The crew forgo their dreams of Starfleet to return to Tars Lamora in a no-win scenario.

After proving that they can effectively work together as a team, the crew of the USS Protostar receive a sobering message from the Diviner – return to the mining facility on Tars Lamora or the captive workforce (The Unwanted) will pay the price. Unanimously agreeing that there’s only one correct course of action, the Starfleet-uniformed heroes preview to return.

The Diviner seems uncharacteristically interesting in Gwynn, his ‘Progeny’ and for a while we’re tricked into thinking that the Protostar team have fallen for his duplicity. Not so, and the tables are soon turned, though as the title informs us, this is just the first of a two-part story.

Verdict: It might not end with one of those ‘how on Earth will they get out of that?’ cliffhangers, but this is a solid opener to a two-part story that showcases how far the young crew have come. 8/10

Nick Joy