What Price Honor? is a 2002 Enterprise novel by Dave Stern. It was the third original novel in Pocket Books' ENT novels line, and was the second original prose ENT story.
Description[]
- The starship Enterprise is humanity's flagship—the first vessel to begin a systematic exploration of what lies beyond the fringes of known space. Led by Captain Jonathan Archer, eighty of Starfleet's best and brightest set forth to pave humanity's way among the stars. Tempered by a year's worth of exploration, they are a disciplined, cohesive unit. But now one of their number has fallen.
- Bad enough that Ensign Alana Hart is dead. Worse still that she died while attempting to sabotage the Enterprise—and at the hands of Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, the ship's armory officer and her nominal superior. Even as questions swirl around Hart's death, Archer, Reed, and the rest of the Enterprise crew find themselves caught squarely in the middle of another tense situation—a brutal war of terror between two civilizations.
- But in the Eris Alpha system, nothing—and no one—are what they seem. And before the secret behind Ensign Hart's demise is exposed, Reed will be forced to confront death one more time.
Summary[]
Malcolm Reed takes it upon himself to get to know one of his staff, Ensign Alana Hart, who is something of a loner. The pair become attracted and Hart confesses that, on her previous assignment the Achilles, she killed two Vulcan hostages she mistook for pirates, an incident that was covered up by Starfleet. Reed puts an end to their burgeoning romance because it conflicts with regulations and Hart requests a transfer.
First, Enterprise answers a distress call from an outpost belonging to a race known as the Sarkassians. During an away mission, in addition to several dead Sarkassians, Reed finds an unconscious Hart and a comatose alien. The Sarkassians identify the alien as Goridian, a member of the Ta'alaat race they are at war with and the person responsible for the outpost's destruction. Hart awakes with amnesia and then tries to fire on the Sarkassian ships. She dies after Reed shoots her with a phase pistol set on stun.
Ambassador Valay Shuma and Commodore Roan S'acree of the Sarkassians board Enterprise but then Valay kills Goridian when they are alone. She then turns on Roan and strands him at the outpost. Enterprise rescues him and Roan explains the origin of the conflict: The Sarkassians discovered the Ta'alaat homeworld was home to the technology of the long-dead Anu'anshee race and they sought to appropriate it. However, the Ta'alaat worshipped the Anu'anshee as gods and saw the use as blasphemy, starting a holy war. Now the Sarkassians are on the verge of civil war between those who favor changing their policy and those who favor all-out war. However, Valay is acting without authorization.
Reed and Roan return to the outpost but are ambushed by Valay, who kills first Roan and then her own men. Reed finally realises the truth: Goridian used the Anu'anshee technology to transfer his consciousness, first into Hart and then Valay. He plans to make it appear Starfleet has allied themselves with Roan's faction and trigger off a war with Valay's faction. He attempts to transfer his consciousness to Reed but Hart's consciousness is revealed to have moved to Reed when her body died and transfers to Valay/Goridian, holding him in place long enough for Reed to kill him. The Sarkassians accept Archer's explanation for what has occurred and war is averted.
References[]
Characters[]
Enterprise personnel[]
- Jonathan Archer • Bishop • Carstairs • Elizabeth Cutler • Diaz • Duel • Alana Hart • Levy • Travis Mayweather • Donna O'Neill • Perkins • Phlox • Malcolm Reed • Santini • Hoshi Sato • T'Pol • Charles Tucker III
Other Starfleet personnel[]
- Referenced only
- Ayers • Maxwell Forrest • Jon Lyman • John Mayhill
Sarkassians and Ta'alaat[]
- Ash • Col (Sarkassian) • Kostal Goridian • Kellan • Natir • Roan S'acree • Valay Shuma
- Referenced only
- Mercantor Gol
Other characters[]
- Referenced only
- Winston Churchill • Julian S. Corbett • J.F.C. Fuller • Basil Liddell Hart • Jonathan Hart • Nicole Hart • Klaang • Stuart Reed • Zobral
Starships and vehicles[]
- Amileus (Striker-class) • Enterprise (NX-01) (NX-class) • Shuttlepod 1 • Shuttlepod 2 • Talbot (Defender-class)
- Referenced only
- Achilles • Apollo Lunar Module • Brosman • Cressoti • Haven (Relayer-class) • Shi'ar
Locations[]
- Eris Alpha system • (Eris Alpha III • Eris Alpha IIIa (Sarkassian outpost) • Eris Alpha Prime)
- Referenced only
- Arcturus • Camus • Dar Shalaan • Denobulan cluster • Dinai Station (dilithium-refining facility) • Earth (Champagne • England • France • San Francisco • Sussex) • Europa Base • Luna (Lake Armstrong) • Kandoge • Ondahar VII • Qo'noS • Risa • Sarkassia • Sirius IV (Cochrane Research Facility)
Races and cultures[]
- Denobulan • Human (English) • Sarkassian • Ta'alaat • Vulcan
- Referenced only
- Anu'anshee • Cyrean • Hajjlaran • Klingon • Suliban • Torothan
States and organizations[]
- Sarkassian Empire • United Earth Starfleet
- Referenced only
- Apollo program • Boy Scouts of America • Eastern Coalition • Perth University • Royal Navy • Sarkassian Central Council • Executive Council • Suliban Cabal
Ranks and titles[]
- aide • ambassador • armory officer • astronaut • captain • commander • commodore • cook • counselor • crewman • doctor • ensign • helmsman • lieutenant • linguist • marksman • pirate • refugee • scientist • vice admiral • watch officer
Science and classification[]
- amnesia • asphyxiation • atmospheric containment field • atmosphere • autopsy • binary star • blood • brain (cerebral cortex • hippocampus) • chlorine • diagnostic caliper • diaphragen • dilithium • dilithium chamber • Donaldson matrix • duranium • EEG • electricity • electromagnetic field • electron • EM-33 • EM spectrum • environmental suit • field generator • fingernail • firing circuit • firing relay • flashlight • forcefield • fusion torpedo • gasket • gravity • grenade • holographic projector • holographic targeting device • imaging chamber • impulse drive • impulse reactor • jamming beam • linguistics • marker buoy • memory • microscope • Minshara • monofilament • nitrogen • oxygen • ozone • padd • perihelion • phase cannon • phase pistol • phondrikaar • plasma charge • plasma conduit • polarized hull plating • power conduit • protein resequencer • radiation • satellite relay • seizure • sensor • sensor beam • silicon • skull • spatial torpedo • spectrographic analysis • stress test • subspace • synchronous orbit • teeth • titanium • transporter • ultraviolet • universal translator • virus • warp drive • warp five engine
Other references[]
- 39th century BCE • 2125 • 2146 • 2149 • 2150 • ampoule • balloon • brig • canary • cat • champagne • coffee • coffin • cottage • coverall • crown • cultural genocide • diagnostic kit • diplomacy • distress call • duty shift • egg • England in the Seven Years' War • eulogy • fried chicken • frittata • funeral • gun • gurney • headpiece • hieroglyphs • horse • jam • January • lasagna • launch bay • Measuring Quantum States Within Bioelectric Organisms • meat • meatloaf • milk • New Year's Eve • omelette • piracy • pyramid • religion • robe • roller-coaster • sandwich • science lab • serial number • shoe • silver • skillet • spear • sugar • sword • tent • thermos • toast • torpedo bay • towel • vegetable • vineyard • water • World War I • World War II • World War III
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- Turnabout Intruder: Mind-swapping technology similar to that on Camus II appears.
Background[]
- The dates for the story are given as December 2150 and January 2151 (the Enterprise was launched in April 2151). The only time the correct year is given is in the Prologue, when the death of Alana Hart is given as 14 January, 2152. However, since ZobralMA (from "Desert Crossing", which takes place 12 February, 2152) and Risa (from "Two Days and Two Nights", which takes place 18 February, 2152) are referred to, the bulk of the story must be set after then. The Pocket Books Timeline keeps Hart's date of death the same but moves the bulk of the story several weeks ahead to late February 2152.
- Ensign Hoshi Sato is referred to as Ensign Hoshi twice (it should be Ensign Sato).
- Elizabeth Cutler is referred to as an ensign (she is an enlisted crewmember).
Images[]
Connections[]
| Star Trek: Enterprise prose publications | ||
|---|---|---|
| Novelizations | Broken Bow • Shockwave • The Expanse | |
| Original novels | set during the series | By the Book • What Price Honor? • Surak's Soul • Daedalus • Daedalus's Children • Last Full Measure • Rosetta |
| set after the series | The Good That Men Do • Kobayashi Maru • The Romulan War (Beneath the Raptor's Wing • To Brave the Storm) • Rise of the Federation (A Choice of Futures • Tower of Babel • Uncertain Logic • Live by the Code • Patterns of Interference ) | |
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: By the Book |
Enterprise novels | Next novel: Surak's Soul |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: Oasis |
Next Adventure: Detained | |
| The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 2151. The Pocket Books Timeline places events from this story in two other timeframes: | ||
| Previous Adventure: Broken Bow |
2151 Prologue section 2 |
Next Adventure: Cabin E-14 (sections 8-10) |
| Previous Adventure: Two Days and Two Nights |
2152 | Next Adventure: Cabin E-14 |
Translations[]
- 2003
- German : Der Preis der Ehre, translated by Andreas Brandhorst. (Heyne)
- 2004
- Japanese : 名誉の代償, translated by Hiroshi Saito. (Hayakawa Bunko)
External link[]
- What Price Honor? article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.