Deep Domain by Howard Weinstein (Star Trek #33, April 1987)

The Enterprise is scheduled for a visit to the planet Akkalla, to evaluate a science research outpost. The ship is then called away for a rescue mission, but Spock and Chekov are sent to Akkalla in a small shuttle to begin the evaluation process. Upon their arrival, the officers come upon a large “harvest ship” taking large gulps of the Akkallan ocean waters and the teeming life in them. Their shuttle crashes, and then they are taken prisoner by a small band.

When the ship arrives, Captain Kirk has difficulty getting information out of the planetary government, and is told the shuttle must have been destroyed in route to the planet. The Enterprise crew must find Spock and Chekov, complete the science mission, and deal with a recalcitrant government that resists them at every turn, even though Akkalla is a Federation member.

This is Weinstein’s second outing as a Star Trek novelist, six years after his first outing (#4, The Covenant of the Crown). Weinstein again shows his familiarity with the characters and ease with science fiction milieu. If there is a fault here it is that Weinstein tries to do too much. He has SO much going on, from the missing crew members, the new science officer Maybri, the corrupt Akkallan government, the scholars of the Collegium, the rebels of the Cape Alliance, and an unknown race in Akkalla’s vast oceans. All that doesn’t fit very well into 275 pages. But it’s better to have 350 pages of plot in 275 pages, than the reverse.

Pacing is a problem here. Spock and Chekov are captured, and then we leave them for several chapters. Stories are started and then abandoned until much later in the same fashion, only to be picked up in a haphazard fashion later. A better organization of chapters and switching off of scenes would have helped the book considerably.

For those faults, the book is still a good one. It serves as a prequel of sorts to Star Trek II, as at the end Kirk decides to return to Earth, Chekov receives his promotion to first officer of the Reliant, and Spock and most of the senior officers mention staying on the Enterprise as teaching faculty for cadets. It also puts into print the often-proposed second five-year mission of the Enterprise crew, fitting into the time period between the first and second movies. This is sometimes used as a proper time period for many of the novels and comic book adventures by chronologists of the series.

This novel bears some thematic resemblance to Star Trek IV, and in his introduction Weinstein makes mention of his pitching a similar idea in a story conference leading up to the film. The whales (or actually whale-like “triteera”) and the conservation themes are seen in this novel. It is an enjoyable work in spite of its faults.