DC Comics: Star Crossed question

[ryan123450]

I'm reading Part 3 of the DC Comics storyline Star-Crossed. It's about the events surrounding the end of the 5YM. Two things have popped up so far that leave me scratching my head and I'm hoping somebody can clarify.

Toward the beginning, the crew is notified the ship will be going in for refit. Scotty complains "Admiral, ye can't improve on perfection!" to which McCoy says "We've seen the future. And it blew up." What is that line supposed to mean?

Also, when Spock informs the captain that he is leaving Starfleet, they both refer to a recent accident in which Sarek and Amanda were in danger, and Spock rescued them, though others lost their lives. Is this referring to some other story I'm not aware of?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Leto_II]

Regarding the first bit, I think the line refers to the event that occurs in the opening pages of the issue -- the Enterprise witnessing the explosion of the advanced warp-testbed starship. I'm wracking my brain trying to recall what the second reference is, but could it refer to one of the Jean Lorrah TOS novels (been forever since I read those)?

This is a very interesting issue (DC Vol. 2, #75) because it offers yet another version of the ending of the 5YM (i.e., The Lost Years, Mission's End, DC Vol. 1 Annual #2, etc.), and one that isn't particularly continuity-compatible with any of the others.


EDIT: Literally moments after posting that, I just remembered what the "Sarek/Amanda"-reference might be -- J.M. Dillard's very first TOS novel, Mindshadow, in which Spock rescues Sarek from Romulan assassins while on Vulcan (but at the cost of several lives).

 

[Christopher]

I don't think the reference was meant to be to any pre-existing novel or comic. I think Howard Weinstein just needed to offer some explanation for why Spock would choose to resign and undergo Kolinahr, something that would affect Spock personally enough to provoke that choice, so he invented a conjectural mission that endangered his parents. We get so caught up these days in looking for continuity nods and Easter eggs that we forget how many stories invent their own unseen backstories out of whole cloth -- the death of Pike's yeoman before "The Cage," McCoy's history with Nancy Crater, Kirk's past romances with Ruth and Areel and Janet Wallace, etc.

Then again, the first issue of "Star-Crossed" did depict the same version of Kirk's Kobayashi Maru cheat that was put forth in Julia Ecklar's novel The Kobayashi Maru. So I suppose it's not out of the question that it could be a novel reference. But I'm inclined to think it isn't.

 

[ryan123450]

Thanks Leto II for explaining that first bit. I knew I was missing something obvious.

As regards the second question, I could see it bith ways, Leto II and Christopher. Either way seems fine to me, but it semms pretty coincidental that the exactstory alluded to does actual exist in a novel the comic writer would have probably been aware of.

 

[Christopher]

As regards the second question, I could see it bith ways, Leto II and Christopher. Either way seems fine to me, but it semms pretty coincidental that the exactstory alluded to does actual exist in a novel the comic writer would have probably been aware of.

Is it exact, though, or just approximate? Leto said Mindshadow involves rescuing Sarek, but "Star-Crossed" clearly says both Sarek and Amanda were imperiled.

 

[ryan123450]

Good point. I've not read Mindshadow so I'm not sure.

 

[Leto_II]

I think Amanda was endangered as well -- the rescue in the novel takes place in Sarek's residence on Vulcan (seen in "Yesteryear"), and Amanda was in the mansion at the time (one of the assassins is actually her young protegée).

 

[Christopher]

Okay, but are lives lost as a result of Spock's decisions?

 

[BillJ]

I think Howard Weinstein just needed to offer some explanation for why Spock would choose to resign and undergo Kolinahr, something that would affect Spock personally enough to provoke that choice...

Should have used the loss of Zarabeth from "All Our Yesterdays".

 

[Leto_II]

Okay, but are lives lost as a result of Spock's decisions?

Yeah, due to him failing to detect the Romulan assassins (including not recognizing the true nature of Amanda's student beforehand despite several obvious clues) and making some near-fatal mistakes during the hand-to-hand combat that should've been avoided. Immediately afterward, from what I remember, he's accused of attempting to commit the crime himself by the Vulcan authorities (being the sole survivor in possession of one of the assassins' weapons).

Not sure if this is what Howard was directly referencing in the comic story, but it seems to hit at least one or two of those beats. Or it may just be a coincidence, too.