Star Trek: Vanguard: Storming Heaven
Read Star Trek: Vanguard: Storming Heaven Online
Authors: David Mack
“I WAS THERE UNTIL THE END, MATE. THE BITTER, BLOODY END.”
Vanguard is under siege. Surrounded by enemies, Admiral Nogura sends the scout ship Sagittarius to find an ancient weapon that might be the Federation’s only hope of stopping the alien threat known as the Shedai . . . Qo’noS is wracked by scandal. Councillor Gorkon fights to expose a Romulan plot to corrupt members of the Klingon High Council, only to learn the hard way that crusaders have few allies, and even fewer friends . . . Tholia teeters on the brink of madness. To prevent Starfleet from wielding the Shedai’s power as its own, the Tholians deploy an armada with one mission: Kill the Shedai—by destroying Vanguard.
THE EPIC SAGA’S
EXPLOSIVE FINALE
™
, ® & © 2012 CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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“Yes, sir.” Dimetris lifted her voice and began belting out orders. “Helm, set intercept course, maximum warp. Weapons, stand by for a snap shot. Target their center mass. Centurion, stand by to drop the cloak on my mark.”
Curt acknowledgments came back to her in quick succession, and Centurion Akhisar nodded once to indicate he was ready. Commander H’kaan watched the tactical display in front of him and felt his pulse quicken with anticipation as the
Valkaya
closed to attack position on the
Sagittarius
. When they reached optimal firing range for torpedoes, he said simply, “Now.”
Akhisar dropped the bird-of-prey’s cloak, and the weapons officer unleashed a burst of charged plasma that slammed into the small Starfleet scout ship and knocked it out of warp.
“Helm,” Dimetris called out, “come about and drop to impulse. Sublieutenant Pelor, charge disruptors and ready another plasma charge. Centurion, raise shields.”
Pelor replied, “Weapons locked!”
Dimetris crowed, “Fire!”
In the scant moments between the order and the action, H’kaan glimpsed the sparking, smoldering mass of the
Sagittarius
on the bridge’s main viewscreen.
Looks like we scored a direct hit with the first shot,
he observed with pride.
All those battle drills finally paid off.
Then a pair of disruptor beams lanced through the smoldering husk of the
Sagittarius,
and the ship erupted in a massive fireball that quickly dissipated, vanishing into the insatiable vacuum of deep space. When the afterglow faded, all that remained was glowing debris.
“Secure from general quarters,” H’kaan said. “Well done, all of you.” Much as he tried to remain detached and professional, H’kaan could not resist the urge to gloat over his victory. “Kiris! Send to Admiral Inaros, ‘Starfleet vessel
Sagittarius
destroyed.’”
Harbinger
David Mack
Summon the Thunder
Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
Reap the Whirlwind
David Mack
Open Secrets
Dayton Ward
Precipice
David Mack
Declassified
Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore,
Marco Palmieri, David Mack
What Judgments Come
Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
Storming Heaven
David Mack
Pocket Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
™
, ® and © 2012 by CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This book is published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., under exclusive license from CBS Studios Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Pocket Books paperback edition April 2012
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ISBN 978-1-4516-5070-9 (print)
ISBN 978-1-4516-5071-6 (eBook)
For Dayton and Kevin, who made this journey to the final frontier more fun than I could ever have imagined, and for Marco, who brought us all together for the trip.
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Prologue: The Sense of Reckoning
The prologue and epilogue of this story are set in April 2270. The rest of the narrative transpires in 2268, coinciding with the events of the latter half of
Star Trek
’s third season.
Wisdom begins at the end.
—John Webster,
The Duchess of Malfi
(1623)
THE SENSE OF RECKONING
APRIL 2270
CALDOS II
Diego Reyes stared through the amber lens of a short glass of whiskey in his hand. “How long did you stay on the station after I left?”