Description[]
- Klingon Captain Krenn is a ruthless war strategist. But on a mission to Earth, Krenn learns a lesson in peace.
- Suddenly he must fight a secret battle of his own. His Empire has a covert plan to shatter the Federation. Only Krenn can prevent a war - at the risk of his own life!
Summary[]
Kirk witnesses many of the Enterprise crew returning from shore leave, having been affected by a new novel, The Final Reflection, which Starfleet insists is entirely fictional. McCoy gives Kirk a copy of the book to read.
The novel tells the story of a Klingon orphan named Vrenn, who after impressing in a game using real people as pieces was adopted by a Klingon admiral named Kethas. Vrenn eventually joined the Klingon Navy and provided a strategy to defeat a Romulan attack. Soon after, he was informed that Kethas had been involved in a plot to make a secret treaty with the Romulans. Kethas was executed but Vrenn was absolved and allowed to assume a new identity as a captain named Krenn.
Some years later, Krenn was sent to attend a Babel Conference on Earth and collect a new Federation ambassador, Emanuel Tagore. Along the way, he met Maxwell Grandisson III, the leader of the Back to Earth Movement who wanted humanity to leave the Federation and remain on Earth. On the return trip, Krenn's first officer Akhil attempted to assassinate Tagore but was stopped by Krenn and his childhood friend Gelly, now an Imperial Intelligence agent, who became Krenn's consort.
Krenn and his crew later took Tagore back to Earth on a diplomatic mission. Krenn had Zharn, another childhood friend now changed into a mind-wiped assassin, released from stasis and met with Thomas Jackson McCoy, the personal physician of Grandisson (and grandfather of Leonard). Soon after, Starfleet commander-in-chief Admiral Marcus van Diemen was murdered and Grandisson fell to his death in mysterious circumstances.
Krenn and Tagore met with new commander-in-chief Admiral Douglas Tancred Shepherd and Deneva representative Carter Winston where Krenn presented them with evidence that van Diemen had been deliberately ordering Federation ships to violate the Klingon Neutral Zone and be destroyed, feeling a mutual fear of the Klingons was keeping the Federation members together. Krenn sold the evidence in exchange for information on dilithium and antimatter that will allow the Klingons to enhance their engines and weapons.
Tagore was recalled but joined Krenn in destroying a Klingon taskforce sent to bombard a Federation colony. Krenn explained that the Klingons already had the information on dilithium and anti-matter, but now both the Federation and the Klingons would view the other as too powerful to attack.
References[]
Characters[]
- James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Janice Rand • Spock • Akhil • Akten • Antaan • Atro • Auloh • Amos Blakeslee • Dezhe • Wallace Duquesne • J.M. Ford • Gelly • Graade • Maxwell Grandisson III • Amanda Grayson • Kadi • Kafter • Kalim • Kandel • Kelag • Kepool • Keppa • Kessum • Kethas epetai-Khemara • Kev • Kezhke (Kezhke zantai-Adion) • Khidri tai-Gensa • Kian • Klimor • Kodon (Kodon vestai-Karum) • Koll • Kotkhe • Kreg • Krenn (aka Vrenn, Vrenn Khemara, Krenn sutai-Rustazh) • Kurrozh • Samuel Landers • Lucy • Mabli vestai-Galann • Maida • Maktai • Margon sutai-Demma • Thomas Jackson McCoy • Merzhan • Meth • Muros • Odise • Takashi Onoda • Sally Parker • Jael Rabinowich • Ragga • Rogaine • Rokis • Ruzhe Avell • Sarek • Segon • Douglas Tancred Shepherd • Sinon • Sovin • Sudok • Emanuel Tagore • Tatell • Tirian • T'tain • Marcus van Diemen • Voloh • Luther Whitetree • Carter Winston • Zharn • Zhoka
- Referenced only
- Ankhisek • Kagga • Kang • Konli • Koth • Kovar sutai-Rustazh • Mara • Marks • Maskan • Nesheim • Mimi Panitch • Isoroku Yamamoto
Starships and vehicles[]
- Klingon Defense Force
- IKS Blue Fire (D4 class) • IKS Death Hand • IKV Devisor • IKV Fencer • IKV Fury • IKS Mirror (D5 class) • IKS Two Fingers • Vengeance
- Starfleet
- USS Avebury • USS Enterprise • USS Flying Fortress (Rickenbacker-class) • USS Glasgow (Baton Rouge-class) • USS Hokkaido • Mann-class • USS Savannah • USS Savannah II • USS Sentry
Locations[]
- Alshanai Rift • Atlanta • Aviskie • Cibola • Deneva • Earth • Federa-Terra • Florida • Georgia • Juarez-El Paso Station • Klinzhai • Rigel • Serkash II • Starbase 6 • Starbase 12 • Triskelion • White Sands
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Akademgorodok • Atlanta Constitution • Back-to-Earth Movement • Emory Medical Center • Imperial Intelligence • Klingon Contacts Branch • Klingon Empire • Makropyrios • Romulan Star Empire • Terra-Return League • United Federation of Planets • University of Chicago • University of Edinburgh • University of New Bombay • University of the Ocean of Storms
Science and classification[]
- alien •warp physics
Technology and weapons[]
Ranks and titles[]
- admiral • ambassador • author • captain • doctor • editor • Thought admiral • zan
Other references[]
- anemone • apple juice • Argelian nine-layer cocktail • Babel Conferences • Battlecruiser Vengeance • brandy • chess • Dinartian poison • Dissolution Babel • The Final Reflection • gel pastry • grape juice • kafei • klin zha • latrunculo • orange juice • pineapple juice • prune juice • rank • salt fish • Tao • tharavul • "Undefeated" • "The Vengeance Flies at Morning" • weapon • whitefang • whitefang steak • year
Appendices[]
Related media[]
Background[]
- In August 1999, this novel was reprinted as Book 1 of the Star Trek: Worlds Apart miniseries along with How Much for Just the Planet?. In 2004, it was reprinted with the TNG novel: Kahless as the Signature Edition book The Hand of Kahless.
- Published in 1984, this makes use of the timeline, events, and ships of the Spaceflight Chronology and the FASA RPG, and predates much material developed for later movies and series, which leads to some difficulties in adapting it to the now-canon chronology. For example, the relative ages of Spock and McCoy, with Spock about eight years older, stem from the best estimates of the time, but have since been superseded by later canon references.
- It is stated in the novel that at least ten years have passed since the signing of the Organian Peace Treaty, placing the framing story sometime later than 2277. If the dating relative to the Sentry/Devisor incident is accurate, the framing story is in 2283 or 2284. However, the situations presented in the framing story do not match other events of 2277, 2283, or 2284. Calibrating the FASA/SFC timeline to a canonical timeline instead would place the framing story some time in the late 2270s, and the main events throughout the 2230s.
- The Prologue establishes that in its "current year", a book was published called The Final Reflection, by an author called J.M. Ford. This device was used in similar ways in Mudd's Angels, Strangers from the Sky and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The main body of the novel is a work of historical fiction in-universe, with events told by Krenn to Tagore to Ford, and misremembered facts, artistic license and Starfleet classification potentially explaining any contradictions.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: Corona |
TOS novels | Next novel: The Search for Spock |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: The Entropy Effect |
Next Adventure: Garth of Izar | |
| The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 2270. The Pocket Books Timeline and Memory Beta Chronology place events from this story in three other timeframes: | ||
| Previous Adventure: Bum Radish: Five Spins on a Turquoise Reindeer |
2233 Part One |
Next Pocket Adventure: Burning Dreams Next MB Adventure: Star Trek Chapters 1 (section 2) & 2 |
| Previous Adventure: Last Full Measure (framing story) |
2239 Part Two |
Next Pocket Adventure: The Final Reflection Part Three Next MB Adventure: Star Trek Chapter 3 (sections 1-3) |
| Previous Pocket Adventure: The Final Reflection Part Two Previous MB Adventure: Nor Iron Bars a Cage |
2244 Part Three |
Next Pocket Adventure: Seeds of Rage Next MB Adventure: Final Frontier Chapter 1-24 |
Translations[]
- 1988
- German : Der letzte Schachzug, translated by Andreas Brandhorst. (Heyne)
External links[]
- The Final Reflection article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- The Final Reflection article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.