The Broken Circle
Stardate 2369.2: Captain Pike takes personal time to attend to the pressing matter of finding an attorney to represent Number One in her upcoming court martial. Spock is left in command of the Enterprise as she undergoes inspections by Commander Pelia and her team in spacedock. During this layover, Uhura picks up a carefully-masked signal from La’an, from the mining planet Cajitar at the edge of Klingon space, warning of a major threat to the Federation. Spock decides to fake an emergency that will drive the inspectors off the ship so the remaining crew can effectively steal the Enterprise to rescue La’an. Pelia, sensing that something doesn’t add up, remains aboard the ship, not to stop Spock, but to assist him in the role of chief engineer. La’an is holding her own on Cajitar, but summoned her friends when she discovered that a coalition of human and Klingon profiteers are planning to somehow reignite the Klingon war with the Federation to drive up dilithium prices. When it is discovered that they are medics, M’Benga and Chapel are taken hostage by Klingons to treat victims of a recent radiation incident in an underground chamber. That chamber contains a Federation starship, and M’Benga quickly decudes the plan: with “custody” of Cajitar jointly held by the Federation and the Klingon Empire for alternating six-month periods, an attack by a “Federation ship” during a period of Klingon occupation would provide the necessary provocation for war to be declared. With no way to call for backup or get off the ship before it launches, M’Benga and Chapel must relive their own experiences in the war with a substance that provides a burst of berserker rage and and strength, making them a match for the Klingons aboard, something both of them used during the war. A coded warning to the Enterprise makes it clear that the ship is to be destroyed, but Spock knows that doing so may mean the death of two of his closest crewmates.
written by Henry Alonso Myers & Akiva Goldsman
directed by Chris Fisher
music by Nami Melumad
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds main theme by Jeff Russo
Cast: Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Ethan Peck (Lt. Spock), Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel), Christina Chong (Lt. La’an Noonien Singh), Celia Rose Gooding (Ensign Uhura), Melissa Navia (Lt. Erica Ortegas), Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M’Benga), Rebecca Romijn (Commander Una Chin-Riley), Adrian Holmes (Admiral Robert April), Carol Kane (Commander Pelia), Izad Etemadi (Burly Inspector), Rong Fu (Jenna Mitchell), Emma Ho (Oriana), Andrew Jackson (Captain D’Chok), Alex Kapp (U.S.S. Enterprise Computer), Kyle Kass (Kr’Dogh), Noah Lamanna (Chief Jay), Chiang Ma (Livian), Tiffany Martin (Senior Chief), Jamillah Ross (Lukata), Samer Salem (Inspector Gilan), Hannah Spear (Jen), Alex Spencer (Greynax), Nicolas Van Buren (Klingon Extremist), Abbas Wahab (Ror’Queg), Laura Wilson (Stell), Russell Yuen (Commodore Tafune)
Notes: Mitchell eyeballs the ersatz Federation ship as a Crossfield class, with some uncertainty; it doesn’t resemble the previous Crossfield class ships (Discovery and Glenn from Star Trek: Discovery), but those ships, since they were testing spore drive technology, may have been experimental refits of the more traditional 23rd century ship profile seen here, or may simply be a “kitbash” of available parts. The fact that some of the earliest instances of Klingon/human cooperation happened among warmongers is an ongoing problem (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 1991). Captain Pike’s whereabouts during these events are revealed in the following episode. Marc Okrand, author of the Klingon Dictionary first published in the 1980s after he invented the Klingon language for Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, is once again credited as the Klingon language consultant. The episode carries an on-screen dedication to Nichelle Nichols (1932-2022), who originiated the character of Uhura in the original Star Trek series.
LogBook entry by Earl Green