Unspoken Truth

Unspoken Truth is a Star Trek: The Original Series novel by Margaret Wander Bonanno, published by Pocket Books in 2010. The book will focus on Saavik following the opening scenes of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home when she remained on Vulcan. The book will also build upon Saavik's backstory as established in the 1990 novel The Pandora Principle.^[1]

Publisher's description

From the back cover: A social experiment was conceived. Its goal was to breed the best, the brightest, the most malleable and most loyal soldiers to ever serve. To this end, the Romulan Empire used its own children, blinded by the belief that anything that would bring glory to the praetor was justified. And when the winds of politics changed, these children were abandoned, left to die on a world so horrifying that it was dubbed—by those who dared to cling to life—Hellguard.

One wild child, Saavik, was rescued by Spock. He took the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan child home to his parents, knowing that if anyone could reach and rescue Saavik, it was them.

Now a Starfleet officer, Saavik has striven to honor her mentor and her Vulcan heritage. But recent events have shaken her. Left behind on Vulcan while the rest of the Enterprise crew goes to face court-martial for stealing and destroying their ship, the young science officer is adrift when two men from her past confront her. Tolek, another Hellguard survivor, tells Saavik that the survivors are being killed one-by-one and only they can discover who and why. The other, a Romulan who claims to be her father, swears it is the Vulcans who are eliminating the Hellguard survivors because they are an embarrassment to all of Vulcan Vulcan, but that she has the power to stop it, by bringing down the Vulcan ambassador, Sarek.

Not knowing where to turn, not knowing whom to trust, Saavik must find her own answers, and discover who she truly is.

Summary

This article or section is incomplete
This article is marked as lacking essential detail, and needs attention. Information regarding expansion requirements may be found on the article's talk page. Feel free to edit this page to assist with this expansion.

From an interview with the author: "It starts with the scene in The Voyage Home where Saavik and Amanda are watching the Bounty take off for Earth and the trial of the Enterprise Seven. Saavik is more or less at loose ends, a bit shell-shocked from recent events, and trying to decide what to do with the rest of her life. She signs up for what she hopes will be a quiet mission on a science vessel cataloguing plants on a distant world, and ends up fighting for her sanity and her life against forces from her past trying to lay claim to both. It's a bit of a murder mystery, a bit of a spy novel, with a love affair tossed in for seasoning. Have to leave you with that for the moment, I'm afraid."

Besides her appearances in the movies, Saavik has also appeared elsewhere in Trek literature, which leads to the question of where Margaret turned to when working on her interpretation of the character. "I'm relying somewhat on Carolyn Clowes' excellent novel The Pandora Principle," she reveals. "In the novelization of The Wrath of Khan, Vonda McIntyre makes passing reference to Saavik's being half-Romulan and an orphan from a planet called Hellguard, but isn't able to go into a lot of detail. Clowes takes that concept much further, showing us a feral child surviving on a hostile world when the Romulans abandon it. I'm paying homage to that in a number of flashbacks, tweaking it a bit to fit my story.

"Simultaneously," she adds, "I'm trying my best to stay true to the onscreen Saavik, but leaning more toward Robin Curtis rather than Kirstie Alley in both appearance and performance, and here's why: Vulcans may say they have no emotions, but that's only one of many unspoken truths. The emotions are there; they're just constantly held in check. Add Romulan heritage to that, and you've got a simmering volcano, which cannot allow itself to erupt. That's what I saw in Robin's performance, and that's what can be explored in a novel, through internal monologues, that can only be hinted at onscreen."

References

Characters

Pavel Chekov • Cheung • Eyris • Graana • Amanda Grayson • Jaoui • James T. Kirk • Lerius • Loth • Lumbricina • Leonard McCoy • Metana • Mikal • Galina Mironova • Narak • Palousek • Rajek • Saavik • Sarek • Scolex • Montgomery Scott • Simar • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • T'Lar • T'Saan • Ta'oob • Tolek • Nyota Uhura • Worm

Referenced only: John Donne • Elements • Jonathan Esteban • God • Kruge • Akira Kurasawa • David Marcus • Peltam • Rejac • Ryū • Rota Sevrin • William Shakespeare • Khan Noonien Singh • Surak • T'Pau • Zora

Starships and vehicles

aircar • HMS Bounty • Cetacean Probe • USS Chaffee • USS Enterprise • USS Grissom • Kobayashi Maru

Other references

a'lazb • Aldebaran shellmouth • biota • boot • Bringers of Medicines • cancer • cardamom • Carrington Award • Carstairs Medal • cat • ch'Kariya • chess • chia • chiroptera • Communion • couch • credit • creosote • dataslate • Denebian slime devil • dice • disruptor • Document of Recantation • elf • Eugenics Wars • Fabrini Book of the People • fal-tor-pan • Federation Standard • fungus • gagh • ghost • gli snake • In the Groove • Jefferies tube • kahs-wan • katra • kickball • knife • Kobayashi Maru scenario • Kolinahr • Kropasar Journal of Applied Biotechnology • le-matya • lice • lichen • lizard • Lost Library of Sarpeidon • mind-meld • mint • moss rose • moth • PADD • phaser • phytoplankton • pi • plaberry pastries • pon farr • portulaca • prune juice • pseudolichen • Queen Anne's lace • Que Sera, Sera • raktajino • Rashomon • rat • regen treatment • robot • rose • Rosetta stone • Royal Museum of Epsilon Hydra VII • sandal • scotch • Sepec Award • sonic shower • squid • squirt • strangle-vine • Sundering • Taxus brevifolia • tea • tharavul • thistle • tin • tocsin • tricorder • uniform • universal translator • vampire • verbena • Vulcan • whale • witch • yew • yonsavas • Zora's Equation

Minerals, compounds, and substances

3-nitrophthalic acid • antimicrobial sera • augite • barium • basanite • carbonatite • copper • feldspathoids • fluorine • ilmenite • iron • magnetite • niobium • olivine • phosphorus • plagio clase • Rapamycin • salt • sandalwood • silver • teakwood • thermocrete • thorium • titanium • uranium • zirconium

Chronology

8000 BCE: The Fabrini Book of the People is written. (Referenced)

Thousands of years ago: The Deemanot visit the Earth cultures of Egypt and Babylon. (Referenced)

4th century: The Sundering occurs on Vulcan. (Referenced)

1935: The Lebensborn eugenics program begins in Germany. (Referenced)

1996: The Eugenics Wars end. (Referenced)

2067: Eminiar VII and Vendikar begin their computer war. (Referenced)

Long ago: Zora engages in brutal medical experiments on the planet Tiburon. (Referenced)

Before 2264: Narak is ordered to give his genetic material to the Romulan Star Empire's eugenics program. (Referenced)

2264: Saavik is born on Hellguard. (Referenced)

Prior to 2267: Redjac kills on Heliopolis. (Referenced)

2264-2274: Saavik is determined to be a 'reject' of the Romulan eugenics program which created her. When the Hellguard facility is deserted, she and other 'rejects' are left behind, forgotten. (Referenced and in-story)

Stardate 3141.9: Khan Noonien Singh is exiled by the USS Enterprise on the planet Ceti Alpha V. (Referenced)

Stardate 3196.1: Spock mind-melds with a Horta. (Referenced)

Stardate 3372.7: Spock fights James T. Kirk in traditional Koon-ut-kal-if-fee. (Referenced)

Stardate 3614.9: Redjac is defeated by the crew of the USS Enterprise. (Referenced)

Stardate 5832.3: Rota Sevrin leads the Eden Movement until his death. (Referenced)

2274: Saavik is rescued from Hellguard by Spock. (Referenced)

2274-2281: Saavik is raised by Sarek and Amanda Grayson on Vulcan. (Referenced and in-story)

2281: Saavik chooses to join Starfleet and Sarek agrees that she will be wed after her graduation. (Referenced)

Stardate 8130.3: Saavik receives guidance from James T. Kirk during his battles with Khan Noonien Singh. (Referenced)

2285: Saavik engages in a romantic relationship with David Marcus. (Referenced)

Stardate 8210.3: Saavik locates Spock on the Genisis Planet and aids him in pon farr. The USS Grissom is destroyed. David Marcus is killed by Klingons. (Referenced)

2286: Saavik questions her role in Starfleet. On Vulcan she meets another survivor of Hellguard who warns her that the others like them are being killed. Saavik ships out on the USS Chaffee to Deema III and begins a romantic relationship with Mikal. (In-story)

2287: Saavik returns to Vulcan, meets her father and half-sister, learns the Romulans want her help in ending Sarek's career, and returns to Starfleet. (In-story)

Appendices

Timeline

Published Order
Previous novel: Inception	TOS novels	Next novel: The Children of Kings
Previous story: Its Hour Come Round	Stories by: Margaret Wander Bonanno	Next story: *Most recent Star Trek* story**
Chronological Order
Previous adventure: Not yet placed	Memory Beta Chronology	Next adventure: Not yet placed

External link

Unspoken Truth article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

Unspoken Truth

Contents

Publisher's description

Summary

References

Characters

Starships and vehicles

Starship classes

Locations

Races and cultures

States and organizations