Star Trek: Voyager — The Escape
{4.5/5} “Only a few people in each Period knew the truth about the future in Real Time. That was one of the many reasons why it was so forbidden to travel instead any 500,000 year Period. If knowledge of the Near Future got out, it would destroy the society.”
Star Trek: Voyager — The Escape by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch, published in 1995
Voyager needs parts for the warp drive, and Neelix suggests they go to Alcawell. He knows there are many abandoned ships there, but also ghosts. When Torres, Kim, and Neelix board one of the ships it comes to life — and takes them somewhere where Voyager is no longer in orbit. Meanwhile, Captain Janeway sees the ship disappear and then reappear — with someone on it who’s not a member of the away team.
This story posits a fascinating culture who travels in time instead of in space.
It’s about explorers, bureaucrats, and people who bend the rules.
This is the 1st original novel based on Voyager. As such, the authors probably didn’t have any of the show to watch when they wrote it — likely they worked from the show’s bible. They did a fine job depicting the characters early in their time on Voyager.
I’ve read 6 novels by Rusch and 7 by Smith (plus 3 anthologies he edited). I previously reviewed their novel Star Trek: TNG — Double Helix: Vectors.