1061. Life SignsPUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #51, DC Comics, October 1993
CREATORS: Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens (writers), Peter Krause and Mike Christian (artists)
STARDATE: 42102.5 (between The Child and Where Silence Has Lease)
PLOT: The Enterprise investigates a planet devastated by its sun unexpectedly going supernova. There, they find a container from which Troi can sense life, but sensors cannot. Those life signs belong to three imprisoned Vortek, energy creatures who start draining the Enterprise's power once freed. Using Troi's empathic link to them, Data goes on a mission to capture them in a force field before they can make the sun go supernova again. Seems like that's what they feed on, and will quickly snack on everything else. He captures two, but falls victim to the third, but Troi actually feels him fighting for his life and win, putting the lie to Pulaski's snide remarks about his state of being.
CONTINUITY: None.
DIVERGENCES: The title was also used for a DS9 episode.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Don't let her bite down on her tongue!
REVIEW: I was stoked to see a story by the Reeves-Stevens, since I really enjoy their novels and their work on Enterprise. And while it's not a bad Data-explores-his-humanity story, it doesn't use any of the Trek continuity the writers are known for. The whole thing comes off as a little technical, with bland villains and a standard plot. I'm not even sure why it has to take place in Season 2 aside from including Pulaski's bitchy comments. It's not like Data stopped doubting his own life at any point in the series.
Comments
(Personally, I could never make up my mind if I liked coats or not. I liked the rugged appeal, but maybe the idea in TNG was that their uniforms were made out of some material that was great at keeping the person cool or warm as required?)