STAR TREK: TOS/TNG - Federation

by Judith

  Though the opera never went forward, Roddenberry’s wish for his crews to be brought together did come to pass in a variety of ways, and we’re proud of his confidence in us, and happy to have had this chance to offer our own small extension of the worlds and characters he created.

  As always, in writing this STAR TREK novel we have drawn on the work of many writers who have shaped and expanded Gene Roddenberry’s STAR TREK. Chief among them are Gene L. Coon, who created the characters of Zefram Cochrane, the Companion, and Nancy Hedford in the Original Series episode “Metamorphosis”; Dorothy Fontana, who created the character of Sarek in the Original Series episode “Journey to Babel”; and Harlan Ellison, who created the Guardian of Forever in “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Flint, who may or may not have been Cochrane’s mysterious Micah Brack, was created by Jerome Bixby in “Requiem for Methuselah.” Ambassador Sarek was first brought into the time of The Next Generation in “Sarek,” written by Peter S. Beagle, from an unpublished story by Marc Cushman & Jake Jacobs.

  In those episodes, Zefram Cochrane was portrayed by Glenn Corbett, Nancy Hedford by Elinor Donahue, Flint by James Daly, the voice of the Guardian by Bart LaRue, and Sarek, of course, by the incomparable Mark Lenard.

  Moving from the written word to the visual symbol, the famous STAR TREK arrowhead symbol, first seen on the uniforms of the Enterprise crew, and later throughout Starfleet, was created by the Original Series’ costume designer, William Ware Theiss.

  Given the time span encompassed by this novel, it is clear to us that we could never have written it in its present form without the use of that magnificent triumvirate of STAR TREK reference works: Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda; Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future, by Michael [467] Okuda and Denise Okuda; and the remarkable Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future, by Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, and Debbie Mirek. The thoroughness, good humor, and respect with which these works have been written have made them invaluable resources for STAR TREK writers everywhere, and we are indebted to their authors for their scholarship.

  Though we have drawn on established STAR TREK lore for many of the events in this book, we must add that much of the early history of the Federation, and Cochrane’s adventures prior to and after inventing the warp drive, are extrapolations solely of our own creation and thus could be superseded by official adventures in the years to come. Until then, we hope the audience will enjoy reading this one possible STAR TREK adventure as much as we enjoyed writing it.

  On a personal note, we must again extend our thanks to Mike and Denise Okuda for their encouragement and unfailing efforts to suggest possible answers to questions not contained in their works.

  We are also indebted to Paula Block of VIACOM Consumer Products, the licensing arm for Paramount Pictures, whose insightful comments on early versions of this story helped us remain true to the original intent of the romance of Cochrane and the Companion; and to John Ordover of Pocket Books for encouraging us not to forget important parts of our first proposals.

  Finally, our sincere appreciation to Dave Stern, for his enthusiasm at the beginning, and Kevin Ryan for his own enthusiasm, help, encouragement, and never-flagging support in all the years since, for this book and many projects still to come. He’s the number-one reason why we’ll be back.

  J & G

  About the e-Book

  (SEP, 2003)—Scanned, proofed, and formatted by Bibliophile.