The Lives of Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) [Mass Market Paperback]

Marco Palmieri (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2002 | Series: Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Unnumbered Paperback)

Nine stories by top SF authors view the whole of Star Trek history through one special character's eyes. One of the most popular and compelling Star Trek characters ever created, Dax is a wormlike being who is joined body and soul to a succession of humanoid hosts. Each life is different, each body is different, each personality is different, but all of them are Dax. At one time or another Dax has been male, female, a Starfleet officer, a statesman, a scientist, and ambassador, even a serial killer. The symbiont's humanoid hosts have included Curzon, friend of Klingons, and Jadzia, science officer on Deep Space Nine and latterly wife of Worf. The most recent incarnation is Ezri Dax, station counsellor on Deep Space Nine. Designed to appeal to fans of every version of Star Trek, the stories in The Lives of Dax each show a different host's adventure - nine incredible lives stretched out over 357 years of Star Trek history. The stories are rich with different aliens, planets, battles, personal struggles, surprising revelations, and guest stars galore.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens first sat at the Replimat seven years ago to eavesdrop on Odo and Quark as part of their research for The Making of Deep Space Nine, the first of four behind-the-scenes books they have written about Star Trek film and television productions. They are also the authors of three classic Star Trek novels, including the groundbreaking Federation, as well as the soon-to-be-published epic DS9 trilogy, Millennium, about the catastrophic discovery of the Bajoran system's second wormhole. In addition, the Reeves-Stevenses are co-writers with William Shatner for the ongoing series of bestselling novels chronicling the continuing adventures of Captain Kirk after his "apparent" death in Star Trek Generations.

The Reeves-Stevenses' other novels include the Los Angeles Times bestseller Icefire -- hailed by Stephen King as "the best thriller of its type since The Hunt for Red October" -- and Quicksilver, which Publishers Weekly proclaimed "a warp-speed technothriller." The Reeves-Stevenses are also the authors of the classic sf/fantasy crossover trilogy The Chronicles of Galen Sword, which is now available in a trade paperback omnibus edition from Babbage Books. For more details, please log on to reeves-stevens.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From "Ezri"

by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

"Second star to the right..."

She was lost. Surrounded by the precariously stacked, cast-off debris of an antique alien city. Beneath unfamiliar stars and a single bloated moon. Her feet swelling from the stored daytime heat of the sand and gravel she had crossed, from the endless walking, from the ridiculously contorted shoes Julian had insisted she wear. It was enough to make a person say End program and go back to her quarters and --

"No," Ezri Dax said aloud.

She was many things. Many to the power of nine, she thought. But she wasn't a quitter. Well, Tobin was a bit of a quitter when it came to dealing with Raifi. And Audrid always believed she could have done more to save Jayvin. And Torias...well, okay, Ezri reluctantly admitted to herself, Torias wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place. But there was that time when...

"Aggh," she said to break the relentlessly unpredictable connective thread of interaction and reflection that stitched together all the lives she had lived, that at least a part of her had lived. "I'm doing it again."

She sighed, breathing in the night's cool desert air, shivering as she hugged her sleeveless arms to her chest. The tiny disks of reflective plastic sewn to the fabric of the long, midnight-blue gown she wore -- almost wore -- scratched the flesh of her arms. Across her exposed back, there was only a chill breeze on far too much bare skin. One more time she wondered why she kept letting Julian talk her into these bizarre historical costumes and adventures from Earth's past.

She shook her head determinedly, as if that's all it would take to clear more than three centuries' worth of cobwebs, then put her hands on her hips and, with renewed resolve, looked about the graveyard of oddly angled broken glass and twisted metal. She deliberately ignored the dainty, indigo-sequined evening bag dangling from her wrist. Somehow, its triviality seemed especially inappropriate, considering the seriousness of her situation.

"Okay...," she addressed herself firmly. She looked up at a towering construction of colored glass tubes and wire and metal to her side. In the soft light of the full moon, she could see it formed a caricature of a humanoid male with a vacant grin and narrow mustache, wearing a circular black hat with a disklike brim, one hand held up in an eternal wave of greeting -- or a warning to go no farther. "...I saw you from the front gate," she said to the impassive giant, "and you were on my...left." Ezri peered into the dark labyrinth of other twisted tangles of glass and metal, thin rods and shafts jumbled and interlocked in what Jadzia might recognize as enormous metallic crystals grown at random. "So the gate should be somewhere in that direction...on my right." She gazed above the ragged black silhouettes that formed a fractal horizon of debris in that direction, but the desert air was so clear she could detect no distant glow of the blazing lights of the city she sought. The stars were as stark and bright in every direction. The space between them as impenetrably black. Wherever she was, wherever she had to go, her surroundings were offering no clue as to what her direction should be.

"I just have to..." Ezri faltered, having utterly failed to convince herself of her logic. "...go straight down there and...ugh, why do I even pretend I know what I'm doing?"

She kicked viciously at the gravel beneath her, sending up a pale cloud of dust in the moonlight, at the same time thoroughly wedging a small, sharp stone under her cramped and crushed-together toes.

"Aggh," she said again as she hopped awkwardly on one foot, trying to twist off the open-toed shoe to free the stone.

But hopping on gravel in a high-heeled shoe was next to impossible. And when confounded by the long tight gown she wore, not even all of Emony's gymnastic skills could come to Ezri's rescue.

With a strangled cry of frustrated rage, Ezri toppled backward, braced herself for the impact of sharp gravel along her bare back --

-- then gasped in surprise as a pair of strong hands caught her and gallantly restored her to her feet.

"Julian?!" she said as she spun around to face her rescuer, arms already reaching out to embrace him.

But the blinding smile that greeted her didn't belong to the chief medical officer of Deep Space 9. "Sorry to disappoint ya, doll." It was Vic Fontaine. A holographic simulation of a quintessential Las Vegas nightclub singer from Earth, circa 1962 A.C.E. He gave her a wink.

Ezri dropped her arms. Vic smiled as if he could sense the change in her mood.

"I was going to ask what a broad like you's doing in a dump like this," Vic said, "but I think I get the picture. The boyfriend's a big no-show, am I right, or am I right?"

Ezri shifted uncomfortably on the gravel, one foot still in bondage to its shoe, the other resting uncomfortably on the rough stones. "Actually, Julian doesn't know I came up here."

Vic shot her a sideways look. "What? You two lovebirds have a spat?"

Ezri shook her head, almost lost her balance again. "No. We had a date, down on the Strip...." She waved her hand around, vaguely trying to indicate the direction of Las Vegas, three simulated kilometers in...some direction or another from here, but gave up. She had no idea where the city was anymore. "But he got called into emergency surgery."

"Son of a gun," Vic said. "Hasn't been a lot of that since the Big One."

Ezri nodded. The station had been quiet in the past few weeks since the Dominion War had finally ended. Life had been almost normal, or at least it appeared to be when filtered through Jadzia's memories. Ezri herself had been on the station for just less than a year, and only knew it in its wartime state of operations. And in the aftermath of war.

But even Ezri knew the end of the war hadn't brought total peace to the station. Colonel Kira was still brooding over Odo's departure, and was stubbornly refusing most of Ezri's offers to provide counselling. Instead, as the new commander of the station, she seemed to be sublimating all her frustrated emotions into convoluted plans to catch Quark red-handed at something -- anything illegal, or even questionable. But at least all that attention had given Quark a new purpose in life. Except for those two weeks when the Ferengi barkeep had fled into hiding on Bajor after some bio-acceleration concoction he had peddled had succeeded in growing hair on every part of Morn's body except the prune-faced alien's head, Quark had been the station's sole source of excitement.

There'd be more excitement to come soon, though, Ezri knew. What with Kasidy Yates expecting Captain Sisko's baby and half the religious leaders on Bajor debating the significance of that birth in light of the mysterious rash of new visions being experienced by those who used the Orbs. On top of that, the Cardassian reconstruction effort was finally hitting its stride and even Bajor was contributing supplies and personnel to restore that battered world, making DS9's loading docks work at full capacity, twenty-six hours a day. And --

"You're shivering," Vic said.

Ezri came out of her reverie as the hologram wrapped his black sports jacket around her bare shoulders. "I did it again," she said crossly.

"Ya gotta give me more than that to go on, doll."

"Rambling," Ezri said. "It's...I think one thought, and that makes me think of another, and it's not as if I only have one lifetime of memories to remember, I've got eight, so...so everything I think reminds me of something else, and the next thing I know..." Ezri paused, distracted by a sudden recollection of how Curzon had once had a similar conversation with Ben Sisko at Utopia Planitia. It was late at night, after Sisko's shift was over. Curzon had added healthy dollops of Saurian brandy to the raktajino. "I hate raktajino," Ezri said to Vic's bafflement. But Jadzia had enjoyed the beverage. Which made Ezri remember one night when Jadzia and Sisko had been talking late at Quark's, after Sisko's shift was over...."Aghh!"

"Don't tell me," Vic said kindly. "Rambling."

"Especially when I'm upset."

"Such as, when a certain young doctor gets called off for emergency surgery on a Saturday night."

Ezri studied the hologram, suddenly confused. "It's not Saturday...is it?"

Vic shrugged with a patient grin. "Hey, doll. It's not Saturday, this isn't Las Vegas, and it's sure not 1962. There's a holosuite wall not ten feet in front of you. But why spoil a beeyootiful evening with cold hard facts?" He offered her his arm. "C'mon, you look like you need to take a load off."

Ezri had no idea what the hologram meant by that, but she took his arm, using her free hand to keep his jacket tightly closed around her throat. "I don't think I can walk much farther on this gravel," she warned him.

"Then why don't you walk over there," Vic said. Ezri looked where he was pointing and saw an expanse of grass edging the gravel right beside her. She set her shoeless foot upon it. It was soft, springy, and impossible to miss. But somehow, she had. Impossible, she thought. Unless...

"Did you do that?" Ezri asked.

Vic guided her toward what appeared to be a large shoe, maybe two meters tall at the heel. In the moonlight, it had a metallic, silvery shimmer. "Do what?"

"The grass. Aren't all the simulation parameters set at the factory, or something?"

"Hey, doll, do I look like a parameter?"

Ezri didn't believe it, but she felt embarrassed because she might just have insulted a hologram. Somewhere, deep within her, Tobin had memories of the earliest versions of what would become holosuite technology -- the bulky encounter suits, the crude sensory helmets, the exceedingly clumsy feedback gloves. Four lifetimes later, Joran had found a disturbing new application for the emerging technology. But for all the memories of holographic environments shared by Ezri's predecessors, each recollection carried with it the clear-cut knowledge that such artificially constructed environments w... --This text refers to the Unbound edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 367 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (December 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743456823
• ISBN-13: 978-0743456821
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #478,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lives of Dax -- Tales well told!, November 28, 1999

By 

J. McCain "Jim McCain" (Shreveport, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lives of Dax (Star Trek Deep Space Nine) (Paperback)

Lives of Dax had me hooked from the moment that I saw it's cover. The book is an excellent anthology telling stories from each of the different hosts of the symbiont Dax from Star Trek Deep Space. Using the few continuity clues provided from the show the numerous authors weave powerful tales for each of the Dax symbionts. We see many familiar faces in the stories from Vic Fontaine to T'Pau, Dr. McCoy, Christopher Pike and others. These familiar characters help to blend the stories seamlessly into the Trek mythos. The stories were all first rate. I could not pick a favorite story from the bunch. Each of them could easily have made an excellent DS9 episode. Fans of DS9 and Star Trek will find this a must read. Kudos to the authors and editor.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lives of Dax is one amazing anthology!, December 2, 2002

By 

K. Wyatt "ssintrepid" (Cape Girardeau, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lives of Dax (Star Trek Deep Space Nine) (Paperback)

Ezri - "Second star to the right..." by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

This is a wonderful short story about Ezri running into Vic Fontaine in the holodeck, when she was expecting Julian; unfortunately he's called away for emergency surgery. She breaks down somewhat and tells Vic about the circumstances surrounding her becoming the current Dax host. She then begins to impart the stories of all the previous Dax hosts.......

Lela - "First Steps" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

This fantastic short story is, of course, about Lela, the first Dax host. This is an excellent story, which recounts Lela's experience as a junior member of the council. It covers her meeting T'Pau of Vulcan. The story beautifully covers how Trill finds that it must overcome their desire for isolationism and embrace the knowledge that the Vulcan's are more than willing to impart upon them about their neighbors in the galactic neighborhood. This is a wonderfully well written story.

Tobin - "Dead Man's Hand" by Jeffrey Lang

Tobin, Dax's second host is kind of unsure of himself and a little nervous. He's is on a human ship, the Heisenberg. The ship is mostly manned by humans, but has one Vulcan, Skon. He befriends Skon. This story takes places during the Romulan, Terran war. The Romulans seize control of the ship, Tobin and Skon set out to free the rest of the crew and save the ship. This is a great short story that adds some interesting lore to the Dax character. SPOILER - The author makes it such that Tobin/Dax were the first to be transported and also that Skon and Tobin are the ones that suggest to Starfleet the idea of being able to separate the engineering and primary hulls. Great story!

Emony - "Old Souls" by Michael Jan Friedman

"Old Souls" is another extremely well written story by one of Star Trek's top authors. Emony is a champion gymnast who is now a judge for interstellar competitions. She happens to be on Earth for one held at Ole Miss, where a certain young man by the name of Leonard McCoy happens to be attending college. A great story that sets the non canonical back story that Emony Dax and the circumstances of this story are what inspires Leonard McCoy to take up his father's profession as a Doctor. Great read!

Audrid - "Sins of the Mother" by S.D. Perry

"Sins of the Mother" is a heartfelt and somewhat frightening story that heralds S.D. Perry's debut in the world of Star Trek. This wonderful story is written in the form of a letter from Audrid Dax to her daughter, detailing the events of her father's death after several years of estrangement between the two of them. A truly well written story and I'm certainly looking forward to S.D. Perry's future endeavors in the world of Star Trek and the Deep Space Nine relaunch series!

Torias - "Infinity" by Susan Wright

Susan Wright as usual, does a wonderful job of giving depth and feeling to what we already knew of Torias having been killed in a shuttle accident. She skillfully entwined a lot of emotion and depth of character into such a short and tragic story. Another great piece of "Trek" fiction by this author!

Joran - "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor" by S.D. Perry & Robert Simpson

This is a wonderfully well written story detailing how Joran, the murderous sixth Dax host was stopped and Dax's memories suppressed. S.D. Perry is obviously going to be one of the top Trek/DS9 writers and I believe this is Robert Simpson's first foray into the world of Trek. This story could've easily been expanded into a full length novel. It would be very nice to see these two fine authors team up for a murder/mystery Trek novel.

Curzon - "The Music Between the Notes" by Steven Barnes

From the author of the wonderful novelization of "Far Beyond the Stars," we are treated with another fine story! This short story is about Ambassador Curzon Dax and a young Ensign Sisko being in the middle of a trade negotiation and Curzon educating that young Ensign in the ways of the universe. My only minor complaint about this story is that this anthology is written in the format of Ezri Dax telling the stories of all of Dax's hosts to Vic Fontaine. This story is written from Benjamin Sisko's perspective, therefore making this story somewhat out of context. Who cares though, great author and a great story!

Jadzia - "Reflections" by L.A. Graf

I have in the past found the L.A. Graf writing teams efforts somewhat hit or miss. They score a huge hit with this effort. "Reflections" is a wonderfully well thought out and scripted tale about Jadzia being forced to go home to Trill because her sister is in huge trouble. Her sister Ziranne, a school teacher, never wanted to be a joined Trill, yet she shows up in a hospital with an implanted symbiont. Absolutely great story!

Ezri - "... and straight on "til morning." by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

This is a poignant closer to this outstanding anthology about "The Lives of Dax." It also, as with the episodes, leaves you wondering what Vic Fontaine is all about along with leaving you with that feeling that Ezri has worked out her emotional distress about not wanting to be joined.

Marco Palmieri and all of the authors deserve a huge round of applause for their efforts on this Star Trek masterpiece. I would recommend this to any and all Star Trek/Deep Space Nine fans.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dynamic "Dax" Anthology Raises the Bar for Trek Books, January 17, 2000

By 

H. Jarman (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lives of Dax (Star Trek Deep Space Nine) (Paperback)

As Trek fan that also loves to read, I've been frustrated that Pocket's offerings rarely reflect the progressive, dynamic Trek vision I fell in love with. No longer! "Lives of Dax" is a bold step toward more character-oriented, risk-taking Trek fiction. Instead of conforming to the stretch-an-episode template, "Dax" gleans guest stars, scenarios and events from canon and then takes those elements where episodes can't go. Each multi-faceted host is written in the unique style and voice of a different author. Consequently, "Dax" becomes a rich, tapestry of interwoven stories that never succumbs to homogenity. The authors have imbued their stories with affection for the characters and for the Trek universe.

My three favorite stories were Kristine Rusch's "Lela," the Reeves-Stevens' "Ezri" and Jeffrey Lang's "Tobin." While Rusch's vision of Dax's first host has an idealistic, almost regal tone, Lang's "Tobin" is smart, wry and clever. "Ezri" convincingly picks up where DS9 ended last year and provides much need backstory for Dax's ninth host.

Though the "Curzon" story had a few clumsy moments (pre-Academy grads are *never* called ensign), the sci-fi elements were intriguing. I wasn't as enamoured of S.D. Perry's "Audrid" as I was of her collaborative effort, "Joran," with Robert Simpson. Suprisingly, I thought L.A. Graff's "Jadzia" was the anthology's weakest offering.

Unlike many Trek books, "Dax" continues to yield treasures after multiple readings. The reader can selectively sample stories or enjoy the subtly crafted, cohesive narrative that the stories create when combined. The anthology works as both in indivdual parts or as a novel utilizing different voices.

"Dax" is a book for fans to get behind. It's fun, intelligent and thoughtful; it deserves to be read by fans of all Trek series. If the future of Trek fiction can be as luminous as this anthology, we can only hope the franchise continues to "live long and prosper."