Fannish Fifty #4: Haven Zine Review!

[amado1]

 

A very handsome, thick zine with a black-and-white portrait of Riker on the cover, illustrated by BEKi. 

This is a very straightforward, no-nonsense zine in terms of presentation. We don’t have the wacky foldouts, jokes, or limericks seen in other zines, and it isn’t stuffed with fun ads or tricky pre-InDesign layout -- you know, no pop-out boxes, no font changes, no creative stuffing of poems into one page. The stories are full page (no columns), wide-spaced, with sparse but beautiful illustrations, and occasional less-beautiful comics drawn by a different artist.

There’s definitely a Riker and Troi bias in this one, which is why I picked it up! But our first -- and longest -- story focuses on Data.

As the editor’s note says:

“Cyndi Overstreet’s Things We Leave Behind is a novella. And, of course, the central character is our favorite android. Cyndi gafiated from fandom for a while, and I’m tickled pink to see her back at her keyboard. No one can do Data like Cyndi, as I’m certain you’ll agree. Her images are brought to life by the talented Chris Myers. The combination is very pleasing indeed.



(Cresanda's apricot hair is chopped off in a traumatizing ceremony)

This novella almost killed me, it was so damn long! Really, the central character isn’t Data at all -- it’s Cresanda, a telepathic girl from a primitive planet who has “apricot hair” and is destined to become the next leader of her people … after she undergoes a degrading rape ceremony and becomes bonded for life to the man who rapes her, of course. Cresanda, after fleeing her rapist, chooses Data.

But why is Data on this planet to begin with? Well, the human crew of the Enterprise has been exposed to a terrible virus, thanks to a rescue colony full of carriers. Eleven people have died already, and it looks like Deanna Troi is next -- she’s already sunk into a deep coma, and nothing Beverly does can wake her. It looks like the only hope of curing her is a rare mineral found on this pre-Warp planet in abundance.

Unfortunately, sensors don’t work well on Cresanda’s planet, so Data is forced to become her bondmate, and in exchange, Cresanda promises to lead him to the mineral he needs. So long as her scheming cousin Dawness or her evil aunt Sonya don’t kill them first! And what about Cresanda’s dead mother, the previous leader of their people? Is she really dead, or has she been captured and tortured by the evil Exlon?

Augh! I’m not kidding when I say this one nearly killed me! It was so insufferably long, and Cresanda was such a headache of a character. I don’t mind reading longfics that center around OCs -- my friend Bex has a long multichap for Star Wars that I adore, and I love her OC more than some canon characters -- and this one even managed to hook me at first, despite what you might call some red flags (the names, the apricot hair). It was mostly downhill from there.

Cresanda spends much of the story in her “cycle”, essentially in heat, which ofc makes her irrational, overemotional, and even delusional. If we knew this character previously, it might -- but I doubt it -- be interesting to see her go through this. Since we have no baseline for how she normally acts, it just gives us the impression that our main character is incredibly unpleasant, always looking to start a fight, and constantly getting offended over imaginary insults.

Data’s voice and mannerisms are good, for the most part -- there are moments where he slips into crackfic territory, but nothing too bad. Cresanda’s cousin Dawness is a mess of internalized misogyny. She’s your stereotypical Mean Girl Slut, but she actually seems to question authority and use her critical thinking skills in a way Cresanda doesn’t. I hoped that those early hints of a brain were intentional but by the time I finished the novella it was clear they weren’t, and Dawness was meant to be a Dumb Bitch all the way through 💀

Let’s see. Along the way, we have lots of explicit sex between Cresanda and Data, so if that’s a draw for you, I’d definitely recommend. It has its own particular sexy appeal, in that Cresanda is a virgin forced into this ceremony; Data is an “ugly” alien monster who she chose out of desperation; and to top it all off, she’s in heat, she’s desperate for this both socially (since she can’t become leader without this ceremony) and physiologically…but Data is affably content to wait until she’s ready, and doesn’t take the lead. Cresanda is humiliated when, despite her concerns and hesitations, she has to beg Data and tell him what to do.

(I can see the appeal; if I liked the character more this might be very sexy)

Now, for me, there was one … I hesitate to say “good,” but it pleased my shipper heart, amused me, and was just generally entertaining. Toward the end of the novella, Cresanda comes aboard the Enterprise and uses her telepathic powers to heal Deanna. You see, Deanna has been physically healed, but she’s mysteriously still in a coma. It’s like she’s sunk so deep into her own mind that she can’t be coaxed out. 

Cresanda enters Deanna’s mind and finds Deanna swimming in a waterfall on Betazed. She waves her hand and calls to Deanna, and Deanna beckons her closer … or so Cresanda thinks. But actually, there’s a tall, handsome, bearded man standing behind Cresanda, and he joins Deanna in the waterfall. And poor Cresanda is forced to watch as Deanna strips Riker naked and frolics with him in the imaginary waterfall on Betazed, absolutely refusing to leave -- this is her nirvana, she’s having fun, and Cresanda can’t make her go!

(“The real Riker is out there!” Cresanda implores. Deanna is for some reason unimpressed with this.)

This came with a glorious illustration of a sleeping Deanna, a worried Cresanda, and a glimpse of the dream world where Riker and Deanna are canoodling at the falls (clothed, though, because apparently Myers wasn’t comfortable stripping them down).



Well, all in all, I’d give the fic a 3 out of 5. It’s not perfect, but I’m also not the audience for it. It has some objective writing flaws imo (Prime Directive who?? Basic worldbuilding gaffes… like, if red hair is super rare on Cresanda’s planet, so rare that just having it makes her the ruler, then why doesn’t she at least NOTICE that Beverly has red hair when she wakes up in medbay? Why does she focus instead on Picard’s LACK of hair???; and clumsy dialogue), but if Data/OFC is your thing, it might be a solid 4 for you.

Next up was a cute short story called “Special Mission” by Michelle Benoit. Here’s the editor’s note:

“Special Mission by Michelle Benoit gives us an interesting point of view. I like stories that get us off the ship and allow us to see the familiar from a new perspective. Michelle’s story does that and more. David Lawrence provided the accompanying portrait. I admit prejudice to William T. Riker when he’s smiling that smile. Oh baby!”

…Agreed on all counts 💀 After slogging through a novella about an insufferable OC, this short story was a delight. It also revolves around an OC, Charles Stoddard, though in an entirely different way. 

Stoddard is a nervous insurance salesman taking a transport, and he’s hiding a terrible secret. There’s a tall, handsome, bearded pilot in a Starfleet uniform, and a beautiful woman with black eyes who sits across from Stoddard and gently flirts with him, drawing it out. The outside POV of Riker and Troi is delicious. Riker’s flirty nature is irrepressible, and Troi -- undercover as Tashara Lall -- has to pretend to be utterly cold to him, which of course just pleases him more. Seeing this all from Stoddard’s eyes was just so fun. 

Stoddard, by the way, is a suspect in the terrorist bombing of a research lab. But when Troi and Riker suddenly drop their disguises and tackle him, they learn that he’s innocent … or almost. They zero in on a different passenger, the true terrorist, and Stoddard thinks his own crime has gone unnoticed.

…Unfortunately he’s dealing with Troi here. Poor Stoddard, it turns out, is involved in insurance fraud for that same bombed research lab 😆 

 

In all honesty, this might objectively be the same quality as “Things We Leave Behind.” I suspect the author is more innately skilled but didn’t work as hard or long on this story as Overstreet did on hers. But I’m biased toward Troi and Riker, so I’m giving this one a 4 out of 5.

Next we have “A Little Spark of Heaven”, a wonderful story centering on Lwaxana Troi and Mr. Homm. Here’s the editor’s note:

“A Little Spark of Heaven was inspired by a recent episode, to tell which one would give too much away. Deborah Baudoin’s Homm is just incredible. I was amazed at the detail of her extrapolation from just a few short on-screen appearances. I also want to say that Lwaxana Troi is always welcome in any zine of mine, and her appearance in this story is reminiscent of Majel’s stunning performance in Half a Life. Debbie’s tale is set off by Barbara J. Cadwell’s artwork.”

And it’s really AMAZING artwork, I can’t stress that enough. This is a real gem of a story. It starts with Mr. Homm discovering a beautiful crystal in a field of flowers; Homm has a serious penchant for glittery, show-offy things (hence his loyalty to Lwaxana), so he pockets the crystal, and shortly afterward starts to experience ill effects -- namely weakness, dizziness, exhaustion.

Luckily, he and Lwaxana are on the Enterprise when these effects take hold. Homm’s condition is a mystery, and it only becomes more mysterious when he accidentally kills Lwaxana’s favorite pet vine, a gift from her husband Ian -- because Lwaxana is so upset she mentally cuts Homm off, and he can’t communicate with anyone aboard. Shortly after, a kind crewman tries to catch Homm as he faints, and when she touches him, the crystal saps her energy and kills her.

The dialogue and character work in this fic are excellent. This is the sort of fic I LOVE to stumble across on AO3, and promote to high heaven. Lwaxana, Deanna, and Beverly in particular -- their dialogue is effortlessly in-character, funny, and moving (and it can be really difficult to write dialogue that’s both funny and in-character). Here’s an example:

“Deanna, I know she’s your mother. And I’m sure that once you get to know her, she’s a wonderful person. But…”

“Actually,” Troi admitted, “once you get to know her, she’s really annoying. At least I’m not the only one she drives crazy.” A look down at Homm drained the levity from her voice. “Don’t let her fool you. Mother would be lost without Homm. She’s very frightened right now and is ill-equipped to handle it.”

Crusher sobered. “I’m sure Mister Homm will be fine.”

The counselor sighed. “I hope so. You handle this problem; I’ll see what I can do about calming down Mother.”

As Deanna reached the door, Crusher stopped her. “Do you want a tranquilizer? Just in case?”

 

Troi grinned. “For me or for Mother?”

Lwaxana is in fine form: entitled, aggravating, and immensely likable, with a great deal of human vulnerability brought out by her close relationship with Homm, a relationship no one on the Enterprise can fully understand. The peek into Homm’s mind is, imo, totally convincing and I accept it fully; there was never a point that made me think, “Ah, that’s really not supported by canon” or “Now you’ve gone a bit too far.” So I suppose you could call it restrained, but it felt so fully-realized that “restrained” is almost an insult.

I’d give this one a 5/5.

Next up we have “The Once and Future Captain” by BEKi. This is a quiet story laced with sadness and hope, and beautifully written (albeit riddled with typos). From the editor’s note:

“The Once and Future Captain by BEKi explores William Riker’s future as captain of the Enterprise. If you get a feeling of deja vu, don’t worry. Riker’s experiencing the same thing. BEKi is, like many of Haven’s contributors, multi-talented. She also did the gorgeous cover to this issue as well as the graphic design. If you think her Riker is hot, stay tuned for the Geordi cover she’s cooked up for issue two!”

This zine was published in March, 1992, so obviously it pre-dates a lot of the older canon for Riker. Instead of eventually marrying Deanna and taking command of the Titan, Riker is handed control of the Enterprise itself. Admiral Picard moves on to a new command and takes Deanna with him, and when the story opens, Captain Riker is sitting in Ten-Forward, lost in thought.

The dialogue between Riker and Guinan is just about pitch-perfect -- probably better than I could do, but lacking something I couldn’t quite identify. But the descriptions are gorgeous; BEKi’s artistic talent comes through in her writing as well, especially when describing faces. 

Guinan talks Riker through his decision not to say goodbye to Deanna, or to make a counter-offer and keep her on the Enterprise -- when Riker reluctantly admits that he still thinks he was right not to ask Deanna to stay, it lifts some of his melancholy mood. Guinan gives him a characteristically cryptic speech about faith, learning from her advice even when it’s not nice, and the great coincidences of the universe … and then she entices Riker to take a shot of something that looks like blood but tastes like Fireball.

(All this is leading somewhere XD Sorry that my summary isn’t as pretty and engaging as the story itself!)

After he leaves Guinan, Riker discovers to his horror that someone -- the new ship’s counselor, whom he hasn’t even met yet -- has accessed his private holodeck program, the New Orleans bistro. But when he bursts into Holodeck One, Riker discovers that the new counselor is…Minuet! Only she has no memory of him, and gradually Riker realizes she’s a real woman, Mignon. This is one of those great coincidences Guinan warned him about. But it’s stunningly similar to the fake reality Baraash created for Riker -- Captain of the Enterprise, married to Minuet the ship’s counselor, with a son of his own, and Admiral Picard and Deanna stationed elsewhere…

(Well, I won’t keep you in suspense about why: Baraash’s species actually access their subject’s DNA to determine set lifepaths encoded into their genome. So, his fake world wasn’t a total fabrication; it was just the likeliest bet). 

I’d give it a 4 out of 5, very well-written but not entirely my cup of tea.

Next, from Barbara Caldwell, we have “No Small Trust.” From the back of the zine:

“Ro Lauren has a great deal to learn about her human crewmates…and the universe. Sometimes vengeance is not always the answer.”

And from the editor’s note: “No Small Trust is action/adventure, but the theme is purely psychological with heavy emphasis on Ensign Ro.”

This was another short, fun story with good character work! Ro is sent, as she sees it, to play servant for Geordi and Beverly on a planetside fluff mission -- a vacation for the two officers, essentially. She treats Geordi and Beverly with proper Starfleet decorum, but privately, she thinks they’re both soft, pampered, and basically useless.

But as the story goes on, Ro realizes she’s been drastically left out of the loop. Geordi and Beverly have lied to her about their mission and essentially shut her out of their true purpose: to see if the Governor is hiding evidence of native intelligent life. In a shoot-out, Ro is surprised by Geordi and Beverly’s competence, and embarrassed when she realizes that they can tell how much contempt and disrespect she “secretly” holds for them.



Worse, as that native intelligent life rises up to take back its land, Ro starts to suspect that Geordi and Beverly were right not to trust her with their true mission -- because she’s done nothing to earn that trust. 

This is probably a brutal fic for major Ro fans, although I enjoyed it a lot and found it true to character. I love the slow reveal of Beverly’s experience and abilities, and Geordi’s too (although the focus is more on Beverly). Ro’s chagrin, and her last-minute determination to do better and prove herself worthy of Starfleet, was absolutely great imo. 



(Ro contemplates whether to kill the genocidal governor, whose beard made me do a double-take.)

I’d give this one 5 out of 5, with a warning that, depending on what type of fan you are, it may come across as Ro-bashing. I don’t see it that way (simply an honest, but compassionate, view of the character) , but your mileage may vary. 

Next up we have “Conversation in a Doorway”. From the editor’s note:

“Conversation in a Doorway by Jane Mailander gave me an excellent excuse to use a David Lawrence illustration that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time now. One augments the other to perfection. Jane’s story is a poignant one, and the idea behind it puts a bit of a smile on my face every time I think of it.”

(It is quite nice, innit?)

In this quick story, we see Riker, Troi, Geordi, and Worf making the long hike back from a gladiator ring, where Riker proved his worth against three champions at the same time. Troi is the only member of the Away Team who’s gone unarmed on this visit to a warrior race -- whether that’s because of her own pacifism or because this planet is sexist, it doesn’t say. They’re discussing their victory when an ambush party emerges from the bush and traps them against a cliffside.

While defending Troi, Riker is mortally injured -- a spear strikes right through his gut and pins him to the cliff face. As he lays dying, he hears a voice coming from Geordi, calling him “Chief” and offering him some cheerful comfort -- only Geordi’s never called him “Chief”, and when Riker looks up, he sees the silhouette of a tall, short-haired blonde woman guiding Geordi’s swordfighting moves. Tasha Yar, it turns out, has never left the Enterprise. She was given a choice, as all dead people are, and she decided to stay with her crew. She’s been there all along, guiding the Away Team on missions and using her ghostly foresight to give them a slight edge whenever possible.

She can only “possess” one person at a time, so it’s not perfect. Usually she leaves Riker alone and sticks to less sure members of the Away Team, like Geordi in this case. As she helps Geordi win the fight, she explains the afterlife to Riker and offers him as much comfort as she can, even letting him know when Troi starts crying, because she can sense Riker’s life fading away.

The story ends in sickbay, with Riker’s life just barely saved. He hasn’t woken up yet to tell everyone what he saw, but Beverly notes he was delirious when he was brought aboard, babbling about Tasha.

There’s an extremely unfortunate typo here -- it looks like at least one whole sentence was left out, possible entire paragraphs. One word is cut off and mashed together with half of another word to create a nonsense sentence, and I’m not sure how much of the story was accidentally omitted. But it’s a sweet, short, moving story, if a little hokey for my tastes. The writing here is nothing dazzling, and the sentimentality quickly gets cloying, though it’s fine at the start. 

I’d give it a 3 out of 5.

Next up we have, “You Can’t Judge a Book”, written by zine editor Chris Dickenson. As she says:

 

“You Can’t Judge a Book was inspired by David Lawrence’s delightful portrait of Ensign Ro. I know it’s traditional for the artist to illustrate a story , but I think that eliminates the possibility of the artist taking the lead. David’s portraits often evoke strong images in my mind. This is not the first time he’s jump-started me with a portrait, creatively speaking, and I’m hoping to do more of this kind of collaboration in the future.”

“You Can’t Judge a Book” is the shortest story in the zine, only a few pages long. Here, Ensign Ro sits alone in Ten-Forward, eyeing a strangely stiff and melancholy Deanna Troi. Recently, Troi took charge of the Enterprise and lost a few crew members. One of those casualties was a father to a six-year-old girl, who has now become Troi’s patient.

As Guinan informs Ro, Troi herself lost her father to a coil explosion when she was six. At first Ro is dismissive and contemptuous; why should she feel sorry for a “pampered princess” like Deanna when Ro watched her father get tortured and buried the pieces? But over time on the Enterprise, Ro has begrudgingly learned that her crewmates deserve more than just a surface reading. She can see the haunted look in Deanna’s eyes and finally decided to join her for a drink -- because Deanna looks like she could use a friend!

With a story this short, it’s hard to go wrong, though of course plenty of people do. I have absolutely no criticisms with this one. 5 out of 5.

Okay, we’re getting close to the end now! Up next is “Hair of the Dog.” From the editor’s note:

 

“Hair of the Dog was first drafted one sleep-deprived weekend and each addition only enhanced the original hysterical premise. Sally Dayton created yet another member of the Kaelen race to serve as comic relief in a situation which had the potential of turning very ugly. If you like Yanni, you’ll love Markove in the “Low Ground” which Sally wrote for our sister zine, Federation Standard #1. These Kaelen men are certainly getting around, but then we always suspected it was a relatively small universe. As for Barbara J. Caldwell’s illustration…perfection!”

This was a short humorous Riker/Troi story where Riker is sent to collect three unruly officers who got in a bar fight on shore leave. When he shows up at the local jail, we learn those three officers are Geordi (daquiri splashed on his VISOR), Crusher (furious and totally sober), and Troi (absolutely the least sober of the lot). It turns out, while watching a Klingon stand-up comedian that Worf recommended, Troi drank three Cardassian Suicides, three of Beverly’s drinks, and two of Geordi’s daquiris.

And then she started heckling.

The OC mentioned is Yanni, a cheerful jailer whose kiss apparently intoxicated anyone who suffers it. Luckily, not Deanna, or anyone else in this story. Toward the end, Riker and Troi share a sweet moment where she comes to his quarters, hungover and confused about why Beverly is so mad at her.

I’d give it a 4 out of 5. Really, I think the story accomplishes all it set out to be. I'm withholding the one star because I'm greedy and I'd have liked a touch more Imzadi romance.

“The Road Home” is Worf-centric, written by Barbara Caldwell, with a slight Worf/Tasha bend. Taking place just after “Redemption Part 2”, it follows Worf as he suffers an increasingly awful headache … only to suddenly start hallucinating. Before his eyes, Picard and Riker become antagonistic Romulans bent on a fight, and Worf is determined to kill them before they kill him.

From their POV, Riker and Picard are flummoxed. They barely survive Worf’s attack -- he’s especially bent on killing Riker -- but thanks to Deanna, who manages to snatch Worf’s phaser, they live to solve the mystery. Worf, it turns out, has been hypnotized by Sela, using his affection for Tasha (and her resemblance) to gain trust from an otherwise hypnosis-resistant mind.

Worf’s target seems to be Picard. His trigger word is “touche.” But after Worf wakes up, he quickly discovers a new trigger -- Shakespeare -- which leads him to attack Beverly. She’s alone in the medbay when Worf tries to kill her, and despite her best efforts, she can’t escape him. As he’s choking the life out of her, Worf sees his own reflection in her blue eyes. Something about it seems wrong … Romulans don’t have blue eyes, and his reflection troubles him. Dazed, he says, “Tasha…?” And Beverly answers him: “Dead.”

This finally breaks the spell. Worf gets some much-needed off-screen therapy with Deanna, and we end with Riker discovering Worf in the holodeck, listening to an old program of Tasha teasing him. 

Quite nicely written, with a lot of typos, though, and I think it would have been better if it were longer. But I’d still give it a 4 out of 5.

“Yesterday’s Ghost” by Laura Bickle is set in the second history of “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” Laura’s style in this piece is a powerful mix of gritty realism and poetic imagery. Whenever I read her stories I’m transported as surely as if O’Brien himself had beamed me there. Barbara J. Caldwell’s Guinan portrait rounds it out nicely.

(That’s the editor’s note)

I agree on the gritty realism and poetic imagery! But this story also has some minor flaws that turned me off, which makes it hard to rate. The story starts with a melancholy Commander Riker sitting in Ten-Forward, observed by Guinan. This is the alternate Riker, on an Enterprise without Deanna, and when Guinan approaches him, we find out why. Riker has a scorched, battle-worn Starfleet insignia on the table in front of him, accompanied by a violet candle that occasionally flickers and turns blue.

(Definitely my favorite portrait in the zine!!)

Riker explains to Guinan that the badge belonged to his wife, Deanna, of Starfleet Intelligence -- a woman Guinan never met. We go into a gritty flashback of Riker and Deanna dressed in leather and giving the beatdown to a Romulan spy. Their Imzadi bond makes them a perfect crime-fighting match, but the dialogue here had me covering my eyes (the Federation apparently has the Miranda rights, word for word…). 

They’re taken by surprise when the Romulan steals Riker’s 9mm and shoots Deanna. The story loses a bit of its internal logic here; it reads like a first draft that needs to be cut and pasted into the proper order, with Riker emptying an entire clip into the defenseless Romulan before he even thinks to check on the still-living Deanna or call for transport. Then Picard chooses to transport the dead Romulan before he rescues Deanna, who of course dies in the interim…this is a baffling choice that isn’t explained except with “It’s regulation.”

(Am I forgetting something from the episode?? Why is it regulation to transport dead bodies BEFORE still-living crewmates in desperate need of medical care?)

Back in the present, Guinan informs Riker that in the true timeline, Deanna is still alive. Riker can’t accept this news; he snatches Deanna’s combadge and storms away, and the candle flickers out. Riker and Guinan both know that he’s being followed down the hall by Deanna’s ghost.

This story had excellent inspiring writing…except when it didn’t. And it was chock-full of typos that felt more glaring than most: Guinan referred to be male pronouns, “a” instead of “an”, stuff like that. My personal penchant for Riker/Troi makes me want to give it a 4, but objectively, I’l give it a 3 out of 5, same as the Data novella.

 

For the last two features of the zine, I’ll just transcribe them! These are fun. First we have “The Ten-Forward Tattler”, the Personals column.

Professional romantic seeking that special Juliet who will lift my soul to the heights of rapture. Nice bed a plus. Age unimportant. Contact JLP.

***

Part-time stud puppy seeks woman - age, race, nationality, IQ, personality, species and personal hygiene habits not important. Will consider relocation if necessary. No Nintendo freaks, please. Contact WR. 

***

This is beneath me. Children welcome. Contact W, if you dare.

***

Overworked, under-appreciated professional in need of romance. No smokers, druggies, or parasites. Photo, please. Contact BC for fast relief.

***

Sensitive, demure Betazoid seeks willing man - not afraid of an emotional commitment. You bring the cuffs, I’ll bring the whipped cream. No mama’s boys. Contact DT.

***

Please! Desperate! The holodeck is booked solid. Contact GL.

***

Tin Man seeks Dorothy. I may not have a heart, but the rest of me is fully functional. Contact D.

***

For Sale - used bar equipment. Must sell - moving to Palm Beach. Call Ten Forward for more details. G. 

***

Open-minded couple seeks single or couple for adventure and good times. Contact K and O.

***

Attractive young genius seeks adventurous, financially-secure older woman. Contact WC.

***

Slightly dead blonde seeks same for serious relationship. Contact TY.

***

Slightly alive blonde seeks universal domination. No Vulcans need apply. Contact S.

***

Omnipotent being seeks devoted female for experimentation. No cows, please. Contact Q.

***

Mature, wealthy, intensely attractive woman looking for energetic younger man with a flair for adventure. Endurance a must. Contact LT soon.

***

 

I am applying for clemency. Apologies to all backstage employees under separate cover. KP, MD. 

 

And now we have a poem in memory of Gene Roddenberry, by the same author who wrote the Tasha Yar story, "Conversation in a Doorway."

THE GREAT BIRD PASSES

Written by Jane Mailander

Now the Great Bird passes. Part your fingers, so.
Feel the egg he laid inside you waken, fly and grow.

Housewife, astronaut, mental patient, clerk,
Truck driver, Ph.D, watch his homely work.
Long-forgotten dreams of youth remembered on the screen,
And hope reborn in war-torn days for futures yet unseen. 

Now the Great Bird passes. Part your fingers, so.
Feel the egg he laid inside you waken, fly and grow. 

Lonely girl reading books. Introverted man.
Bored and angry dropout--There the egg will land.
See the tinder catch from the egg’s emitted spark.
Watch the fires light the lives of all those in the dark. 

Now the Great Bird passes. Part your fingers, so.
Feel the egg he laid inside you waken, fly and grow. 

Gaudy clothes and silly words can hide an ancient story
Set three hundred years from now; we sense our human glory.
Fears of mass destruction change to dreams of peace for all.
And sometimes peace can happen--ask the ones who tore the Wall.

Now the Great Bird passes. Part your fingers, so.
Feel the egg he laid inside you waken, fly and grow. 

So if you write, or heal the sick, or paint, or sing, or live,
Because of what he showed you then--then turn around and give.
A fire will only stay alive if new wood catches on,
And eggs hatch out new birds when the first Great Bird is gone.

Now the Great Bird passes. Part your fingers, so.
Feel the egg he laid inside you waken, fly and grow.

.....it reads a bit like a hymn, doesn't it? I gotta confess, I originally gave the Tasha Yar story a 4 out of 5, but when I read this poem, I went back and retroactively changed it to a 3.

And the book ends with two ads, one for David Lawrence's amazing portraiture zines, and one for...well...