Star Trek: Gateways — One Small Step
{4.5/5} “McCoy made a small noise, as if that was enough to convince him. Kirk had to agree. He almost reached for his communicator to tell Scotty to deactivate the shield. But something wasn’t right. He couldn’t pinpoint it, but this commander was a tad smooth for his taste. She watched him too carefully.”
Star Trek: Gateways — One Small Step by Susan Wright, published in 2001
Losira is gone, but Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock were still on her planetoid. They were unable to beam up, because something was interfering with the biofilters. Dr. McCoy was working on it. In the meantime, Kirk was concerned that the energy spike would attract more visitors — like the Klingons.
This is the start of a 7-book miniseries that contains stories from all the TV series that existed at the time. The miniseries is a sequel to the TNG episode “Contagion” which introduced the Iconians and their gateways.
As for the story in this book specifically, it’s a sequel to the TOS episode “That Which Survives.”
It’s about dealing with people who aren’t who they claim to be.
It ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, with Kirk lost to his friends. The 1st 6 books in the series all have their stories concluded in the 7th book.
This is the 1st book I’ve ready by Wright.