaking device exhibited in the ship, to make an invisible incursion into Romulan space and rescue Spock.

After successfully escaping on the Yorktown Scotty rendezvoused with the Romaine and tied the shuttle's significantly more advanced computer into the Yorktown, letting the shuttlecraft take control in the place of the typical several-hundred man crew.

Not quite as he planned it, Scotty, with some help from the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, rescued Spock and returned the Yorktown to Federation space. He avoided court martial for his good intentions and with a good word from Jean-Luc Picard, who trusted Scotty would restrict himself to flying the Romaine rather than stealing starships. (TNG novel: Crossover)

Appendices

Connections

Ships named Goddard
	starships: USS Goddard • small craft: Goddard (NCC-1701-D/15) • Goddard (DS9 shuttlecraft)

External link

• Goddard (NCC-1701-D/15) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.