10 Biggest Secrets Revealed In Star Trek Novels
2. Captain Erica Hernandez's Fate - Star Trek: Destiny
David Mack's Star Trek: Destiny trilogy is an excellent exploration of several different time periods in Trek history. While it spends a lot of time detailing not only an enormous Borg invasion of the Federation in the aftermath of the USS Voyager's return home, it also goes a way toward revealing what happened to the NX-02 Columbia, and Captain Erika Hernandez.
Whether this story is strictly canon or not is up for debate. It deals with some fairly final, apocalyptic events as regards the Collective, which would make it slightly difficult for the series to truly integrate. However, the fate of the Columbia is an excellent exploration of what happened to this early vessel.
Captain Hernandez is one of very few survivors after the ship passes into a wormhole, killing the crew and dumping it in the Gamma Quadrant. Hernandez was not on board the vessel. Instead, she was meeting with the Caeliar, an almost impossibly advanced race of beings who pride themselves on non-interference. However, they also possess the ability to travel through time, creating a grandfather paradox that has devastating consequences for the Milky Way galaxy.
To reveal everything would be to spoil the series, but Hernandez's story is handled in a heartwarming, and heartbreaking, manner.