Rainbows, Star Trek -what's next?

Towards the beginning of LeVar Burton's book Aftermath, Jacob Firecloud, Hopi medicine man, recalls the Creation story told to him many years before by the elders of the reservation: "The Great Spirit gathered together the four races of man, giving each a responsibility known as guardianship. To the red people He gave...the Earth;...to the yellow race He gave...the Wind, teaching them how to draw air within their bodies for spiritual advancement;...the black race was given...Water,...the most humble element, yet the most powerful;...the white race received...Fire."

If you're thinking to yourself right now, "Reading Rainbow wasn't a joke--this guy's got talent," or even "Roots was not just a flash in the pan after all," then I'm not entirely sure how to respond. Aftermath's prose was over-done, its plot was a little weak, its characters were not fully developed, and the message was a bit simple. All that said, it did have a few things going for it.

Burton, best known as Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge of Star Trek: The Next Generation (you know, the guy who wears a comb over his eyes), demonstrates some integrity in not joining George Takei (Sulu) and James Doohan (Scotty) as writers of actual Star Trek novels. Aftermath is science fiction, and although it does hint now and then at various Star Trek plots, it is set well before the 24th century, and there are no phasers, transporter beams, or Vulcans in sight.

The action, beginning in 2020 AD, revolves around a gadget called the neuroenhancer (it doesn't look like a comb and it isn't worn over the eyes). This allows people to enhance their brain function to the point where they can heal themselves of all disease--a pressing concern as over 50 percent of the population suffers from UV ray-induced skin cancer. America is in shambles following a massive economic, racial, and ecological breakdown, and the neuroenhancer appears to be the only hope of rescuing the people from a descent into barbarism. I never really figured out how making people healthy would bring about a civilized society, but I'll give Geordi the benefit of the doubt.

The problem is that the neuroenhancer and its inventor, Dr. Rene Reynolds, have been kidnapped by evil capitalists who want to restrict the supply of this device and charge high prices to the lucky, wealthy, few (they also don't like the idea of masses being healthy.) Luckily, Dr. Reynolds has been testing the neuroenhancer out on herself, and has developed a bit of telepathy, enabling her to send out some mental cries for help, cries that reach and ultimately bring together Firecloud, Leon Cane (a NASA scientist cum hobo), and Amy Ladue, a ten-year-old orphan, in a quest to rescue Reynolds and, in the words of Firecloud, avert "the Third Great Shaking."

Aftermath is actually a pleasantly vapid read, for Star Trek fans and others. As a friend of mine, possibly the only other person in the world to have read a LeVar Burton book, said, the whole book was worth reading just for the scene at the end, where "barreling down the dirt road on his rusty bicycle,...[shouting] `Aiiyeee...yi...yi...yi...yi,' Jacob Fire Cloud burst from the darkness, his face covered with warpaint, eagle feather hanging from his hair," and a .357 Magnum in hand.

Burton is no Ethan Hawke, but with action (and political correctness) like that he should not be lightly dismissed. He should probably, like Star Trek and Reading Rainbow, be lightly enjoyed.