Highest Score is a 1996 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. It is the eighth novel in the DS9 novel series for young adults.
Description
- Playing for keeps
- Jake and Nog have hit the jackpot playing holo videogames in the Amusement Arcade. An alien named Kwiltek has offered them jobs helping him run remote-controlled mining operations on a distant planet where dull mining is turned into a thrilling video game. In the "gaming room", teams of kids work together monitoring the operations by remote control, loading cargo and defending against the most frightening "threats" they've ever seen on-screen. Now Jake and Nog can show their stuff! Soon they're competing with other alien kids to see who can haul the most ore.
- It's the ultimate game—with pay! Until the night Jake and Nog slip into the command center and see a roomful of screens displaying real-life images of a devastated world where desperate natives are under attack by fighters that look very familiar! Suddenly the game is over—and the nightmare begins…
Summary
Kwiltek, the head of a mining consortium, arrives on Deep Space 9 and notes Jake and Nog have the highest scores in the simulator in the arcade. He offers them jobs controlling mining machines on a planet in the Gamma Quadrant and it is agreed they will try out with him during their school holidays.
Jake and Nog are taken to the station orbiting the planet Citra. They control excavators and flyers that seek out precious minerals and gather them. The graphics include simulated attacks to make things more interesting and the team with the highest score gets a bonus. However, the pair become suspicious when they first see the damage done by the "simulated" attacks and then a graphic that suggests the planet is lush and inhabited rather than a barren wasteland.
Jake beams down to investigate but Nog is captured before he can beam them back. Jake finds the natives fighting a desperate battle to stop the machines killing them and destroying their homes. He uses his knowledge of the machines to help them fight, while Nog is able to alert the other gamers of the true situation, causing them to down tools. Sisko, Quark and Rom arrive on the station and inform Kwiltek that the Federation and the Ferengi will stop anyone doing business with him unless he makes reparations to Citra and agrees to a Federation inspector keeping an eye on him in future.
References
Characters
- Dobb • Kree • Kwiltek • Nog • Quark • Rom • Benjamin Sisko • Jake Sisko • Tandon • Tani
- Referenced only
- Rux • Vesta
Locations
- Amusement Arcade • Citra • Deep Space 9 • Gamma Quadrant • Quark's
- Referenced only
- Bajor • Bajoran wormhole
Races and cultures
- Referenced only
- Cardassian • Orion
Starships
States and organizations
- Referenced only
- Federation Miners Guild and Trading Commission
Science and technology
- alien • dilithium • impulse engine • ore hauler • phaser • remote control • telepresence • universal translator • video game • warp nacelle
Ranks and titles
Other references
- aarda • Antarian shake • banga • dabo • duranium • Escape Through the Wormhole • Ferengi Rules of Acquisition • Garanian bolite • gold • gold-pressed latinum • illurium • indium • latinum • mining • planet • Prime Directive • Saurian brandy • selenium fizz • starbase • synthehol • titanium
Appendices
Images
Connections
Timeline
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: Gypsy World |
DS9 books | Next novel: Cardassian Imps |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: Lapse |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next Adventure: Genesis |
| Previous Adventure: Playing God |
Next Adventure: Genesis | |
| Previous Adventure: Lapse |
Deep Space Nine Adventures | Next Adventure: Profit and Loss |
External links
- Highest Score article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.