USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)


 * For the mirror universe counterpart, see ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A).

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A), sometimes referred to as the Enterprise-A or NCC-1701-Alpha, was a Federation starship in service to Starfleet during the late 23rd century.

Overview and specifications
Nominally, ships of this class were heavy cruisers, but in particular, this vessel was outfitted as a tactical command cruiser. The second Federation starship to bear the name, the Enterprise-A was christened shortly after the destruction of her predecessor, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), in 2285. Captain James T. Kirk and his senior staff were reassigned to the Enterprise-A after they relinquished command of the captured HMS in San Francisco in 2286. Captain Kirk commanded the Enterprise-A for eight years, and the ship's final cruise was highlighted by the protection of the Khitomer Conference as the Khitomer Accords were drafted. 

Despite the USS Excelsior (NX-2000) being more advanced and already in service, the Enterprise was designated as the Federation flagship, as such when she would be assigned to escort Klingon chancellor Gorkon to Earth for peace talks, when the chancellor was assassinated. 

Construction history
When construction began on the Enterprise-A in the early 2280s, the ship was named the USS Ti-Ho and assigned the registry number, NCC-1798. Though resembling a Constitution-class rebuild, Ti-Ho was built new from the keel up. The Ti-Ho was to serve as a test-bed for transwarp drive which was also being tested on the USS Excelsior (NCC-2000).

Construction of the Ti-Ho was largely completed by 2285, but shortly afterwards transwarp drive was proved a failure and Starfleet Command decided to equip the Ti-Ho with conventional warp drive. 

A few weeks later, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was destroyed in orbit of the Genesis Planet, and in the early months of 2286, Admiral James T. Kirk and the former crew of the Enterprise prevented the destruction of Earth by the Cetacean Probe. In honor of their achievements, Federation President Hiram Roth ordered that the Ti-Ho be renamed Enterprise and assigned the registry NCC-1701-A; the official commissioning occurred in that same year at the San Francisco Fleet Yards. Shortly afterward, command of the Enterprise was assigned to newly-demoted Captain James T. Kirk. 


 * In the, the ship redesignated as the Enterprise-A was a newly-built Enterprise-subclass Mk III vessel that was to be named USS Atlantis (NCC-1786). The "Celebrating the Ships of the Line" Startrek.com article establishes that the starship was newly-built and commissioned in 2286 over San Francisco. A different source, , gives a conflicting version of this history, claiming the ship's original name as the Yorktown; the same game also says that the ship's commissioning was in 2285.

2286

 * Stardate 8925.2: Shortly after leaving Spacedock following its initial shakedown cruise, the Enterprise-A is nearly destroyed by a dangerous religious fanatic. Fortunately, the attempt is thwarted by Captain Spock.


 * Stardate Unknown: While on patrol near Tholian space, the Enterprise-A receives a distress call from a Klingon battlecruiser seemingly caught up in an ion storm. Beaming over with a Security detachment, Captain Kirk vanishes, and awakens in what is seemingly a Klingon hospital facility one hundred years in the future. While there, Kirk is informed that the Federation and Klingon Empire long ago achieved peaceful relations, and that Kirk himself would play a key role in the process. In the meantime, Captain Spock takes the Enterprise to Starbase 17 for repairs, and secretly returns to Earth in order to secure classified intelligence surrounding the stolen Romulan cloaking device from years earlier. Kirk is convinced that, in order to make the prophesied future peace a reality, he must participate in what appears to be an envoy-fleet slingshotted through time into the past, destined to arrive at Earth and begin the final rapprochement. However, Kirk deduces that they entire processional is a ploy to invade the Federation, and that he never traveled through time at all. The Enterprise-A repels the Klingon fleet at the border as part of a Starfleet task force, and Captain Kirk regains command of the starship.


 * Stardate Unknown: While working to make the new USS Enterprise-A's systems functional one month following the Cetacean Probe's visit, Montgomery Scott is contacted by Doctor Gillian Taylor, who informs him that the humpback whales George and Gracie have developed a mysterious illness, which has caused brown streaks to appear on their skin. Scotty beams the whales up into a new tank in the Enterprise's cargo bay so Taylor can work on the problem there. With the assistance of Commander Uhura and Captain Spock, Taylor and Scotty determine that small amounts of pollutants need to be added to the water in which the whales are living. When George and Gracie's life signs continue to fall, Scotty completes the cure by playing his bagpipes to relieve the whales' loneliness, and encourage them to sing. (SS TOS (Scotty's Song))


 * Stardate 8931.2: During a routine patrol, the Enterprise-A becomes trapped by an unknown force and is taken to a previously unexplored planet. Captain Spock attempts to lead a landing party to the surface, but instead of the team, Spock, Kirk, Doctor McCoy, and Captain Scott are transported to an amusement park planet which is ruled by Harry Mudd. Mudd claims to have arrived on the planet and only wishes to seek a way off the planet, which the Enterprise-A can provide. As the landing party investigates the planet, they discover that it is actually a nursery, and Spock is able to free the Enterprise-A by melding with the artifact which controls the planet.


 * Stardate 8950.4: The Enterprise-A receives a distress call from a merchant ship that is under attack by Orion pirates. When the Enterprise-A arrives they find the merchant vessel being towed by the Orion vessel and find that the merchant crew had been taken prisoner. However, the Enterprise crew frees the hostages and takes the pirates captive thanks to another engineering marvel by Captain Scott.


 * Stardate 8953.7: While under the night-shift command of Commander Codobach, the Enterprise-A encounters a meteor storm, and sustains damage when the deflectors fail to engage, allegedly due to substandard repair work by Captain Scott during the earlier Orion hostage crisis. Federation President Hiram Roth sends the ship back to Gamma Trianguli VI on a reconnaissance mission, where Kirk and crew will assess the state of the Vaalian civilization there twenty years before. During departure preparations, a further series of technological failures (including a near-fatal explosive decompression near Engineering) occur, causing Mister Scott to ascribe the fault to "gremlins" within the ship. Coming up with a plan, Captain Scott convinces Mr. Codobach to shut down the Enterprise's engines for fifteen minutes. Luring a mischief-causing alien entity into an empty photon torpedo tube using an old-fashioned petroleum engine (from his personal collection), the torpedo is fired onto an unmanned navigational beacon. The entity receives a playground it can live in, without placing sentient life in jeopardy. Afterward, the ship arrives safely at Gamma Trianguli VI.


 * Stardate 8954.8: The Enterprise-A enters orbit around Gamma Trianguli VI, where a landing party led by Captain Kirk discovers a nearly-devastated world, brought about by the destruction of the Vaal computer-entity's environmental maintenance systems two decades earlier. Encountering a large number of natives, led by Makora (who has amassed a large number of wives and children), the group is soon drugged by their host at dinner, imprisoned, and marked for death. Challenging Ensign Konom to a duel for the "hand" of Nancy Bryce, Konom flees in cowardice, leading Makora to select Doctor McCoy as his substitute. However, Spock enables the group's escape from captivity, and they soon encounter Konom and Akuta, leading a force of disaffected Vaalites. A battle soon erupts in the nearby arena, with the Enterprise firing a stun-dispersion phaser pattern on the area, disabling the combatants. However, Captain Kirk quickly learns that the entire crew in orbit have been mysteriously rendered unconscious by means unknown.


 * Stardate 8958.6: Discovering that it is Akuta behind the Enterprise-A's disabling (having gained telekinetic abilities), the landing party under Captain Kirk is once again taken prisoner, Akuta blaming Kirk for the ruin of his world decades earlier, as well as his own accelerated aging. While Akuta uses his powers (augmented by those of other Vaalites) to drag the Enterprise down into the atmosphere in an attempt to burn it up, Spock escapes his bondage and convinces Akuta to release the ship from its plunge, and awakening the crew in orbit from their comatose state. Nerve-pinching Captain Kirk and feigning mutiny, Spock contacts the Enterprise and joins Akuta beneath the planet's surface. About to be burned alive at the stake, Kirk and his crew are rescued by a security force beamed down by Captain Scott, but the Vaalites drive them back to the ship. However, Kirk leads Sulu, Chekov, and other crew members down into the bowels of the planet, where they encounter Vaal's still-functioning defenses...and an immobilized Spock.
 * Stardate 8960.2: Attempting to free Captain Spock, who has been imprisoned within a machine-apparatus beneath Gamma Trianguli VI, the Vaal-entity uses Spock to trigger a series of violent groundquakes, entombing Kirk and his landing party. On the surface, anti-Vaalites led by Makora attack the other natives, while Kirk discovers a portal opened by Vaal millennia earlier, through which the entity receives energy. In orbit, Captain Scott attempts to beam down a security force but the Enterprise-A is attacked by Spock's mental energies. Seeking to find a non-violent solution to the crisis, Kirk learns from Spock that the Vaalites were placed on the planet by Sargon's race millions of years earlier, who tasked Vaal with maintaining peace and tranquility there. Kirk volunteers himself as a sacrifice, with Spock loosening his hold upon the orbiting Enterprise, and Makora throwing himself into the energy vortex. Vaal reasserts its custodianship over the planet, returning the landing party to the Enterprise, promising great woe to Kirk and his crew, should they ever return.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A docks at Space Station K-12 in order to pick up Montgomery Scott from shore leave. While there, Captain Scott receives a package informing him of the death of his wife, Glynnis Campbell, whom he had married five years earlier. Scotty enters into a period of drinking and reflection upon his departed love.


 * This story takes place not long after the launch of the Enterprise-A (Scotty's wife having died during the crew's Vulcan exile), but also evidently after the starship had been in space long enough for the crew to receive shore leave time.


 * Stardate 9212.8: The Enterprise-A arrives at Starbase 30, located planetside on Christofi IX, the former site of strife at the hands of several marauding warrior races, now a pristine resort-world. With most of the crew on shore leave, Captain Scott remains aboard with Captain Spock, seeking to perform maintenance upon the ship's frequently-malfunctioning systems. Captain Kirk unsuccessfully attempts to evade a Starfleet Internal Affairs official, who is to be the Enterprise's new onboard "watchdog." Hikaru Sulu, Dr. McCoy, Chekov, and Uhura go on a sand-skiiing trip, where the doctor is injured after a collision with a tree. Mr. Scott, deep in upgrade-work aboard the Enterprise, manages to beam the entire landing party up just in time to prevent the Internal Affairs official from boarding the ship. The Enterprise then departs Starbase 30.


 * Stardate Unknown: Following the foiling of a Romulan plot to discredit and murder Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan, as well as the few remaining survivors of the failed Hellguard colony, the USS Enterprise-A puts in at the former world in order to pick up Captain Spock, who is on shore leave there, visiting with his former protegé Saavik in the plot's aftermath.


 * Stardate 9214.7: Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise-A to Sector Nine of the Alpha Quadrant in response to an urgent message sent by cadet crewmen aboard the USS Cluster, whose captain and entire senior command staff had recently been killed by Romulan forces while on a planetary landing mission. Using Kirk's near-legendary command record as misguided inspiration, Cadet Ronald Penn (now in command of the Cluster) orders an attack upon a Romulan cruiser, but faces opposition by several members of his own crew, who covertly contact the Enterprise for assistance. Cadet Penn demands the surrender of the Romulan ship. The enemy captain, who personally killed Captain Fields earlier, attacks the Cluster, beaming over an assault party, who easily capture the bridge. However, a security force, beamed over from the Enterprise, immediately overwhelm the Romulan boarders, thought Cadet Penn attempts to kill the Romulan captain out of a misguided sense of vengeance and hero-worship of Captain Kirk. The Romulans agree to depart out of respect for Kirk's reputation, the Cluster is sent back to Starbase 30 for repairs, and the Enterprise-A heads outward to new, unexplored sectors.


 * Stardate 8983.7: Aboard the Enterprise-A, a bachelor party is thrown for Ensign Konom by the senior crew, with his fiancée Nancy Bryce masquerading as an Orion dancing girl. However, Dr. McCoy spikes the punch (in defiance of Captain Kirk's "no liquor" orders), resulting in a brawl where the worst racial prejudices of the crew are are brought to the surface, pitting humans against the fellow alien crewmates. Not long thereafter, the Enterprise receives word that a Klingon science outpost has been attacked...by a Federation starship.


 * Stardate 8987.7: Heading to the planet Miraud at warp six, the Enterprise-A responds to the distress signal transmitted by a Klingon scientific research outpost, only to discover a band of alien raiders planetside killing the survivors. High in orbit, a starship suddenly decloaks near the Enterprise and opens fire, catching Captain Spock offguard. Kirk's entire landing party is beamed aboard the other starship, where he recognizes the commander &mdash; Phil Burroughs. Burroughs forces Kirk's party outside, onto the outer saucer-hull of the starship, where the Enterprise cannot risk firing without hitting the Starfleet group. A Klingon battlecruiser arrives on the scene, beaming the spacebound landing party aboard the vessel. Captain Spock then orders a phaser barrage, attempting to pinpoint the location of the recently-cloaked renegade starship, and the captain of the Klingon battlecruiser allows Kirk to communicate with his own ship, where he is informed by Spock that the other starship has left the area. Commander Kron then instructs Kirk to take one of the rescued survivors back to the Enterprise, revealing that the survivor is, in fact, a mutated Klingon/Human half-breed.


 * Stardate 8994.6: Following the destruction of the Klingon battlecruiser Fury by the former Federation starship now known as Renegade (formerly the USS Zephyr (Miranda class)), Captain Kirk hosts a diplomatic contingent aboard the Enterprise-A, led by Commander Kron, in order to attempt to defuse potential hostilities between the two powers. Federation President Hiram Roth and Klingon Emperor Kahless IV confer via joint viewscreen in a conference room, with Kirk's senior staff and the Klingon diplomatic party in attendance, but tensions only continue to mount. Captain Spock presents three planets to the assembled group as potential future targets for the Renegade, and President Roth agrees to dispatch as many Starfleet vessels as possible to protect the three worlds as proof of Federation non-complicity, until more Klingon ships can arrive to relieve them. The Enterprise is deployed to Triaminus IV, while Commander Kron's battlecruiser heads to Gamma Delta II, but the Endicor system is left unprotected, due to a lack of ships. Kirk sends a team to Omicron Ceti IV via shuttlecraft (Zephyrs last known location before going rogue), led by Konom and William Bearclaw, where they come under fire from a group of androids. Given unexpected intelligence data from the rescued half-Klingon/half-human survivor from Miraud, Captain Kirk sets course for Endicor against orders, having learned of its status as Phil Burroughs' next target. Coming out of warp extremely close to the Renegade, the Enterprise-A nearly collides with the other vessel, and a security strike force is beamed into the engine room of the rogue starship, and the ship is recaptured. However, a shuttle launches from Renegade carrying the escaping Burroughs, setting course back to Omicron Ceti IV. Planetside, the last of the androids are destroyed, Kirk and a landing party encounter living survivors from Zephyr, leading to the horrifying discovery of the real' Captain Burroughs' corpse in a freezer, dead some two weeks now. Back aboard the Enterprise, Captain Kirk performs a wedding ceremony for Ensign Konom and Nancy Bryce on the ship's recreation deck.


 * Stardate 9000.1: Following the neutralization of the USS Zephyr, the Enterprise-A rendezvouses with the Starfleet medical ship Weinstein, where it takes on a supply of desperately-needed serum for a plague ravaging the colony world Chapin One. However, a number of strange behaviors quickly begin manifesting aboard ship, including the neural destabilization of a Mentite crewmember, and Captain Kirk momentarily viewing the senior command staff as animals while in a conference room. Suddenly, a miles-long ship appears literally out of nowhere, directly in the Enterprise's flight path, and opens fire on the Federation starship. Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise to return fire, and the alien craft abruptly vanishes. The number of mental-illusion incidents shipboard continues to escalate (including crewmember-sightings of a three-headed dog, to animated furniture), when Captain Scott and his entire Engineering crew are afflicted, believing that "monsters" are pouring out of the ship's engines and are headed for the reactor room. Storming Main Engineering, a security force opens fire, accidentally hitting Scotty and injuring him, while the artificial gravity fluctuates wildly. Realizing that Mentite crewmember Lt. Castille could be responsible for the outbreaks, Kirk orders his detention, but Castille (evidently in the grips of a medical condition) emits a mental "scream" while in the ship's botanical gardens, stunning the entire crew. Being on the bridge, and thus furthest away from the attack, Kirk and his senior staff are the least affected, but then find themselves dragged into an elaborate new mental illusion simulating Dante's Inferno. Captain Kirk and his bridge crew make their way downward through the bowels of the Enterprise-A, while Uhura and Lieutenant Commander Arex remain behind in command of the bridge itself. Passing through the various levels of Perdition (with other belowdecks crew members involuntarily participating in the illusion), Kirk and company encounter many different tests and battles, when they finally arrive in the Ninth Circle, where they behold a representation of Lt. Castille as Lucifer. Captain Spock initiates a mind-meld with Castille (afflicted with a rare disease known as Le Guin syndrome), subduing the man and ending the illusion. The Enterprise resumes course to the Chapin One colony, but while in his quarters, Kirk is suddenly stabbed in the chest by Ensign Bearclaw, and left for dead.


 * Stardate 9000.8: Captain Kirk, stabbed and bleeding out in his quarters, suffers from blood-loss hallucinations, on the point of death. Captain Spock, somehow sensing his commander's distress on the bridge, orders a medical team down to the captain's quarters, led by Dr. McCoy, where they discover that the doors have been sealed by Ensign Bearclaw. Spock manages to pry the doors open through sheer physical strength, and the captain is rushed to Sickbay. Kirk continues to experience hallucinations, including his now-deceased son David Marcus, while Dr. McCoy frantically attempts to operate on his patient. On the bridge, Commander Sulu (in charge of the ship) and Commander Uhura reminisce about the captain while he is in surgery, with Uhura recalling a time during the original five-year mission when Kirk talked her out of leaving Starfleet. Similarly, Chekov and Scotty also fondly reflect upon memorable experiences with the captain, while Kirk continues to visualize traumatic illusions, including his dead brother Sam and Captain Christopher Pike. Mind-melding with the unconscious captain on the operating table, Spock convinces Kirk to pull out of his state of mania, and Kirk resumes consciousness, at which point he names Bearclaw as his would-be killer.


 * Stardate 9001.3: A Starfleet Security internal investigations team led by Commander Sean Finnegan is dispatched from the Omicron Ceti IV massacre-site to supervise the internal inquiry into Ensign Bearclaw's attempted murder of Captain Kirk aboard the Enterprise-A (requested by Captain Spock, per regulations). Aboard the ship, the shuttlecraft containing the investigators docks, and Commander Finnegan is revealed to have been the same "Finnegan" whom tormented the then-Cadet Kirk decades earlier at Starfleet Academy. Back on Omicron Ceti IV, the Starfleet cleanup team discovers the corpse of Ensign Bloemker...the same Ensign Bloemker currently serving aboard the Enterprise-A. Bearclaw is questioned by Starfleet security agent Heather Van Horne (herself a lower-level telepath), who becomes convinced of Bearclaw's innocence in the crime, and shares her experiences with Captain Spock via a mind-meld. Realizing that the false Ensign Bloemker is, in fact, a shapeshifter who impersonated Bearclaw, Commander Finnegan attempts to arrest the killer in Bloemker's quarters, only to be overpowered and rendered unconscious by a phaser blast. Assuming the form of the incapacitated Finnegan, the killer then attempts to convince Captain Kirk of Bearclaw's "guilt," but is assaulted by an unexpected prank-device at the door of Finnegan's quarters, destabilizing the killer's ability to hold form. As a result, the killer reveals his true form – that of Garth of Izar. Garth is then rendered unconscious by Spock, and Finnegan later reveals that "Lord Garth" (believed rehabilitated by Starfleet) had disappeared around a year earlier, believing Captain Kirk to be responsible for his fall. Finding his way to Omicron Ceti IV, Garth murdered Captain Burroughs and most of the crew of the USS Zephyr (Miranda class), and began his campaign of death and destruction against the Klingons and Federation. Declaring Ensign Bearclaw cleared of the crime and fit for resumption of duty, Captain Kirk then challenges Commander Finnegan to an arm-wrestling match...which he wins.

2287

 * Stardate 8415.9: The Enterprise-A spends time berthed in Spacedock over Earth, while Chief Engineer Scott oversees many critical systems repairs and upgrades. During this maintenance-period, James T. Kirk, Spock, Hikaru Sulu, and Leonard McCoy journey to planet Ceti Alpha V aboard the Yakima, a warp-capable cruiser, in order to ascertain the truth behind the final days of Khan Noonien Singh's exile there, and the later consequences of that act.


 * Stardate 8454.1: The Enterprise-A is ordered to Nimbus III to deal with a hostage situation, after the Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ambassadors are taken captive by Sybok, Captain Spock's half-brother. Despite a limited crew complement, and systems being in substandard operation, she is the only starship within range with experienced command personnel. The ship is hijacked by Sybok, and travels beyond the Great Barrier, into the very heart of the galaxy. While there, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey under the command of Captain Klaa attempts to destroy the Enterprise and James T. Kirk, but is foiled by Spock and the disgraced General Korrd. A malevolent imprisoned entity is discovered on a planet within the Barrier, and is destroyed by a photon torpedo strike fired by the Enterprise, with the ship departing the region in the company of the renegade Bird-of-Prey not long afterward.


 * Stardate 8461.7: One month after the Nimbus III incident, under the orders of Starfleet Chief of Staff Admiral Robert Bennett, the Enterprise-A ferries a group of Federation diplomats to a high-level peace conference at Starbase 49, located between the UFP and the Klingon Empire. There, Captain Kirk holds a secret meeting aboard the Enterprise with Captain Koloth, who presents the long-missing ship's logs from the USS Gagarin (Oberth class) (unearthed by newly-elected Klingon High Council member Gorkon), destroyed seven years earlier by a Klingon battlecruiser at Nuvidula IV. Kirk proposes a dangerous mission &mdash; covertly entering Klingon space and rescuing the Gagarin survivors, which Admiral Bennett authorizes. With Captain Spock assuming command of the Enterprise-A, Kirk and Sulu secretly depart Starbase 49 aboard Koloth's battlecruiser, the IKS Gal'tagh. Aided by intelligence leaked by Gorkon, Kirk, Sulu, and Koloth arrive at the Klingon colony of Don'zali IV and meet with the former warden of a Klingon prison on the planet Pao'la. Back at Starbase 49, the diplomatic talks are interrupted by the detonation of a bomb; the docked IKS Terthos is seemingly attacked by the nearby Enterprise-A, but the plot is foiled, and the saboteurs identified. On Pao'la, Kirk, Sulu, and Koloth attack the prison and rescue five USS Gagarin survivors (including Commander Stephen Garrovick), but their shuttle is shot down. Kirk's party fights a losing ground battle against advancing reinforcements, but are saved by the arrival of another Klingon cruiser, the Zan'zi, whose commander frees the Starfleet prisoners, on orders from the newly-installed Chancellor Gorkon (having deposed his predecessor, Kesh). However, the commander then orders his orbiting ship to destroy the prison and its entire population in order to conceal the remaining disgraceful evidence of the Empire's crimes. Horrified and disgusted by the act, what little trust Captain Kirk has left towards Klingons as a race is destroyed. The prisoners are repatriated to Starbase 49, and the Enterprise-A heads back into space.
 * Stardate 8467.5: Escorting Ambassador Sarek to New Ketira for the planet's induction into the Federation, the Enterprise-A is caught up in that world's unexpected leadership crisis, when Shiel, the designated heir to the dying leader refuses to undergo a final rite of transformation. Beaming down to the planet, Captain Kirk and a landing party meet with Lar'tok, the current dying leader, who suffers a near-fatal body spasm. A fleet of ships calling themselves the "Sancti" suddenly enters orbit, challenging the leadership claim over the Ketiran race. Ambassador Sarek steps in to mediate in the affair, but is restrained by Federation law from decisive intervention. During a heated moment, Dr. McCoy, Sarek, and the dying Ketiran leader are all beamed to the Sancti flagship, with the Enterprise-A issuing a formal demand for their return, lest hostilities commence. The Sancti immediately open fire on the Enterprise, bypassing the starship's deflector shields, and Captain Kirk orders efforts be made to penetrate the Sancti's own shielding systems in order to rescue the captives. An attempted infiltration by an Enterprise security team backfires, with Mr. Scott barely retrieving the transporter patterns of the force before scrambling occurs, thanks to Sancti technology. The flagship abruptly leaves orbit, and Kirk orders Shiel to "accompany" the starship in pursuit &mdash; very much against her will. With the Enterprise giving chase at maximum warp, Sarek initiates a Vulcan mind meld with Lar'tok, in order to retrieve her essence, and the Letiran leader finally passes away. Two days later, both ships arrive over an unknown world, where a seemingly-sentient species of quadruped is discovered &mdash; a sacred animal to both Ketiran and Sancti, but also hostile. Out of nowhere, a massive alien ship decloaks in front of the Enterprise-A, and the animals reveal themselves to be the "Skylords," a highly-advanced race who have judged both sides to be unworthy of their guidance, despite centuries of time. However, both Shiel and the Sancti leader convince the Skylords otherwise, and Sarek releases Lar'tok's memories into Shiel. The Enterprise-A returns to New Ketira, where the final Federation entrance ceremonies are held.
 * Stardate 8470.3: Back in Spacedock following the Nimbus III incident (and other encounters), the Enterprise-A undergoes repairs and routine system maintenance. The ship is launched under the command of Captain Kirk on a mission to Casmus III, but a distress call is intercepted by the starship, from a single-person craft under attack by a Nasgulian vessel. Beaming the pilot onto the Enterprise moments before his ship's destruction, a plea for asylum is officially registered, but Captain Spock points out the sovereign non-Federation diplomatic status of the Nasgul, and that the refugee pilot might be a wanted criminal. However, the Nasgulian vessel opens fire on the Enterprise, but quickly proves to be little match for advanced Starfleet weaponry, and the captain of the enemy ship commits suicide by ramming his ship against the Enterprise's shields. The refugee, also a Nasgul, reveals himself to be a dissident pitted against the repressive primary religion of his race. Another, much larger, Nasgulian ship arrives on the scene, and the vessel's commander murders the dissident during a bridge viewscreen-conversation via telekinesis. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Klingon Ambassador Kamarag declares a bounty on the head of James T. Kirk, in response to his pardoning following the resolution of the Whalesong crisis.


 * Stardate 8475.2: Facing down the Nasgulian warship commanded by the Salla, a fanatical religious prophet, Captain Kirk fails to die when subjected to the same telekinetic attack used to murder the refugee recently beamed aboard the starship. Having warped away from the enemy vessel, the Enterprise-A arrives at Starbase 42, in orbit around Casmus III, where Kirk is berated by Federation Ambassador Palmer for being one hour late, against the backdrop of a conflict on Chronian III, where the lives of millions hang in the balance. A plea for assistance from the leader of the Ziminda race is played for the captain by the ambassador, and Kirk is then informed by Federation President Hiram Roth of the Klingon price upon his head. The Enterprise ferrys Ambassador Palmer to Chronian III, while the Klingon Bird-of-Prey Okrona under the command of Captain Klaa begins preparations for an attack on the starship, in pursuit of the bounty. Beaming down to the planet, a landing party including the ambassador under the command of Captain Kirk are informed at gunpoint that, in fact, a peace treaty is not desired by the opposing Buice race.


 * Stardate 8481.7: While held at gunpoint, Ambassador Palmer manages to convince both warring parties on Chronian III to agree to a mediation, and dismisses the Enterprise-A crew back to the ship, despite Captain Kirk's objections. Not long afterward, the ambassador is assaulted while making an audio transmission, and the Klingon Bird-of-Prey under the command of Captain Klaa decloaks near the planet, opening fire on the Enterprise. Unable to beam the ambassador up to the starship while the deflector shields are engaged, Kirk comes up with the unorthodox plan to catch the Klingon torpedoes with a transporter beam, and teleport them behind the Bird-of-Prey, the laws of physics continuing to carry the torpedoes under their previous momentum into their new target. Damaged, the Bird-of-Prey enters warp in order to escape the battle, and Ambassador Palmer beamed up to the ship, but massively injured and requiring replacement of organic limbs with prosthetics. Transporter Chief Sara Tuchinsky, distraught over the attack upon the ambassador, agrees to a plan proposed by Kirk to end the conflict, as well as extract a measure of vengeance upon its perpetrators. Beaming down with a security force in the midst of a confrontation between the Buice and Ziminda leaders, Kirk pretends to "disintegrate" the Ziminda leader with his phaser (in actuality beamed to an isolated area of the planet by Tuchinsky), shocking both sides into returning to the bargaining-table. The Enterprise-A then departs the planet.




 * Stardate 8484.1: Having docked at Starbase 42 for repairs following the Chronian III battle, Captain Kirk briefs his crew on the Recreation deck concerning his status as a hunted man, as a result of the Klingon bounty placed on his head, and states that any transfer-requests after this point will be granted. Aboard the starbase, Admiral Galloway convenes a hearing concerning Kirk's alleged phaser-disintegration of the Buice head of state, but Kirk's story is supported by the recovering Ambassador Palmer within the starbase's medical facilities. However, Admiral Galloway informs Kirk that a protocol officer will henceforth be assigned to the Enterprise, in light of the political potential for a future Federation/Klingon alliance. On Earth, the religious leader of the Nasgul assaults Klingon Ambassador Kamarag on the floor of the Federation Council Chambers, with both men raising the bounty on Kirk's head to massive heights. As the Enterprise-A prepares to depart Starbase 42, the (attractive) new female protocol officer, R.J. Blaise, beams over to the starship.


 * Stardate 8485.3: With the Enterprise-A en route to a rendezvous with the hospital ship USS Nightingale (for medical relief supplies earmarked for New Brinden), Captain Kirk attempts to impress his new protocol officer via strenuous physical activities. Afterward, the starship makes its scheduled meeting with the Nightingale, obtaining the cure for the leprosy-like sickness currently devastating the New Brinden population. Heading for the planet at warp six, protocol officer Blaise attempts to elicit insight into Captain Kirk's behaviors from members of the senior command staff, but is rebuffed by many, including Spock. On Earth, the Federation President is visited by Vice Admiral Tomlinson, who suggests that Captain Kirk may eventually have to stand trial at the hands of the Klingons, despite whatever services he has rendered to the Federation, in the interests of furthering a potential future detente with the Klingon Empire. On New Brinden, the planetary prefect publicly demonstrates the ruling class's repression of the infected of the lower castes &mdash; however, Dr. McCoy injects the victim with the cure, leading to a visit to a concentration camp full of victims. Over one hundred are injected with the cure, and McCoy attempts to monitor the cure's progress from the orbiting starship. However, the prefect contacts the Enterprise with the news &mdash; all of the injected victims have suddenly died, and now the only recourse is to exterminate all of the infected on the entire planet.


 * Stardate 8487.1: Aboard the Enterprise-A, Dr. McCoy continues to seek a cure for the New Brinden plague, before the mass planetary executions are scheduled to commence, but is unable to do so with any sufficient speed. Contacted by the High Prefect, Captain Kirk is placed in a moral quandary when told that all executions will be suspended if the captain surrenders himself into custody, for collection on the Klingon/Nasgul bounty. Given twelve hours in which to decide, a conference involving the senior command staff and protocol officer Blaise results in a decision to have Dr. McCoy use the remaining available time to continue working on a cure. Stealing a vial containing a sample of the plague from Sickbay, a telepathic alien crew member covertly beams down to the planet and infects the Prefect, brainwiping Transporter Chief Sara Tuchinsky in the process. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Vice Admiral Tomlinson approaches the Klingon and Nasgulian ambassadors regarding a possible "deal" for Kirk's extradition...


 * Stardate 8488.3: The Enterprise-A is sent to Tau Gamma II in order to supervise the planetary evacuation of a Federation colony, before the world breaks apart due to unexpected internal stresses. During the journey there, Captain Kirk clashes with his Federation protocol officer, who attempts to make a pass at him when he suggests she transfer off-ship. On Earth, talks continue between the Federation President, Vice Admiral Tomlinson, the Klingon Ambassador, and The Salla, over extraditing Captain Kirk to face punishment for past actions. Arriving at the colony, Kirk hails the leader planetside, but is unexpectedly rebuffed &mdash; the Klingon bounty on the captain's head has turned the Enterprise into a magnet for hired assassins, and a different Starfleet evacuation vessel is requested, despite the planet's imminent destruction. A senior staff meeting is held in a conference room aboard the starship, with Ms. Blaise and Captain Spock both pointing out the colony's contractual right to refuse Starfleet assistance during a crisis. Beaming down to the planet, Kirk discusses the situation with Ms. Janice, the colony leader, but an evacuation order is still refused, despite Kirk's stated moral obligation. Suddenly, a fleet of ships emerges from high warp near the planet, surrounding the Enterprise-A and opening fire. The fleet, lead by notorious bounty hunter Sweeney, causes Commander Sulu to order an emergency warp-retreat, with the colonists panicking over the news of Sweeney's involvement. Fleeing the main colony city in a groundcar, Captain Kirk, Spock, and Ms. Blaise are attacked by a vessel under Sweeney's control, causing the groundcar to crash. The ship lands nearby, and Sweeney emerges &mdash; a dapper Human gentleman, wearing a weapons-visor. Sweeney "apologizes" to the captain, and then regretfully demands his immediate surrender.


 * Stardate Unknown: Attempting to escape capture at the hands of the bounty hunter Sweeney, Captain Kirk, Spock, and R.J. Blaise fight the man hand-to-hand, but even a Vulcan nerve pinch is unsuccessful in subduing the mercenary. Taking refuge in a stellar cluster, the Enterprise-A under the captaincy of Commander Sulu contacts Admiral Stephanoff regarding the situation at Tau Gamma II &mdash; Sweeney's fleet requires a serious response on Starfleet's part, and the admiral promises a large force, including the USS Exeter (NCC-1712). Additionally, Uhura is ordered to send out a scrambled general distress signal by Commander Sulu. Captain Kirk and company are imprisoned aboard Sweeney's flagship, with Spock detained in a separate area from the captain and Ms. Blaise, and invited to participate in a chess game with Sweeney, which Spock wins. Captain Klaa, aboard the IKS Okrona, is assigned to take custody of Captain Kirk by the Klingon Ambassador, who instructs him to deliver Kirk to the Klingon Emperor "in one piece." Escaping from his cell with Ms. Blaise, the two suddenly find themselves growing closer romantically during their flight from captivity, and Spock finally overcomes Sweeney by physical force after his second chess checkmate. Arriving back at Tau Gamma II at the head of a Starfleet task force, the Enterprise-A is informed by Sweeney's second-in-command about the imminent arrival of Klingon and Nasgulian fleets, to bid on Captain Kirk. Starfleet is invited to join in, but Commander Sulu declares his readiness to attack if the captain is not immediately handed over. With the concurrence of Admiral Stephanoff, the Enterprise readies a half-strength photon torpedo strike on the enemy fleet. Fighting their way through Sweeney's flagship, Kirk, Spock, and Ms. Blaise (who is injured) split up, with Kirk heading for the bridge &mdash; but only right as Klingon and Nasgulian fleets (led by Klaa and Zarn, respectively) emerge from warp, and demand Kirk's head.


 * Stardate 8490.7: During the battle against multiple fleets at Tau Gamma II, the Enterprise-A (under the command of Hikaru Sulu) attempts to beam Captain Kirk, Captain Spock, and Federation protocol officer R.J. Blaise off of the flagship of the mercenary Sweeney, but is unable to do so, due to the flagship's deflector shields continued functionality. Storming the bridge of the flagship, Kirk attempts to shut down the shields, but is intercepted by Sweeney himself. Captain Klaa (in command of the Klingon force) gets into a shouting match with the Nasgulian captain, causing both sides to open fire upon one another. Disabling the flagship's shields, the Enterprise successfully beams Spock and Ms. Blaise down to the planet's surface (which is in danger of disintegration), and Sulu realizes that, in order to beam Kirk off the ship, the Enterprise will be forced to lower its own deflectors. Battling Sweeney hand-to-hand on the bridge, the captain discovers that his opponent is an android duplicate, with both combatants finally getting transported back to the Enterprise by Captain Scott...but not before the real Sweeney orders an explosive overload in his android-double. However, fact action by Scotty ensures the transport of the double into nearby space, and the resulting explosion nearly blinds several of the combatants, and scatters both of the hostile fleets, ending the conflict. Planetside, the colony's leaders realize that Kirk and the Enterprise are worthy of protecting them, and prepare for immediate evacuation after Spock contacts the starship. Literally avoiding the destruction of the planet by mere minutes, the Enterprise-A departs the star system with refugees aboard. Contacting Admiral Nogura at Starfleet Command, Captain Kirk announces his intention to surrender himself into Federation custody, with the Enterprise headed back to Earth immediately.


 * Stardate 8495.6: The Enterprise-A arrives back at Earth, where Captain Kirk intends to surrender to Federation custody in order to prevent further bloodshed, due to escalating tensions between the Nasgulians and the Klingon Empire. He beams down to Starfleet Headquarters alongside Dr. McCoy and Commander Chekov, only to discover a waiting contingent of Klingon and Nasgulian delegates, led by Ambassador Kamarag and The Salla, as well as President Hiram Roth. Exchanging fierce insults, each party adjourns; the Klingons, in order to notify Emperor Kahless IV of what has transpired. In orbit aboard the Enterprise, Commander Uhura forms a bond with Protocol Officer Blaise in the officer's lounge, and the pair decide to beam down together for shore leave. In the now-empty Federation Council Chambers, Ambassador Sarek attempts to meditate, but is interrupted by Spock, and the two have a conversation concerning the foreign concept of "friendship," from a Vulcan point of view. In addition, Sarek announces his intention to speak out in Captain Kirk's defense at the upcoming trial. Kirk and his group meet with their legal counsel &mdash; the legal team of "Cogley and Cogley" (i.e., the now-married Samuel T. Cogley and Areel Shaw-Cogley). Elsewhere on Earth, the various Enterprise-A senior crewmembers take their leave -- Uhura and Blaise swimming in East Africa; Captain Scott in Glasgow, Scotland, where he visits the graves of his now-deceased nephew Peter Preston and his wife. Back at Federation Headquarters, Kirk reviews the impending legal charges with Samuel Cogley &mdash; the murder charges demanded by the Klingon Ambassador during the Whalesong crisis are being reinstated, as well as accusations of various Prime Directive violations. Steeling his will, Captain Kirk strides into the Federation Council Chambers to face his accusers...


 * Stardate Unknown: In orbit over Earth, Commander Sulu addresses the crew of the Enterprise-A via intership communications, and orders the trial proceedings planetside carried over ship's viewscreens for all to see. In the Federation Council Chambers, Captain Kirk's lawyer, Samuel T. Cogley, attempts to have the murder charges dropped, but is overruled by the Federation President. After hearing Cogley's opening statement, The Salla, religious ruler over the Nasgul, speaks against Kirk's Prime Directive violations, calling as his first witness Anan 7, planetary ruler of Eminiar VII, whose war with its neighbor was stopped by Kirk decades earlier. Anan 7 reveals that the tenuous "peace" enforced upon them by the captain only led to a much greater war a decade later, rendering much of both worlds highly radioactive. However, Samuel Cogley skillfully disarms the witness, bringing up the legitimacy of Kirk's intervention, having been declared "dead" by that world's computers, and having the right to defend his own life. Later, Cogley calls Leonard James Akaar to the stand, now a fully-grown man, who assaults the Klingon Ambassador with a near-deadly display of throwing prowess. Cogley elicits supporting testimony from Akaar, who speaks favorably of the captain's decision to interfere with his mother's impending suicide, thereby saving his own life. However, the next witness &mdash; Prefect Witten of New Brinden &mdash; accuses Captain Kirk of attempted murder, via injection of the plague ravaging his planet into himself. The captain protests his innocence, and President Roth adjourns the hearing until the next day, and Kirk is informed by Vice Admiral Tomlinson of Starfleet's intentions to mount a full investigation into the murder allegations. Back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk and his senior crew discuss the day's events over drinks, when they are interrupted by Ensign Fouton, who confesses to the poisoning of Prefect Witten. Meanwhile, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey is en route to Earth, bearing none other than Emperor Kahless himself...


 * Stardate 8498.1: Aboard the Enterprise-A, Captain Kirk, reeling from the revelation of Ensign Fouton's complicity in the murder-plot, orders him arrested and confined to quarters. Taking a shuttlecraft planetside, Kirk and his legal team visit Admiral Nogura before the court proceedings resume, where Nogura strips Fouton of his Starfleet rank, and orders him remanded into the custody of his own people, to be dealt with accordingly. Klingon Emperor Kahless IV arrives on Earth, discussing the case with Ambassador Kamarag, who gives him his family's crest to wear during the trial. Later, the Emperor addresses the court, denouncing Captain Kirk's bigotry against Klingons, and goading him into attempted violence with slander of Kirk's own dead son. However, steadying himself, Kirk skillfully rebuts the Emperor's accusations of prejudice and inferiority, with the Emperor then promising to "settle" business between himself and The Salla. Maltz, sole survivor of Commander Kruge's crew, then takes the stand, confirming Kirk's "mercy" in sparing his own life. President Roth then calls R.J. Blaise to the stand, where she is declared a hostile witness by Areel Shaw-Cogley, and is dismissed after a massive fight breaks out between Blaise and Kirk on the courtroom floor. Captain Kirk himself then takes the stand, issuing an eloquent defense statement, but notices the sudden absence of The Salla within the Federation Council Chambers. Ordering the Enterprise-A to scan the room, a detonator is discovered mere meters from the Klingon Emperor, concealed within Ambassador Kamarag's family crest. The crest and device are beamed out of the chambers by Captain Scott, where they detonate high in the air above Starfleet Headquarters. Ambassador Sarek points out Emperor Kahless's new life-debt to Kirk, and all murder charges are dropped. However, after the trial ends, Ambassador Kamarag orders the Empire's deep-cover operative to continue "making life miserable" for Captain Kirk &mdash; none other than Vice Admiral Tomlinson. Back aboard the Enterprise, having been restored to his command, Kirk and crew leave Earth orbit aboard the starship, outward bound on their next mission.


 * Stardate 8475.3: Upon the death of the Romulan Praetor, the Enterprise-A delivers a complement of Federation archaeologists and musicians to a peace conference on Temaris Four, located within the Neutral Zone &mdash; a summit soon subjected to sabotage and murder by hardline elements within the Romulan delegation. However, the Cetacean Probe suddenly reappears in local space, and destroys a Romulan colony world and a number of vessels. The Enterprise and a Romulan Bird-of-Prey are captured by the Probe and whisked to the far side of the galaxy, where they discover the Probe's homeworld (later revealed to have been destroyed by the Borg). Contact is made with the Probe by Spock, and meaningful communication finally established between the entity and the Federation.


 * Stardate Unknown: Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise-A are chosen to return to the interspatial rift near Vega IX encountered exactly 33.4 years earlier by Captain Christopher Pike and the previous USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), and re-establish contact with the Calligar in the Gamma Quadrant, who are anxious to judge how far Federation society and technology have advanced during the intervening decades. Ferrying a number of VIPs (including Commodore José Tyler, Richard Daystrom, and Ambassador Robert Fox), the Enterprise hosts a representative of the Calligar aboard ship, whom was formerly romantically involved with Commodore Tyler, having conceived a son together some thirty years ago. This representative, Ecma, requests asylum aboard the Enterprise-A, but is opposed by Ambassador Fox. In the meantime, a warp sled is sent through the rift carrying Captain Spock, Chief Engineer Scott, Dr. Daystrom, and a pair of Andorian and Tellarite representatives, and many wonders are encountered on the other side by all. On board the Enterprise, tensions mount over the asylum-issue, and the Tellarite and Andorian governments both dispatch warships to the region. The Tellarite warship enters the rift, and is destroyed. Within the rift, the Enterprise landing party is taken hostage by the Calligar, pending the return of Ecma. Faced with a difficult choice, Captain Kirk and Tyler take a second warp sled through the rift, and Kirk asks to speak directly to the Calligar Worldmind &mdash; Spock is chosen to make the contact, due to his Vulcan telepathic abilities. However, the true enemy reveals himself &mdash; Regger, the son of Ecma and José Tyler, seeking to become the new leader of his people by prematurely forcing his mother's death or exile. In a fierce battle of wills, Captain Kirk is ultimately victorious. Ecma decides to remain with Tyler, and all Federation personnel are returned to the starship. Later aboard the Enterprise-A, Captain Kirk marries José Tyler and Ecma in a wedding ceremony, and the ship departs the region.

2288

 * Stardate 8503.1: The Enterprise-A is ordered to Starbase 11 by Admiral Patterson of the Starfleet Surgeon General's office, for assistance in the most ambitious project Starfleet Medical has ever undertaken &mdash; the revitalization of the entire planetary population of Datugad, chemically contaminated by years of strip-mining, and unable to engage in even the most simple intimate physical contact without combusting. Arriving at the starbase, a medical research team under Dr. Corazon Kohwangko (an old acquaintance of Hikaru Sulu) is beamed aboard the starship, and the Enterprise sets course for Datugad. Once in orbit, the planetary council hails the starship to warn them of the toxic dangers, and a landing party led by Dr. Kohwangko beams down, protected by energy belts devised by Mr. Scott. However, the medical team is immediately caught amidst a riot protesting the Starfleet presence (in which several are immolated) and kidnapped, unable to request emergency beam-out. Having lost transporter lock, a security team led by Commander Chekov is ordered planetside...with Commander Sulu's request to join denied by Captain Kirk. Using a captured Starfleet communicator, the dissident leader, Shelm, issues a demand &mdash; Starfleet will pull out immediately, or the hostages will face execution. Ordering Mr. Scott to beam up all lifesigns within radius of the communicator signal, the effort fails, due to the radiation. A Starfleet admiral informs Kirk that a specialized negotiation/rescue team is on the way, and orders the Enterprise to hold position, but Sulu and Chekov disobey, taking a shuttlecraft planetside with a security team themselves. Detecting the launch, the Enterprise-A simply...does nothing, per Captain Kirk's orders. The assault force breaches the shielding of the dissident base, fighting its way inside, where Sulu attempts to fight Shelm hand-to-hand, but the leader is instead vaporized by his own second-in-command. However, the reunion with Dr. Kohwangko is bittersweet &mdash; her protective belt was already removed earlier, and she is now permanently infected, and must remain on Datugad forever. Back aboard the Enterprise-A, a distraught Commander Sulu attempts to resign his commission, but is turned down by Captain Kirk.


 * Stardate Unknown: The USS Enterprise-A puts in at Ishtar Station in orbit around Venus for crew shore leave. It is during this time that Pavel Chekov is exposed to several possible biological contagions which are believed to affect his health in the coming weeks.


 * Stardate 8514.6: Very shortly after departing Ishtar Station, the starship Enterprise is assigned to a peacekeeping mission in the Savinia system, acting as neutral territory for peace negotiations between the warring planets of Oyolo and Pavak, and patrolling a buffer-zone between the two worlds. Representatives from both sides beam aboard the Enterprise-A, where they are greeted by Captain Kirk, his senior command staff, and Federation ambassador Kevin Riley. Later, two shuttlecraft missions are flown to each respective planet &mdash; one a medical relief run led by Kirk and Doctor McCoy to Oyolo; the other a Starfleet weapons inspection by Spock and Chief Engineer Scott to Pavak. While attending a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest put on by Federation relief workers on Oyolo, Captain Kirk recognizes one of the lead actresses &mdash; Lenore Karidian, daughter of Kodos the Executioner, who was committed to an insane asylum some twenty-two years earlier after attempting to murder both Kirk and Riley aboard the previous USS Enterprise. Lenore accepts Kirk's invitation to come aboard the Enterprise-A, but during a diplomatic reception that evening, the leading Pavakian emissary is assassinated in his quarters. All suspicion turns to Lenore, who exited the reception prior to the killing, and Captain Kirk launches an investigation into the murder while diplomatic relations between the two worlds deteriorate precipitously. On Pavak, Spock and Scotty discover the theft of a protomatter warhead during the weapons inspection process, which could destroy an entire city if detonated. However, aboard the Enterprise, the chief Oyolu negotiator is found murdered in his quarters, of a lethal overdose of the same antipsychotic medication used by Lenore Karidian. In response, Spock and Scotty are held planetside by Pavakian officials, escaping with the help of a sympathetic general to the planet Sumno in the outer solar system in order to track down the missing warhead. On Oyolo, an attempted rescue of hostage relief workers ends with Commander Pavel Chekov and a subordinate likewise being taken captive &mdash; but a daring raid by Captain Kirk and a Security contingent succeeds in liberating the entire group. It is determined that the Pavakian ambassador's own personal assistant is responsible for both assassinations aboard the Enterprise-A, splitting herself in two via transporter beam, and detonating bombs near the warp nacelles.  However, the stolen protomatter bomb is on a transport ship programmed to detonate over the Oyolu capital city, and the starship out of interception range. Seeking to atone for her past misdeeds, Lenore steals a shuttlecraft and rams the transport, destroying the bomb, but stranding her in space. Captain Spock and Scotty pilot a shuttle and retrieve her in a split-second rescue. The peace talks once more in motion, the Enterprise-A continues to patrol the buffer zone, with Captain Kirk and Lenore Karidian deciding to spend to leave time on Oyolo's tropical islands.


 * Stardate 8513.7: While preparing to test the top-secret Lamver unit for Starfleet Special Operations under the guise of exploring a seemingly-uninhabited planet in the Claneian star system, a landing party from the Enterprise-A comes under attack by mechanized guardians of a prototype Karimean cryo-stasis vessel, some three centuries old. Chief Engineer Scott beams down from the Enterprise and jury-rigs an override of the primitive force-field surrounding the vessel, and the landing party (led by Captain Kirk) enters, where they encounter a large number of frozen humanoids known as "The Worthy." Their leader, Catalano, proves to be a well-known legend to the Enterprise crew, believed to have been explorers lost in space centuries earlier. Catalano is beamed back to the starship for medical examination, while the rest of the command crew speculates as to what this discovery truly signifies. Captain Kirk is berated by the newly-promoted Admiral Tomlinson (in reality an altered Klingon spy) over his sudden refusal to deploy the Lamver unit on Claneia One &mdash; Kirk argues that the device was only to be used on an uninhabited planet, and the discovery of The Worthy changes this. Tomlinson warns Kirk to watch his step, and signs off. During a diplomatic mixer in the Enterprise's main observation lounge, Catalano relates his people's history to the crew, where it is learned that the alien entity Apollo exiled his ship to Karimen, where The Worthy were forced into cryosleep after resource-exhaustion took hold. Suddenly, Dr. McCoy pages the party from Sickbay, with good news &mdash; the rest of Catalano's people have regained full consciousness. One hour later, the party reconvenes in the Enterprise-A's botanical gardens, where Liaison Office R.J. Blaise informs the crew that the civilization on Karimen stands on the brink of civil war, due to political degeneration and infighting. Heeding the ancient Karimean legend of The Worthy as being "saviors" of their race, Catalano reluctantly agrees to attempt a solution to the problem. However, discovering the true purpose of the Lamver device &mdash; the conversion of a planet into fuel for interdimensional exploration &mdash; Catalano tells Kirk that the device will be deployed on Claneia One "over my dead body."


 * Stardate 8514.9: Planetside on Claneia One, Captain Kirk and Captain Spock are shown the gravesite containing the mortal remains of Catalano's family, to whom the very notion of disturbance in order for exhumation/relocation (prior to deploying the Lamver device) is a mortal sin. Kirk agrees to not test the device, but suddenly the telepath Enaaj detects a disturbance aboard the Enterprise-A. Captain Kirk and the landing party beam aboard, where they discover Catalano's son, Arrit, has destroyed a key starship computer with his bare hands. Chief Engineer Scott is placed in charge of a team tasked with repairing the guardian robot from the planet, and is aided by the revived Worthy engineer Gim. Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise-A to Karimea at warp factor six, and dispatches a message to Starfleet Command, informing them of his decision to abort the Lamver Unit test on Claneia One. However, the message is traced by a Gorn vessel, who set an intercept course for the Enterprise. Down in Commander Chekov's quarters, Enaaj seduces the officer after being shown his private collection of Worthy research and memorabilia, and Catalano conducts an impromptu forum in the Officer's Lounge, regaling the crew with tales of past exploits. Elsewhere, Admiral Tomlinson contacts Captain Styles aboard the USS Exeter, and orders him to commandeer the Lamver device for testing back at the uninhabited planet. Styles agrees. Just as orders arrive for the Enterprise-A to return to Starbase 124 for handing over the Lamver device, the Gorn vessel appears and opens fire on the starship. Commander Raaskaa contacts the Enterprise and demands custody of the Lamver device, claiming trespass into Lath space. Captain Kirk refuses, and orders a mixed barrage of phasers and photon torpedoes fired, severely damaging the Gorn cruiser. Arriving suddenly on the bridge, Catalano speaks to the Gorn commander, invoking his people's assistance to the Lath centuries earlier. Raaskaa agrees to stand down, although it is deduced by Spock that such an act was merely a face-saving gesture, due to the Enterprise's damaging of their ship. The Enterprise-A approaches the planet Karimea, but it is too late &mdash; despite Commander Uhura's repeated hails, the planet exhibits massive radiation signs. No life signs are detected.
 * Stardate 8517.4: With the Enterprise-A in orbit around the planet Karimea, it is decided by Captain Kirk to send down a shielded shuttlecraft to survey the nuclear devastation below, with environmental suits deemed insufficient to guard against the enormous radiation levels detected. With "The Worthy" accompanying him, Kirk pilots the shuttle Copernicus down to the irradiated ruins, where a monument (including a perpetually-burning torch) to The Worthy is discovered. Filled with horror and disgust over the fate of their homeworld, the passengers request to be returned to the Enterprise. The starship leaves orbit, en route to Starbase 124, and the USS Exeter, under the command of Captain Lawrence Styles, sets a rendezvous course with the Enterprise in order to take custody of the top-secret Lamver device. Aboard the Enterprise-A, Captain Kirk convenes a shipboard memorial service for the now-extinct Karimean race, but the service abruptly concludes with the angry departure of Catalano from the recreation deck. Discovering the Worthy engineer Gim working on his cryoship's engines aboard in the shuttlebay, Captain Scott is suddenly berated by Gim, distraught over the loss of his world. Scotty finds Gim drowning his sorrow with alcohol in his own personal quarters, and consoles the engineer, who goes off in search of his love, Enaaj. However, he soon encounters Enaaj and Chekov together, and a fight erupts in the Enterprise corridors. Captain Kirk leads a security team to the deck, and orders the group to the botanical gardens for an explanation, but are interrupted by the arrival of the Exeter. On the Enterprise bridge, Captain Styles demands the handover of the Lamver unit for immediate testing on Claneia One, but is rebuffed by The Worthy, who grow angered over the Federation's non-intervention in the Karimean nuclear crisis, due to the Prime Directive. Seemingly moved, Styles agrees to recommend Claneia One be designated a memorial world. It is revealed that new inaccuracies in the Lamver unit equations have rendered the entire device faulty, and thus moribund. Later, The Worthy declare their intentions to remain a freelance band of intergalactic peacemakers, unbound by the Prime Directive, and depart in their ancient vessel for the troubled planet Rimbor. Captain Kirk orders Commander Sulu to follow The Worthy's vessel to the planet, at warp factor three.


 * Stardate Unknown: Following an attack on the USS Lafayette by an unknown assailant, the Enterprise-A is ordered to the Needran system to liaise with the Lafayette and the Klingon light cruiser IKS qul HoH, the latter ship having saved the Starfleet vessel during the attack. Aboard the Lafayette, Captain Kirk meets with Captain Anderson, and the two officers realize that someone is leaking classified intelligence concerning the deployment of Starfleet vessels along the Federation/Klingon frontier in their protective role over Needran shipping &mdash; a joint operation shared with the Klingon Empire. Back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk exchanges barbs with Keydn, commander of the qul HoH, and is informed of the impending arrival of a Klingon heavy battlecruiser, the IKS Qapla, commanded by Commodore Khezri. Afterward, Sally Gallan, owner of the private mining and transportation firm contracting with the Needran government, meets with Kirk in the Enterprises briefing room, and threatens to shut down all mining operations immediately unless both Starfleet and the Klingons send more ships to the region as protection. Upon the arrival of the Qapla in orbit around Needran, Kirk speaks with Commodore Khezri and attempts to obtain the qul HoHs sensor logs, but is denied. One hour later, both captains meet with the leader of the Needran government in the capital city, where Kirk suggests implementation of stringent background checks upon all personnel in sensitive positions &mdash; Federation, Klingon, and Needran alike &mdash; in order to prevent any further security leaks. Suddenly, Khezri is contacted by his ship &mdash; the qul HoH is under attack, and requires immediate aid. The Enterprise-A and Qapla jointly arrive on the scene of the battle, and the Klingon survivors are beamed aboard the starship, along with Commodore Khezri, who finally agrees to share the Klingon sensor data with the Enterprise crew. Upon viewing, it is learned that the mystery vessel possesses capabilities significantly greater than either of the other two ships. However, Kirk is summoned to Sickbay, where the Qapla's senior defense officer confidentially reveals shocking information &mdash; someone had tampered with his ship's sensors, leaving it vulnerable to the recent attack. On the Enterprise bridge, Commander Uhura detects a mysterious coded signal originating from Needra, out into deep space, a signal sent by Klingon commander Keydn to the Tyrion, the race responsible for the depredations. Captain Kirk orders a security force under the command of Pavel Chekov beamed planetside to investigate the signal, and Uhura to track the signal's destination as quickly as possible.


 * Stardate Unknown: Near the planet Needra, the Klingon battlecruiser IKS Qapla suddenly breaks orbit, leaving the Enterprise-A to track its heading &mdash; 214 mark 42, back to the site of the attacks upon the USS Lafayette and IKS qul HoH. Commander Uhura informs Captain Kirk that she has successfully decoded and traced the mysterious, recently-intercepted signal to the "Tyrion Legion," disclosing intelligence upon a joint Starfleet/Klingon convoy, as well as the timing and exact route...except that there is no such convoy planned. Kirk realizes that the message is clearly a ruse, intended to lure the Tyrions into an attack. Scanning the region, the Qapla decloaks and attacks three Tyrion vessels, Commodore Khezri likewise realizing the falsehood of the convoy-intelligence. One Tyrion ship is destroyed, with the other two retreating at warp factor fifteen, and Captain Keydn is placed under arrest by Khezri, pending execution. Back at Needra, the commodore consults with the Enterprise-A command staff regarding the situation, and pushes for a joint attack by both starships upon the Tyrion Legion's home base &mdash; they now have only eight capital ships remaining in their fleet. However, Captain Kirk counsels caution and a defensive posture, despite the urgings of Captain Spock to consider the Klingon commodore's advice. Meeting with an upset Sally Gallan afterward, the captain comes up with a new strategem to avoid a full, head-on conflict &mdash; Kirk informs the Klingons that the Enterprise's warp engines must be temporarily "taken offline" for a day. In other words, long enough, it is hoped, for Ms. Gallan to rendezvous with the Tyrions and broker a cease-fire agreement. Taking a ship to the main Tyrion base, Ms. Gallan commences talks with the Tyrion leader...with Commander Sulu, Commander Uhura, and Chief Engineer Scott hacking into the Tyrion computer network aboard Gallan's ship in the meantime, and covertly beaming over to analyze their extraordinary warp-capabilities. Shockingly, the technology aboard the Tyrion ship appears to be old, jury-rigged junk, with no indication as to what grants them their amazing speed. Scotty and his team return to the Enterprise-A with news that four of the Tyrion ships are completely non-warp capable, and that their enemy will be attacking Needra itself within twenty-four hours. The Enterprise and Qapla depart immediately for the Tyrion staging zone, with Kirk reluctant to launch an attack. Kirk hails the cloaked Tyrion fleet and informs them of his knowledge of their plans. The Tyrion commander orders a barrage, but all systems in his fleet crash &mdash; courtesy of a computer virus uploaded earlier by Uhura. However, the Qapla decloaks as well, and proceeds on an attack vector. Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise to open fire to warn Khezri away. Kirk resumes negotiations with the Tyrions after their belligerant commander is vaporized by a disruptor fired by his own first officer, and Kirk and his crew ponder the eventual fulfillment of the Organian peace prophecy with the Klingons...


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A docks at Starbase 29, and receives new personnel, including Security Ensign Thomas Lee. The starship then proceeds to planet Dinar IV, investigating the disappearance of a Federation freighter (the Arcade, en route to Sandar IX), where a landing party under the command of Captain Kirk encounters the wreckage of the freighter, encased in a force-field. Parlaying with the leader of the suspicious survivors, Kirk nearly orders a phaser barrage from the Enterprise onto the force-field, in an effort to prove their identity as Starfleet officers, and not the Haigy, the alien race believed responsible for the attack. Chief Engineer Scott beams down, in order to inspect and repair the freighter's engines, but a trap is sprung &mdash; the survivors attack the landing party, and Ensign Lee steps in front of a beam-weapon meant for Captain Kirk, mortally wounding him. The raiders are defeated, and taken into custody aboard the starship.


 * Stardate Unknown: Following the Dinar IV incident, Captain Kirk holds a memorial service for Ensign Thomas Lee aboard the Enterprise-A, after attempting to consult with various crewmembers in order to determine precisely who Ensign Lee was as a person and a human being. The raiders, revealed to be Haigy, are turned over to the Sandar for death-penalty punishment, as opposed to being remanded into the Federation for temporary incarceration.


 * Stardate 8529.8: Escorting the Lerikan ambassador, Goffen, back to his homeworld of Lerik IV in preparation for its entry into the Federation, the Enterprise-A suddenly detects large radiation readings on the planet below &mdash; the majority of the capital city, Axua, has been destroyed, under unknown wartime circumstances. Following the collapse of the ambassador on the bridge, Captain Kirk contacts the Lerikan prime minister's chief of staff, who informs Kirk that Ambassador Goffen is not, in fact, an ambassador &mdash; nor has Lerik IV ever petitioned for membership in the Federation. Agreeing to hand the "ambassador" over to Lerikan authorities for questioning, Kirk then visits Goffen in Sickbay, where he learns that the entire mission had been a ploy to get a Starfleet vessel to Lerik IV in time to intervene in its planetary civil war, despite the constraints of the Prime Directive. Beaming down to the Prime Minister's office, Kirk and Dr. McCoy are rebuffed by the head of state, who refuses to even negotiate with the Reversionist faction, when a powerful, unexpected groundquake strikes the city. Kirk is told that the Reversionists believe the quakes to be the work of "Olahm," the major deity of the Lerikan race, as punishment for their lack of faith. However, Captain Kirk agrees to use the Enterprise-A's sensors in an attempt to locate a rational, scientific reason behind this series of disasters. Over dinner with the Prime Minister that evening, the conversation is abruptly interrupted by a massive firestorm from the sky which strikes the capital city &mdash; thousands are feared dead, and when Chief Engineer Scott attempts to beam Kirk and Dr. McCoy at the exact moment a major blastwave strikes the palace, the transporter signal is suddenly lost...


 * Stardate 8530.7: Rematerializing aboard the Enterprise-A in the utter nick of time, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Goffen, and Prime Minister Daveeka are pulled off of the planet by Mr. Scott with the transporter, just as a massive wall of fire strikes the governmental palace on Lerik IV. The starship providing what aid it can to the stricken city of Axua, Captain Spock notices mysterious readings at the bridge science station indicating that the seismic and firestorm phenomena are not localized planetside &mdash; they are, in fact, originating from somewhere in space. Commander Uhura receives a transmission from Uslov, Rekkar of the Reversionists, who asks Captain Kirk to beam down in order to hear out the Reversionists' side of the conflict. Promising to consider the invitation, Kirk signs off. Later, in one of the Enterprise briefing rooms, the senior staff is informed by Spock that the disasters plaguing the Lerikans are not natural, prompting Kirk to accept the Reversionists' invitation to meet face-to-face. Beaming down to the planet at its most sacred holy site, Captain Kirk is shocked to discover that the Reversionists have not fired upon the capital city in months. In orbit, the Enterprise-A contacts Kirk for his scheduled beam-up, but Goffen unexpectedly enters the captain's meeting, who reveals that it is Prime Minister Daveeka who prevents any reconciliation between the factions, being obsessed with holding onto power for herself. In the Enterprise observation lounge, Captain Kirk considers whether or not revealing the existence of the opposition would do Lerik IV more harm than good. While planetside for another meeting with the Prime Minister, the Enterprise is suddenly besieged by intense sensor scans, prompting Spock to take out the Shuttlecraft Galileo to investigate, but the shuttle is destroyed at the signal's point of origin (a cloaked vessel). At the same time, Prime Minister Daveeka is shot and killed by Goffen over her refusal to compromise, when a massive alien entity appears, along with a rescued Spock. Claiming not to be gods, but rather shepherds who guide "primitive" races away from religion and into reason, the entity restores Laveeka's life, on the grounds that she and her race have passed the final test by not praying to "Olahm." The Enterprise-A departs Lerik IV, with the Lerikan conflict ended, and the planet now in serious talks to finally join the Federation.


 * Stardate 8535.6: The Enterprise-A responds to a distress signal sent from mining colony Skellen III, a planet between the Federation and Klingon frontiers which has expressed interest in U.F.P. membership. A dispute between miners and an agricultural group known as "The Circle," with the lead colony administrator claiming sightings of Klingon ships and agents within the star system. Aboard the Enterprise, Captain Kirk and his senior staff review video surveillance given to them by the colony, with the ship's computer extrapolating the shape of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey from a distorted file. However, due to Skellen III's location in open territory, the Klingons have as much right to visit as the Federation. Planetside, a security team led by Commander Chekov travels through the capital city, and is spied by none other than a disguised Harry Mudd. Kirk contacts the leader of The Circle, Domine Ravia, a Nasgul and half-sister of Vlagro, the Salla, where he is assured that none of the violence charges are true, and agrees to act as mediator between the miners and the farmers. However, Ravia proves to be meeting secretly with Grax, a Klingon weapons supplier, and is informed of the theft of the most sacred Nasgulian religious artifact (taken by Mudd and his associates). Mudd and a subordinate break into the spaceport, intending to depart the planet, but encounter Ravia and her Klingon contact discussing weapons shipments, and a firefight erupts. Escaping in his ship into orbit, Mudd is pursued by Grax's Bird-of-Prey, and Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise-A to fire a warning phaser salvo across the Bird-of-Prey's bow. With the Klingons veering off, the Enterprise takes Mudd's ship aboard via tractor beam into the starship's shuttle bay.


 * Stardate Unknown: Harry Mudd and his vessel are taken aboard the Enterprise-A, and thoroughly questioned by Captain Kirk and his command staff. Kirk agrees to protective custody for Mudd in exchange for his testimony against Domine Ravia and the Klingons, concerning the illegal arms shipments entering Skellen III. On the planet, Ravia orders constant surveillance of the Enterprise in orbit, and fears that the stolen Nasgulian artifact will fall into her brother's hands, consolidating his leadership claim over their race. Kirk and Mudd beam down to the planet in order to collect evidence of Ravia's crimes, but come up empty-handed at the spaceport. Later, the landing party is informed of the theft of the Nasgulian religious artifact by the mining colony manager, and that Ravia is blaming the act upon the miners, with war promised if the artifact is not returned. Chekov speculates that Ravia is, in fact, working with the Klingons to arm the farmers, in order to spark a conflict. Elsewhere, Grax's Bird-of-Prey (the lur'Dech) is fired upon by the IKS Qapla, under the command of Commodore Khezri, and heaves to. Captain Kirk and a security force from the Enterprise are beamed to a suspicious mining site, accompanied by Maria Martinez, the assistant colony manager, where they discover the head manager, Jebitok, murdered.


 * Stardate 8538.2: Beaming back aboard the Enterprise-A with the corpse of Jebitok, Captain Kirk agrees to provide a full security detail for Maria Martinez, now the new head of the Skellen III mining colony, and possibly the next targets of Domine Ravia and The Circle. Planetside, Commander Uhura manages to hack into Jebitok's sealed personal files, and transfers them to a tricorder for analysis. On the Enterprise bridge, Commander Spock discovers satellite data concerning a seemingly-abandoned mining site, revealing a concealed underground structure. Captain Kirk and a landing party beam down to investigate the empty facility, and Chief Engineer Scott comes across evidence of Klingon involvement. It is theorized that the empty facility recently contained Klingon weaponry, now cleared out. Later, in the Enterprise-A's botanical gardens, Harry Mudd overhears Commander Sulu and Uhura discussing the stolen Nasgulian religious artifact, and decides to sell it back to Domine Ravia. His protége, Shilo, renders Mr. Scott and other crewmembers unconscious in the transporter room, and Mudd beams off the ship. Not long thereafter, a medical team discovers the unconscious crewmembers, with Mudd nowhere to be found. On Skellen III, Mudd is brought before Ravia, and offers to sell her the artifact. In orbit, a Nasgulian warship attacks the Enterprise, and the Salla, Vlagro, hails the starship and demands the handover of Harry Mudd for his crimes. However, Kirk refuses, on the grounds that Mudd is still a protected Federation citizen, and breaks off communications. Despite sensor scans pinpointing his exact location on the planet, Kirk decides to not beam Mudd up to the ship, hoping he will talk Domine Ravia into a settlement over the artifact. Discovering that the artifact was aboard the Enterprise all along, Kirk bluffs both Vlagro and Ravia, when a second Nasgulian ship approaches &mdash; bearing the true Salla, Watan, as well as the Federation's new ambassador to the Nasgul, Ajami, to arrest Vlagro for his illegal seizure of power. Opening fire on the second Nasgulian vessel, Vlagro's ship is quickly disabled, and he attempts to enlist his sister to his side against Starfleet, but is rebuffed, with Harry Mudd beamed up moments later. The IKS Qapla arrives, with Commodore Khezri revealing the true Klingon identity of Admiral Karl Tomlinson (a.k.a. Kerzuk), placed undercover in Starfleet years earlier, but now part of the conspiracy against the Emperor. Khezri "persuades" Ravia to return all illegal Klingon weapons and depart Skellen III, and the Federation secures full diplomatic relations with the Nasgul. Additionally, Harry Mudd remains in medical recovery aboard the Enterprise-A for another week.


 * Stardate 8544.9: Upon receiving a top-secret Priority One communiqué from Starfleet Command, the Enterprise-A sets course for the Horan system, where the starship rendezvouses with a shuttlecraft carrying Dr. Allison Juram and her staff, in order to assist in a highly-classified experiment to rescue the lost starship USS Defiant from the interspatial rift which engulfed it decades earlier. Under orders to disable the phase inverter device aboard the Defiant before it poses a threat to the universe, Chief Engineer Scott works with Dr. Juram to jury-rig the Enterprises warp engines to permit the starship access to the Defiants alternate reality, and six Tholian vessels arrive under the command of Melene, co-participants in the secret mission. With Dr. McCoy having innoculated the crew against the effects of interphase madness with a Theragen compound, Captain Kirk convinces Melene to open fire on the Enterprise in order to accurately recreate the final moments of the Defiant's disappearance, the starship successfully transitions through interspace into another dimension, where the Defiant is located, but attempts to rescue the ship are deliberately sabotaged by "Dr. Juram" aboard a stolen shuttle, revealed to be a Romulan agent impersonating the real Dr. Juram, under orders to prevent the Enterprise-A's escape and seal the rift forever. However, a precautionary feedback loop implemented by Mr. Scott destroys the shuttle just as its main weaponry is powered up, and the Defiant successfully rescued from interspace.


 * This comic disregards the reappearance of the USS Defiant in the 22nd century Mirror Universe on Star Trek: Enterprise.


 * Stardate Unknown: With the Enterprise-A docked at Spacedock over Earth, Captain Kirk, Sulu, and Chekov take time to serve as special visiting guest instructors at the Starfleet Academy command school. Later, with the backing of Captain Kirk and the Federation Council, the Enterprise-A is loaned out to Cadet David Forester and his team of Academy students for a period of two months, in order to find evidence of Meclanti attacks near the Klingon Neutral Zone. There, the starship crosses the border with Klingon permission, and meet with the Meclanti, who hope to settle on a world rich in dilithium crystals, which is causing tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. However, a renegade Klingon faction attempts to destroy the Meclanti using a supernova, but the enemy fleet is destroyed by the Enterprise, and the diplomatic crisis is resolved. Afterward, the Enterprise-A is returned to Earth and the full command of Captain Kirk, who receives word that Chancellor Gorkon of the Klingon High Council is most impressed with the Federation's actions during the crisis.


 * Stardate Unknown: Very possibly around this same time period, with the Enterprise at Earth, Captain Kirk is served a judicial summons on the grounds of Starfleet Academy, requiring him to appear before an inquiry on planet Sigma Iotia II or face arrest, due to a lawsuit brought against him by a young man during the original starship Enterprises visit there twenty years previously. The Enterprise-A delivers Kirk and Captain Spock to Sigma Iotia II (dressed in native gangster-garb), where &mdash; amidst gangland assassination-attempts and renewing old acquaintances with Bela Oxmyx &mdash; the trial begins, with "The Kid" claiming unfair exclusion from a "piece of the action" (i.e., profiting from the Federation's intervention years before). The ultimate verdict results in Kirk's acquittal, the captain's smooth-talking self-defense demonstrating that The Kid benefited from Federation schools, employment, and other opportunities since the original Enterprises visit. (SS TOS (Legal Action))

2289

 * Stardate Unknown: Returning to Earth while ferrying Ambassador Berg home from Arbutus VIII, the senior crew of the Enterprise-A attempt to persuade Captain Kirk to attend the annual Starfleet Academy reunion, much against Kirk's wishes. Pavel Chekov's cousin, Dr. Nina Popov, beams aboard the starship to start her medical internship, and is shown around the ship by her relative. In San Francisco at the reunion gathering, Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy encounter Saavik, Captain Styles, and Kirk's former flame Victoria Leigh-Kegin from the USS Farragut, who informs Kirk that her now-deceased Pilkoran noble husband has designated the captain as his sole heir, including to his royal title...


 * Stardate 8592.8: Aboard the Enterprise-A, Captain Kirk is briefed on his new Pilkoran nobility-status, as well as upon the underground resistance group Victoria Leigh-Kegin's dead husband founded, the "Brightstar" movement, and the Pilkoran government's covert plans to colonize other worlds (believed to be a direct threat to the Federation). Kirk agrees to travel to Pilkor III with Ms. Leigh-Kegin in order to find out more; theoretically taking the Enterprise partway there, and proceeding the remainder of the way via shuttlecraft. Still somewhat uncertain of these plans, Kirk visits Admiral Nogura early the following morning, who tells Kirk about recently acquired top-secret intelligence possibly connecting the Romulans to the Pilkoran government's expansionary plans near the Neutral Zone, and authorizes the Enterprise-A to investigate. With a warning not to start any new incidents with the Romulans, the Enterprise departs Earth for Pilkor III.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A deploys the shuttlecraft Jensen, piloted by James T. Kirk and accompanied by Victoria Leigh-Kegin, near the planet Pilkor III, and Captain Kirk arrives at the planet with his passenger, only to be greeted by Minister Pitkemeni and an armed guard contingent. As a courtesy, Ms. Leigh informs the minister of their presence, and the pair then proceed via shuttle to the vast Kegin homestead, located in the Pilkoran countryside. Aboard the Enterprise, a distress call is picked up, emanating from an unknown source, with return responses going unanswered. A sensor check conducted by Captain Spock and Commander Uhura reveals the point of origin to be an unexplored star system some 87 parsecs from Pilkor III, in the same sector between Federation and Romulan territory. Planetside, Kirk hacks into Victoria's late husband's personal files, revealing information concerning the Pilkoran government's covert colonization program. The captain returns to the Enterprise-A via shuttlecraft to follow up on the mysterious signal, with Ms. Leigh-Kegin remaining at the homestead. However, the signal is a trap &mdash; engineered by the Pilkoran government, with the cooperation of Ms. Leigh-Kegin, who is participating only under duress. Interrupting a romantic dinner between Commander Sulu and Dr. Nina Popov, Pavel Chekov is ordered to join the pair as part of a landing party to the coordinates of the traced signal. Beaming down to the unexplored planet, the party discovers the ruins of a destroyed colony, as well as one fifteen-year-old survivor, a Pilkotan named Leeta, who accuses Vulcans of attacking her colony world of Metaga V. Believing the girl to be mistaking Spock's race for Romulans, Spock speculates that this incident is simply the prelude to war between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire...


 * Stardate 8566.7: Surveying the damage of the destroyed Metaga V colony, Captain Spock notes that only one hundred bodies (out of nine hundred) are accounted for, with the rest of the colonists believed to have simply been disintegrated by Romulan soldiers. Aboard the Enterprise-A, Spock analyzes the sensor log data taken from the colony's computers, and extrapolates a hitherto-unseen new Romulan ship class from the results. Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise to set course back to Pilkor III, in order to return the bodies home, but the sole survivor, Leeta, reacts violently in Sickbay to the news, considering herself a "Metagan," not a Pilkoran. After experiencing bizarre hallucinations, Leeta begins suffering cardiac arrest and is saved by Dr. Popov, but slips into a catatonic state. However, Captain Kirk believes this to be a normal Pilkoran physiological function, a healing trance &mdash; similar to one he witnessed some thirty-five years earlier aboard the USS Farragut, with Victoria Leigh-Kegin's deceased husband. Conducting a Vulcan mind meld with Leeta, Spock discovers that the girl may be harboring two separate personalities, suppressed by unknown means. Dr. McCoy conducts a neurological scan upon the girl's brain, and finds an electronic implant, overriding Leeta's actual memories and replacing them with false ones. Questioning the girl, Kirk learns that Leeta was implanted after attending a special school for "gifted" students, and that she can provide no testimony against the Romulans for the attack upon the colony. Deciding to take a desperate gamble, Captain Kirk has Dr. McCoy pose as "Admiral" McCoy (of Starfleet Tactical Division) and transmit a message to the Pilkoran government, claiming the Enterprise-A's destruction and urging them to divert all shipping away from the Neutral Zone &mdash; a bluff that he hopes will convince the Pilkorans that the Federation has entered into a state of war with the Romulan Empire. Beaming down to Pilkor III, Captain Kirk learns from Victoria that her husband is still alive, and arranges for Chief Engineer Scott to beam him out of prison and onto the Enterprise. The Pilkoran plot to annex UFP and Romulan territory is exposed, and the world to remain an interstellar pariah for the immediate future. The Enterprise-A heads back to Earth at warp five.


 * Stardate 8827.3: The Enterprise-A arrives at the planet Zuyna &mdash; which is petitioning for membership in the Federation &mdash; a full two months ahead of their original scheduled arrival-time, and detects a significant number of differences on the planet than were known five years previously, including massive levels of new urban and industrial development. While speaking with planetary leader Dranna Zhan, Captain Kirk requests information on the whereabouts of missing Federation observer Mirenna Dora, and is told that she is fine. However, she is kept under armed guard planetside, and is warned not to reveal what she knows to the starship captain, under penalty of breaching the Prime Directive. Beaming down to Zuyna, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and Captain Spock meet with Zhan and his science advisor, and are shocked to learn that the Zuyans are sitting on a massive supply of the mineral Hawkingite &mdash; a substance which exists on only one other Federation planet, and which is vital for Starfleet computer operations. Federation Observer Dora appears, and reveals the attempted mass genocide of another sentient Zuyan planetary species, conducted when Hawkingite mining operations were impeded by their habitats. Suddenly, Mirenna appears to suffer a massive cardiac arrest, and Kirk orders her beamed up to the Enterprise sickbay, where Dr. McCoy discovers that Mirenna is not human at all &mdash; "she" is, in fact, a member of the B'tin, the same race of beings who are being slaughtered by the Zuyans, having assumed the late Observer Dora's physical form when she was killed attempting to smuggle the creature to safety. The death of Mirenna Dora makes Captain Kirk the de facto new official Federation planetary observer, and the captain demands to visit the B'tin homeland, where he witnesses their shapechanging abilities firsthand. Feigning an arrest of "Mirenna Dora" for violations of the Prime Directive, Kirk confronts Dranna Zhan, who continues to threaten the B'tin, and promises to turn to the Romulans instead of the UFP. Out of nowhere, "Mirenna" tackles Zhan, kills him, and assumes his form before he can shoot the captain. The B'tin agrees to maintain Zhan's form for as long as it takes to implement cultural changes, and the Enterprise-A departs Zuyna not long afterward.


 * Stardate 8583.7: Six weeks after an undocumented Class M world is discovered by a disabled freighter, the Enterprise-A is ordered to conduct a survey of the planet. James T. Kirk, Captain Spock, and Dr. McCoy beam down, and encounter a massive tree (dubbed a "tree of life"), but the landing party finds itself cut off from all communications with the orbiting Enterprise and under attack from bizarre manifestations from the minds of the Starfleet officers, including a Samurai warrior who wounds McCoy, but is saved by another manifestation &mdash; that of Commander Sulu, who then disappears. Captain Kirk then suddenly vanishes, followed by Dr. McCoy. Spock visits McCoy's private dream, in which Sulu dies on the operating table, and logically argues the case for hallucination &mdash; the pair return to the planet's surface. Unexpectedly, Spock pulls out his communicator and has the Enterprise-A beam Dr. McCoy aboard, and then finds Captain Kirk, as a gunfighter sheriff in an Old West saloon, but realizes that this is his own dream, not Kirk's. Spock then locates Kirk aboard an Enterprise bridge-simulacrum, complete with one major difference &mdash; the captain's dead son, David Marcus (here, "David Kirk") is serving as a Starfleet tactical officer under his father. Convincing the captain that this version of his son is not the headstrong, independent David that Kirk once knew, the captain snaps out of his reverie, and the two men beam back aboard the Enterprise-A. Captain Spock surmises that the entire planet exists as a sentient plasma concentration, acting as a conduit for the physical realization of any type of thought or desire. Departing the planet, Captain Kirk recommends to Starfleet Command that the planet be quarantined and placed off-limits for the indefinite future.
 * Despite being released as issue #34 of the second volume of the monthly Star Trek series by DC Comics (after Hikaru Sulu's promotion to the rank of starship captain), this story clearly takes place before the events occurring in the Quatrin system, circa November, 2289 (in DC Vol. 2, issues #30-33). This story has thereby been chronologically placed according to corresponding internal storyline-cues.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A is recalled to Earth to participate in the inauguration ceremonies of the newly-elected Federation President Ra-ghoratreii of Efros. Immediately upon arriving in orbit, Captain Kirk beams down, not to San Francisco, but to the Kirk family farm near Riverside, Iowa, where he visits the grave of his brother, George Samuel Kirk, Jr., killed over twenty years earlier on Deneva. At the gravesite, the captain is suddenly interrupted by his nephew, Peter Kirk, whom the captain invites up to the starship for a tour, but is turned down. The following morning, Captain Spock and Dr. McCoy (in full dress uniform) beam down to attend the inauguration, where Captain Kirk is invited to a poker game by Admiral Cartwright. Declining the invitation, Kirk returns to his apartment, where he is accosted by his nephew and two gigantic aliens, members of a species about to be wiped out unless time travel (the most closely-guarded secret in the Federation) is performed. Telepathically assaulted by the aliens upon his refusal to help, the captain is later discovered by Carol Marcus, who contacts the Enterprise-A; Spock and McCoy beam down from the starship and surmise that the Sumellians extracted the secrets of time-travel computation from Kirk's mind. Suddenly, the Enterprise receives a Priority One scrambled message from Admiral Cartwright &mdash; the Sumellians have achieved time travel. Cartwright informs Kirk that a Sumellian ship was tracked on a direct course for Earth's sun, but then disappeared. Cartwright authorizes Kirk to use any means necessary to stop them. The Enterprise-A sets a course for an uninhabited star system adjacent to the Sumellian system &mdash; the starship slingshots into warp, traveling backwards in time to the year 2267, and the day before the cataclysm which destroyed the aliens' homeworld. Arriving in orbit, the Sumellian vessel is detected, and opens fire on the Enterprise when Uhura orders a defensive stand-down. Captain Kirk orders a phaser barrage, disabling the aliens' shields, and the Enterprise locks a tractor beam onto the vessel. Beaming over with a Security detachment, the captain encounters the two Sumellians from Earth, but Peter Kirk is nowhere to be found. A massive detonation on the planet occurs &mdash; the end of the Sumellian race; Kirk orders no response to the incoming distress signals. In a conference room aboard the Enterprise-A, it is determined that Peter's true objective was to time-travel back to Deneva, and save his own family from the Neural parasites which devastated that world. The Enterprise-A arrives in orbit around Deneva some two hours ahead of the original USS Enterprise NCC-1701, and Captain Kirk beams down to the planet, and encounters the future version of his nephew already speaking to his brother about the future &mdash; despite Peter's warning, Sam Kirk is still killed by a parasite, Peter is attacked, and stuns the captain after dropping his phaser. Reviving later in the Enterprise sickbay (in the future), it is revealed that Peter dove a spaceship into the Denevan sun to escape the parasites, just as history always recorded.


 * This story contradicts later tales, including A.C. Crispin's novel Sarek, in which Peter Kirk survived well past the events of the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and lived to enter Starfleet Academy. Furthermore, Kirk states that it has been "[Nearly] twenty years" since Sam Kirk died on Deneva, which would appear to place the story circa 2286-87. However, according to the novel Articles of the Federation, President Ra-ghoratreii took office in 2289 after his predecessor, Hiram Roth, died on the day of his own re-election. In this story, Ra-ghoratreii is sworn into office by a bearded character who somewhat resembles Roth, but is never explicitly identified as him (apart from the line, "Thank you, Mister President"). Perhaps a different, interim UFP President, chosen to hold the office until the results of the election were decided?


 * Stardate Unknown: Suddenly interrupting a shore leave with Dr. Gillian Taylor on Earth, Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Saavik secretly commandeer a shuttlecraft (leaving command of the Enterprise-A to Spock) and journey to the abandoned construction site of Watchtower 13, one of the early Starfleet monitoring stations along the Romulan Neutral Zone, in order to await the arrival of Klingon Commander Kor and Romulan Commander T'Cel for a joint, extralegal secret mission.
 * Stardate 8719.3: Per Captain Kirk's covert manipulations, the Enterprise-A is temporarily downgraded to inactive duty status while docked at Earth, due to overwhelming refit work orders at the San Francisco Fleet Yards, and her berth is shifted to a lunar holding station by the dockmaster until such time as Starfleet Command returns the starship to active operational status. Commander Janice Rand assists in transferring over the absolute best personnel available in Starfleet (including Kevin Riley, Mr. Kyle, Carolyn Palamas, and Mira Romaine) for a secret mission. Leaving a false sonar buoy mimicking the starship's signature near the lunar holding beacon, the Enterprise illegally departs the Solar system for Watchtower 13 under the command of Captain Spock to rendezvous with Kirk and Saavik's shuttlecraft, when a Klingon K't'inga-class battlecruiser and a Romulan Bird-of-Prey arrive, bringing Commander Kor and T'Cel to a council of war aboard the Enterprise-A. A medical team is beamed over to the IKS Revenge from the starship and implants Kor's crew with emergency beamout transponders, and the Enterprise is temporarily mated with the Phoenix in order to take advantage of the Romulan vessel's cloaking device. With a number of Starfleet command staff stationed aboard both enemy ships for the duration of the mission, the three cruisers depart in search of the deadly alien race responsible for ravaging the USS Farragut thirty-two years earlier. Kor's battlecruiser is attacked and boarded by the insectoids, with the Enterprise narrowly managing to beam over the majority survivors (including Commander Chekov) while maintaining the cloaking device's operation, but Kor chooses to remain with his ship. Lieutenant Jamie Finney beams over with a phaser to rescue him, but then all three ships are approached by the aliens' massive mothership, which cocoons the Revenge. A Romulan assault shuttle piloted by Commmander Sulu boards the Revenge and rescues all remaining personnnel, and a tactical team is beamed over to the mothership proper. There, the crews learn that the intruders originate from outside the galaxy, and are "harvesting" lifeforms encountered in the Milky Way. After beaming back aboard the Enterprise-A, the aliens finally penetrate the cloaking device's emissions, and attack the Starfleet and Romulan vessels. The Phoenix severs its docking-links and breaks free from the Enterprise, entering the aliens' warp-rift long enough to buy the Federation starship enough time to fire a prototype weapon (constructed from Klingon designs) against the mothership as it enters its transit-portal. The Enterprise barely warps away in time to outrun the shockwave, closing the rift forever, though the aftereffects make the sector unnavigable for the better part of a century to come. With T'Cel's daughter T'Kir left in Captain Kirk's care, a reception is hosted aboard the Enterprise, and Lt. Finney accepts Commander Kor's invitation to join his crew as an officer.


 * Stardate 8730.6: The Enterprise-A returns to Earth, where Captain Kirk resumes his shore leave in the South Pacific with Gillian Taylor, observing the development of the Humpback whales George and Gracie.


 * This graphic novel evidently takes place at some point in 2289, owing to Spock and McCoy having served together for "twenty-five years, one hundred seventeen days, three hours," or starting in 2264, according to the novel Enterprise: The First Adventure. Additionally, Sulu takes command of the USS Excelsior in early 2290, and still holds Commander rank here, and Commander Kor still possesses smooth Klingon forehead-ridges (gaining ridges after exposure to the Albino's genetic retrovirus in January, 2290, per the novel Excelsior: Forged in Fire''). Also, the presence of Stephen Garrovick would date the story to no earlier than 2287, following his rescue from the Pao'la Klingon prison facility.


 * Stardate 8588.3: Docking with an immense space station in the Quatrin system while waiting to rendezvous with Federation science vessel USS Jonathan Levy and proceed to Starbase 108, the crew of the Enterprise-A are granted shore leave. Attempting to find their way back to their beam-up point, Commanders Uhura and Sulu become lost, and secretly witness a contingent of Quatrini soldiers abuse a "terrorist" named Bokkan, and who are themselves slaughtered by a number of Quatrini in military disguise, who then beam off the station. Discovering that one of the agents survived, Sulu and Uhura call for an emergency beam-out to the Enterprise. Captain Kirk orders a quick transport to Sickbay, and later confers with his senior staff. Contacted by the space station manager, Kirk secures an agreement for a Starfleet security team, led by Commander Chekov, to investigate the crime scene. In Sickbay, Kirk learns that one of the Quatrini agents barely survived the shooting, and has suffered massive internal damage. The director of the Quatrin Security Agency requests to visit the recuperating agent aboard the Enterprise. However, in a conference room, Captain Kirk refuses a visit until the agent has healed, and learns that the terrorist belonged to a Quatrini insurrectionist movement (the "Betans"), and was attacked by his own men. Furthermore, under Quatrini law, Sulu and Uhura are to be remanded into "protective custody" to testify, a condition to which Captain Kirk agrees. Uhura and Sulu depart the starship, accompanied by the Director. Afterward, down in Sickbay, the Quatrini agent regains consciousness, and reveals that the attackers were, in fact, actual agents similar to himself, and not terrorists in disguise. Suddenly, Kirk fears for the lives of Commander Sulu and Commander Uhura...


 * Stardate 8588.7: The Enterprise-A remains on standby in the Quatrin system as the council inquest gets underway, with Commanders Uhura and Sulu appearing before the planetary body as witnesses to the murder of Bokkan aboard the space station. Immediately prior to the inquest, Director Prusk of the Quatrin Security Agency and Senior Agent Ronago vow to eliminate Sulu and Uhura by any means necessary. During the proceedings, Director Prusk demands vast and sweeping new powers for himself, in order to crush the Betan insurrection in that star system. Boarding a shuttle for their return to the Enterprise, the two Starfleet officers are assaulted by Agent Ronago, who kills the pilot and sets the shuttle to self-destruct. Stabbed during the fight, Sulu nevertheless manages to overpower Ronago, who then commits suicide rather than prevent the detonation, and the two officers are forced to use the ship's escape pod. Unable to make it back to the Enterprise-A or Quatrin, Sulu and Uhura are forced to set a course for Beta, and hope that the Enterprise picks up their distress signal.


 * Stardate 8589.2: Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise-A to set a course for the planet Quatrin from its docking-point at the star system's immense space station, in search of the missing Uhura and Sulu, long overdue from their testimony at the Quatrin planetary council. Requesting permission to search for survivors from the destroyed shuttlecraft, Kirk is told by Director Prusk that the detonation is the handiwork of Betan terrorists, and orders Captain Spock to covertly scan the space lying between the planet Quatrin and the space station for "clues." On the frozen planet Beta, Uhura sets out from the grounded escape pod to seek help for a severely-injured Sulu, when she is met by Betan insurrectionists, who treat Sulu's wounds, and then bring the Starfleet officers back to their main base after destroying the shuttle. With the Enterprise discovering nothing to support Prusk's allegations via sensor sweep, Captain Kirk orders the starship to set course for Beta, hoping to locate the stranded crewmembers there.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A continues its search pattern within the Quatrin star system for the missing Commander Sulu and Commander Uhura; the two officers in hiding on the planet Beta with members of that world's underground resistance movement. Uhura is offered a choice when the delirious, injured Sulu takes a turn for the worse &mdash; repair the base's malfunctioning communication equipment (in violation of the Prime Directive), or they will let Sulu die. Uhura acquiesces to the demand, but is unable to contact the Enterprise afterward, due to the low-orbit range of the gear. Reducing the starship's velocity to under one-tenth impulse power, wreckage from the destroyed Quatrini shuttlecraft is detected and brought aboard for analysis, but Kirk and Spock are still unable to determine whether Uhura and Sulu died in the blast. Planetside on Beta, Uhura is taken by the resistance to a hidden Quatrini staging base, while a pursuing military force closes in on them. Sneaking out in the middle of the night to the base in order to transmit a signal to the Enterprise, Uhura is attacked by the pursuing Quatrini agents, but is saved by a security force led by Pavel Chekov. With testimony provided by Agent Keter, Director Prusk's plans to establish a police state are destroyed, and the Betans officially open peace talks with the Quatrini government. As the Enterprise-A prepares to depart the star system, word from Starfleet Command arrives &mdash; Hikaru Sulu has officially been promoted to the rank of captain, and is to take command of the starship USS Excelsior, effective immediately.


 * Stardate Unknown (circa November, 2289): Captain Lawrence Styles abruptly reverses his official decision to retire from Starfleet just a few weeks after publicly announcing it, and decides to stay onboard as the USS Excelsior's captain for the time being. Grand Admiral William Smillie signs orders aborting Hikaru Sulu's delayed captaincy-promotion (yet again), instead reassigning him from the Enterprise-A to the position of first officer aboard Excelsior.


 * Stardate 9000.9 (Late December, 2289): Commander Sulu serves three weeks as executive officer aboard Excelsior when the Korvat conference between the Federation and the Klingon Empire is bombed in late December by the Albino, resulting in the death of Captain Styles and several high-ranking members of Excelsior's crew.

2290

 * Stardate 9001.0 (New Year's Day, 2290): Hikaru Sulu assumes temporary command of the USS Excelsior, per Starfleet Command's orders, following the death of Captain Lawrence Styles.


 * Stardate 9049.7 (January, 2290): Following a near-court martial at Starfleet Headquarters, Earth, in the aftermath of the Korvat affair, Commander Hikaru Sulu is at long last officially promoted to the rank of captain, and given full command of the USS Excelsior, retaining Lt. Commander Meredith Cutler as his new executive officer. The Excelsior briefly visits the Xarantine system for crew shore leave before heading back to Earth Spacedock, to be joined by the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A for Captain Sulu's official command-taking ceremonies there.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A returns to Spacedock, Earth, in order for Captain Kirk and his staff to participate in the change-of-command ceremonies for the newly-promoted Captain Sulu aboard the USS Excelsior. Communications officer Janice Rand interrupts the festivities with news that Starfleet Command has cancelled previous orders for Excelsior and Enterprise, with both command crews briefed by Admiral Yawlis on the interstellar crisis brewing in the Tabukan system, near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Federation intervention has been officially requested between the planets Tabuka III and Tabuka IV, with both worlds having developed incredibly destructive stockpiles of weaponry during their decades-long war, and a number of warheads have gone missing. Suspecting Romulan involvement, Starfleet sends the Enterprise-A and Excelsior to the system as a show of force. En route, however, a medical distress call is detected on Epsilon Kitaj, and it is decided to split up the expedition &mdash; the Enterprise will answer the distress signal, while the Excelsior will continue on to the Tabukan system. The two starships are covertly surveyed by a cloaked Maroan ship, responsible for the gas attack on Epsilon Kitaj, with a joint Romulan-Maroan trap laid for the Excelsior at Tabuka.


 * Stardate 8598.6: With the USS Excelsior hosting the Tabukan heads of state in that star system, the Enterprise-A arrives in orbit around Epsilon Kitaj, but is unable to make contact with the sender of a medical distress signal which brought the starship to the planet. The starship then detects the SS Salutaris, a converted former Starfleet hospital ship nearby, commanded by Dr. Abigail Wilson, a former acquaintance of Dr. McCoy's from the USS Lexington (NCC-1709). McCoy is tasked by Captain Kirk with inquiring as to the Salutaris's business at Epsilon Kitaj, and Dr. Wilson is beamed aboard the Enterprise, where she informs the captain that over twenty thousand members of the planetary population are now sick, with air and water supplies also tainted. Leaving in a huff, Dr. Wilson formally requests additional medical relief from the Enterprise, which Kirk agrees to. Elsewhere, a Tabukan convoy escorted by the Excelsior comes under assault from joint Romulan and Maroan forces...


 * Stardate 8598.6: With the USS Excelsior engaged in defending a Tabukan convoy from attack in that star system, the Enterprise-A receives a request for assistance from Captain Sulu, and prepares to depart Epsilon Kitaj immediately. However, Dr. McCoy pleads with Captain Kirk to allow him to remain behind with a Starfleet medical team, in order to treat the planetary population following the recent gas-attack. Kirk agrees, but insists that a Security team accompany him, as well. As the Enterprise departs Epsilon Kitaj, it is observed by a cloaked Romulan vessel, which notifies the attack fleet at Tabuka of the starship's impending arrival. Not long thereafter, Epsilon Kitaj is occupied by a fleet Maroan ships, with martial law and a blockade established &mdash; the SS Salutaris is granted permission to continue treating the gas-attack survivors planetside so long as no overtly threatening actions are undertaken. Denied permission to enter an affected valley by the Maroan leader, Dr. McCoy and Dr. Abigail Wilson instead beam down to the colony's capital city, where they witness the hanging deaths of several human crewmembers from a vessel which attempted to run the blockade.
 * Stardate 8601.6: The Enterprise-A rendezvouses with the USS Excelsior in the Tabukan star system, both starships taking up position next to the primary Tabukan arsenal asteroid, located between planets Tabuka III and Tabuka IV. Both vessels remain on Yellow Alert, with Commander Chekov given command of the Enterprise, while Chief Engineer Scott boards the Excelsior in an attempt to bolster repair efforts there, in the aftermath of her recent engagement with cloaked Romulan-Maroan forces. The Excelsior's chief engineer, Lukas, is tasked with finding some method of transporting the Tabukan warheads without detonating them. Meeting with the leaders of both Tabukan factions, Captain Kirk and Captain Sulu are informed that the doomsday devices to be bilaterally disarmed are extremely unstable (due to trisolium warheads), an intentional design-touch meant to deter terrorist theft. Sulu proposes to use that knowledge to the starships' advantage. Aboard the Enterprise-A, Dr. McCoy is overdue for his check-in signal from Epsilon Kitaj, and Captain Kirk asks Mr. Scott to accompany him. Before leaving, Engineer Lukas gives Scotty a data-disc, containing what he believes to be the solution to the warhead-transportation problem. Back at Epsilon Kitaj, Dr. McCoy works with Dr. Wilson at a makeshift clinic, when a sudden explosion rips apart the building. Running down the street, the pair discover that the Maroan planetary occupational headquarters has been bombed by human conspirators, and McCoy and Wilson are threatened by a colonist with death if they attempt to treat any Maroan survivors.


 * Stardate 8604.3: Emerging from warp, a Maroan task force attacks the Tabukan military arsenal-base, aided by an internal saboteur, who disables the asteroid's deflector shields. However, the timely arrival of the USS Excelsior sends the Maroans into retreat. The Enterprise-A returns to Epsilon Kitaj, not long after Dr. McCoy and Dr. Abigail Wilson manage to save the life of Vodrin, the Maroan dictator in charge of the colonial occupation. Dr. Wilson is informed that she is to be expelled from the planet, due to her actions (a commutation from the death penalty). Unable to contact McCoy due to a Maroan energy-web cutting off all transporter and subspace communication signals, the Enterprise destroys ten of the Maroan satellites providing energy for the web with a phaser barrage, and beams down a Security force to the planet. Taking the wounded Vodrin into Starfleet custody, Captain Kirk promises emergency medical aid for the colony, but the human leader refuses any assistance from the "war criminal," Dr. Wilson. Determining that the Maroan occupational force may be connected to the ships that hit Tabuka, Captain Spock scans for telltale radiation "footprints" similar to one encountered by the Excelsior and discovers several cloaked vessels, and orders Lt. Saavik to open fire on them. Four Maroan vessels are disabled, and signal their surrender to the Enterprise-A. Later, after convincing the colonial leader to accept Dr. Wilson's assistance, Kirk and his landing party beam up to the Enterprise, and signals Captain Sulu to destroy the Tabukan arsenal-asteroid. Within the Romulan Neutral Zone, the explosion is detected by Romulan Admiral Jaricus and Maroan queen Brekara. Both Federation starships prepare to face a massive incoming enemy...


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A is en route back to Tabukan space, following the destruction of the Tabukan arsenal-asteroid, and the transmission of a fake distress signal by the USS Excelsior over the "accidental" detonation. The Excelsior monitors a cloaked Romulan battlecruiser crossing the Neutral Zone on a course intercepting the remains of the base, intent upon recovering the surviving trisolium weapons. The Maroans beam an assault team into the base wreckage, but are shocked to discover an even larger Starfleet Security force waiting for them under the command of Janice Rand &mdash; the Maroans surrender without a fight. Suddenly, both the Enterprise and Excelsior emerge from their hiding spots within the asteroid field, and all of the Maroan warships stand down. Captain Spock scans the vicinity for signs of the Romulan ship, aware of its cloaking device's enormous power consumption, when the lead Maroan vessel abruptly plots a suicide collision course with the Excelsior. Captain Sulu orders emergency evasive maneuvers, but the Maroan ship continues its run, and is ultimately destroyed just short of the starship by a phaser blast fired by the Enterprise-A. Tracking the cloaked Romulan vessel to the edge of the Neutral Zone, both Starfleet ships fire a photon torpedo spread, which detonates a large number of stolen Tabukan warheads, planted as a lure by Captain Sulu. Satisfied by Sulu's performance during this, his first command-test under crisis, Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise on a new heading, taking their leave of the Excelsior.


 * Stardate 8611.1: While searching an unexplored sector for the missing Starfleet science vessel USS Jonathan Levy, the USS Enterprise-A traverses an exceptionally-dense stellar cluster, where an energy-based alien lifeform boards the starship. The lifeform manages to disrupt the Enterprise's internal sensors and deflector shields, taking over various crewmembers (including Chief Engineer Scott, Lieutenant Saavik, and Commander Chekov) via alteration of its electromagnetic profile. Proceeding deeper into the cluster, another pair of the lifeforms board the Enterprise, appearing to Captain Kirk aboard the bridge, and revealing that the "runaway" alien was merely attempting to experience life by proxy through the starship's crew, coming at the very end of their own unique lifespans. Spock surmises that the aliens' life-cycles are the key to finally understanding the elusive stellar pulse phenomenon, a long-standing scientific mystery. Soon afterward, the Enterprise-A is hailed by Captain Lightfoot of the Jonathan Levy, who reveals that they too encountered the aliens, and were simply incommunicado during the "cosmic dance," and never in any actual danger. In wonderment over their shared encounters, Captain Kirk decides that the sector might be a good location for a new Federation starbase after all…


 * Stardate 8914.6: The Enterprise-A drops Dr. McCoy and Montgomery Scott off at Starbase 99 for a few days' shore leave and seminar-time, and departs. While aboard the starbase, the pair encounter a group of Binzalan refugees, fleeing their homeworld's religious persecution and attempting to reach Arnebius IV in order to establish a cloister-in-exile. Dr. McCoy and Scotty volunteer their services aboard the Binzalans' ship, where McCoy prepares for the impending birth of a child, belonging to one of the Binzalan females. However, due to a religious prophecy, resistance to the off-planet birth is offered by the other Binzalans, and Scotty discovers that the aliens' ship is hardly spaceworthy. Scott and McCoy decide to make the three-day journey to Arnebius IV, and dispatch a message to the Enterprise, which diverts its course from Starbase 99 to Arnebius in response. Not long afterward, a Binzalan attack vessel confronts the starbase's commanding officer over the refugees, and is informed of the vessel's destination &mdash; with all three ships (including the Enterprise-A) all now underway to the same planet.


 * Stardate 8915.1: The Enterprise-A arrives at Arnebius IV ahead of the Binzalan vessels, and Captain Kirk orders the starship to double back along the projected navigational course of the refugee vessel in an attempt to rendezvous with Dr. McCoy and Chief Engineer Scott. Aboard the refugee ship, the pregnant female goes into labor, and McCoy attempts a delivery, but is rebuffed by the aliens' matriarch, who demands that the labor be halted until planetfall occurs. However, McCoy overrules her, and begins the delivery, at the exact moment the pursuing Binzalan warship opens fire on the craft. Hailing the refugees, the Binzalan commander demands the handover of the heir to ruling house of Binzal &mdash; who is aboard the fleeing ship under an assumed name. Unfortunately, Mr. Scott discovers that a fatal engine-core radiation leak is imminent, prompting discussion of surrender. Within moments, however, the entire group is beamed aboard the newly-arrived Enterprise-A mere seconds before the ship explodes. Convening a conference aboard the starship, Captain Kirk hears testimony from both the Binzalan heir, as well as from the pursuing marshal, and political asylum is granted to the refugees aboard the Enterprise. The starship transports the aliens to the nearest starbase in anticipation of the next wave of Binzalan colonists, and the aliens' engineer informs Mr. Scott of her intention to join Starfleet, an idea which Scotty wholeheartedly endorses.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A returns to the Sol System, Sector 001, where Captain Kirk and Captain Spock participate in the relaunching ceremonies at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards for the newly-refitted Constitution-class starship USS Bonhomme Richard, at the invitation of her commander, Captain Pollard. During the ceremony, Ensign Valeris, recently assigned to the vessel, meets Captain Kirk for the first time, and expresses her dissatisfaction with her assignment to her mentor, Spock, having hoped for placement as helmsman aboard the Enterprise-A instead.


 * The status of Valeris' Starfleet rank and Academy attendance in this novel is somewhat inconsistent with other sources. In the DC Comics story "A Question of Loyalty," which takes place in 2291 (per the presence of Lt. Saavik, who was still an Enterprise-A crewmember in the novella Mere Anarchy: The Blood-Dimmed Tide, also set in that year), Valeris is established as being a "third-year cadet" at Starfleet Academy, possibly only a year away from full starship-assignment as an officer. However, in the novel Cast No Shadow, Valeris is an Academy graduate in 2290, and seeking a posting aboard the Enterprise''. It is possible that she actually graduates in 2292, holding a midshipman rank in this novel (despite being addressed as "Ensign" Valeris), with her first voyage aboard the NCC-1701-A taking place in 2291. It is also possible that Valeris attended further studies at the Academy, including Advanced Tactical Training, which could account for this difference.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A is ordered to the Willis Colony at Alpha Darwin to investigate the mysterious deaths of fifteen colonists, including the wife of the colony's founder, Mark Willis (an old childhood friend of James Kirk). Planetside, Commander Chekov and Lt. Saavik discover extensive pollution caused by unregulated industrial mining waste, due to the colony existing outside of Federation jurisdiction. Confronting his old friend over the violations, Captain Kirk learns that Mark Willis signed an agreement with the inhabitants of Bakada III to exploit the planet's resources, at the cost of the environment and the colonists' safety. In orbit, the Enterprise-A fires several probes into the planetary atmosphere, in an attempt to monitor unexpected torrential storm conditions. During the storm, Captain Kirk is suddenly swept away by rapid waters, and is saved by Willis, but not before both men hear mysterious voices, calling themselves "the rain gods." After being treated for injuries aboard the Enterprise, Captain Spock reveals the results of the starship's probe-data &mdash; organic molecules in organized sequences amidst the rainstorms. In other words, incorporeal lifeforms, who are apparently causing the storms in an attempt to breach the atmosphere and escape the planet. However, if the Enterprise were to aid the lifeforms' efforts, the planet's benign climate would quickly devolve into a new ice age, forcing the evacuation of the Willis Colony. Additionally, it is discovered that the ionic layer imprisoning the lifeforms was artificially manufactured by the colonists &mdash; and Mark Willis with no intention of ever removing it. After a brief hand-to-hand struggle planetside between Kirk and Willis, ended by a Security detachment led by Commander Chekov, the Enterprise-A neutralizes the ionic radiation layer, liberating the alien lifeforms. Alpha Darwin's colonists vote to support the starship's actions, and are taken to a nearby starbase. Mark Willis himself is taken to a spaceport by the Enterprise, vowing to continue his policy of planetary exploitation regardless of the moral costs. Likewise, Captain Kirk vows to stop him.


 * Stardate 8620.3: While surveying the Kondo Nebula, the Enterprise-A is "visited" by the Trelane entity, who kidnaps Captain Kirk from the bridge in order to test the captain's skills in the realm of romantic conquest. Materializing with Trelane aboard a space station in the Quellan sector, Kirk is forced into an attempted seduction of an alien woman, causing a bar fight with her mate. Back in the Kondo Nebula, Captain Spock orders the Enterprise into a search-pattern for the captain, but Trelane and the captain reappear on the starship's bridge just as Lieutenant Saavik detects an unusual energy pattern approaching &mdash; but the ship is abruptly whisked seventeen parsecs away by Trelane just before it can arrive, right into a density-twelve asteroid belt. Kirk is teleported back to his apartment in San Francisco, and there is forced to conduct another "experiment" with Theresa Ross, a former yeoman of the captain's some twenty years earlier, and now a respected Federation justice. Defying Trelane, Kirk goads the entity into returning him to the Enterprise-A, but is seemingly assaulted by his own bridge crew &mdash; Trelane's payback for earlier. Detecting the approach of the sensor anomaly once again, Trelane then sends the starship inside the heart of a star, there to be held hostage until the experiment is completed. Kirk is sent to the planet Pellegrinos, where he encounters his old love Carol Marcus, now working an archaeological dig after her son David's death. Kirk and Carol manage to kiss, and Trelane attempts to force them into other acts. However, Kirk angrily punches the entity, with Trelane about to destroy the Enterprise within the star's heart. With Kirk returning yet again to the starship's bridge, Spock orders Saavik to enact "sequence alpha-alpha-one," overriding the Enterprise's dilithium couplings and beginning a self-destruct countdown in order to destroy Trelane. Panicked, the entity wipes a portion of the starship's computer memory, deleting the subroutines necessary to complete self-destruction. Distracted by Commander Uhura's seemingly-seductive passes, Trelane fails to notice the arrival of Valedsia, another of his race, whom has been aggressively pursuing Trelane for romantic reasons &mdash; the entity having sought to learn such techniques from Captain Kirk, albeit under duress. After the two aliens depart, Kirk orders Uhura to contact the Pellegrinos dig, and Carol Marcus...


 * Stardate Unknown: Assigned to escort Federation Ambassador Berg to negotiations on the planet Mardelva, Captain Spock and Lieutenant Saavik take the shuttlecraft Galileo from the Enterprise-A to the seafaring world near the Klingon Empire, where they learn from the prime minister that the Klingons are secretly arming dissident elements there in preparation for a coup d'etat aimed at overthrowing the government. During the talks, a submersible warship fires a spread of missiles at the host-city, forcing Spock, Saavik, and the diplomatic team to attempt an escape back to the Enterprise aboard the shuttle. Approaching the primary Mardelvan space facilities just minutes later, the shuttle is caught up in the pursuit of a stolen spaceship and attacked, losing nearly all power and plummeting back into the planetary atmosphere &mdash; and Spock has no other choice than to attempt a crashlanding on Mardelva. The Galileo crashes onto an island, killing one of the diplomatic team, with Saavik helping in the rescue moments before the craft explodes. Intercepting a distress signal from the shuttle, the Enterprise-A lays in a course for the planet, but is suddenly surrounded by four decloaking Klingon Birds-of-Prey, commanded by Captain Klaa, who warns the Enterprise not to trespass upon Klingon territory. Angrily, Captain Kirk informs Klaa that the starship is in free space, and breaks off contact to begin the rescue of the downed shuttle crew...


 * Stardate 8625.2: Approaching the planet Mardelva at warp factor seven, the Enterprise-A is contacted by Prime Minister Kalfia, who assures Captain Kirk that the coup has been crushed, guaranteeing a landing party's safety. Beaming down at the head of a security force, Kirk surveys the recent devastation in the capital city, but is told by the prime minister and her chief general that their main priority is locating the stolen prototype spaceship...not in finding the missing Enterprise crewmen and Federation diplomats. Aboard the main Mardelvan space station, members of the Enterprise crew are briefed on the capabilities of the stolen EX-300 ship &mdash; vastly superior to anything built by the Klingons or the Romulans, explaining the Klingons' interest in taking over the planet. Captain Kirk is tasked by Admiral Yankowski with using his starship to recover or destroy the EX-300 before the Klingons do. Elsewhere, a Klingon battlecruiser bearing Commodore Khezri decloaks near Captain Klaa's fleet, the commodore taking over command of the group. The Klingons track the Enterprise-A's departure from the planet as it begins its search for the stolen ship. On Mardelva, Captain Spock regains consciousness, revived by Lieutenant Saavik, and the search for food and water begins. The Enterprise arrives at a Mardelvan outpost, only to find it destroyed, presumably by the EX-300. An emergency distress signal is sent by a second Mardelvan outpost under attack to the Enterprise, and is intercepted by Captain Klaa, who &mdash; eager for combat &mdash; orders his ship to lay in a course for the Starfleet vessel. On Mardelva, Saavik locates a cave containing food and water, with Captain Spock ordering the survivors to begin a relocation there. Arriving at the second outpost after its destruction, the Enterprise detects the stolen ship on a heading for the Klingon Empire &mdash; and the starship's orders to destroy it are now quite clear.


 * Stardate 8627.9: Following the destruction of a third Mardelvan outpost, Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise-A to halt at the very edge of the treaty line separating the Federation and the Klingon Empire in order to scan the stolen EX-300 prototype, under pressure from Starfleet and the Mardelvans to destroy it before it can cross over into Klingon space. However, sensor scans reveal the ship to be abandoned, its crew evidently having mutinied some time earlier. Suspicious, a security team from the Enterprise beams over, only to discover that there never was a crew onboard the prototype to begin with. Aboard the starship, Brigadier Garad attempts to coerce Captain Kirk into escorting the EX-300 back to Mardelva, but is resisted. On the planet, Captain Spock, Lieutenant Saavik, and the rest of the crashed shuttle crew are taken hostage by anti-governmental forces, but their ship is attacked, with Spock and Saavik overpowering their captors and escaping via lifepod. Onboard the prototype, Scotty is paralyzed by a female Mardelvan engineer upon discovering purposeful sabotage meant to trigger a war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. A security team led by Commander Chekov arrests Brigadier Garad on the Enterprise-A before he can trigger a self-destruct routine on the stolen ship, and Scotty is rescued. As a last gesture, while departing the region, Captain Kirk sends out a final, taunting message to Captain Klaa, secretly observing the entire affair aboard his cloaked Bird-of-Prey.


 * Stardate 8626.1: En route to Sector 24A to observe the formation of a new star, the USS Enterprise-A is diverted upon receiving a distress call from a Ramazian ship carrying R.J. Blaise, the starship's former Federation diplomatic protocol officer, trapped at the edge of a black hole. When transported aboard, her arrival ignites old romantic tensions with Captain Kirk. After rescuing Ms. Blaise, the crew receives word that the peace treaty negotiated between the Ramazians and the Landorians is in jeopardy of collapse, and are ordered by Starfleet Command to intervene in the situation. En route, the starship is intercepted by a Landorian battlecruiser, and a parlay at the neutral planet of Nirobi III requested by her commander. It transpires that Blaise is being pursued by the warlord, who she offended during negotiations. The Federation orders Kirk to resolve the situation, even if it means handing over Blaise to the warlord. With Captain Kirk rejecting the proposal outright, the Landorian ship opens fire on the Enterprise, but Ms. Blaise finally urges him to accept. Beaming down to the surface, Kirk engages the Landorian commander in one-on-one combat for the Federation diplomat, Kirk ultimately emerging victorious—and the Landorian party leaving in disgust. The Enterprise-A drops Ms. Blaise off at Starbase 42, to await transport back to Earth.


 * Stardate 8637.7: The Enterprise-A docks at Starbase 79, where the starship is ordered by Admiral Cartwright to rendezvous with the USS Pacific at the planet Thevos, in order to act as official Starfleet observers during the testing of a secret, experimental new protomatter weapon intended to shift the balance of power against the Klingon Empire. With the aging Pacific to serve as the testbed vehicle for the protomatter weapon, Chief Engineer Scott and Commander Chekov are assigned to liaise with Commodore Hirosaki aboard the starship in order to prepare it for the upcoming test. Unbeknownst to Scotty and the rest, however, Gary Seven and Isis appear aboard the Pacific, rendering the duty officer unconscious. Both the Enterprise-A and the Pacific arrive at a Thevosian science station, where preparations are made for the weapon test, and where a wager is made between Captain Kirk and Hirosaki regarding the test's ultimate outcome. Unfortunately, another intrusion aboard the USS Pacific results in the killing of two Security officers, but Admiral Cartwright authorizes the test to proceed regardless, with only a minimal crew complement aboard the Pacific. The latter starship fires upon a nearby asteroid with the protomatter weapon, causing the asteroid to violently explode, and seemingly taking the Pacific (and all hands) along with it...


 * Stardate 8639.2: Battered by the detonation of the USS Pacifics protomatter weapon and that starship's apparent destruction, the Enterprise-A attempts to retreat from the site, with Captain Kirk ordering Captain Spock to ascertain the true cause of the explosion, regardless of the residual radiation in the area. With Commodore Hirosaki arguing for the continuation of the project, Kirk is contacted by Admiral Cartwright, who informs him that the outcome of the captain's investigation will be the deciding factor between continuance or cancellation. Believing Cartwright to be pursuing his own secret agenda, Kirk tasks Spock with finding the evidence necessary to shut the project down forever. Analyzing the scene of the detonation, Spock realizes that the Pacific may have been transported away somehow &mdash; not destroyed. Aboard the Pacific, now some thirty thousand light years away, Scotty and Chekov regain consciousness in the aftermath of the disaster, and are contacted by the group of aliens responsible for the mishap, "agents" of the Aegis similar to Gary Seven. Scotty and Chekov are forced to work at restoring the Pacifics systems, lest they be executed. Back on the Enterprise, a mysterious narrow-focus energy beam attempts to overload the starship's deflector system &mdash; Captain Kirk orders the shields lowered, and Gary Seven materializes on the bridge, revealing his need for the Enterprise crew's assistance in stopping the rebel Aegis agents before they can use the stolen protomatter weapon to destroy the Aegis. Presenting evidence showing that, without his intervention, the Federation, the Klingons, and the Romulans would all eventually acquire the protomatter weapon and destroy each other, Seven transports Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy to a secret Aegis scanning station, where Kirk makes the decision to aid Seven against the rebels. Aboard the USS Pacific, Scotty secretly jury-rigs the ship's transporter system to beam Chekov and himself away, with the Aegis rebels ordering the starship underway. The Enterprise-A moves to intercept, aided by Gary Seven, transporting the ship some 28,000 light years away. Closing with the Pacific, Captain Kirk orders a phaser and photon torpedo barrage fired at the enemy vessel's engines, with the Pacific returning fire via the protomatter device. However, Scotty's sabotage works &mdash; the Pacific's shields drop, and all lifeforms are beamed over to the Enterprise. Immediately afterward, Kirk orders another torpedo strike on the Pacific, destroying both it and the protomatter weapon. Starfleet Command waives all extradition rights in the matter, remanding the Aegis rebels to Gary Seven's custody, and Seven departs the starship.


 * Stardate 8748.4: Lieutenant Saavik is reassigned off the Enterprise-A on an undercover mission into Romulan space in order to track down Professor Peter Erikson, a traitorous Federation scientist whose warp-field theory breakthroughs were co-opted by Starfleet Command and diverted into new weapons research. Seeking to restore the "balance of power" in the galaxy, Prof. Erikson is tracked to a Romulan colony world by Lt. Saavik while attempting to give his secrets to agents of the Romulan Praetor. The renegade is renditionally extracted to an orbiting Romulan ship by the lieutenant, where they are intercepted by a Romulan battlecruiser while crossing the Neutral Zone. Allowing Erikson to pilot the ship, the pair manage to severely damage the enemy cruiser. Saavik's vessel escapes, but is seemingly intercepted by a Constitution-class starship...which is revealed to be a transponder trick, programmed in by Erikson during the earlier battle. Narrowly managing to cross the Federation border towards Starbase 53 for rendezvous with the Enterprise-A, Erikson is killed by a Romulan neural implant, activated under the mistaken belief that a beamout to the waiting cruiser would occur. Lieutenant Saavik is hailed by the Romulan commander, who congratulates her on her Pyrrhic "victory."


 * Stardate 8752.5: Sent to Theata Leonis (a planet close to Klingon space) to initiate official first contact protocols with the Atyansa race, the Enterprise-A discovers an extraordinarily-childlike species planetside, who present the landing party with indisputable evidence that they have been there before &mdash; a painting depicting Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy climbing a mountain with an Atyansan male. Kirk agrees to set off for the mountain accompanied by the son of the local tribal matriarch. Suddenly, the Klingon battlecruiser IKS Arrekieh decloaks in orbit, its commander, Kalak, demanding that the Enterprise depart the star system. Undeterred, Captain Scott manages to force a standoff with Kalak, not long before another battlecruiser arrives in orbit. Contacting the landing party, Scotty reveals massive energy readings beneath the nearby mountain &mdash; not Atayansan technology, either. The landing party is attacked by holographically-projected creatures, but manage to fight them off with the aid of the matriarch's son. Scotty modifies the Enterprise-A's transporter systems to prevent a massive Klingon landing force from making landfall...an effect which will kill the Klingon soldiers if interrupted by an attack upon the starship. However, some Klingon troops still manage to slip through, and attack Kirk's party atop the snowy mountain. Captain Spock causes an avalanche, which cuts off the Klingons, and opens up a gigantic cave containing a highly-advanced tachyonic computer system. The system's 500,000-year-old holographic avatar reveals that a catastrophic systems failure is imminent, and that the Federation must evacuate it before the Klingons take control of the planet by treaty within the next thirteen years, lest it fall into their hands. However, Commander Kalak arms his ship's weapons in preparation to attack the Enterprise, but the Arrekieh is suddenly slingshotted away from the planet by an advanced tractor beam, activated by the computer entity. Starfleet Command is alerted to the evacuation request, the first contact a successful one.


 * Stardate 8530.1: In an alternate timeline, the Enterprise-A ferries a joint Federation/Klingon/Romulan team to the undesignated planet housing the Guardian of Forever, in order to restore the "proper" timeline where the genocide of the Romulan Star Empire has not occurred, by preventing the assassination of the Klingon warlord Baraga some five hundred years in the past of the planet Qo'noS. During the mission (led by Captain Kirk), a band of renegade Klingon time-travelers is apprehended and returned to the present day, with the Enterprise rendezvousing with a K't'inga-class battlecruiser near the border to return Kirk and his squad to the starship. Upon completion of the mission, the "true" timeline is restored, resulting in the death of David Marcus, and significant new crew differences aboard the Enterprise-A (including Colonel Worf no longer holding the post of ship's science officer).


 * This DC Comics storyline largely takes place in an altered timeline, with the "canonical" Enterprise-A only making its appearance near the ending; in the first three parts, the original Enterprise still exists.


 * Stardate 8651.1: Immediately following the restoration of the timeline, the Enterprise-A puts in at Starbase 92 for shore leave, and conducts a transfer of a number of crewmembers over to the docked USS Excelsior (NCC-2000). There, Pavel Chekov receives word of the death of Julia Crandall, the only woman he proposed marriage to, and reminisces with Hikaru Sulu and Nyota Uhura on an early mission the pair took part in aboard the original USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) decades earlier.


 * Stardate 8684.2: While the Enterprise-A delivers a diplomatic team to the conference facilites on Babel in the Wolf 424 star system, Captain Spock takes the shuttlecraft Heinlein to planet Talos IV under orders from Starfleet Command to make contact with former Starfleet captain Christopher Pike, to offer him the chance at physical rehabilitation using miraculous recent breakthroughs in Federation medical science. Planetside, Spock encounters Pike and his wife Vina, as well as their son, Phillip Pike &mdash; a shocking moment, with Pike believed to be sterile following his massive exposure to gamma radiation twenty-three years earlier. Intent upon helping the Talosians reclaim their planet, Pike and Vina reject Spock's offer, and young Phillip attacks Spock with various illusion-projections, fearful that his parents will be taken away from him. However, Spock realizes that Phillip is indeed real, not an illusion, and accepts Pike's decision to remain. Captain Spock returns to the Enterprise-A, where he recommends that Pike be restored to Starfleet's active duty roster, as well as for the suspension of General Order 7, citing the Talosians as a valuable potential Federation ally.


 * Stardate 8826.2: Returning to planet Gribbin II aboard the Enterprise-A, where he was stranded centuries ago in that world's past, Captain Kirk is hailed as a hero by an alien race known as the Wumpar, to whose aid the original USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) came over two decades previously, during the five-year mission, and who now have established a colony planetside, thanks to the assistance of Kirk's crew.


 * Stardate 8668.2: The Enterprise-A is diverted to Starbase 195 on the frontier of the Nilicia Sector without any explanation from Starfleet Command, on a mission of extreme secrecy &mdash; to escort Vulcan ambassador Sidak and assistant T'Rin to an unknown destination, without the benefit of a pre-mission briefing. Given a data-tape containing ship's course and speed to only be entered directly into the starship's computer, the Enterprise heads toward the Elikri Sector at high warp, there to conduct negotiations with the Nara'gi concerning safe exploratory rights within the sector. The Enterprise-A receives a planetary distress call from the Bupahr mining colony, whose 2,347 settlers are endangered by an unexplained poison gas cloud within their atmosphere. Explaining the situation to Ambassador Sidak, Captain Kirk receives permission to divert to Bupahr (placing a massive strain on the ship's engines) in order to make the rendezvous in the Nara'gi system on time. There, sensor scans detect traces of an artificial substance within the poison gas cloud, extremely similar to the Maroan/Romulan poison utilized against the planet Epsilon Kitaj earlier that same year. Resolving the situation, the Enterprise again gets underway, but receives yet another distress signal &mdash; this time from the USS Hayden, a science vessel attempting to avert a planetary comet impact against Gamma Kestra, and the primitive civilization located there. However, Ambassador Sidak refuses to allow the Enterprise to assist in the situation, until Captain Spock proves the existence of outside interference by some unknown party &mdash; the comet's mass had been artificially altered to cause the collision, for the purpose of keeping the Enterprise from reaching its destination. Arriving in the Nara'gi Ordinat too late to save the treaty, Ambassador Sidak's aide suddenly pulls out a phaser &mdash; she is actually Commander T'Rin of Starfleet Security, and the "ambassador" is a Romulan agent seeking to sabotage the treaty talks in order to gain passage rights for the Romulan Star Empire. Revealing that the entire mission was a decoy, and that the real treaty had been signed in secret months earlier with the Nara'gi, T'Rin places Sidak under arrest. Not long thereafter, a true distress signal is picked up from a stolen Nara'gi ship, which is pursued, immobilized, and taken aboard the Enterprise-A's shuttle bay, where the thieves are revealed to be an alien boy...and T'Ariis, the daughter of T'Pring and Stonn.
 * Stardate 8673.9: The Enterprise-A arrives at the planet Nara, seat of the Nara'gi Ordinat, where Federation Ambassador Stonn is stationed, having aided in the drafting of the Federation/Nara'gi treaty months beforehand. Planetside, Stonn and his daughter argue over her recent actions, as well as her having taken the young 'Gi boy Dalen aboard the stolen ship, when Stonn suddenly collapses &mdash; an acute pulmonary condition, diagnosed by Dr. McCoy, having emergency-beamed down from the Enterprise. Immediately afterward, T'Ariis and Dalen are arrested by Nara authorities, Stonn consenting to revocation of diplomatic privileges, and Stonn's Vulcan wife Sepora asking Captain Kirk to save her stepdaughter's life. Dr. McCoy returns to the Enterprise-A to research Vulcan cardiopulmonary illnesses, and Kirk and Spock attempt to intervene on T'Ariis and Dalen's behalf with planetary authorities. Stonn's daughter is freed; however, Dalen is to be tortured, under charges of having "corrupted" T'Ariis with "sorcery." Returning to the ambassadorial residence, Kirk is subjected to a display of unusual emotional wrath from Stonn &mdash; months of delicate negotiations with the Nara'gi have now been completely nullified, all thanks to Kirk's "meddling."


 * This comic establishes a dating of "five years [since my] regeneration at Genesis" for Captain Spock (in 2285), or late in the year 2290.


 * Stardate 8674.8: Refusing all of Captain Kirk's offers to undo the damage done to the Federation/Nara'gi treaty, Ambassador Stonn abruptly keels over in his home once again &mdash; Dr. McCoy beams down from the Enterprise-A and conducts a secret physical examination upon Stonn, under the condition of total secrecy. Conversing with Stonn's wife, Captain Kirk learns that the ambassador may be undergoing poisoning...by his own daughter, T'Ariis, whom has exhibited an intense interest in pre-Reformation Vulcan history, where such means were commonly used to settle disputes. Conversing with T'Ariis later, Spock comes to believe the reverse to be true &mdash; that Stonn is, in fact, being poisoned by his own wife. Following the release of Dalen from prison (due to T'Ariis' hacking into the judicial computer network), the pair attempt to board a passenger liner off-world, but are attacked by a group of assailants on the concourse. Captain Kirk and Ambassador Stonn appear before the Nara'gi leader, where Stonn suffers another collapse, and is beamed aboard the Enterprise. There, Dr. McCoy determines that neither T'Ariis nor her stepmother poisoned Stonn, but rather that the ambassador has been subjected to some unknown new type of bacteriological agent, with death imminent within a matter of days.


 * Stardate 8676.9: Contacting Starfleet Command on Earth, Captain Kirk is angrily ordered by Admiral Cartwright to get the Federation/Nara'gi treaty reinstated, even if it means "licking [the leader's] boots" to do it &mdash; the treaty will prevent the Romulans from gaining a strategic foothold in the sector, and subjugating everything in their path. In the Enterprise-A's Sickbay, Ambassador Stonn reveals that he has known about his condition (Serijian pneumotoxia) for quite some time, and that he will soon die...and that no extraordinary measures to extend his life are to be used. Captain Kirk returns to the planet with the now-stabilized Ambassador Stonn to work towards the restoration of the treaty, while Captain Spock boards an Enterprise shuttlecraft, having deduced the likely destination of T'Ariis and Dalen &mdash; the planet 'Gi, Dalen's homeworld. Suddenly, McCoy is summoned planetside on a medical emergency &mdash; Stonn has abruptly passed away, and with him, all hope of a treaty. On 'Gi, Spock manages to intercept and save T'Ariis and Dalen from a mob, but the starship captain and his young charge are arrested the following morning, accused of murder &mdash; on the testimony of Dalen, no less. Drawing a phaser, Spock "convinces" the arresting officers to let them return to the starship. On Nara, Captain Kirk is unsuccessful at convincing the Nara'gi leader to reinstate the treaty, but points out the inevitable danger from the Romulans, as well. The Enterprise-A departs the Elikri Sector without a treaty in hand, but with Stonn's daughter about to be sponsored at Starfleet Academy by Captain Spock...
 * Stardate 8685.1: Assigned by Starfleet Command to a special patrol in the Ukaran sector (where a somewhat-benign competition between the UFP and the Klingon Empire for settling colony worlds has recently taken place), the Enterprise-A rendezvouses with the shuttlecraft Chaffee from the USS Excelsior (NCC-2000), ferrying Captain Hikaru Sulu and his chief engineer Martin Lukas, temporarily reassigned to the Enterprise for the mission. An incoming message from Admiral Cartwright at Starfleet Command delivers Captain Kirk's final briefing for the mission &mdash; rumored instability on the Klingon colony worlds in the Ukaran sector might indicate the final disintegration of the Klingon Empire, and the Enterprise-A is to covertly investigate. However, Cartwright admonishes Kirk that Starfleet wants information, not an interplanetary incident. Captain Spock takes command of the Enterprise as Kirk, Sulu, Captain Scott, and Lukas depart the starship for Zantak Prime (chief crossroads-planet in the sector) aboard a vessel bearing Nilaran identification, with the Enterprise holding position for the moment. Kirk's vessel enters orbit around Zantak Prime, with the landing party disguised as settlers, and the group enters the largest city planetside. There, they learn that every Klingon colony in the sector has suddenly failed, including the most recent one on Omega Proxani II, ordered closed down by the Empire after a mutiny. Sulu discovers that exiled Klingon settlers are seeking difficult-to-find Federation equipment, and cultivates a potential contact. While investigating a large warehouse full of merchandise, Kirk encounters a mysterious woman, a strange little man, and an alien statue, and Scotty discovers a massive weapons shipment. Aboard the Enterprise-A, a priority signal is received from Admiral Chu at Starfleet, who reveals that the Klingon Empire is prepared to make an example of the mutinous colonists in the sector &mdash; and that a large task force is on the way. However, the Enterprise is ordered to keep her distance and not get caught in a crossfire...while the undercover team's mission is far too important to risk any type of extraction. Captain Spock, however, prepares alternate plans.


 * Stardate 8688.8: With the Enterprise-A making ready to extract Captain Kirk's team from Zantak Prime, the landing party tracks a mysterious little man (encountered by Kirk hours earlier), and runs into Orana Dellamonica, the woman from the warehouse, and a stage magician &mdash; who "steals" the captain's communicator, but returns it. Captain Sulu tracks the little man to a salvage facility on the edge of Zantak City, where Kirk's group intervenes during a transaction gone badly, saving Nolli's life while attempting to sell the alien statue. Later, Kirk is attacked while attempting to gain information from Ms. Della Monica...by Nolli, who reveals himself to be a Starfleet Intelligence operative (holding captain rank), and a former classmate of Kirk's at the Academy. Nolli, attempting expedite the sale of the artifact to the disgruntled Klingons on Starfleet's orders, tells Kirk to stay out of his way. Captain Kirk's landing party departs Zantak Prime aboard the Nilaran vessel to rendezvous with the Enterprise-A when a distress signal is picked up from Orana's ship. A tractor beam is locked on for towing, when a warp core overload is detected &mdash; with only seconds to spare, Scotty beams aboard both Orana and her cargo, with the Nilaran ship entering warp just as the ship explodes. Kirk sends a prearranged signal to the Enterprise informing them to maintain their cover identities, and the Nilaran vessel is taken aboard the starship's hangar deck. In an Enterprise conference room, Nolli's Starfleet history is investigated by the senior command staff, when Orana reveals that the alien artifact was intended to help bring down the entire Klingon Empire. Suddenly, Admiral Whitehawk of Starfleet Command interrupts with a transmission &mdash; Captain Nolli went rogue months ago, and is attempting to start a war with the Klingon Empire.


 * Stardate 8691.2: Aboard the Enterprise-A, Orana's cargo is revealed to contain the alien statue sought on Zantak Prime &mdash; the tIq'a' (the "Ultimate Heart"), the most sacred artifact in Klingon theology, supposedly containing bone and hair fragments of Kahless the Unforgettable, and recently stolen from Boreth Monastery on Qo'noS. Commander Uhura sends out a message indicating a false sighting of the artifact in Zantak City, which is intercepted by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey commanded by Commodore Khezri, and a team lead by Captain Sulu returns planetside to await movement into the trap. There, Sulu meets with his previous Klingon contact, who confirms that the artifact was indeed to have been delivered as a means of bringing down the Klingon government by the dissidents. With Captain Nolli's cover destroyed, and havoc breaking loose as each party attempts to vie for the artifact, Khezri's Bird-of-Prey enters orbit and opens fire on one of the alien buyers' vessels, with a landing force beaming down into the city. There, the artifact is finally returned to Klingon custody, and Captain Nolli is remanded to the Enterprise-A's brig to await court martial proceedings. Captain Sulu and Lieutenant Commander Lukas return via shuttlecraft to the USS Excelsior, and Orana Dellamonica is likewise beamed off the starship.


 * At some point between this story and the novel The Captain's Table: War Dragons, Commander Pavel Chekov accepts the position of First Officer aboard the USS Excelsior, under Captain Hikaru Sulu.


 * Stardate 8730.1: Upon completion of a mission in a sector neighboring Deep Space 3, Rear Admiral Hajima Shoji of Starfleet Command reroutes the Enterprise-A to rendezvous with the USS Excelsior near the Klingon Neutral Zone, following an attack upon the Federation starbase by Anjiri and Nykkus forces. Arriving upon the scene right as the Excelsior is under attack, Captain Kirk orders the launching of the Enterprise's largest cargo shuttle (the Jocelyn Bell) to ferry over a team of engineering and repair equipment to the damaged starship. Following the repairs, the Enterprise-A tows the Excelsior twenty parsecs into Federation space, with Captain Sulu commandeering the Jocelyn Bell on a trip to the Anjiri/Nykkus homeworld, and with Commander Janice Rand temporarily replacing Commander Uhura aboard the Enterprise. The Enterprise proceeds to the planet, in the Alpha Gaudianus system.


 * Stardate Unknown: En route to Alpha Gaudianus, the Enterprise-A intercepts a stolen Starfleet FL-70 reconnaissance shuttle and rescues Commander Chekov from Nykkus/Anjiri imprisonment, taken hostage during the battle at Deep Space 3. Arriving at Kreth at warp three, the Enterprise discovers a Klingon research base under attack by Nykkus forces attempting to steal replicator technology, using Starfleet assault shuttles. With the starship suffering significant crew casualties during the battle, and with reduced weapons capability, Captain Kirk leads a boarding party onto the Kreth station to rescue Klingon survivors trapped there. After rendezvousing with seven survivors, Kirk and Chekov are captured by renegade male Nykkus (the Raask) while attempting to lower the station's deflector shields for emergency beamout. Bluffing their captors, the Starfleet officers manage to lower the shields, and are beamed aboard the Enterprise-A along with the Klingon survivors. Uhura, Captain Sulu, and the Jocelyn Bell arrive at Kreth simultaneously with two Klingon battlecruisers (commanded by Captain Koloth), who holds the Nykkus renegades, not the Federation, responsible for the attack, and demands the males' execution. However, Captain Kirk, Spock, and Chekov beam over to Koloth's cruiser, where a pod of Anjiri females are allowed "justice" &mdash; battling the male Nykkus to the death. The surviving Raask are beamed over to the Enterprise and placed under guard, and the starship is permitted to depart Klingon space, with Commander Chekov returning to his post as Enterprise-A security chief (resigning his executive officer position aboard the Excelsior).

2291

 * Stardate 8812.1: With sightings of a rumored new class of Romulan vessel possessing a nearly-perfect cloaking device, the Enterprise-A is ordered to rendezvous with the starships USS Endeavour (NCC-1895) and USS Copernicus (NCC-640) at Starbase 40, in order to conduct simulated maneuvers intended to counteract such a device. Suddenly, the starship is hit by a narrow-focus energy beam, causing a deflector grid overload. After lowering shields, the starship is boarded by Gary Seven, who urgently warns of a danger to Captain Spock, but who is abruptly seemingly killed by yet another alien intruder, who teleports away with Spock. In Main Engineering, Mr. Scott and Lt. Saavik reveal the presence of triolic energy in the alien intruder's signature, indicating a lifeform never before encountered. Elsewhere, Spock finds himself imprisoned on an unknown world with General Tellius, a Romulan from the 22nd Century, and primary negotiator of the Treaty of Algeron. Aboard the Enterprise-A, another intruder appears on the bridge &mdash; Exana, an intervention specialist with the Aegis. An alien race preying upon neural energies throughout history was stopped by a Starfleet team from a future era, resulting in the survivors attempting to prevent the Federation's existence by removing key figures from the timeline &mdash; including Spock. On the unknown world, another historical figure materializes &mdash; Capt. John Harriman, of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B), taken from the year 2311, followed by Lt. Commander Data of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). The Enterprise-A sets course for the Devidian system, as the temporally-displaced captives agree to join forces against their common foe...


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A enters orbit around Devidia IV, and a landing party under Captain Kirk beams down to the planet, where Exana opens a temporal portal within a cave network, and the team passes through. En route, the Enterprise-A crew detects the temporal signatures of an away team from the Enterprise-D, nearly eighty years in the future, when they discover the bubble imprisoning Captain Spock, Lt. Commander Data, and the rest of the captives. Suddenly, Kirk's group is attacked by Devidians, with Pavel Chekov hit by enemy fire. However, the group is saved by the intervention of the Enterprise-D force, although neither group fully perceives the other. Exana collapses the bubble and erases the memories of all involved to preserve the timeline, then sends the various captives back to their original eras. Just then, beings representing the Aegis arrive, who acknowledge Exana and Gary Seven's correct actions, and restore Seven to life, returning the crews to their respective vessels. Back in the 23rd Century, the Enterprise-A resumes its course to Starbase 40.


 * Stardate 9121.4: The Enterprise-A pursues a Torye ship, which attacked the Discovery Center and stole a subspace-compression weapon. When the Torye transfer the weapon aboard a Klingon mobile battle base, the Enterprise-A joins forces with Captain Kang, commanding the IKS K'tanco, to stop them.


 * Stardate 9484.1: Departing from Earth's solar system, the Enterprise-A conducts a training cruise, supervised by Lieutenant Saavik, carrying aboard fourteen third-year Starfleet Academy cadets, including Ensign Valeris. During the voyage, Valeris manages to insult and alienate many aboard the starship with Vulcan rhetoric, including the biracial Lt. Saavik, as well as expressions of belief in Vulcan "superiority" to other species. Receiving a distress call from the science vessel USS Tinian, Captain Kirk orders an intercept course set for the stricken starship. Taking over a shuttlecraft, a boarding party under the command of Saavik docks with full radiation gear, with Ensign Valeris participating as her first "trial by fire." Discovering that the manual hull separation mechanisms have deliberately been taken offline, Saavik disobeys orders and restores matter-antimatter balance in the warp engines, and saves the starship. Later, privately, Valeris confides to Saavik her disapproval of not only her actions, but of the Federation itself &mdash; and her racial notions that Vulcans alone should lead the U.F.P., not humanity. Yet, Saavik elects to give Valeris a satisfactory performance evaluation. Upon returning to Earth, Saavik departs the Enterprise-A as a crewmember, despite an impending promotion to chief science officer, citing rising tensions both within the Federation and with the Klingon Empire, and her belief in Valeris's better suitability to such an era.


 * Stardate Unknown: Following the completion of the cadet training cruise, the Enterprise-A is assigned to patrol Sector 001 (near local Earth space) for the foreseeable future by Starfleet Command.

2292

 * Stardate 9498.3: The Enterprise-A responds to a distress signal from the USS Feynman, crashlanded onto an asteroid while conducting a survey of "black smoker" vents there. Piloting a modified shuttlecraft, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and Commander Chekov rescue the captain's nephew Peter Kirk from a hostile alien species on the asteroid. One month later, the Enterprise returns to Earth, where Captain Kirk meets his nephew at the gravesite of George Samuel and Aurelan Kirk.

2293

 * Stardate 9521.6: Following the destruction of the orbiting Klingon moon of Praxis and the near-complete collapse of the Klingon economy, the Enterprise-A is tasked with escorting Klingon chancellor Gorkon to Earth for peace talks aimed at ending nearly seventy years of unrelenting hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. Rendezvousing with the flagship Kronos One, a dinner party reception is hosted aboard the Enterprise. Not long afterward, the chancellor is assassinated by two shooters beaming over from the Enterprise, and Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy surrender into Klingon custody after failing to resuscitate the dying chancellor aboard the flagship. Ignoring Starfleet orders to return to Spacedock, Captain Spock begins a shipwide search for evidence to exonerate the captain and the doctor, while the latter stand trial on the Klingon homeworld for the alleged crime. Convicted and sentenced to the penal mining asteroid of Rura Penthe, Kirk and McCoy attempt an escape, with the Enterprise-A beaming the pair up narrowly in time to avoid death. Discovering that new helmsman Lieutenant Valeris is a key participant in the conspiracy, the starship heads toward Camp Khitomer at high warp, and there engages in battle with a Klingon bird-of-prey capable of firing while cloaked. Destroying the enemy ship with the aid of the USS Excelsior (NCC-2000), Kirk and members of both crews then play a key role in preventing the assassination of Federation President Ra-ghoratreii down on the planet, and ending the conspiracy. Afterward, the Enterprise-A receives orders to put back into Earth Spacedock for decommissioning, and the ship sets final sail for home.


 * Stardate Unknown: Very shortly after setting off on its farewell cruise back to Earth Spacedock following the battle over Khitomer, the Enterprise-A intercepts a "panic channel" emergency distress call from the starship USS Bill of Rights, and is then forced to flee at warp nine from an antiproton flushback hyperwave emanating from the nearby Faramond system. Entering the system on silent running, the starship discovers the immobilized Bill of Rights in orbit around the only habitable planet, having triggered the antiproton flushback earlier. Hailing the planet, the ship contacts Roy Moss, a nemesis of Captain Kirk's from forty-five years earlier, who forces the captain to take a shuttlecraft down to Faramond's surface, accompanied by Captain Spock and Dr. McCoy. There, they discover a massive, long-distance transporter device constructed by an ancient race, with Roy Moss intending to teleport the Bill of Rights and her entire crew all the way back to Earth, thereby earning vindication for previous failures. However, after activating the device, (whose crucial components disappeared 100,000 years ago) the entire planet begins destroying itself. Overcoming Moss, Kirk and company are beamed aboard the orbiting Bill of Rights, and the Enterprise-A helps to restore the other starship's power just as the planet explodes. Afterward, Federation President Ra-ghoratreii announces a reversal of Starfleet's decision to decommission the Constitution-class of starships, as well as an official "reprieve" to the Enterprise's senior command crew's impending retirement.


 * Stardate Unknown: With the starship Enterprise in transit back to Earth Spacedock after the incident at Faramond, Captain Spock and Dr. McCoy each begin manifesting unusual psychological symptoms stemming from recent events &mdash; McCoy, locking himself in his quarters and recreating frigid Rura Penthe, and Spock, hearing a mysterious young girl's voice singing the children's song, "Ring Around the Rosie." A Vulcan mind-meld between the doctor and Spock finally manages to resolve the instability (the young girl representing memories of Joanna McCoy), with each one still harboring leftover residual traces of the other, following the transfer of Spock's katra back in 2285. (SS TOS (All Fall Down))


 * Stardate Unknown: One month following the Khitomer conference, the Enteprise-A is assigned to patrol the Klingon Neutral Zone, in response to mounting raider attacks along the Federation/Klingon border. The starship responds to one such attack, occurring at the Tellarite colony world of Patelva, where nearly the entire population (including helpless women and children) are massacred by renegade Klingon forces. While assisting planetside with emergency relief personnel from the starship, Captain Spock receives word that his mother, Amanda Grayson, is dying on Reyerson's disease, and departs in a shuttlecraft for Starbase 11, and from there back to Vulcan.


 * Stardate Unknown: Relieved of emergency duty at Patelva by the arrival of a Starfleet hospital ship, the Enterprise-A puts in at the primary orbital Vulcan spacedock for structural hull repairs following the battle over Khitomer, Chief Engineer Scott having effected as many internal repairs as possible during the previous month without drydocking. Dr. McCoy beams down to the planet from the starship and treats Amanda Grayson's medical condition, confirming mere days remaining of life. Later, the command staff of the Enterprise attend funeral services for Ambassador Sarek's wife atop Mount Seleya.


 * Stardate 9544.6: After consulting with Ambassador Sarek regarding the possibility of Romulan espionage, Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise-A to Sector 53.16 (the Freelan system), located within the Romulan Neutral Zone, at warp six, the starship now fully repaired. However, Vice Admiral Burton of Starfleet Security reroutes the ship to the Klingon Neutral Zone to investigate the kidnapping of Peter Kirk, nephew of James T. Kirk; the vessel placed at the disposal of Ambassador Sarek, onboard the ship. Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy take the shuttlecraft Kepler from the Enterprise-A to Qo'noS in an attempt to covertly extract Kirk's nephew from the planetside compound of Klingon Ambassador Kamarag. Sustaining heavy damage while traversing the planetary debris-ring of the remains of the Praxis moon, the shuttle crashlands on Qo'noS. Kirk's team later encounters the escaping Peter Kirk, and the group steals a Klingon shuttle following a battle with Kamarag's private army and rendezvouses with the Enterprise. Aboard the starship, plans are made to intercept the cloaked Klingon fleet now approaching the UFP border, its commanders corrupted by Romulan telepathy into starting a war. Sarek and Spock uncover evidence of treachery aboard a Romulan bird-of-prey, the ambassador defeating its commander in a physical contest &mdash; the trio are then beamed back aboard the Enterprise-A with the evidence just as Kamarag's fleet emerges from the Neutral Zone. Engaging in battle against four K't'inga-class battlecruisers and six Birds-of-Prey, the Enterprise is aided by the Romulan ship, with Kirk entreating the renegade commanders to stand down. One Klingon ship does so, joining with the Enterprise, but all still appears lost until a massive Klingon fleet &mdash; dispatched by Chancellor Azetbur and commanded by General Korrd &mdash; arrives to the rescue, scattering the renegades. The Enterprise-A arrives at the planet Freelan, beaming aboard a number of Vulcan captives from Romulan custody. Following this, the starship returns to Earth, where many of the senior command crew participate in Peter Kirk's final Kobayashi Maru test at Starfleet Academy in San Francisco.


 * Stardate Unknown: Following debriefing at Earth in the aftermath of the Freelan incident, the Enterprise-A transports the rescued Vulcan captives from Freelan back to their native world.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A puts in at the watery resort world of Pacifica in order for the crew (including Captain Kirk and his bridge staff) to take shore leave. While there, Starfleet Command issues new orders relieving the starship from active duty, and reassigning it to special duty with the Federation Diplomatic Corps, under the direction of Ambassador Sarek, who boards the Enterprise and informs Kirk of his new mission &mdash; to extract a pair of Romulan dissidents vital to the cause of Vulcan/Romulan reunification.


 * Stardate Unknown: After the departure of Sarek for Camp Khitomer, the Enterprise-A arrives in Earth orbit (after taking on 42 new crew members at Pacifica), where Spock's young niece Teska beams aboard from San Francisco, to be bonded with a young Romulan dissident in the Vulcan koon-ut-la ceremony. Additionally, a Rigelian delegation is taken aboard, to be returned to their homeworld of Rigel V en route to the starship's rendezvous with the Romulans. During the Enterprise's voyage to Rigel V, the starship operates at one-fourth of its typical crew strength, with no extra personnel available except for Bridge, Engineering, and Life Support officers.


 * Stardate Unknown: The Enterprise-A arrives at Rigel V, where a landing party under Captain Kirk beams down to one of the major cities in order to grant Teska some ground relaxation time prior to continuing on to Vulcan. However, Rigelian Ambassador Denker is murdered, with Teska mind-melding with the ambassador during his final moments. With Teska under confinement as a witness, Kirk beams aboard the Enterprise, where he consults with Ambassador Sarek, and diverts the starship to rendezvous with Romulan Senator Pardek in the Duparre Asteroid Belt. On Rigel V, Spock and Teska testify at an inquest, where a near-riot erupts after the murderer is identified by Teska—Madame Vitra, one of the Rigelian passengers earlier. Later, Spock and Teska are attacked by assailants, with Spock injured and saved by his niece. The Enterprise-A arrives at the Duparre Asteroid Belt at warp five, where a Romulan beacon signal is detected some 50,000 kilometers in &mdash; Captain Kirk commandeers the shuttlecraft Vespucci with Commander Chekov, where the probe is taken aboard containing a ransom demand for Hasmek, Teska's betrothed. The Enterprise heads for the planet Yquitra in the Tarquolese system, an Orion colony, where the captain and a security team beam down to a domed city &mdash; and encounter Senator Pardek and Hasmek. The group is beamed back to the Enterprise, while on Rigel V, Teska hijacks a shuttle belonging to the assailants. The Enterprise-A makes orbit over the planet, but cannot lock onto the two Vulcans' transporter signals. Kirk beams down with a security force, but the group is forced to retreat back to the starship by the assailants, where the captain assembles an even larger force, this time overwhelming the attackers. Spock and Teska are rescued, with the pair taking a shuttle from the Enterprise to Vulcan to complete the ceremony, while the Enterprise-A docks at Earth with its manifest of captives.


 * Stardate 9585.9: While temporarily under the command of Commander Pavel Chekov, the Enterprise-A and the USS Ranger become ensnared in the throat of the Janus Prime Vortex, a subspace whirlpool which exists in both Federation and Tholian spaces simultaneously. Undergoing a warp core breach, the Enterprise issues a distress call that is answered by Captain Sulu and the USS Excelsior (NCC-2000), but during the rescue, Sulu's starship gets transposed into the Mirror Universe.


 * Stardate 9587.2: The Enterprise-A is ordered to Starbase 12 by Commodore Montoya in response to the deteriorating political situation on Alpha Gederix IV (also known as Ssan), where Captain Kirk and his senior staff are tasked with preventing a civil war. The starship rendezvouses with the USS Potemkin (NCC-1657), and takes aboard one of the Federation's premiere diplomatic teams &mdash; Clay and Jocelyn Treadway (Dr. McCoy's ex-wife), and sets course for Alpha Gederix IV. Following an unsuccessful meeting with the surviving planetary master governors, Chief Engineer Scott discovers the hidden location of the Ssani assassin-cult's main hideout, and a landing party under Captain Kirk and the Treadways beam down to the site. The landing party is then immediately attacked by Ssani assassins, resulting in the death of a Security officer and the capture of Jocelyn Treadway, and with Captain Kirk stranded planetside after Spock and Clay Treadway are beamed aboard the Enterprise. Onboard the starship, Captain Spock assumes command and enacts a full subspace communications blackout, to prevent enemy transmission-monitoring. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Clay Treadway beam back down to Ssan in an attempt to rescue the captain and Jocelyn Treadway, battling their way through the assassins' icy underground compound. Intercepted by the High Assassin, Shil Andrachis (whom McCoy encountered some forty years earlier), an attempt at diplomatic discussions erupts in bloodshed, resulting in the deaths of Jocelyn Treadway and Andrachis. With Andrachis now dead, the Ssan civil war ends, and the Enterprise-A returns to Earth.
 * Stardate 9523.1: The Enterprise-A is ordered to be decommissioned by Admiral Androvar Drake, and is scheduled to be destroyed in a Starfleet live-fire exercise. However, the government of Chal requests that they be given the Enterprise to use in their system defense forces. When Chal's population takes control of the vessel, they retrofit the ship with Klingon disruptors and sensors, replacing the previous classified Starfleet technology stripped out of the vessel. Retired Captain James T. Kirk is appointed commanding officer of the starship, which is renamed Enterprise (without a registry or registry prefix) as it makes way for Chal, while Captain Scott also returns to duty as its chief engineer. When a Starfleet investigation into Chal's past reveals that Drake is attempting to steal lost genetic engineering secrets hidden on Chal by the colony founders, a showdown occurs in the system. The rest of the former Enterprise crew arrive at Chal aboard Hikaru Sulu's USS Excelsior (NCC-2000), and the Enterprise-A is destroyed in the corona of one of Chal's binary stars while defending the Excelsior from Klingon battle cruisers under the direction of Admiral Drake, who attempts to travel back in time and kill Kirk.

2369
In 2369, Montgomery Scott visited the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A at the Starfleet Museum at Starbase 122. 
 * The comic disregards the destruction of the Enterprise-A in .

Undated missions



 * Stardate Unknown: Accompanied by an Excelsior-class battleship in the Sigma Draconis star system, the Enterprise-A is ambushed by a trio of Klingon D7-class battlecruisers, who remained hidden to sensors at high warp near the sun. The cruisers break formation and drop out of warp, but the Starfleet vessels react far too swiftly for the Klingons, achieving weapons-lock almost instantly. The Battle of Sigma Draconis is over in 3.2 seconds, without a single shot being fired (Reference book: Ships of the Line).




 * Stardate Unknown: The USS Enterprise-A leads a Starfleet task force against an unnamed enemy in an unknown star system in the late 23rd century consisting of two John Glenn-type cruisers (including the USS John Glenn (NCC-2707) and the NCC-2001), two Sun Tzu-type starships (including the USS Sun Tzu (NCC-2530) and an unidentified sister ship), two Valley Forge-type ships (including the USS Valley Forge (NCC-1778-A) and the NCC-1878-A), and an unidentified Starfleet vessel of unknown class (Ships of the Line 2011 Calendar)

Alternate timeline
In an alternate timeline created when Yeoman J. Mia Colt was sent forward in time from 2254 to 2293, Captain Christopher Pike remained in command of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) until it was decommissioned, after which it became a popular attraction at the San Francisco Smithsonian Museum of Air, Sea and Space. He was then placed in command of the Enterprise-A. As of 2293, his senior staff included his first officer and science officer Spock, the chief medical officer Gabrielle Carlotti, the chief engineer Moves-With-Burning-Grace, the helmsman Hikaru Sulu, the navigator José Tyler and the communications officer Nyota Uhura while Saavik was a junior science officer.

In 2293, the Enterprise was destroyed when Pike activated its self-destruct sequence in orbit of Argol II after it had been severely damaged by a Klingon bird-of-prey commanded by General and three Klingon battle cruisers. As the Enterprise-A was destroyed, Colt entered the Well of Tomorrows on Argol II and was returned to 2254, thereby restoring the proper timeline. 

Senior staff

 * Commanding officer: Captain James T. Kirk (2286-2293)
 * First officer and science officer: Captain Spock (2290-2293, first officer; 2286-2293, science officer)
 * First officer: Commander Hikaru Sulu (2286-2289)
 * Chief medical officer: Commander Leonard McCoy (2286-2293)
 * Chief engineer: Captain Montgomery Scott (2286-2293)
 * Helmsman:
 * Commander Hikaru Sulu (2286-2289)
 * Lieutenant Saavik (2290-2291)
 * Lieutenant Valeris (2293)
 * Navigator and security chief/tactical officer: Commander Pavel Chekov (2286-2293)
 * Communications officer: Commander Nyota Uhura (2286-2293)

Crew manifest

 * See USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) personnel and USS Enterprise'' (NCC-1701-A) personnel roster