This entry in the Star Trek Series sttempts to flesh out Spock's parents. Spock's was born out of the union of a vulcan and a human. His vulcan father's name is Sarek. His human mother's name is Amanda.
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Sarek discovers that leaders of the Federation and its enemies have been subjected to outside mental influence. He suspects that the interference is linked to the Freelans, a race which has been part of the Federation for decades, but which no offworlder has ever seen due to a cultural taboo.
After secretly accessing the Freelan computer system, Sarek discovers that the Freelans are in fact Romulans, and that their Vulcan aides are the children of Vulcan spacefarers kidnapped by the Romulans and forced to reproduce. The Freelan ambassador Taryn is actually the Romulan wing commander in charge of the plot to spy on the Federation from within. The mental influencing of various leaders is carried out by the Vulcan aides, who were raised as Romulans without the telepathic ethics taught on Vulcan.
Sarek recieves an urgent summons to return to Vulcan. His human wife Amanda is dying. After a time, he is urgently needed to mediate a hostage situation. But if he leaves, he knows that he will not see his wife alive again. Spock is furious and does not want his father to leave as long as his mother is alive. But Sarek feels that he can do more for the living by acting as a mediator. As usual, he and Spock are at odds.
There are many flashbacks seen through enteries in Amanda's diary. They show how she met Sarek and how they fell in love. This helps to fill in many of the missing pieces that Star Trek fans have long pondered about.
Another interesting subplot involves Kirk's nephew Peter and his attempts to get into Starfleet Academy.
The review of this Book prepared by Yosef Shapiro
