Judgment Day!

Comments

 * This story continues in the next issue.

Summary
''Captain's Log: Stardate 8904.6. On orders from Starfleet, we have escorted Ambassador Averill Stanton to Magellan's World, a minor frontier mining planet currently under jurisdictional dispute by both the Federation and the Klingon Empire—only to find ourselves smack in the middle of a war zone!''

With the destruction of the Federation Mining Operation, Doctor McCoy hurriedly tends to casualties—human and Klingon alike. McCoy notes that the body count would have been much higher if it had occurred at the height of the workday instead of after hours. Admiral Kirk notes that he's assigned Lieutenant Saavik to quietly investigate the cause of the explosion. Ambassador Stanton angrily accuses the Klingons of incompetence, which Captain Koloth vehemently denies. Mace Magellan soon arrives and intimidates Ambassador Stanton into ending his verbal tirade. However, Stanton bristles when Kirk leaves to meet with Saavik, futilely reminding the admiral that he's in charge.

Saavik reports that she and Lieutenant Commander Sulu have completed their preliminary investigation. Out of the Klingons' earshot, Saavik shows traces of Nitrox-4 on a fragment of the base's mining structure. Kirk doubts that the Klingons would resort to sabotage given their colony's achievements.

Ambassador Stanton meets with Alisa Ruthven, who boasts about "everything going preceisely as we intended." Stanton shows some reservation about being involved in such a scheme. Ruthven prods Stanton into re-committing to their cause by insulting his career. When Stanton leaves, Ruthven notes that she'll have no more use of the ambassador once the Klingons are off the planet.

''Captain's Log: Supplemental. Commander Montgomery Scott reporting. The Excelsior is maintaining standard orbit around Magellan's World as ordered, awaiting word from the landing party.''

After Scotty assures an impatient Ensign Nancy Bryce, Uhura reports receiving a garbled subspace signal on an obsolete Federation frequency before the signal is lost.

''Captain's Log: Stardate 8904.8. After some discussion, Doctor McCoy and I have decided to take steps to resolve the tense situation on Magellan's World before it can escalate into a war.''

Kirk and McCoy enter the Klingon mining camp to meet with Koloth. Koloth angrily tells the admiral that he has nothing to say to him before Kirk tells him that he doesn't believe the Klingons are guilty of the sabotage.

Regular Characters

 * Admiral James T. Kirk
 * Doctor Leonard H. McCoy
 * Commander Montgomery Scott
 * Lieutenant Commander Hikaru Sulu
 * Lieutenant Commander Nyota Uhura
 * Lieutenant Commander Pavel Chekov
 * Lieutenant Saavik

Guest Characters

 * Ensign Nancy Bryce
 * Ena
 * Captain Koloth
 * Koval
 * Mace Magellan
 * Lieutenant Maria Morelli
 * Alisa Ruthven
 * Ambassador Averill P. Stanton