What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Trek: S.C.E.: What's Past #4
Star Trek: Distant Early Warning
STARFLEET CORPS OF ENGINEERS
WHAT'S PAST
A special six-part S.C.E. event that flashes back to previous adventures of the S.C.E. crew from the 23rd century to the height of the Dominion War, with special guests from all across the Star Trek universe!
2265: Following the discoveries made by the U.S.S. Constellation in the Taurus Reach, Starfleet has fast-tracked the construction of Starbase 47, a.k.a. Vanguard. But the rapid construction has meant concomitant technical problems, ones that are vexing Vanguard's commanding officer, Commodore Diego Reyes.
So it's the Corps of Engineers to the rescue. The U.S.S. Lovell, with its crack S.C.E. team led by Lt. Commander Mahmud al-Khaled, must solve Vanguard's technical crises so the base can become operational as planned.
A return to the 23rd century, in the tradition of Foundations and Where Time Stands Still, and a prequel to the acclaimed new novel series Star Trek: Vanguard!
WHAT'S PAST
A special six-part S.C.E. event that flashes back to previous adventures of the S.C.E. crew from the 23rd century to the height of the Dominion War, with special guests from all across the Star Trek universe!
2265: Following the discoveries made by the U.S.S. Constellation in the Taurus Reach, Starfleet has fast-tracked the construction of Starbase 47, a.k.a. Vanguard. But the rapid construction has meant concomitant technical problems, ones that are vexing Vanguard's commanding officer, Commodore Diego Reyes.
So it's the Corps of Engineers to the rescue. The U.S.S. Lovell, with its crack S.C.E. team led by Lt. Commander Mahmud al-Khaled, must solve Vanguard's technical crises so the base can become operational as planned.
A return to the 23rd century, in the tradition of Foundations and Where Time Stands Still, and a prequel to the acclaimed new novel series Star Trek: Vanguard!
81 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
4 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Dayton Ward
112 books318 followersDayton is a software developer, having become a slave to Corporate America after spending eleven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. When asked, he’ll tell you that he left home and joined the military soon after high school because he’d grown tired of people telling him what to do all the time.
Ask him sometime how well that worked out.
In addition to the numerous credits he shares with friend and co-writer Kevin Dilmore, he is the author of the Star Trek novels In the Name of Honor and Open Secrets, the science fiction novels The Last World War and The Genesis Protocol, and short stories which have appeared in the first three Star Trek: Strange New Worlds anthologies, the Yard Dog Press anthology Houston, We’ve Got Bubbas, Kansas City Voices Magazine and the Star Trek: New Frontier anthology No Limits. Though he currently lives in Kansas City with wife Michi and daughters Addison and Erin, Dayton is a Florida native and still maintains a torrid long-distance romance with his beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ask him sometime how well that worked out.
In addition to the numerous credits he shares with friend and co-writer Kevin Dilmore, he is the author of the Star Trek novels In the Name of Honor and Open Secrets, the science fiction novels The Last World War and The Genesis Protocol, and short stories which have appeared in the first three Star Trek: Strange New Worlds anthologies, the Yard Dog Press anthology Houston, We’ve Got Bubbas, Kansas City Voices Magazine and the Star Trek: New Frontier anthology No Limits. Though he currently lives in Kansas City with wife Michi and daughters Addison and Erin, Dayton is a Florida native and still maintains a torrid long-distance romance with his beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 10, 2016
Served its purpose in introducing Star Base 47 and kicking off the Vanguard series, but in and of itself it wasn't terribly exciting. The book makes you curious about this strange section of space where the Vanguard station was built and the mysterious things that happen to shops in the area, but it fails to really resolve a lot of the questions it raised about it, which left me a little let down in the end.
November 8, 2016
Fun, but it felt more like it was setting up the first of another series rather than being a book about the S.C.E. Still, I enjoyed the mystery and the characters, and it was diverting for a few days of off-time reading.
April 8, 2015
Pretty good. I did have to look some races up on the Star Trek wiki, but it was nice to see more emphasis placed on the "nerds" of the SCE as opposed to more Kirk-type people.
April 28, 2016
A fun series mixed with new and old trek
February 6, 2024
Rating 4
I really enjoyed this short story which centred on two Star Trek book series I haven’t read - Vanguard and the SCE
This was a tightly plotted well written (imo as very easy to read and follow) and fast moving story that served very well as an introduction to the two series.
Vanguard has mixed reviews but will probably still try it if I see any of the titles, SCE is definitely on my watch list now just have to check out which are the titles considered the better ones or perhaps just start at number 1 like I usually do.
For Star Trek readers who prefer pre-TNG era then this i think is a good read and a solid recommendation
I really enjoyed this short story which centred on two Star Trek book series I haven’t read - Vanguard and the SCE
This was a tightly plotted well written (imo as very easy to read and follow) and fast moving story that served very well as an introduction to the two series.
Vanguard has mixed reviews but will probably still try it if I see any of the titles, SCE is definitely on my watch list now just have to check out which are the titles considered the better ones or perhaps just start at number 1 like I usually do.
For Star Trek readers who prefer pre-TNG era then this i think is a good read and a solid recommendation
March 7, 2018
Excellent prequel to the Star Trek: Vanguard series!
November 20, 2020
Great, quick read
This book was a great, short storyline that The Original Series fans will enjoy. I liked it because it set the stage for the later Vanguard series.
This book was a great, short storyline that The Original Series fans will enjoy. I liked it because it set the stage for the later Vanguard series.
March 21, 2022
Better than the Vanguard series
I found this a more interesting read than the actual Vanguard series.
Maybe, because it was shorter, maybe because the set of characters was slightly better written, but probably because it was a different series with an existing history that seemed more interesting than the Vanguard series.
I found this a more interesting read than the actual Vanguard series.
Maybe, because it was shorter, maybe because the set of characters was slightly better written, but probably because it was a different series with an existing history that seemed more interesting than the Vanguard series.
December 9, 2013
So “Distant Early Warning” by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore is my first experience of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers Ebook series and I would it to be a rather interesting if rather quick experience. Whilst the majority of these books focus on the 24th Century, this book takes a look at the crew of the USS Lovell in the 23rd Century and appears to be a prequel to the Vanguard series of novels which I am about to start reading.
The year is 2265 and Starfleet has fast-tracked the construction of Starbase 47, also known as Vanguard although the reason for such a rush to get it built is being kept secret by Starfleet Command. Unfortunately, there are various technical problems plaguing the Starbase and so the USS Lovell is called in with its Starfleet Corps of Engineers team ready to help. However, it soon becomes obvious that this isn’t just teething troubles and there appears to be something much more mysterious causing the issues.
The first thing that did impress me about this story is that even though I haven’t read any SCE or Vanguard novels I found it to be accessible and understandable. With such a large collection of new characters and a limited page count I was pleasantly surprised by this as I was worried that I would struggle to follow it. The fact that the authors didn’t try and link the story into the regular 24th Century SCE crew also helped to ensure the ebook was fully concentrating on the plot and the characters of the 23rd Century.
The story itself was entertaining and attention grabbing although some elements of the plotting didn’t completely work for me. Basically, I was a little bit disappointed that the two main plot lines seemed to have no relevance to each other. I just didn’t understand why the authors felt the need to try and cram both elements into novella like this when there was no actual link between them. I suppose having both plot lines did keep the action and excitement levels up but I think I would rather have seen a bit more exploration of the characters.
Overall, this was an enjoyable novella that has given me a decent introduction to both the crew of the USS Lovell and Vanguard. The story itself had a fair amount of action alongside some intriguing mystery which helped to ensure that I completed it in no time at all. Now, I am just looking forward to picking up the first book in the Vanguard series and finding out more about the mysteries of the Taurus Reach.
The year is 2265 and Starfleet has fast-tracked the construction of Starbase 47, also known as Vanguard although the reason for such a rush to get it built is being kept secret by Starfleet Command. Unfortunately, there are various technical problems plaguing the Starbase and so the USS Lovell is called in with its Starfleet Corps of Engineers team ready to help. However, it soon becomes obvious that this isn’t just teething troubles and there appears to be something much more mysterious causing the issues.
The first thing that did impress me about this story is that even though I haven’t read any SCE or Vanguard novels I found it to be accessible and understandable. With such a large collection of new characters and a limited page count I was pleasantly surprised by this as I was worried that I would struggle to follow it. The fact that the authors didn’t try and link the story into the regular 24th Century SCE crew also helped to ensure the ebook was fully concentrating on the plot and the characters of the 23rd Century.
The story itself was entertaining and attention grabbing although some elements of the plotting didn’t completely work for me. Basically, I was a little bit disappointed that the two main plot lines seemed to have no relevance to each other. I just didn’t understand why the authors felt the need to try and cram both elements into novella like this when there was no actual link between them. I suppose having both plot lines did keep the action and excitement levels up but I think I would rather have seen a bit more exploration of the characters.
Overall, this was an enjoyable novella that has given me a decent introduction to both the crew of the USS Lovell and Vanguard. The story itself had a fair amount of action alongside some intriguing mystery which helped to ensure that I completed it in no time at all. Now, I am just looking forward to picking up the first book in the Vanguard series and finding out more about the mysteries of the Taurus Reach.
December 24, 2025
I found this one as I started researching SCE novellas. It's a nice little prelude to the Vanguard series, utilizing a favorite character of mine - al-Khaled.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews