Description[]
- The Hidran race and the Klingon Empire have been at each other's throats for seventy years, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard has been asked to do the near-impossible: take the U.S.S. Enterprise to the planet Velex to mediate a treaty that will end the conflict between these two aggressive species. Things get off to a rocky start -- then turn deadly as the Hidran ambassador mysteriously dies, and kills a Klingon delegate in a last act of vengeance.
- When Lt. Worf is charged with the ambassador's assassination, and Commander Riker and Counselor Troi are trapped far below the surface of the planet, Captain Picard must not only act to save the Hidrans and Klingons from each other, but to save his Klingon officer from a hideous death sentence...
Summary[]
The Enterprise has been assigned to organise negotiations between the Klingons and the Hidrans, a race they were at war with for seventy years after occupying their planet. The Hidrans need materials to run the generators the Klingons left behind and the Klingons need a vaccine against a debilitating disease they contracted on the Hidran world. However, both groups are openly hostile towards each other. The negotiations take place on Velex, a Federation colony world.
Geordi has to leave the negotiations in pain and have his VISOR removed after his body rejects the implants. Worf attempts to broker peace with the Hidran ambassador Zhad but ends up striking him in a rage. Zhad promptly suffers a malfunction of his breathing equipment that causes him to suffocate, killing one of the Klingons in his dying moments. As a result, Worf is suspected of murder and the Klingons and Hidrans have to be secured separately.
At the same time, Riker and Troi disappear while on a mission in a shuttlecraft, apparently abducted. Data, left in command of the Enterprise, begins to behave strangely, assuming Worf is guilty and that the Klingons are behind everything that has transpired, without evidence. He blocks communications and accuses anyone who tries to countermand him of being a Klingon agent or coerced by them.
Riker and Troi have actually been transported to what turns out to be automated underground caverns, left behind by an ancient civilisation. Picard is taken hostage by the Hidrans, who demand Worf be turned over to them. It is discovered that a grain with apparent healing properties discovered on Velex is actually highly-sophisticated nanites who restore organisms who ingest them to their proper state. This caused both Geordi and Zhad to reject their implants, leading to Zhad's death. An impassioned speech by Picard urging the two sides to see each other as individuals, coupled with Worf demonstrating the grain's abilities by stabbing himself in what should have been a fatal manner, convinces the Klingon and Hidran sides to stand down.
Meanwhile, Data attacks the Klingon ship without provocation and sets off for Qo'noS in the stardrive section convinced they are plotting against the Federation: He also consumed the grain and has ended up convinced that a Hidran assessment of the Klingons he read is correct. With aid from both the Klingons and the Hidrans, Picard and Riker are able to beam aboard and subdue him. Both he and Geordi will return to normal once the grain has left their system and the Klingon and Hidran delegations are now committed to the treaty.
| This article or section is incomplete |
|---|
| This article is marked as lacking essential detail, and needs attention. Information regarding expansion requirements may be found on the article's talk page. Feel free to edit this page to assist with this expansion. |
References[]
Characters[]
- Anderson • Batok • Connors • Beverly Crusher • Data • DePotter • Barbara Hollitt • Kadar • Geordi La Forge • MacKenzie • Meliosh • Raenna Peiss • Jean-Luc Picard • William T. Riker • Deanna Troi • Urosk • Worf • Zhad
- Referenced only
- Kurn • Thomas Riker
Locations[]
- Velex
- Referenced only
- Lansing • Michigan • Mars • New Chicago • Qo'noS • Tellar • Valhalla
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Charleston • USS Enterprise-D (Galaxy-class) • IKS HivSuH
- Referenced only
- USS Charleston • SS Eagle • USS Excalibur • USS Hood • SS Tan-Shra
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Hidran Congress • Klingon Empire • Starfleet • United Federation of Planets
- Referenced only
- United States of America
Science and technology[]
- abacus • anesthesia • brain • calculator • communicator • computer • hair • medical tricorder • nutrient • sensor • starship • supercomputer • time • turbolift • Velexian grain • zenapantocene
Ranks and titles[]
- ambassador • captain • commander • counselor • doctor • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • scientist • technician
Other references[]
- aridium • assassination • boot • city • colony • day • Federation protectorate • government • grain • homework • laboratory • minute • myth • planet • saucer separation • science • sector • soil • tech journal • technology • tent • treaty • uniform • week • wheat • wood • year
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- Foreign Foes takes place after "Second Chances".
Images[]
Connections[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: Debtors' Planet |
TNG numbered novels | Next novel: Requiem |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: A Rolling Stone Gathers No Nanoprobes |
Next Adventure: The Forsaken | |
| Previous Adventure: Second Chances |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) |
Next Adventure: Requiem |
Translations[]
- 1996
- German : Fremde Widersacher, translated by Andreas Brandhorst. (VGS-Verlag)
External link[]
- Foreign Foes article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.