"Come Away, Child" is the second story in Waypoint, Issue 5, part of the Waypoint miniseries, published in May 2017 by IDW Publishing in honor of Star Trek's 50th anniversary. The story is set in the 2260s and focuses on the personnel of an isolated Federation research outpost.
Description[]
- We meet a young scientist at the very beginning of her career studying alien species, while respecting the Prime Directive. What could go wrong?
Summary[]
- Science officer's log, stardate 3328.3
- We've made a small detour from our course to deliver Ensign Herrada to a scientific outpost on Otari 2. The outpost is constructed to avoid detection by the natives, and crews only two.
Dr. Lewis, the outpost's director, is known for a somewhat obsessive interest in her research subjects. Whether or not Ensign Herrada is aware of this is unknown.
After two weeks in the Otari II outpost, Herrada has been unable to connect personally with Lewis, but notes that she was constructing an intricate facial bust of a male Otarian with a detailed backstory, seemingly as a hobby. That night Lewis goes missing, and Herrada discovers the bust being worn as an Otarian disguise so Lewis can interact with her subjects in the nearby island village.
When Lewis returns, Herrada confronts her, warning about risks to the Prime Directive. But Lewis says she's just learned more about their culture than in one year's worth of study. A yearly mating festival lasts one more day, the only time a stranger could visit the village, so the two work together to prepare for another interaction.
Lewis's character then meets a group of Otarians. However, some mistake by the universal translator leads the group to think she is a spy, and she is assaulted. Herrada primes the phaser on their aquaprobe, but over their communications system Lewis begs her not to fire at the natives.
Lewis is killed, her body burned in a large fire, erasing evidence that she was not from the planet. She'd wanted so badly to make a personal connection with the natives that she'd risked the Prime Directive, a desire Herrada could relate to.
Log entries[]
- Personal log, Laura Herrada
References[]
Characters[]
- Harry • Laura Herrada • Ganira Lewis • Montgomery Scott • Spock
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • canoe
- Referenced only
- USS Bradbury
Locations[]
- Otari 2 (Otari II outpost)
- Referenced only
- Earth
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and technology[]
- aquaprobe • PADD • phaser • sensor • spear • stylus • telescope • transporter • tricorder • universal translator • viewscreen
Ranks and titles[]
- artist • chief • commander • director • doctor • ensign • exobiologist • spy • trader • warrior • xenoanthropologist
Other references[]
- air • assignment patch • bone • communication • day • ecosystem • evolution • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • festival • fire • fish • gene • hour • ice age • island • language • log • log entry • month • ocean • orbit • outpost • personal log • personal log, Laura Herrada • Prime Directive • rank • science • science officer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) • snow • Starfleet ranks • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • transporter room • tribe • year
Chronology[]
- 10 million years ago
- Otarians evolved from an aquatic species that breathed air.
- 100,000 years ago - 12,000 years ago
- Era of the most recent ice age on Earth.
- 2261
- Ganira Lewis began studying the Otarians; Otari II outpost established.
- 2267 (stardate 3328.3)
- USS Enterprise orbited Otari II to deliver Laura Herrada and pick up Harry.
- 2267 (stardate 3358.8)
- Otari II outpost shut down following the death of Ganira Lewis.
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TOS comic: "Mission's End" – The Archernar IV contact station prepared for first contact with the Archernarians in the 2260s.
- TNG movie: Insurrection – Data exposed a hidden research outpost on Ba'ku to the native inhabitants in 2375.
Background[]
- The story's title echoed the refrain of "The Stolen Child", a poem written by W.B. Yeats in 1889. (The Stolen Child article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
- The story provided a rare look at the inner workings of a hidden 23rd century research outpost studying indigenous intelligent species.
Images[]
Connections[]
| Star Trek: Waypoint Comics |
| #1 ("Puzzles" & "Daylily") • #2 ("The Menace of the Mechanitrons" & "Legacy") • #3 ("The Wildman Maneuver" & "Mother's Walk") • #4 ("The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty" & "Mirror, Mirror, Mirror, Mirror") • #5 ("Frontier Doctor" & "Come Away, Child") • #6 ("The Rebound Effect" & "The Fear") • Special ("Only You Can Save Yourself" & "Consider Eternity" & "My Human is Not" & "Histories") • Special 2019 ("Hearts & Bones" & "Unfathom" & "The Swift Spoke" & "The First Year") |
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: Frontier Doctor |
Waypoint | Next comic: The Rebound Effect |
| Previous comic: Boldly Go, Issue 8 Boldly Go |
TOS comics | Next comic: Time Out of Joint New Visions |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: The Brain-Damaged Planet |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Death of a Star |
External links[]
- Come Away, Child article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Come Away, Child article at the FreakSugar blog.
- Come Away, Child article at the Adventures in Poor Taste blog.
- Come Away, Child article at the Rogues Portal blog.
- Come Away, Child article at TrekCore.