The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty

"The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty"
Cover by Cat Staggs.
Attribution
Series:	Enterprise
Miniseries:	Waypoint No. 4
Writer(s):	Vivek J. Tiwary
Artist(s):	Hugo Petrus
Colorist(s):	Fran Gamboa
Letterer(s):	Andworld Designs
Editor(s):	Sarah Gaydos
Publication information
Publisher:	IDW Publishing
Published:	8 March 2017
Pages:	10
Printed in:	Waypoint, Issue 4
Omnibus:	Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 60
Chronology
Date:	December 2120; 2152

"The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty" is the 1st Enterprise comic, and was published by IDW Publishing as part of their Waypoint series.

Description

We are excited to feature the first Enterprise comic EVER! It's a sweet story of a boy and his time-traveling dog guaranteed to warm even the coldest of hearts.

Summary

In December 2120, the Archer family lives in upstate New York, but will soon be moving to San Francisco. Eight-year-old Jonathan Archer resolves to explore nearby Nacacijin Gorge in the Adirondack Mountains. His mother Sally Archer asks him to take his dog Maska, but Jonathan doesn't appreciate the pet and leaves him behind.

Halfway down the gorge, Archer is kicked from behind by a time traveling Suliban and tumbles onto an iced-over lake. As the Suliban dematerializes, the ice gives way. Archer plunges into the cold water, and the ice quickly reseals in the frigid temperatures.

Archer trapped underwater.

He bangs fruitlessly against the ice, then spots a beagle. The dog hits a tree branch repeatedly against the ice, and it shatters. The dog drags Archer out of the lake. He smiles gratefully at the dog. Suddenly the ice begins to crack under the dog, and Archer quickly snaps up the beagle before it can fall in. As he apologizes to the dog for leaving him home, Archer sees that it isn't Maska. The beagle then dematerializes.

The next morning, Archer wakes to tongue-licking from Maska, but now he welcomes it. He promises to bring his dog with him whenever he goes exploring.

Captain's log, Jonathan Archer of the starship Enterprise.

Crewman Daniels tells me he's a "temporal agent" – a kind of time traveler – and that factions in the Temporal Cold War have sent operatives back into my past to try to kill me before I have the chance to enroll in Starfleet.

Apparently, Daniels also sent another member of the Enterprise crew back in time to stop these operatives. Someone actually volunteered for the job, even with the knowledge that time travel is messy, and he or she might not make it back from the deep past. My deep past.

It's all pretty hard to believe. If it's true, though, I want to know who has that kind of loyalty.

Archer sits in his quarters, petting Porthos, and suddenly realizes who saved his life.

References

Characters

Henry Archer • Jonathan Archer • Sally Archer • Maska • Porthos • unnamed Suliban

Referenced only

Daniels

Starships and vehicles

SS Enterprise • replicas (biplane • Phoenix • Saturn V • Supermarine Spitfire)

Referenced only

Wright Flyer

Locations

Earth (Adirondack Mountains • Nacacijin Gorge • New York • Schenectady County)

Referenced only

San Francisco

Races and cultures

Human • Suliban

States and organizations

Starfleet

Science and classification

PADD • replica • time travel

Other references

beagle • branch • captain's log • chain • dog • ice • moon • mountain • nature preserve • pet • planet • snow • Temporal Cold War • tree • water

Appendices

Background

• The story is set in December 2120, when Jonathan Archer was eight years old, though a typo rendered it as 2020.
• The setting is a cabin in Schenectady County, New York, a real-world location. Nacacijin Gorge would be located in the Adirondack Mountains. The mountain range isn't cited by name, but it's the one which passes through that county.

Images

Cover image.

Cover art.

Jonathan Archer in 2120.

Henry Archer.

Sally Archer.

Adirondack Mountains.

Nacacijin Gorge.

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: The Wildman Maneuver Waypoint, Issue 3	Waypoint	Next comic: Mirror, Mirror, Mirror, Mirror Waypoint, Issue 4
chronological order
Previous adventure: Federation Part One, Chapter 13 & Part Two, Chapter 1	Memory Beta Chronology	Next adventure: A Girl for Every Star Strange New Worlds V
The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 2120. The Memory Beta Chronology places events from this story in 1 other timeframe(s):
Previous adventure: Not yet placed	2152 last page	Next adventure: Not yet placed