Culled from a second nationwide contest/author search, they represent some of the finest Star Trek writing available today.

    Nearly a decade after Captain Kirk vanished, his protege, Captain Hiraku Sulu of the USS Excelsior, leads a dangerous mission into uncharted political waters. Unprecedented peace talks with the violently xenophobic Tholian Assembly trigger a deadly confrontation aboard the Excelsior. Now Sulu and his crew - including Chekov, Rand, Chapel, Tuvok, and Akaar - are thrust into an unexpected conflict between the Tholians and a mysterious new enemy, the Neyel... whose origins, if revealed, could lead to war with Earth itself. As the Tholians weave a web of vengeance, the Excelsior is flung beyond the galaxy and the crew discovers the hidden truth about the alien Neyel, forcing Sulu to question where his responsibilities lie - with the fragile peace he must preserve, or with the victims of his own world's tragic past.

    Excalibur, as told by New York Times bestselling author Peter David. Now, over a dozen books later, Peter David has gathered some of the finest Star Trek authors to tell new tales of the Excalibur crew:Dayton Ward's thrilling adventure from Calhoun's sordid past Loren L. Coleman's tale of Shelby's first experience with the Borg Robert Greenberger's origin of "Lefler's Laws" Susan Shwartz's adventure with Soleta and Ambassador Spock Terri Osborne's chronicle of Selar's encounter with the Q David Mack's tale of the longest day of Zak Kebron's life plus stories by Keith R.A. DeCandido, Susan Wright, Josepha Sherman, Ilsa J. Bick, Kevin Dilmore, Christina F. York, Robert T. Jeschonek, Peg Robinson, Mary Scott-Wiecek, Allyn Gibson, and Glenn Hauman & Lisa Sullivan.Added Bonus! Peter David himself tells the untold story of Calhoun and Shelby's honeymoon on Xenex!

    Amoral, shrouded in secrecy, answerable to no one, Section 31 is the mysterious covert operations division of Starfleet, a rogue shadow group committed to safeguarding the Federation at any cost. Six months before their ultimate battle against the Borg for the fate of Earth, Captain Jean-Luc Piccard and the crew of the "USS Enterprise"™ face a very different kind of crisis. A world in turmoil becomes the focal point of conspiracies and betrayal as an unexpected reunion brings with it startling revelations. Old friends become bitter enemies and one young officer reaches a crossroad when he's forced to choose between the greater good of the Federation and the ideals for which it stands.NO LAW. NO CONSCIENCE. NO STOPPING THEM.

    Already the Romulans and Cardassians have been decimated by the clandestine machinations of the Founders. Now the newly promoted Captain Benjamin Sisko of "Deep Space Nine" TM has another problem: a massive fleet of Klingon warships has arrived at DS9 on a secret mission. Unable to learn anything from an elusive Klingon general, Sisko turns to Lt. Commander Worf, formerly of the "Starship Enterprise" TM -- and the only Klingon in Starfleet -- to try and uncover the truth.What Worf learns has a profound impact on the future of the Alpha Quadrant, and Sisko must risk destroying the Federation-Klingon alliance to prevent a full-scale war.

    The U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, responds. Starbase 18 lies in ruin. There are no survivors. And there is no clue as to who is responsible for the attack, until Captain Pike’s brilliant science officer discovers a means of retrieving parts of the station’s log. Lieutenant Spock has detected signs of a unique energy signature, one that he believes is Klingon. There are unsubstantiated reports that the Klingon Empire has made a technological leap forward and created a cloaking device—code-named Black Snow Seven—that can shield their ships from even the most advanced sensors. The destruction of the base and the unique energy signature that remains prove that the Empire has succeeded. For generations the Orions have been known as pirates,operating at the margins, outside of legal conventions. A proud and powerful race, the Orions were once a major force in the sector, and they have been using the tension between the Klingon Empire and the Federation to rebuild their power. Captain Pike is charged with trying to foster cooperation between the Orions and the Federation. A distress call from an Orion vessel offers him the perfect opportunity. But the Orion ship lies in disputed space long claimed by the Klingon Empire, and crossing it could be the spark that sets off an interstellar war.

    Jon Anderson is the newest security officer aboard the U.S.S Enterprise. He joins the crew at a time of mounting tension between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Previous battles have been inconclusive, but Starfleet Command fears that the Klingons are gearing up for a major offensive. The Enterprise would be on the front lines of an all-out interstellar war.But Lieutenant Anderson has a secret: he is actually a Klingon infiltrator assigned to sabotage Starfleet from within. His first mission: kill Capt. James T. Kirk.

    Their victory sent shock waves through the Alpha Quadrant, and put the Dominion within striking distance of Vulcan, Andor, Tellar -- and possibly Earth itself.To secure their position in the very heart of the Federation, the Cardassians begin constructing the space station Sentok Nor in orbit of Betazed. The station is to serve as both the seat of the Dominion occupation and the site of horrific experiments by Cardassia's foremost exobiologist, the infamous Dr. Crell Moset. With Starfleet's forces spread too thinky in the ongoing struggle to retake Betazed outright, the U.S.S. Enterprise along with some old and new friends, is deployed to carry out a dangerous and desperate plan. But no matter what the outcome, the consequences could alter Betazed irrevocably, forcing Deanna Troi to choose between her world's survival and its very soul.

    And then Data was destroyed. Four years later, Data’s creator, Noonien Soong, sacrificed his life and resurrected his android son, who in turn revived the positronic brain of his own artificial daughter, Lal. Having resigned his commission, the former Starfleet officer now works to make his way on an alien world, while also coming to grips with the very human notion of wanting versus having a child. But complicating Data’s new life is an unexpected nemesis from years ago on the U.S.S. Enterprise—the holographic master criminal Professor James Moriarty. Long believed to be imprisoned in a memory solid, Moriarty has created a siphon into the "real" world as a being of light and thought. Moriarity wants the solid form that he was once told he could never have, and seeks to manipulate Data into finding another android body for him to permanently inhabit...even if it means evicting the current owner, and even if that is Data himself. ™, ®, & © 2013 CBS Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    The final selections gathered here were chosen from an overwhelming number of entries by virtue of their originality and style. With wit, compassion, and an affection for all things Star Trek, these brand-new authors take us where Star Trek has never gone before. Their tales rocket across the length and breadth of Federation time and space, from when Captain Kirk explored the galaxy on the first Starship Enterprise™, through Captain Picard's U.S.S. Enterprise™ 1701-D and Captain Sisko's Deep Space Nine™, to Captain Janeway's Starship Voyager™, with many more fascinating stops along the way. Find out what happens in the Star Trek universe when fans -- like you -- take the helm!

    Spock's mother, Amanda Grayson, is dying, and Spock returns to the planet Vulcan where he and Sarek enjoy a rare moment of rapprochement. But just as his wife's illness grows worse, duty calls Sarek away—once again sowing seeds of conflict between father and son. Yet soon, Sarek and Spock must put aside their differences and work together to foil a far-reaching plot to destroy the Federation—a plot that Sarek has seen in the making for nearly his entire career. The epic story will take the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise™ to the heart of the Klingon Empire, where Captain Kirk's last surviving relative has become a pawn in a battle to divide the Federation... and conquer it. With Sarek's help, the crew of the Starship Enterprise™ learns that all is not as it seems. Before they can prevent the Federation's destruction, they must see the face of their hidden enemy—an enemy more insidious and more dangerous than any they have faced before...

    Dedicated to the arts and sciences, the Institute seems an unlikely target for an invasion, but it proves easy pickings when the Crusade comes from beyond, determined to impose its harsh, unbending Truth on all the worlds of the Federation. Armed with weaponized gravity, the alien Crusaders will stop at nothing to rescue the universe from its myriad beliefs . . . even if it means warping the mind and soul of every sentient being they encounter. Responding to an urgent distress signal, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise soon find themselves in conflict with the Crusade, and facing individual challenges. When Kirk and Spock are transported to the Crusade’s distant homeland to confront the source of the invasion, Sulu finds himself trapped behind enemy lines, while Lieutenant Uhura is faced with possibly the most difficult decisions of her career.As the Crusade sets its sights beyond Ephrata IV, it is up to the Enterprise and its besieged crew to keep freedom of thought from being crushed beneath the weight of worlds!

    Captain Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 are faced with their most challenging mission yet—rescuing renowned scientist Zefram Cochrane from captors who want to use his skills to conquer the galaxy. Meanwhile, ninety-nine years in the future on the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, Picard must rescue an important and mysterious person whose safety is vital to the survival of the Federation. As the two crews struggle to fulfill their missions, destiny draws them closer together until past and future merge—and the fate of each of the two legendary starships rests in the hands of the other vessel...

     As the Federation prepares to launch a counterstrike against the Dominion, Colonel Kira Nerys searches for a way to prevent another galactic holocaust. But when a newly discovered prophecy propels Jake Sisko on an impossible quest and threatens to plunge all of Bajor into chaos, Kira is forced to choose between being true to her faith...and being true to herself. Meanwhile, as the combined crews of Deep Space 9 and the Starship Enterprise struggle to stop a terrorist plot to destroy the station and the ship, lives change, new friendships are forged, and the shocking truth behind a grisly murder is revealed. THE ASTONISHING RENEWAL OF THE EPIC ADVENTURE.

    Kirk and Dr. McCoy must stretch themselves to the limit as assassination attempts threaten the war-ravaged world of Nador's fragile hope of peace. The starship Enterprise is assigned to attend the ceremony that will unite a world. The focus of the ceremony is a pair of Siamese Twins named Abon and Delor who represent the united factions of the planet Nador. Disaster strikes when assassination attempts are made against the twins, who embody the hopes and dreams of the formerly war-torn planet's entire population. Captain James T. Kirk must root out the assassins from whatever hiding places they are striking from - whether they be hidden in deep places or even in plain sight. Meanwhile, Dr. McCoy must perform a radical surgical procedure in a desperate attempt to save Abon and Delor's lives.