Meanwhile Nog is already hocking her stereo.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy #15
Marvel/Paramount Comics (February, 1998)
“T’Prell Revealed” part 2: “Origins”
WRITER: Chris Cooper
PENCILER: Chris Renaud
INKER: Andy Lanning
COLORIST: Kevin Somers
LETTERER: Jim Novak
EDITOR: Bobbie Chase
Nog and Yoshi manage to track their friends down and have a plan to infiltrate the Romulan group. Meanwhile, the others find a Romulan scientist who used to know T’Prell, his former Vulcan assistant, and the real Selke. Originally part of an archaeological group looking into the various Vulcan colonies (for lack of a better word) they came across the last survivors of a saurian species and a portal generator. One of the group was secretly Tal Shiar and confiscated the machine, taking the others prisoner. In the ensuing fight the machine was destroyed but T’Prell was mortally wounded, asking her Romulan friend Selke to take her katra back to Vulcan. Instead, the agent’s superior, Thokol, saw this as a way to plant a spy in the Federation and brainwashed Selke, using T’Prell’s katra and surgery to make her into a sleeper agent believing they were lovers. Only one of the saurians survive and she joins the others (including Nog and Yoshi plus a member of Spock’s unification group who had been warned of these events and sent undercover) in finding Edam, only it looks like Selke has already killed him with her experiments!
What they got right: This is actually an effect use of the katra as a storytelling element. The nasty mental side effects of using it this way are pointed out, so they didn’t forget what happened to McCoy when he unknowingly had Spock’s katra in his head. The undercover unification agent would have dumb luck if we didn’t know someone who sounds like Kamilah had told Nog about all this and thus is possibly behind this alarm to Spock’s group as well. I think this is also our first black Romulan, showing the rare darker skin isn’t just for Vulcans like Tuvok.
What they got wrong: Sadly the series will end before the saurian aliens get fully explored. I do wonder why the real T’Prell was kept down here in stasis all this time when she’s dead and nobody plans to even attempt to resuscitate her and stick her mind back in her body. Then again, they’re all out of Genesis planets so how would they even do it?
What I think overall: This is a good example of exposition done right. There’s still action, good characters, and plot advancement.
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