Star Trek 1272: The Enemy of My Enemy

1272. The Enemy of My Enemy

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation - Riker #1, Marvel Comics, July 1998

CREATORS: Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton (writers), Andrew Currie and Art Nichols (artists)

STARDATE: "Unimportant" (between First Contact and Rocks and Shoals)

PLOT: Will Riker is a renegade running from a court-martial for feeding information to the Maquis. It's all a ruse to infiltrate them of course, which he does after he proves his intentions to Ro Laren. After losing much of her cell in a Dominion attack, she's made an alliance with Commander K'nera who in return wants the Maquis to steal the secret of the Genesis Device. Riker uses his access codes to get it, but they are betrayed by K'nera. They escape and hide on his bird-of-prey. Meanwhile, Picard has been ordered to destroy the ship the Maquis are on. Riker comes clean with Ro, and together they sabotage the bird-of-prey, allowing the Enterprise to find it. Riker is beamed off just before it explodes, and Ro escapes in a shuttle.

CONTINUITY: Ro joined the Maquis in Preemptive Strike. Sam Lavelle is still tactical officer (Star Trek Unlimited). Riker uses TOM Riker's fate (Defiant) as his reason for joining the Maquis. Ro's cell has made an alliance with the House of Kruge (The Search for Spock). Commander K'nera (Heart of Glory) is apparently part of that House and wants to regain his honor by achieving what his ancestor could not - getting his hands on the Genesis technology. Admiral Nechayev appears.

DIVERGENCES: Possibly, the novels don't allow for Riker to be off the ship for three months.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Riker's pick-up lines
REVIEW: Abnett and Edginton bring to bear their usual knack for cool bits of continuity, bringing back a Klingon from TNG and giving him an important link with the Movie era. I'm a big fan of Ro Laren, and she's pretty cool here, though it's clearly Riker's show. He gets to be more badass than on the show, with strong action set pieces to feature his skill. To protect Riker's cover, Picard gives Data a promotion, and everybody believes Riker really is on the run. So the story matters to the rest of the crew, which is a good thing too. If anything, this should have been longer to better feel Riker's hardships, but it's good material either way, with both humor and pathos.