by Greg Cox
“Speaking of Ephrata, sir,” Uhura said. “Doctor Collins is hailing you from the planet.”
“Pipe her through, Lieutenant.”
“Aye, sir.”
Elena Collins appeared on the viewer. Without an inhuman silver mask, she looked once more like the shrewd and feisty older woman Kirk remembered. He heard the sound of heavy construction banging in the background.
“Madam President,” he greeted her warmly. “How are things down on the planet?”
“Much better, thanks to you and the crew. I just wanted to let you know that the last of the Crusaders, including Maxah and High Brother Sokis, have been sent back through the rift, and we’ve begun the process of demolishing the portal . . . over the protests of some of our more fanatical physicists and researchers.”
They must have short memories, Kirk thought. Or maybe their intellectual curiosity simply outweighed the abuse and enslavement they had suffered at the hands of the Crusade. You have to admire that degree of dedication to science and the truth . . . with a lowercase T.
“Sounds like things, and your faculty, are getting back to normal.”
“Absolutely,” Collins said. “I can’t thank you enough, Jim. You gave us back our most precious gift: our ability to think freely.”
“Glad to be of service,” he answered. “The Institute is one of the intellectual jewels of the Federation. It didn’t belong under occupation.”
A voice called to Collins from off-screen. She nodded in response.
“Looks like I have to go,” she said apologetically. “As you can imagine, I have about a million items on my plate right now, up to and including finding funds in the budget for a new subspace telescope.”
Sulu and Yaseen shared a guilty look.
“I understand,” Kirk said. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t,” she promised. “And give my love to those rambunctious nephews of yours the next time you talk to them.” She moved out from behind her desk. “Ephrata out.”
The transmission ended. The peaceful planet returned to the screen. No distress calls intruded on the moment.
“You know, Captain,” Uhura reminded him, “you never really answered my question from before. Can we expect you at the holiday party?”
Kirk had been leery of the party, but not anymore. After all they had just been through, he couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate their victory—and the infinite diversity of their own universe.
“Count me in,” he said. “I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”
Acknowledgments
Strange to realize that I’ve been writing Star Trek fiction for seventeen years now. As someone who fondly remembers watching the original classic TV series back during its original run in the 1960s, and standing in line to see pretty much every Star Trek movie on opening night, I feel privileged to have been able to play in this wonderfully optimistic and imaginative universe so many times now—and to be able to voyage aboard the Starship Enterprise once again.
This time around, I want to thank my esteemed editors, Margaret Clark and Ed Schlesinger, for inviting me aboard again, and John Van Citters at CBS for offering his own input on this latest voyage. Thanks also to my agent, Russ Galen, for handling this and many other deals.
Finally, and as always, I couldn’t have done this without my girlfriend, Karen Palinko, who helped out on the home front despite her own pressing deadlines and commitments. Among other things, she let me take over our (air-conditioned) kitchen during an extended heat wave, which meant putting up with stacks of Star Trek reference books and magazines all over the kitchen for weeks at a time. And, of course, I have to mention our four-legged family members: Henry, Sophie, and Lyla. Just because.
About the Author
Greg Cox is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels and short stories. He has written the official novelizations of such films as The Dark Knight Rises, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, and the first three Underworld movies, as well as novelizations of four popular DC Comics miniseries: Infinite Crisis, 52, Countdown, and Final Crisis.
In addition, he has written books and stories based on such popular series as Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Farscape, The 4400, The Green Hornet, Leverage, Riese: Kingdom Falling, Roswell, Star Trek, Terminator, Warehouse 13, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Zorro. He has received two Scribe Awards from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. He lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania.
His official website is www.gregcox-author.com.
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First Pocket Books paperback edition April 2013
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ISBN 978-1-4767-0283-4
ISBN 978-1-4767-0285-8 (ebook)
Cover art and design by Alan Dingman
