Synopsis: From the back cover of the first paperback printing: "What exactly happened to the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise after the end of their five year mission? How did that mission end? What did they do before they were reunited for the adventures captured in the Star Trek movies. Even the casual Star Trek fan finds him/herself asking these questions from time to time... Here at last is the novel that provides the answers to those questions. The Lost Years tells the story of Captain Kirk's final hours in command of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and how he, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy struggle to establish new lives apart from each other and the starship. We see the newly-promoted Admiral Kirk, in charge of a specially-created Starfleet division, as he attempts to defuse a critical hostage situation; Mr. Spock, who, in the midst of a teaching assignment on Vulcan, finds the one thing he least expected; and Dr. McCoy, whose unerring instinct for trouble lands him smack in the middle of an incident that could trigger an interstellar bloodbath..."