The Needs of the Many (short story)

This article is about the DS9 short story. You may be looking for the STO novel The Needs of the Many.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow: The following content contains spoilers!

"The Needs of the Many" is a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine short story published in November 2024 in Star Trek: Explorer, Issue 13. It was written by Rich Handley and illustrated by Andy Walker.

References[]

Characters[]

Vic Fontaine • Kathryn Janeway • N'Vesh • T'Pel • Tuvok
Referenced only: Chakotay • Sammy Davis, Jr. • the Doctor • Caretaker • Tom Paris • Q • Frank Sinatra • Spock • Surak

Starships and vehicles[]

Referenced only: Val Jean • USS Voyager

Other references[]

blood • coffee • copper • decade • desert • dreadnought • emotion • espionage • honor • hour • kel'nayet • kolinahr • language • le-matya • logic • microphone • My Way • nebula • piano • quadrant • Rat Pack • rock • shore leave • sickbay • spaceport • starship • suicide • warp ten • year

Appendices[]

Related media[]

DS9 short story: "His Way"
TNG episode & novelization: Encounter at Farpoint
VOY episode: "Threshold"
VOY episode & novelization: Caretaker

Background[]

Vic mentioned Starfleet meeting Q the first time in TNG episode & novelization: Encounter at Farpoint.
Vic mentioned events from VOY episode: "Threshold".
Tuvok recalled events from VOY episode & novelization: Caretaker.

Connections[]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine collected short stories, novellas and short novels
The Lives of Dax	"Second Star to the Right..." • "First Steps" • "Dead Man's Hand" • "Old Souls" • "Sins of the Mother" • "Infinity" • "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor" • "The Music Between the Notes" • "Reflections" • "... and straight on 'til morning"
Prophecy and Change	"Revisited" • "Ha'mara" • "The Orb of Opportunity" • "Broken Oaths" • "... Loved I Not Honor More" • "Three Sides to Every Story" • "The Devil You Know" • "Foundlings" • "Chiaroscuro" • "Face Value" • "The Calling"
Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Volume One ("Cardassia: The Lotus Flower" • "Andor: Paradigm") • Volume Two ("Trill: Unjoined" • "Bajor: Fragments and Omens") • Volume Three ("Ferenginar: Satisfaction is Not Guaranteed" • "The Dominion: Olympus Descending")
Strange New Worlds	I ("Life's Lessons" • "Where I Fell Before My Enemy") • II ("Research" • "Change of Heart") • III ("Ninety-three Hours" • "Dorian's Diary" • "The Bottom Line" • "The Best Defense..." • "An Errant Breeze") • IV ("Captain Proton and the Orb of Bajor" • "Isolation Ward 4") • V ("Fear, Itself") • VI ("Fabrications" • "Urgent Matter" • "Best Tools Available") • VII ("Infinite Bureaucracy" • "Barclay Program Nine") • 8 ("Trek" • "Gumbo" • "Promises Made" • "Always a Price") • 9 ("Shadowed Allies" • "Living on the Edge of Existence" • "The Last Tree on Ferenginar: A Ferengi Fable From the Future" • "The Tribbles' Pagh") • 10 ("So a Horse Walks into a Bar..." • "Signal to Noise") • 2016 ("The Façade of Fate" • "The Manhunt Pool" • "The Dreamer and the Dream")
Star Trek: Explorer	"A Night In" • "By Special Request" • "The Mission" • "Things Can Only Get Better" • "Frontier Medicine" • "The Victim" • "You Can't Buy Fate" • "Lost and Founder" • "A Year to the Day I Saw Myself Die" • "Academy Acquisition" • "The Snake and the Worm" • "The Needs of the Many"
Misc. short stories	"The Badlands, Part IV" • "The Second Artifact" • "Mirror Eyes" • "Requital" • "The Officers' Club" • "A Terrible Beauty"
Misc. novellas & short novels	"Horn and Ivory" • "Saturn's Children" • "Seeds of Dissent" • "A Gutted World"

Short stories published in magazines
TV21 Weekly	TOS stories	"Gateway to the Future"
Stardate Magazine	TOS stories	"Force of Law" • "The Killax Vendetta" • "Planetfall" • "Coronation Presumptuous" • "Boarding Party" • "Roleplaying in the Final Frontier"
Amazing Stories	TNG stories	"Last Words" • "On the Scent of Trouble" • "Life Itself is Reason Enough" • "Bedside Matters"
Amazing Stories	VOY stories	"When Push Comes to Shove" • "A Night at Sandrine's" • "The Space Vortex of Doom"
Star Trek Magazine	STO stories	"Unexpected Honor" • "Shakedown" • "The Gale, Part 1" • "The Gale, Part 2" • "Mirror Image, Part 1" • "Mirror Image, Part 2" • "Chief, Part 1" • "Chief, Part 2" • "Of Chaos and Kal-toh, Part 1" • "Of Chaos and Kal-toh, Part 2" • "Dove" • "Backchannel Negotiations" • "There's No Place Like..." • "Locks Without Keys, Part 1" • "Locks Without Keys, Part 2" • "Hope Remains" • "After the Storm" • "Recruitment Drive" • "Time of the Scotsman" • "An Honorable Frontier"
Star Trek: Explorer	stories	"All That Most Maddens and Torments" • "Q and False" • "A Night In" • "The Offer" • "Seven ﹥ Seven" • "Quality of Life" • "Retribution" • "Broken Oaths" • "The Way to Exile" • "Kill Captain Proton!" • "Cumulative Damage" • "Explorers of the Storm" • "Prey" • "Growing Pains" • "Pulaski 2.0" • "The Disavowed" • "By Special Request" • "Paghabi" • "The Expert" • "The Guardian" • "The Mission" • "Things Can Only Get Better" • "Frontier Medicine" • "Control" • "The Victim" • "Scramble" • "You Can't Buy Fate" • "Summer Days Can Last Forever" • "The Kellidian Kidnapping" • "Lost and Founder" • "A Year to the Day I Saw Myself Die" • "See and Seen" • "Work Worth Doing" • "The Trouble with Jones" • "Sundering" • "Academy Acquisition" • "Jack of Diamonds" • "A Dish Served Cold" • "Forewarned and Three-Armed" • "Working Miracles" • "Confirmation Bias" • "Dignified Transfer" • "Attempted Break-in" • "Cat and Mouse" • "Housewarming" • "The Sirius Snarl" • "Memoriam" • "The Simulation" • "Chekov's Challenge" • "The Snake and the Worm" • "Freeblade" • "The Needs of the Many"• "Family History" • "In Two Minds" • "My Name is Mudd" • "The Lost Noel" • "Into the Cardassian Quagmire"

Timeline[]

published order
Previous story: Freeblade	short stories (Star Trek: Explorer)	Next story: Family History
Previous story: The Snake and the Worm Star Trek: Explorer	DS9 short stories	Next story: latest story
Previous story: Cat and Mouse Star Trek: Explorer	Stories by: Rich Handley	Next story: most recent work
chronological order
Previous adventure: Adjustments Strange New Worlds 10	Memory Beta Chronology	Next adventure: Homecoming chapters 9 - 20
The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 2378. The Memory Beta Chronology places events from this story in 1 other timeframe(s):
Previous adventure: Beginnings Strange New Worlds VII	2366 flashback scene	Next adventure: Maturation section 6 Strange New Worlds 9

The Needs of the Many (short story)

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