Ghosts (Marvel)

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Publisher:	Marvel Comics
Series:	Marvel VOY #10
Published:	October 1997
Pages:	32
Year:	2373
Writer:	Laurie S. Sutton
Editor:	Tim Tuohy
Editor-In-Chief:	Bob Harras

Shadows of the past! – Voyager encounters a temporal rift showing them an historic battle with the Borg.

Summary

En route to the Alpha Quadrant, the USS Voyager suddenly encounters an all-too-familiar sight. Onscreen, they witness the carnage of the Battle of Wolf 359. Lieutenant Commander Tuvok suggests it may be some elaborate deception, noting that the battle took place six years prior. Ensign Kim however, informs Captain Janeway that he detects high concentrations of chronitons, suggesting time travel is involved.

As Voyager backs away, the images of the battle disappear, but in their place, the crew detects several Federation escape pods. Tuvok again recommends caution, but Ensign Kim detects life signs on board, as well as a genuine Federation distress signal.

Further scans show the pods to be survivors of the USS Saratoga, the USS Roosevelt, and the USS Melbourne, the flagship of Admiral Hanson. Voyager is unable to communicate with the pods, so Captain Janeway orders the survivors to be beamed to sickbay. Tuvok informs her the transporter would be unsafe, due to the chroniton radiation, so the tractor beam is used to tow the pods into the shuttlebay.

Janeway is still understandably apprehensive about the situation, so she orders security to meet her in the shuttlebay, including Lieutenant Josh Rand. The pod's hatch is opened, and members of various Federation species walk out led by Commander Athena Rand, a science division officer from the USS Saratoga, and the aunt of Josh Rand. Captain Janeway welcomes them aboard, curious as to how they got there. The survivors want to know if the Borg were ever defeated. Janeway explains how the Enterprise caused the Borg cube to self-destruct in Earth orbit.

The Captain then has them sent to sickbay, to test for any effects of the temporal rift that carried them to the Delta Quadrant, escorted by Josh Rand, who is very excited to see his aunt again.

Word quickly spreads through the ship that survivors of Wolf 359 have been found. Several crew members rush to sickbay in search of loved ones lost in the battle. Lieutenant Barriston is unable to find a woman named Selina, who was lost on the USS Roosevelt, but B'Elanna Torres is able to find her long-lost friend Marshall Sinclair.

Commander Rand describing Wolf 359

On the bridge, the news is still spreading, and it is revealed that Josh and Athena Rand are relatives of Janice Rand, whom Tuvok served under during his time on the USS Excelsior.

Back in sickbay, the Doctor reveals that the radiation has not harmed the survivors, but it has forged a permanent link between them and the rift. He concludes that if the anomaly reoccurs, they will be pulled back into it. Torres thinks she has a way to reduce the radiation levels, and rushes to engineering to come up with a solution.

The sixteen survivors are given quarters and begin mingling with the crew. Both sides explain their stories; the Voyager crew explains how they were brought to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker, while the survivors explain their seemingly three month (actually six year) trip through the rift. The survivors quickly blend in, one of them, a Vulcan named T'Pei, even befriending Tuvok.

Unfortunately, the rift suddenly begins to appear, throwing the survivors into a seizure-like state. The rift stops, as do the seizures, but Torres realizes she must hurry to complete her device to hold onto the survivors.

As she completes the device, the rift begin to appear again. She prepares to test it on Commander Rand, but the rift causes the survivors' cells to begin to destabilize rapidly. Once again, Voyager witnesses the Battle of Wolf 359. Voyager goes to warp, but the rift follows, still tied to the survivors. The survivors have no choice but to re-enter the pods and return to the rift, with only minutes to say goodbye. As the pods enter the rift, Josh Rand steals an escape pod of his own, and attempts to go after them. Voyager tries to beam him back, but it is too late; he, the rift, and the survivors have all disappeared.

Voyager prepares to go to warp again when suddenly a large unidentified ship opens fire on them.

The story stops here with a cliff-hanger ending.

Quotes

"Human heart tightens in anguish at the sight of the conflagration that cost the Federation 39 ships and 11,000 lives. Even a Vulcan heart wrenches, just a little before the clarity of logic prevails."

Creators

• Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
• Writer: Laurie S. Sutton
• Artists:
  • Jesus Redondo (pencil art)
  • Sergio Melia (ink art)
  • Chris Eliopoulos (color art)
• Editor: Tim Tuohy
  • Chip Carter (editing assistance, credited as "score keeper")

Background

• The events of the battle include descriptions of characters and events from TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", DS9: "Emissary" and the "Unity" installment of Star Trek: Voyager, as well as facts from the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual and the Star Trek Chronology.
• The time-frame of this story not explicitly stated, however, the Battle of Wolf 359 is said to have taken place six years prior, placing this story in 2373. Furthermore, this comic references the events of VOY "Unity", but must take place before VOY "Scorpion", as 7 of 9 is not yet present. Also, Kes' hair is still short, suggesting it took place before VOY "Before and After". All three of these episodes are set in 2373.
• This story in some ways parallels the events of TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise" (meeting persons time-traveling from a past battlefield, a dedicated crew member desiring to help the fight), but with a very different driving theme -- in the TNG installment, Picard was obligated to send the refugees back in time to fulfill their roles in the battle, in this comic the crew decides that 16 people wouldn't have made a difference in the hopeless battle, and Janeway orders them to try and counteract the effect dragging survivors back into the rift.
• A two-page drawing of the Battle of Wolf 359 shows a wide variety of heavily damaged ships Federation starships inlcuding Miranda, Nebula, Excelsior, and Ambassador-class ships. There is also wreckage of several Klingon ships, including a bird of prey and a K't'inga-class. In TNG "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I", Admiral Hanson said the Klingons were asked for help; however their presence at the battle has never been confirmed in canon.
• When Rand steals an "escape pod", a Type-9 shuttlecraft is shown by mistake.

Artwork

The main casts of Voyager are all drawn to appear identical to their television counterparts, however, there are very noticeable differences in the appearance of Tom Paris and Neelix. Tom Paris is drawn with a much longer and aged face. Neelix is drawn much darker, and with significantly more facial hair.

The survivors all appear with the TNG style uniforms and comm badges. This is appropriate as they have traveled forward in time from 2367. Like many comics, there are many more aliens present. Aside from humans, the 16 survivors include two Vulcans, a Klingon, a Bolian, and wide variety of Starfleet officers from unnamed species. These include: two humanoids with bright blue lips, one with green hair, the other with blue hair; a tall alien similar in appearance to a Bolian, but with green skin; a short furry green man; a dark woman with pink hair, and a short purple man.

Many of the survivors bear a very tattered appearance. They are drawn with thick black lines, giving an impression of many minor cuts and bruises. Also, when emerging from the escape pods, many are wearing ripped and torn uniforms, and others are missing rank insignia.

Characters

The senior staff of Voyager.

Kathryn Janeway

Voyager captain.

Chakotay

Voyager exec, a Maquis commander.

The Doctor

Holographic Voyager CMO.

Tuvok

Vulcan Voyager tactical officer.

Tom Paris

Conn of Voyager. As a boy, Tom knew Admiral J.P. Hanson, he considered him to be "like an uncle".

Harry Kim

Voyager operations manager.

B'Elanna Torres

Half-Klingon Maquis, Voyager chief engineer.

Kes

An Ocampa serving as Voyager's de facto nurse

Neelix

Talaxian jack-of-all-trades serving as Voyager cook and morale officer.

Other characters

Athena Rand

Starfleet sciences division commander lost at Wolf 359. Athena was a descendant of 23rd century Stafleet officer Janice Rand, and the aunt of a Voyager crew member.

Josh Rand

Operations division Voyager lieutenant, nephew of Athena Rand.

File:AdmiralJ.P.Hanson.jpg

Admiral Hanson.

J.P. Hanson

Starfleet admiral lost aboard the USS Melbourne at Wolf 359. Tom Paris described Hanson as "like an uncle" to him. This comic mentions him serving on the Melbourne, but this was not mentioned in any episode. In fact, the script for TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" describes him on the battle bridge of a Galaxy class ship, although no reference to this made it into the final episode, except for the fact that he was sitting in the battle bridge command chair in his communication from Wolf 359.

Barriston

Voyager lieutenant.

Marshall Sinclair

A Starfleet lieutenant discovered to have the Battle of Wolf 359. He is an old friend of B'Elanna Torres.

T'Pei

A command division Vulcan survivor of Wolf 359.

File:Janice rand 2293.jpg

Janice Rand.

Janice Rand

Starfleet officer, a former shipmate of Tuvok, who was mentioned to be the ancestor of Josh and Athena.

Selina

Person who was aboard USS Roosevelt when it was lost.

Green-haired female survivor

A Starfleet operations division Lieutenant who assisted Torres in attempting to prevent the survivors from bring pulled back into the rift.

Blue-haired female survivor

A Starfleet officer in the operations division.

She may have been green-haired Lieutenant above, simply drawn with different hair

Tall Green-skinned male survivor

A Command Division Starfleet officer who survived the Battle of Wolf 359

Purple survivor

A Science Division Starfleet officer who survived the Battle of Wolf 359

Short Green furry survivor

A Command Division Starfleet officer who survived the Battle of Wolf 359

Klingon survivor

A Klinons survivor of Wolf 359 presumably from one of the Klingon ships seen (in this comic) at the battle.

Bolian survivor

A Science Division Starfleet officer who survived the Battle of Wolf 359

Vulcan survivor

A Science Division Starfleet officer who survived the Battle of Wolf 359.

This survivor may have been T'Pei, drawn in blue instead of red.

References

Battle of Wolf 359

An historic battle between Federation and Borg that occurred in 2367.

chroniton wave cascade

This type of energy heralded the appearance of the temporal rift.

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

Federation starship which defeated the Borg cube in Earth's orbit.

escape pod

Emergency lifeboat vehicle carried aboard starships. The various escape pods were of the design depicted in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, linked up in the manner described by the manual's text.

frunium monocarbonite

Compound found in the makeup of Federation escape pods.

gravimetric buildup

An increase of graviton energy that accompanies the chroniton wave cascade

File:Ussmelbourne.jpg

The USS Melbourne at Wolf 359

USS Melbourne

Federation starship destroyed at Wolf 359.

USS Roosevelt

Federation starship destroyed at Wolf 359.

File:Uss saratoga 2367 fore.jpg

The USS Saratoga at Wolf 359

USS Saratoga (NCC-31911)

Federation starship destroyed at Wolf 359. A cubic-designed escape pod from Saratoga was discovered by Voyager. This does not match the design escape pod used by that vessel in "Emissary" (DS9).

temporal rift

The rift encountered by Voyager displayed a definite connection with those that passed through it, as the refugees from the battle site were unable to exist in the new timeframe they were transported into.

USS Voyager

Federation starship.

Wolf 359

Star system in the Constellation Leo, and the site of a deadly battle (see above).

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