The Deep Space Nine
episode, In the Pale Moonlight (Season 6, Episode 19), Captain Benjamin
Sisko mentions several happenings during the Dominion War, including the fall
of Betazed. As far as the television episodes are concerned, the reference in Pale
Moonlight is all we get on what had happened to the home world of Deanna
Troi.
In The Battle of Betazed,
authors Charlotte Douglas and Susan Kearney, tell the tale of the liberation of
the planet under siege by Cardassian and Dominion forces. I love when a
reference in the television episodes is picked up by authors and fleshed out in
a book. Here, readers are treated to a TNG story with a lot of
characters we know while introducing new characters we see for the first time.
It is also fun to see familiar characters perform when they are forced out of
their comfort zones, which is the case in this story.
I found Battle securely
seated in the Star Trek universe. As I read, the story unfolded, as one
might expect, with some fascinating twists along the way. It is an entertaining
story from the start and the action doesn't let up until the end. It is well
worth the time to read.
The Battle of Betazed is told with stories from three points
of view. First are the happenings on the planet Betazed itself, focusing on
Lwaxana Troi and a group of refugees/resistance fighters who struggle for
survival. Next, on the planet Darona (the 6th planet in the Betazed system)
lives a mass-murderer who can kill with his thoughts. Finally, Cardassian
scientist Crell Moset conducts research on Sentok-Nor, a space station
in orbit around the planet Betazed.
Betazed is occupied by fifty
thousand Jem'Hadar troops who oppress the population. They are brutal in their
administration of the population. With the planet blockaded, food and medicine
supplies are becoming less by the day. Lwaxana Troi is the leader of a group of
refugees who have taken shelter in a cave undetectable to the Jem'Hadar.
Children are falling victim to Rigelian Fever because of a shortage of the drug
Reytalyn. In a desperate attempt, a messenger is sent to ask for help from the
Federation. The messenger is killed, but the message is received. The USS Enterprise
is charged with the mission of liberating Betazed.
Hent Tevren is serving a life
sentence in a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane on Darona. With
the help of Commander Vaughn, Deanna Troi is charged with breaking Tevren out
of the prison and taken to Betazed to teach other telepaths how to use his
malevolent psionic talent for murder against the Jem'Hadar. Deanna worries how
doing this will forever change the people of her planet from the nonviolent
race they are.
Nor class space station, Sentok-Nor,
orbits the planet Betazed. Commanding officer Gul Lemec does his best to
maintain and support the occupation of the planet. He is also constantly
clashing with Dr. Moset, a scientist who found the cure for a deadly disease.
He is considered a monster by the people of Bajor for killing their people to
find that cure. Only he really understands what the nature of his research is,
but considering his history, the cost will be astronomically high.
These three story threads weave
together into a tapestry that is very satisfying and will be appreciated by Trek
afficionados.
Most of the characters in this
story behave as one might expect. The authors do a fine job capturing the
nuances of Picard, Riker, and the rest. The most notable changes are Deanna
Troi and her mother Lwaxana. Deanna has been raised to reject violence to solve
problems. When the existence of her people is threatened, she has to accept
that meeting violence with violence is the only way to save the society on her
home planet. There comes a point in the story where she must take command and
make decisions contrary to her nature as a Betazoid. She is forced to set aside
her principals to achieve her goal which takes as much courage as it does to
carry out acts of necessary violence against a foe whose very nature is
violence. Deanna is well written, and readers should find her character dynamic
and compelling.
When we see Lwaxana in the
television series, she is mostly something of a free spirit full of joviality.
It is fun watching her pick on Picard, chase after her next husband, and
interact with characters that may find her a little hard charging. But in this
story, she is also forced to step out of character and become a leader.
According to the authors, she is emaciated because of the food shortage and
worry. She is also forced into making distasteful decisions to ensure the
survival of her people, but she accepts the task. Gone is the joviality we are
used to, but only for a while.
Two of the principal
antagonists of Battle are Dr. Moset and Tevren.
In the Voyager episode, Nothing
Human (Season 5, Episode 8), the Doctor calls on a holographic
representation of a Cardassian doctor who is notorious for infecting thousands
of Bajoran citizens with a disease to find the cure for the same disease for
his own people. On the space station Sentok-Nor, Moset, considered a
hero by the Cardassians, is conducting research for the Dominion. In the mind
of this megalomaniacal doctor, nothing matters but his research. Anyone who
dies under his watch is nothing more than a means to an end. He doesn't see
himself as evil, which makes matters even worse. He believes he is justified no
matter who is hurt.
Deanna encounters Tevren early
in her career as a psychologist as an intern to the maximum-security facility
on Darona. During that time, she found him to be evasive and condescending.
Later, when she has to encounter him again, she learns just how irredeemable he
is. Through most of the book, he is only referred to by name and why he is
needed to help liberate Betazed. What Deanna doesn't know is just how deeply
she will be affected by being in proximity to this person.
The predominant theme in Battle
of Betazed I found was how people may have to step away from the things
they believe in to achieve a goal, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. With
this story, the people of Betazed, a normally peaceful people opposed to the
taking of life, find they may have to kill the Jem'Hadar soldiers just to
survive. The Jem'Hadar are genetically engineered to take life without thought
or remorse. The Betazoid people are left with little choice if they want to
remain a coherent society. While they seem willing to do this, they also wonder
what the consequences may be once the crisis is averted.
As I read this book, I had a
feeling I had read some of this before. I knew I had never read this particular
story before, even so, I knew some of what I was reading was related to
something I had read in the past. What I found was I read a story with a
similar flavor from Keith DeCandido. In the collection Tales of the Dominion
War, there is a short story penned by Keith titled The Ceremony of
Innocence is Drowned featuring several of the same characters in The
Battle of Betazed.
At any rate, I deeply enjoyed
this book and recommend it for readers who enjoy Trek lore and are
looking for something they may have overlooked. It is a well-written roller
coaster ride resolving a question posed in the Deep Space Nine
television series. The characters we do not know are well developed and we
understand their motivations for being involved. The three elements of the
story are woven together and come to a fine conclusion with a plot twist I
found unexpected.
Five stars for The Battle of
Betazed!
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
No comments:
Post a Comment