The Empty Chair

The culmination of a saga twenty-two years in the making.

Summary

 * From the book jacket:


 * They call themselves Rihannsu – the Declared. To the Federation, they are the Romulans. By any name they are adversaries as formidable as they are inscrutable. Self-exiled from Vulcan in ages past, they retain an ancient martial philosophy and a code of conduct that has sustained them through centuries of hardship, warfare, and thwarted ambition.


 * Now their empire is gearing for war once again. Armed with the revolutionary Sunseed technology, which can destabilize entire stars, a Romulan vessel is warping toward the heart of the Federation. Its target: Earth's sun.


 * But this offensive comes at a perilous time, as a growing number of Romulan worlds are joining a revolution – one led by the renegade Commander Ael t'Rllaillieu of the warbird Bloodwing, with the aid of Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise&trade; and the Hamalki physicist K's't'lk, the Federation's foremost authority on Sunseed technology. As the threat to Earth looms ever larger, Bloodwing and Enterprise lead an armada toward the Romulan homeworld for a final reckoning that will decide the future of the Rihannsu people.

The Free Rihannsu Fleet, along with Enterprise and Bloodwing engage nine Grand Fleet vessels at Artalierih. During the battle, both the Klingons and the colony ship Tyrava appear. All of the Klingon ships except one are destroyed, and the Grand Fleet vessels are either co-opted by the Free Rihannsu or destroyed. Kirk and Ael meet Veilt tr'Tyrava, the captain of Tyrava, and they begin to forulate battle plans for their next big engagement, which they believe will be at a star named Augo.

Meanwhile, on ch'Rihan, Arrhae becomes increasingly worried about maintaining her cover during the period of civil unrest.

The battle at Augo begins according to plan, until most of Grand Fleet shows up, equipped with a new cloaking device that renders them completely undetectable. However, the battle also marks the appearance of several Starfleet vessels, along with Kaveth, another supership like Tyrava. Another (though unknown) advantage of the Free Rihannsu is that Arrhae convinced one of the three most powerful Praetors to divert ten ships from Augo that wound have led to Grand Fleet's victory.

Several days after Augo, while at the market, Arrhae discovers that Ffairl, whom she previously knew as a steward on board Gorget was, in reality, a Federation spy like herself. They plan to help the Free Rihannsu fleet when they arrive at ch'Rihan

On board Bloodwing, Ael is devastated when she realizes that her friend and chief surgeon, tr'Hrienteh, is in reality a Grand Fleet spy, and that was how Grand Fleet knew to send so many ships to Augo.

The Free Rihannsu fleet is victorious in their invasion of ch'Rihan. The Ruling Three are killed, a new Praetorate comes into power and several new Senators are chosen (including Arrhae), and Ael becomes the first Empress of the Rihannsu.

Memorable Quotes
"I promised the captain there would be no creative physics!"
 * - K's't'lk

"This is all your fault."
 * - Ael to Kirk regarding her position as Empress

Background Information

 * Ael mentions that she and her people may "close their borders" while they remake their Empire, thus accounting for their long isolation which was finally broken in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
 * According to Diane Duane's blog, the revised manuscript was delivered to the publishers on 6 January 2006.
 * An extract from this novel appeared in Star Trek Magazine issue 129.

Characters

 * Eveh tr'Anierh
 * Rihannsu Praetor, one of the Ruling Three


 * Arrhae i-Khellian
 * Rihannsu Senator


 * Urellh tr'Maehllie
 * Rihannsu Praetor, one of the Ruling Three


 * Ahrm'n tr'Kiell
 * Rihannsu Praetor, one of the Ruling Three


 * Ael i-Mheissan t'Rllallieu
 * Khiy
 * Aidoann
 * Hvaid
 * tr'Hrienteh
 * Veilt tr'Tyrava : Clan-Chief of the Tyrava Ship-Clan
 * Thala t'Kaveth : Clan-Mistress of Kaveth Ship-Clan, a former student of Ael's
 * Danilov
 * Starfleet Commodore


 * Hikaru Sulu
 * Pavel Chekov
 * Uhura
 * K's't'lk
 * Leonard McCoy
 * James Kirk
 * Spock
 * Gurrhim tr'Seidhri
 * Rihannsu Praetor


 * Ffairl
 * Giellun tr'Keirianh : Bloodwing's master engineer

External link


The Empty Chair