Broken Oaths (TNG)

This article is about the TNG short story. You may be looking for DS9 - Prophecy and Change short story: "Broken Oaths".

"Broken Oaths" is a TNG short story released in the digital supplement for Star Trek: Explorer, Issue 2. Featuring Doctors Beverly Crusher and Lewis Zimmerman, it was written by Chris Dows, edited by Jonathan Wilkins, and published on 12 April 2022. It first saw print in the Q and False and Other Stories omnibus in December 2022.

Description[]

Doctor Crusher faces a challenging ethical dilemma.

References[]

Characters[]

Margaret Blackwell • Chang (Doctor) • Beverly Crusher • Leonard McCoy • Lewis Zimmerman
Referenced only: Aesculapius • Apollo • Richard Daystrom • Hugh • Jean-Luc Picard • Spock

Locations[]

Alpha Quadrant
Referenced only: Jupiter Station

Races and cultures[]

Human
Referenced only: Borg

States and organizations[]

Borg Collective • Daystrom Institute • Starfleet • Starfleet Medical

Science and classification[]

assimilation • Borg drone • combadge • computer virus • Emergency Medical Hologram • Genesis device • laboratory • M-5 computer • medical tricorder • PADD

Ranks and titles[]

captain • Chief of Starfleet Medical • director • doctor • ethics • physician • scientist • vice-admiral

Other references[]

emotion • execution • god • Hippocratic Oath • holo-novel • hour • logic • medical • month • second • species • Starfleet uniform (2366-2373) • task force • universe

Appendices[]

Related media[]

TOS - Strange New Worlds II short story: "Doctors Three" – Admiral Leonard McCoy first learned of the EMH project, meeting Lewis Zimmerman and The Doctor at Jupiter Station in 2371.
VOY episode & novelization: Caretaker – McCoy posited a crisis where an EMH might be a starship's only surviving medical officer, which happened to the crew of the USS Voyager in 2371.
TNG episode: "I, Borg" – Hugh's rescue and return to the Borg Collective in 2368 were cited.
TNG movie: Star Trek: First Contact – In the story, Beverly swore she'll never use an EMH, a vow she would break in 2379.

Background[]

The story takes place in 2371 during the development of the EMH program, shortly after McCoy came to accept the EMH in TOS - Strange New Worlds II short story: "Doctors Three", but prior to the Doctor's appearance aboard USS Voyager in VOY - The Badlands, Book Two novel: The Badlands, Part III.
Story art depicted Beverly Crusher with an EMH, though it was Lewis Zimmerman who appeared in the story.
The location for the task force's meeting wasn't mentioned, except that it was not at Jupiter Station.

Images[]

Connections[]

Short stories published in magazines
TV21 Weekly	TOS stories	"Gateway to the Future"
Stardate Magazine	TOS stories	"Force of Law" • "The Killax Vendetta" • "Planetfall" • "Coronation Presumptuous" • "Boarding Party" • "Roleplaying in the Final Frontier"
Amazing Stories	TNG stories	"Last Words" • "On the Scent of Trouble" • "Life Itself is Reason Enough" • "Bedside Matters"
Amazing Stories	VOY stories	"When Push Comes to Shove" • "A Night at Sandrine's" • "The Space Vortex of Doom"
Star Trek Magazine	STO stories	"Unexpected Honor" • "Shakedown" • "The Gale, Part 1" • "The Gale, Part 2" • "Mirror Image, Part 1" • "Mirror Image, Part 2" • "Chief, Part 1" • "Chief, Part 2" • "Of Chaos and Kal-toh, Part 1" • "Of Chaos and Kal-toh, Part 2" • "Dove" • "Backchannel Negotiations" • "There's No Place Like..." • "Locks Without Keys, Part 1" • "Locks Without Keys, Part 2" • "Hope Remains" • "After the Storm" • "Recruitment Drive" • "Time of the Scotsman" • "An Honorable Frontier"
Star Trek: Explorer	stories	"All That Most Maddens and Torments" • "Q and False" • "A Night In" • "The Offer" • "Seven v Seven" • "Quality of Life" • "Retribution" • "Broken Oaths" • "The Way to Exile" • "Kill Captain Proton!" • "Cumulative Damage" • "Explorers of the Storm" • "Prey" • "Growing Pains" • "Pulaski 2.0" • "The Disavowed" • "By Special Request" • "Paghabi" • "The Expert" • "The Guardian" • "The Mission" • "Things Can Only Get Better" • "Frontier Medicine" • "Control" • "The Victim" • "Scramble" • "You Can't Buy Fate" • "Summer Days Can Last Forever" • "The Kellidian Kidnapping" • "Lost and Founder" • "A Year to the Day I Saw Myself Die" • "See and Seen" • "Work Worth Doing" • "The Trouble with Jones" • "Sundering" • "Academy Acquisition" • "Jack of Diamonds" • "A Dish Served Cold" • "Forewarned and Three-Armed" • "Working Miracles" • "Confirmation Bias" • "Dignified Transfer" • "Attempted Break-in" • "Cat and Mouse" • "Housewarming" • "The Sirius Snarl" • "Memoriam" • "The Simulation"

Star Trek: The Next Generation collected short stories, novellas and short novels
Strange New Worlds	I: ("What Went Through Data's Mind 0.68 Seconds Before the Satellite Hit" • "The Naked Truth" • "The First" • "See Spot Run" • "Together Again, for the First Time" • "Civil Disobedience" • "Of Cabbages and Kings") • II: ("I Am Klingon" • "Reciprocity" • "Calculated Risk" • "Gods, Fate, and Fractals" • "I Am Become Death") • III: ("Whatever You Do, Don't Read This Story" • "A Private Victory" • "The Fourth Toast" • "One of Forty-seven" • "A Q to Swear By" • "The Change of Seasons" • "Out of the Box, Thinking") • IV: ("Flight 19" • "The Promise" • "Flash Point" • "Prodigal Son" • "Seeing Forever") • V: ("Bluff" • "The Peacemakers" • "Efflorescence" • "Kristin's Conundrum" • "The Monkey Puzzle Box" • "The Farewell Gift" • "Dementia in D Minor") • VI: ("The Soft Room" • "Protecting Data's Friends" • "The Human Factor" • "Tribble in Paradise") • VII: ("Life's Work" • "Adventures in Jazz and Time" • "Future Shock" • "Full Circle" • "Beginnings" • "Solemn Duty") • 8: ("Morning Bells Are Ringing" • "Passages of Deceit" • "Final Flight") • 9: ("Staying the Course" • "Home Soil" • "Terra Tonight" • "Solace in Bloom") • 10 ("Wired" • "A Dish Served Cold" • "The Very Model") • 2016 ("A Christmas Qarol" • "The Sunwalkers" • "The Seen and Unseen")
The Sky's the Limit	"Meet with Triumph and Disaster" • "Acts of Compassion" • "Redshift" • "Among the Clouds" • "Thinking of You" • "Turncoats" • "Ordinary Days" • "'Twould Ring the Bells of Heaven" • "Friends With the Sparrows" • "Suicide Note" • "Four Lights" • "'Til Death" • "On the Spot" • "Trust Yourself When All Men Doubt You"
Misc. short stories	"The Captain and the King" • "Last Words" • "Bedside Matters" • "On the Scent of Trouble" • "Life Itself is Reason Enough" • "What Dreams May Come" • "Twilight's Wrath" • "Eleven Hours Out" • "Darkness" • "The Sacred Chalice" • "For Want of a Nail" • "Q and False" • "Quality of Life" • "Broken Oaths" • "Prey" • "Growing Pains" • "Pulaski 2.0" • "The Disavowed" • "Paghabi" • "The Expert" • "Scramble" • "Dignified Transfer" • "Attempted Break-in" • "The Simulation"
Misc. novellas & short novels	"The Other Side" • "The Worst of Both Worlds" • "Brave New World"

Timeline[]

published order
Previous story: Quality of Life	Short stories (Star Trek: Explorer)	Next story: The Way to Exile
Previous story: Quality of Life	TNG short stories	Next story: Prey
Previous story: Side Effects	Stories by: Chris Dows	Next story: Cumulative Damage
chronological order
Previous adventure: Tears for Eternity Strange New Worlds IV	Memory Beta Chronology	Next adventure: The Unkindest Cut Unlimited, Issue 2

Publication history[]

12 April 2022: First released in Star Trek: Explorer magazine. (Titan Magazines)
20 December 2022: Collected in the Q and False and Other Stories omnibus. (Titan Magazines)

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