Spectre
This article is about the novel. For the character, see The Spectre.

Spectre is a Pocket TOS novel – the first novel in the retroactively-designated Mirror Universe trilogy – written by  William Shatner, with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. Published by Pocket Books, it was first released in hardback in .

Summary 
From the book jacket
Retired and happily in love, Kirk believes his adventuring days are over. But as he returns to Earth for the first time since his apparent "death" upon the Enterprise-B, events elsewhere in the galaxy set in motion a mystery that may provide Kirk with his greatest challenge yet.The Enterprise-E, under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, is exploring an unstable region of space on a scientific mission of vital concern to Starfleet when they discover the last thing they ever expected to find: a lonely, battle-scarred vessel that is instantly recognizable to every member of Picard's crew. Five years after being lost with all hands in the Delta Quadrant, the Starship Voyager has come home!The commander of Voyager, one Tom Paris, explains that Captain Kathryn Janeway and half of the original crew is dead, but if that is true, who is the mysterious woman who has kidnapped Kirk back on Earth, pleading with him to assist her against a threat to the entire Federation?

All is not as it seems, and soon Kirk is forced to confront the hideous consequences of actions taken more than a hundred years prior, as well as his own inner doubts. After years of quiet and isolation, does he still have what it takes to put things right – and join with Captain Picard to save the lives of everyone aboard a brand-new Enterprise?

An unforgettable saga peopled by old friends and ancient enemies, Star Trek: Spectre propels Kirk on a journey of self-discovery every bit as harrowing as the cataclysmic new adventure that awaits him.

Prologue 
In Quark's, on Deep Space 9, two people, a Vulcan female named T'Val, and a Human female named Kate, use the distraction that Morn is causing when he wins a game of dabo in which he has lifted a dabo girl and is spinning her around. Quark comes over, demanding Morn put her down.

When T'Val sees the distraction, she hands Kate a PADD, which displays a picture of Captain (Retired) James T. Kirk. Kate feels and displays a strange hatred when she sees the picture of Kirk. T'Val, the Vulcan female, confirms it is indeed James T. Kirk. Kate hides her shock of seeing an image. T'Val Informs her that the image was made a year ago, during the Virogen crisis, when he was arrested by the Vulcan port authorities. T'Val goes on to explain that Kirk was last seen 82 years ago on the maiden voyage of the  when he disappeared into the Nexus. She then explains that four years ago, Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc Picard "rescued" him from the Nexus. There, though it was assumed by others that Kirk died, T'Val implied that when he was "revived" a year later by the Borg and the Romulans, it was simply "…a momentary interruption in normal biological process."  T'Val finishes by explaining the classified mission to what Starfleet deemed the Borg homeworld, which appears to have lead to the events of . Afterward, Kirk disappeared, not even joining the other "retired" Starfleet officers who participated in the Dominion War. From there, Kate and T'Val begin to plot on how to acquire Kirk's help. T'Val mentions that Starfleet has offered him help at a moments notice, due to his "temporally translocated" status, which in turn, they then plan to exploit for their own use. This all happens while Kate inquires what will happen to Kirk when they are done with him.

Background information 
 The audiobook version was adapted by George Truett.
 The novel is set shortly after the events of . 
 The Science Fiction Book Club released a special edition of the hardback in .
 An ISBN record for a paperback edition with a release date of  exists, ; however, it is not known if the edition was actually released.
 An extract from this novel appeared in .

Cover gallery

Characters 
James T. Kirk  Kirk reluctantly reactivated his Starfleet commission at the rank of captain, by order of Alynna Nechayev. 
Jean-Luc Picard
Intendant   Intendant Spock is the leader of the resistance movement.
William T. Riker
Kathryn Janeway (mirror)  Counterpart of 's Kathryn Janeway. In the mirror universe she is a rebel against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance and an enemy of Emperor Tiberius.
T'Val (mirror)  Resistance fighter, the daughter of the mirror Spock.
Spock  Spock's Starfleet rank was also reinstated.
McCoy  Admiral of Starfleet Medical.
Montgomery Scott
Tom Paris (mirror)  Commander Paris was the commander of the mirror universe Voyager.
Tiberius (mirror)  Former emperor.
Sloane  Lieutenant Commander Sloane was a descendant of Lily Sloane. He was chief of security,  until 2375.
Gul Rutal
Morgan Bateson
Alynna Nechayev (mirror)  Admiral in command of .

References 
 anti-tachyon  Subatomic particle that is the counterpart of the tachyon.
 Goldin Discontinuity  anomaly.
 Starbase 310  Federation starbase.
 
 USS Voyager (mirror)  Duplicate of the  built using stolen plans, much as the  was.

External links 
 
 

de:Das Gespenst
fr:Spectre
Novels
Audiobooks