September of 1975 saw issue of 33 of Gold Key’s Star Trek comic hit the shelves. This one featured a story by Allan Moniz which had potential but then got a little disappointing. It featured art by Alberto Giolitti and a cover by George Wilson.

The splash page refers to multiverses and the story intro hints at a choice to come as Captain Kirk confronts Captain Kirk!

The Enterprise is coming off a two week R&R stay on the planet Lado and is now back on assignment. She’s off on a scientific expedition to quadrant Mark I. The mission? To explore a unique radiation signal that suggests it may be the location of the initial Big Bang. But wouldn’t that be the center of the universe, you know where ‘god’ is?

The reader and the crew are given a primer on the big bang with a film strip show (projector and screen included) hosted by Spock for Kirk and his senior officers. Spock warns that they may encounter primitive states of matter, which may have unknown effects. Before the science officer can expound on that a red alert is triggered and everyone races to their stations.

The alert was triggered by all the ship’s sensors and scanners going offline. (Hey look! They get Uhura’s name right, though still looks too white. The bridge however, looks pretty accurate – except Sulu and Chekov’s stations seem to be reversed.)

Scotty reports that the dilithium crystals have gone cold! Wherever the ship is, they seem to be stuck. Stuck exactly nowhere!

Somehow, they can detect a capsule out there in the dead space with them. Kirk, Spock and Lt. Nova gear up a capsule of their own as the Vulcan posits that they may be inside the primal atom. The capsule won’t work, though. Like the Enterprise, it’s drained. But Spock believes, if his theory is correct, that thought, with the aid of a cybernetic helmet, should propel them.

They collect a cylinder (a photon tube?) and return to the Enterprise. There’s something alive inside… and it opens to reveal… Kirk? Though his uniform is completely different in colour. This other Kirk claims to be from the universe before this one. The universe repeats over and over again, cycling through big bangs with the only differences caused by free will.

But, at this moment in time, only one solitary being has it. Everything else is set on a pre-ordained path.

The Alterna-Kirk has to find this person and help him make the right choice. Kirk doesn’t believe any of it, especially when Alterna-Kirk says he needs the Enterprise and Kirk has to stay behind because the same person can’t exist in two places at once in the universe.

Kirk calls BS but Alterna-Kirk is willing to fight to the death to complete his mission.

And Kirk agrees! The pair square off with rapiers, phasers set to kill and dueling Enterprises…?

Using thoughts as established with the capsule, Alterna-Kirk attacks with his Enterprise (then why does he need the other Enterprise?). Kirk, however, is concentrating on the fight at hand.

Spock assumes command while Kirk chases his other self through the corridors. Despite being caught up in combat, he orders Nova to don the cybernetic helmet and maneuver the Enterprise. Spock warns that extended use could drive her mad but Kirk orders it done while he holds Alternate-Kirk down in Engineering.

Kirk orders the bridge crew to unite and focus their mental energy on Nova and the Enterprises engage!!

Alterna-Kirk gets the drop on him, but Kirk orders the shields dropped just long enough to throw Alternate-Kirk off his feet. As Kirk confronts Alterna-Kirk the other Enterprise vanishes. The choice has been made. And the person with free will, the solitary person in the universe at this point in time to make the choice, is Jim Kirk.

Sure, I guess.

Then, by getting the entire crew to hold hands and concentrate, though I’m not sure how that works in a turbo lift shaft as the hand holding line moves right off the bridge and into the turbo lift, the Enterprise returns to regular space.

As the issue closes and the Enterprise continues to boldly go, Spock and Kirk wonder if everything is preordained or if free will exists.