“Gangway! Make a hole!”

Atish Khatami shouted the commands over the wail of the red alert sirens as she sprinted down the curving corridor of Deck 5 on her way to the nearest turbolift. Ahead of her, crew members already moving to their assigned battle stations cleared the center of the hallway, some even flattening themselves against bulkheads in order to provide the captain free passage. Rounding a turn, she nearly bowled over a hapless lieutenant who was trying to vacate the turbolift. The younger officer managed to dodge her and thereby avoided being body-slammed into the wall as Khatami plunged into the lift.

“Bridge!” she called out as she gripped one of the car’s quartet of control handles and the doors closed behind her. An instant later she felt the slight push from below as the lift began its ascent. Reaching for the comm panel positioned just inside the door, Khatami activated the unit. “Khatami to bridge. Report.”

“ Stano here,” replied the Endeavour’s first officer. “ Sensors have picked up three Klingon warships at extreme range, but they’ve altered course to intercept us, and they’re coming fast. I’ve raised shields and readied weapons crews.”

STAR TREK ^® VANGUARD

OPEN SECRETS

DAYTON WARD

Story by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dimore

Based upon Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry

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Cover art by Doug Drexler

ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-2340-9

ISBN-10: 1-4391-2340-3

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IN TRIBUTE

Joan Winston

(June 19, 1931–September 11, 2008)

You knew it all along, Joanie, butStar Trek does indeed live.

HISTORIAN’S NOTE

The main events take place in 2266 (ACE). This is just after the Starship Enterprise’s encounter with the First Federation ship the Fesarius(“Corbormite Maneuver”) and approximately three weeks after the disappearance of the Jinoteur system and the publication of a story that reveals many of the carefully guarded secrets of the Taurus Reach ( Star Trek: Vanguard—Reap the Whirlwind).

Operation Vanguard:

Current Status

THE TAURUS REACH: A largely unexplored region of space, situated between the borders of Federation, Klingon, and Tholian territory. It is here that Starfleet has discovered the remnants of an ancient, incredibly powerful civilization, the Shedai, with links to one of the Federation’s most mysterious adversaries, the Tholians. Also discovered is the Taurus Meta-Genome, a complex strand of deliberately engineered DNA that seems to hold the key to genetic manipulation and perhaps even artificial world-building on a scale never before imagined. The scientific and martial potential of unlocking this knowledge quickly becomes obvious, and Starfleet launches a mammoth exploration and research effort into the region. As the investigation continues, Starfleet scientists uncover an enigmatic energy waveform in the Jinoteur system, which is believed to be the homeworld of the long-dead race. This waveform, working in concert with the meta-genome, might well be the key to unlocking all of the Taurus Reach’s many secrets.

STARBASE 47: A massive, self-sufficient Federation deep-space station constructed in the Taurus Reach. The station is the focal point of activity in the region, a command base for Starfleet vessels assigned to the sector as well as a way station for Federation colonists heading into the region. Operating beneath this cover, the station’s larger, classified mission is to spearhead the investigation of the Taurus Reach. As tension grips the Federation’s political relations with the Klingon Empire and the Tholian Assembly, Starbase 47 stands poised knowing it could become a flashpoint in an interstellar conflict.

COMMODORE DIEGO REYES: Commanding officer of Starbase 47, as well as the person overseeing the mission to discover the secrets of the Taurus Reach. A man of strong conviction and principles as well as an unwavering loyalty to Starfleet and the Federation, Reyes has found himself gripped in a crisis of conscience. The secret nature of his mission and the potential it carries to destabilize the relations between the Federation and its neighbors has forced him to take questionable and even illegal actions. Forced by circumstance and political expediency to cover up the truth behind the destruction of the U.S.S. Bombay,a starship assigned to Starbase 47, Reyes is later forced to lay waste to the entire surface of Gamma Tauri IV in an effort to contain a Shedai threat. The action, which results in the deaths of thousands of Federation and Klingon colonists, eventually leads Reyes to allow the publication of an exposé by journalist Tim Pennington that reveals much of the truth behind the Shedai and the menace they represent. As a consequence of this decision, Reyes is arrested and charged with violation of Starfleet regulations, and now awaits court-martial.

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER T’PRYNN: Starbase 47’s intelligence officer. T’Prynn is charged with ensuring the secrecy of Operation Vanguard, a task she undertakes with unwavering and even ruthless efficiency. Unknown to anyone, T’Prynn has suffered severe mental trauma for decades, the result of a violent mind meld she endured during an abortive marriage ceremony on her home planet of Vulcan. Since that time, she has carried within her mind the consciousness of Sten, her fiancé whom she killed during ritual combat. The pressures of this continuous mental struggle, coupled with the trauma of losing her lover, Anna Sandesjo, finally become too much for T’Prynn, and she falls into a deep coma. As station doctors attempt to ascertain her condition and search for a cure, the war she has waged within her own mind continues unabated.