Star Trek: The Fall: A Ceremony Of Losses by David Mack
One of the founding worlds of the Federation, Andor, has a
major problem; they are unable to have children and their race will become
extinct in a century unless a solution is found. Normally, they would be able to call on the
Federation for help, but they have given up their membership in the
federation. The Typhon Pact sees an
opportunity to bring Andor into their fold, thus adding a powerful ally to
their group. The Tholians have
information needed to find a solution to the Andorian problem, but will only
share parts of it. The Federation also
has what is needed to find the cure, but since Andor is no longer a member, the
successor to President Bacco, President Pro Tem Ishan is playing a political
game in an attempt to get himself elected to the highest civilian position in
the Federation.
Former Starfleet officer Thirshar (Shar) ch’Thane sees the
problem and sends a message for help to Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashier on
the new Deep Space 9 station. Julian
cannot morally and ethically refuse a call for medical help. The key to the cure for the Andorian problem
lies in a highly classified Meta-Genome.
Julian tries to go through proper channels to secure information on the
meta-genome, but is refused. This leads
him down a path that could cost him his rank, his career, and if he’s not
careful, his very life.
Julian recruits Serena Douglas, a DS-9 security officer as
well as Section 31 operative to secure the meta-genome information. Next, Julian recruits six prominent experts
on genetics, four of which answer his call and help attempt to discover the cure. Once a cure is found, Julian has the task of
delivering it to Andor. With the help of
Ezri Dax, he just might be successful.
This series of books, The Fall, so far has chronicled a great
deal of political maneuvering and A Ceremony of Losses is no exception, but in
this installment, the action ramps up to a dizzying pace with conflicts between
allies and enemies alike. David Mack
writes a well-paced story that starts out slowly and gradually crescendos to a resolution
that has the characters throwing in all the chips to achieve their goals.
Anyone who knows Julian Bashier from the DS-9 television
series knows that he was never afraid to stand up to his commanders to do what
is right according to the oath he swore to aid those in need, whatever the
cost. Mack paints a picture that makes
Julian heroic in his desire to do what is right, thus inspiring others to do
the same. Ezri Dax, who was never a
particularly strong character in the television series, has obviously grown up
and throws in with Julian. She struggles
for a time in making her decision between following orders that come from the
highest echelons in Starfleet and what she knows is the right thing to do, but
in the end, she sees what must be done and does it without hesitation.
The story is open ended and while the resolution for the
Andorians is clear, what happens to our major characters is not, and this
serves to make me eager to read the final two installments of The Fall.
The events of this story happen almost concurrently with the
first two books in the series and the three together show an Alpha Quadrant in
the throes of clandestine conflict.
Interesting characters mixed with an interesting story by
David Mack make a book that I recommend on the highest level to Trek fans.
Well, there it is…
QaplaH’!
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