Star Trek: Section 31: Control by David Mack - Scary Orwellian Star Trek Fiction, Or Is It Fiction?

Star Trek: Section 31: Control by David Mack

Fans of Deep Space 9 know all about the relationship between the clandestine organization called Section 31 and the relationship it has with Dr. Julian Bashir. During the television series, it was not good and in the books, it has only grown worse as time goes on. Well, due to some shady business that Bashir got himself into while working to save the Andorian race, he finds himself defrocked, demoted, and disavowed by Starfleet, but he still has one goal, to once and for all bring Section 31 down and expose all of it’s illegal and immoral activities for all to see.

Control opens with Bashir, beaten and battered, trying to insert a chip into a console at Memory Alpha for as yet some unknown reason. What follows is an incredibly fast paced story that is so Orwellian in nature that it can be quite disturbing if one thinks about it too long.

In April of 2141, Dr. Aaron Ikerson introduces his invention that he calls Uraei, a computer program that is designed to monitor and record activity; everyone’s activity. It does this by inserting itself into devices that have become part of everyday life in homes, on starships, or anywhere it happens to touch. The purpose of Uraei is to ensure the safety of the people by watching activity and making analyses of the activity to determine a threat level. It isn’t designed to take any action, but as time goes on Uraei becomes more and more intelligent and begins making decisions that include some very bad things.

In the meantime, Bashir, Sarina Douglas and a reporter are on the run from Section 31. They meet up with Data and Lal who agree to help them in their fight to stop the clandestine agency from continuing their own terrible activities. The story winds through several locations, including a meeting with the now leader of the Cardassian Government, Elim Garak. The only problem is that it seems that no matter where they go, or how careful they are to cover their tracks, Section 31 is always a step ahead of Bashir and his group.

Control is one great story, but it is also a very dark and foreboding story, for sure the darkest Trek story I have read or watched since the DS-9 episode “In The Pale Moonlight.” It is not only dark, but it is also quite disturbing as what Mack has composed seems all too plausible given the current technology that we have available. I can only but wonder if there is an Ikerson out there somewhere right now, working on a project to monitor us through the devices we take for granted. Am I paranoid? Perhaps. But read this story and remember that as the imagination of humans reaches into the future with more and more fantastic fictitious ideas, it always seems that reality is just a few steps behind the fiction.

This is a fast-paced story, the action starts with the opening pages and moves at a breakneck pace to the end with almost no time to catch one’s breath between scenes. It is really two stories under one cover and has a sense of futility for the hero, who finds success at the end of his journey, but it comes with a very, very high price. On the surface, Control is just a yarn spun by a great author, but under the surface, he gives a lot to think about and contemplate as technology continues to advance.

At the same time, there is a lot here that any Trekkie will enjoy. There are numerous references to familiar stories that, when I read them, made me smile and remember fondly, but there was also a sense of foreboding as I thought back on the adventures of the past being observed and even influenced by Uraei. I cannot help but admire how cleverly Mack wove his invention so neatly into the stories of the past, going back even before the launching of the Enterprise, or the founding of the Federation for that matter. Simply brilliant!

I give this book my highest recommendations and can honestly say that it is one of the best Star Trek books I have ever read.

Well, there it is…

Qapla!

Star Trek: Legacies: Best Defense (Book 2) By David Mack - Another Outstanding Adventure From David Mack!

Star Trek: Legacies: Best Defense (Book 2) by David Mack

Best Defense is the second of a trilogy of novels set in the original series universe in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. The first book in the series, Captain to Captain was penned by Greg Cox and was reviewed on this blog, you can read that review here. Before I talk about Best Defense, I will briefly recap the events of the previous installment of the series. There be spoilers here, so read on at your own peril.

The USS Enterprise under the command of Robert April visits a planet known as Usildar to the inhabitants. Una, known more commonly to Trekkies as Number One, is charged with learning more about the planet when things go terribly wrong and several members of Una’s landing party are disappeared by an invading force called the Jatohr. Actually, those that have been disappeared have been sent to an alternate universe.

Now, flash forward to Kirk’s Enterprise where Una arrives to pay the ship’s crew a visit, or so it seems. Actually, Una has made it her sole ambition to save the members of the April Enterprise crew and bring them back from the alternate universe. In order to accomplish her task, she first has to obtain an object known as the Transfer Key which has been passed from Enterprise captain to captain over the years, and is kept hidden in the captain’s quarters from all but the ship’s commander and the first officer.

After a chase, Kirk is convinced that Una’s cause is just and allows her to go to the alternate universe to find her lost crewmates, but when Kirk takes the Transfer Key back to the Enterprise, his yeoman, Lisa Bates leaves with the Key and is taken aboard a Romulan vessel, the Velibor.

Picking up where Captain to Captain leaves off, David Mack opens his part of the story by revealing that Lisa Bates is actually Sadira, a human working for the Romulans as an agent for the Tal-Shiar, somewhat like the KGB of the Romulan Empire. She now has the Key and is ready to use it against anyone to complete her mission, which is to make sure the Federation and the Klingons go to war, which would be in violation of the mandates of the Organians (TOS season one, episode 27, “Errand of Mercy”) who tell the two governments that they are to negotiate a peace or be destroyed. It is the wish of the Romulan Empire that they force a fight between the two enemies that will take the Federation and Klingons out of the way, making them the dominant power in the quadrant.

On Centaurus, Ambassador Sarek faces a delegation of Klingons led by Councilor Gorkon (Later to become Chancellor of the High Council) where negotiations are not going anywhere. A little later, Gorkon disappears causing even more uneasiness within the Klingon ranks as they believe that the Federation is responsible for a presumed murder. Both sides call on reinforcements and a Klingon ship along with the Enterprise arrive on the scene and tensions escalate even further.

Meanwhile in the alternate universe, Una finds her crewmates and takes measures to rescue them and make the rendezvous that will take her and them home, but she is unaware of what awaits her as she struggles with the Jatohr to make it on time.

All the while, Kirk not only has to keep the Klingons at bay, but he also has to retrieve the stolen Transfer Key and stop the Romulans from forcing the Orgainians to make good on their promise at mutual annihilation. Then he still has to make it to the rendezvous on Usilde in time to Rescue Una and her band.

Best Defense is a very tangled web that author David Mack unravels with his usual clever writing style that is easy on the mind while keeping the action moving nonstop. From the moment I opened this book, I hated putting it down to get back to reality and found myself picking it up at every possible opportunity to catch as much as I could at every sitting.  At no time did I find myself not engaged in the story that had plenty of banter between characters, mostly on the serious side due to the urgency of the story. After all, the stakes are very high when one remembers that, at the end of the day, the Organians are taking an interest in the outcomes of the negotiations between the two Alpha Quadrant superpowers.

Everyone in the story behaved as expected as far as the familiar characters from the Trek universe are concerned, but there were a few characters included here that I was not previously familiar with. One such example is Joanna McCoy, daughter of Dr. Leonard McCoy, who is, in this story, a real chip off the old block. She is every bit as stubborn and compassionate as her father, and maybe even a little more so. Another character that Mack introduced was Elara, a spy for the Orion Syndicate (who is also very interested in the elimination of the Federation and Klingons). Elara poses as a waitress for the catering service during the peace talks and has bugged every possible area she can to gather information for her handler who is only known as the Red Man.

While I enjoyed every bit of this story, I particularly found myself fascinated with the activity aboard the Romulan ship. I would never have imagined that a human Tal-Shiar officer would be allowed to usurp power outside of the command structure the way that Sadira was able to for much of the story. The tension that Mack wrote into those segments of the story were truly palpable and I found myself wanting more. I found it ironic that I was hoping that the Romulans would put Sadira in her place despite the power that she could wield as a political officer. She had absolutely no respect for the command structure of the ship, which was manned by very capable officers. Further, Sadira had no compassion or concern for the lives of the people onboard the Velibor, as she was willing to sacrifice anything to complete her mission. She is a truly deplorable character and made the rest of the Romulan crew looks like they were from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.  Well written and so well told, that alone was worth the price of the book.

Not all was seriousness though. At one point in the story, Joanna was being held hostage by Elara as she went to make her escape after being found out. While she believed she had the upper hand, Elara asked for some items, including food, water, and a portable toilet. When Engineer Scott delivered the toilet, he told Kirk that it was rigged to deliver a stunning shock to Elara when she sat on it. A booby trapped biffy! My only disappointment was that she never had the opportunity to use it and I was deprived of the opportunity to read the author’s description of that scene; I’m sure it would have been incredible.

I enjoyed this installment of the Legacies series and am looking forward to seeing how the seeds planted in Best Defense are grown in the third and final book in the series. I highly recommend this novel for its nonstop forward movement and smooth transitions between scenes, as well as a magnificently written story.

Well, there it is…

Qaplah!

Edited by Benjamin Arrowood

Star Trek: Section 31: Disavowed By David Mack - Our Man Bashier Returns To The Mirror Universe

Star Trek: Section 31: Disavowed by David Mack (2014)

Following on the novel Rise Like Lions, also by David Mack, I picked up Disavowed mostly because I was interested to see what happened to Dr. Julian Bashier. Bashier was the Chief Medical Officer of Deep Space Nine until he learned of a disease that would have wiped out the Andorian race had he not intervened. Unfortunately, he was forced to obtain knowledge in a rather shady way which resulted in him not only being drummed out of Starfleet, but making him a criminal as far as the Federation was concerned. On the other side of the coin, Bashier was successful in saving the Andorians from becoming extinct, and also made it possible for the Andorians (one of the founding races of the United Federation of Planets) to rejoin the Federation.  As a result, Bashier was granted asylum on Andor where he is revered as a hero, just the opposite of what he would be considered in every other corner of the Federation.

Rise Like Lions sets up the events of Disavowed as much of the latter deals with events that take place in the Alternate Universe.  Briefly, the Terran Rebellion is successful in gaining their freedom from the Alliance thanks to the help of a secret organization calling itself Memory Omega that develops and uses technology that is far superior to anything that can be found in the Alternate Universe. They share some of their technology with the Rebellion, which includes a form of propulsion called the Jaunt Drive which allows ships to create artificial wormholes and travel instantly between points in space.

Now on to Disavowed…

This is unrest among the members of the Typhon Pact, and they are starting to vie for a showdown with the Federation for control of the Alpha Quadrant. One member of the Pact, the Breen, have learned about the Jaunt Drive developed by Memory Omega in the Alternate Universe and find a way to open a wormhole from the Prime Universe into the Alternate Universe with the intention of sending a ship through to steal a ship equipped with the Jaunt Drive, thus hoping to gain the upper hand in their bid for control.

At the same time, Bashier and his significant other are pressed into service by Section 31 to also go to the Alternate Universe to stop the Breen from obtaining the Jaunt Drive technology.

Meanwhile, the Galactic Commonwealth, the organization that grew from the victory by the Terran Rebellion, are entering negotiations with the Dominion to work out a nonaggression pact, however, when Dr. Bashier arrives on the scene, the negotiations are thrown out the window as the Dominion demands that he be handed over to stand trial for causing the death of Odo during Bashier’s first trip to the Alternate Universe in the Deep Space Nine episode “Crossover” (season 2, episode 23). With “Smiley” O’Brien retired, Michael Eddington has taken on the role of the Chairman of the Commonwealth, and refuses to turn Bashier over for trial. The Dominion threatens war.

No matter which way he turns, Bashier would appear to be damned.

With all of the story threads in Disavowed, I honestly would have expected to become disinterested and confused, but not with the well organized writing of David Mack. Mack switches between scenes in a story that unfolds at warp speed, but everything is laid out so well, that it is easy to follow and allowed me to focus on the various stories. But not only does he tell a great story about Bashier, the Breen, the Commonwealth, but he also plants the seeds for other stories to grow out of this one. Be watching for future books involving Bashier and his quest to be the downfall of Section 31.

Mack’s writing style very much appeals to me because he seems to make every chapter a story in miniature; each is a snapshot painting a small picture so that when they are all put together, it is very easy to see the big picture. Only a great writer can do this well, and Mack is, in my opinion, one of the greats.

I was never really a fan of the “Mirror Universe” stories as they were in the television series because they always seemed to be mostly silly and much was overstated as the writers of those episodes (especially in the Deep Space Nine series) tried to overemphasize the differences in many of the characters. To me, the television Mirror Universe characters were more like cartoons of their Prime Universe counterparts. This is one area where David Mack has excelled. The characters from the Alternate Universe are different, but not so much so that they are not recognizable. I appreciate this because it makes them more believable and less like caricatures of their Prime Universe counterparts.

When I announced on Facebook that I was going to read Disavowed, it was recommended to me that I first read A Ceremony Of Losses, From "The Fall" series and then Rise Like Lions to get a good handle on the events leading up to this story. While Disavowed will stand alone as a great story, reading the previous installments will greatly add to a reader's understanding of the back story and just how Julian Bashier has come to the state that is finds himself and how the conflict in the Alternate Universe was resolved and how the political situation in this story came about.

Once again, David Mack has penned a masterpiece of Trek lore that I recommend, especially for fans of DS9 and TNG.

Well, there it is...

Qaplah!

Rise Like Lions - David Mack's Star Trek: Mirror Universe Masterpiece

Star Trek: Mirror Universe: Rise Like Lions by David Mack

One day, while thinking out loud on Facebook, I expressed my intention to read Star Trek: Section 31: Disavowed by David Mack.  It wasn’t long before David came on with a reply to my post with a recommendation that before I read Disavowed, that I should read the books of Star Trek: The Fall series, which I had already done (and have reviewed on this blog) as well as Rise Like Lions. He said that the background from those previous novels would be helpful in understand some of the elements in Disavowed. So, without further question, I ordered and downloaded Rise immediately and began reading; after all, if an author makes a recommendation like that, who am I to dispute him?

So the events in Rise take place in the Mirror Universe.  I am usually very apprehensive when reading stories that take place in that medium, mostly because I didn’t care for the Mirror Universe in the shows.  For those who are not familiar with that alternate reality, pretty much everyone there is an opposite of what they are in our universe.  So if you are a good guy here, you are a bad guy over there. The very first appearance of this alternate universe was in the original series episode “Mirror, Mirror” in which Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, and Uhura wind up on an Enterprise that is far different than the one they are used to. It is a good episode and I would recommend seeing it.  The Mirror Universe did not appear again until Deep Space Nine.  I have never been all that big a fan of those episodes, mostly because they often seemed silly and a little over-the-top for me.

Anyway, back to the point of this post.

Rise Like lions takes place completely in the Mirror Universe. I am not sure from where the story picks up, but I have watched all of the Deep Space Nine episodes to know that Humans are considered to be the trash of the Alpha Quadrant. The Klingons and Cardassians, along with the Bajorans, who form the Alliance, have become the dominant power who go about conquering and subjecting Humans and Vulcans to slavery. While the Terran Rebellion is working hard to take their fight for freedom to their oppressors, the fight does not go well, and the Alliance looks about to crush what is left of the rebellion.

Just as it looks like the situation is hopeless, things change, as they tend to do in political situation when major powers vie for domination.  First, the Bajorans decide that they need to leave the Alliance, then forces cause the Cardassians to begin fighting amongst themselves and with the Klingons. Then we are introduced to a new faction called Memory Omega that has the ability to travel vast distances and build very powerful ships, but what is needed to bring everything together is a leader. While Miles O’Brien has done a good job of holding the rebels together, he is not the leader that can really take the fight to the Alliance and bring freedom to the Terrans.

Memory Omega chooses a man that they believe can lead the rebels to a final victory, even if their man, Jean-Luc Picard doesn’t believe it. Add to that, Mac Calhoun of the Excalibur who has allied himself with the Romulans, and in the background, the forces of the Taurus Pact, which includes the Breen, Gorn, Tholians, and the Ferengi and you get the formula for one hell of a great story.

I enjoyed this story and there was not a single page of waste in it. David manages to take a massive number of factions, characters, and situations and brings them into sharp focus so clearly, that there is no doubt about what is taking place and at what time.  As I read, i was thinking how neat it was that each chapter was a snapshot of the action, every chapter was a small story in itself that, when put together, became a large puzzle with each of the pieces falling into place by themselves.

As each character is introduced, or reintroduced, they are different from their counterparts in the Primary Universe, but they are also the same.  So while the story is full of discovery, it also has a nice comfort zone because we can recognize the characters as people we have come to know.

One of the best parts of reading Rise for me was seeing people from so many different incarnations of Trek.  I was grabbed from the first line where David brings in Calhoun from Peter David’s New Frontier series of books!  But that is only the beginning. The Vulcans play a pivotal role in the plot, as do many, many characters from all of the television series, along with some new characters. David also does an awesome job taking some of the most maligned characters in Star Trek and making them characters that the reader can admire and respect.

Rise is also an emotional roller coaster ride that goes through the full spectrum. We get people that we love turning out to be horrible, and some that are hated are elevated. Some rise above themselves, while others fall, and some die. But it all adds up to one of the most interesting stories I have read. It is about endings, but it is also about beginnings; the seeds have been planted at the end of the novel for another Mirror Universe story that should prove to be just as amazing as this, perhaps even more so.

My highest recommendations for Rise Like Lions. Get a copy and prepare to be astounded!

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Action and Intrigue: Star Trek: The Fall: A Ceremony of Losses By David Alan Mack

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’!