One of the fascinating things about this "third generation" of Star Trek (starting either with Star Trek 2009 or with Discovery) is the way the Star Trek universe has started to knit itself closer together by referencing existing backstory. For example, Discovery wholeheartedly embraced the idea that Andorians and Tellarites are key Federation members and should therefore be highly visible in Starfleet, building on lore originally implied in TOS, largely ignored by TNG, DS9, and VGR, and re-embraced by ENT. Prodigy, for its part, leaned very heavily on VGR for its worldbuilding source material.

This has also produced some interesting quiet exclusions from recent stories -- not to suggest they've been "decanonized" or anything like that, but clearly have been deprioritized. The Tholians come to mind as a ready example of this. Like the Gorn, they debuted in TOS, received stray mentions in DS9, before making an on-screen return in ENT. I wonder if the SNW writers considered using the Tholians but balked at a villain that had such different atmospheric requirements, and all the consequences that entails in terms of dramatic presentation. The Denobulans also seem to fall into a similar bucket; outside of a pair of appearances in PRO, they have received nary a mention since ENT.

Then of course we have the lengthy list of "one-off" civilizations, including the likes of

-the Sheliak
-the Husnock
-the Tzenkethi
-the Jarada
-the Miradorn

And in terms of "underexplored corners", I've only been focusing on the civilizations, but there are any number of other corners we could poke into. The Department of Temporal Investigations, the Corps of Engineers, the Federation Council, the Lunar Colonies... the Trekverse is littered with these little crumbs all over the place -- tiny seeds of ideas that suggest opportunities for imagination.

For my part, I would love to learn more about the Sheliak. For one thing, they seem like they would benefit from the advances in CGI over the last 30 years. But I like that they seem equally matched to the Federation in terms of strength, and that their hyperfocus on legal compliance gives them a generally underused "hat" to wear in the Trekverse. They have some similarity to Vulcans, but taken to an extreme, and layered in with real disdain for "lower life forms" that I think would make for a fascinating "adversary" -- I'd love to see Captain Pike or Captain Seven in a verbal jousting match with a Sheliak commander.

What is an underexplored corner of Trek lore that you think merits exploration?

While some may argue in transparently bad faith that it isn't so, it's obvious to even a casual observer that Star Trek's setting depicts in the Federation a vision of society in which the goals of both the social and economic left wing have largely won out and largely been attained. The people of the Federation have relatively complete equality of race, gender, sexuality, and even species. Resources are abundant and housing, food, shelter, healthcare, education, and beyond even the necessities even most of the pleasures of life are provided to virtually all. The environment is protected and even controlled on many populated planets to protect the ecosystem.

What, then, is at the cutting edge of politics for the Federation? In the interests of disclosure, I have identified as an anarcha-feminist and a pacifist for more than a decade (albeit not a tremendously intellectual one), and my analysis here is based in large part on the issues I believe that, as a civilian living in Star Trek's universe, I would likely have strong positions on.

A few candidates immediately present themselves:

• AI rights. A major theme of 24th-century Star Trek, from the beginning of TNG right up to Picard, is the debate over the rights of artificial intelligences, whether in the form of androids and synths like Data and Soji or photonics like the Doctor, Vic, and Moriarty. Less attention is given to less anthropomorphic forms of artificial intelligence. As we see in Lower Decks, Starfleet and the Daystrom Institute keep rogue AIs such as AGIMUS, Peanut Hamper, and 10111, with no evidence that they received any kind of trial or evaluation. The tragedy of 2385 became a major impediment to AI rights, but after the events of season 1 of Picard they seem to be back on track, at least for Synths. The personhood of photonics and non-anthropomorphic AIs remains up in the air.
• Augment rights. This may be an internally contentious issue. on the one hand, it is clear that genetically-altered individuals are marginalized as of the Dominion War. It is by the narrowest of margins that Bashir avoids being drummed out of Starfleet for being the recipient of a medical procedure he had no ability to consent to or refuse, and the Jack Pack are in some ways treated more like inmates than patients. Less than a century and a half before, Illyrians were persecuted and La'an Noonien Singh faced bullying as a child for being the distant descendant of Khan. However the memory of the Eugenics Wars looms large in the human imagination and genetic augmentation may still be viewed by some as inherently hierarchical.
• Humanocentrism and Vulcan Supremacy. Azetbur's remarks on the Federation as a "Homo sapiens-only" club are not strictly true, but they're not strictly unfounded either. The Federation's capital has always been Earth, Starfleet's headquarters are on Earth, Earth seems to have more colonies than any other member world (and stay tuned while we discuss that further), Humans make up the bulk of Starfleet (even on the Cerritos, by far the most species-diverse ship shown in Trek canon, the majority of the crew seem to be human), Federation Standard is closely descended from English, and four out of six Federation Presidents named or depicted across Star Trek canon are either human or of partial human ancestry. Vulcans, meanwhile, are frequently openly prejudiced against other species and seem to face little opprobrium for being so. This is more prominent in the 22nd and 23rd century, with anti-human terrorism on Vulcan, Spock's childhood bullying, and Starfleet even declaring entire vessels (such as the Intrepid) Vulcan-only; but it still seems to be present in the 24th and even, in some respects, as far ahead as the 32nd century.
• Seceding worlds (and the Maquis.) Unlike the United States of America, which had a whole civil war over the matter, Federation member worlds, and even colonies, appear to have the right to withdraw Federation membership. Aside from the Cardassian Border colonies that produced the Maquis rebellion, Turkana IV is perhaps the most prominent example in the 24th century. We know later in history most of the Federation's worlds, including Earth, Ni'Var, and Andoria, will secede as well in the aftermath of the Burn, and there are some indications that M'Talas Prime may be ex-Federation by the time of Picard. Turkana IV and M'Talas prime serve as an effective demonstration of exactly why this might become a progressive issue: neither seems to have thrived without the Federation, and the Maquis secession resulted in years of violence ending in mass murder on the part of the Dominion. On the other hand making Federation membership irrevocable is not exactly respectful of the sovereignty of those worlds' people. This is likely an issue that sees divided perspectives.
• Expansionism and Imperialism. This may be another controversial one. It is undeniable that the Federation is expansionist, always settling new worlds, welcoming new members, and pushing its borders outwards. As an organization Boldly Going Where No Man Has Gone Before is a central element of Starfleet's mission. However it is clear that one of the key goals of the Prime Directive^1^ is in ensuring that this expansion does not come at the expense of sovereign indigenous civilizations. Nevertheless, we often see the citizens of other polities feel their people are pressured, or even subtly coerced, to join the Federation, especially in DS9. It is not hard to believe that these concerns are shared by at least some Federation citizens.
• Social issues in neighboring societies. It is clear that many of the Federation's neighbors do not place as high a value on the rights of the individual or of the people as do the Federation, from Ferengi misogyny to Klingon classism to Cardassian totalitarianism. This is the opposite side of the coin from the prior issue, and it seems like the dominant strain of thought in the Federation is to pursue a policy of not intervening even in other advanced societies in the name of inalienable rights, or even providing more than token support to internal resistance movements much of the time (witness the struggles of Bajor, for instance.)
• Section 31. It remains unclear how much of the existence of Section 31, particularly in its modern form, is known to the public. However if it is known, an organization willing to violate the Federation's every high-minded principle in the ruthless pursuit of protecting its interests is doubtless a fraught subject. If their existence only became public knowledge after the fact of their indiscretions, one could easily imagine it being a scandal that tarnishes entire governments.
• Criminal Justice. While crime is no longer as widespread as it is in our own time due to lack of deprivation, the Federation still practices a form of carceral justice. Better minds than I discuss elsewhere the matters of police and prison abolition. Here is one 21st-century left-wing cause that hasn't yet become obsolete.
• Militarism. A common criticism of Star Trek is that everything in the Federation seems to revolve around Starfleet. While that's partly a limitation of the nature of the show, it raises the question: how true is it really? And how true do the people of the 24th century perceive it to be? How comfortable are civilians with the prominence of Starfleet?

Please use the comments to offer your own insights, or to suggest any issues I may have overlooked.

^A subject about which liberal and left-wing arguments both for and against are so played out as to be not worth any further mention.

This unit has been assigned to recover valuable content submitted by organic units to the reddit.com/r/DaystromInstitute wiki. This unit does not claim authorship over the contents of this post.

Algernon_Asimov's reviews of the Deep Space Nine relaunch novels

These books are set after the end of the 'Deep Space Nine' TV series, following on from the events of the DS9 finale. If you have not watched DS9 to the end, then be warned: HERE BE SPOILERS!

Prequels

The Lives of Dax, edited by Marco Palmieri

This book is not officially part of the relaunch - as the editor writes in the introduction, it was inspired by Jadzia's death at the end of Season 6. Also, most of these stories refer to the earlier hosts of Dax, which means they take place before the 'Deep Space Nine' TV series. However, some of the events in these stories are referred to in the later relaunch novels, so this book has de facto "Season 8" status: it was originally released as a generic Star Trek book, but later editions feature the DS9 relaunch logo and styling on the cover.

It's an anthology of nine short stories, each written by a different author and focussing on a different Dax host.

Ezri: Second Star To The Right ... And Straight On 'Til Morning

This framing story focusses on the current Dax host: Ezri. She's in the holodeck with Vic Fontaine, and starts telling him her history, starting with the story of how Ezri Tegan came to be joined with the Dax host. So, this story has three layers: Ezri Dax in the current day in the holodeck; Ezri Tegan in flashback on the USS Destiny; then the lead-in to the stories of the various previous Dax hosts.

As a framing story, it fulfils its purpose: it sets up the premise for us, the readers. As a stand-alone story, it's not so good.

The scenes in the holodeck with Vic Fontaine are laboured and overly descriptive. We spend way too much time learning that Ezri is wearing a blue-sequined spaghetti-strap cocktail dress with uncomfortable high heels. Vic doesn't talk like the Vic we've seen in the show. But, it's just a set-up.

Then, Ezri starts telling the story of how she came to be joined. And it gets worse: the Ezri Tegan we meet on the USS Destiny is nothing like the Ezri Dax we meet on Deep Space Nine, even allowing for the changes brought about by being joined with Dax. We learn that Ezri Tegan is one of the few Trill who have not been screened for their suitability for joining with a symbiont, which is what we expect based on what we saw in the show: Ezri was a surprise host. However, more than simply neglecting to be screened, Ezri is actively against the concept of joining. She believes that "the whole of Trill society was dedicated to brainwashing its children into believing there could be no higher goal than sacrificing their individuality to a parasitic race of slugs", and thinks of the symbionts as "parasitic brain vampires".

The Ezri Dax we met at the start of Season 7 of 'Deep Space Nine' was confused, lost in her multiple identities, having trouble coping - all these things and more. But there was no sign that she resented having been forced to join with a "parasitic brain vampire". Even if she'd learned the truth about the nature of joining from Dax itself, there should still be some residual hints of this anti-parasite Ezri in the post-joining personality. But, there's none - because the authors of this story have created conflict just for the sake of it, without considering character continuity.

This story does its job competently in framing the book, but it's not great itself. It's clunkily written, it's laboured, and it introduces contradictory characterisation.

Lela: First Steps

The first story naturally centres on Dax's first host: Lela. And, one important thing to note with most of the hosts is that we don't have much first-hand information about these characters - most of them made only one on-screen appearance, in the Season 3 episode 'Facets'. This, plus a few off-hand remarks, is all we know about them. This gives the authors in this anthology more room to move, and makes it less likely that they'll contradict what we know of these characters.

Lela is a junior member of the ruling council of Trill at a time when Trill has only recently learned about the existence of other species. The Trill people's response to their first encounter with the Vulcans has been to withdraw into ignorant isolation, shutting everyone else out. However, an alien ship has now appeared in orbit, making a request that noone can understand...

Each story is prefaced with a quote from the TV show about the relevant host. In this case, the quote is naturally about Lela. However, a more relevant quote would be the one by Captain Sisko in Season 7 when Ezri goes off to search for a lost Worf: "She's a Dax. Sometimes they don't think. They just do." Because Lela does things, when the rest of the council won't. We also learn that the Dax symbiont has a wish to see the stars, which Lela herself did not have before being joined. This shows how the symbiont's qualities influence and are part of the joined Trill's personality.

Along the way, she meets a character we have met before: T'Pau. This is another common factor of these stories - they all have some reference to a character and/or event we already know from other Star Trek canon. In a minor digression in a larger conversation, T'Pau tells Lela about a recent species the Vulcans have encountered; even without naming names, we know she's talking about the events seen in the movie 'First Contact'. The reference is awkwardly inserted, even if gratifying, but it sets this story in the 2060s or 2070s.

Overall, this is a good story, and well told.

Tobin: Dead Man's Hand

Tobin, Dax's second host, is an engineer who is socially awkward. He's nervous. The Human captain of the ship he's on gave him a deck of Human playing cards, together with a book on card tricks, "to keep your hands busy. You fidget too much." The victim of his attempts to practice his card tricks is the only other non-Human on board: Skon, a Vulcan mathematician (here's the character from canon - Skon is mentioned as the father of Sarek in 'The Search for Spock'). The two of them, together with other engineers and mathematicians on the ship, are working on a secret prototype. Well, it must be secret, because we the readers don't get to learn what it does until more than halfway through the story. Suffice to say that it's a significant piece of technology that we see a lot of in Star Trek.

The story is prefaced by about a page of dialogue between two characters who are not named or identified in any way, and nor do we understand what they're talking about until later in the story. This preface is awkward, unhelpful, and ultimately unnecessary - it adds nothing to the story. In fact, the paragraphs after this preface make a much better opening to the story.

The story focusses on some Romulans' attempts to gain knowledge of warp drive by hijacking the ship that Tobin and Skon are on, because Romulus only has slower-than-light travel at this time. There is mention "that the humans and Romulans had been engaged in a vicious border war for the better part of three years", which places this story in the mid-2100s. Some of the references to the Human-Romulan war in this story may have been superseded by events in 'Star Trek: Enterprise', which was not even a twinkle in a producer's eye at the time this book was written.

The story operates a bit like a card trick itself: key pieces of information (such as the nature of the prototype) are hidden from the reader to artificially build suspense, and only revealed at the right "wow" moment. It's frustrating. The character of Tobin is written a little too simply: there really does seem to be nothing to him beyond him being an engineer and playing card tricks - the author has not added anything to what we know from on-screen references.

It's an okay story.

Emony: Old Souls

This story is actually told from the point of view of someone other than one of Dax's hosts: a young Leonard McCoy. It's basically an expansion of a brief exchange in the episode 'Trials and Tribble-ations', between Sisko and Jadzia Dax:

JADZIA: McCoy... McCoy... Leonard McCoy! I met him when he was a student at Ole Miss.

SISKO: Who met him - Curzon?

JADZIA: No. My host at the time was Emony. She was on Earth judging a gymnastics competition. I had a feeling he'd become a doctor... he had the hands of a surgeon.

McCoy is "a small-town boy a few months shy of his eighteenth birthday" who goes to a gymnastics competition with his Ole Miss dorm-mate, only to see the famous gymnast Emony Dax acting as one of judges. His mother was a fan of Emony when she won her three latinum medals in the '24 Olympics... twenty-one years ago. This sets the story in 2245, some twenty years before McCoy serves with Kirk on the Enterprise.

It also seems that Emony is old enough to be McCoy's mother! And, yet, they make a romantic connection. Brief, but still real. The romance is set against some interspecies conflict at the gymnastic competition, but this is basically a love story. And, it's nice. The story is short and sweet, like the romance itself.

No worries, we'll figure out how this works someday.