Star Trek Final Frontier Author:Diane Carey They referred to her as the empress--as yet she had no name. Sleek, powerful, huge, she was the first starship ever built...the Federation's most closely guarded secret. Whole decks were still unfinished; few of the amenities that would one day make life aboard comfortable for hundreds of crew members had been installed. But her first mission... more » didn't require such niceties, just speed. The United Federation Colonizer S.S. Rosenberg, en route to a newly discovered planet, was adrift in an ion storm cluster. With no engine power and heavy radiation leaks that had already contaminated most foodstuffs, time was running out for 51 men, women and children. Capable of sustaining fantastic warp speeds, the empress was the only ship with any chance of rescuing the colonists. But who could tell what surprises she might encounter before reaching them? Captain Robert April, an old-fashioned idealist, wasn't worried. But his first officer, Commander George Kirk, was a realist, ever alert for trouble. And realism seemed to win out, as the peaceful rescue mission suddenly turned into a desperate military maneuver.« less