Star Trek #1

Issue Details

Synopsis

Reprint of A Marvel Super Special #15 (1/3) A squadron of Klingon battle cruisers approach a massive cloud of energetic gas in space. The lead ship's captain, Krase, orders a tactical display and preparation to fire photon torpedoes. The weapons do nothing, and the cloud fires back. Krase orders full force fields and evasive maneuvers, but his starship is quickly engulfed by the cloud's energy bolts. Across the galaxy, on the planet Vulcan, Spock attends the ceremony of his attainment of kolinahr. Before receiving the symbol of logic, Spock is telepathically distracted by a consciousness from space. He mind melds with T'sai, who finds him too confused to receive the symbol of kolinahr. In San Francisco, Rear Admiral James T. Kirk arrives at the Starfleet Headquarters air tram station. He meets Commander Sonak there and confirms his recommendation that Sonak be assigned as science officer. He then informs Sonak of the accelerated launch schedule and that he intends to meet him aboard the Enterprise in an hour. Kirk leaves the orbital office complex in a travel pod piloted by Scotty and docks with the Enterprise. He informs Scotty that he has been given command of the Enterprise, and gets his first glimpse of the newly refit vessel. Meeting Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov on the bridge, he asks for Captain Willard Decker's location so he may inform him of the change. In engineering, Decker is supervising the final phase of readiness for the new ship. Kirk meets him and informs him that Decker will be his executive officer on the mission. Angered, Decker states that Kirk doesn't know the new ship a fraction as well as he does. Nonplussed, Kirk informs him that the main reason Decker is staying aboard. Their conversation is cut short by an alarm from the transporter room. Sonak and a female crew member are beaming aboard, but the transporter sensors fail in mid-transport, killing them. Kirk calls a briefing of all crew members on the ship's massive new recreation deck. While he addresses the crew, the ship receives an update from Station Epsilon IX. Commander Branch reports that the cloud is passing close to his space station, when suddenly the cloud seems to react to the station's sensors. The facility is destroyed quickly while the horrified Enterprise crew looks on. The final crew members come on board, including Lieutenant Ilia, the ship's new Deltan navigator. Ilia is surprised to see an old acquaintance, Will Decker, at a lowered rank as executive officer. Kirk confirms with Ilia that her oath of celibacy is in effect. The final crew replacements come onboard, save the chief medical officer, who is wary of the transporter. Kirk orders him beamed aboard, and informs McCoy that he is needed, as an explanation for the doctor's reserve activation. The Enterprise clears her drydock, even as top officers worry about the efficacy of the ship's new, untested warp drive. The Enterprise sets out to attain warp speed, but is quickly caught up in the wormhole effect, caused by a drive imbalance. The vortex in space drags the Enterprise into it, along with a giant asteroid, which threatens to collide with the ship. Kirk quickly orders phasers to be targeted on the asteroid, but Decker countermands the order, and has Chekov prepare a photon torpedo instead. After a tense moment, the torpedo fires and destroys the asteroid, just as the wormhole effect diminishes and releases its hold on the ship. Furious, Kirk demands to know why Decker countermanded his order. Decker states that, with the warp engines in an imbalance failure, there would be no phaser functions, as the two systems were interconnected power sources. Kirk, unaware of this modification, grudgingly apologizes for the mistake and asks Decker to help him through the design difficulties. Ilia and Decker confer briefly about their separation and hardships of reacquaintance in the crisis situation. The Enterprise receives a signal from the Shuttlecraft Surak, which separates from a warp sled to deliver a passenger. Spock has arrived to help.[1]