This book is the fourth book in the series. It is set sometime between season seven of The Next Generation and season three of Deep Space Nine.

Thomas Riker is becoming disenchanted with Starfleet since his rescue from Nervala IV (Star Trek Next generation Season Six episode "Second Chances"), and he has been heard expressing pro-Marquis sentiments. He is increasingly preoccupied with "the other Riker" as he calls him - Will Riker, the first officer of the Enterprise.

Determined to try to cut a distinct career of his own, he decides to transfer from Command to Medical and becomes a medical courier transporting supplies to the DMZ (DeMilitarised Zone).

The planet Helena is suffering from a medical crisis. Like many planets in the DMZ, Helena used to be a Federation planet, but under the terms of the Cardassian Peace Treaty, Helena was now in Cardassian space and so cut-off from Federation help.

Helena is possibly the most unique planet in the cosmos. Its inhabitants are mostly hybrids of hybrids of hybrids, with some people being descended from a dozen different species, and each one with different features of their heritage. It is said that Helena represented the entire Federation in a single planet.

A virus has been unleashed; yet another variant of the viruses from "Infection: Double Helix : #1 (Star Trek: The Next Generation Book 51)"   and "Vectors: Double Helix #2 (Star Trek: The Next Generation Book 52)"  . This virus is able to infect anyone on the planet, no matter their species, no matter whether they are a blend of two species, five species, ten species, or even if they a "uniblood" (pure-blood one species).

The Marquis are the first to respond to Helena's cries for help, but they quickly realise they are out of their depth. They turn to the Federation for help, and to avoid annoying the Cardassians, Starfleet decides to send in a small covert team.

Tom Riker leads the mission for Starfleet, but working so close with the Marquis, shows him why they have rejected the peace treaty and the Federation. Every day of the mission tugs at his heart, and he more and more feels kinship with the Marquis.

Since this is the fourth book in the series, there is far less need to explain the nature and spread of the virus, allowing the author more freedom to explore Helenan society and culture.

The desert island plotline involving Tom Riker. There is very little explanation of how, why, and what function it served. There was just no real closure to this part of the story, and I'm left wondering why it was included.

John Blair Vornholt is an American author, screenwriter and journalist.

He has written numerous novels, including many Star Trek novels, he worked on several animated children's series of the 1980s, including Ghostbusters, Dennis the Menace and Beverly Hills Teens, and he has worked as lead writer for The Hollywood Reporter and Tucson Weekly.

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Created Apr 28, 2018 at 10:56am • Submit your own review...