The hologram of Paul Rice was a recreation of the deceased Starfleet officer created on the planet Minos by the Minosian weapon Echo Papa 607. When Commander Riker, as the USS Enterprise-D first officer, beamed down to Minos, he encountered who he initially believed to be Paul Rice, a former Starfleet Academy classmate. Sensing something was wrong, Riker gave the name of his ship as the USS Lollipop in order to test Rice.