Hathoz

Hathoz was a humanoid man. He was a Starfleet officer with the rank of commander who served as both science officer and executive officer of the USS Venture (Constitution class) in the 2270s.

History
Hathoz was an exceptional player of three-dimensional chess. He wrote a textbook publication on the subject called On the Spacial Limits of Tri-D Chess. But by 2274, he considered himself unbeatable and had given up the game.

In February 2274, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and USS Venture (Constitution class) were docked at the Hus-24 drydock for maintenance. Their senior officers dined together. Spock invited Hathoz to a game of 3-D chess. Hathoz turned him down but eventually agreed. Their game continued throughout the maintenance cycle, to Hathoz' surprise, ending in a stalemate.

As the two vessels were preparing to leave drydock, both crews were abducted to the surface of Hus-24 and put to slave labor. The male crew were forced to mine tritanium and were secured with thick metal collars and chains. James T. Kirk was given a two-hour ultimatum to unlock the helm of the Enterprise or some of his crew would be slaughtered. Hathoz came up with the first step in making their escape, by suggesting that his crewmate Lieutenant Tulb could slip out of his collar, thanks to his flexible skull. 


 * Hathoz' species was not named in the story. While his rank was unstated, rank stripes were visible in the comic strip published October 30, 1980.