Lieutenant Hurst was a Human man, an officer who served in Starfleet aboard the Federation starship USS Enterprise during the 2260s. Hurst has been in charge of landing party missions and was also an able pilot.
Biography[]
In 2266, Hurst was in charge of a mission to explore the surface of Crucial III. His team was forced to cut short their visit — Spock's analysis determined that the planet was about to self-destruct. Hurst and his party hurriedly boarded their space bug and returned, glad to have made it back safely. However, an alien pollen picked up from the planet contaminated their bloodstreams, and it began to drive them toward insanity. Hurst confronted James T. Kirk and Leonard McCoy, then led a mutiny. The group exiled Kirk and McCoy aboard the damaged Space Bug 7 with no communications equipment. Spock was able to distill an antidote into gas form, then sprayed it during negotiations with Hurst. As soon as he was cured, Hurst immediately headed out in Space Bug 4 to rescue Kirk and McCoy. (TOS comic: "The Crucial Element")
To investigate inexplicable life readings on the surface of a frozen planet, Kirk, Spock, Hurst and crewman Shafer beamed down in environmental suits rigged for extreme cold. The lifeform appeared to be a frail, old humanoid, but he was actually a timeless Guardian of the Future. Hurst and Shafer remained with the Guardian, while Kirk and Spock time traveled into an alternate reality future. (TOS short story: "Gateway to the Future")
Also in 2266, the Enterprise disabled an Agonite space eagle starship, rescued many captives, including Takku, and then resettled them on a class M planet. When overwhelming Agonite reinforcements arrived to challenge the USS Enterprise, Kirk called for a parley and traveled to the lead ship with Hurst aboard Pursuit 1. Agonite leader Roggaf explained that his people were security officers and that their prisoners had actually been convicted criminals. To undo his error in judgment, Kirk and Hurst traveled back to the planet where they left the criminals, then tricked them into surrendering their weapons. As Hurst stashed away their rifles, he told Kirk he'd hate to be a policeman. (TOS comic: "The Eagles Have Landed")
- In "The Eagles Have Landed", Hurst wore a sciences division shirt with lieutenant stripes, but was referred to as a crewman in "Gateway to the Future".
Appendices[]
Background[]
Hurst was the first Star Trek character created in licensed publications to appear three times, with his appearances being published in 1969 and 1970. He was also the first such character to cross over from comics to prose.
