Antares 8
Okay, so this issue has a lot Chekov’s
Enterprise stories. Why? Because there are so few of us writing these days, and some
of us are writing in this particular timeframe, and no one seems to be writing much at
all. That being said, this issue does have a wide assortment of stories, ranging from
humor to pathos, from mysterious disappearances to mysterious appearances, and all of them
are true to canon.
Donna S. Frelick leads off this issue with a Lieutenant Kirk story, "Command Potential." Set aboard the U.S.S. Farragut, under the command of Captain Garrovick, James T. Kirk finds himself finally in charge of a landing party mission to a mining planet’s surface. Unfortunately, things don’t go as smoothly as his captain thought it would. This story is a rework of a portion of Donna’s out-of-print novella, Into the Nexus. Donna is presently working on a Nexus publication.
For "Reminiscing," Selek came up with a wonderful story looking at the first meeting between Sarek and Amanda. It’s a very satisfying story that looks at the characters in a somewhat different light than we’ve seen in our zines. Selek also did the proofreading for the zine, and several of you have noticed.
Most of the other stories in this issue deal with the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-B under the command of Captain Pavel Andreievich Chekov. The creative process here was somewhat different than normal. I jotted down half a dozen ideas and exchanged emails with Rob Morris, Jim Ausfahl and Rick Endres. The results are a series of connected stories:
"Too Great a Risk," written by Randy Landers with Rob Morris. While reviewing potential crew replacements, Saavik rejects a young officer who reminds Chekov of someone else."Planet of the Killer Chickens," written by Jim Ausfahl. Chekov and Ch'terr find that all the diplomatic training Starfleet could offer hasn't prepared them for the natives of the planet Calyu.
"Chains of Command," written by Randy Landers. During an accident incursion into Romulan space by the dreadnought Alliance, Chekov finds that sometimes being in the center seat is no better than being a prisoner to the regulations he has sworn to uphold, and one of his crew learns that there are limits to what you can say to your captain.
"Freefall," written by Randy Landers and Rob Morris. En route to the Enterprise, tragedy befalls one of the crew...
"The Odd Couple," written by Rob Morris. Lieutenant Peter Kirk finds himself sharing a cabin with Federation star reporter Willis O'Brien, much to the chagrin of both!
"Sometimes a Cigar...," written by Rob Morris. Saavik finds the nuances of English perplexing while sending her captain into fits of laughter.
"Phantoms," written by Rob Morris. Ambassador Spock finds himself reflecting on the crew of both ships named Enterprise.
"Certifiable," written by Rob Morris. Deciding that the senior staff would benefit from a refresher course on person-to-person combat, Ch'terr soon realizes the error of his judgment.
I have to admit that Jim’s "Planet of the Killer Chickens" is probably my favorite story of the lot of them with Rob’s "Phantoms" coming in a close second. Personally, I don’t want to divulge too much about these stories as they’re all rather short, and hopefully, rather enjoyable.
Lastly, there's a short and bittersweet Sulu story called "Ashes" that I wrote and which I hope you'll enjoy.
There’s a beautiful cover by Zaquia Tarhuntassa and a few letters to the editor you might enjoy.
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