Introduction (blurb)[]
Dangerous assignments come in pairs when Captain Picard and his crew are confronted with two desperate missions on two different worlds. On the planet Buran, newly linked to the Federation, a mysterious disease devastates the population -- and turns them against the visitors from the USS Enterprise. Meanwhile, on nearby Iomides, a renegade Federation observer has disappeared, intent on violating the Prime Directive by preventing a tragic political assassination.
While Dr. Crusher struggles to find a cure for the plague ravaging Buran, Commander Will Riker leads an Away Team to Iomides. Their forces divided, Picard and his crew find themselves the only hope of two worlds.
Summary[]
The Enterprise is summoned to Buran, a planet that has recently joined the Federation and which has now been struck by a plague. The Burani voted to join the Federation in a referendum by a narrow margin, after the planet's crown prince, J'Kara, advocated for membership. His father, King T'Fara, opposed joining and has claimed that the plague is a judgement from the gods on the decision.
En route, the Enterprise receives a message from Doctor Starn, the head of the Federation observation team on the pre-warp world Iomides. One of his team, Maria Wallace, discovered a plot to assassinate First Citizen Farra Chal, who stands a good chance of uniting the planet. In defiance of the Prime Directive, she has headed off to warn him. Riker is sent in a shuttlecraft with a team including Troi and Barclay to extract her. Before they can get there, however, a group of mercenaries storm the Federation outpost, killing a number of personnel and abducting Starn.
The Enterprise uncovers difficulty at Buran, with the inhabitants' privacy laws and distrust of outsiders meaning Picard and Crusher are blocked from much of the information they need. They have an ally in J'Kara, who attempts to get information from them. Worf tracks down an Andorian ship which visited the planet just before the plague started and finds the crew have been poisoned.
Riker's team watch a news broadcast in which Chal's political opponent, Brak Norin, produces images of Starn's body and claims Chal is conspiring with aliens. Troi and security guard Lorrie Kessler manage to destroy the body before an autopsy can be done. The true culprit behind it all is Tok Grell, Norin's financial backer. Riker, with Barclay and the other security guard Vanderbeek, attempts to rescue Wallace from Grell's island stronghold: She was betrayed by a traitor in Chal's camp and tortured for information on the Federation. Grell's assistant Toma Sar kills Wallace and takes the others prisoner.
The crew on Buran determine that the "plague" is actually the result of grain being poisoned. J'Kara's fiance S'Hiri and T'Fara are the culprits, determined to end J'Kara's attempts at reforming their society into a democracy. The pair are arrested and the cure in T'Fara's possession is distributed. However, J'Kara, who deliberately infected himself, refuses to take the cure and dies.
The assassination of Chal succeeds but, with both the assassin and the traitor captured, Grell is soon implicated. Riker's team manage to escape and a furious Grell kills Toma before blowing up his island rather than being arrested. The Enterprise crew hear that Chal's widow, who acted as his unofficial adviser, is likely to be elected as his replacement and will probably implement his policies.
References[]
Characters[]
- Reginald Barclay • Benares • Beverly Crusher • Data • Garth • Lorie Kessler • Kintu • Geordi La Forge • Margolin • Jean-Luc Picard • Porter • William T. Riker • Ro Laren • Halsey • Saren • Starn • Deanna Troi • Paul Vanderbeek • Van Popering • Maria Wallace • Worf • Morgan
Burani[]
- J'Kara • L'Tele • M'Riri • S'Hiri • T'Fara
Iomidians[]
- Tral Brak • Farra Chal • Rona Chal • Tok Grell • Dral Haron • Brak Norin • Toma Sar • Pol Tormak
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Agamemnon • USS Enterprise-D (Galaxy-class) • Hoyle • Isaac Newton • USS Powhaten • Sarek • Tivela
Locations[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Starfleet • United Federation of Planets
- Referenced only
- Dovinian League • Ebenezer Todd and the Sky Monkeys
Science and technology[]
Ranks and titles[]
Other references[]
- away team • clavier • Dixieland jazz • music • planet • pressed-latinum album • Prime Directive • The Prime Directive in Action • soul • tarn • Vulcan autoharp
Information[]
Connections[]
- The Death of Princes article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
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