Trek Novels - Star Trek: The Captain's Table Book 3 - The Mist

“Today’s post is the start at a look at an anthology series that was released throughout 1998 called 'The Captain’s Table.' The basic premise is that there is a special bar called The Captain’s Table and captains of all sorts come and relax for a bit. Six books looked at the different captains at that time… I’m going to try to look each book during the next few months…”

1 Year, a few months, and some days later…

So, I really lapsed on this one. If there’s anyone out there who was wondering about my opinion on the rest of the books, I’m sorry. This little series got away from me. I guess I needed a break from Trek books since I hadn’t read many for a while. After reading this one, I can kind of see why I needed that break.

Today’s book is the third one from the series and it features Captain Benjamin Sisko. I guess I needed to get another fictional hero in for Black History Month and Sisko perfectly fits that position. It was written by husband/wife duo Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Smith was one of the writers who came up with the concept of this extradimensional bar. While Sisko’s time in the bar took place sometime during Season 6, his story took place a few months before the Cardassians joined the Dominion. So, what would make a former Cardassian space station disappear into another dimension?

Star Trek: The Captain’s Table – The Mist
Writers: Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch

BRIEF BLURB: Captain Sisko is forced to take a break from the Dominion War by Dr. Bashir. He heads to Bajor and finds the Captain’s Table. There, he tells a story about how his crew encountered a legendary species called The Mist.

SYNOPSIS
Captain Sisko is forced to take a break from the war by Dr. Bashir, so he goes to Bajor for a couple of days. While he’s there, he stumbles upon the Captain’s Table and notices how weird it is since there are a bunch of different alien species in it. One of these patrons is Sotugh, a Klingon captain who is no friend of Sisko’s. It turns out that these two had a run-in with people from a legendary race called the Mist. When their argument turns a little hostile, the barkeep and the rest what to know what’s up. Since he has the time and the food’s good, Sisko tells the people what happened a few months ago.

A few months before the Cardassians joined the Dominion, Deep Space Nine picks up a weird but familiar distress signal in space. Sisko and the Starfleet crew board the Defiant to investigate it. When they find nothing at the source, they are suddenly transported to another part of space. There, they find a ship being led by a species called the Mist. The crew is shocked to find a human commanding the vessel.

The commander, Captain Vincent, tells them that the Mist are basically isolationists who have hidden their star systems by using molecular phase shift devices. There are also other familiar species that have been transported into this weird dimension. Vincent then tells the Defiant that the Mist is in the middle of a civil war and that their opposing faction is looking to bring DS9 into the Mist realm. The Defiant is sent back to regular space and tries to warn DS9 but it’s too late as the station is pulled into the Mist’s realm.

The station’s disappearance causes a stir in the area with the Cardassians and the Klingons showing up. Sisko is able to get word out on what happened and gets Sotugh and another Starfleet ship to follow him back to the Mist’s territory. They’re able to retake DS9 from the opposing Mist faction but something happens that causes the faction’s ships to suddenly explode. This shocks Sisko and the rest since they weren’t out for bloodshed. Sisko is able to talk to Jackson, the leader of the opposing faction, and some things are revealed. Mist space is bigger than they believed and Vincent’s faction is actually planning on an invasion of normal space. Also, the Defiant and DS9 can’t stay in Mist space for long or they’ll not be able to go back.

Sisko makes plans with the Klingons and the S.S. Madison to install Mist devices on their ships and try to stop another war from breaking out. DS9 is sent back to normal space and our heroes take down the Mist kind of easily. All that’s left is Captain Vincent’s ship. Luckily, his people take care of him. In the end, everyone ends up where they need to be with our crew in normal space and the Mist in there’s. The Mist do tell Sisko that they want to be left alone, though. At the end of Sisko’s story, he decides that he’s had enough for the night and heads out. While he’s leaving, he spots someone looks like Captain Kathryn Janeway, but that’s a story for another time.

OPINION
So, what did I think of this story? Well, I got to say that I’m a little mixed on this one. There are things to like and dislike about it. I did think the story Sisko told was an interesting one. It felt like this could have been a standard episode of DS9 since we almost got everyone on board. I also thought the authors were able to capture Sisko’s personality well. It felt like we were in the mind of Ben Sisko. While I wasn’t a big fan of Sisko’s time in the bar, it had its moments. I did like Sotugh, the Klingon captain.

Still, there were things I didn’t like about the book. The present-day sequences in the bar did get a bit annoying. While the other books had them every few pages, we’d switch back and forth constantly here. Because of that, the Mist story felt kind of thin and not fleshed out. The story also has moments were it’s a bit of a slog to read. That may be why it took me so long to get to this one. Also, some crew members don’t get a moment. In the end, nothing really feels accomplished other than Sisko’s appetite.

Oh yeah, this is another book where the description is a bit of a lie. Where were the Ferengi Alliance during this? Apparently, they were supposed to show up. Other than Nog, no other Ferengi shows up here. I wonder if the person who wrote the description thought Nog wasn’t in Starfleet or something. It’s also possible that they were involved but it was got cut out. I don’t know if they would have made the story better, though.

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Overall, The Mist is okay. I can’t say if it’s the worst of the six books, but it’s my least favorite so far. It sucks to say that since Sisko is a cool captain and he did get to put his cool tactics to the test here. At least we get that and another bio at the end about Sisko. Well, I’m outta here. I think I’ll try to get the next few books out soon. For now, Peace, God Bless, and don’t tick off the Sisko. Remember that this dude literally created the best ship in existence: The Defiant.