What happened in the DS9 interregnum?

[rfmcdpei]

There have been some clues in the literature published to date about the continuation of the plot threads seemingly left unconcluded after The Soul Key, especially George's novels.

We know that the Ascendants eventually came to Idran and Bajor. We can guess at the outcome: Bajor still thrives, the Typhon Pact is barred from visiting the planets of the Idran system, and Raiq is a monk at Kira's monastery. Taran'atar seems to have played a major role, with mention in Plagues of Night of a final action that "changed everything".

We also know that something terrible happened on Bajor's moon Endalla, something that posed a significant threat to local space and was cited by in Plagues of Night as one of the preoccupations that kept Bajor and the Federation from heading into the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko and Vaughn each played a major role in managing the crisis.

What else?

 

[RPJOB]

I really dislike the whole 4 year jump. I would have much preferred a series of novels that, while still moving DS9 into the timeframe with the rest of the 24th century novel series, allowed the story to play out as it was building. It's like if Star Wars ended just as they were arriving at the Rebel base before the big battle and then in the sequel we see Luck as a full Jedi and are just offered hints as to what happened. I feel strung along. I bought the books. I followed the story as it built and then I was denied the climax of the major storyline with not much more than "Trust us, it was really, really cool and we may tell you all about it someday."

All in all, I do not like time jumps as a story telling concept.

 

[DigificWriter]

There's a reference in Plagues of Night to Iliana Ghamor and the Ascendants being somehow connected, which seems to imply or indicate that the Ascendants arc and the Mirror Universe arc involving Ghamor as chronicled in Warpath, Fearful Symmetry, and The Soul Key are and were meant to be one and the same. However, since I have not personally read those three novels, I don't know whether of not their actual content is reflective of this implication being correct.

In terms of other key events, we have Kira's entering the Bajoran religious ranks (a decision that seems to be connected with or to the Ascendants arc), Rebecca Sisko's kidnapping by an Ohaluvaru fanatic, and some type of tragedy or crisis involving the crew of the Even-Odds, as well as the significant changes in the makeup of DS9's senior command staff (Vaughn's promotion to Captain and his replacing Kira as DS9's CO; Ezri's departure from the station, assignment to the Aventine, promotion to Captain, and asumption of command of that ship; Bowers, Leishman, and Tarses joining Ezri on Aventine; and Nog's recruitment by the CoE, departire from DS9, and assignment aboard the Challenger) that we know about from Destiny, Rough Beasts of Empire, Zero Sum Game, PoN, and Indistinguishable from Magic.

 

[DS9Continuing]

There's a reference in Plagues of Night to Iliana Ghamor and the Ascendants being somehow connected, which seems to imply or indicate that the Ascendants arc and the Mirror Universe arc involving Ghamor as chronicled in Warpath, Fearful Symmetry, and The Soul Key are and were meant to be one and the same. However, since I have not personally read those three novels, I don't know whether of not their actual content is reflective of this implication being correct.

Partly true. What actually happened was...

Spoiler: Warpath/Fearful Symmetry/The Soul Key

It's not so much the Mirror Universe as the Iliana Ghemor from our universe that's important. The very last page of The Soul Key revealed that, as a result of the Prophets actions, the RU version of Iliana had ended up with the Ascendants, effectively as their version of the Emissary (known as "The Fire").

What happened after that has not yet been revealed. Officially at least.

However, in a move which will surprise no-one, I would like to take this opportunity to plug my own fan-fiction project DS9 Season 10, which aims to answer exactly the question in this thread, and the links to which can be found in my sig. Obviously it's not the official version. It was planned and written before Plagues of Night came out, so there are some slight inconsistencies, but all in all I think it hews pretty closely.

.

 

[ryan123450]

I'm really hoping for a book(s) telling these stories soon. I've been catching up on older stuff for now and passing on all the Typhon Pact stuff until the interrugnum is covered, either in flasback or novels.

 

[shanejayell]

Dosen't sound like it's going to be covered at this point. The storylines were mostly concieved by the editor at the time, and when he was fired none of the authors felt they should use his ideas.

I think the best we're gonna get is bits & pieces in flashbacks.

 

[DS9forever]

I thought the fact that the Ohalu follower who kidnapped Rebecca wasn't named was a hint they may be revealed to be a character that was previously seen.

 

[ryan123450]

...and when he was fired none of the authors felt they should use his ideas.

Was this said at some point? I missed it.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Was this said at some point? I missed it.

No. Neither was Marco "fired".

Knowing that the DS9 characters were needed in some upcoming crossover projects, IIRC, Margaret Clark decided to let DS9 "catch up" to the same timeframe as the other 24th century series, inadvertently appeasing all those readers who had been chanting, for several years: "When will DS9 ever catch up?"

Suddenly they fell silent - and other readers started chanting, "Where are our lost four years?"

 

[ATimson]

Suddenly they fell silent - and other readers started chanting, "Where are our lost four years?"

Those who were aware of the books being absorbed by the Typhon Pact branding, that is. I'm sure there's a third group wondering why there hasn't been a DS9 novel since 2009.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

The Ascendants turned out to be pretty cool people. They threw this huge party on Deep Space Nine that so big the Prophets even stepped out of the wormhole and appeared physically. Kira was so sinful at the party that she had to become a Vedek afterwards; Ro was promoted to Captain for her acheivements in Karaoke. The Ascendants still show up every couple of months for a little get-together.

 

[ryan123450]

Was this said at some point? I missed it.

No. Neither was Marco "fired".

Knowing that the DS9 characters were needed in some upcoming crossover projects, IIRC, Margaret Clark decided to let DS9 "catch up" to the same timeframe as the other 24th century series, inadvertently appeasing all those readers who had been chanting, for several years: "When will DS9 ever catch up?"

Suddenly they fell silent - and other readers started chanting, "Where are our lost four years?"

That was my understanding of the situation. I'm glad I wasn't missing something and my hopes for a fullfillment to the the Ascendants storyline at some point are still realistic.

 

[shanejayell]

The Ascendants turned out to be pretty cool people. They threw this huge party on Deep Space Nine that so big the Prophets even stepped out of the wormhole and appeared physically. Kira was so sinful at the party that she had to become a Vedek afterwards; Ro was promoted to Captain for her acheivements in Karaoke. The Ascendants still show up every couple of months for a little get-together.

This SHOULD be canon, damn it.




I should probably said 'laid off' rather than fired. Poor choice of words.

Here's a quote I was thinking of.
http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=5180031&postcount=22

 

[ryan123450]

So its not so much that the authors dont want to disrepect Marco by using his ideas, but that the current editor may not care to ever fill in the missing four years.

 

[Sho]

^ I'd say it's a tough spot for an editor to be in, really. Even if they would personally like to fill in any perceived gaps, they always have to balance the needs of attentive, loyal followers of the continuity and keeping things accessible and inviting to new readers. The Trek novel continuity is already ambitiously sophisticated by this point; backtracking on itself would elevate things to an entirely new level of complexity, and the resulting work(s) would clearly not be of interest to people just jumping into the fray now. What Happened in the DS9 Interregnum wouldn't be my pick for first Trek novel to buy.

In the grander scheme of things, beyond the initial audience of people who are directly asking for it, any such book would be more of an investment in polishing the backlog, to make people feel confident it's worth their while to delve into older material. That may in fact justify the effort, but it's arguably far less of a sure thing than boldly going forward.

 

[Technobuilder]

DS9 was my GO-TO Trek Lit until the whole Soul-Key production Slowdown.

Thankfully Vanguard filled the gap for a time, and there have been some great one or two-offs since then, but if I had to pick a series that is really selling me of late it would be Voyager... (And I never in my wildest dreams would of predicted that.)

But if I had my druthers, I'd be reading a DS9 book every 4-6 months that was continuing the storyline from oh so long ago and bridging it with the DS9/Typhon Pact stuff DRG3 has done.

 

[Therin of Andor]

It's not that often that a gap in the Star Trek tapestry remains permanently unfilled. TOS novels have been filling gaps - some we didn't know even needed filling - since the beginning. PAD teased about both Calhoun's past on the Grissom, and his disastrous honeymoon with Shelby, for ages before those adventures turned up in print.

I can't imagine one of the popular authors pitching a solid Ascendants flashback novel to Ed S., and him turning it down. It'll happen. Meanwhile, I'm still enjoying all the little easter eggs re the missing years.

 

[RonG]

IMO, it's not that anyone thinks that it's not gonna happen, it's that we want it to happen *NOW*

 

[Therin of Andor]

IMO, it's not that anyone thinks that it's not gonna happen, it's that we want it to happen *NOW*

Patience!

 

[RonG]

IMO, it's not that anyone thinks that it's not gonna happen, it's that we want it to happen *NOW*

Patience!

Nope!

consider this - when the DS9R was still ongoing, and The Soul Key still either before publication or just recently published, do you think it's plausible (not if it's possible), that TPTB had *no* plan / idea / direction as to where the DS9R story goes, as far as the Ascendants arc is concerned?

Furthermore, I find it's perfectly plausible that one of our esteemed authors had already submitted such an outline, or that TPTB have already sent out requests for such submissions.

Either way, why wait?