Star Trek 1257: The Flat, Gold Forever

1257. The Flat, Gold Forever

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Early Voyages #7, Marvel Comics, August 1997

CREATORS: Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett (writers), Patrick Zircher and Greg Adams (artists)

STARDATE: 2259.9 (follows the last issue)

PLOT: Pike has received a false message that his father is dying, so he leaves in a shuttle while the Enterprise effects repairs. The Klingon Kaaj attacks and Pike crashlands on the agricultural colony Prairie where he teams up with former Starfleet officer Claire Thorn against Klingon forces. Kaaj, driven by his blood debt, even goes so far as fire his ship's disruptors at the planet, killing his own men to get Pike. But as Pike is about to get fried, the Enterprise arrives and routes the Klingon ship. The crew had discovered the message was a fake and received Pike's location from a mysterious anonymous transmission. Now Claire is in sickbay and Pike wants to restore her to active duty.

CONTINUITY: Kaaj and his blood debt were last seen in issue #2.

DIVERGENCES: The stardate is missing a number (given as 259.9).

PANEL OF THE DAY - Reason to love this series #374
REVIEW: Is there hope that we'll see Claire Thorn again? She's a real hottie and a nice complement to the slam-bang action style of the Early Voyages (then again, all the female characters in the series kick butt, so she's not really needed). Kaaj also lives to fight another day, which is great. The issue is filled with hero shots, neat equipment and such scenes as Pike racing a disruptor beam from the sky on foot. There's also the matter of Pike's mysterious helper, which I'll be interested to see develop. Very fun, if a bit low on character development.

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