What Judgments Come

Pe

“There are worse ways to live,” Reyes replied, shrugging. “Like I said, prison’s still there, if this ends up not working out.”

“And Starfleet’s not worried that anyone else might come looking for you?” Pe

Waving his free hand as though to swat away the suggestion, Reyes frowned. “Even if somebody does find me, there’s nothing for me to tell that you probably haven’t already written about, right?”

Pe

“Haven’t had much use for news since I got here,” Reyes said. “Besides, as I recall, there was a news blackout around the station for a long while after I left. I’ll admit I was curious at first, and considered staying updated on the entire situation, but after a while, there didn’t seem to be much point in keeping up with all of that, along with the goings-on in the rest of a galaxy I’ll never again be a part of. Better to make a clean break from all of it, and get on with life.” Raising his glass to his lips, he stopped in mid-motion as his eyes met Pe

“You would, would you?” Pe

Reyes hesitated, as though trying to decide how much of whatever Pe

It was now Pe

And yet, he did not care. For the first and perhaps only time in whatever might remain of his life, Tim Pe

“I was there until the end, mate,” he said after a moment. “The bitter, bloody end.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks of the first order are reserved for our editors, who exercised far more patience and compassion than we deserved. Their unwavering support and mentorship were instrumental in the completion of this book.

To Marco Palmieri and David Mack, co-creators of Star Trek: Vanguard, we’re going to flout convention and repeat what we said in the dedication: Thanks for inviting us to the party. Writing for this series has been some of the most unqualified fun we’ve had working in the Star Trek “expanded universe,” and much of that is owed to the drive and passion you both brought to the table. To say we’re going to miss this is a criminal understatement.

A round of heartfelt applause is directed to Doug Drexler, Oscar- and Emmy-wi

Special thanks are sent out to Eric Kristiansen, fan and artist responsible for the “Starfleet Exploration Craft: Daedalus-class” blueprints he created as part of his Jackill’s Technical Readout Data Sheets series. We purchased a set of these for six bucks years ago when we first were developing the Lovell crew for our Star Trek: Corps of Engineers stories. Though we took a few small liberties, plotting and details of the Lovell’s interior spaces were realized thanks to inspiration supplied by these data sheets. Check out a whole bunch of Eric’s awesome work at www.jackill.com.

As this novel likely marks the last time we’ll ever write for this particular set of characters, we’d like to give our final round of thanks to the readers and fans of the Star Trek: Vanguard series. It’s been an absolute joy to work on these books over the past several years, and the response from the Star Trek fiction reader community has been nothing short of astounding. It was your enthusiasm and excitement for each new book that kept us motivated throughout our tenure on the series, and we hope we held up our end of the deal.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

DAYTON WARD. Author. Trekkie. Writing his goofy little stories and searching for a way to tap into the hidden nerdity that all humans have. Then, an accidental overdose of Mountain Dew altered his body chemistry. Now, when Dayton Ward grows excited or just downright geeky, a startling metamorphosis occurs.

Driven by outlandish ideas and a pronounced lack of sleep, he is pursued by fans and editors as well as fu

Dayton is believed to be working on his next novel, and he must let the world think that he is working on it, until he can find a way to earn back the advance check he blew on strippers and booze. Though he currently lives in Kansas City with his wife and daughters, Dayton is a Florida native and maintains a torrid long-distance romance with his beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Visit him on the web at www.daytonward.com.

KEVIN DILMORE is but one more proof of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’s assertion that when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. It all started in 1998 with his eight-year run as a contributing writer to Star Trek Communicator, for which he wrote news stories and personality profiles for the bimonthly publication of the Official Star Trek Fan Club. Since that time, he also has contributed to publications including Amazing Stories, Hallmark, and Star Trek magazines. Look for his essay in the forthcoming anthology Hey Kids, Comics—True Life Tales from the Spi