So how is Diane Duane going to get Kirk and the Excelsior crew out of the problems with the Ajir and the newly arrived Grond? We’ll find out in issue 25 of DC Comics’ ongoing Star Trek series. Available for April of 1986, the script was by Duane, and once again featured Tom Sutton on pencils and Ricardo Villagran on inks. Jim Starlin once again delivered the cover.
Stardate: 8890.1
There is humour once again in the splash page as Kirk’s log entry brings us up to date on what is happening. The Grond have arrived, the Ajir still ‘have control’ of Excelsior, and Kirk wishes he’d stayed in bed.
The Ajir ship was destroyed, but her entire invasion force, eight crew, were already aboard Excelsior. Kirk orders shields up, and they prepare to face this new threat. Was everything the Ajir did a ploy to get the Federation to help against the Grond?
Uhura stalls the Grond, while Kirk attempts to concoct a plan. Saavik provides some information: the Grond ship isn’t much stronger than the Ajir ship was, and their phasers pose no real threat to Excelsior, even if her shields are down.
So Kirk’s plan… to surrender (again). The Ajir run and hide on the Rec Deck (this is the perfect place for an aside; the previous issue had a Horta on the bridge, and here we meet Tanzer the Rec Deck Chief; both are characters created by Duane that appear in her novel, The Wounded Sky) as Kirk arranges a greeting for the Grond in the transporter room. And when the Grond beam aboard, Kirk and company discover they look like… housecats?
They walk on their hind legs and carry weapons, but yup, they look like housecats. Much like the Ajir, the Grond demand that the crew train them in how to run the Excelsior. Kirk summons his command staff and prepares assignments (again).
Goofiness follows (again). Once again, the crew gather information as they are ‘instructing’ their captors.
Kirk maneuvers the Grond captain to the Rec Deck, where they encounter the Ajir. Both species seem to be terrified of one another. It seems both species, in the end, had a plan to push the Federation into action, and that would allow the Grond and the Ajir to claim war damages, and the Federation would help rehabilitate their worlds.
Kirk points out that instead of violence, they simply could have asked for help, something we’ve heard before in Trek. They want help and protection from other species that may pose a threat to their societies, like the Klingons.
Kirk and McCoy banter, attempting to get the Ajir and Grond captains to see the bigger picture and find a way to help their respective peoples. Kirk suggests the use of their homeworlds as trading stations and bases, this would allow the Federation to step in and assist both species, and probably help them join the UFP.
It looks like a deal is made, the Grond and the Ajir (who will hitch a ride with the Grond) will head home with the initial draft of an agreement that could mean prosperity and long life for their worlds.
As the Excelsior prepares to continue on its way, Kirk, McCoy and Saavik discuss power, displays of power, and who puts them on and why, and what real power and control mean. The issue ends with Saavik either making a joke or a sharing a very insightful bit of logic.
It’s a pretty solid two-parter, and I like that the comic series lets special guest star writers like Koenig and Duane come in and tell their stories. The art remains solid, and while the story isn’t fanastic, it does show that the format will let other types of Trek stories can be told.
The Human Advenure continues next time as we check in on Captain Spock and his crew! Boldly go!
