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Best Destiny
Rating: 
Series: The Original Series #
Published: November, 1993
Author: Diane Carey
Review by: Cmdr. Kali D'or |
At age 16, James T. Kirk was a brat! A spoiled, bad-attitude, pushy and very annoying teenager with no respect for his elders, authority, and expecially for his father George (who we met in the previous book "Enterprise"). He has managed to talk a few of his friends (his father calls them a gang) into running away to South America of all places, using fake id's and stowing away on a freighter. He has total disdain for reading and learning, but thinks he knows EVERYTHING! THis kid has alot to learn.
Caught by the authorities, and detained on the freighter (a real sailing ship on an ocean, not a starship) his father shows up and hauls hit butt away to space. Seems that his good friend Robert April, still in command of the Enterprise has a soft spot for young Jimmy and has allowed George to bring him along on a quick diplomatic mission to Farramond where an archeological research site needs to be dedicated.
Totally convinced to be incorrigible, young Jimmy mamages to keep a huge chip on his shoulder all the way to the bridge of the starship (although he does have a few small moments of being impressed.) He is rude, obnoxious and generally pisses off everyone he comes in contact with. Gotta give April credit for really trying to reach the kid without appearing condescending. And also to George for not stuffing his sorry butt in an airlock for the duration.
George's friend Drake Reed is also aboard for this mission, and is great comic relief as usual (wish there were more stories about this guy - he is a hoot!) We also meet old friend Carlos Florida, and of course, the Enterprise. Sittin at April's right hand is First Officer Lorna Simon, a grandmotherly appearing type with a backbone of steel. Jimmy immediately gets on her bad side, as well as just about everyone else he meets. As the ship sets out on her mission, everyone seems to settle in as well as can be expected, considering the brat they now have aboard.
As they arrive in the vicinity of their target mission planet, Enterprise is called away on a quick mercy mission, so Captain April, George Kirk, Florida, 2 scientists that will be observing an unusual star system on the way to Farramond, and Ensign Veronica Hall, a newbie science officer, decide to take a shuttlecraft and go off on their own, knowing that the Enterprise will be back in about 30 hours.
Now then, while all this is going on, we hop back and forth to the future where Kirk is back as Captain on the (i>Enterprise a few years following the last of the Kahn movies where he blew up the old ship. They are called to a mission to, you guessed it, Farramond where an unusual explosion something has occurred.
Needless to say, and no surprise to the reader, there is a hitch in the mission in the shuttlecraft and they are attacked by some strange ship near this off star/nebula thing they are gonna look at and observe. Here come the bad guys!! And Kirk, 45 years inthe future, has to go back abd forth reliving this experience in order to fix the problem he now faces.
This is an excellent character study in James T. Kirk and how be became the man we now know. He learns alot at the hand of Captain April, and the rest of the small group on the shuttlecraft. He learns what it means to be in Starfleet, about responsibility. And from Veronica Hall, he learns a very hard lesson in living with the consequences of his actions.
This is on of the very best, and well written books about the beginnings of the Star Trek saga, and should be read by anyone who wants to know how and why James T. Kirk ended up in space. As you start the book, you will just not believe this guys behavior. I would definitely recommend this one - it's one of my very best favorites!
Title: Best Destiny
Author: Diane Carey
Review by: Cmdr. Kali D'or
