- For other uses, see Shakedown.
Description
- Eight years before "The Cage,” the young woman who would become the Starship Enterprise's "most experienced officer" was a lowly cadet assigned to the shakedown cruise of an uncommissioned starship. But that supposedly pedestrian mission may prove the most dangerous of her life. John Byrne begins an all-new, six-part miniseries torn from the Federation’s beginnings!
Summary
The shakedown cruise of spaceframe NX-0002—destined to become the USS Enterprise—is commanded by retiring Admiral Charles Rasmussen, considered a dunsel by many of the cadet skeleton crew, including Pike’s future “Number One.” Unexplained problems crop up in several systems, and three cadets are discovered to be saboteurs. They kill many of the crew and cause an explosion in the nacelle intercooler, disabling the vessel. A waiting Klingon battlecruiser tractors the ship and sets course for the Empire. Rasmussen narrowly escapes a massacre on the bridge, but loses an arm in the fight. Number One incapacitates the Klingon agents and plans to use the shuttlecraft as weapons against the warship, but Rasmussen distracts her and pilots the shuttle himself, determined to be more than a dunsel. His suicide run disables the battlecruiser and the USS Constitution responds to the NX-0002’s distress call, destroying the Klingon ship. Number One is awarded a special commendation for her leadership and ingenuity during the crisis, but she refuses it, preferring that all of the credit go to the late Admiral Rasmussen. She does vow to return to this vessel and to make sure that she never again has to buy victory with a person’s life.
References
Characters
- Number One (unnamed) • Phillip Boyce • Michael Brenner • Cho • Colin • Craddock • Griggs • Kar • Monroe • H. Osterman • McCormick (2245) • Murphy • J. Ramirez • Charles Rasmussen • Willis • William Jefferies (unnamed)
Starships and vehicles
- SF-10371 (shuttlecraft) • NX-0002 (Constitution-class) • USS Constitution (Constitution-class) • unnamed Klingon battle cruiser (D7-class)
Locations
Races and cultures
States and organizations
- Starfleet • Starfleet Academy • Klingon Empire • United Federation of Planets • San Francisco City Security
Other
Appendices
Background
Cover without titles
- This issue was available in two covers, both using the same art by John Byrne. The primary cover was a colored version, with colors by Leonard O'Grady. The second cover, a limited retail incentive was a sketch version of the artwork.
Images
Connections
Timeline
The story takes place shortly before the commissioning of the USS Enterprise in 2245. Later issues of the series place this eight years prior to "The Ends of Eternity", when Captain April is in command the Enterprise, and thus can be no later than 2251, making this story set in 2243.
| Published Order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: first issue in the miniseries |
TOS comics Crew |
Next comic: The Bottle |
| Previous story: The Hollow Crown, Issue 2 |
Stories by: John Byrne |
Next story: The Bottle |
| Chronological Order | ||
| Previous adventure: Final Frontier Chapter 1-24 |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Seeds of Rage Chapters 7, 9, 12, 14, 18 & 21 |