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No Limits is a Star Trek: New Frontier short story anthology edited by Peter David (with Keith R.A. DeCandido). Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in October 2003.

Summary[]

From the book jacket
In 1997, Star Trek: New Frontier debuted and became an instant sensation, chronicling the exciting adventures of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the USS Excalibur, as told by New York Times bestselling author Peter David.
Now, over a dozen books later, Peter David has gathered some of the finest Star Trek authors to tell new tales of the Excalibur crew:
Dayton Ward's thrilling adventure from Calhoun's sordid past
Loren L. Coleman's tale of Elizabeth Shelby's first experience with the Borg
Robert Greenberger's origin of "Lefler's Laws"
Susan Shwartz' adventure with Soleta and Ambassador Spock
Terri Osborne's chronicle of Selar's encounter with the Q
David Mack's tale of the longest day of Zak Kebron's life
Plus stories by Keith R.A. DeCandido, Susan Wright, Josepha Sherman, Ilsa J. Bick, Kevin Dilmore, Christina F. York, Robert T. Jeschonek, Peg Robinson, Mary Scott-Wiecek, Allyn Gibson, and Glenn Hauman & Lisa Sullivan.
Added Bonus! Peter David himself tells the untold story of Calhoun and Shelby's honeymoon on Xenex!

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Contents[]

Introduction
by Peter David
"Loose Ends"
by Dayton Ward, featuring Mackenzie Calhoun
Future Excalibur captain and current Starfleet Intelligence operative Mackenzie Calhoun sneaks aboard a Romulan ship to destroy an experimental Starfleet cloaking device after the events of TNG: "The Pegasus".
"All That Glisters..."
by Loren L. Coleman, featuring Elizabeth Shelby
"Waiting for G'Doh or, How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People"
by David Mack, featuring Zak Kebron
Zak Kebron goes undercover as a park statue to track down a man wanted by the Federation and inadvertently winds up foiling an assassination attempt on a planetary leader.
"Lefler's Logs"
by Robert Greenberger, featuring Robin Lefler
"Alice, on the Edge of Night"
by Ilsa J. Bick, featuring Morgan Primus
"Revelations"
by Keith R.A. DeCandido, featuring Soleta
"Turning Point"
by Josepha Sherman, featuring Si Cwan
Details Si Cwan's life as a member of the royal family of his homeworld of Thallon and the court intrigue he has to deal with.
"'Q'uandary"
by Terri Osborne, featuring Selar

Details Excalibur chief medical officer Dr. Selar's encounter with the female Q during the Q Civil War.

"Oil and Water"
by Robert T. Jeschonek, featuring Burgoyne 172
"Singularity"
by Christina F. York, featuring Mark McHenry
"The Road to Edos"
by Kevin Dilmore, featuring Arex
"A Lady of Xenex"
by Peg Robinson, featuring D'ndai of Calhoun
"Making a Difference"
by Mary Scott-Wiecek
Takes place just before the start of the series and details how Morgan Korsmo, the previous captain of Excalibur, died in battle against the Borg. Also shows how Marika Wilkarah was assimilated.
"Performance Appraisal"
by Allyn Gibson, featuring Kat Mueller
Set aboard the USS Grissom prior to the events of Once Burned; a terse confrontation with the Romulan Tomalak along the Neutral Zone forces Kat Mueller to take command during a risky maneuver to save the Grissom from falling into Romulan hands.
"Redemption"
by Glenn Hauman & Lisa Sullivan, featuring Xant
"Out of the Frying Pan"
by Susan Shwartz, featuring Soleta
"Through the Looking Glass"
by Susan Wright, featuring Burgoyne 172
"A Little Getaway"
by Peter David, featuring Calhoun and Shelby
Details Calhoun's and Shelby's honeymoon on his home planet Xenex and the amusing trials Shelby undertakes to show the local populace her love for Calhoun.
The New Frontier Timeline
compiled by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Background information[]

  • The idea of a New Frontier anthology was first broached by Pocket editor John Ordover. Peter David, who until this point had been the only writer on the series, noted in the introduction to the anthology, that he was apprehensive about the idea of handing over "his" characters to other authors.
  • Ordover then sought out story ideas from Star Trek authors, after announcing the idea of the anthology at one of the regular lunches he organized. (Voyages of Imagination, p. 629)
  • One of the few stipulations of the anthology was that the stories could not be set during the timeline of the series proper, to avoid affecting the ongoing story line (although David himself broke that rule with the final story, "A Little Getaway"). ("Introduction")
  • When the story ideas began to arrive, David found his apprehension lessening as the pitches showed him "the breadth of interest that New Frontier had for its readers" and that the authors were genuinely interested in telling stories in this universe. ("Introduction")
  • At the beginning of 2003, DeCandido, who was now assisting David in an editorial role (although only David would be credited on the cover), approached a number of other authors, including several veterans of the Strange New Worlds contests, to pitch further stories to fill gaps in the anthology. Because of the short time remaining to finish the anthology, these stories often meant the authors had to turn around their manuscripts in only a couple of weeks. (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 627, 630-633, 635)
  • Terri Osbourne's story was based on an idea from Peter David, to feature every character played by Suzie Plakson in a single tale. This became Selar only, after Paramount requested that K'Ehleyr be taken out. (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 630-631)

Characters[]

Main characters[]

Mackenzie Calhoun
Elizabeth Shelby
Selar
Zak Kebron
Robin Lefler
Morgan Primus
Soleta
Si Cwan
Burgoyne 172
Mark McHenry
Arex
Kat Mueller
Xant


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