Requiem is the 32nd book coming out with the ST-TNG crew, set at the time when Ensign Ro was still a member of the crew. The Enterprise is sent on a mission of mediation to the Gorn home world. Rising domestic problems threaten the peace treaty between the Gorn and the Federation, a treaty that a young Jean Luc-Picard managed to set up some years prior. While the Gorn maintained their distance from the federation, an opposition to their ruling emerged and has called challenge on it. En route, the Enterprise stumbles upon an alien device the size of a small moon. Seven days to the Gorn summit, the crew moves in for a closer examination. The alien device is found out to be a huge conduit, capable of transporting on a very large scale, and even through time. The dormant station undergoes a cascading power surge, the peak of which activates some of the alien control modules. The aftermath reveals that captain Picard is missing, having been transported through time and space. Crucial to resolve the conflict on Gorn, the crew feverishly works to locate the captain. Less than seven days to the summit, the crew must solve the puzzle of where the captain was transported and when too. The book's primary plot becomes the events on Cestus III as they unfold before Picard who just transported there. As an ironic twist of fate, Picard was transported there just a few days prior to the Gorn massacre of the Federation outpost that was there. History also remembers Cestus III as the location of the first duel between a Gorn captain and a Starfleet officer. That officer is Captain James T. Kirk. Requiem traverses through time and space to link together Picard, Kirk and the Gorn. It is the first book that I have read that endeavored a Gorn-Federation story while being a crossover book. The characters are well described, and the plot is refreshing. Ensign Ro's promotion from a support bridge officer into the temporary assignment of acting first officer is uncommon, and yet very becoming. Ro proves her worthiness very fast. Never judge a book by its cover has been said quite often, and this book is no exception. It is just another example of how a mild looking plot can turn into a spilling gush of action, adventure, and intrigue. I rank this book the well earned 5 pips.
Title: Requiem |
1/3/05
