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<TITLE>Gambit - Part I</TITLE>
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<TD WIDTH="245" VALIGN=CENTER ALIGN=CENTER><FONT COLOR="#99CCFF" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial, Helvetica, Comic Sans"><B>'Gambit'</B><BR>(Part I)<BR><BR><FONT SIZE="3">(Story Code 256)<BR>by Naren Shankar<BR>Story by Christopher Hatton<BR>and Naren Shankar</TD>
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The crew of the <I>U.S.S. Enterprise</I> is searching for Captain Picard, missing for several weeks after disappearing from an archaeological trip. Commander Riker follows the trail to a seedy bar on the planet Dessica II, but is shocked to learn from an Yridian trader named Yranac that the captain was vaporised by a gang of mercenaries during a brawl. While preparations are made for a memorial service, Riker, now acting captain, heads for the mercenaries' base in the Barradas system. He takes an away team to the surface of the only Class-M planet, but after discovering the ruins of an ancient Debrune outpost they are attacked by the mercenaries; Riker is taken prisoner and transported back to the mercenaries’ vessel, which then evades the <I>Enterprise</I> by using an energy sheath. The gang’s leader, Arctus Baran, decides to keep Riker alive in case he should prove useful, and implants him with a pain-inducing neural servo; Riker then meets a smuggler named Galen - otherwise known as Jean-Luc Picard… Playing along with his captain’s deception, Riker saves the ship from a potential disaster, a situation secretly triggered by Picard. Taking advantage of an opportunity to talk alone, Riker learns that while on the expedition, Picard found a site that had been looted and practically destroyed; determining to find those responsible, he traced the mercenaries to the Dessican bar, but his questions led to his being taken captive - the vaporising effective was in fact their use of weapons to activate their transporter. Luckily, Picard was able to convince his captors that he was a smuggler and an expert on appraising relics. He then tells Riker that the mercenaries are stealing Romulan artefacts; it appears that Baran is looking for something specific, but whatever it is, he is keeping the secret to himself…

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Patrick Stewart (<B>Captain Jean-Luc Picard</B>), Jonathan Frakes (<B>Commander William Thomas Riker</B>), LeVar Burton (<B>Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge</B>), Michael Dorn (<B>Security Chief Lieutenant Worf</B>), Gates McFadden (<B>Doctor Beverly Crusher</B>), Marina Sirtis (<B>Councelor Deanna Troi</B>), Brent Spiner (<B>Lieutenant Commander Data</B>), Richard Lynch (<B>Baran</B>), Robin Curtis (<B>Tallera</B>), Caitlin Brown (<B>Vekor</B>), Cameron Thor (<B>Narik</B>), Alan Altshuld (<B>Yranac</B>), Bruce Gray (<B>Admiral Chekote</B>), Sabrina LeBeauf (<B>Ensign Giusti</B>), Stephen Lee (<B>Bartender</B>), Derek Webster (<B>Lieutenant Sanders</B>)

<BR><BR><B>Directed by Peter Lauritson 
<BR>Produced by Ronald D. Moore and Peter Lauritson
<BR>Co-Produced by Brannon Braga
<BR>Executive Producers Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller and Rick Berman
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<BR><BR><B>TX:</B>
<FONT COLOR="#99CCFF" SIZE="2" FACE="Arial, Helvetica, Comic Sans">
<BR>11th October, 1993

<BR><BR><B>Notes:</B>
<BR>*Featuring Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William Thomas Riker, Chief Engineer Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, Security Chief Lieutenant Worf, Doctor Beverly Crusher, Councelor Deanna Troi and Lieutenant Commander Data 

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