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?

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

    His holographic excursions into 1940s San Francisco, a colorful world of gunplay and gangsters, provide a welcome diversion from his hefty responsibilities as a Starfleet captain.But not this time.The starship Enterprise has lost power and control, its own momentum carrying it ever deeper into a dangerous zone of warped space and time. And the only way out is hidden somewhere in the mean streets and back alleys of old Frisco. But so is a cold-blooded murderer…Now Dixon Hill, alias Jean-Luc Picard, must get to the bottom of a tangled mystery that threatens the lives of everyone aboard the Enterprise!