Chainmail (Star Trek Challenger Gateways): Bk. 2 - Softcover

Carey, Diane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743418557 ISBN 13: 9780743418553

Publisher: Star Trek, 2001

Synopsis

Scattered through the galaxy are Gateways capable of transporting matter and energy across unfathomable distances. Their rediscovered secrets could change the future of space travel forever...the trouble is that noone knows what waits on the other side. Abandoned remnants of an extinct interstellar civilisation, the Gateways connect the Alpha Quadrant with the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Their rediscovery could revolutionise space travel...but it could also open the door to who knows what dangers from the other side. Twenty years ago, in the space near the planet of Belle Terre, a caravan of alien vessels disappeared into a gigantic Gate. Now the descendants of those aliens have returned, armed with incredible new weapons and abilities. Commander Nick Keller of the USS Challenger, already struggling to maintain peace in a volatile sector of space, is all that stands in the path of a fleet of invaders driven by a hostile -- and fanatical -- agenda. Diane Carey revisits the ship and crew she created for Challenger, the final volume of the Original Series six-part New Earth sequence, in which Keller and the USS Challenger's crew took over the guardianship of the new colony of Belle Terre from Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise. Now Keller finds himself defending not just a farflung colony of terrestrial pioneers but the security of half the known galaxy itself.

About this title

Review

Book two of the Gateways series, Chainmail, introduces a story apparently independent of the first book, One Small Step. It features Commander Nick Keller and the hybrid crew of the "Challenger", first seen in the New Earth series when Keller took over guardianship of the colony Belle Terre from Captain Kirk. Keller is trying to rescue his first officer, the Blood Shucorion, and bosun Zane Bonifay from an alien vessel, whose strange interior resembles a metallic jungle filled with thousands of metal-embalmed bodies. But getting his crewmen back is only the start of his problems. Shucorion claims that Bonifay disobeyed a direct order, and by Blood law he must face execution. Keller can't afford to go against the treaty between the Blood and the Federation, but how can he abandon his own crewman to a death penalty? While he grapples with this dilemma, a mysterious Gateway opens in empty space, and an immensely powerful alien craft comes through, crewed by people who have been toughened by hundreds of generations struggling to tame the environment of an inhospitable metal planet. Diane Carey has created some truly alien environments on the metallic planet and within the mysterious alien ship, and the combination leads to a book that stretches the Star Trek universe in interesting ways. The "Challenger" is much less squeaky clean than most Starfleet vessels, and Keller is a comparatively uncertain commander still struggling to find his own power, which adds to the tension. The story will be continued in a later volume of the series, but this is an intriguing beginning. --Elizabeth Sourbut

About the Author

Diane Carey is the author of the bestselling Invasion!: First Strike and many other Star Trek novels including a number of Deep Space Nine TV episode tie-ins, The Original Series Best Destiny and The Next Generation Descent.

About this edition

• Publisher: Star Trek
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0743418557
• ISBN 13: 9780743418553
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320