Star Trek: Stargazer, book 2 : Progenitor
Michael J. Friedman2002

Thirty years before the days of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Jean-Luc Picard was thrust unexpectedly into command of another proud vessel: the USS Stargazer. Surrounded by a crew he doesn't entirely know or trust, the young Picard must answer the challenges of leadership....

While Picard and his senior staff accompany Chief Engineer Simenon to his homeworld of Gnala to undergo a ritual, his second officer, Elizabeth Wu, is left in command of the Stargazer. Responding to a distress call from a nearby star system, Wu finds herself in the middle of a mystery involving a damaged ship and a peculiar interstellar phenomenon -- one that threatens to destroy the Stargazer if she can't learn its secret.

Meanwhile, on Gnala, Picard must help his friend undergo the ritual -- and find out who is trying to sabotage their chances of completing it before they're all killed!