Captain's Peril (Star Trek) [Mass Market Paperback]

William Shatner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Star Trek (Unnumbered Paperback) | Publication Date: January 27, 2004

The Dominion War is over. The Federation is at peace. What better time for two legendary starship captains to set aside the demands of duty and simply take some well-deserved time off. But when James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard arrive on Bajor to dive among the ruins of an ancient sunken city, they find themselves in far from relaxing circumstances. The small group of scientists the captains have joined suddenly discover their equipment sabotaged -- isolating them from Deep Space Nine and from any hope of rescue -- as a murderer stalks them, one by one. Cut off from the people and the technology on which they have always depended, Kirk and Picard must rely more than ever on their own skills and resources -- as well as on their growing friendship -- to solve the mysterious killings and, at the same time, save one of Bajor's greatest living treasures. With time running out and Picard missing after a diving disaster, Kirk must search his memories of the past for the solution, plunging him into a harrowing personal journey that reveals the beginning of his path from young Starfleet officer to legendary galactic hero. From the shores of Bajor's Inland Sea to the welcoming arms of a seductive and deadly alien commander intent on making Kirk her own, The Captain's Peril is Captain Kirk's most personal, and his most extreme, adventure yet.

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About the Author

William Shatner is the author of nine Star Trek ® novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Ashes of Eden and The Return. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Get a Life! and I'm Working on That. In addition to his role as Captain James T. Kirk, he stars as Denny Crane in the hit television series from David E. Kelley, Boston Legal -- a role for which he has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. More information is available at williamshatner.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

Near Bajor, Stardate 55595.4

This wasn't the first time Jean-Luc Picard had thought Jim Kirk was crazy. But he was concerned that it might be the last. No one could survive what Kirk had planned for the two of them now.

"Jim!" The environmental suit Picard wore beneath his jump armor was alarmingly old, and he had to shout for the communicator circuits in the helmet to make his voice heard above the outside whine of thickening atmosphere. "You're crazy!" Picard never shied away from the direct approach if that's what conditions warranted.

But Kirk didn't answer. He kept his back to Picard, one armored hand nonchalantly holding the railing by the open airlock of the Ferengi shuttle as if the slender metal fixture weren't the sole means saving him from a fiery death. Beyond Kirk, one hundred kilometers straight down, the sweeping crescents of Bajor's vast Trevin desert slipped by, the edge of each sinuous curve crisp in the bright sunlight flooding the world below.

Picard knew that Kirk was transfixed by the vista. The two starship captains had once spent an endless evening in a bar on Risa trying to calculate how many different worlds they had each visited in the course of their careers. It had been an unwinnable competition -- so many worlds over so many years that the details of one blurred into the memories of another.

Still, Picard knew, despite all the years and all the memories, to Kirk, most assuredly, each new world would always be the first world, each new experience a gift to be cherished.

But to Picard, this particular new experience they were about to embark upon was one he would gladly forgo.

Picard slid his magnetic boots over the rough deckplates until he was within arm's reach of Kirk. He reached out and pounded his armored glove against the thermic-tiled pod that covered Kirk's back. Picard could see a badly worn safety inspection sticker on the pod. The date of the last inspection was marked in Cardassian script, and the Cardassians had withdrawn from Bajor more than ten years ago.

Picard tried not to think how long it had been since his own pod had been inspected. His trepidation only inspired him to make sure his fist came down firmly -- several more times.

That got Kirk's attention. But Picard's concern for himself suddenly changed to concern for Kirk as his friend let go of the hand railing to turn around and look back. Now the only thing keeping Kirk from tumbling away to a fiery death was the current in his magnetic boots. And who knew the last time those had been inspected or had had their lintium batteries replaced?

Acting instantly and instinctively, Picard grabbed for an equipment loop on Kirk's pod harness, to keep him safe.

Behind his helmet's faceplate, Kirk grinned -- quite irritatingly, Picard thought -- as if he understood what Picard was doing and found the act completely unnecessary. Picard begged to differ. The thermic coating of Kirk's helmet was a dark rust color, streaked here and there with carbon trails, which did nothing to increase Picard's confidence in the forcefield of Kirk's suit. The cobalt-blue base color of his friend's helmet also differed from the deep-yellow coating on the interlocking armor plates that covered the body of his suit, the lack of a color match indicating the helmet was not part of a set. But from the eager expression on his friend's face, it was all too evident to Picard that Kirk might as well be an ensign about to make his first Academy EVA in a fresh-from-the-replicator suit.

"Almost there!" Kirk shouted.

Picard could just make out Kirk's voice through the sputtering static that came over his commlink. The enthusiasm it conveyed matched Kirk's expression, but only added to Picard's profound misgivings.

"Jim," Picard said loudly, overenunciating each word so that at the very least, Kirk could read his lips through his faceplate, "I don't believe these suits are safe."

Kirk's first response was a puzzled expression. Then, seeing equal puzzlement on Picard's face, Kirk leaned forward to press his helmet against Picard's so that actual sound vibrations could travel from one to another. "They're the safest suits in the system," he shouted.

Picard shook his head, the easiest way he knew to ask Kirk what he could possibly mean.

"I rented them from that Ferengi on DS9," Kirk explained loudly. "He doesn't get paid until -- and unless -- we come back."

"Quark?" Picard said in alarm. He knew that particular Ferengi. Even more alarming, he had heard Will Riker's stories. "You rented these suits from Quark?"

Kirk nodded with a proud smile. "Very competitive rates."

"Of course they're competitive," Picard shouted. "These suits are very likely stolen!" To a Ferengi, recycling through robbery and resale was a time-honored practice for maintaining low overhead.

But Kirk didn't appear concerned. "Not even Quark would be crazy enough to risk crossing the captain of the Enterprise. Let alone two of them."

"You don't know Quark," Picard said. And you clearly don't know the meaning of the word, "crazy," he thought.

From the movement of Kirk's head, Picard guessed that his friend was attempting to shrug in his suit, though the armored plates were effective masks for any such action.

"Then when this trip's over," Kirk said, "I'll buy you a drink at Quark's, and we can both get to know him."

Picard waved Kirk's suggestion aside.

"Jim, my concern is that this trip is going to be over the instant we step through that airlock."

Suddenly, Picard felt his stomach tighten as the airlock pulsed with a flashing orange light and the pilot's deep voice crackled over the commlink.

"Attention my esteemed and treasured passengers, as your captain and jump master for today, it is my great pleasure to inform you that this fine vessel is quickly approaching the release coordinates with a truly impressive measure of navigational accuracy, such that absolutely no disruptive course corrections will be required, allowing you both to savor these final few moments before embarking on what I sincerely hope is a remarkable and fulfilling experience, the best that Quark Adventure Excursions -- which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Quark Trading Cooperative, though it has no fiduciary responsibility whatsoever in the event of insurance claims resulting from any inadequacy arising from personnel misconduct and/or equipment malfunction -- can offer."

As the pilot droned on mechanically, Picard became even more distressed. The pilot's muffled accent sounded Lurian, and the only Lurian in the Bajoran system as far as Picard knew was the hulking, oddly hairless, and insufferably garrulous Morn, who seemed to be permanently welded to a barstool at Quark's, warbling endless tales of his improbable adventures.

Now, not only did Picard suspect the equipment he and Kirk wore was stolen, he feared their pilot had been awarded this assignment only to make good a bar bill or gambling debt.

As Picard tried to dredge up some inarguable reason for why they could not and should not proceed, he saw Kirk turn his attention to the status lights on his suit's forearm controls. To Picard's dismay, they were all purple -- one of the Bajoran colors which indicated proper operation.

Then Picard realized Kirk was looking at him expectantly. "How're your status lights?" he asked.

Picard glanced at his own forearm controls and shuddered. Purple, every one.

By then, the pilot had finished rattling off an incredibly awkwardly worded disclaimer for any mishap involving "kinetic disintegration," even if deliberately caused by an employee of Quark's Adventure Excursions, and was already beginning the countdown.

"It is now my grand pleasure to commence your egress preparation timing, descending from that most auspicious number, forty-one, which is the Lurian Prime of Good Luck, which is certainly not to imply that any luck is required in the endeavor contracted for under rental agreement five-five-five-five-nine-four-alpha, nor with the associated equipment rental, said equipment bearing no express or implied warranty concerning its suitability for the safe completion of any task, including that for which it was rented, per the accepted practices suggested by the Ferengi Trade Bylaws, subject to the proprietor's sole interpretation."

Picard blinked as he processed what the pilot had just said. "Did you hear what Morn said?" he asked Kirk. "And why is he -- "

"The pilot's name isn't Morn," Kirk said as he turned his attention to his chestplate controls. "I think her name's...Arisa...something. Commercial pilot. Works for Quark."

Picard bit his lip. The only females who worked for Quark sold drinks and worked the dabo table. But he couldn't stay silent for long.

"Jim...was this Arisa by any chance a Lurian?" Trust Quark to distract Kirk with a pretty face, then switch the pilot with a barfly.

"Absolutely," Kirk said. "Big, wrinkly, lots of long hair? Never stops gabbing?"

Picard nodded dumbly, hoping intensely that their pilot was not related to Quark's perpetual customer. He had no wish to even contemplate how a relation of Morn's working for Quark had obtained her commercial pilot's license.

Kirk had found the manual forcefield activator dial on his chestplate and twisted it. Picard watched as the faint purple glow of induction plasma rose up to visibly define the limits of the usually invisible forcefield which flowed across the contours of Kirk's suit, about two centimeters out from its armor plates.

Picard sighed. Federation-style orbital skydiving suits hadn't used induction-plasma shielding for at least a century. Stolen and antiques, he thought glumly.

"I don't care who the pilot is or isn't," he said. "But she just absolved everyone of...of everything that could go wrong. And probably will."

"The disclaimer is just a technicality," Kirk said airily.

Picard couldn't believe Kirk was so dismissive of disaster. "She said there're no guarantees."

Kirk seemed to give another shrug. "There never are."

Most maddening to Picard, Kirk said that with a smile.

"Your egress timing will now commence," the pilot announced, her blithe voice barely comprehensible above the growing shriek of outside atmosphere. "Forty-one..."

"You'd better charge your plasma," Kirk suggested.

Picard preferred to wait. A plasma charge only took a second or two, and since he had no confidence that his suit's plasma generator would last for the full descent, he wanted to be sure he had the largest possible margin of safety.

"No hurry," Picard said.

Kirk raised his eyebrows.

"Thirty-seven," the pilot announced.

Picard tapped the side of his helmet, certain he hadn't heard correctly.

"You should really charge your plasma now," Kirk said.

"Thirty-one," the pilot's voice crackled.

For the briefest of instants, Picard wondered if they had somehow encountered a temporal anomaly that accounted for the nonsequential jumps in the countdown, and then Kirk's helmet touched his again.

"Jean-Luc," Kirk shouted. "Morn or not, our pilot is a Lurian."

At that, Picard remembered the Lurian fascination with numbers. The pilot was counting down by primes.

"Twenty-nine..."

Picard quickly located the manual forcefield-activator dial on his chestplate, even as he ran through the primes between twenty-three and one, while also trying to estimate how many more seconds he had left to establish the plasma cushion that would provide secondary radiation shielding when he left the shuttle, as well as shape his forcefield's dynamic configuration during the course of the jump.

"Nineteen..."

He twisted the forcefield dial. As he did so, he distinctly heard a new background hiss of static rise up in his helmet speakers as the plasma shield took shape within his forcefield, and distressingly appeared to interfere with his communicator. For a heartbeat, he felt himself to be one of those ancient daredevils who braved immense waterfalls in little more than a wooden barrel. Few of those idiots had survived, he recalled.

"And now, my personal favorite, and one that, I must add in the most positive manner with which I am able, has been extremely lucky for me...seventeen!"

The induction plasma covered Picard's faceplate, and beyond it, Kirk, the airlock, and sunlit Bajor took on a faintly noxious purple tinge. No longer visible through the charged glow, the flashing orange warning light seemed to disappear.

"Thirteen..."

Automatically, Picard checked his forearm controls.

"No point in that," Kirk said, knocking helmets with him, as if sharing a joke.

Picard didn't see what was so funny. Looking through the purple tint that covered his faceplate, it was impossible to tell if the status lights were the proper color or not.

"Eleven..."

Kirk shifted to the side, giving Picard room to slide his magnetic boots to the open airlock, right beside him.

"Seven...switching off our internally generated artificial gravity..."

Picard grimaced as he felt the familiar spin of vertigo that accompanied the gentle lurch of freefall, while his suit's boots remained anchored to the airlock deckplates.

"Five..."

"Look at that view," Kirk marveled.

Picard nodded. It was wondrous, even if it was likely the last thing he might see.

"Three..."

"I think you're really going to enjoy this," Kirk said.

"And with the greatest pleasure, I am now degaussing the deckplates for the smallest whole prime of all, which is not the number one because of its special conditions, but the only number in all the universe which is both prime and even...two!"

In the split second before he felt Kirk give him a push to throw him forward, all Picard had time to think was: How had he let Kirk talk him into this? But all he could remember of Kirk's argument was that bottle of Saurian brandy and altogether too much encouragement from Will Riker, whose normal good sense had been seriously disrupted by his upcoming wedding to Deanna Troi.

And then the airlock was gone from his vision and Picard felt his body spun round by his suit's gyros, giving him a momentary flash of the stubby, orange Ferengi shuttle as it streaked away, docking-claws first, leaving Kirk's yellow-clad and blue-helmeted form seemingly hanging in empty space behind him.

Then Picard flipped headfirst in the direction of his long fall, and the amethyst haze before him deepened in intensity as his forcefield elongated into the proper aerodynamic shape that -- in theory -- would enable him to survive atmospheric entry without an entry vehicle.

Kirk is certifiably crazy, Picard thought as the first bumps of hypersonic buffeting began to vibrate through him.

Then, resigned to his fate, he asked himself, So what does that make me?

One hundred kilometers below, Bajor waited, about to give him his answer.

Copyright © 2002 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (January 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671021281
• ISBN-13: 978-0671021283
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #329,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Predictable., October 17, 2002

By 

Michael Hickerson - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Captain's Peril (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

The first three "Shatnerverse" novels were met by Star Trek fans with a rare kind of anticipation. After all, what could be better than the story of Kirk told from the man who had brought him to life for over 30 years? It was a must-have for any Trek fan. And the thing is--those first three books really delivered on the promise. The original Shatner trilogy is one of the better multi-novel sequences out there.

However, after a rather lackluster trilogy, Shatner (and the Reeves-Stevens) return with the start of another trilogy. Honestly, after how poorly wrapped up the Mirror Universe trilogy was, I wasn't anticipating the start of a new saga in the Shatnerverse. However, I still had some hope for the Captain's Peril to be a good Trek book. After all, Pocket's track record this year has been fairly impressive.

But "The Captain's Peril" seems more like it was written to meet a quota--it's a new calendar year, so we need a new Trek book by Shatner and the Reeves-Stevens. The story sees Picard and Kirk taking a vacation of Bajor where they will orbital skydive and then go on an archaelogical expedition. Of course, things go awry from Kirk and Picard almost perishing while skydiving to then finding things amiss at the Bajoran archelogical dig. Before you know it, Kirk is up to his ears in a murder mystery and looking into the past of Bajor. Meanwhile, we are given a story of one of Kirk's early missions--set before "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

Of the two plots, the early story is the most compelling since it tries to delve into the early relationship Kirk had with his crew and filling the shoes of the then-legend Christopher Pike. However, the problem with both plots is they are rather heavy-handed at time. They are also predictable as all get out. The deep, dark secret at the end of the Bajoran plotline is spelled out in the first few pages of the book. Add to it an abrupt stop to the story mid-way through for Picard and Kirk to debate the merits of the Prime Directive (Kirk sees it as being an obstacle to really exploring) and it adds up to a less than satifsying read.

One thing that the early Shatnerverse novels did was take chances. The idea of bringing Kirk by using Borg nanotechnology was intriguing and revoluationary. However, in The Captain's Peril the attempted risks in intriguing storytelling are underminded by the reader knowing certain things can't stay the way they unfold in the book. There must be a giant reset button at the end and while it's not as groan-inducing as it could be, it does serve to take you out of the narrative flow.

Overall, this isn't the weakest of the Shatnerverse novels, but neither is it the best. It's content to do well for about 300+ pages, setting up the storyline for the next novel. In a lot of ways, the Shatner novels have gone from something to really look forward to, to just your standard Trek novels.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Predictable, but still worth reading, December 8, 2002

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Captain's Peril (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

There are two concurrent story lines in this book, and they both provide us with additional information about the Star Trek universe. The first is a joint vacation by captains Kirk and Picard on Bajor. Their goal is to join an archeological dig on Bajor, in an attempt to uncover some ancient religious artifacts of deep significance to the Bajoran people. It starts with what must be one of the ultimate of extreme sports, as Kirk and Picard sky dive from orbit. Kirk's equipment fails and Picard manages to carry out a dramatic midair rescue. In this story line, we learn more about the Bajoran culture and how deeply held their religious beliefs are.
The other thread describes the first days of Kirk's command of the Enterprise. A ship appears from another galaxy and sends a signal picked up by the Federation and many species currently in competition with the Federation. The signal is of great power and they all rush to approach the ship and the Enterprise under Kirk represents the Federation. It turns out that the ship contains technology far in advance of that of all the current occupants of the galaxy. The interesting points of the story involve the conflicts between Kirk and the other members of the crew. Spock requests a transfer and Dr. Piper is forced to threaten to relieve Kirk of duty to prevent him from taking an unnecessary risk. The interactions between Spock, Piper, Scott, Zulu and other Enterprise crew members and Kirk as they start their careers together is a very interesting and believable tale. Kirk is a very headstrong individual and it is certainly plausible that his command approach would not be appreciated before they all learned how talented a commander he is.
This is a book that further expands the long saga that is Star Trek. Each of the two story lines could be the plot of a book and they are well integrated into this story. It is one of the better Star Trek books.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good installment in the Shatner Star Trek series, February 9, 2004

By 

Tim F. Martin (Madison, AL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Captain's Peril (Star Trek) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Captain's Peril" is seventh is the excellent Star Trek novel series by William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, a series that began with "Ashes of Eden" and centers - at least in part - around the premise that Kirk did not meet his final end as portrayed in the movie "Star Trek: Generations," but rather he was resurrected, events surrounding this of which are detailed in the second novel in the series, "The Return." This novel, as are all the others with the exception of the bulk of "Ashes of Eden" takes place contemporaneously with the events of the Star Trek universe at large, with each successive novel in the series incorporating events portrayed in the various television series and movies (several throwaway lines in this novel hint at events depicted in the currently on-going series "Enterprise" with references to Archer and T'Pol).

Having said that though, it is not necessary for one to have read the preceding novels in this series, though they may shed some light on a few brief references to what has gone before. In previous novels of the series James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, and others have dealt with issues ranging from conspiracies within Starfleet to the Borg to villains from the alternate universe first depicted The Original Series episode "Mirror, Mirror." This one starts off with (aside from a prologue set during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor) with Picard and Kirk taking a vacation to Bajor. The two friends sought to combine their mutual interests, the vacation starting out with some orbital skydiving, which would take the pair to a Bajoran archaeological dig along the shores of an inland sea in the desert, the researchers there investigating a sunken ancient city, one that was covered by waters released thanks to Cardassian efforts (depicted in the prologue).

The vacation does not go off as planned; first they almost die during the orbital skydiving thanks to faulty equipment, leaving them miles away from their landing zone next to the dig and without hope to be rescued before possibly dying of thirst or exposure. To pass the time Kirk describes to Picard events he faced very early as captain of the Enterprise, less than six months into its first five year mission. This story is told throughout the course of the novel and I found it quite engaging, showing how Kirk and Spock became friends, how Kirk grew into the role of captain, and what the Enterprise was like in the transitional period between Pike and Kirk having command of the ship. The story tied into a surprising degree with events in the story and was capped at the end of the book by a riveting and chilling epilogue, one which begs to be followed up by the authors in future works.

Kirk and Picard are rescued by one of the archaeologists, but they find that he wasn't out looking for them; he was out seeking a murderer! One of the foremost scientists at the camp had been murdered and no one there knows who did it or why. Much of the novel details Picard's and Kirk's efforts to solve this crime and bring the murderer to justice. The camp is completely cut off from the outside world, with no communications, miles from nowhere in the desert wilderness, Kirk and Picard lacking any weapons or access to sophisticated technology, many in the camp openly hostile to their presence, several with ample motive and opportunity to have committed the murder; the two captains have their work cut out for them.

I found the murder investigation a bit less riveting than Kirk's tale of his early days as captain. While by no means bad - it was interesting in that it had a lot to do with Bajoran history and particularly Bajoran religion - I found it at times confusing. Matters weren't helped much by the fact I had trouble sometimes keeping track of the various archaeologists and others at the camp. This is not to say that they were all alike, as some were quite distinct, but enough were similar and there names sort of ended up blending together for me. I still liked it, just didn't find it as effective as the second plot line, the one set in the past.

A good book, it didn't have quite the epic scope as earlier books in this series and I sort of liked that (though the plotline relayed through Kirk's tale has much broader implications in the future if the authors chose to explore it). All in all though a very good read, one I would recommend (though there were other books in the series that were better); certainly I would read it if you liked others in this series.