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Ship of the Line (Star Trek: The Next Generation) Kindle Edition
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPocket Books/Star Trek
- Publication dateAugust 1, 2000
- File size2046 KB
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Publisher
The Starship Enterprise 1701-D has been destroyed, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard finds himself without a command. While waiting for his new ship, Captain Picard has gone with Lieutenant Worf on a delicate diplomatic mission to the Cardassian Empire.
As Picard conducts high-level negotiations for the return of Federation prisoners of war, the Starship Enterprise 1701-E is being constructed under the supervision of Captain Morgan Bateson, a veteran of the twenty-third century who spent nearly ninety years in a pocket universe. Commanding this new Enterprise on what was supposed to be a short shakedown cruise, Captain Bateson has an idea of his own. In defiance of Starfleet Command, he will take Starfleet's newest, strongest starship and strike at the heart of the newly aggressive Klingon Empire.
Captain Picard's negotiations proceed smoothly -- until he discovers that a hate-crazed Klingon commander -- Captain Bateson's archenemy from ninety years ago -- has taken the Enterprise from Bateson and launched a vicious attack on Cardassia Prime. To save the ship and preserve intergalactic peace, Picard must ally himself with his former Cardassian torturer, rely on the legendary skills of one Montgomery Scott, and draw new strength and inspiration from the memory of James T. Kirk...
Ship of the Line reveals an unforgettable lost chapter in the ongoing saga of Star Trek that will thrill readers of every generation.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Year 2278
Bridge of the Klingon Ship SoSoy Toj
"Today, my excellent warriors, our success will be etched on the gravestones of fifty thousand Federation dead. Today, my excellent warriors, you and I will fall upon nothing less than a fully populated and operational starbase."
Space boiled out before their supercharged warship, flickering on the giant forward viewscreen. The stars in the distance were the yellow and pink stars of civilization, orbited by planets bubbling with progress, the most populated sector of the settled galaxy. From this point on, all the space before them would be Federation territory.
And the commander's craggy face flexed with envy.
"Look," he said, moving his crippled hand. "Even their space is better than ours,"
He sounded deeply moved by what he saw.
Was he? Or were his words for the sake of the crew, who had never seen Federation space before?
The navigation panel was particularly warm in this overpowered vessel. A short reach -- the sensor grid controls also were throbbing.
Or perhaps I am the one who is too warm.
"Gaylon, look and appreciate what should have been ours."
"Yes, sir," Gaylon answered. Still perplexed then, he stole a moment to turn and look at Kozara, "Sir, how is their space better?"
"Look at it. A thousand luminaries displayed for the naked eye. Tails and sweeps and trunks, nebulae and storms, sparkling anomalies and ore-rich planetary clusters...they have everything. And took where we must live."
Gaylon peered at the distant suns, the nebulae, and tried to see what Kozara saw, but in truth the space before them looked like any other space he had ever seen in his career.
"We live where we have always lived," he pointed out, minding his tone. "The Federation took nothing from the Klingons. We live where we evolved, sir, I thought."
"Yes, but the Federation plots to keep us there, Gaylon. Never forget. Now...order the crew to begin scans. See if our plan is working...if we can move forward."
Gaylon nodded and threw a gesture to the sensor officer and the two crew members at the warship's complex helm.
No Klingon had ever piloted a ship like this one before. This was a refitted heavy cruiser, one of the old-style Klingon fighting vessels. Very old, very strong, thick, ready to fend off bolts of disruption from the earliest days of conflict with the Federation, in the days before modem shielding and advanced tracking sensors. Gaylon found himself envious of the helmsman and the navigator, the sensor officer and the tactical specialists here on the bridge. Of all here, he and the commander were the only crew who had no panel to man.
And he wished to touch this ship, to work it. There was something to be said for a lower rank.
The commander gazed at the open slate of Federation space and upon it, apparently, he saw etched his future.
"My new son will have a famous father," he murmured as Gaylon and the other bridge officers watched. "He will be Zaidan, son of Kozara, destroyer of an entire starbase, victorious disruptor of an entire sector...and all will bow before him."
Gaylon clamped his mouth shut. What was the point of speaking? Kozara was looking at glory and there was no turning his eye.
"This, warriors, is the culmination of months of preparation and plot," Kozara continued, not really speaking to any of them. "Starbase 12 is one of the Federation's longest established starbases. For months we have introduced operatives -- spies -- into the workings of the starbase. Our operatives have fulfilled their purpose now and have evacuated the station. Because of that work, Starbase 12 is experiencing a power shutdown. They are running on emergency power only, meaning...they have no weapons. Gaylon, inform the crew of the second stage of events."
"Yes, commander." Gaylon shook himself from his surprise -- he hadn't understood that his commander had shifted from hopeful reverie to an address of the bridge crew.
In any case, he turned to the other officers and struggled to gather his thoughts and speak.
"We have allowed it to leak out that there will be a border dispute in the Federation's Benecia sector, approximately two hours at maximum warp from this point and six hours from Starbase 12. Now all Federation Starfleet vessels in the sector are on their way to the Benecia border of the Neutral Zone, assuming battle is coming with the Klingon fleet. Our fleet is there, yes, but with no plans to cross the Neutral Zone. Their purpose is only to make sure the Starfleet commanders think there will be trouble."
"And stay there long enough for us to cut across the Typhon Expanse and decimate a great structure," Kozara filled in with relish. His eerie green eyes sparkled. "Even the Enterprise will be drawn away. And the night sky over Starbase 12 will be ours to light."
Kozara was not old, yet he was deeply experienced, and still over the years of service glory had escaped him. Most of his crew were somewhat disappointed with their assignment with him. Gaylon would not go so far as pity, but there was an awareness among the crew that their commander greatly needed a victory. And such as this -- monumental!
An entire starbase! In its place would be scattered bits of flotsam and shredded bodies forever in orbit, a bizarre museum of this day's conquest. And forever the Klingon Empire would be taken seriously by the Federation. The names of Kozara, Gaylon, and every member of this crew would be elevated in the imperial hierarchy.
Some of the commander's hunger infected Gaylon as he stood here only steps from Kozara. The ship was old, large, and powerful, and the bridge strictly utilitarian, most of the positions barely leaving room for elbows to move freely. Whoever designed this ship knew what ships were for, and that there was little sensible need for space in space.
Gaylon's thoughts were driven out as Kozara suddenly came to his feet, lifting his war-injured left hand as if it were a torch.
"Across the Neutral Zone!" he declared. "We have fifty thousand to kill, a starbase to shatter, and my son's legacy to ignite! Helm, plot a course across the Federation Neutral Zone. Enter the Typhon Expanse!"
Copyright © 1997 by Paramount Pictures
From AudioFile
Product details
- ASIN : B000FC0U8U
- Publisher : Pocket Books/Star Trek (August 1, 2000)
- Publication date : August 1, 2000
- Language : English
- File size : 2046 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 320 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #58,351 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #44 in Star Trek Series
- #634 in First Contact Science Fiction eBooks
- #760 in Science Fiction Adventure
- Customer Reviews:
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Diane Carey has crafted a wonderful story that picks up on some threads from TNG's run and sets up Star Trek: First Contact quite well. Most characters read just the way they come across on the screen. The action is tight and flows smoothly. Being able to explore a crew from 80 years in the past catching up to the 24th century was entertaining, and watching how they integrate with the TNG crew provided several memorable moments.
The only real negatives for me was that more than a few times Riker and Picard were written in such a way that Riker came across as immature and childish when things don't go his way, and Picard's self doubt is fixed almost too easily with one program on the holodeck.
All in all it is an enjoyable read and worth the time to put into it.
Author details this in a beliveable fashion, for I never swallowed folks just 'Time Traveling' without consequences.
Story also alternates between Capt.Picard and the transition time his crew & him faced after their 'USS Enterprise-D' crashed.
Pro: Story picks up when Capt.Picard is informed by StarFleet of a new undercover assignment given to him. He is told that Capt.Bateson will be handling the 'maiden voyage'[test run] of a NEW 'Enterprise-E' with both 'Bozeman' and 'Enterprise-D' crew working together. Also on board is an 'Enterprise-A' character. Seems strange, but the author in a clever way explains why the assignment was coordinated this way by StarFleet.
Pro: Capt.Bateson & his crew have personality conflicts working with Picards' crew on the 'Enterprise-E'. The 'test run' soon turns into an adventure. Capt.Bateson,-like Capt.Kirk, also has a re-occuring villain antagonist.
Con: Author handles Capt.Picards' undercover assignment at a snails' pace.
Pro: Story heads into high adventure with the 'Enterprise-E'. There are also humourous bits with the USS Bozemans' mascot.
[their ships' adopted pet]
Picard eventually gets to his destination and runs into his OWN villain [of which ST:NextGen fans will recognize]and the captain soon has his work cut-out for him.
I liked the novel, it was a fun read. I wish there was a Capt.Morgan Bateson series.
Top reviews from other countries
A must-read for fans of Next Gen, it fills the gap of what happens to the Enterprise crew between ST: Generations and ST:First Contact, and how they were eventually assigned to the Enterprise-E. Well worth a read.
90-Years out of time, thrust into the 24th Century between the events of the Films "Generations" & "First Contact". Its an interesting read.
Captain Batesman is a man very much set in his ways from the 23rd Century, no wonder he takes a clearly mocking view of how Picard & Riker conduct themselves in the 24th.
Fish out of water indeed.
This was a good Story that bridged the gaps between the well known TNG-Era Films of the 90's that I grew up with.
It gave us a clever insight into how Jean-Luc became the Captain of The Enterprise-E, of course its never as simple as we all thought initially.
Nice addition to my Kindle Collection of Star Trek Novels.
While it was certainly interesting to witness the chain of events that led to Bateson and the 'Bozeman' arriving in the present (as witnessed in "Cause and Effect"), and the crew of the 'Bozeman' are given a fair amount of character development, later plot elements felt somewhat rushed.
There are some fascinating conversations between Picard and a holographic recreation of Kirk that help Picard define for himself what it means to be the captain of an 'Enterprise', and the addition of Scotty is a nice touch, but Bateson aside, the crew of the 'Bozeman' are comparatively under-developed, particularly when we receive multiple hints of a traitor in their midst who is never identified by anyone despite the potential for them to be a threat in future. Picard's mission to Cardassia also feels rushed, as though Carey wanted to simply get Picard into the thick of the action without thinking too much about the journey, and while Bateson's final confrontation with his old Klingon nemesis has some interesting personal twists, I'm still left feeling slightly cheated where the plot was concerned as so many potentially dramatic ideas are under-developed.