Lela Dax, a newly joined Trill woman and member of the Trill ruling council, defies her fellow legislators when an unknown alien vessel appears in orbit and refuses to leave.
Summary
Lela Dax has been called to the Trill space center, where she finds the scientists in an uproar. The cause is an alien ship that has arrived in orbit. While Trill made first contact with the Vulcans decades earlier, the arrival of any alien vessel is an unexpected event. Trill sends a message to the alien vessel to leave, but Lela is keen to find out the reason that the aliens have come to their world. Contact with the aliens is difficult, and just after Lela tries to talk with them, the aliens attack Trill and steal acelon from a processing centre. Lela asks for information on the aliens from T'Pau of Vulcan.
References
Characters
- Lela Dax • Lytus • Darzen Odan • Sitlas • T'Pau
- Referenced only
- Zefram Cochrane • Dax
Starships and vehicles
- L'Dira starship
- Referenced only
- Phoenix • T'Plana-Hath
Locations
- Caves of Mak'ala • Trill
- Referenced only
- Earth • Vulcan
Races and cultures
- L'Dira • Trill • Trill symbiont • Vulcan
- Referenced only
- Human
States and organizations
- Guardians of the Caves of Mak'ala • Symbiosis Evaluation Board • Trill Council • Trill Diplomatic Corps • Trill Spaceflight Center
Other references
- acelon • first contact • holo • IDIC • planetary defense grid • Trill councillor • Vulcan emissary • Vulcan salute • World War III
Appendices
Background information
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch commented "I was working in a relatively uncharted part of Trek history. I didn't have much lore to go on, and we don't know a lot about Trill. So I made some things up, and I worried about that. I needn't have worried , I guess. Everything went through very well". (Star Trek: Communicator, issue #126, p. 60)
- In the story, T'Pau describes Vulcan's "most recent encounter" with a new race, clearly describing humans and the events of that first contact in 2063. It was left unclear exactly how "recent" this was, but given the repeated references to Lela's youth, it is reasonable to place this story fairly close to that event. The timeline in Voyages of Imagination gives the year as 2075.
Related stories
- "Facets" - Lela's position on the Council was established in the episode.
- "Amok Time" - T'Pau's first appearance.
- "The Host" (TNG episode)
- Star Trek: First Contact (movie)
External link
- First Steps article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
Connections
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: Second star to the right... |
The Lives of Dax
|
Next story: Dead Man's Hand |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: The Valiant Book Three |
Next Adventure: Federation 2078 | |
