Things Can Only Get Better

"Things Can Only Get Better" is a DS9 short story published in Star Trek Explorer magazine. It was written by Una McCormack, edited by Jonathan Wilkins, and released in February 2023 in Explorer, Issue 6, and collected in Titan Magazines's "The Mission" and Other Stories omnibus in 2024.

Description[]

Kira Nerys and Garak discuss their opposing ideologies.

References[]

Referenced only: Deep Space 9 (infirmary) • Kelvas IV

Races and cultures[]

Bajoran • Cardassian

Referenced only: Changeling • Founders • Human • Jem'Hadar • Vulcan

States and organizations[]

Cardassian Resistance • Dominion • Federation • Obsidian Order • Starfleet

Science and classification[]

biobed • communications • distress signal • engine • helm • photon torpedo • replicator • sensor • transmission • weapon

Occupations and titles[]

spy • agent • civilian • commander • diplomat • first officer • head of state • legate • liaison officer • refugee

Other references[]

death • hair • love • minute • rokassa juice • sleep • war

Appendices[]

Related media[]

DS9 episode: "Tacking Into the Wind"
DS9 - Prophecy and Change short story: "Face Value"

Background[]

The deaths of Corat Damar's wife and son, and of his friend Sigol Rusot, occurred not long before.

Images[]

Connections[]

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"

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"

Timeline[]

published order
Previous story: The Mission	short stories (Star Trek: Explorer)	Next story: Frontier Medicine
Previous story: The Mission	short stories ("The Mission" and Other Stories)	Next story: Frontier Medicine
Previous story: The Mission Star Trek: Explorer	DS9 short stories	Next story: Frontier Medicine Star Trek: Explorer
Previous story: Second Self	Stories by: Una McCormack	Next story: Jack of Diamonds Star Trek: Explorer
chronological order
Previous adventure: Tacking Into the Wind	Memory Beta Chronology	Next adventure: War Stories, Book 1 Star Trek: Corps of Engineers
Previous adventure: Tacking Into the Wind	Deep Space Nine Adventures	Next adventure: An Errant Breeze Strange New Worlds III

Publication history[]

28 February 2023: First printed in Star Trek: Explorer, Issue 6.
31 January 2024: Excerpt released at StarTrek.com.
13 February 2024: Collected in "The Mission" and Other Stories omnibus.

External link[]

"Things Can Only Get Better" excerpt at StarTrek.com.