DC Comics’ second Star Trek annual was available in September of 1986. Writer Mike W. Barr makes a welcome return to pen the final mission of the Enterprise’s original five-year exploration mandate. The art this time is done by Dan Jurgens on pencils, and inks by Bob Smith.
With Barr in the writer’s seat, we can expect lots of nods to established continuity, and the art, different from that of Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran, gives it all a different look, while still fitting in with the established look of The Original Series.
Stardate: 5995.7
The splash page hints at what lies within: Kirk, McCoy and Spock and the Enterprise dominate the page, but underneath them is a Klingon… Koloth (from The Trouble with Troubles)? holding a blade to the throat of a burned and scarred Christopher Pike, and one of the bald telepathic aliens from Talos IV.
Out in deep space, the USS Kobayashi Maru II (is there a worse name for a ship in the Trek universe?) receives a distress call. The signal seems to be coming from a small ship with a crew of nine, but a further scan reveals it to be a Klingon D-7 cruiser, which destroys the Maru!
Meanwhile, aboard the Enterprise, Kirk has just received word from Starfleet command. Their five-year mission is over, and they are heading home. As Kirk makes the announcement, we see familiar corridors and faces, including a greying Scotty with a new moustache.
Kirk, Spock and McCoy share lunch and discuss back pay, which shouldn’t be a thing…
Scott swings by to suggest a bit of a party/initation for the first-timers aboard the ship, Kirk and McCoy approve, and Spock agrees to mind the bridge for the event.
There’s a quick stopover at Starbase 10 to bring Commodore Stocker (from The Deadly Years in a TMP uniform) aboard. He’s accompanied by the officer who will oversee the Enterprise refit with Scotty, Will Decker. Decker seems a little sullen but says he’ll follow orders while making an offhand remark about his father (Matt Decker in The Doomsday Machine).
He’s angry about how things played out with his father and is determined to get away from that, but that causes him to clash with almost everyone in the command crew. Kirk and the others are willing to be tolerant of him and hopefully help him deal with the chip on his shoulder – he’s taken his father’s actions as his responsibility.
Uhura comments on Decker’s new uniform, voting yes on it, because she’s been in a miniskirt for the past five years.
As the initiation/party gets underway, Scotty makes a remark about Decker’s standoff behaviour as the man stalks by.
Chekov is called in for his initiation, but something goes wrong: Kirk is dressed as Old Man Cosmos, and a holo-projector is at work around him, but Chekov begins to see something else; he seems trapped in a bizarre vision and then collapses!
In Sickbay, McCoy can find nothing physically wrong with the young ensign; he seems to be in a deep state of shock.
Kirk orders Spock to scan the area, as something seems to be interfering with the holo-projector. Decker offers to help out, but before that can happen, the ship goes to red alert. They are surrounded by three Klingon cruisers demanding their surrender.
And not only are they surrounded by Klingons, but they also aren’t even in Earth orbit anymore; they seem to be in the Talos system, a place no one on Starfleet is allowed to go! Spock has no clue how this has been pulled off.
And commanding the Klingon forces… Koloth! The Klingon commander tells him to beam down to the surface so he can explain what is going on. Decker advises against it, but Kirk points out that there’s no real option.
Kirk, Spock, Decker (in TMP landing party jacket and wrist communicator) and McCoy beam down. Will Pike be down there?
Koloth and his men seize the landing party before Kirk can check in with the Enterprise. Spock asks after Pike and Vina, and Koloth hints that they’ve been abusing the crippled former captain. Seeing the condition of the former Enterprise captain, the landing party springs into action… fisticuffs.
As Spock attempts to mind meld with Pike to help calm him, Pike seems to become an inferno before their eyes, and suddenly Decker, Kirk and McCoy find themselves plunged into watery depths! Some kind of illusions at work?
Are the Klingons creating the illusion? Koloth speaks to one of his crew, Kamar, who seems to be maintaining the illusion… How is that possible?
Kirk awakens in a cell to find a scarred Vina and his fellows, all chained to the wall. Vina relates the tale of the Klingons’ arrival and how they may have mastered the Talosians telepathic ability. The strong emotions of the Klingons were enough to keep the illusions at bay. They kept a few alive, but killed the rest.
The Klingons have learned the ability and are passing it on. They lured the Enterprise here to seize it, and then begin a conquest of Earth and the heart of the Federation. The Klingons send a psychic attack against the crew of the starship, and it’s devastating.
Uhura is tortured and has her face destroyed, Sulu faces brutality as a Japanese soldier (claiming to be an American citizen – a nod to Takei’s actual time in an interment camp?), and Scotty is trapped as the self-destruct goes off.
Kamar forces Spock to confront the ostracization he faced as a child, and Amanda turning her back on him as she becomes a Vulcan. McCoy deals with the death of his daughter – both of these seem to nod to a film that hadn’t happened yet, Trek V.
What does Decker see? He is accidentally referred to as Matthew Decker (his father’s name) and is attacked by the crew of the Constitution who died because of Decker’s actions with the Doomsday machine!
And Kirk… he rejoins Edith Keeler and sees her die… again. And that angers him. Angers him enough to break the illusion, and he brutally beats Kamar. The others were also able to break the illusion, but they are stunned by Kirk’s actions… Kamar appears to be beaten to death.
Kirk borrows Decker’s wrist communicator; the Klingons didn’t recognize it for what it was. Kirk and McCoy beam up to the ship, while Decker and Spock go to free the surviving Talosians. McCoy agrees to create a vaccine that will spike the endocrine system and create more adrenaline; this will allow the crew to break free of the visions.
They pipe it through the life support system, and the crew recovers!
Kirk prepares to attack the three cruisers while Spock and Decker vanquish the Klingon occupation force and free the Talosians. The battles on the planet and in space go as planned, and the day is saved.
The Talosians thank the Enterprise, restore Vina and Pike’s illusion, and keep the Klingons trapped as well.
As the Enterprise draws close to home, Kirk and Decker chat, and Kirk encourages the young man in his role in Starfleet.
And then it’s time; Kirk says goodbye to Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and Scot. He, McCoy and Spock share a last drink together, discussing their futures apart. Spock will pursue Kolinahr, McCoy plans to retire, and Kirk has accepted the role of Chief of Starfleet Operations, something McCoy cautions against.
And as Kirk leaves the bridge for the last time, he sees it not as an ending, but a new beginning as the Human Adventure continues!
A very solid tale; I like Barr’s work. And I like how characters get their moments as the story bookends the series quite nicely, opposite The Cage.
Next time we boldly go with Uhura’s Story!
