Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations: Forgotten History is the second in the series of Star Trek books that deal with the Federation’s Department of Temporal Investigations. If you don’t know what they do, that’s OK, here’s a little background. The DTI deals with crimes and incidents involving time travel and the possible alteration of the timeline. The department is made up of agents from all sorts of species from the Federation. Forgotten History starts off with DTI agents Garcia (who is human) and Agent Ranjea (who is a Deltan) on board the Starfleet vessel Everest which is on loan to the DTI. While on board the ship they stumble upon an anomaly in space that is bridging the years 2275 and 2383 together. In the middle of the anomaly is a ship that looks exactly like the Enterprise that James T. Kirk commanded, it even has the original engines on it. But it is called “Timeship II” and it belongs to the DTI. As soon as the ship is found, Garcia and Ranjea contact DTI headquarters and tell not only the director but two top notch human agents named Dulmur and Lucsly (if any of you are familiar with the two agents they were introduced in the Deep Space Nine episode Trials and Tribble-ations).
From that point it flashes back to Kirk’s era and not only is Kirk mentioned in the book, but he and his crew are heavily involved in the story. The book also introduces the reader to a new character named Admiral Delgado who was so interested in the Enterprise’s time travel adventuress that he promoted Kirk to admiral to get a hold of the original Enterprise engines so he could build a ship that could go through time. With that we see the birth of the DTI and the story of its first missions and how the Federation supported it. One of the things they mention in the book is the introduction to Gary Seven who was a character in The Original Series. There are so many references to the episodes in The Original Series. When it flashes back to the present Ranjea and Garcia have to board the timeship and turn off the subspace distress beacon to protect the timeline.
This book flashes back a lot and I don’t have a problem with it at all. I think Christopher L. Bennett is a perfect writer for the Star Trek expanded universe. Another great thing about Forgotten History is the fact that Kirk and his crew take the spotlight, but share it with the other characters like Dulmur and Lucsly. My only problem with this book is that there is so much theory when it comes to timelines and time travel and it can be difficult to get through. But this book makes me believe that time travel and alternate timelines are possible. It really is a breath of fresh air when it comes to Star Trek books because in the past few years they have been really heavy in subject matter and in tone that this is a welcomed edition.
If you are a Star Trek fan or just a fan of time travel in general, then this book is for you. I give it a 5 out of 5.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
