Series: Star Trek, Voyager | Publication Date: March 1, 1997
When the sensors of the "U.S.S. Voyager" detect abundant plant life on an unexplored planet, Captain Janeway leads an Away Team in search of fresh food supplies. They find lavish gardens inhabited by an enigmatic alien race that holds the gardens sacred. The fragrent blossoms are beautiful, enticing -- and far more dangerous than they appear. One by one, the Away Team begins to fall into deep comas from which they cannot be revived.
Unwilling to spread the affliction to "Voyager," the Away Team is trapped on the planet until a cure can be found, but their investigation is perceived as desecration by the devout worshippers of the gardens. Pursued by a fanactical mob, slowly succumbing to the insidious effect of the blossoms, Janeway faces either a violent death -- or an endless sleep.
When the sensors of the U.S.S. Voyager detect abundant plant life on an unexplored planet, Captain Janeway leads an Away Team in search of fresh food supplies. They find lavish gardens inhabited by an enigmatic alien race that holds the gardens sacred. The fragrent blossoms are beautiful, enticing -- and far more dangerous than they appear. One by one, the Away Team begins to fall into deep comas from which they cannot be revived.
Unwilling to spread the affliction to Voyager, the Away Team is trapped on the planet until a cure can be found, but their investigation is perceived as desecration by the devout worshippers of the gardens. Pursued by a fanactical mob, slowly succumbing to the insidious effect of the blossoms, Janeway faces either a violent death -- or an endless sleep.
I was born in a very small town in Illinois. Clay County has less people in it than your average large city, and Flora , Illinois , is so tiny it barely hits the map. That's where it happened, though. My grandparents lived there, and I spent a lot of happy times with them in my youth -- particularly my grandfather, Merle Cornelius Smith, who was likely the most amazing man I'll ever claim association with. But that's another story, and this one is about me.
My first really clear memories start around my third year of life, when my father left. He took me out for a drive, let me sit on his lap, then went back out for milkshakes and never came back. Things blur quite a lot during that period, but after a period of living with my grandparents, my brother and I were whisked away to Charleston Illinois , where our mom had a job working in one of the cafeterias at Eastern Illinois University , and had married a barber named Robert Leland "Bob" Smith. I could write volumes about good ol' Bob, but I won't. If you really want to meet him, look between the lines of the bits and pieces of Deep Blue where Brandt talks about his father. Think Seagram's 7, Ballantine beer, cheap cigars, Hank Williams, Sr., and Archie Bunker and sort of squash it all together into a 6'4" 270 or so pound frame -- that was Bob. Formative? Yes. Important here? Nope.
I escaped Charleston , family, Bob, and a number of other things in 1977 when I left in June and joined the United States Navy. I headed for San Diego , where I went to boot camp, headed next to Groton CT for submarine school (which I dropped out of because my ears wouldn't equalize) and ended up in North Chicago attending Electronics Technician "A" school. I learned guitar, got engaged, unengaged, taught Bible School , got excommunicated, and moved on to San Diego , California once again as part of the crew of the USS Paul F. Foster.
My time in the US Navy would fill a dozen books. In fact, parts of it can be found in almost everything I've written. Many of my novels were typed on US Navy computers (later on my own, but still on board) and the first two issues of my magazine, THE TOME, were printed and published on board the USS Guadalcanal (thank you Uncle Sam for supporting the arts). I was stationed on a lot of ships, went on a lot of cruises, lived in Rota , Spain for three years, and wound up retired in Norfolk , Virginia . I've worked as a contractor ever since, a variety of computer, networking and database related jobs, and all that time, I've been writing.
Now I live in the historic William R. White house in a tiny place called Hertford , NC , where you buy your hardware from a man named Eerie Haste, and you can still get an ice-cream cone for fifty cents. I have a woman who loves and supports me, Patricia Lee Macomber, two great boys by a previous marriage who live in Virginia, but visit us every couple of weeks, a beautiful, talented teenage daughter named Stephanie who sometimes seems to be the only adult in the family, a taller-by-the-day video game and sports loving son named Billy whose biggest failing is he likes the Oakland Raiders, and a beautiful, way-too-smart little girl named Kathryn Mary -- Katie Bug, for short -- all of whom I adore, and who appear to have looked past my faults to love me in return.
I've sold twelve novels to date (though hopefully by the time many of you read this that will be a larger number. I've published over 150 short stories, been in 32 or so anthologies, countless magazines, year's best collections, won awards -- notably The Bram Stoker Award for poetry, which I share with co-authors Mark McLaughlin and Rain Graves. I've been President of the Horror Writer's Association, and I'm an active member of both SFWA and the newer International Thriller Writer's Association.
4.0 out of 5 starsThis book is perfect for any Star Trek fan!!!, May 24, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Chrysalis (Star Trek Voyager, No 12) (Paperback)
This book is about the Star ship Voyager badly in need of supplies. Their sensors trace an abundance of plant life on an uninhabited planet. Captain Janeway leads an away team to the planet to replenish their supplies when they meet the non-detected inhabitors of the planet, the Urrythans. Urrytha has a mysterious, but beautiful flower. The flowers have very fragrant blossoms, but what the Voyager team doesn't know is that these plants are more dangerous than they appear. These flowers are causing the Voyager team to fall into comas, one by one. Captain Janeway runs into problems after Ensign Kayla fell into to this so called LONG SLEEP. The Urrythans are amazed that the Ambiana (the flower) had such quick effect on Ensign Kayla. The Urrythans stated that it is impossible for Kayla to escape this LONG SLEEP. But as usual, Captain Janeway had her mind set, she will find a cure. She will get her away team of the planet safely. Will Captain Janeway find the cure? Will the encounter with the Urrythans be peaceful? If you want to know more you REALLY have to read this book. I recommend it to any TREKKIE!!
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This review is from: Chrysalis (Star Trek Voyager, No 12) (Paperback)
A reasonably interesting, well-written Star Trek book, this story's pacing was just a touch off. It seemed to me that it peaked a bit too soon, with the last 40 pages or so something of an anticlimax, if not uninteresting. It had an interesting basic concept, the conflict between the "religious beliefs" of alien species, and the misunderstandings that can occur when they come into conflict, and this concept was handled pretty well. My head tells me that I should give this story a fourth star; reading over what I've said, this sounds like a four-star review and I can't honestly say why it doesn't rate that highly, but I just didn't enjoy it enough to rate it that highly.
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This review is from: Chrysalis (Star Trek Voyager, No 12) (Paperback)
First off, I am a big fan of most things voyager. In fact, there are few things of ST: Voyager I don't like. This book falls into that latter category. The plot starts out promising, but ends up dragging out several aspects of the plot, including the 'one voice', which isn't really described in the book. Also, the author must love earthquakes, as it seems the planet the crew finds themselves on loves to try to shake itself to death, but the crew doesn't seem to care. Character development is almost null, and the entire crew seems a little, hmm, 'off' when it comes to making decisions. Janeway makes decisions that are not the kind she would make, Tuvok starts to show a little emotion, and Tom Paris is not nearly the wise crack he should be. In fact, Tom Paris seems very mellow in this book. Oh well, not all books can be superb.
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