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After a tiring mission, the Enterprise
returns to Starbase One in need of extensive repairs and R and
R. They are immediately given an assignment to transport three
specialist to the planet Ammdon, for the purpose of diffusing
a war between her and her sister planet, Jurnamoria, who appear
to be siding with the Romulans. Kirk, who is quite upset with
having to send his ship out with no repairs, as is Mr. Scott,
has no choice but to obey. On the way to Ammdon, the Enterprise
picks up a distress call and rescues Lorelei, a Speaker of Hyla.
The crew is fascinated by Lorelei. After finding out where the
Enterprise is heading, and why, Lorelei starts talking to different
crew members and convinces them that the Enterprise should not
go to Ammdon because it will cause a war to start. As she talks
to each crew member, they fall under her influence and start
to rebel against the mission by refusing to work and eventually
crippling the Enterprise. Needing raw materials, they head towards
an unexplored planet. Spock and some crew members are soon captured
by the locals and Jim tries to save them but is stopped by his
crew. Lorelei is saddened that she is unable to convert Jim and
a few select others. The simplest solution for her is to leave
them on the planet. So…she does.
This book takes place during
the original 5-year mission. The
number of the book is 12. Don’t let the cover fool you.
Kirk and Spock are painted in their later years, like after the
second movie. Robert E. Vardeman does a good job of portraying
the Enterprise crew. And the villain is interesting because she
really isn’t bad, it is just that her way doesn’t really
work with humans…but she doesn’t understand that. Is
she evil? No. Do you grow to dislike her? Oh, yes. Do you see
any way for Kirk to beat her? No. The good thing about this story
is that it was hard to figure out how Kirk was going to get his
ship back. As for the very end of the story, that was easy to
figure out.
The book is well
written and the pace of the storyline moves right along. There
is always something happening that keeps the reader wondering.
The only thing that I found wrong was one line that Spock said
to Bones. I thought it was a little harsh and uncharacteristic
of Spock. Other then that, I enjoyed this story and found myself
really looking forward to see how it ended.
I rated this book a 7½
out of 10. |
