Dayton Ward - Vanguard: What Judgments Come

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DAYTON WARD. Author. Trekkie. Writing his goofy little stories and searching for a way to tap into the hidden nerdity that all humans have. Then, an accidental overdose of Mountain Dew altered his body chemistry. Now, when Dayton Ward grows excited or just downright geeky, a startling metamorphosis occurs.

Driven by outlandish ideas and a pronounced lack of sleep, he is pursued by fans and editors as well as funny men in bright uniforms wielding stun guns, straitjackets, and medication. In addition to the numerous credits he shares with friend and co-writer Kevin Dilmore, Dayton is the author of the science fiction novels The Last World War; Counterstrike: The Last World WarBook II; and The Genesis Protocol; the Star Trek novels In the Name of Honor, Open Secrets, and Paths of Disharmony; as well as short stories in various anthologies and web-based publications. For Flying Pen Press, he was the editor of the science fiction anthology Full-Throttle Space Tales #3: Space Grunts.

Dayton is believed to be working on his next novel, and he must let the world think that he is working on it, until he can find a way to earn back the advance check he blew on strippers and booze. Though he currently lives in Kansas City with his wife and daughters, Dayton is a Florida native and maintains a torrid long-distance romance with his beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Visit him on the web at www.daytonward.com.

KEVIN DILMORE is but one more proof of Dr. Hunter S. Thompsons assertion that when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. It all started in 1998 with his eight-year run as a contributing writer to Star Trek Communicator, for which he wrote news stories and personality profiles for the bimonthly publication of the Official Star Trek Fan Club. Since that time, he also has contributed to publications including Amazing Stories, Hallmark, and Star Trek magazines. Look for his essay in the forthcoming anthology Hey Kids, ComicsTrue Life Tales from the Spinner Rack, edited by Rob Kelly.

Then he teamed with writing partner and heterosexual life mate Dayton Ward on Interphase, their first installment of the Star Trek: S.C.E. series in 2001. Since then, the pair has put more than one million words into print together. Among their most recent shared publications are the novella The First Peer in the anthology Star Trek: Seven Deadly Sins (March 2010) and the short story Ill Winds in the Star Trek: Shards and Shadows anthology (January 2009).

By day, Kevin works as a senior writer for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, MO, doing about everything but writing greeting cards, including helping to design Star Trekthemed Keepsake Ornaments. His first childrens book, Superdad and His Daring Dadventures, with illustrations by Tom Patrick, was published by Hallmark Gift Books in May 2009.

A graduate of the University of Kansas, Kevin lives in Overland Park, Kansas. Keep up with his shameful behavior and latest projects on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks of the first order are reserved for our editors, who exercised far more patience and compassion than we deserved. Their unwavering support and mentorship were instrumental in the completion of this book.

To Marco Palmieri and David Mack, co-creators of Star Trek: Vanguard, were going to flout convention and repeat what we said in the dedication: Thanks for inviting us to the party. Writing for this series has been some of the most unqualified fun weve had working in the Star Trek expanded universe, and much of that is owed to the drive and passion you both brought to the table. To say were going to miss this is a criminal understatement.

A round of heartfelt applause is directed to Doug Drexler, Oscar- and Emmy-winning art wizard whose efforts have graced the covers of all the Star Trek: Vanguard titles. His love and enthusiasm for Star Trek, particularly the original series, is infectious. If youre reading this, Mister D., rest assured that you are a steely-eyed missile man.

Special thanks are sent out to Eric Kristiansen, fan and artist responsible for the Starfleet Exploration Craft: Daedalus-class blueprints he created as part of his Jackills Technical Readout Data Sheets series. We purchased a set of these for six bucks years ago when we first were developing the Lovell crew for our Star Trek: Corps of Engineers stories. Though we took a few small liberties, plotting and details of the Lovells interior spaces were realized thanks to inspiration supplied by these data sheets. Check out a whole bunch of Erics awesome work at www.jackill.com.

As this novel likely marks the last time well ever write for this particular set of characters, wed like to give our final round of thanks to the readers and fans of the Star Trek: Vanguard series. Its been an absolute joy to work on these books over the past several years, and the response from the Star Trek fiction reader community has been nothing short of astounding. It was your enthusiasm and excitement for each new book that kept us motivated throughout our tenure on the series, and we hope we held up our end of the deal.

SO, WE BELIEVE GANZ OR NEERA ORDERED THIS LEKKAR KILLED. DO WE KNOW WHY?

No, Nogura said, nor do I particularly care. What I do care about is whether Ganz, or Neera, or whoever, might decide that a better long-term alternative to killing their own people is simply getting rid of Reyes. We need to get him out of there.

So that we can arrest him again? Moyer asked.

Nogura eyed her with annoyance. Thats what is usually done with those whove divulged Starfleet secrets, and consorted with the enemy to place Starfleet or Federation personnel and property at risk.

With all due respect, Admiral, Moyer countered, we dont know the whole story. Diego Reyes is a lot of things, but a traitor? I find that hard to believe.

Holding up a hand, Nogura shook his head. Id like nothing more than to share your doubts, Commander, but at the very least, there are questions to be answered. If nothing else, Reyes is still a convicted criminal, with a prison sentence waiting in the wings if and when all of this insanity finally shakes out. Even if its decided that he still has to be sent to that penal colony on Earth, its a better fate than anything Ganz has planned for him.

DONT MISS THESE OTHER NOVELS

IN THE STAR TREK: VANGUARD SERIES

Harbinger

by David Mack

Summon the Thunder

by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

Reap the Whirlwind

by David Mack

Open Secrets

by Dayton Ward

Precipice

by David Mack

Declassified

by Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore,
Marco Palmieri, David Mack