A review by readbyfred
The Peacekeepers by Gene DeWeese
3.0
Part of BookTrek2021 (September is ST:TNG)
It wasn’t all that bad. Seriously, I’m surprised.
The story starts out well, the Enterprise is exploring new territory and encounters a derelict spacecraft, at least 10,000 years old, that seems to be functioning on very minimal power. An away team is beamed over to investigate but unfortunately it’s a pretty boring investigation. I would have liked to have been given little bits of information of the aliens who built this spacecraft, or some crumbs as to what it was for … but nothing, nada - it’s just empty corridors with empty rooms.
Reading the book I see that DeWeese waited to the end to give us some details, but honestly, I would have liked a couple crumbs up front.
Anyway, spoiler free, LaForge and Data are transported off the derelict to somewhere else, leaving Picard and the crew shaking their fists at the apparently not-so-dead derelict. While Picard is making Worf run scans of every inch of space, ordering Riker and Argyle to search all the compartments of the ship, and wearing down the bridge carpets with his pacing, LaForge and Data wake up inside a smaller version of the derelict wondering how they got there and seeing a cryo-chamber (which is never explained) and a helmet ... yes, the helmet that is is important to the plot.
Fiddling around a bit must have triggered an alarm because LaForge and Data are approached by an alien away team (no, not the aliens who built the derelict) and are brought to the Peacekeepers station. These folks keep the peace on the planet below, sort of. It’s not a spoiler to tell you that there’s only one guy (Shar-Lon) that actually keeps the peace - LaForge and Data meet him and he goes on about finding the derelict and using it to keep the peace on the planet below. Why is it not a spoiler? Because the Peacekeepers as a organization do not play a role in the plot.
Again, no details on the aliens who built the derelict. Shar-Lon doesn’t know them either.
Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, Riker comes up with a plan to get the missing crewmen back, a plan that is, quite frankly, crazy - but hey, it’s Star Trek so I’ll let it slide. Picard allows Riker to proceed and ends up losing another two crew members - Riker and Yar. Really Tasha, really?
What’s unbelievable is that Riker and Yar actually end up beaming to the same derelict as Data and LaForge were beamed to. That tells me that they are incredibly lucky; or, that the main derelict was programmed to beam occupants to only that destination - again DeWeese gives us nothing. Nothing in the story implies LaForge and Data were still alive - their atoms could have been dispersed throughout space or transported into a Sun. We only have Riker’s “hunch” which, turns out, was right.
Long story short, Riker and Yar find Data and LaForge and they are reunited with the Enterprise. Oh, of course there are the peacekeepers orbiting the planet and one guy trying to kill another guy, that same guy vying for power, another guy lying to the guy whose life is in danger, then most of those guys ganging up and beating Worf in a team building exercise. Worf, by the way is acting (they’d never stand a chance against Worf).
I agree with Captain Picard about how it all ended - embarrassing. :p
It wasn’t all that bad. Seriously, I’m surprised.
The story starts out well, the Enterprise is exploring new territory and encounters a derelict spacecraft, at least 10,000 years old, that seems to be functioning on very minimal power. An away team is beamed over to investigate but unfortunately it’s a pretty boring investigation. I would have liked to have been given little bits of information of the aliens who built this spacecraft, or some crumbs as to what it was for … but nothing, nada - it’s just empty corridors with empty rooms.
Reading the book I see that DeWeese waited to the end to give us some details, but honestly, I would have liked a couple crumbs up front.
Anyway, spoiler free, LaForge and Data are transported off the derelict to somewhere else, leaving Picard and the crew shaking their fists at the apparently not-so-dead derelict. While Picard is making Worf run scans of every inch of space, ordering Riker and Argyle to search all the compartments of the ship, and wearing down the bridge carpets with his pacing, LaForge and Data wake up inside a smaller version of the derelict wondering how they got there and seeing a cryo-chamber (which is never explained) and a helmet ... yes, the helmet that is is important to the plot.
Fiddling around a bit must have triggered an alarm because LaForge and Data are approached by an alien away team (no, not the aliens who built the derelict) and are brought to the Peacekeepers station. These folks keep the peace on the planet below, sort of. It’s not a spoiler to tell you that there’s only one guy (Shar-Lon) that actually keeps the peace - LaForge and Data meet him and he goes on about finding the derelict and using it to keep the peace on the planet below. Why is it not a spoiler? Because the Peacekeepers as a organization do not play a role in the plot.
Again, no details on the aliens who built the derelict. Shar-Lon doesn’t know them either.
Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, Riker comes up with a plan to get the missing crewmen back, a plan that is, quite frankly, crazy - but hey, it’s Star Trek so I’ll let it slide. Picard allows Riker to proceed and ends up losing another two crew members - Riker and Yar. Really Tasha, really?
What’s unbelievable is that Riker and Yar actually end up beaming to the same derelict as Data and LaForge were beamed to. That tells me that they are incredibly lucky; or, that the main derelict was programmed to beam occupants to only that destination - again DeWeese gives us nothing. Nothing in the story implies LaForge and Data were still alive - their atoms could have been dispersed throughout space or transported into a Sun. We only have Riker’s “hunch” which, turns out, was right.
Long story short, Riker and Yar find Data and LaForge and they are reunited with the Enterprise. Oh, of course there are the peacekeepers orbiting the planet and one guy trying to kill another guy, that same guy vying for power, another guy lying to the guy whose life is in danger, then most of those guys ganging up and beating Worf in a team building exercise. Worf, by the way is acting (they’d never stand a chance against Worf).
I agree with Captain Picard about how it all ended - embarrassing. :p