Captain's Ready Room

The Captain's Ready Room is a compartment on a Starship that essentially serves as a private office for the ship's commanding officer. On most Federation Starships, the Ready Room is adjacent or very close by the Bridge, as an alternative to his private cabin, which is usually on another deck. This is to enable the captain a refuge to rest during periods of Red Alert or other emergency, when he needs to be close by the command center of the ship; this enables the captain to nap, while still remaining just a few steps away from taking command of his bridge. The Ready Room also serves the captain to do work and hold meetings in a small, private area where they cannot be overheard.

To serve both of these functions, most starship Ready Rooms are equipped with a desk and computer terminal, comfortable chairs for guests, and a separate informal relaxation area with a couch and stuffed chairs, and perhaps a coffee table. The couch is of practicality a convertible, which opens up into a bed, enabling the commanding officer to nap. The Ready Room is also commonly equipped with an adjacent head, a closet with spare uniforms, and a food replicator. Commanding officers generally decorate the Ready Room to personal preference; on the USS Twilight, Captain Jaryd Harker has installed a bookcase where he shelves several real, bound paper books, and a small dog bed for his pet beagle. On USS Enterprise, Captain Jean-Luc Picard keeps an ancient copy of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare on display behind glass or transparent aluminum. On USS Voyager, Captain Kathryn Janeway kept a silver coffee set, complete with coffee pot, cups, and spoons.

Pictured: a typical Ready Room of a Nova Class Starship (refit.) This is also typical of any Federation Starship. On Twilight, there is a small armory for arming the bridge crew in case of hostile boarding, in addition to the private captain's head; only command-level officers have access to this small armory. There may be small armories on the Enterprise and other starships, but this was never indicated in any movie or Technical Manual, only implied in the movie "Star Trek: First Contact."