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COMIC
Idol Threats
Cover by Joe Brozowski & Bob Lewis
Attribution

A misguided cadet commander tries to copy Kirk's tactics when faced with Romulans.

Summary

Captain's log, stardate 9219.7 

Minutes ago, this landing crew and myself were safe aboard one of the United Federation of Planets's more decorated vessels—but now...

Captain Edward Fields of the USS Cluster is pinned down by disruptor fire from Romulans on a planet in sector 9. Members of his team lay dead around him, with additional crewmembers being struck down. He calls out to Keller, who dies from a blast. Another crewmember reports that Spithogiannis has also fallen, and is then hit herself. Fields is left alone, and uses his communicator to call the starship.

Fields's signal reaches the Cluster's bridge, under the command of Cadet-Commander Ronald Penn. Upon hearing of the deaths of all the senior officers, Penn recommends retaliatory action against the Romulans. Fields, knowing that only cadets remain aboard his vessel, dismisses that suggestion and orders Penn to retreat with deflector shields up.

Penn immediately disregards Fields's orders and initiates a hastily conceived rescue plan. Penn keeps the shields down and locked onto Fields's signal, ordering an immediate transporter beamout. Unfortunately, Romulan Commander Lazar has already set his gun sight on Fields and fires. By the time materialization is complete, the transporter crew on the Cluster reports that Captain Fields was dead on arrival.

Penn, infuriated at the Romulans' audacity, announces to the crew that he is the new commander of the vessel, and announces the they will be disobeying Fields's last orders and pursuing the Romulans. Penn also states that he is taking those actions because they are what James T. Kirk would have done in a similar instance. When Communications Officer Ventura reminds Penn of Fields's orders, Penn threatens disloyalty among any of the crew with immediate court martial. Frightened, Ventura signals an incomplete transcript of the days events to any nearby Federation ships.

Nearby, the USS Enterprise-A has recently left the starbase at Christofi IX. Nyota Uhura reports the receipt of the signal Ventura sent, without being able to report an accurate nature of the situation because of the haste necessitating that Ventura could only send a few short phrases.

Captain's log, stardate 9222.3 

Sending the Cluster towards Christofi IX for routine reports and the like, the Enterprise turns and heads deeper into the mysterious depths of the unknown, forever exploring and investigating the far corners of the universe—forever learning about ourselves. Sometimes learning things we'd rather not.

References

Characters

James T. Kirk • Spock • Nyota Uhura • Hikaru Sulu • Pavel Chekov • Arex • Ronald Penn • Ventura • Bigelow • Edward Fields • Keller • Spithogiannis • Marciari • McVey • Testa • Lazar • Sajak • unnamed Romulans • unnamed USS Cluster personnel

Starships and vehicles

USS Enterprise-A (Constitution-class) • USS Cluster (Miranda-class) • Harrier (Z1-class)

Locations

Christophi IX • sector 9 • unnamed planets

Shipboard locations

USS Enterprise 

bridge

USS Cluster 

bridge

Races and cultures

Human • Romulan • Triexian • Vulcan

States and organizations

Federation • Starfleet • Romulan Star Empire • Romulan Star Navy

Technology and weapons

phaser • starship • disruptor

Ranks and titles

cadet • commander • captain • ensign • lieutenant commander • lieutenant • lieutenant junior grade • helmsman • navigator • communications officer • commanding officer • security chief • science officer

Other references

captain's log • colony • landing party • log entry • planet • sector • space • stardate

Appendices

Background

• The plot of this story bears a great deal of resemblance to the later DS9 episode: "Valiant", of cadets being promoted to commanding officer due to attrition, and making erratic decisions in the hopes of proving themselves. "Valiant" featured a different upshot, with Tim Watters dooming his subordinates on a hopeless mission, but being remembered as a hero despite sacrificing an entire crew for little cause during a harsh war. In "Idol Threats", many of Penn's crew escape death, but Penn is reviled for disobeying an order to refrain from further hostilities in an era of relative peacefulness.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

• The plot point of a cadet officer receiving command of a mostly untrained cadet crew through attrition is also present in 2009's TOS movie: Star Trek, where James T. Kirk became fully-ranked captain of the alternate Enterprise, after being among a group of cadets who were promoted as ensigns and lieutenants when officers were needed.

Related stories

• TOS movie: The Search for Spock. Penn states in his reasoning for disobeying orders as being that Kirk would have, citing the occasion that he stole the Enterprise to retrieve Captain Spock.

Connections

External link

• Idol Threats article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.