Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cold Equations: The
Persistence of Memory by David Alan Mack (2012)
I have read a number of Star Trek novels as you can see by
looking through this blog and by the lists on the right side of the page. Most of them have been very good
incorporating characters that I know and introducing new characters, but this
one has been a very unique reading experience for me in the main character, or
at least what I would think of as the main character was written in the first person.
Persistence of Memory is broken into three parts with the
first and third parts taking place a little over four years after the events of
Star Trek: Nemesis; while the second part spans seventeen years following events
that took place on TNG 3rd season episode “Brothers.” The third part of the book brings story lines
from the first part of the book together.
Geordi LaForge is contacted and asked to come to the Daystom
Annex on Galore IV by Dr. Bruce Maddox to assist with the discovered Soong type
android B4 (Nemesis). One might recall that
Maddox appeared in the TNG episode “Measure of a Man” in which he attempted to
requisition Data from the Enterprise
to be studied so Maddox could try to duplicate Soong’s work. At any rate, B4 was in danger of a fatal
cascade failure of his positronic net which would result in the loss of not
only B4, but the memories that Data had uploaded into B4 before his demise in
Nemesis.
As the Enterprise
arrives at Galore, Maddox’s lab, where B4 and other Soong type androids are
being kept for study, is broken into and the androids are taken. Worf leads an away team to investigate the break
in and a mysterious character is chased through the streets and underground
passages of Galore, but this person escapes.
Knowing that the androids must still be on Galore, Picard blockades the
planet to prevent an escape while the investigation continues.
The outcomes of the investigation are fruitless, so Picard
lifts the blockade and soon a mysterious ship leaves Galore and rendezvous with
a Breen vessel, and transfers the androids to the Breen. Picard decides to follow the Breen to see
what they are up to and what they plan to do with the androids. And so ends part one of this tale.
Part two begins with the death of Noonien Soong, as depicted
in the TNG Episode Brothers mentioned earlier.
While the episode ended with Soong sending Data back to the ship, we
assume from the end of the television episode that after Data departs from
Soong, he dies alone in his laboratory.
However this is not the case, as according to the David Mack, Soong
drags himself into another lab underneath the dwelling that Soong lives in and
promptly transfers his consciousness into an android body with abilities that
were extraordinary, even by Soong standards we previously were aware of.
In part two of the novel, we get a narrative of the
activities of Soong in his new android body over the next seventeen years. He spends his time amassing vast wealth and
working on a way to win back his one and only love; that being his former wife,
Juliana. Soon manages, with the help of
his ship’s artificial intelligent computer, to keep track of any and all news
that pertains to Data, Lore, and Juliana.
He learns of how Lore is finally deactivated by Data, how Juliana dies
and is brought back to “life” by Emil Vaslovik (who turns out to be Flint from
the TOS episode “Requiem for Mathusala), and of the discovery of B4 and the
death of Data.
In part three, everything comes together as the Breen are
found to be attempting to make thousands of Soong type androids to act as
cannon fodder as part of their plan to become the dominant power in the Alpha
Quadrant.
Soong makes the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the story
as his focus shifts from reuniting with Juliana to saving “his boys.”
I found this story unique among the ones I have read so far
because David Mack displays a very detailed knowledge of the Star Trek world
and is clever enough to bring elements of many various stories together to make
one hell of a good story. His writing
made vivid pictures in my mind as I read the story and I could hear the voices
of the characters as I turned the pages.
I gained an appreciation of Noonien Soong as he grew from an old frail
man, to a self-serving android, and finally discovering what really mattered to
him in the end, and what he was willing to let go of. The best part for me was how Mack took
characters that appeared as guest stars in the series and gave them life, not
to mention giving life to new character we hadn’t seen before.
This is a work of genius for fans of Star Trek and I would
recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a good read.
Well, there it is
Q’aplaH!
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