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A struggle between Trelane and Q endangers multiple realities of the Enterprise-D.

Summary

From the book jacket
In all of his travels Captain Jean-Luc Picard has never faced an opponent more powerful than Q, a being from another continuum that Picard encountered on his very first mission as Captain of the Starship Enterprise. In the years since, Q has returned again and again to harass Picard and his crew. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes merely obnoxious, Q has always been mysterious and seemingly all-powerful.
But this time, when Q appears, he comes to Picard for help. Apparently another member of the Q continuum has tapped into an awesome power source that makes this being more powerful than the combined might of the entire Q continuum. This renegade Q is named Trelane - also known as the Squire of Gothos, who Captain Kirk and his crew first encountered over one hundred years ago. Q explains that, armed with this incredible power, Trelane has become unspeakably dangerous.
Now Picard must get involved in an awesome struggle between super beings. And this time the stakes are not just Picard's ship, or the galaxy, or even the universe - this time the stakes are all of creation...

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

While on a mission to the Planet Terminus, three parallel Enterprises find themselves in great danger when the entity known as Trelane discovers a power unlike any other. Soon, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew are caught up in a battle not only for their lives, but for the very fabric of existence itself.

Memorable Quotes

"And you accuse me of arrogance? Picard, I could blast this ship out of existence if I felt like it. I could grow hair on your head. Turn your crew into embryos, force Worf to recite doggerel. I could turn your ship inside out, your reality outside in. I am not being condescending, Picard... not that I'm incapable of it, you understand, but this simply isn't one of the times. Now, what I most definitely am, Picard, is arrogant. Why? Because I have a reason to be. I have a right to be. So... mortal... what's your excuse?"

- Q

"What fascinating creatures those little humans are! And what a true tragedy that they develop into dour, humorless beings called adult humans."
"A tragedy, yes."

- Trelane and Q


"What... what was that all about?"
"Fate of the universe."
"Again?"

- Picard and Dr. Crusher.

Background Information

  • The audiobook version was abridged by George Truett.
  • The plot of this novel repeatedly shifts among three different parallel universes or "Tracks," consisting of:
  • This novel offers an explanation as to why Captain Kirk's middle initial in TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is seen to be R: the events of that episode are said to take place in the Track A universe. Gary Mitchell's power in the episode is also explained as being absorbed from Q, who is hiding from Trelane in the galactic barrier.
  • Trelane's name is said to be a shortening of "three lanes", indicating the three timelines that Trelane tried to control. His birth as a Q is also discussed as being a direct result of his death, mainly that when Trelane was destroyed at the end of the novel, a spark of his being remained, was named "Tre-Lane", and then became the Trelane that Kirk and company later encountered in TOS: "The Squire of Gothos". Trelane's entire existence is therefore said to be one continuous loop.

Characters

Track A

Jack Crusher
Captain of the USS Enterprise-D (alternate timeline).
Caryn Johnson
Yeoman who runs Ten Forward in this alternate timeline.
Also the real name of actress Whoopi Goldberg, whose character of Guinan fulfills the same function in Track B.

Track B

Claire
Mrs. Claire was a teacher in one timeline.

Track C

Jean-Luc Picard
Geordi La Forge
Beverly Crusher
William T. Riker
Trelane
Q
Natasha Yar
Data
Deanna Troi
Worf
Hikaru Sulu
Sela
Ensign Chafin
Named after T.A. Chafin.
Barclay
Guinan
runs Ten Forward in the alternate timelines B and C
Alexander Rozhenko
Argyle female alternate timeline A
Ensign Joseph
Cavalieri
Mot
Amanda Rogers
Wesley Crusher
Sonya Gomez
Distefano
Ensign Sanders
Lucy
Natalie
Selan
Turo
Commodore Hikaru Sulu (hologram)
Paul Manheim

References

"Cause and Effect"; "Parallels"; "The Squire of Gothos"; Starfleet; "Where No Man Has Gone Before"; "Yesterday's Enterprise"; "Tapestry"

Narendra III
Neutral Zone
Farpoint Station
USS Hood
Starfleet Template:ShipClass ship.
USS Stargazer
Starfleet Template:ShipClass ship.
Sarona VIII
Planet.
In this novel, the planet was Sarona 7

External link

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