Kayshon, His Eyes Open

Stardate not given: The Cerritos is called into to inspect the belongings of a recently deceased member of the Collectors’ Guild to ensure that, among the things he was hoarding, he wasn’t hoarding anything dangerous. Assigned to lead the away team is new security chief Lt. Kayshon, the first Tamarian in Starfleet. Perhaps not unsurprisingly for an obsessive collector’s ship, a booby trap is eventually tripped, unleashing a weapon that turns Kayshon into a cuddly (but helpless) puppet, and locking down all the exits. Mariner and Ensign Jet Manhaver jockey for leadership of the away mission as it grows more perilous by the second. Aboard the Titan, which has been fending off constant Pakled attacks, Captain Riker sends an elite undercover team – including Boimler – to infiltrate and bring down a Pakled mining operation. Suddenly, merely “perilous” sounds really good to the Titan‘s newest officer.

written by Chris Kula
directed by Kim Arndt
music by Chris Westlake

Cast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Kerner Hauze), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Jonathan Frakes (Capt. William T. Riker), Rich Fulcher (Pakled Leader), Robert Gilbert (Titan Chief Engineer), Marcus Henderson (Jet Manhaver), Vanessa Marshall (Titan First Officer), Jessica McKenna (Barnes), Nolan North (Titan Conn Officer), Ben Rodgers (Stevens), Ryan Stanger (Titan Tactical Officer), Carl Tart (Kayshon), Paul F. Tompkins (Dr. Migleemo)

Notes: Kayshon is a Tamarian, the species introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Darmok (1992) which communicates only in metaphor; universal translator technology seems to have helped to bridge the communication gap…for the most part. Kivas Fajo (TNG: The Most Toys, 1990) was also a member of the Collectors’ Guild, and his attempt to abduct Data is widely known in Starfleet. Among the more visible (and sometimes inexplicable) artifacts in Kerner Hauze’s collection were:

The Curiosity Mars Rover

The remains of the Excalbian and “Abraham Lincoln” (TOS: The Savage Curtain, 1969)

The remains of the giant clone of Spock (TAS: The Infinite Vulcan, 1973)

Khan’s broken-Starfleet-emblem pendant (Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, 1982)

Game headset (TNG: The Game, 1992)

What appears to be Odo’s bucket (numerous episodes of DS9, though the third season of Star Trek: Picard implied that this bucket was changeling standard issue)

Boimler, like Riker, now has an identical “transporter clone” to contend with (a la Thomas Riker from TNG: Second Chances and DS9: Defiant), prompting the original Boimler to return to the Cerritos. Vanessa Marshall is already major-sci-fi-franchise royalty, having played Hera Syndulla in all four seasons of Disney’s Star Wars: Rebels. Actual Kayshon puppets quickly became a hot ticket on Etsy following this episode.