Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Enigma Tales by Una McCormack
Elim Garak is Castellan of the Cardassian Union; he has to deal with the upcoming publication of a war crimes report and accusations against the respected Dr Natima Lang. The supremely irritating Dr Katherine Pulaski and the annoying Dr Peter Alden visit Cardassia and get involved in the goings on.
Politics, secrets, lies, long buried projects, the weight of history and agendas all collide in this excellent novel. Bashir is catatonic and of all his friends and colleagues, only Pulaski - the ass boil of Starfleet - visits him. His family, friends and colleagues have abandoned him and the only thing Pulaski gives him is a ratty teddy bear. There is no mention of treatment (like ECT) and no one suggests any treatment. The hypocrites at Starfleet intelligence strike again and many future plotlines are seeded. People with ill-intent connive and the treatment of Bashir is incredibly cruel.
Best Lines:
“Cardassians, for all their faults, could be passionate. The trick had been to divert these passions away from things like murder, conquest and national pride, and toward healthier pursuits like democracy, lifelong education, the news and hound-racing.”
“Really does live on the moon, high above his subjects, who gaze up adoringly at him, while he looks back down and presumably thinks what a bunch of gullible idiots they all are.”
“The kind of person you hire to punch people for you,”
“All I ever seem to see is small rooms and seedy alleyways.”
“Be scrupulous in what you assert to be the truth.”
“How extremely obliging of him.”
“You have no power over me that I recognise.”
“Has he at any point offered an explanation as to why he embarked upon this sequence of extremely questionable life choices?”
“An enemy in the making.”