Synopses & Reviews
In a universe where history as we know it could be wiped out at any moment, only the most disciplined, obsessive, and unimaginative government employees have what it takes to face the existential uncertainty of it all: Federation investigators Lucsly and Dulmur.Temporal investigation is a thankless job. While Starfleet explorers get to live the adventure of traveling to other times and realities, it’s up to the dedicated agents of the Federation Department of Temporal Investigations to deal with the consequences of the timestream the rest of us have to live in day by day. But in a universe where history could be eradicated by time warriors from the future, misused relics of ancient races, or accident-prone starships, only the most disciplined agents can still stay sane enough to do their jobs.
That’s where Agents Lucsly and Dulmur come in. These stalwart, unflappable investigators are the Federation’s unsung anchors in a chaotic universe. Together with their colleagues in the DTI, and with the help and sometimes hindrance of Starfleet’s finest, they do what they can to keep the timestream, or at least the paperwork, as neat and orderly as they are, using their investigative skill and unbending determination to keep the present and the future from falling into the kind of chaos they really, really despise.
Synopsis
The agents of the Department of Temporal Investigations are assigned to look into an anomaly that has appeared deep in Federation territory. It’s difficult to get clear readings, but a mysterious inactive vessel lies at the heart of the anomaly, one outfitted with some sort of temporal drive disrupting space-time and subspace. To the agents’ shock, the ship bears a striking resemblance to a Constitution-class starship, and its warp signature matches that of the original Federation starship Enterprise NCC-1701—the ship of James T. Kirk, that infamous bogeyman of temporal investigators, whose record of violations is held up by DTI agents as a cautionary tale for Starfleet recklessness toward history. But the vessel’s hull markings identify it as Timeship Two, belonging to none other than the DTI itself. At first, Agents Lucsly and Dulmur assume the ship is from some other timeline . . . but its quantum signature confirms that it came from their own past, despite the fact that the DTI never possessed such a timeship. While the anomaly is closely monitored, Lucsly and Dulmur must search for answers in the history of Kirk’s Enterprise and its many encounters with time travel—a series of events with direct ties to the origins of the DTI itself. . . .
About the Author
Christopher L. Bennett is the author of two previous works of
Titan fiction, the novel
Star Trek: Titan: Orion's Hounds and the short story “Empathy” in the
Star Trek: Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows anthology. He has also authored such critically acclaimed novels as
Star Trek: Ex Machina, Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Buried Age, and
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Greater Than the Sum, as well as the alternate
Voyager tale
Places of Exile in
Myriad Universes: Infinity's Prism. Beyond
Star Trek, he has penned the novels
X-Men: Watchers on the Walls and
Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder and is also developing original science fiction novel concepts.
™, ®, & © 2012 CBS Studios, Inc. Star Trek and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.