Star Trek: SCE: Wounds

Star Trek: SCE: Wounds by Ilsa J. Bick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My casual reading of the Star Trek: Starfleet Corp of Engineers compilations continues in digital form with "Wounds" which is by far the darkest collection of stories and given what happened to the DaVinci not that long back is saying something. This collection comprises six stories from different authors and continues the excellent narrative the world of the SCE has provided.

MALEFICTORUM by Terri Osborne
After the mysterious death of a crewman the DaVinci security chief is having a hard time to reveal answers to how and why the death aboard ship occured. The fact the crewman was the son of a respected friend further complicates matter but Lieutenant Commander Domenica Corsi is nothing if not professional. Then a second death occurs and the method but not motive is uncovered but now with a line of investigation Corsi and her people have got the scent and rush to prevent a mass murderer from striking across the quadrant.

LOST TIME by Ilsa J. Bick
Deep Space Nine is in trouble as distortion waves pass through the station and continue across the system to impact Bajor itself, tectonic activity on the planet is increasing and even with members of the DaVinci crew on hand things are looking bad. Meanwhile on Empok Nor further investigations continue under the guiding hand of Commander Gomez but as the teams delve ever deeper into the mystery it's Soloman on board DS9 who uncovers the first clue, data and communication from himself but from somewhere else...

IDENTITY CRISIS by John J. Ordover
Commander Gomez is taking some shoreleave at the Recreational Station Hidalgo but after her intended companion had called off his visit she had become friendly with a guy she met on the station but still not over her grief she is unable to allow a relationship to develop. As Gomez is about to leave she is asked to provide some assistance in the stations main control room and while the technology is far from cutting edge she is happy to help. Discovering the system is being stressed by a strange communication she responds and then well things go from bad to worse to apocalyptic.

FABLES OF THE PRIME DIRECTIVE by Cory Rushton
Coroticus III was under the protection of the Federation and as a prewarp society observed for sociological purposes until the Dominion war when the Federation abandoned the planet and the people to occupation by the invading forces. Years later the Federation via Starfleet with its sociologists and the SCE return to the world to see what damage both physically and culturally had been incurred by the native population. Dangers await the team after finding the ruins of their original hidden observation post but is it from the native population changed through their time under the gaze of the gods (Founders) or something else.

SECURITY by Keith R.A. DeCandido
The DaVinci and her crew have been through rough times recently and with new additions to security Domenica Corsi has more than her fair share and now Dr Elizabeth Lense and Julian Bashir while on journey via runabout are missing. One of Corsi's new security team is from Izar a world where Corsi visited when serving on board the Roosevelt, what occurred there is something that she has not revealed to anyone not directly involved but now with life proving once again there are no guarantees she opens up to Fabian Stevens.

WOUNDS by Ilsa J. Bick
The events experienced by Dr Elizabeth Lense and Julian Bashir during the time they were missing and on a world very different to any they knew of are revealed in this story. A world in chaotic turmoil after global nuclear war many years ago and a clash between cultures in regards to the lengths one will go to to preserve life in whatever form that may be. The two Starfleet officers find themselves separated when their vessel crashes and each found by opposing groups with different ideologies and the full horrors of survival at any cost is experienced by both doctors.

Wounds is as a I said a very dark collection of SCE stories but the overall collection is wonderfully interconnected as stories overlap and intermix but you ain't gonna come away from these with a shiny happy feeling that's for sure.

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SCE Omnibus 10

Creative Couplings by David Mack
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The tenth omnibus of stories under the Starfleet Corps of Engineers banner comprises of six individual stories and as in the tradition they world share while maintaining continuity. I can not overestimate how well oh so many authors have worked together to weave this series of stories and maintain the very best of readers expect from licensed Star Trek.

Paradise Interrupted by John S. Drew
As Risa experiences extreme energy fluctuations and failure of key systems including weather control the Da Vinci is called in. Meanwhile young Eddie Johnson left to his own devices when his father attends a conference makes a new and unexpected friend while exploring some caverns.

Where Time Stands Still by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
The mysterious Delta Triangle which had swallowed space vessels for years was recently breached by the Enterprise under the command of Captain Kirk (See Animated Series) and the Da Vinci is ordered to make contact with the Elysian Council and offer technology to allow them to leave this mysterious vortex where time runs differently. However not everyone is keen to leave and for some the galaxy beyond the Triangle is full of dangers.

The Art of the Deal by Glenn Greenberg
Rod Portlyn is a "tycoon" who operates outside of the Federation and has amassed huge wealth and influence. An offer to partner his business with the Federation and together build a huge research complex is signed off on and the Da Vinci tasked to coordinate and help initial construction. However when bomb attacks on other Portlyn owned operations occur the Da Vinci investigates and finds that no everything is as squeaky clean as the Federation would want it to be.

Spin by J. Steven York & Christina F. York
An alien space ship within the Lokak system will collide with the home world, unable to prevent the catastrophe the former Breen controlled (aka occupied) world calls for help. The Da Vinci find a very unusual ship and as pressure mounts to destroy it Captain Gold and his crew strive to save the ship and discover its purpose.

Creative Couplings by Glenn Hauman & Aaron Rosenberg
Captain Golds granddaughter Esther was marrying Khor the son of the current Klingon Ambassador to the Federation. As you might expect juggling the demands of a traditional Klingon wedding and those of the Jewish faith is complicated and Gold finds himself at the center of dozens of demands.
Meanwhile a few of the crew have taken the time to help a friend at Starfleet Academy to test a new Starship design using the huge holosuites of the complex. They also double up the testing to include the latest graduate class to see how they handle the unexpected and yes that is what happens when the testing is compromised and safety protocols are offline.

Small World by David Mack
Araneus one of the last of his people in the universe is fleeing towards a star system within Federation boundaries with a treasure whose value to him is beyond imagining. He is being pursued by an alien force who want the prize to aid them in a war for their freedom but once under protection of the Da Vinci the mysterious prize is far more than any of them could have imagined.

This latest omnibus is excellent on all counts, the stories are entertaining but I have to say Captain Gold handling the politics of a marriage was the highlight perhaps in thanks to seeing the Klingon ceremony in DS9. Highly recommended and already purchased the 11th omnibus release :)



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Wildfire

Wildfire by David Mack
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wildfire is the the sixth release from the Starfleet Corp of Engineers series which was initially novellas but has now been repackaged as a collection of stories in each anthology/omnibus. This novel contains three stories.



ENIGMA SHIP by J. Steven York & Christina F. York

The USS Lincoln while escorting two freighters mysteriously vanishes, scans indicate the presence of some sort of anomaly and the USS da Vinci is sent to investigate and relive the initial responder USS Chinook which has a more pressing engagement. Upon arrival they find that the chief engineer of one of the freighters and two personnel from the Chinook are also missing but the engineer somehow with limited equipment breached the anomaly. The da Vinci need to identify what the anomaly is, how to get inside and how if possible to rescue a starship and crew.
A high concept story which taxed the ingenuity of the SCE to their limits and made use of the common sense and experiences of the crew to bring about a resolution.

WAR STORIES by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Overseer Biron of the Androssi is still smarting over his "defeats" at the hands of the crew of the USS da Vinci, unbeknown to his sponsor he uses his commands resources to secure logs and other sensitive date from a spy to learn more about the crew of the SCE ship. A very interesting story which was dominated by flashbacks to give us more back story of the crew of the da Vinci.

WILDFIRE by David Mack

A distress call from the USS Orion which is testing the "wildfire" device deep in the atmosphere of a gas giant in an unclaimed system is received by Starfleet and time is of the essence not only to save the crew but secure the technology as it's finders keepers in neutral space. The da Vinci arrives on seen and enters the gas giant and slowly makes it way deeper into the heart of the turbulent gas giant in search of the Orion and the wildfire torpedo. Strained to the limit with life and death resting on a knife edge the da Vinci suffers a catastrophic event, the crew faced with limited resources and the wildfire device on a countdown to ignition make terrible decisions and sacrifices have to be made.
Wildfire is perhaps the one story I have been waiting for, I had the basic plot of this novel already in my mind thanks to a podcast interview many moons ago but even so this story stuck the knife in and twisted. A real pay off for readers who have followed the series from the beginning and written with pace and tension which serves the situation the ship and her crew find themselves in.
David Mack did a magnificent job.


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SCE Foundations

SCE Foundations: STAR TREK SCE by Dayton Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fifth collection of Starfleet Corp of Engineers stories is entitled "Foundations" written by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore and is a little different to previous collections in that it primarily focuses on a single character (Montgomery Scott) and deals with his early interactions with the SCE before many decades later he eventually led this branch of Starfleet. While there are four distinct stories they combine to form a whole which expands on the Scotty we knew from the tv and movies as well as providing more depth and history to the SCE.
The novel begins in present time as the Da Vinci encounters an alien ship travelling at critically high warp for its level of technology, the ultimate solution to saving the ship and crew is from the past and this provides the framework for the flashback stories which comprise the novel.
We join Scotty soon after he gets his posting to the Enterprise but before he officially joins the crew he is put on loan to the SCE for a important mission on board a very rundown USS Lovell (the norm for the under equipped SCE at the time) however a ship full of engineers means it may not look good but under the hood it's a bit of a powerhouse. Their mission is to investigate damage and to an outpost on the Romulan neutral zone and to affect repairs, it does not go smoothly. Our next blast from past sees Scotty once again serving with the SCE on Beta III dealing with the aftermath of Landrau, again the full talents of the engineers and personnel with very different talents are needed as the centuries old computer/AI is resurrected. The third recollection from the past has Scotty once again serving with Commander Mahmud al-Khaled who is a constant element of these flashbacks as a new propulsion system designed by the Kelvans is being tested, it has a few bugs and the crew find themselves deep in unexplored space. Thanks to the talents of the engineers and one in particular the mission is resolved with benefits and the ship is returned to Federation space with the prospect of the warp scale having to be redone to accommodate the potential new speeds.

All three of these stories from Scotty's past underline the fact that the SCE needed to be more than simple starbase builders or repair crews. The addition of cultural, linguistic and diplomatically skilled crew will aid the SCE ships as they too face first contact and missions which require the skills often found only on Starships on discovery missions. The overall narrative encompases this philosophy and demonstrates the growth of the SCE over the years has produced a very flexible and talented resource for the Federation and Starfleet to call upon.



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No Surrender - SCE #4

No Surrender SCE #4
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth omnibus release from the Star Fleet Corp of Engineers series contains four stories continuing the timeline as set down in the original release of the individual tales.

The first story is "No Surrender" written by Jeff Mariotte in which the Da Vinci's Captain has a face from his past come back to haunt him as the Kursican Orbital Incarceration Platform suffers some damage and while not part of the Federation there are Federation citizens onboard and thus the SCE are tasked with securing the facility.
In Caveat Emptor written by Ian Edginton and Mike Collins a Ferengi trading vessel is abandoned by her Captain and when picked up by the Da Vinci they learn that a piece of technology from Beta III is involved. The Ferengi crew seem pleased to see these new arrivals but there is more going onboard as the landing party soon find out.
Past Life written by Robert Greenberger has a soon to be Federation member world request help after they discover a piece of technology which may have been buried on their world long before their race gained sentience. The concept of a third party guiding or intervening in the development of the Evoran people causes civil unrest and so the Da Vinci has to balance learning the purpose of this device and how to maintain relations between this worlds people and the plant with the Federation.
The final story is Oaths written by Glenn Hauman and deals with an serious outbreak on Sherman's Planet which has the potential to spread amongst the stars thanks to it's long incubation rate which allows the contagion to spread before symptoms can be identified. Dr. Elizabeth Lense has the whole world on her shoulders and we learn she had reasons for being assigned on to the Da Vinci and the story is equally balanced between the plot and a character piece.

Once again this omnibus offers a variety of Star Trek stories making use of the abilities the SCE bring to the franchise. My favourite story is probably Oaths as I had not realised Dr. Elizabeth Lense was the character first brought to screen in Deep Space Nine and how the revelations of Bashir would impact others within the service. Former Captains gone bad, Kirk's never look back philosophy and truth versus dogma all form the basis for some good Trek.

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Starfleet Corp of Engineers (Book 3)

Some Assembly Required: SCE Omnibus Book 3: by Various
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the third collection of Starfleet Corp of Engineers stories we have four more adventures of the USS da Vinci commanded by Captain David Gold with his erstwhile crew of trouble shooters.



The Riddled Post by Aaron Rosenberg
The da Vinci is tasked with investigating a mining/research outpost that has gone silent.

Here There Be Monsters by Keith R.A. DeCandido
In the aftermath of the Iconian Gateways (see Gateway series of novels) some strange creatures appear on a Tellarite colony of Marglin.

Ambush by Dave Galanter & Greg Brodeur
Delivering equipment to a mining asteroid producing elements required by the Horta to combat a plague the da Vinci is attacked by three starships.

Some Assembly Required by Scott Ciencin & Dan Jolley
A world of artists and dreamers are partitioning for Federation membership, geologic instabilities are threatening their world and in desperation they acquire the components to a planetary computer system which turns out to be not what they expected. The da Vinci sends some officers to provide assistance but they soon find themselves attempting to save a world.

As we've seen in the previous collections the stories rely on continuity in the characters and circumstances of the world the SCE operate in, this gives the reader a very far reaching opportunity to invest in these people. All four stories were entertaining and it would be hard to pick one that stood out which shows a good balance when creating this novel. I've already purchased the next two collected works so looking forward to spending more time with the da Vinci.

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Miracle Workers - S.C.E.

Miracle Workers by Keith R.A. DeCandido
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The second book in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers series presents three stories under the title "Miracle Workers". The first story is a direct continuation from the first novel as the Da Vinci deals with the USS Defiant and the Tholians in Interphase Book Two. Events are spiraling out of the control as the Tholians look to bury a dark secret and the Federation diplomatic corps seem more willing to sacrifice Starfleet personnel than stand up to this alien power.
The second story is Cold Fusion and this where Deep Space Nine makes its presence felt post the Dominion War as the Da Vinci is tasked with meeting with Lt. Nog to salvage the fusion core from the Cardassian station Empok Nor for use on DS9. Complications arise when they find that they are not alone.
The final story "Invincible" concentrates on Commander Sonya Gomez who has been on detached duty from the Da Vinci and working on the planet Sarindar on a project which has been suffering many issues. The Nalori in a reversal of nearly two centuries of mild xenophobia invited Starfleet into their space to help fix the problems and in return will open up their space to Starfleet long range exploration ships. Gomez (formerly of the Enterprise) has immediate success until a number of the workers are slaughtered by something thought to be legend and no help is forthcoming.
Miracle Workers maintains the strong character driven elements of the SCE series, the second part of Interphase demonstrates the publishers/editors will embrace longer stories when required and this mix seems to be a winner.


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