But while her exploits are legend, little has been revealed about Rachel Garrett, her vessel, or the unusual men and women of her crew. Until now. When the archeological find of the decade hints at an earlier Cardassian civilization, it attracts not merely academics and knowledge-seekers but also those with far less noble interests. Among them is Asfar Qatala, a notorious criminal cartel with a disturbing connection to one of the highest-ranking officers on the Enterprise. Captain Garrett and her crew find themselves swept in to a maelstrom of kidnapping, extortion and murder -- as well as a desperate, secret struggle between the Qatala and its chief rival, the fledgling Orion Syndicate. And beneath the surface of the frozen world on which the proto-Cardassian discovery was made, another drama is playing out that will force Captain Garrett to make the most difficult decision of her career...amid ruins reputed to link the living with the dead.

    There are moments glimpsed only in shadow,      where darkness rules and evil incarnate thrives. You hope against hope that in your lifetime,      evil is relegated to the shadows.               But what if it wasn't? What if you lived in a universe where your life was measured only      by what you could do for the Empire?      What would you do to survive?      Would you sell your soul to free yourself?      If you were offered the chance to rule, would you seize it?      If you could free your universe from the darkness but only           at the cost of your life, would you pay that price? Age of the Empress (Star Trek: Enterprise)           Set in 2155. The story follows on directly from the end of In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II.              She seized power in a heartbeat, daring to place herself against all the overlords of the Empire. Empress Hoshi Sato knows the future that could be; now all she has to do is make sure it never happens. For her to rule, she must hold sway not only over the starship from the future but also over her warlords, the resistance, and her Andorian husband. As quickly and brutally as Hoshi seized power, imperial rule is taken from her. Her only chance to rule again is to ally herself with a lifelong foe, and an alien. The Sorrows Of Empire (Star Trek: The Original Series)           Set in 2267-2295              One man can change the future, but does he dare? Spock, intrigued by the vision of another universe's Federation, does what no Vulcan, no emperor, has ever done: seize power in one blinding stroke of mass murder. And at the same instant he gains imperial power, Spock sows the seeds for the Empire's downfall. Is this a form of Vulcan madness, or is it the coolly logical plan of a man who knows the price his universe must pay for its freedom? Sdlrow Htob Fo Tsrow Eht (The Worst of Both Worlds)           (Star Trek: The Next Generation) Set in September, 2371              Humanity is a pitiful collection of enslaved, indentured, and abused peoples. No one dares to question the order, except at peril of their lives. One man survives by blinding himself to the misery around him. However, Jean-Luc Picard resists, just once. And in that one instant he unlocks a horror beyond the tyranny of the Alliance. Can a man so beaten down by a lifetime of oppression stop the destruction?

    Featuring the iconic heroes of the Star Trek universe -- the legendary characters who were the inspiration for all those who followed -- this treasure trove of untold tales recreates all the sense of adventure that marked the original Star Trek when it first burst on to our television screens in 1966. Each story takes as its inspiration an element of 'unfinished business' from the original series so that they read like 'lost episodes' of the television show, exploring aspects of the Star Trek crew and their adventures which have intrigued Trekkers ever since the original series ended. The result is a magnificent tribute to the series that changed the face of television history and will have millions of fans worldwide feeling as though they have just discovered a whole 'missing' season of their favourite show.

    Here you can read a fresh and original take on Captain Benjamin Sisko's role on Deep Space Nine, Captain Kathryn Janeway's homeward journey with the crew of the Starship Voyager, Captain Archer's encounters with the Xindi -- and many more ports of call along the way.Strange New Worlds 9 includes stories from all five Star Trek incarnations:Star Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Voyagerand Star Trek: EnterpriseThis year’s contributors include John Coffren, David DeLee, Steven Costa, Jeremy Yoder, Paul C. Tseng, Jim Johnson, Scott Pearson, Jeff D. Jaques, Emily P. Bloch, Gerri Leen, Mike McDevitt, Ryan M. Williams, Susan S. McCrackin, Russ Crossley, Catherine E. Pike, Allison Cain, A. Rhea King, Ben Guilfoy, Randy Tatano, Kenneth E. Carper, Kevin Lauderdale, Marc Carson, R. S. Belcher.

    Worlds that believe in magic consider it Darkness's mightiest talisman; and worlds of science consider it a lost artifact of some ancient and forgotten race. Some say the Heart enables its possessor to control people's minds and to amass wealth enough for a dozen lifetimes, while others think it capable of raising the dead, perhaps even changing the flow of time itself. But to all, the location of this fabled object has remained a mystery, until now. An isolated archaeological outpost has suddenly stopped responding to repeated requests for information. Sent to discover why, the "U.S.S. Enterprise" TM crew finds a devastated outpost and a dying scientist, whose last words fall on disbelieving ears: the Devil's Heart has been found. As the quest for the Heart unfolds, Captain Jean-Luc Picard discovers that beyond all the legends and age-old secrets lies an awful truth: whoever holds the Devil's Heart possesses power beyond imagining.

    Enterprise NCC-1701-B and the mysterious disappearance of Captain James T. Kirk. Then, seventy-eight years later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D receives a distress call from a remote scientific observatory.Picard learns that a newly developed superweapon has been stolen by a desperate scientist with an insane plot. Facing the most difficult task of his career, Captain Picard must seek out the one person with the power to help him, a person long thought dead: Captain James T. Kirk.Together, the two captains are tested as they've never been before. And both men are forced to make the greatest sacrifices of their careers to save countless millions from a madman with a plan for mass destruction.

    With the Dominion War behind them, the crew of the U.S.S. Defiant journeys through the wormhole as Commander Elias Vaughn leads a "corps of discovery" to blaze new trails into the unexplored reaches of the Gamma Quadrant. THE TIME HAS COME ...for a civilization to reach a crossroads. As political forces throughout the Alpha Quadrant intersect at Deep Space 9(TM) to determine the future of Bajor, the planet's theological unity threatens to shatter. And for Colonel Kira Nerys, the path of the Prophets may become a road to ruin."THE TIME HAS COME..."for a father and daughter to confront their past while a mother and son fight for the future, for lovers to be tested and for friendships to transform, and for worlds on opposite ends of the galaxy to face the dusk...or the dawn.TWILIGHT

    Enterprise is en route to Cygnus IV, home of the technologically illiterate Bandi and their mysteriously advanced Farpoint Station. After adding to its crew complement from Deneb IV they are harassed and prosecuted by an omnipotent being named Q, who claims that humanity has not progressed beyond barbarism. Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise must defend themselves by solving the mystery of Farpoint Station in a manner satisfactory to their newest judge and nemesis.

    Now de Lancie and Peter David, the bestselling author of such acclaimed novels as Q-in-Law and Q-Squared, have joined forces to send Q on an unforgettable cosmic odyssey, told from the mischievous trickster's own unique point of view. The Maelstrom, a metaphysical whirlpool of apocalyptic proportions, is pulling all of reality into its maw, devouring the totality of time and space while bringing together people and places from throughout the universe. The Q Continuum pronounces that the end of everything has come, but Q refuses to meekly accept the end of all he has known. Defying the judgment of the Continuum, he sets out to derail doomsday—at whatever the cost. Q has been everywhere and done everything, but now he's in for a cosmic thrill ride beyond even his own astonishingly unlimited imagination. Old friends and adversaries wait in unexpected places, transcendent hazards abound, and the multiverse's most unlikely savior encounters wonders and dangers enough to render Q himself speechless. Almost. Can even Q, reluctantly assisted by Jean Luc Picard, prevent the Universe as We Know It from literally going down the drain? I, Q is a wild and witty voyage through the secret soul of creation—as only Q can tell it!

    Each of these unforgettable stories explores the past and future of Star Trek from many different perspectives. This year's contributors include Kevin Lauderdale, Kevin Killiany, Christian Grainger, Paul J. Kaplan, Muri McCage, Pat Detmer, Gerri Leen, Julie Hyzy, Kelly Cairo, John Coffren, Scott Pearson, Jeff D. Jacques, Jim Johnson, Anne E. Clements, Russ Crossley, Susan S. McCrackin, Catherine E. Pike, G. Wood, Annie Reed, Louisa M. Swann, Brett Hudgins, Amy Sisson, and Frederick Kim.

    But the stakes are higher than anyone imagines, for the pull of destiny tugs at other souls who are swept into the vortex of the Prophets, remote and timeless beings who have set these events in motion. Yet the outcome of this struggle for the fate of one universe will ripple across many others, giving shape to a future that will prove to be greatest trial yet for the heroes of station Deep Space 9.

    His name has gone down in legend as the captain of the U.S.S. Stargazer and two starships Enterprise. But the nine years of his life leading up to the inaugural mission of the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM to Farpoint Station have remained a mystery -- until now, as Picard's lost era is finally unearthed. Following the loss of the Stargazer and the brutal court-martial that resulted, Picard no longer sees a future for himself in Starfleet. Turning to his other love, archaeology, he embarks on a quest to rediscover a buried age of ancient galactic history...and awakens a living survivor of that era: a striking, mysterious woman frozen in time since before the rise of Earth's dinosaurs. But this powerful immortal has a secret of cataclysmic proportions, and her plans will take Picard -- aided along the way by a brilliant but naive android, an insightful Betazoid, and an enigmatic El-Aurian -- to the heights of passion, the depths of betrayal, and the farthest reaches of explored space.

    Captain Sisko finds himself in Harlem in the 1950s, where he is Benny Russell, a science fiction writer, who copes with racism by writing of DS-9 and its Black captain.

    Captain Ransom atones for his sins. T'Pol pursues a composer, after she is captivated by the human's music. Strands of DNA are woven together from four Starfleet captains, creating one man with one mission. An entity fights for its right to live, despite the fact that it is not alive. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, all of these stories are embraced by the vision of Star Trek®. When Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, he also tapped a wellspring of human imagination. Viewers were transformed into fans, who embraced the show and turned the definition of "fan" on its ear. However, when what was on the screen was simply not enough, fans started writing their own stories, which they then shared among friends and family. Ten years ago, Pocket Books offered Star Trek fans a unique opportunity to become a part of the Star Trek mythos. A contest was created in which the best stories submitted by nonprofessional writers would be published. And over the course of a decade, hundreds of pounds of submissions poured in. Many of the writers who submitted to Strange New Worlds went on to become professional writers. This time there are nineteen writers: Rigel Ailur, David DeLee, M.C. DeMarco, Rick Dickson, Louis E. Doggett, Aimee Ford Foster, Edgar Governo, Robyn Sullivent Gries, Jim Johnson, Gerri Leen, Muri McCage, Brian Seidman, Randy Tatano, Paul C. Tseng, Rob Vagle, Laura Ware, Carolyn Winifred, Jerry M. Wolfe, and Jeremy Yoder. We welcome them to the book that is by the fans, for the fans.

    Cogley, a cranky old man who prefers books to padds and people to computers. Now, once again, it's SAM COGLEY FOR THE DEFENSE!The planet Aneher II sits in the middle of the Neutral Zone, and neither the Klingon™ Empire nor the Federation can claim it. Under the terms of the Organian Peace Treaty, any such contested colony world will go to the party -- Federation or Klingon -- which shows it can best develop the planet.At first the two colonies live in peace, but it's a fragile peace, one shattered when Administrator Daniel Latham, the head of the Federation colony, is found murdered, and Commander Mak'Tor, the head of the Klingon colony, is found crouched over Latham's body, discharged phaser still hot in his hand.When Lieutenant Areel Shaw of Starfleet is assigned to prosecute Mak'Tor, Sam Cogley volunteers to defend the accused Klingon. But when Cogley's own investigation provides the prosecution with its key piece of evidence and his courtroom tactics unexpectedly backfire, can even the galaxy's most brilliant defense attorney win the day in...The Case of the Colonist's Corpse