The Galactic Whirlpool (Ster Trek)

The last, and by far the best, of the Bantam paperbacks. The author is Star Trek veteran David Gerrold, who by this time had already written scripts for the series ("The Trouble With Tribbles") and the animated series ("The Pirates of Orion") as well as written a book about the series, with both praise and criticism ("The World of Star Trek"). Gerrold was also one of the developers of the Next Generation series. So obviously, he had an intimate knowledge of the characters. That knowledge shows, and shines like a beacon. Our story: While on patrol of the Klingon border, the Enterprise encounters an odd sensor reading. Closer investigation reveals a slower-than-light ship, built on a huge scale--a self-contained world. Obviously a ship built to ferry thousands of colonists, for many generations, to a new star system. The questions follow: who built it? Where did they come from? Where were they going, and how long have they been travelling? Contact with such a ship is problematic, because they may not be aware that any other civilizations exist to contact them, and to do so may be a violation of the Prime Directive. Soon, that point becomes moot, as they are found to be on a collision course for the Galactic Whirlpool: a twin black hole, rotating slowly through the galaxy and drawing everything in its path into the immense gravity well. If the Enterprise crew do not interfere, the ship will be destroyed in a matter of months. Now the problem becomes one of how to interfere, so as to cause the least panic and disruption to the peoples' lives. Gerrold handles the characters expertly here, and finds a full role for Kevin Riley, an officer who had major roles in two TV episodes. Gerrold also impresses some of his own ideas about the series, many of which were also used in the Next Generation series. Gerrold has also researched his science, and brings us many tidbits about the 22nd century and the events that led up to it. He fills in many details that cannot be used in a TV show, due to time constraints. And he even places himself into the story, in the person of an historian nicknamed "Specks." This is a wonderful novel to read, not just a good Star Trek novel. I can recommend this one highly.