The contributions of military Engineers are among histories less trumpeted accomplishments. When an invasion force needs to cross a river, the Engineers build a bridge. When there aren't roads, the Engineers build them. In Star Trek, Engineers are tapped to solve the tricky technical issues, but they do even more that rarely gets airtime. Now, in Star Trek fiction, the Engineers get the spotlight all to themselves, and it makes for fun reading.

Star Trek S.C.E., a new series from Pocket Books available only online tells the tales of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. The S.C.E. concept, by John J. Ordover and Keith R.A. DeCandido, gives readers a more detailed look at how a Corps of Engineers can be the key to victory or defeat in any given situation.

Fans will encounter some new faces mixed in with old favorites in the first installment of the series, "The Belly of the Beast" by Dean Wesley Smith. Beginning aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Captain Picard, the story kicks off with the defeat of a huge mysterious ship the size of a small moon attacking a Federation colony.

With the mystery ship defeated and adrift, the Enterprise has business elsewhere, but a team of Starfleet's Corps of Engineers is on its way to investigate the ship, the "Beast" of the story. The subsequent investigations by Geordi La Forge and a new cast of characters take the S.C.E. deep into the strange vessel, where they learn its terrifying secret.

With appearances from established characters like LaForge, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and a "cameo" by Montgomery Scott, Star Trek fans will find some familiar faces mixed with a new cast of characters, including a pair of Bynars, the race seen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "11001001."

The story moves along quickly as the ominous ship is explored by multiple search teams, and we get to know the new characters without getting bogged down in flashbacks or backstories. Shorter than a novel, this installment ran 114 pages and is a quick, adventuresome read.

"The Belly of the Beast" is a fine launchpad for what has the potential to be a dynamic addition to the Star Trek fiction wing. As the Star Trek universe grows, both in canon (what appears on the show and movies) and non-canon (fiction, comics), additions such as the S.C.E. give depth to the Star Trek universe, filling in the gaps between the high profile exploits as to how the Federation and Starfleet work.