Hitting comic spinners until May 1985 was the sixth chapter in DC comics’ ongoing Star Trek mirror universe saga. Once again, it was written by Mike W. Barr and featured pencils by Tom Sutton and inks by Ricardo Villagran. And if the cover is anything to go by, it looks like both Spocks and Konom are in trouble with the Klingons!

Stardate: 8221.6

Kirk’s plan to ambush the Mirror Universe fleet when it transitions to the Prime Universe has been discovered, and he, his crew and the Excelsior seem to be in a precarious position as the Terran Empire’s fleet closes in on them.

The fleet begins firing on the Excelsior, and the ship is unable to escape to their own universe. So it looks like they will have to go with plan… b. Kirk orders both Spocks (against McCoy’s better wishes) to beam over to the Bird of Prey with Konom. Their mission: head to the Klingon homeworld in this universe and perhaps form an alliance. But first they’ll help whittle down some of the attackers… which they can now do cloaked? A Bird of Prey cannot fire when she’s cloaked…

Sulu punches a hole out, and using transwarp drive escapes the attack. While the Spocks head to Qo’Nos, the Excelsior heads to Gamma Trianguli XII – a prison planet for dissident scientists.

With appropriate disguises, Kirk, Saavik, David, Chekov and Bearclaw form a landing party to infiltrate the prison. Scotty is confident he can beam them down, but not sure he can get them back up through the security screens. Kirk also has a brief moment with Marlena; that relationship seems to be really developing…

They discover the prisoners are restrained and fed into their own fantasies, which causes them to reveal their works, beliefs and advancements, which the Empire will then use. No torture, just emotional exploitation, though they are unaware of it.

A plan goes into action, but Bearclaw’s eager use of a phaser not only alerts security it also alerts the nearby ISS Farragut! The Excelsior stands by as a phaser fight ensues on the planet, and Saavik works to find a way to disable the security screen so the landing party can get away with the scientists.

Meanwhile, the Bird of Prey has entered Klingon space and is met by a pair of D7 cruisers, which escort the tiny ship to the Klingon homeworld. They are brought before Kahless IV. The klingons refuse to believe the claims of another universe and the possibility of bringing down the Terran Empire. But Konom demands ‘the Test of Truth’ which will involve him being put through the mind-sifter (something we didn’t hear much about after The Original Series).

After a torturous turn in the sifter, the Klingons can do nothing but accept the truth of Konom’s claims.

Meanwhile, on the prison planet, Kirk and his landing party are backed into a literal corner as the phaser fight continues. Things are looking pretty bleak. One of the scientists provides a distraction and Kirk and the rest use it just as Saavik disables the secrurity screens and they all return to the Excelsior.

Kirk promises the scientist, Pedersen, that he will get a chance to avenge us family on the Empire… and Kirk looks angry enough and determined enough to pull it off.

We’ll have to see if Kirk can pull it off when the story continues in The Beginning of the End. This issue was fast-paced, and Barr juggles the storylines well, though again, there were a couple minor things that seemed to not jibe with canon, or internal continuity. There’s the Bird of Prey firing when cloaked, and Saavik in a Terran Empire vest in one shot, but then a full uniform in the next. Little things, some of which can be forgiven, especially since the story is just so much fun.

I’m quite enjoying this run of DC comics, let’s see if the story pays off, with only two chapters left to go!

The Human Adventure continues in issue 15!