- This article is about TNG novel. You may be looking for TOS comic: "The Peacekeeper".
The Peacekeepers is a 1988 Star Trek: The Next Generation novel by Gene DeWeese, the second book in the Pocket Books initial line of numbered TNG novels.
Description[]
- Exploring a deserted alien spaceship, Lieutenant Commander Data and Lieutenant Geordi La Forge suddenly find themselves transported light-years away—into the middle of a deadly conflict!
- While Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise search feverishly for the missing crewmen, Data and La Forge discover they are in a station almost identical to the one they were exploring, high in orbit around an Earth-type world. Years before, the occupants of that planet accidentally stumbled onto the ship and its advanced technology—and since then have used its weapons to keep the nations on the planet below disarmed, and at peace.
- Now their own arrival has precipitated a crisis on the station. Somehow, Data and La Forge must find a way to restore trust between the planet below and the station's guardians up above—before a final, destructive war breaks out!
Summary[]
The Enterprise discovers a 10,000 year old derelict adrift in space. An away team boards the ship to investigate, accidentally setting off the vessel's self-destruct sequence. Though the disaster is averted, La Forge and Data disappear, as the craft forcibly transports them to a distant station of similar construction. Riker and Yar return to attempt a rescue mission, again setting off the destruct protocol, but they are also transported before the ship is finally destroyed. Unfortunately, the locator beacon they brought with them malfunctions, leaving the Enterprise to begin a method search from scratch.
The long-distance transport delivers both pairs of officers to a Repository orbiting a distant world. Data and La Forge meet the leader of the orbital society, Shar-Lon, who believes them to be “Builders,” here to judge his use of their “Gifts.” The officers play along until they can learn more about their situation. Shar-Lon tells of his people’s recent history. Fifty years earlier, their species was threatened by mutually-assured destruction from the contentious nation-states’ nuclear arsenals. Shar-Lon ventured into orbit, where he had a vision of his planet turned red with blood (likely a red-shift of the Repository’s failing cloaking device). He risked his life to board the structure and, declaring himself worthy, claimed the “Gifts” for himself. He used the advanced technology to steal and destroy all of the nuclear payloads from his planet, then installed himself as the head of a new faith, and claimed all orbiting O’Neill-style habitats for his followers, the “Peacekeepers,” ultimately banishing all dissenters to the planet’s surface.
Data.
Shar-Lon’s brother, Shar-Tel, had fought his sibling but had seemingly perished in the conflict. In truth, he survived and became the leader of the dissidents, hidden away on another orbital station. Shar-Tel makes contact with Data and La Forge, revealing the secret truths behind Shar-Lon’s rise to power and soliciting their aid. Simultaneously, Shar-Lon’s second-in-command, Kel-Nar, moves to seize power for himself. With Shar-Lon out of commission, the dissidents on the planet launch a fleet in their own bid to remove the Peacekeepers from power. La Forge and Kel-Nar vie to gain control of the “Gifts,” but both the Starfleet team and Kel-Nar’s loyalist are expelled from the central chamber via transporter by the Repository’s computer. The officers find themselves adrift in space (thankfully having enough time to don EVA gear).
Worf.
The Enterprise’s search finally proves fruitful, and the starship arrives just in time to rescue Riker, Yar, Data, and Shar-Tel, while La Forge is able to make his way back inside the Repository. The alien computer tries its “initimdate” mode against the Enterprise, assuming the appearance of a massive battlecruiser, though this fails. La Forge is also rescued, and Shar-Lon survives the mutiny long enough to activate the Repository’s destruct sequence. Kel-Nar and his followers escape the structure, but are captured and arrested. Shar-Tel’s allies from the surface gain control of the orbital habitats and plan to eradicate all of the Peacekeepers, including Shar-Tel and his loyalists from the stations, as they “cannot be trusted.” Worf and Shar-Tel stage a holographic ruse to convince everyone to unify against extraterrestrial threats, ensuring that Shar-Tel and his people will be spared and reintegrated into their society. The Enterprise quietly withdraws.
Space station camouflage as a giant starship.
Study of the advanced ship and station reveal that they are the products of an ancient but paranoid species that set up many sentinel bases to keep possible future threat species safely confined to their homeworlds. The structures have several defense mechanisms, including a final stopgap of a self-destruct in order to keep their advanced technology out of “enemy” hands.
References[]
Characters[]
- Argyle • Brindle • Carpelli • Beverly Crusher • Data • Gawelski • Kel-Nar • Geordi La Forge • Lyn-Pron • Jean-Luc Picard • William T. Riker • Shar-Lon • Shar-Tel • Singh • Deanna Troi • Worf • Tasha Yar • USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) personnel • unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) personnel
- Referenced only
- Tin Woodman • Toto • Wicked Witch of the West • The Wizard
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise-D • Peacekeeper shuttlecraft
Locations[]
- Referenced only
- Oz
Shipboard locations[]
- USS Enterprise-D
- bridge • transporter room • turbolift
- Derelict station
- corridor
Stations and outposts[]
- unnamed space stations (deep space derelict, Peacekeepers' World station)
- Referenced only
- Starfleet Academy
Planetary locales[]
- Referenced only
- Kansas
Planets and planetoids[]
- Peacekeepers' World
- Referenced only
- Earth
Stars and systems[]
- Peacekeepers' system
- Referenced only
- Sol
Astronomical regions[]
Races and cultures[]
- Referenced only
- Ferengi • unnamed races and cultures (pre-contacted species)
States and organizations[]
- Council of Peacemakers • Federation • Starfleet
Science and classification[]
Technology and weapons[]
- alarm • cloaking device • combadge • computer • deflector shield • EV suit • field-effect suit (likely an EV suit) • hibernation module • impulse engine • missile • nuclear weapon • O'Neill space habitat • phaser • photon torpedo • projectile weapon • radiation shield • radiation suit • remote repair unit • self-destruct • space station • spaceship • starship • subspace circuitry • subspace radio • transporter • tricorder • turbolift • universal translator • viewscreen • VISOR • warp engine
Substances and energies[]
- antimatter • atmosphere • gas • gravity • metal • oxygen • radiation • steel
Lifeforms[]
Occupations and titles[]
- captain • chairman • Chairman of the Council of Peacemakers • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commander • commanding officer • counselor • crewman • engineer • ensign • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2350s-2360s) • first officer • flight controller • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • lieutenant junior grade • officer • operations manager • police • rank • science officer • second officer • security chief • specialist • tactical officer
Other references[]
- airlock • anatomy • away team • brain • chess • city • class M planet • clothing • communications • coordinate • decade • energy • first contact • G class star • government • heart • kilometer • lifeform • light-year • liver • lung • matter • meter • military • minute • nation-state • orbit • parsec • planet • planetary classification • prison • prison planet • psychology • races and cultures • saucer section • second • space • spectrography • star • star system • stellar classification • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2350s-2366) • technology • time • title • uniform • universe • war • weapon • The Wizard of Oz • year
Chronology[]
- tens of thousands of years ago
- Derelict vessels built.
- 20th and 21st centuries
- Geordi estimated the alien airlock to be on par with the technology of this era.
- 2310s
- Fifty years prior to the Enterprise visit, Shar-Lon uses the Builders' gifts to take power on his world.
- 24th century
Appendices[]
Background[]
A timeline released by DC Comics places this novel sometime after “When the Bough Breaks,” and sometime before “Hide and Q.”
The Pocket Books timeline for 2364 places this novel after "Hide and Q" but before "Too Short a Season". This is made problematic, however, by Chief Engineer Argyle's reference in chapter four to Assistant Chief Engineer Singh retrieving a remote repair unit from storage aboard the Enterprise. Assistant Chief Engineer Singh was killed several episodes prior, in "Lonely Among Us", necessitating a placement for this story before that episode. This is further complicated, however, by a reference late in the book to Geordi's experience with momentarily having ordinary sight in "Hide and Q", which officially takes place after "Lonely Among Us". The only possible solution, aided by the episodic nature of Season 1, is to place "Hide and Q" before "Lonely Among Us" and then place "The Peacekeepers" between those episodes, thereby placing Geordi's momentary normal sight at a time when Singh had not yet been murdered.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
The book was first published by Pocket Books in September 1988, with a near simultaneous release in the UK printed by Titan Books. The book was reprinted by Pocket in 1991.
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: Ghost Ship |
TNG numbered novels | Next novel: The Children of Hamlin |
| Previous story: Chain of Attack |
Stories by: Gene DeWeese |
Next story: The Final Nexus |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Hide and Q |
Pocket Books Timeline | Next adventure: Too Short a Season |
| Previous adventure: History Lesson |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Too Short a Season |
| Previous adventure: When the Bough Breaks |
DC Comics Timeline | Next adventure: Hide and Q |
Translations[]
- 1988
- Turkish : Barış Koruyucuları, translated by Boğaç Erkan. (Ankira Yayıncılık)
- 1989
- German : Die Friedenswächter, translated by Andreas Brandhorst. (Heyne)
- 1993
- Portuguese : Os Guardiães da Paz. (Editora Aleph)
- 1994
- Bulgarian : Пазители на мира, translated by Rumyana Delieva. (Kalpazanov)
- 1994
- Hebrew : שומרי השלום, translated by Inbal Sagiv. (Snow)
- 1995
- French : Les Gardiens, translated by Grégoire Dannereau. (Fleuve Noir)
- 1996
- Dutch : Bewaarders der vrede, translated by Rogier van Kappel. (De Boekerij)
External link[]
- The Peacekeepers article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.