Declassified

Star Trek Vanguard: Declassified
© 2011 Kevin Dilmore, David Mack,  Marco Palmieri, and Dayton Ward
404 pages

At the edge of Federation space, at its shared border with the Klingons and the Tholian Assembly, lies trouble.  The area known as the Taurus Reach brims with mineral-rich planets supporting humanoid life,  but has remained curiously uninhabited for eons. The Tholians regard it with fearful reverence,  as if something is buried there that should remain so.  Here enter Vanguard Station,  a Starfleet starbase intended to oversee the colonization of the Taurus Reach  -- and more secretly, a lab to examine its buried secrets. The ST Vanguard series has combined excellent characters, intriguing scientific mystery and steady drama for five books.  Now, in Vanguard Declassified, we find four more stories of intrigue, set throughout the first four books of the series. Three of the authors are familiar for their contributions to Vanguard, but Marco Palmieri is better known as the editor who is responsible for spearheading the Star Trek Relaunch.

In “Almost Tomorrow”, the Klingons enter the scene for the first time, and a spy is revealed. This features our favorite Machiavellian Vuclan, T’Pyrnn, and a sex scene that’s more awkward than most because she has a malevolent ghost in her head who wants to possess her lover. Oh, you wacky Vulcans.

“Hard News” features a world-weary but determined journalist and his girl Friday, developing a story that will expose a connection between the Orion pirates and some Starfleet intelligence ops. Word to the wise, making Orions grumpy is a bad idea. They’re not Klingons and you won’t see them coming, green skin aside.

“The Ruins of Noble Men” is a  story set in two different time periods; in one, a Vanguard ship is dispatched to a suddenly isolationist colony world  to convince them to come back to the fold. The colony is hiding a secret, though, and  in attempting to establish meaningful communications with them Captain Desai finds herself thinking about an episode from her former boss-lover’s youth, when he had an usual run-in with a Klingon named Gorkon.  (Casual Trek fans may remember Gorkon as the assassinated chancellor in The Undiscovered Country.)

The last story, “The Stars Look Down”, is by David Mack and involves a secret mission to land on a Gorn-controlled world, infiltrate one of their ships, steal/copy data and compromise the original, then get out before the Gorn reprise Cestus III.   Features Quinn, a smuggler-scoundrel in the cut of Han Solo or Mal Reynolds,   along with his SF intel partner Bridy Mac.  This being a David Mack story, there’s intense drama and tragedy. (If you find yourself in a David Mack novel, pray that you are a one-page extra character who is not important enough to matter, either as a tragic death or as a plot driver. Be the guy behind the desk who nods to the main characters as they are running into action. It’s just not safe otherwise.)

The four stories span the entirety of the first five Vanguard books, and between then feature most of the favorite characters from the series.  All four are  enjoyable tales; I was most partial to “Hard News” because of the unsusual first-person perspective and the general story:  I like the pre-ENT Orion pirates. They got a little weird after ENT, with pheromones making people slaves and such. Fewer sex slaves and more organized crime, please, thank you.

Precipice

Star Trek Vanguard: Precipice
© 2009 David Mack
352 pages

To date, the Vanguard series has been marked by a vast archaeological and scientific mystery, but as its matured, the implications of the Taurus Reach discoveries have been taking precedent. We saw this in Open Secrets, where the political situation between the Federation and Klingon empires deteriorated to the point of war, and it continues here. Although the setting is the Vanguard series, most of the action takes place off-station following various characters from the series as they work to prevent future catastrophes.  Concerned that the Klingons are looking to weaponize the remnants of the Shedai technology, Starfleet is attempting to undermine their efforts through clandestine means. Meanwhile, the disgraced T'Pyrnn has fled Starfleet custody and is hoping to redeem herself by discovering the means with which the Klingons are carrying out their own cloak-and-dagger enterprises against Vanguard. Multiple plotlines converge to great success.

This is a series carried by its strong characters, and that trend continues here -- magnificently. I've been fascinated by the interplay between former intelligent officer T'Pyrnn and her journalistic adversary-turned-ally, Timothy Pennington, and it's done no better than here, where the two cooperate to spy on gangsters and Kingons in hopes to saving Vanguard. Perhaps the finest contributions of this book were the appearance of Gorkon -- a Klingon official whose political views will lead to the greatest peace in the galaxy and his own assassination --  and the reappearance of a Vanguard character thought dead. I'd hoped for for this character's return, and am eagerly looking forward to what becomes of the Vanguard crew in future books.

The next Vanguard work, not yet released, is called Declassified. It will consist of four novellas by David Mack, Kevin Dilmore, Dayton Ward, and much-beloved former Treklit editor Marco Palimeri, whose years in the editor's seat marked some of the best Trek literature produced to date.

• Star Trek Vanguard on TvTropes
• David Mack's  home page and Memory Alpha bio
• Vanguard at Memory Alpha

Open Secrets

Star Trek Vanguard: Open Secrets
© 2009 Dayton Ward
448 pages

In Reap the Whirlwind, Vanguard commander Diego Reyes took some drastic steps to prevent the secret of Vanguard Station and the Taurus Reach from claiming more innocent lives -- steps which have earned him the ire of both Starfleet and the Klingon Empire. While Starfleet is content to court-martial him for treason, the Klingons will settle for nothing less than Reyes' head on a plate. (Which they would then...possibly eat?)  Tensions between the Federation and its rivals continues to mount, especially after Starfleet's lead scientist on the Vanguard project vanishes inside a Klingon transporter beam. As the friction builds, a flotilla of Klingon cruisers approaches the station with weapons loaded for bear.

Open Secrets almost seems like a break in the action in the Vanguard series. While the science investigation continues, much of the book's focus is on the decaying political situation, the trial of Commodore Reyes, and the slow recovery of Commander T'Pyrnn, who is trapped in her own mind on Vulcan.  Because Ward and Mack have built such strong, varied, and sympathetic characters in the last three books, the focus on their trials here -- mostly separated from constant action -- carries the novel well. Ward also works in more TOS references than preceding books: it opens and ends with references to a Star Trek episode.  Reyes is one of my favorite characters, so I read with interest. Worth reading for the characters, but this is probably the book most easily to summarize through a recap in following novels. It has one of my favorite pieces of covert art in the series, though.

Reap the Whirlwind

Star Trek Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind (Book Three)
© 2007 David Mack
464 pages, including a 'Vanguard Minipedia', which combines a glossary and dramatis personae. 

 

Cover art by Doug Drexler, depicting the scoutship USS Sagittarius being pursued by a Klingon cruiser

 At the edge of known space, at the borders of three great powers -- the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Tholian Assembly -- lies the mysterious Taurus Reach, a region dominated by solar systems bearing the mark of having once been the seat of power for an ancient, immensely powerful, organizations. The Federation is eager to learn the Reach's secrets, but given the immense power they may unearth, their investigation must be done largely in secret. Vanguard Station sits at the edge of the reach, but only a select few of its officers know its importance in administrating this top-secret project. Lives have already been lost, but this pandora's box is only just beginning to spill out its contents -- and they will change the lives of individuals aboard Vanguard and stagger the powers involved.

David Mack created the Vanguard series with this vast mystery already in mind, and in Reap the Whirlwind the drama skyrockets. The Federation's secret is costing lives, and the awakened power is increasingly unpredictable and aggressive. Reap is easily the most eventful book in the series thus far, radically changing the destinies of several of Vanguard's officers by book's end. Commodore Diego Reyes commands most of the reader's attention, as he struggles to keep a lid on a situation that proves more deadly by the day. Meanwhile, the resident agent of Starfleet Intelligence realizes her manipulations have consequences, both personally and professionally. Though there's a fair bit of character development, the rise of the 'Shedai' and the havoc they wreak predominate the novel. Reap also introduces Dr. Carol Marcus, and given that 'Clark Terrell' is also present, it looks like this novel may tie-in to The Wrath of KHAAAAAAAAAAN! KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN! KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! 

Even though some of my favorite characters are being sorely absused, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Summon the Thunder

Star Trek Vanguard: Summon the Thunder (#2)
© 2006 Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
420 pages

Cover art created by Doug Drexler, depicting Vanguard Station and the USS Lovell, a Daedalus-class still in service after over a century. 

Something ancient and malevolent is stirring in the mysterious systems of the Taurus Reach, a foreboding area of space that managed to defy exploration and colonizations until recently, despite being at the crossroads between three great powers. Starfleet is compelled to explore the area by hints of a great scientific discovery waiting in the wings, and the abundance of still-functioning remains speak to the existence of a long-dead, but vastly powerful interstellar society. The Tholians regard the area with dread fear, and  their responses to Klingon and Starfleet activity within the area threaten to turn it into a warzone.  The greatest danger to the peace may not be the powers themselves, but the fact that the ancient civilization isn't quite dead. On Vanguard station, Starfleet officers, diplomats, spies,  pirates, and a reporter try to keep the peace and their lives intact, all the while wondering -- just what does the Reach hide?  

David Mack's Harbinger provided a superb explanation to the Vanguard series, relying on an excellent cast that continues to impress here under the direction of Ward and Dilmore. They expand it by focusing part of the story on the crew of the USS Endeavor, led by  a newly-minted captain who is struggling to live up to the success of her recently deceased XO, who died in the course of Starfleet's work in this region , whose mysterious death emphasizes Starfleet's need to understand the nature of the artifacts and hidden installations they've unearthed. Vanguard's ensemble started out strong and continues to mature:  none of the viewpoint characters like nuance, and some of them are particularly conflicted. I especially appreciated the development of Starfleet's rivals: I especially looked forward to seeing the Romulans, which was unexpected given that, despite their pretty ships, I tend to find Romulans predictable and boring.  We get it, Romulans, you are oh-so-sneaky and superior to everyone else.  While most of the characters are involved in political intrigue or scientific enterprise,  the authors also treat the reader to the adventures of Quinn and Pennington, a charming rogue and disgraced reporter who have managed to become the playthings of both an Orion gangster and intelligent agent T'Prynn, easily one of the series' more interesting characters. Though she's not in charge of the Vanguard Project,  she clearly knows more than Commodore Reyes -- and I'm given to wondering if it's not Starfleet Intelligence she works for, but a more ominous organization. All of the interesting adventures and pursuits of these characters are woven into one rich story by book's end,  and I'm thinking rather than buying the Terok Nor trilogy,  I'll go ahead and buy the rest of the Vanguard books.  

Vanguard started out strong indeed and hasn't yet diminished -- and considering that Mack returns in the third book, I don't expect it to. 

Related:

• Star Trek Vanguard on TvTropes
• Ward and Dilmore's Memory Alpha/Beta pages.(Memory Beta's primary focus is 'non-canon' elements, but in the authors' case they contain the same basic information.)
• DaytonWard.com, which includes annotations for the book. I'm well enamored of authors who do this, like Mack and Bennett. 
• David Mack and Dayton Ward's running commentary on the third season of Star Trek at Tor.com

Harbinger

Star Trek Vanguard: Harbinger
© 2005 David Mack
388 pages

Cover Art: Doug Drexler.  

Returning from from the edge of known space and haunted by the memory of having to kill his best friend, Captain James T. Kirk is astonished to find a massive, fully-operational Starfleet base far from the Federation's core worlds. Starbase 47, also known as Vanguard, sits at the entrance to the Taurus Reach, an unexplored area of space that has evidently caught Starfleet's attention -- for reasons unknown to Kirk, and to most of the Vanguard crew, save the four officers briefed by Starfleet Intelligence. Kirk is only too happy to put in for shore leave and enjoy the aminities of the station, but no sooner are his ship's repairs done than does terrible news reach the base: the USS Bombay, attached to Vanguard, has been attacked. Because Vanguard's other ships are away on assignments of their own, the base commander asks Kirk to investigate Bombay's disappearance -- and a mystery involving a 'map written in the stars' begins to unravel.

Star Trek Vanguard is hailed as one of the superior Trek series out there, and I've been curious about for a long while. I almost started the series at its inception in 2005, interested by the space-station setting. Like Deep Space Nine, the Vanguard books will make use of long-running plot arcs, in this case a great mystery hidden inside the Taurus Reach that has the Tholians and Klingons interested to boot. Though Jim Kirk and the Enterprise make a strong showing here, Vanguard isn't their series:  while the Enterprise will move on to the rest of its first-season adventures (the Gary Mitchell episode starting TOS) following Harbinger, Vanguard's robust set of characters will explore the mystery of the Reach and avoid war with their prickly neighbors. In addition to the usual Starfleet folks, Mack introduces a soulful Vulcan woman with a mysterious past who works for Starfleet  Intelligence; a charming rogue with his own cargo ship who sometimes breaks the law, but isn't as big a rascal as Mal Reynolds or Han Solo;  and Tim Pennington,  an enthusiastic reporter whose overactive interest in what Vanguard is up to may get  him in trouble.  The writing is superior, as is to be expected from Mack: particularly in regards to dialogues. He does emotionally difficult speeches and snappy conversation well.  There are plenty of  little references to Trek canon (and lit-canon), which help in reader immersion, and the setting (immediately following "Where No Man Has Gone Before") sees the transition from the pilot sets and uniforms into the TOS era, where command officers wear gold,  operations wear red, and "women wear less".

Excellent start to the Vanguard series: the reader is thrown into the thick of things from the get-go as the Vanguard officers try to keep a lid on their operation in the amidst of alien aggression, tragedy, and a conscientiously nosy reporter. I'm looking forward to what transpires. This series looks to have been planned well from the star: the book even includes diagrams of the station, which was most helpful.

Related:

• Star Trek Vanguard on TvTropes
• Author's Annotations, including a funny story about a cold little bird and a hot cow pie.
• David Mack's  home page and Memory Alpha bio
• Vanguard at Memory Alpha