The Star Trek franchise has produced a large number of novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon .
65-464: Star Trek spin-off fiction frequently fills in "gaps" within the televised show, often making use of backstage information or popular fan belief . Although officially licensed spin-off material will often maintain continuity within itself (particularly within books by the same authors), elements often contradict each other irreconcilably. For example, the end of Kirk's five-year mission has been depicted in several different incompatible ways. Much fiction
130-510: A Star Trek: Vanguard series ran, set on Starbase 47, known as "Vanguard". It is set during The Original Series , and attempts to flesh out that particular period of fictional Star Trek history. I.K.S. Gorkon was a brief series of novels by Keith R. A. DeCandido , the first Star Trek novel series to feature the Klingons instead of Starfleet. This series tells of the adventures of an all-new Qang ( Chancellor )-class war cruiser, on
195-543: A Psycho-Files feature in the first and third volumes. In 1974, Dan Curtis produced a set of nine 6 in × 3 in (152 mm × 76 mm), 22-page color miniature comics. These were intended to be sold with bubble gum, like baseball cards, and each comic reprinted a story from one of the Gold Key comics. The set has been listed since 1977 as "Dan Curtis Reprints" in the "Giveaway Comics" section of Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide . Whitman also produced
260-528: A nebulous gray area of canonicity . Events, characters, and storylines from tie-in novels, comic books, and video games are explicitly excluded from the Star Trek canon, but the site notes that elements from these sources have been subsequently introduced into the television series, and says that "canon is not something set in stone". During George Lucas 's time with the franchise, the Star Wars canon
325-401: A wiki designed to collect in-universe "facts" from fan-created content. Almost continuously since 1967, a number of companies have published comic book series based on Star Trek and its spin-off series. The initial publisher of Star Trek comic adaptations and tie-in comics was Gold Key , part of Whitman Publishing . The series ran for 61 issues between July 1967 until March 1979, and
390-510: A blend of fan and canon . Similarly, the term " headcanon " is used to describe a fan's personal interpretation of a fictional universe. Mission to Horatius Mission to Horatius is a novel based on the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series . It was published in 1968 by Whitman , and was the first original novel based on the series; the first novel for adult audiences, Spock Must Die! ,
455-552: A few fill-ins by George Kashdan. Gold Key and Whitman ceased publishing in 1979, with Star Trek No. 61 being one of the last comics produced by the company, and one issue in pre-production that never saw print. Golden Press , another division of Western Publishing, reprinted several of the Gold Key Star Trek comics in four volumes. Entitled Enterprise Logs , these four books reprinted the first 35 issues between 1976 and 1977, and included some new material as part of
520-473: A mid-20th century technology while the third maintains a level of technology capable of space travel and advanced weaponry. Kirk and crew must determine who sent a distress signal and the nature of the emergency. Along the way, they encounter a warrior society, a planet where drugs are used to control the general population and a culture consisting of an elite class with clones handling the day-to-day chores required by society. The first works of fiction based in
585-463: A mission to conquer new planets for the Klingon Empire. The series grew from DeCandido's TNG Ambassador Worf-focused novel Diplomatic Implausibility . Pocket Books has also depicted events after the end of television series, allowing greater freedom in storytelling. The Deep Space Nine relaunch takes place after the end of the series. New characters have been added to compensate for
650-535: A misunderstanding between Paramount and Marvel, the writers had been misinformed that they could not use any previously used characters from the TV series or the movie except for the main crew of the Enterprise. The series only lasted a total of 18 issues, ending in 1981 with Marvel choosing not to renew the license. A newspaper strip, initially written and illustrated by Thomas Warkentin also ran from 1979 to 1983, and
715-419: A novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Gene Roddenberry himself, although the company's second Trek novel did not appear until 1981 due to Bantam being allowed to complete its publishing contract first. Eventually, Pocket Books would publish novels based upon every Trek series. From around 1987 and with the debut of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Paramount took a closer role in supervising
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#1732782997975780-493: A series of 16 different comic reprints between 1978 and 1979 under the Dynabrite banner. These were 10" x 7-1/8" reprints of several of the Gold Key issues, with cardboard covers with blank inside covers. In 2004, Checker Book Publishing Group was granted license from Paramount to reprint the Gold Key Star Trek comics in volumes under the name Star Trek: The Key Collection . Note that these new reprint editions do not contain
845-507: A while because our licensees really wanted some sort of background structure". Starting from the mid-1990s, several ranges of books were created based upon original continuing characters and situations set in the Star Trek universe. The first of these, Star Trek: New Frontier by Peter David , focuses on the crew of the starship Excalibur . Some characters in this series were guest stars from episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation , while others were from previous Star Trek titles by
910-521: Is common that the original writer does not decide what is canon. In literature, the estate of H. G. Wells authorised sequels by Stephen Baxter , The Massacre of Mankind (2017) and The Time Ships (1995). Scarlett was a 1991 sequel to Gone with the Wind authorised by the estate. In 2010, the Conan Doyle estate authorised Young Sherlock Holmes and The House of Silk . Sequels to
975-402: Is extremely dull, and even considering the juvenile market, badly written". He added that it contained several inaccuracies including describing Vulcans as Vulcanians, and an issue with Spock quoting poetry. There were concerns that Sulu had been described as a "bland faced, small oriental" and that Uhura was called a " negress " and sings a spiritual . Roddenberry wrote of his concern with
1040-418: Is noted for the first nine issues of the series being published with photo covers, made up from promotional photographs supplied by Paramount, some of which were taken from various episodes of the original series. Although Gold Key never gave creative credits in the pages of their comics, Len Wein , Arnold Drake , George Kashdan , Marty Pasko and Doug Drexler are known to have worked on numerous issues of
1105-517: Is of particular importance with regard to reboots or re-imaginings of established franchises, such as the Star Trek remake (2009) , because of the ways in which it influences the viewer experience. The official Star Trek website describes the Star Trek canon as "the events that take place within the episodes and movies", referring to the live-action television series and films , with Star Trek: The Animated Series having long existed in
1170-576: Is set in a second five-year mission of Kirk's Enterprise , which the Okuda chronology dates after Star Trek: The Motion Picture (although novels often placed it before). Backstories and fates of characters are often elaborated on, an example being Leonard McCoy 's divorced status, and his daughter, Joanna, originally intended to appear in what became the TOS episode " The Way to Eden ". Several original series characters are established as still being alive in
1235-487: Is shown, in the novel Catalyst of Sorrows , to be Chief of Starfleet Intelligence in 2360. The 2006 novel Vulcan's Soul: Exiles has an Admiral Pavel Chekov, and Uhura is still serving as head of Starfleet Intelligence in 2377, at the age of 138. Peter David 's novel Imzadi explores the backstory between Riker and Troi, and its sequel Triangle: Imzadi II covers the cooling of the Worf/Troi relationship, which
1300-546: The IKS Gorkon series features Klingon characters drawn from a variety of TNG and DS9 episodes. The spin-off fiction has also engaged in world building . Novels in the 1980s by Diane Duane and John M. Ford established a complex backstory and culture for the Romulans (Rihannsu) and Klingons respectively, which were later not taken up by TNG . A large range of fictional reference books have been produced over
1365-423: The Star Trek universe were the Star Trek comic books , which began publication in 1967. These were followed the same year by short story adaptations of the episodes of Star Trek published by Bantam Books and written by James Blish . Mission to Horatius became the first original fiction published in novel form based on the Star Trek series when it was published in hardcover by Whitman in 1968, and
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#17327829979751430-504: The Treehouse of Horror episodes, a series of Halloween-themed specials with several stories that take place outside the show's normal continuity Several anime television series adapted from manga stories count with some extra episodes with original stories that are not part of the original manga, often being referred to as "filler episodes," being outside of the canon of their source material. The canonical status of some works by
1495-510: The Enterprise has been on patrol for such a long period of time that the crew is in danger of developing a form of space madness known as cafard. Upon reaching the NGC 400 solar system, the Enterprise crew comes across three planets populated by different human settlers who had been unhappy with the social or political order of Earth. One planet has reverted to a Stone Age state, another has
1560-411: The Star Trek license for 20 years. The U.S.S. Enterprise is headed to Starbase 12 for shore leave, supplies and repairs. Food is running low and the engines need servicing. A distress signal diverts the ship to a solar system on the outer edge of explored space. Upon hearing of the emergency mission, Dr. McCoy expresses his concern about the mental health of the crew to Kirk. In Dr. McCoy's opinion,
1625-527: The Star Trek novels are considered "canon", meaning that producers of the television series feel free to contradict events and facts from the novels (although Pocket Books coordinates with the Star Trek offices to minimize the chances of this happening). Paula Block, director of CBS Consumer Products, is quoted in Voyages of the Imagination as saying, "Jeri Taylor's books were considered quasi-canon for
1690-757: The TNG era, including McCoy, Spock, and Scotty. In the books written by William Shatner , these are joined by a revived Captain Kirk. Several novels depict the careers of the younger members of the Enterprise crew after Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . Captain Sulu and his daughter Demora Sulu appear in Peter David 's novel The Captain's Daughter . In the novel The Sundered , Chekov serves as Sulu's first officer on USS Excelsior . The novel Federation has Chekov eventually becoming an admiral. Uhura
1755-448: The 2000s after encouragement from fans, which continued under later editor Marco Palmieri , who has admitted being unaware of any prior blacklisting of authors resulting from the period of interference from Richard Arnold. Prolific Star Trek novelists include Peter David , Diane Carey , Keith R.A. DeCandido , J.M. Dillard , Diane Duane , Michael Jan Friedman , and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens . Several actors and writers from
1820-515: The Borg . The Enterprise series was also relaunched (see Star Trek: Enterprise relaunch ), starting with the novel The Good That Men Do . The Enterprise novel Last Full Measure retcons the death of Trip , recounted in " These Are the Voyages... ". Trip's death is shown in a holodeck program in the time frame of the TNG episode " The Pegasus ", and The Good That Men Do establishes that
1885-543: The books, and have since come forth and identified which issues they specifically worked on. The first two issues of the Gold Key run was illustrated by Italian artist Nevio Zaccara , and the first half of the series was drawn by Alberto Giolitti , who being based in Rome did not see any of the Star Trek TV episodes until several years after he retired. The remainder of the series was illustrated by Alden McWilliams , with
1950-511: The books, disallowing story elements that were said to conflict with Gene Roddenberry 's idea of Star Trek . In particular, recurring characters between books were discouraged, as was the use of concepts introduced in The Animated Series . This era saw disputes between authors and the Star Trek production office – specifically Roddenberry's "assistant", Richard Arnold – with many novels being rejected for not focusing directly on
2015-510: The final episode of the series, " Endgame ", the characters return home, and the books deal with their homecoming and further adventures. After the release of the movie Star Trek Nemesis , which sees William Riker about to take command of a new ship, USS Titan , the Star Trek: Titan series was launched, depicting these adventures. As of 2014, several books have been set post- Nemesis , including several books dealing with
Star Trek spin-off fiction - Misplaced Pages Continue
2080-639: The first original novel published by Bantam, Spock Must Die! , although subsequent novels did not appear until 1976. From 1974, Ballantine Books published a 10-volume series of novelizations based upon episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series , all written by Alan Dean Foster . Bantam also published a number of fotonovels based on episodes. In the late 1970s, Bantam published a number of original Star Trek novels, including two written by noted science fiction author Joe Haldeman , and one by original series scriptwriter David Gerrold . Pocket Books began publishing Star Trek fiction in 1979, starting with
2145-401: The historical record has been altered. Nine Star Trek novels, in the form of three thematic trilogies, have been written by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. These novels, starting with the second book, feature a Captain Kirk revived after Star Trek Generations . However, these novels are set in a different continuity to the rest of the Star Trek novels, receiving
2210-505: The loss of those who left at the end of the show. (Some books published after the end of the series, but before the official relaunch stories began, have been retroactively added to the relaunch, including the anthology The Lives of Dax and the novel A Stitch in Time . The Star Trek: Voyager relaunch series, written by Christie Golden , is set after the end of the Voyager series. In
2275-566: The main TOS cast. Some novels were, in lieu of rejection, heavily edited, resulting in being disowned publicly by their authors, such as with the novel Probe by Margaret Wander Bonanno . A change of personnel at the Star Trek offices in the early 1990s – specifically the firing of Arnold immediately following the death of Gene Roddenberry in 1991 – led to a relaxation of policies regarding tie-in novels. Under editor John J. Ordover , many authors including Bonanno returned as Star Trek novelists in
2340-573: The new material that was created especially for the previous Enterprise Log reprint editions, such as the Psycho-Files or Scotty's Diary . As of May 2007, seven editions have been printed, with the eighth edition expected in 2010 but as of this writing had not been scheduled. A weekly strip ran in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1973 in the pages of TV21 . Added as part of a revamp of the popular British magazine by City Publications ,
2405-699: The nickname the Shatnerverse. A fourth Shatner/Reeves-Stevens trilogy, focusing on Kirk's time at Starfleet Academy and based on an idea pitched to Paramount for a TV series was launched in October 2007. The Star Trek book ranges have since the mid-1990s featured various crossover events, with books published in multiple series. The first of these was the Invasion! series, published in 1996, featuring entries from The Original Series , The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , and Voyager series. 1997's event
2470-461: The normal definition of fan fiction, such as Jean Airey's The Doctor and the Enterprise , a novella -length work originally published as a stand-alone fanzine, and featuring a crossover with the Fourth Doctor from Doctor Who . This also appear as a small circulation semi-pro publication labeled as a " parody ", presumably for legally reasons. The Star Trek Expanded Universe website,
2535-481: The novel Disavowed . In 2003, Star Trek: The Lost Era began exploring the underutilized part of the Star Trek timeline between Kirk's death in Star Trek Generations and the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Anthologies Star Trek short fictionhave been published by Pocket Books. The Strange New Worlds competition, open to entries from the public, runs annually, and results in
2600-418: The only original novel to be published while the original Star Trek was still being broadcast. It was written by Mack Reynolds , and illustrated by Sparky Moore. Issues with the novel were first raised with the producers of the television show by John Meredyth Lucas , who contacted both Desilu Business Affairs and Gene Roddenberry , warning them that the novel was "not technically in bad taste, but
2665-472: The original Star Trek pilot episode, " The Cage ". An anthology, entitled Tales from the Captain's Table , was published in 2005 following up the concept, with tales from new captains. 1999's Double Helix was a six-book series, nominally part of the numbered TNG book range, featuring characters from TNG , DS9 , TOS, Voyager , New Frontier , and Stargazer . The Star Trek: Gateways crossover
Star Trek spin-off fiction - Misplaced Pages Continue
2730-552: The original George Lucas Canon, with all narrative development overseen by the Lucasfilm Story Group. The makers of Doctor Who have generally avoided making pronouncements about canonicity, with Russell T Davies explaining that he does not think about the concept for the Doctor Who television series or its spin-offs . The television series The Simpsons has as an example of non-canonical material,
2795-552: The original author or developer of the world". Canon is contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction and other derivative works . When there are multiple "official" works or original media, what material is canonical can be unclear. This is resolved either by explicitly excluding certain media from the status of canon (as in the case of Star Trek and Star Wars ); by assigning different levels of canonicity to different media; by considering different but licensed media treatments official and equally canonical to
2860-754: The original writer but not the same publisher, such as " The Field Bazaar ", may be debated. This is because copyright used to be exercised by the publisher of the work of literature rather than the author. Campaigning by Victor Hugo led to the Berne Convention which introduced author's rights . However, sometimes in literature, original writers have not approved works as canon, but original publishers or literary estates of original writers posthumously approve subsequent works as canon, such as The Royal Book of Oz (1921) (by original publisher), Porto Bello Gold (1924) (by estate), and Heidi Grows Up (1938) (by estate). In film and television it
2925-461: The project on November 14, 1967, to Desilu Business Affairs, saying that he agreed with Lucas' comments, and that Star Trek "is a valuable property worth protecting and I personally would rather blow a deal like this than see the property harmed." Despite corrections, Roddenberry wrote a five-page dissection of Mission to Horatius describing what he felt was wrong with the novel. The first original Star Trek novel for adults, Spock Must Die! ,
2990-618: The publication of an anthology featuring the winning short stories. Pocket Books also published themed short story anthologies. A small but vocal minority of fans consider the novels to be fan fiction , although, being publications authorized by Paramount Pictures , they do not fit the general definition. A number of novels have been written or co-written by series actors, such as John de Lancie , J. G. Hertzler , Andrew J. Robinson , William Shatner , and Armin Shimerman . A number of unlicensed and usually privately-published works do fit
3055-736: The same author, and still others were created originally for the series. New Frontier takes place in Sector 221-G, where the Excalibur is dispatched to help with the chaos created by the crumbling Thallonian Empire. Michael Jan Friedman 's Stargazer series features the adventures of Captain Picard on the Stargazer , and reuses characters he established in his 1992 TNG novel Reunion . Another series, Star Trek: Challenger , created by Pocket editor John J. Ordover and writer Diane Carey ,
3120-519: The series remaining fifteen months, creative teams changed twice, beginning with writer Marty Pasko and artist Padraic Shigetani , with Bob Myers replacing Shigetani. The strip concluded with Gerry Conway and Dick Kulpa sharing writing credit, with Ernie Colón handling the art. Fanon (Fan Fiction) The canon of a work of fiction is "the body of works taking place in a particular fictional world that are widely considered to be official or authoritative; [especially] those created by
3185-440: The series timeline within their own continuities ' universe, but not across them; or not resolved at all. There is also no consensus regarding who has the authority to decide what is or isn't canonical, with copyright holders usually declaring themselves the authorities when they want to erase or retcon materials that were approved by the setting's original creator (with Star Wars again being an example). The definition of canon
3250-715: The stories by P G Wodehouse about the butler Jeeves were sanctioned by Wodehouse's estate for Jeeves and the Wedding Bells (2013) by Sebastian Faulks and Jeeves and the King of Clubs (2018) by Ben Schott . The Monogram Murders (2014) by Sophie Hannah is a sequel to Hercule Poirot novels authorised by the Agatha Christie estate. Fan fiction is almost never regarded as canonical. However, certain ideas may become influential or widely accepted within fan communities, who refer to such ideas as " fanon ",
3315-522: The strip ran for 118 issues, ending with the December 29, 1973 issue. Creators for this strip included numerous artists who worked on other TV21 and Valiant Magazine strips, such as Harry Lindfield , Mike Noble , Roland Turner , Carlos Pino , and Jim Baikie. In 1979, with the launch of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Marvel started publishing Star Trek comics, starting with an adaptation of that movie by Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum . Through
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#17327829979753380-659: The television series have written books: William Shatner has written a series with the Reeves-Stevenses featuring a revived Captain Kirk in the 24th century, and John de Lancie , Andrew J. Robinson , J. G. Hertzler , and Armin Shimerman have written or co-written books featuring their respective characters. Voyager producer Jeri Taylor wrote two novels featuring backstory for Voyager characters, and screen authors David Gerrold , D. C. Fontana , and Melinda Snodgrass have also penned books. The Reeves-Stevenses were later hired as writers for Enterprise . None of
3445-621: The years. More recent books of this sort have been by production staff and, whilst not binding on the series, nonetheless reflect the thinking of the production office, and are used as sourcebooks by writers. Similar material has also been published in the Star Trek Fact Files and the Star Trek Magazine . Since 1967, hundreds of original novels, short stories, and television and movie adaptations have been published. The first original Star Trek novel to be published
3510-610: Was Mission to Horatius by Mack Reynolds , which was published in hardcover by Whitman Books in 1968. Geared for younger readers, the novel became a collectible and in the 1990s, Pocket Books issued a facsimile edition. The first publisher of Star Trek fiction aimed at adult readers was Bantam Books , which initially produced a bestselling series of novelizations of the original 79 episodes by James Blish that began in 1967. Later adaptations were done by Blish's wife, J. A. Lawrence , some of these were credited to Blish with others appearing under Lawrence's name. In 1970, Blish wrote
3575-564: Was divided into discrete tiers that incorporated the Expanded Universe (EU), with continuity tracked by Lucasfilm creative executive Leland Chee . Higher-tier and newer material abrogated lower-tier and older material in case of contradiction. The live-action theatrical films, the 2008 The Clone Wars TV series and its debut film , and statements by Lucas himself were at the top of this hierarchy; such works invariably superseded EU material in case of contradiction. The EU itself
3640-421: Was dull and poorly written, in addition to containing offensive descriptions of both Sulu and Uhura . Gene Roddenberry intervened, stating that he would rather call off the publishing deal than see the property harmed. It was corrected, but Roddenberry was still dissatisfied with the novel. As Whitman had gone out of business years earlier, Pocket Books was able to re-publish the book in celebration of holding
3705-412: Was further divided into several descending levels of continuity. After Disney 's acquisition of the franchise, Lucasfilm designated all Expanded Universe material published before 25 April 2014 (other than the first six theatrical films and the 2008 The Clone Wars film and TV series) as the non-canonical "Legends" continuity. Material released since this announcement is a separate canonical timeline from
3770-607: Was left unexplained on screen. Spin-off fiction will often use re-use characters who appeared only once or twice in the actual show. Dr. Selar has appeared in more TNG novels than television episodes, and she and Elizabeth Shelby, who appeared in the two-part episode " The Best of Both Worlds " are major characters in the Star Trek: New Frontier series. The cast of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers series largely comes from such guest parts. Similarly,
3835-435: Was not published until February 1970. Mission to Horatius details the adventures of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise investigating where a distress signal had originated, resulting in them engaging with several different human colonies. The novel was written by Mack Reynolds , and was Whitman's only original fiction based on the series. The producers of Star Trek had issues with the book, as they were concerned that it
3900-502: Was not published until February 1970. While Whitman did not publish any other Star Trek novels, it did publish a range of coloring books based on the series. Mission to Horatius was reprinted as a facsimile edition by Pocket Books in February 1999 to ostensibly celebrate the publisher's 20th anniversary as a Star Trek licensee. Editor John J. Ordover stated, when interviewed for Jeff Ayers' Voyages of Imagination , that it
3965-755: Was planned as a continuation of the six-book storyline Star Trek: New Earth . Thus far only one book in the series has been published, Chainmail , part of the Gateways crossover series. The Starfleet Corps of Engineers series is a series of eBooks by various authors, set in the same general time frame as the Next Generation series. This series features a group of highly trained engineers stationed aboard USS da Vinci and their adventures on various planets. The eBooks are eventually released in paperback collections. No new Corps of Engineers novels have been published since 2007. From 2005 to 2012,
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#17327829979754030-415: Was published in 2001, featuring entries from TOS , Challenger , TNG , DS9 , Voyager , and New Frontier . These stories all end in a single finale anthology, What Lay Beyond . 2001's Star Trek: Section 31 was a thematic crossover, with each of the four books ( TOS , TNG , DS9 , and Voyager ) featuring Section 31 . Later in 2014, Section 31 became a standalone DS9 spinoff series of its own with
4095-539: Was reprinted for fun, and that when pitched he had explained that Paramount Studios held the rights to the book as Whitman had gone out of business. He added "It was selling for $ 50 at conventions. So why not do a reissue? It was the first Star Trek novel ever done and the first one I read." Pocket Books bought a second-hand copy from science fiction author Dayton Ward to complete the reproduction. Most reviews are lukewarm although criticism of plot developments or characterizations are usually muted by an acknowledgment
4160-507: Was syndicated by the Los Angeles Times Mirror Syndicate . Warkentin stayed with the series until April 1981, penning a total of eight tales. During his tenure, Warkentin was aided by artists Mark Rice , Dan Spiegle , and Ron Harris . Among the highlights of Wartenkin's strips was his final story, a Harry Mudd adventure featuring his view of a rare glimpse at the news media of the Star Trek universe. During
4225-575: Was the Day of Honor , with novels in all four series. In a rare example of a novel concept being adopted into the TV series, the Voyager episode " Day of Honor " tied into this. 1998 saw six books published in the Star Trek: The Captain's Table crossover, including the four regular series, as well as one from Star Trek: New Frontier and another based on Captain Pike , the captain from
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