Summary
Edit
- Chief medical officer's log, stardate 2258.247
- It's days like today that remind me just how much I hate my job sometimes.
McCoy is treating the husband of a female lieutenant, who asks what his prognosis is. McCoy tells her there are limited options for treating her husband's infection, which he contracted on an away mission on which he saved the lives of two fellow crew members. The lieutenant, who feels guilty because she convinced her husband to join her on active duty, asks what made McCoy want to join Starfleet.
In flashback, McCoy's father convinces young Len McCoy to explore the Mississippi woods. While looking at the moon, which he is surprised can be seen in the daytime, Len falls out of a tree and breaks his arm. McCoy's father makes a splint from a tree branch and his own torn shirt, telling Len that this should teach him to work with what he has when he is without medical technology. Later that day at his clinic, McCoy's father heals his son's arm with a bone regenerator.
Fifteen years later, now a med student at the University of Mississippi, McCoy introduces himself to Pamela Branch by telling her how to cure her ice cream headache. McCoy graduates first in his class, gets a prestigious pediatrics job and marries Pamela. Some time later, McCoy, whose marriage is failing, is devastated by losing a nine-year-old patient named Jenny to an incurable disease. Jenny had dreamed of being a Starfleet captain when she grew up, and on her deathbed told McCoy about the starship she would command. As McCoy gazes at the night sky, remembering Jenny's description of her bridge's wrap-around viewscreen, he is served with divorce papers.
Walking through the woods again with his father, McCoy tells him that he is thinking of starting over "somewhere far away". McCoy is concerned because his father is now a widower, but his father reassures him that "You'd be surprised how far that goes with the ladies." McCoy's father again reminds him to "always work with what you've got." Some time later, Cadet McCoy is forced out of the bathroom of the Starfleet Academy shuttle by a female officer.
McCoy finds new friends and colleagues at the Academy. He is eventually assigned to the USS Enterprise, where the lieutenant's husband's illness remains resistant to treatment. McCoy formulates an antidote from discoveries the Enterprise has made on its travels. With her husband conscious and recovering, the lieutenant again asks why McCoy joined Starfleet. McCoy tells her that "an old friend recommended it." Stepping onto the bridge, McCoy reflects, "The screen doesn't wrap all around the bridge, Jenny... but I think you'd still like it."
ReferencesEdit
CharactersEdit
- Pamela Branch • Jenny • Maggie • David Andrew McCoy • Leonard McCoy • Steven • Hikaru Sulu • unnamed Humans • unnamed Starfleet personnel
- Referenced only
- Eleanora McCoy
Starships and vehiclesEdit
LocationsEdit
- Earth • the galaxy • Golden Gate Bridge • Luna • Mississippi • unnamed planets
- Referenced only
- Helsinki • San Francisco • Sol
Races and culturesEdit
States and organizationsEdit
- Starfleet • Starfleet Academy
- Referenced only
- Ole Miss
Science and technologyEdit
Ranks and titlesEdit
Other referencesEdit
- Aldorian beer pong • aviaphobia • basketball • bathroom • bridge • Chief medical officer's log • clinic • day • divorce • ice cream • jump shot • moon • motion • planet • raccoon • serve • shorts • splint • stardate • tree • vacation • year
ChronologyEdit
AppendicesEdit
BackgroundEdit
- This is about Dr. McCoy.
Related storiesEdit
- TOS movie: Star Trek - This issue leads into the scene in the movie in which Doctor McCoy first appears.
ImagesEdit
Cover galleryEdit
ConnectionsEdit
| previous comic: Mirrored, Part 2 | The Original Series (IDW series) | next comic: IDW Star Trek, Issue 18 |
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External linkEdit
- IDW Star Trek, Issue 17 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
