Gauntlet (Star Trek: Stargazer, Book 1)

Captain Jean Luc Picard accepts a courageous mission which he soon finds could be a deadly trap. Jean-Luc Picard has been called to a meeting of starship captains to discuss how to deal with the raider known as White Wolf, who has been preying on Federation cargo ships. Someone has to go after this terrorist: someone with nerve, guile -- and experience. At the tender age of 28, Picard is the youngest man ever to sit in the command chair of a Starfleet vessel, and seems an unlikely choice for such a dangerous mission. The reason why his name has been put forward becomes all too clear, however: somehow he has acquired an enemy in high places. No sooner does he accept the mission than he discovers it is a trap set by no less a person than the leader of the Federation -- a man who appears to resent the rising star of the young Jean-Luc. Nevertheless, determined to prove himself, Picard perseveres and takes the motley crew assigned to him on what turns out to be a treacherous and spectacular adventure.