Synopsis/Review by BlackCondor:

Synopsis: Immediately after the Enterprise has left the Earth of the First Contact movie, the crew realizes they haven't returned to their future. They seem to have gone back further in time, to the 1990's, possibly due to Borg damage to the ship. They need to replace their deflector's core, but are afraid that the primitive Earth technology of the time won't help, until Riker finds evidence of Shi'ar technology on the planet's surface. But what could it be doing there? Troi says they might as well go get it, since it shouldn't be there and neither should they. The crew decides to beam down to the technology's two locations, one team for each, and try to comandeer it. Riker, Dr. Crusher, and Worf beam down, finding themselves in front of the Baxter Building. They're immediately confronted by the Thunderbolts, and return to the ship. At the mansion, Nightcrawler, Archangel, Wolverine, Banshee, Shadowcat, Storm, and Colossus are enjoying a quiet morning together when the second away team, Geordi, Data and Troi, appear in the dark and locate the Ready Room and Cerebro. Geordi finds the parts they need and starts to gather them when Wolverine pops the claws on him. Data steps in and flings Wolvie aside like a rag doll. But he's set upon by Colossus, who throws him a mighty punch. Data has super strength too, and tries to stop Pete's throw with one hand, but it blows him back. Troi, the voice of reason, begs them to stop fighting, and Wolverine demands an explanation for their trespassing. Data tells them they're from the Enterprise, and Wolvie shocks them by asking after Kirk. Intrigued, the rest of the Enterprise's bridge crew beams down to talk to the X-Men, and they all rehash what brought them to their current point. Riker explains they had hoped to get some of their Shi'ar technology to repair their ship and return home, but Kitty tells them it's not that simple. Their arrival has caused a new spatial rift, and they need to fix it. Troi senses an evil presence-- Kang has arrived! Everyone tenses, but Kang announces he's not there to fight-- the rift is damaging all of time and space (his domain) and all the alternate realities and universes are in danger of collapsing. He wants to help, and tells them that they need to fix the two major sections of damage. He gives them sensors that will lead them to the danger spots and track the rift's progression, and fades away. The X-Men return with the Enterprise crew to the ship to formulate strategies. They will split into two teams of four and try to heal the rifts, with Colossus, Picard, Troi and Nightcrawler in one group, and Wolverine, Storm, Data and Worf in the other. The rest will remain on standby and cross their fingers on the bridge. Picard's team activates their chronal compass and materialize in a wrecked future section of New York, levelled by war. The X-Men know that this is the time of the Sentinels and warn their teammates to be careful, but it's already too late. They're attacked by humans, but manage to fight them off when the Sentinals arrive. They run for their lives. Storm's team has no better luck. They've landed on a ship that's being overrun by Borg. It's the Battle of Wolf 119, where so many ships and people were lost. Data points out that that can't be right, since no Borg ever set foot on a Federation ship during the fighting, but Storm listens to the Borg and thinks she and Wolverine somehow drew them there. Her fury strikes the Borg down with lightning bolts, but Data and Worf know that won't work a second time. They need to hurry. Picard's team is making their own stand against the Sentinals, temporarily fending them off. Kang is watching their progress. He has lied to them about the nature their mission, and means to use them to control the rifts. If they succeed in mending the 'rifts', they'll actually destroy the last few shreds of normal reality left! On the Enterprise, the ones left behind are anxious and bored--but not for long. As they watch, Wesley Crusher and his companion, the Traveler, have arrived to warn them of Kang's plan. The Enterprise damaged time and space by sliding into the X-Men's reality, and the universe is trying to fix itself with the anomalies they've detected. They have to allow the "rifts" to continue. Deciding to confront Kang, the crew gets assistance from the Traveler, who agrees to lead them to Kang's ship while Wesley and Kitty try to contact the two away teams and stop them. Storm's team has encountered their ship's Commander, Benjamin Sisko. But with him is John Proudstar, Thunderbird. They've found their anomaly, but before they can do anything, Kitty and Wesley arrive in a flash of light. Kitty warns Storm that Thunderbird has to die so the time-stream can heal itself. As they watch, Proudstar is killed protecting Sisko. Data realizes that if Sisko had died instead, he wouldn't have become the emissary of the Prophets, a race that seems to be a threat to Kang's plans. Thier job done, Wesley and Kitty move on. Kang sees their interference, and he's furious. Then he notices the Enterprise has shown up, and is amused. He doesn't think they can get past his defenses, but the crew feels differently. Picard's team has just encountered their own anomaly, Tasha Yar, standing guard over an unconscious Kitty Pryde. Kurt warns him that Kitty nust be allowed to go back in time and warn them about the Days of Future Past. Picard wants to stop her, but Troi confirms the woman they're seeing isn't their Tasha. As they debate, Kitty and Wesley show up just in time to see Tasha shot by Sentinals, now controlled by Borg. Wesley yells for them to destroy the Borg-Sentinals, but Tasha has her own request--Kitty still needs to be sent back to the past. Troi agrees to form the link, and Kitty's mind is sent back. Their missions ccompleted, the away teams teleport back to the Enterprise and now have to deal with Kang's attack. Picard orders Geordi to blast the ship and it works- they've damaged the section of the Dwarf White star Kang was using as his power source, and it implodes, leaving no trace. The danger over, the X-Men help the Enterprise crew repair their vessel and everyone returns home...but upon their return, the X-Men receive a nasty surprise... (continued in the Star Trek/X-Men novel, Planet X)

Review: The second chapter of the Star Trek/X-Men trilogy is almost as good as the first. It was great to see the way the two realities blended together, and they picked clever scenes from both universes to rewrite. Although there weren't really any personality match-ups as in the first one (except for the initial metal-man Data/Colossus dustup and Worf's stogie gift from Wolverine, a throw-away background scene), the story made sense. Although Kang isn't what I picture when I think of real Marvel villians, his presence made the story gel. Like Gambit in the first story, Archangel's role in the book was non-existant. A better idea would have been for Psylocke to be present, and paired with Geordi- they both have eye implants, and she could have assisted Troi in the Kitty-Tasha link, since Troi isn't a very strong telepath. All in all, it was fun to read, although the cliffhanger ending might annoy you.