Return to main index
Takes place in: 2371, one month after the events of Star Trek: Generations
Following the events of Star Trek Generations, Starfleet has sent a salvage team to Veridian III, under the command of Commander William Riker, to remove the debris of the Enterprise-D such that, if the civilization on Veridian IV developed space travel and landed on Veridian III, they must not find any trace of advanced technology that may affect the natural development of their science, in accordance with the Prime Directive. As such, Kirk's remains would be transferred to Earth for a hero's funeral. Ambassador Spock has taken a break from his mission on Romulus, arriving on Veridian III to personally accompany Kirk on his final journey.
Meanwhile, Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher were sent on a secret mission onboard the Defiant-class USS Monitor, which arrives at New Titan. An away team arrives at Starbase 804, which Picard discovers has been assimilated by the Borg. The away team infiltrates a Borg cube that has landed on the planet, and soon enough they were attacked by the Borg, and Picard and Crusher were the only survivors. A Borg cubeship arrives and retreives the entire starbase from the surface of the planet, and the cubeship enters a transwarp conduit.
The resurrected Kirk has no memory of himself, and Salatrel brainwashes Kirk into thinking that Captain Picard had murdered his family, and that Kirk must kill Picard. Salatrel converses with Vox, a Borg-assimilated Romulan. It is revealed that the Borg and a group of Romulan dissidents had made a treaty, in which the Romulans would assist the Borg Collective in assimilating the Federation, and the Borg would allow the Romulan Star Empire to exist unassimilated, as some kind of a long-term study so that the Borg would become more proficient in assimilating other cultures.
The Romulans regard Kirk as their greatest enemy, while the Borg considered Picard as their greatest threat since he is familar with their tactics. Using Borg technology, Kirk was resurrected, and he would be used to infiltrate Starfleet and kill Picard, so that Picard would no longer hinder the Borg from successfully assimilating the Federation. In this way, by turning Kirk and Picard against each other, the Romulans would also have their revenge on Kirk.
Kirk attacks Worf on Qo'noS, and he later attacks Data and La Forge on Trilex, demanding the whereabouts of Picard.
Meanwhile, Spock expresses his belief to Riker and Deanna that Kirk is still alive. The salvage team on Veridian III goes to Deep Space Nine where they meet with Data and La Forge. Using Data's visual records, they discover that it was Kirk who attacked them, possibly with Romulan assistance. Soon enough, Kirk attacks Riker on Deep Space Nine, demanding to known Picard's whereabouts. Kirk was taken into custody, and a medical scan by Dr. Bashir shows the presence of nanites and a Borg neural implant inside Kirk.
Spock decides to do some investigation of his own, intending to find the supplier of the Romulan weapon Kirk was using. Spock returns to Romulus, gets himself kidnapped, meets with a Romulan crime lord, and finds himself taken to meet Vox, the assimilated Romulan.
The Borg ship with Picard and Crusher arrives at a Borg station located in transwarp, and they see a fleet of Romulan starship stationed there. Impersonating as Locutus, Picard discovers that Spock has also been taken aboard the station and he may be in danger of being assimilated. Picard and Crusher attempt to find Spock. Meanwhile, Spock is told of the Borg-Romulan plans, and he was about to be assimilated when the machines stopped abruptly. Spock then discovers that Picard is onboard, and he begins to believe that Picard would betray the Federation by becoming Locutus again. He then boards a Borg scoutship and orders it to transport him to where Locutus began his journey to the station, so as to warn the Federation. Picard finds out that although Spock was not assimilated, the Borg had detected the presence of the collective in Spock's mind and therefore already considered him as part of the Borg Collective. Picard must now stop Spock by whatever means possible.
Riker orders the USS Challenger to transport him, Kirk, and the others, to rendezvous with Picard and Crusher at Starbase 804, while Salatrel's warbird follows Challenger. However, as Dr. Crusher had been taken away by the Borg ship, Riker orders Dr. Bashir to remove the implant in Kirk's brain. The operation runs into difficulty, until Admiral McCoy unexpectedly arrives and aids in the operation, and the implant was successfully removed. Kirk regains consciousness and meets up with McCoy. However, Riker suspects that Kirk may still be programmed to kill Picard.
Challenger detects the presence of a cloaked ship and coordinates with the Monitor to track the cloaked ship. A Borg scoutship suddenly arrives and requests clearance to land. Spock disembarks from the scoutship and warns the crew of Picard's possible involvement in the Borg-Romulan alliance. Another Borg scoutship arrives, and Picard and Crusher emerge from the scoutship, having followed Spock. Picard and Spock accuse each other of working with the Borg. Kirk then arrives and attempts to kill Picard.
After receiving the signal from Kirk that Picard has arrived, the Romulan warbird decloaks and attacks the Challenger. Challenger fends off the warbird, and when the Monitor arrives, the warbird engaged its cloak and enter into transwarp.
Kirk and Picard chase each other onboard the Challenger and end up in the holodeck. Spock greets Kirk and explains to him that he was under the influence of Borg programming. Spock then mind-melds with both Picard and Kirk, and he frees Kirk from his brainwashing. At a meeting, Spock explains that V'Ger, a space probe which he had mind-melded with before, was part of the Borg Collective. Hence, the Borg did not assimilate him as they detected V'Ger's consciousness inside him. Kirk, through the sharing of knowledge from the mind-meld, was able to determine the location of the Borg central node on the Borg homeworld in the Delta Quadrant, and he proposes a preemptive strike at the central node, which would cut off each branch of the collective from the group-mind and severely set back the Borg conquest of the galaxy.
The Monitor is fitted with the transwarp drive from one of the Borg scoutship, and for the mission she is designated USS Enterprise. Using the transwarp drive, the Enterprise arrives at the Borg homeworld and encounters the Borg-Romulan fleet. Enterprise temporarily incapacitates communication within the fleet using a subspace pulse, and destroys Salatrel's warbird. Kirk and Picard beam down to locate the central node so as to destroy it. However, destroying the central node would cause an explosion that would also kill the people present. After holding off the approaching Borg drones, Kirk knocks Picard out and orders the Enterprise to beam Picard up. Kirk then destroys the central node.
A massive explosion destroys the Borg central node, and the crew realises that Kirk had sacrificed himself one last time to save the galaxy. But Spock still believes that Kirk is alive. The Enterprise sets a course for home.
. The USS Farragut NCC-60597 has been destroyed. She was the Nebula-class starship that rescued the crew of Enterprise-D at the end of Star Trek Generations.
. Kirk's encounter with the Romulan Bird-of-Prey in 2266 in TOS "Balance of Terror" is known to the Romulans as the Battle of Icarus IV. The Romulans regard that Kirk had defeated the Bird-of-Prey by using dishonorable tactics, feigning helplessness to lure the Romulan vessel to her destruction. Salatrel's grandfather was the Commander of the Bird-of-Prey, and therefore Salatrel held a personal vendetta against Kirk.
. Starfleet R & D has a special branch located at Starbase 324 headed by Commander Elizabeth Shelby. It is dedicated to prepare the Federation for war with the Borg, and among its projects include the Defiant-class starships. The transwarp engine of one of the Borg scoutships was transported to Starbase 324 for study.
. The Defiant-class starships were specifically designed to accept transwarp drives, should any be recovered or developed.
. Admiral McCoy tells Kirk the fates of some of his former fellow officers. Chekov becomes an Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet. He has retired and has written several books. Sulu becomes the President of the Federation Council for three terms. Uhura becomes a two-time winner of the Nobel and Zee-Magnees Peace Prize, and after her retirement she has devoted herself to recruit the best and brightest for Starfleet Academy.
. The alien device used to resurrect Kirk is said to be tens of thousands of years old, removed from the ruins of a race so obscure that they had no name. The device self-destructed shortly after Kirk was resurrected.
. The Borg also assimilated two dogs at Starbase 804.
. USS Hoagland was mentioned to have been lost at the Battle of Wolf 359. She was a Miranda-class starship.
. It should be noted that The Return (published in 1996) might have predicted or influenced the choice of the starship class for the Galaxy-class USS Challenger, which appeared in VOY "Timeless" (aired November 18, 1998).
. USS Monitor returns briefly in Captain's Peril.
The Ashes of Eden
The Return
Avenger
Spectre
Dark Victory
Preserver
Captain's Peril
Captain's Blood
Captain's Glory
Ex Machina
The Fearful Summons
The Last Roundup
War Dragons
The Captain's Daughter
The Sundered
Dark Mirror
Crossover
Ship of the Line
Dark Passions, Book 1
Dark Passions, Book 2
Vulcan's Soul, Book 1 - Exodus