Final Frontier — Diane Carey

This is the story of a hero--and a moment forever lost to history.

It is a tale of Starfleet's early days, of a time before the STAR TREK we know. The story of a secret mission gone horribly wrong--and an instant in time when the galaxy stood poised on the brink of one final, destructive war. It is the story of a ship since passed on into legend, and a man we know only as the father of Starfleet's greatest captain.

His name is Kirk. Commander George Samuel Kirk. He is a warrior, born and bred to battle. Now destiny has placed the fate of a hundred innocent worlds on his shoulders.

And put the power of the greatest weapon the galaxy has ever seen in his hands...