Star Trek: The Fall: The Poisoned Chalice by James Swallow
In this, the fourth in the five part series, there are so
many tangled webs and loose threads.
Thus far, all of the novels in The Fall series have events that have
taken place almost at the same time as events in the previous three
installments, in other words, this is another face of a multi-faceted gem.
So far, here are some of the things we know; President Bacco
of the Federation was assassinated apparently by a Bajoran, however Tzenkethi
DNA was found at the scene and the Bajoran accused was found to be innocent of
the crime. It was then widely believe
that the Typhon Pact was at the bottom of the plot to destabilize the
Federation and become the premier power in the quadrant. In the meantime, the Typhon Pact is on a
recruiting campaign to convince Andor to become a member, but Andor is in the
midst of a crisis that is threatening to wipe their race out of existence. Enter Julian Bashier, who through the means
of some clandestine and illegal maneuvering, manages to find a solution to the
Andorian problem. At the same time, on
Cardassia, Elim Garak has become the head of the government and the empire is
beginning to heal following the Dominion war that left the planet in shambles
with the help of the Federation.
However, all is not well on Cardassia when one considers a there exists
a xenophobic faction called The True Way.
Poisoned Chalice
has three main plots:
Riker, in command of
the USS Titan, is recalled to Earth
by Admiral Leonard James Akaar, the commander of Starfleet. Immediately upon arrival, Riker id promoted
to admiral and charged with the mission to get answers on problems within the
Federation leadership. Riker’s
investigation leads him to the very office of the President Pro Tem of the
Federation, Ishan Anjar. While he has
suspicions, he is ultimately unable to get any solid evidence. Velk, the Tellarite aid to Ishan seems to be
pulling all of the strings while Ishan campaigns to be duly elected to the
Federations highest office.
Riker’s first officer aboard the Titan is re-assigned to command her own ship, however
temporarily. She is ordered by Riker to
track down Julian Bashier. It is known
that Bashier has been incarcerated, but it is not known exactly where he
is. He is due to stand trial for committing
espionage and treason against the Federation for his role in finding the cure
to the Andorian inability to reproduce.
Julian is being held on a more or
less secret facility and is being allowed no contact. He is also under the threat that if he talks
to anyone about what he knows is going on in the Federation, those that helped
him secure the meta-genome to help the Andorians will suffer because of him.
Through a series of Clandestine orders, Tuvok, Titan’s Tactical Officer is sent on a
mission to track down the Tzenkethi that are thought to be responsible for
Bacco’s assassination. He finds himself
aboard the Snipe, a ship that appears
to be a rundown transport that actually is a state of the art combat ship. He meets up with Tom Riker and Lt. Commander
Nog and several other mercenaries and wind up on a wild goose chase that finds
them at odds with Klingons. They
eventually find the actual assassin, but are thwarted in their attempt to bring
that person to justice.
In James Swallow’s segment of The Fall saga, there is everything that one could want from a Trek
novel, and more. We have space battles,
heroic characters who are willing to stretch the limits of orders to do what is
right, some very dodgy characters who are willing to sacrifice everything for
their grab at power, and a story that spans the galaxy.
Will Riker, Tuvok, Nog, and Deanna Troi all behave as one would
expect them to behave. Riker, while
reluctant to accept promotion, does so because he is ordered to and it is his
duty. Throw into the mix the non-canon
characters that those of us who enjoy the novels love to see and we get a fine
story that answers many questions while at the same time raising more.
The action, once again ramps up in Poisoned Chalice and I
highly recommend reading all of the books in this series, as it starts out
quietly and continually crescendos to the final installment, just released from
Dayton Ward, Peaceable Kingdoms.
Well, there it is…
QaplaH’!
