Susan Wright (2) (1963–)

Overall this is a series of short stories / novellas from each of one of the prior Gateway novels, and/or a direct tie-in from a main series. It finishes up the Gateways series and some loose ends from the main series themselves. Getting to "see" the Iconians during these stories was very interesting - especially their viewpoints and the "respect" they have for at least one other very ancient race.

One Giant Leap by Susan Wright (ST:TOS, Captain James T. Kirk)
       In [b:One Small Step (Gateways #1)|635376|Gateways #1|Susan Wright|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1176566454s/635376.jpg|621661] by Susan Wright, when Luz and Tasm, two of the Petraw (a race of scavengers that search out the technology of other races for their own use and advancement), steal the vital Gateway component and flees to their homeworld through the Gateway, Kirk follows. One Giant Leap covers what happens after they all arrive on the homeward of the Petraw.
       Kirk finds himself on the Petraw home world, seemingly stranded and a prisoner of the Petraw. Luz is unhappy when the credit for obtaining the Gateway technology is awarded to her Commander (Tasm), and not herself. Collaborating with Kirk, the two hide out until they finally have the chance to seemingly steal back the Gateway technology which the Petraw are laboring to unlock. In the ensuing struggle Kirk destroys the Gateway, but not before he and Luz use it to flee to Earth where Luz warns Kirk, "We haven't seen the last of my people yet."

Exodus by Diane Carey (ST:Challenger, Commander Nick Keller)
       [b:Chainmail (Gateways #2)|451185|Gateways #2 Chainmail (Star Trek/Challenger)|Diane Carey|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1174881227s/451185.jpg|439814] by Diane Carey is the precursor for this short story. In this Commander Keller succeeds in convincing the Living to travel through the Gateway back to where they originally came from and they all travel back to the Belle Terra sector. It establishes that the Gateways can be used to travel to other dimensions. Which is kind of redundant because we already knew that.

Horn and Ivory by Keith R.A. DeCandido (ST:DS9, Colonel Kira Nerys)
       Directly following on the heels of [b:Demons of Air and Darkness|103191|Demons of Air and Darkness|Keith R.A. DeCandido|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1171490715s/103191.jpg|99482] (Gateways 6, DS9 46?) We discover what happens to Kira when she passes through the Gateway to escape a nasty Theta Radiation demise in the Gamma Quadrant while helping with the evacuation of Europa Nova.
       In Horn and Ivory, Kira finds herself stranded on Bajor, some thirty thousand years before her time. She gets engaged in a civil war, fighting alongside General Torrna Antosso on the Perikian Peninsula, and she later becomes his adjutant. It is the days when Bajor was still broken up into different factions, but already, the "Bajora" try to unite the planet - with the help of the Prophets. In the meantime, the Fire Caves have collided destroying the port and city of Agilva, it was the time when the Prophets captured the Pah-wraiths there.
       Kira and Torrna later become prisoners during the waves of the war, but they manage to escape. Back on the peninsula, Torrna is desperate - his wife Lyrra and his children were all killed during the war. Kira tries to pummels some sense into him and reminds him of his duties. Kira finally travels to the Fire Caves and finds another Iconian Gateway there. When she steps through it, she briefly meets an alien which apparently is truly an Iconian, and he sends her back to DS9.
       On the station, Kira memorizes over her experiences and finally realizes what she has to do: To accept that Benjamin Sisko is gone, to accept that the world is changing, and finally for her, to accept her being in charge of DS9.
       This story is also reprinted in the Deep Space Nine relaunch omnibus edition, [b:Twist of Faith|103185|Twist of Faith|S.D. Perry|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348118894s/103185.jpg|99476]

In the Queue by Christie Golden (ST:VOY, Captain Kathryn Janeway)
       Completes the Voyager novel [b:No Man's Land (Gateways #5)|980405|No Man's Land (Star Trek Voyager Gateways, #5)|Christie Golden|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1179967968s/980405.jpg|965294] by Christie Golden, In the Queue details the origins of the gate system.

Death After Life by Peter David (ST: New Frontier, Captains Mackenzie Calhoun and Elizabeth Shelby)
       Follows [b:Cold Wars|324386|Cold Wars (Star Trek New Frontier Gateways, Book 6)|Peter David|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1173756992s/324386.jpg|315085] where Calhoun and Shelby were left battered, bruised and near death.
       Calhoun and Shelby find themselves on the other side of the Gateway where they are forced to continuously relive a past event on Calhoun's homeworld of Xenex, dying over and over again . They have traveled to Kaz'hera, the Xenexian version of the Valhalla, the afterlife. While it does present the character of Calhoun with an opportunity to confront his own past, and Calhoun and Shelby as newly married characters to explore what they feel for each other. I am under the impression this takes place nearly immediately after they were married (the fact they are married is referenced in [b:Section 31: Abyss|216886|Section 31 Abyss (Star Trek Deep Space Nine)|Jeffrey Lang|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1172785863s/216886.jpg|209979] ). Frankly this one could have been written anywhere - didn't have much to do with the overall context of the Iconian Gateways. It feels like they just needed to include *something* from this series.

The Other Side by Robert Greenberger (ST:TNG, Captain Jean-Luc Picard)
       [b:Doors Into Chaos (Gateways #3)|217840|Doors Into Chaos (Star Trek Gateways, #3)|Robert Greenberger|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1172791475s/217840.jpg|210909] is the key to the entire series. Picard, having a background of sorts with the Iconians and their Gateways, is the logical leader of the cooperative effort to find a way to shut down the Gateways that have opened all over the galaxy. In [b:Doors Into Chaos (Gateways #3)|217840|Doors Into Chaos (Star Trek Gateways, #3)|Robert Greenberger|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1172791475s/217840.jpg|210909] the story is used to illustrate the magnitude of the crisis facing the Galaxy, and to establish that it is indeed the race of the Petraw that we met in the first novel who are behind the awakening of the Iconian Gateways.        With the scam they are trying to pull off this time they realize that they have grossly miscalculated. When confronted, they admit that they did not know what all of the consequences of so many active Gateways would be and that they don't know how to turn them off.
       Picard's journey through a Gateway is a desperate attempt to locate the ancient Iconians and find a way of shutting down the entire Gateway network. Picard does indeed find the descendants of the Iconians and while they themselves cannot help him, they do provide him with the information to try to accomplish the deed himself. He must locate the Master Resonator, a device that, when located, should shut down the network of Gateways. After being sent on his way Picard finds himself on an alien world, once populated by the Iconians. With the aid of a local inhabitant discovers that instead of just one device there are 14. Thankfully there is also a map of sorts that tells Picard which Gateways the resonators must be inserted into.
       After returning to the Enterprise via a Gateway the race is on to get all the resonators into place before time runs out. This requires the cooperation of numerous ships and draws back into the story the Defiant, the Excalibur and the Trident. As well as several other familiar ships and characters. The joint effort is successful and the Petraw are sent on their way with the warning never to try to pull anything on the Federation again. … (meer)

Well, this version of the mirror universe is sure all in on evil lesbians (well...evil bisexual women having sex with other women, at least). But it's fun! I really liked getting to see Mirror Universe Seven. My big disappointment is that this book's Garak is deeply uninteresting and even kind of depressing...but then again, I guess some people end up as losers in the Mirror Universe, that's just the way it is...? Still, I can't get behind Garak being aggressively straight. I'm sorry. Fandom has poisoned me.… (meer)