"Tholian Web, Part 1" was the 46th issue of IDW Publishing's 2011 ongoing series of Star Trek comics, written by Mike Johnson. This was the first part of The Tholian Webs story arc, illustrated by Rachael Stott.
Summary[]
- Previously in Star Trek…
- The USS Enterprise is on a five-year mission of discovery into uncharted space. Following their encounter with the alien pirate Eurydice, the ship's stores of rare dilithium crystals have been filled and its warp drive repaired. Currently en route from deep in the Delta Quadrant, the Enterprise seeks to resume it exploration at the far edges of the Alpha Quadrant…
After acquiring new dilithium from the Dark Market, the Enterprise is able to resume course for Federation space. As Kirk requests a status report however, the Enterprise safety protocols automatically drop the ship out of warp. After engineering confirms the cause is not the black market dilithium, Spock demonstrates that certain parts of the bridge have become intangible. A phenomena scientifically known as interphase.
At a staff meeting, Scott and Spock explain interphasic space to the rest of the senior staff before a particularly irate Leonard McCoy storms out. In the halls, Kirk is attacked by O'Neill before Spock applies the Vulcan nerve pinch. As two science officers carry the crewman to sickbay, Kirk makes a general announcement and confines everyone to quarters between shifts for safety purposes. After finishing his speech, Hikaru Sulu briefly convluses before Spock calls Kirk to sickbay.
Arriving, Kirk finds McCoy has rendered himself unconscious. Spock then plays a recording that McCoy left who explains the Enterprise crew has succumbed to interphase psychosis, early symptoms of which are sudden pain and blurred vision. After urging Kirk to watch for and quarantine any crewmembers displaying such symptoms, McCoy notes the lack of affected non-humans leaving Spock as the Enterprise's best hope. With mounting horror, Kirk remembers Sulu's episode on the bridge as the ship goes to red alert.
As Kirk feared, Sulu has succumbed to the psychosis and taken over the bridge. Kirk attempts to use his security codes to retake the ship but finds he has been locked out but not by Sulu, by Scotty. Unfortunately, Scott has also succumbed and has decided to initiate a saucer separation sequence. Mathematically, the secondary hull has a better chance of escaping without having to compensate for the saucer.
As Spock and Kirk debate which hull should be secured first, the computer detects multiple unknown spacecrafts approaching. The crafts establish energy webs around the two hulls as Kirk realizes what happened. The Enterprise has fallen into an interstellar mousetrap, the interphase is meant to disorient crew then the aliens move in for the kill. As Spock notes however, if Kirk's theory is correct, their captors are advanced enough to be unaffected by interphase and thus more powerful than the Federation.
Log entries[]
References[]
Characters[]
- 0718 • Pavel Chekov • Keenser • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • O'Neill • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • unnamed USS Enterprise Kelvin timeline NCC-1701 personnel (USS Enterprise Kelvin timeline NCC-1701 personnel)
- Referenced only
- Eurydice
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • Tholian starship
Locations[]
- Referenced only
- Altair • Dark Market • Delta Quadrant
Shipboard areas[]
- bridge • briefing room • corridor • engineering • quarters • saucer section • secondary hull • sickbay
Races and cultures[]
Materials and substances[]
- alcohol • Altairian soup • atmosphere • Bourbon • crystal • dilithium • drink • food • lunch • molecule • soup
States and organizations[]
Technology and weapons[]
- communicator • computer • command chair • docking clamp • goggles • helm • hypospray • impulse drive • intercom • phaser • phaser (Kelvin timeline) • phaser pistol • pistol • spacecraft • starship • Tholian web • type-2 phaser • warp drive
Ranks and titles[]
- captain • chief engineer • chief medical officer • command division • commander • commanding officer • communications officer • conn • doctor • engineer • ensign • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (alternate 2250s) • first officer • helmsman • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • medical practitioner • mister • navigator • officer • operations division • science officer • sciences division • tactical officer • weapons officer
Other references[]
- alien • alternate reality • anatomy • astrophysics • captain's log • captain's log, USS Enterprise (Kelvin timeline NCC-1701) • clothing • communications • death • energy • USS Enterprise personnel • five-year mission • humanoid • interphase • interphase psychosis • lifeform • log entry • logic • matter • medicine • navigation • pain • piracy • planet • psychology • quadrant • races and cultures • rank • saucer separation • space • star • star system • stardate • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (Kelvin timeline) • stun • technology • time • title • uniform • universe • Vulcan nerve pinch • weapon • week • year
Chronology[]
- earlier in the year 2262 (Kelvin timeline)
- Enterprise is stranded. (Eurydice)
Appendices[]
Background[]
- Although Lieutenant Chekov appears on the standard edition cover wearing an operations division red shirt (with no rank insignia, indicating an ensign), he wears his command division gold shirt throughout the issue. In fact, despite appearing on both edition covers, he has only one line and appears in only a few panels.
- 0718 has no dialogue, and only appears unconscious, stunned on the bridge.
- This issue is the debut of the alternate Enterprise's saucer separation feature. Writer Mike Johnson stated in advance coverage[citation needed] that the plural version "The Tholian Webs" was important to a story point, but initial solicitations showed the title as "Tholian Web", in the singular. The final printed covers reflect the plural version of the title.
Images[]
Cover gallery[]
Connections[]
| previous comic: #45: Eurydice, Part 3 Eurydice |
The Original Series (IDW series) | next comic: #47: The Tholian Webs, Part 2 The Tholian Webs |
|---|
External link[]
- The Tholian Webs, Part 1 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.