Aftermath

Starfleet Corps of Engineers #8

by Christopher L. Bennett

The U.S.S. da Vinci is at last ready to resume its mission after the catastrophic events of Wildfire -- but before the ship can even leave Spacedock, a mysterious alien vessel appears out of nowhere in San Francisco. With the aid of Captain Montgomery Scott and former Starship Enterprise™ and Deep Space Nine™ engineer Miles O'Brien, the S.C.E. must investigate the alien vessel and learn if this is an attack, a first contact -- or something worse....

What they find may land the Federation in the midst of an interdimensional war, as Commander Sonya Gomez works with Starfleet legends from two generations to untie the secrets of the alien ship before it's too late!

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

139 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

Christopher L. Bennett is a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, with a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in History from the University of Cincinnati. A fan of science and science fiction since age five, he has spent the past two decades selling original short fiction to magazines such as Analog Science Fiction and Fact (home of his "Hub" series of comedy adventures), BuzzyMag, and Galaxy's Edge. Since 2003, he has been one of Pocket Books' most prolific and popular authors of Star Trek tie-in fiction, including the epic Next Generation prequel The Buried Age, the Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations series, and the Star Trek: Enterprise -- Rise of the Federation series. He has also written two Marvel Comics novels, X-Men: Watchers on the Walls and Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder. His original novel Only Superhuman, perhaps the first hard science fiction superhero novel, was voted Library Journal's SF/Fantasy Debut of the Month for October 2012. Other tales in the same universe can be found in Among the Wild Cybers and the upcoming Arachne's Crime, both from eSpec Books. His Hub stories are available in two collections from Mystique Press.
Christopher's homepage, fiction annotations, and blog can be found at christopherlbennett.wordpress.com. His Patreon page with original fiction and reviews is at https://www.patreon.com/christopherlb..., and his Facebook author page is at www.facebook.com/ChristopherLBennettA....

Reviews

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 Star Trek stories.

Aftermath by Christopher L. Bennett
San Francisco, Disaster

It's rare that I get to put a location/setting tag on a 'space story', or at least a Star Trek one. But I could this time because 95% of the action took place in just one location - San Francisco (and part of it took place in space, and part in an alternate space area).

People are wandering the city of San Francisco, rebuilding after the damage done by the Breen invasion (don't ask - as I don't recall this invasion and it's just mentioned in passing; though I think it was part of the Dominion War - which I have read and seen on DS9). One of the engineering types touches something found in the debris and a massive . . . displacement occurs. Dozens or more dead. And a large structure now stands where that crystal thingie had been lying.

What's going on? What could have happened? The SCE people investigate. Various aliens interacted with. Interesting story, though the 'recovering from disaster' was laid on thick. Several of the previous books in this series dealt with both the 'disaster' and 'recovery'. Eventually we need to move on to new things, eh?

Rating: 3.89

March 21 2017

Ishtar Rising by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels
Venus; Terraforming; Scientists

A man, with a team, attempts to terraform Venus. Due to 'reasons' he requests help from a friend, who just happens to captain one of the SCE starships. Captain Gold helps his friend.

Rating: 3.77

March 22 2017

Buying Time by Robert Greenberger
Time Travel; Ferengi; Public Nudity

A time travel device is found. Inside is one life form - a Ferengi. Before they can do anything but blink, the Ferengi has poofed back in time to the Ferengi homeworld, ten years in the past. The SCE, or a segement of it, hurriedly follows.

Remember the Ferengi? Yes, no? This might be more of a thing that came out on DS9, but it might have been there on Star Trek:The Next Generation - Ferengi expect women to be naked. Three of the four people following the Ferengi back in time are women. They don't want to stand out. Therefore, three of the four people sent back in time on the SCE team go back in time naked.

Rating: 3.88

March 22 2017

Collective Hindsight by Aaron Rosenberg

A spaceship is on course a populated planet. The SCE is sent in to tackle the problem. Interesting story. One slight problem I had with it - it was understandable why 'they' attempted to destroy the spaceship the first time. But . . . they knew how to fly it, could fly it, and yet they again destroyed the spaceship. Um, wha?.

Rating: 3.78

March 22 2017

The Demon by Loren L. Coleman & Randall N. Bills

A distress signal is detected - da Vinci goes to investigate and finds that the signal is coming from a black hole. They investigate.

Rating: 2.2

March 23 2017

Overall

Aftermath by Christopher L. Bennett: 3.89
Ishtar Rising by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels: 3.77
Buying Time by Robert Greenberger: 3.88
Collective Hindsight by Aaron Rosenberg: 3.78
The Demon by Loren L. Coleman & Randall N. Bills: 2.20

Overall Average Rating: 3.504

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit it, I'm this big a geek.

However, that said, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers series has been very good - the characters are well written, and the original cast of them way back in the first stories were about half gleaned from previous books or secondary (and tertiary) characters on the various Star Trek television series episodes. But then the authors went further, crafted really smart stories around these characters - finally included a gay fella - and continue to serve up interesting stories set in the Trek world.

So I do not apologize, I merely admit that I'm a geek.

Were these the best stories yet? Not really. I'm being a bit harsh, though - in the previous stories to this one, more than half the crew was killed on a mission, and thus a lot of the stories in this book serve double-duty as introductions of new characters, realignment of relationships, and the like. I must say, I rather enjoyed the new second officer - an arrogant Tellerite with absolutely zero social skills - and continue to enjoy what they've done with Soloman - the Bynar who lost his matched partner and now is navigating life alone. The introduction of a Betazoid security officer was also fresh, and I like where they're going with him.

All around, I enjoyed this - it didn't pack a story with the emotional punch of 'Hard Crash' by any stretch - that one will go down in my personal history as the only Star Trek story to ever really get me choked up - but there were very good moments in here. Just make sure you stock up on apple flavored jolly ranchers before you begin.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read in the continuing saga of the da Vinci as part of the Star Trek: Corp or Engineers. Good stories, but some are rather depressing as they are continuing to dwell on the events of Wildfire, but hopefully the stories will move on from here.

[John Barclay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than many of the latest set of books, mainly because it's back to an interesting engineering challenge and some solid characters and less of the character's reflecting without much happening.

[Noah Soudrette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of stories that deal with the fallout and reconstitution of the DaVinci's crew. Though the new second officer may rub some people the wrong way, I promise he'll grow on you.

[Jonne Steen Redeker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent collection of SCE stories, where our crew goes back out there after the disaster at Galvan, which means a new second officer who is about as far from Kieran Duffy as it gets, but that is kind of the point.

Aftermath
Excellent story, and great use of the crew's return to earth, they also get some assistance from fan favourite Miles Edward O'Brien, Chief petty officer Starfleet. The author manages to get his story to move forward, in s astory already filled to the brim with development.

The core of this story is really the crew getting used to their newest member. A Tellarite named Tev, who seems to fit in as well as a square peg in a round hole. Why did Scott Recommend him for this assignment? He is undeniably brilliant but knowing the original miracle worker, there's got to be more behind it.

Ishtar Rising
When the efforts to terraform Venus hit a roadblock, the SCE is asked to come in and help. Most importantly 110 and 111 are. Sadly the project leader was unaware that 111 had since past, and 110 goes by Soloman now.

Just an excellent story, filled with geeky references the biggest of which has to be the appearance of a holographic Carl Sagan. The core of the story though revolves around Soloman interacting with Bynars again for the first time since the lost of his mate. We get a real sense of the taboo he broke by staying unbonded to honour his partner.

There are also some fantastic acts of engineering brilliance, and bravery by the entire team. Just a great story, and not much more needs to be said about it. Go read it!

Buying Time
Alright, this one is just funny. For fans of the larger trek Library I think it is worth noting that this is not quite compatible with the DTI novels, or mainline canon really... Neither they, or Starfleet would have allowed the crew to time travel under any circumstances. However it is a fun time travel story none the less. As you might guess it involves a time travelling , now why would a Ferengi do that? Cheat in finance of course!

Collective Hindsight
This is how you do a framing device properly! Where both the flashbacks, and the current day story are told fully!

Another flashback set, but this time the frame is less obtrusive. It starts with the current day SCE crew being send on a mission to dispose of a ship they encountered before, when they had different commanders. The first part almost entirely focuses on this past mission, and it was great to get to meet their previous Vulcan commander, even if it was his last mission. Getting to see Duffy again was really cool too, he had been sorely missed.

Part two is the crew now properly handling the derelict runaway ship, using the lessons learned from the past. Tev really annoys the characters, and us the fans by being less than respectful of the efforts of Duffy, his predecessor.

Just another excellent read. Nothing all that special, but a moving story.

Demon
And another two parter, a gripping story of a prison trapped in the event horizon of a black hole. There is not much to say about this one, without giving stuff away but the story is excellent.


Another great collection, as slowly but surely the crew starts to come together again post Galvan. While Tev is not exactly liked, he is starting to fit in better.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series of short stories by different authors about the crew and missions of an engineering vessel. It was okay, but I had trouble getting into it since all the characters were unfamiliar to me, and in general I prefer the longer novels.

[Russell Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining book

With multiple stories and engaging characters and storyline, this book is a must read for any Star Trek fan. New adventures, new characters lie at your fingertips and the edge of your imagination.

[Vic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the other SCE stories, it’s a short and sweet little tale. The thematic elements about a civilization’s collapse and hope for the future were just what I needed after reading some more downbeat stories.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characterization in these books just keeps getting stronger.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots going on in this one, to the point where I wasn't sure it would wrap up in the allowed number of pages (which is still slightly higher than many of the S.C.E. books). The plot itself is a good one, with two alien races who approach life and technology differently than Starfleet does, making for some of interesting action and diplomacy. The non-humanoid Shenial in particular hold the key to Gomez's internal conflict about how to move forward. "Forward" is relative. This is generally the theme of the book, with Stevens also learning to work with and respect his new commander, and Keiko, so disappointed that she's still a nag, finding a way forward for her marriage. While it's realistic that Sonya would still be overwhelmed (no matter how good Federation counselors are), it did feel a bit repetitive that everyone had to have a conversation with her about it. You want to tell her to (Cher voice) "snap out of it" too, but also tell the rest of the cast to mind their own business. I similarly frowned at the O'Brien stuff because Keiko was once again a pain in the ass. Where Bennett excels here is in the creation of new characters, and not just the guest aliens. Commander Tev is deliciously blunt, but also quite brilliant, and he's a great injection into the series. Though the Tellarites are Federation founders, the TV shows have done very little with them (until Prodigy at least, and even there, Jankom Pog doesn't really know his own culture), so I'm excited to discover them through this to-date entertaining jerk. Hand-picked by Scotty, so he must have the stuff! S.C.E. is pretty good, especially given its page count, at creating lower decks characters too, and I'm very intrigued by Rennan Konya, a rate Betazoid in security. He has a very interesting non-violence philosophy and some cool powers that we haven't seen in Betazoids (or anyone) before, though they definitely make sense. I'm also looking forward to seeing more of him as part of Corsi's sub-team. We're still dealing with the death of a main character, but with the introduction of these new ones, Aftermath makes a fine transition between eras for the series. Not the jumping off point I might have feared it would be.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 4 out of 5]

New charactgers come into play and need to be fleshed out. The catastprohe from S.C.E. #6 can finally be digested and left behind. Adventure and technical prowess are again #1. Aliens with their strange ways of thinking play a major part - my favourite. Shorter books but 1 extra make up for a well-balanced volume. I still feel that something of the first volumes lacks but my hopes are up for the next volumes.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The team are waiting for the Da Vinci to get refitted. A strange event happens in San Fransisco, and O'Brien is nearby to help.

This one has plenty of Scotty and O'Brien in it. The story is clever, and shows prejudices as being just assumptions about those you know nothing about. It introduces a new character for the crew which will be interesting in future novellas.

A good read.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the several novellas in this volume, I enjoyed "Collective Hindsight" the most, and "The Demon" next, but my least favorite was certainly "Buying Time" despite involving Ferengi.

[Joebot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wounds was better, but this was great. the social interactions in this series is top-notch. Really loved Lt. Cmdr. Tev is this book

[Vic Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the opening to this story (although it was a bit of a jarring skip as one of the main characters had died between this and the last book I read from the SCE) but the rest of it was a bit bland.