This first book in a two-part series provides an irresistible hook to fans of The Orignal Series: The U.S.S. Defiant, the Enterprise's sister ship last seen in the TOS episode "The Tholian Web," has been spotted drifting in and out of interphase space. Obviously, this is of particular interest to Captain Montgomery Scott, who dispatches the da Vinci and her crew of S.C.E. officers to investigate this decades old mystery. Tensions run high in this first novel, which mostly provides the setup for book two, as the Federation must work with the Tholians, with whom they have forged a delicate alliance. It is clear that the Starfleet Admiralty considers smooth relations with the Tholians more important than the recovery of the Defiant.
When the S.C.E. crew discovers a secret Tholian weapon aboard the Defiant, the Tholians turn against the da Vinci, and part of her crew become trapped aboard the Defiant in interphase. Ward and Dilmore take advantage of this longer S.C.E. story to establish tension as well as explore the characters in a bit more depth than the authors are often afforded. It is also a treat to learn how the Tholians interact with Starfleet in the twenty-fourth century, and the opening scene even takes place from the point of view of that mysterious race. As sometimes happens with Star Trek novels, the continuity established here would later be contradicted by a couple of very entertaining episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise.
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