With Unity, by S.D. Perry, the first section of the continuation of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is concluded. It's a nine-month arc that carries through the pregnancy of Ben Sisko's wife, Kasidy, and how the station has functioned since Ben was taken away by the Prophets to exist outside of "linear time." Perry started the whole shebang with Avatar, so it's only fitting that she be allowed to end it as well. Unity is an explosive conclusion that ends a few plotlines, continues a few others, and sets the table for any future books to come. It has to deal with the Ben Sisko situation, bring back a lot of other Deep Space Nine characters, and also tell an exciting story. Can any one book do all of that? Thankfully, yes. Perry hits one out of the park with Unity, creating a book that I literally could not put down (I had to force myself a couple of times, but that was it).

The Defiant finally returns through the Bajoran wormhole, months after beginning its mission of exploration into the Gamma Quadrant. Right before they get to the wormhole, though, they have stumbled upon a Dominion ship with a couple of old friends: Sulan Opaka, former Kai of the Bajoran religion, and Jake Sisko, who disappeared nine months ago on an apparently misguided mission to bring his father back. The mission has taken its toll on the crew of the Defiant, though, and they can't wait to get back to the station and return to normalcy for a little while, especially Commander Vaughn, who has had to deal once again with the death of his wife and how his daughter blames him for it. This time, though, he did it right in front of her, so he can't escape it. Unfortunately, when they emerge from the wormhole, they discover the station apparently under the control of Cardassians, who are demanding that the Defiant stand down. Unbeknownst to the crew, many things have been happening on the station, and the Cardassians are actually providing security for it, as they are the only ones who are immune to what is threatening the station, as well as the entire quadrant. Once brought up to speed, they must assist in tracking down the threat before it spreads away from Bajor, to the heart of the Federation. Morale on the station is low, and it's getting worse with the Cardassians hanging around. Commander Vaughn must not only deal with this, but the enormous guilt that he his carrying around with him. In dealing with that guilt, he finds himself in an asylum in his mind, interacting with a charming fellow...named Benny. Meanwhile, Kasidy Sisko is nearing the birth of her child; the child that many Bajorans feel will be the savior of their planet: the child of the Emissary.

The above paragraph doesn't even really come close to hinting at everything that happens in this novel. Perry throws everything except the proverbial kitchen sink in there, yet the story doesn't feel overstuffed. Every Deep Space Nine character is seen in some capacity, no matter how briefly. The threat to the Federation is handled extremely well, with the tension so thick you could cut it with a phaser. Perry brings it all together with aplomb, never feeling rushed and allowing the characters to reflect a little bit on what's been going on. Many of the ongoing storylines are resolved (Vaughn's and Kira's especially, but also the "should I stay or should I go" routine from both Ro and Quark) and others get new directions (such as the O'Briens, who have come to the station with Joseph Sisko for the birth of Kas' child). The direction that O'Brien's story takes is actually very interesting, and is leading to a good story in the first Worlds of Deep Space Nine book, so that's good news. It's also good to see everybody again, seeing how they interact and fall into the relationships that had been put on hold when they went their separate ways. Perry does this and still gives us a story filled with action and adventure.

Perry does still give us a little humour, though. One scene involving the threat and its interaction with Taran'atar (the Jem'Hadar character, who is one of the few to get short shrift) is very abrupt but hilarious, adding a little levity to the whole proceedings. Overall, though, the mood is dark and Perry allows you to feel every bit as nervous as the characters feel. She's so vivid in her descriptions that she even makes you feel Kas' labour pains. Now *that's* effective! Perry has a beautiful style that keeps you involved with the characters, wanting to go just that little bit farther. Especially effective are the scenes in the asylum with "Eli" and Benny, as Vaughn wallows in his guilt and Benny tries to help him. I have complained about the excess angst in the Mission: Gamma books, but here the angst is used for a purpose that I found interesting, and thus it didn't become as annoying as it did in those books. This angst is the very problem Vaughn has to deal with, and it illuminates not only Benny's character as he helps, but also Opaka's character before the asylum sequence. The scenes between Opaka and Vaughn are wonderfully written, with lines such as:

"Of course," she replied, recognizing his need for control, or what he believed that to be. It was unfortunate that he struggled so. Over time, she'd come to believe that the only true emotional infirmity was denial; once a thing was accepted, it could be met without fear. She wished she could tell him that it was no weakness, whatever he was fighting against, though she suspected that he would perceive her comment as intrusive."

Unfortunately, a couple of characters are sidelined to make room for all of this. I already mentioned Taran'atar, but the other one is Dr. Bashir. He does a few things and he has a few lines, but he doesn't really impact the reader at all. His main function is to do research on the problem at hand and to be concerned for Ezri. This doesn't make him a very interesting character, but he has had a lot of time in the spotlight recently, so I guess it's justifiable. Any other flaws in the book are extremely minor and steamrolled by the quality of the rest of the book. At the end, they're flattened to irrelevance by this steamroller of a story, and I have to say that I enjoyed this book very much. The ending is simply wonderful, especially the scene in Kira's office which brings the entire series full circle, with Kira repeating a line that she used in the opening story, Emissary, to great effect. The whole sequence is touching and this story is effectively over. Nevertheless, there is much groundwork for future stories to begin, and while some of the placesetting is a little awkward and trite (especially Quark's ending), the rest of it makes me desperately wish for more stories to come soon. That's the sign of a good conclusion, and just reinforces why Deep Space Nine is my favourite Trek.