The Hostages

Zine
Title:	The Hostages
Publisher:	Clean Slate Press
Editor:
Author(s):	Tami Regan
Cover Artist(s):	Angus
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	1994
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Language:	English
External Links:
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The Hostages is a 91-page gen digest-sized Deep Space Nine novel by Tami Regan. The front cover is by Angus. There is no interior art.

front cover, Angus

back cover

Summary

When Kohn-Ma terrorists infiltrate DS9 taking Keiko and the children hostage, demanding medical assistance for their wounded leader, Kira's convinced her old friend Tahna Lorella wants revenge for her imprisoned brother. Then the Cardassian gul arrives, willing to do whatever it takes to get the terrorists who murdered thousands of civilians, even risk war with the Federation. Sisko is caught between his son's life, Cardassian justice and the destruction of DS9.

Reactions and Reviews

Take a shipload of Kohn Ma radicals with wounded members in tow, toss them into a cargo bay on Deep Space Nine with a dozen children and their teacher as hostages, then inject our favorite doctor and agitate, and you have the elements comprising The Hostages, a single-story, digest-sized fanzine written by Tami Regan and published by Clean Slate Press. Set after "In the Hands of the Prophets," but before the second season, it is early enough in the DS9 storyline to allow blatant friction between the regular characters, Kira and Bashir in particular. Ms. Regan does a wonderful job of capturing the individual essence of the characters so that they "read" correctly, as well as creating distinctive, believable, original characters of her own. One feels them come to life, within a crisply plotted story that has all the proper elements of tension, character interaction, and excellent dialogue. The action moved concisely and quickly with rich visual imagery. Talma Lorella (sister to Tahna Los), and a shipload of renegade Kohn Ma terrorists have arrived at DS9 claiming to require emergency medical assistance. Their weapons set off security alarms as they board the station, and in the resulting fracas with station security, Mrs. O'Brien and her school children, touring part of the station, are caught in the crossfire and become hostages of the terrorists. Tahna does indeed have a medical emergency. Both her captain, Barn Rogan, and another crewman have been severely burned in an explosion and chemical fire. Bashir offers to enter the cargo bay where the prisoners are being held to treat the wounded and, hopefully, prevent them from penetrating deeper into the station. Into this tense hostage situation barges a Cardassian warship that had been in pursuit of the Kohn Ma vessel. On top of all this, Tahna Lorella was a one time friend of Kira's who had, over the years, become an enemy, and one not averse to vengeance. The terrorists do have motives other than medical aid that have brought them to the station, and this plot wrinkle adds a touch of intrigue to the tale. Although this is a well-written ensemble piece, the focus of the plot is on Bashir, Kira, and Tahna Lorella (the terrorist leader). There are several moments, early in the story, where Bashir is portrayed as the over eager young achiever, but for the majority of the novella, it is the mature, responsible Bashir we have come to know in the past season that is evident. Bashir is undeniably tough when it comes to assuring his patients receive the best care he can give them, even if it means standing up to Tahna and not knuckling under to her abrasive and abusive threats. I, quite honestly, could find no major faults with this little zine. I did feel the opening pages were too expository. Tami has the skill to leap right into the story, create a truly explosive beginning, then fill in the exposition later. Some of the story background provided in these pages is not necessary unless the reader is totally unfamiliar with Deep Space Nine and its characters. There is also a nice scene between Quark and Garak that, while well written, did nothing to further the plot or develop the characters. A hint of suspicion was thrown on Garak throughout the story, implying he was a spy, but this was totally extraneous to the main idea. It is terribly tempting to include all of the characters in a DS9 story, but it is not always necessary. There is also the implication that the frosty wall between Kira and Bashir in this particular story has something to do with Kira's annual physical. Nothing specific is said, and since we all know Bashir would not do anything unprofessional, I wonder why the problem was hinted at. These are, of course, minor quibbles, and do not detract from the enjoyment of an otherwise finely tuned novella which I highly recommend.