 | |
| Author | Brad Ferguson |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Boris Vallejo |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
Publication date | March 1986 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 254 pp |
| ISBN | 0-671-61115-1 (first edition, paperback) |
| OCLC | 13196917 |
| Preceded by | Mindshadow |
| Followed by | Dreadnought! |
Crisis on Centaurus is a 1986 Star Trek: The Original Series novel written by Brad Ferguson. [1]
On the planet Centaurus, the planetary capital of New Athens has been annihilated by a terrorist antimatter bomb. Millions are dead; because of a computer malfunction, the planetary defense system is preventing any rescue ships from approaching the planet. No subspace communication is possible, and traditional speed-of-light radio is blanketed with heavy static. Despite an emergency do-not-approach warning (known as Code 7-10, which went unheard), the first three relief ships, carrying hundreds of medical personnel, are destroyed by ground-to-air missiles as they assumed standard orbit. The USS Enterprise has been sent to assess the situation and offer what relief they can, but they are in need of help themselves as the ship is falling apart around them due to an unexplainable massive computer malfunction of their own; the transporter is made inoperable by the antimatter's residual tachyon radiation.
The tragedy has a personal touch as well-- Dr. McCoy's daughter Joanna is among the missing, as well as friends and relatives of other crewmembers. While Spock attempts to disable the planetary defense computers, Captain Kirk, Mr. Sulu and attorney Samuel T. Cogley become involved with the terrorists when the terrorist leader contacts Cogley and ask him to represent them in Federation court. Despite his personal feelings, Kirk is determined that the terrorists will get a fair trial under Federation jurisdiction, but certain individuals in the patchwork government are equally determined that the terrorists will not leave Centaurus alive. While the surviving Centauran government engages in an all-out search for Kirk and party, Kirk learns that three more antimatter bombs are somewhere on the planet, and is forced to take refuge in the one place he cherishes most - the little cabin he had built in Garrovick Valley, on the river Farragut.
On seeing the names 'Garrovick' and 'Farragut' on a map, Commander Spock correctly surmises where Kirk is hiding, and a scan from orbit reveals an army of government hovercars flitting around the cabin. By leveraging the Enterprise's crippled warp drive's controls, engineer Montgomery Scott and his second-in-command succeed in enabling the Enterprise to enter the atmosphere. The government hit squad's weapons are no match for a starship's phasers set on stun; the captured terrorists are taken in custody, but the secret of cheap antimatter synthesis is lost: its creator was the suicide bomber who set the first weapon off.
In the epilogue, Spock traces the computer malfunction to a quantum black hole accidentally forming, against all odds, within the Enterprise in warp, drilling a hole straight through a good part of the computer memory banks.
A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. Transporters allow for teleportation by converting a person or object into an energy pattern, then sending ("beaming") it to a target location or else returning it to the transporter, where it is reconverted into matter ("rematerialization"). Since its introduction in Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966, the name and similar concepts have made their way to other science fiction scenarios, in literature, games (SimEarth), etc.
The Star Trek fictional universe contains a variety of weapons, ranging from missiles to melee. The Star Trek franchise consists primarily of several multi-season television shows and a dozen movies, as well as various video games and inspired merchandise. Many aspects of the fictional universe impact modern popular culture, especially the lingo and the idea of a spacecraft launching space torpedoes and firing lasers, and have had a wide influence in the late 20th to early 21st century. Star Trek is popular enough that its science fiction concepts have even been studied by real scientists, and NASA described its science in relation to the real world as "entertaining combination of real science, imaginary science gathered from lots of earlier stories, and stuff the writers make up week-by-week to give each new episode novelty." For example, NASA noted that the Star Trek "phasers" were a fictional extrapolation of real-life lasers, and compared them to real-life microwave based weapons that have a stunning effect.
This article discusses the fictional timeline of the Star Trek franchise. The franchise is primarily set in the future, ranging from the mid-22nd century to the late 24th century, with the third season of Star Trek: Discovery jumping forward to the 32nd century. However the franchise has also outlined a fictional future history of Earth prior to this, and, primarily through time travel plots, explored both past and further-future settings.
"The Ultimate Computer" is the twenty-fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D.C. Fontana and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast on March 8, 1968.
"The Changeling" is the third episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by John Meredyth Lucas and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on September 29, 1967.
"The Naked Time" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by John D. F. Black and directed by Marc Daniels, it first aired on September 29, 1966.
"Mudd's Women" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Stephen Kandel, based on a story by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Harvey Hart, it first aired on October 13, 1966.
"Court Martial" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. It was written by Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos, directed by Marc Daniels, and first aired on February 2, 1967.
"A Taste of Armageddon" is the twenty-third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Robert Hamner and Gene L. Coon and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on February 23, 1967.
"Obsession" is the thirteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Art Wallace and directed by Ralph Senensky, it was originally broadcast on December 15, 1967.
"Elaan of Troyius" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast on December 20, 1968.
"The Paradise Syndrome" is the third episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Margaret Armen and directed by Jud Taylor, it was first broadcast October 4, 1968.
"Day of the Dove" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Marvin Chomsky, it was first broadcast November 1, 1968.
"Wink of an Eye" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Arthur Heinemann, based on a story by Gene L. Coon, and directed by Jud Taylor, it was first broadcast on November 29, 1968.
"The Lights of Zetar" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jeremy Tarcher and his wife Shari Lewis and directed by Herb Kenwith, it was first broadcast on January 31, 1969.
"That Which Survives" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by John Meredyth Lucas and directed by Herb Wallerstein, it was first broadcast January 24, 1969.
"One of Our Planets Is Missing" is the third episode of the first season of the animated American science fiction television series Star Trek. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on September 22, 1973, and was written by veteran Star Trek director Marc Daniels. It was directed by Hal Sutherland.
The Ashes of Eden is a Star Trek novel co-written by William Shatner, Judith Reeves-Stevens, and Garfield Reeves-Stevens as part of the "Shatnerverse" series of novels. This is Shatner's first Trek collaboration.
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