The Better Man by Howard Weinstein (Star Trek #72, December 1994).

The Enterprise is called to the planet Empyrea, to take up the cause of a treaty. The Federation maintains an observatory on Empyrea, due to its proximity to a stellar phenomenon. But Empyrea is a colony of genetically engineered people, who are striving for perfection and do not want the "pollution" of imperfect people. There is great general feeling on the planet to let the treaty expire and have the Federation haul the astronomers and equipment away, and withdraw from all contact. Captain Kirk is sent to secure a renewal of the treaty.

Federation Ambassador Mark Rousseau, a former starship captain and childhood friend of Dr. McCoy, is sent to negotiate. The Captain notices hard feelings between the Doctor and the Ambassador and probes to find out why. When they arrive at Empyrea, the governmental President turns out to be an old friend of McCoy from his earlier time there, and she names him the father of her child. Trouble is, this is a crime on Empyrea, to birth a child with "impure" genealogy. If the people find out, young Anna could even be sentenced to death.

As tensions mount, the planet is politically split, McCoy tries a risky procedure on Anna, the power source for the observatory is sabotagued, and then the Doctor is kidnapped. Everything seems to be falling apart as events reach their climax.

Weinstein writes very personal stories with a science fiction background. While there may be technobabble present, his stories are always about the people in them. This one is mostly about Dr. Leonard McCoy, the Enterprise's chief medical officer. McCoy is popular with several of Star Trek's authors, perhaps because of his irascible nature coupled with the caring of a physician. He is a remarkably deep and rich character, handled correctly. It is through and around him that the story plays out.

McCoy gets the most play, though Spock and Scotty are also important to the plot. The story is set during the "second five-year mission" that lies between the first and second movies, and Spock's willingness to unbend a bit is given play here, as is Scotty as curmudgeon. It works for both. Chekov gets a few good moments, but Uhura is used little and Sulu not at all. They fare a bit better than Captain Kirk, who is out of character for much of the book. William Shatner would not have liked this script at all, and would very likely have been unable to play it, being virtually incapable of not being the center of attention.

This is Weinstein's sixth Star Trek novel, and to date his last. He seems to have almost disappeared from book writing at all, producing virtually nothing for some 10 years. That's a shame, because he is a very capable writer. His name used to be all over Star Trek, from novels to comic books. Perhaps we shall see him on the shelves once again.