Set lasers to 'Byrne.' (Sorry.)

I've mentioned before how brutal the pre-Kirk era of Captain Pike's Star Trek was; today we see it was pretty harsh before then, as well: from Star Trek: Crew #1, "Shakedown" Story and art by John Byrne.

After three days stuck waiting and reading tech manuals, a young Starfleet cadet finally gets to her assignment: a final shakedown mission for the as-yet unnamed new Constitution-class ship that will carry the name Enterprise. With sixty-some crew--including Dr. Boyce, from "The Cage"--and under boring old Admiral Rasmussen, the ship sets off...as a body is found in San Francisco, beamed into the ground. Three cadets have been replaced by Klingons, whose ship awaits them to hijack it.

Although the unnamed cadet has a plan to save the ship, and sacrifice herself; an injured Rasmussen takes her place. Afterwards, Starfleet Command plans on commending the crew and the cadet, who declines, wanting full credit to go to Rasmussen, in his memory.


The admiral says her name will be remembered, but it's never given this issue, because it never was in the series: the cadet will later be known as Number One, first officer of Captain Pike's Enterprise, played by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry. While she's appeared in other novels and comics, I always thought it was implied that something unpleasant happens to her; since otherwise she probably would've been on the Enterprise with Kirk, possibly even as captain. In Star Trek Annual #1, for example, Number One is injured in a cargo accident, to get her off the stage. Likewise, in Marvel's last issue of Star Trek: Early Voyages, Number One is rendered comatose; you would think she'd recover, but you don't know.

A brutal start to this limited, though: three cadets beamed into the ground, we see several lasered to nothingness, and while the Klingons lose a ship; only nine and the medical staff survive...