Praise for

Star Trek Titan: Taking Wing

by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels

“Martin and Mangels wisely know how to balance the character introductions and byplay against a well-written story…[and] how to balance the action with the character moments…. Taking Wingis a great first novel in the Titanseries…. It’s a solid tale rich with character exploration and action, and its follow-up installments should be just as exciting. Sit back and enjoy!”

—Bill Williams, trekweb.com

“Taking Wingis full of surprises. Thoroughly engaging from beginning to end, the story satisfies on every level…. It is always very rewarding when a book you’ve been anticipating lives up to expectations. It’s even better when the book exceeds them. Star Trek Titan: Taking Wingis a superb debut for an original new series.”

—Jackie Bundy, treknation.com

“Based on this first novel, I can’t wait for the follow-up.”

—Kilian Melloy, wigglefish.com

An OriginalPublication of POCKET BOOKS

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2005 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

This book is published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., under exclusive license from Paramount Pictures.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN: 1-4165-2476-2

POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Cover art by Cliff Nielsen

Cover design by John Vairo, Jr.

Visit us on the World Wide Web:

http://www.SimonSays.com/st

http://www.startrek.com

While working on this book,

I had the opportunity to serve my local community

in fundraising and leadership arenas.

Many people gave me immense support,

and I dedicate this book to Marc Hoffman,

Steve Suss, Jerry Dahlke, and Rick Watkins & Les Lewis.

Gentlemen and friends,

may your ships always sail true.

—A.M.

This is for: my wife, Jenny,

whose patience during the writing of this volume

deserves special recognition here;

and the space visionaries at NASA,

the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

and the European Space Agency

who this very year successfully landed

the Huygens probe on Saturn’s moon Titan,

thereby providing humanity’s first glimpse of the surface

of our eponymous starship’s mysterious namesake.

—M.A.M.

Acknowledgments

The authors owe an enormous debt of gratitude to: John Logan, Rick Berman, and Brent Spiner, whose collaborations on the story and screenplay for Star Trek Nemesisnot only gave Will Riker his much-deserved fourth pip, as well as command of the good ship Titan,but also allowed us to pen the untold tale of the Riker-Troi honeymoon in Keith R. A. DeCandido’s recently released Tales from the Captain’s Tableanthology; Jeff Mariotte, whose Deny Thy Fatherchronicled an important chapter in Riker family history; John Vornholt, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, Robert Greenberger, David Mack, and Keith R. A. DeCandido, the authors of the A Time Toseries of novels, whose collective work so adroitly teed up Titan’s maiden voyage; fellow Titanauthor Christopher L. Bennett for critical insight and sfnal inspiration; Diane Duane, whose novel The Wounded Skyintroduced the concept of de Sitter space to the (literary) Star Trekuniverse more than two decades ago; Jeri Taylor, whose novels Mosaicand Pathwaysprovided some valuable insights into Tuvok’s past; Chris Cooper, who wrote the Star Trek: Star Fleet Academyseries (Marvel Comics, 1996–1998), which chronicled the early career of Lieutenant Pava Ek’Noor (sh’)Aqabaa; legendary TOS scenarist Dorothy Fontana, who midwifed a little bundle of joy named L. J. Akaar (in the TOS episode “Friday’s Child”); the inimitable band leader Dominic James “Nick” La Rocca (1889–1961), whose Original Dixieland Jass (Jazz) Band did much to popularize Captain Riker’s musical instrument of choice, and served as the namesake for one of Titan’s auxiliary vessels; the many fans who told us how much they enjoyed Taking Wingwhile the follow-on volume that now rests in your hands was still largely incomplete; and Marco Palmieri, who believed we were up to the task of launching Captain William T. Riker’s first permanent command, who always immeasurably improves every manuscript he touches, and who never fails to make us look like geniuses.