Double Bluff

Double Bluff is a Star Trek: The Original Series comic strip. It is the fourth story in the US Comic Strips series, published by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. The story was set after, depicting events from Captain Kirk's second five-year mission aboard the refurbished USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). In this story, Kirk grants diplomatic asylum to two civilian Klingon fugitives.

Summary

 * Captain's Log: Stardate 7541.1.
 * We are in orbit about the planet Telos, making a careful survey to determine its suitability as a relocation site for a colony threatened by collision with a massive asteroid.


 * Captain's Log: Stardate 7541.1.
 * We are in orbit about the planet Telos, on a routine survey mission…

Two days before their survey mission was to end, Uhura reported an old, fusion-powered, Vegan commercial flyer approaching on a collision course. Unable to contact the pilots, Chekov locked a tractor beam onto the ship, which started to break up. Rand beamed up the crew: Morg and his sister Chetar, civilian Klingons who requested sanctuary. Chetar said they'd spoken out against their government and been sentenced to death for it, but doubted if Kirk would accept them, as she’d heard about Federation death camps and mind control. Kirk granted them immunity, gave them quarters, and said he’d take them to the nearest starbase where they could make a formal request for asylum.

Cautious, Kirk had the Vegan flyer examined by a bomb squad in thruster suits, then brought into the hangar bay for repairs. Scotty said it was scrap that required disinfecting, but worked to get it spaceworthy. McCoy gave the two Klingons a standard medical check, reporting them “fit as Georgia mules. And twice as ornery!”

The presence of the two Klingons generated some negativity among the crew, what Spock called “friction.” Morg picked a fight with Chekov, which led to an exchange of blows. Chekov dazed Morg and won the fight, but ended up with a black eye. Security took Morg to Chapel in sickbay.

A K't'inga class Klingon battlecruiser approached at warp 9. Hearing the red alert, Morg fled sickbay and rushed to the bridge, warning Kirk he had to run away or be killed. On the viewer, Captain Tunzos of the Rakor said he was looking for two escaped criminals, and Kirk replied they were under his protection. Tunzos thoughtfully replied that he’d been ordered “to return with them at any cost.”

After discussing the lack of information about K't'inga class ships with Spock, Kirk suggested Tunzos pursue diplomatic methods to extradite the fugitives. Tunzos fired a torpedo in reply. Chekov fired a similar warning shot. Tunzos brought his ship beam on to the Enterprise and threatened to open fire in one hour unless the fugitives were released, destroying both ships.

Meanwhile, frustrated by their experiences on the ship, Morg and Chetar reconsidered life in the Federation and told Kirk they'd chosen to flee in their ship. Morg suggested the Enterprise block the battlecruiser’s line of sight to provide an escape route. Before leaving, Morg said, “I’ve never said this to anyone before, but thank you for believing in us,” and Chetar kissed Kirk on the cheek. Kirk added a distraction to the tactics, telling Tunzos that his two fugitives were not aboard two high-speed travel pods launching in opposite directions from the Enterprise. Tunzos destroyed the pods, and told Kirk they’d meet again someday.

Inspecting Chekov’s black eye, Kirk asked, “How did we do?” Chekov replied, “Starfleet honor is… intact, sir.”

Characters

 * James T. Kirk • Spock • Leonard McCoy • Christine Chapel • Montgomery Scott • Janice Rand • Pavel Chekov • Morg • Chetar • Tunzos • Thobo • Guindon Hikaru Sulu

Starships and vehicles

 * USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) • K't'inga_class Klingon Battlecruiser Rakor • Vegan Tripper Class commercial flyer

Locations

 * Telos

Races and cultures

 * Human • Klingon

Science and technology

 * linguacode • fusion power • maneuvering thrusters • tractor beam • 2150 • asteroid impact • magnetic tow • thruster suits • hypo • deflector plates • flow sensors • travel pod • docking port

Other references

 * yellow alert • Three-dimensional chess • bomb squad • Denebian slime devil • garbage scow

Related stories

 * - Described the starship refit, crew changes, and technology updates that occurred prior to the events of this story, and introduced K't'inga class Klingon battlecruisers.
 * - Described similar awareness by Klingons of propaganda stories as Chetar mentioned, about Federation death camps.

Information

 * This is the fourth of 20 story arcs set after the events of, and is set during Captain Kirk's second five-year mission aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).


 * This story arc was not printed with a title. The title was provided from Warkentin's original script by his widow, Rosie Warkentin Ford, for the story's reprinting in The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1..


 * As Rakor approached the Enterprise, an officer reported, “That’s one of their new Constitution Class II heavy cruisers. We don’t know its strength.”


 * Rakor’s sensors, or the crew manning those sensors, performed poorly in this story. A sublight flyer flew away from Rakor, escaping detection because the Enterprise blocked its line of sight. Rakor did not detect Klingons aboard the Enterprise. They either did not bother to scan the two travel pods before destroying them, or their scans were unable to reveal that no Klingons were aboard.


 * Extinction-level events appear “routine” in this area of space. In addition to the asteroid collision mentioned at the beginning of this story, for which the ship’s survey mission to relocate inhabitants was called “routine,” a planetary collision was observed from 400,000 kilometers away in the next strip, Aberration on Abaris. Chronologically, two stories ago, The Expansionist Syndrome also featured an extinction-level event.