The events in Zero Point take place in parallel with those in Star Trek (2026) and sees Captain Raffi Muskier take command of the U.S.S Endeavour NCC 23001.
The story follows on from the tragic events of Frontier Day 5 years earlier which saw the Borg take control of all Starfleet personnel under 25 and the ships they were stationed on. In the ensuing battle thousands of people died and Raffi and Admiral Kathryn Janeway struggle to come to terms with the losses and the fact that they were powerless to see it coming.
In order to not have to face such large scale disasters again in the future, Janeway sanctions a secret project which took work from Altan Soong, father of Data and Lore, and the improvements to Voyager’s EMH codebase. The culmination of the project, code named Project Crow’s Nest, was Sybil, an advanced positronic computer the size of a planetoid that has access to sensors and information from across the galaxy so it can predict disasters and wars before they even happen. It’s hoped that this prior knowledge will stop the loss of life that has haunted the Federation.
In order to stop previous issues with supercomputers going rogue like Control and the M5, Sybil is unable to take direct action itself and is limited to contact only the USS Endeavour, and even then just 2 crewmen on board — the Captain and First Officer — have knowledge of, and can speak to Sybil.
On the first official mission, Raffi has brought her new crew together:
- First Officer Commander D’Vana Tendi, Science officer and Orion royalty
- Chief Engineer Commander Saavik (yes, maybe that Saavik but it’s not clear yet), a Vulcan
- Ships Counsellor Junar Mot, a recently joined Trill
- Helmsman Lieutenant Derril Zaf, A Catian who was raised by Ferengi
- Security Officer Ensign Tzen Minnoa Tzenketh, a Tzenkethi who joined Starfleet after suffering unknown dishonour
- Navigation Officer Lieutenant Myraz An Gxar, A Pandronian whose 3 body parts combined as they all wanted to join Starfleet
Their mission is one that any science officer would jump at the chance to take part in: visiting a so-called “Eyeball Planet” to investigate the sea underneath the surface.
What’s an Eyeball Planet? It’s a tidally locked planet that has one side that always faces the sun, the majority of the planet it frozen apart from the section closet to the sun’s surface which is melted giving the planet the look of an eyeball with the water forming the iris.
The real reason they’re heading there isn’t for scientific observation though, it’s because Sybil has determined that a dangerous weapon ended up in the ocean under the frozen surface and it needs to be retrieved before it falls into the wrong hands.
Tendi is not having it and thinks that Sybil (who has taken on the form of Uhuru for some reason) might have other motivations and doesn’t have the crew’s best interests at heart. Tendi’s fears are further compounded when it turns out that Sybil’s calculations didn’t take into account solar flares which were keeping the planet’s ice eye open unnaturally and now they only have hours to complete their mission instead of days.
With the risks for the Endeavour and her crew mounting, will Raffi be able to rise to the occasion and become the Captain her wife, Captain Seven of Nine, knows she can be? Or will she slip into old, comfortable habits and start to spiral as things start to run away from her?
And who will be proven right? Will Tendi’s fears be realised? Does Sybil have an ulterior motive? Or have Starfleet truly discovered a way to prevent disasters before they happen?
My Thoughts So Far
🖖Red Alert! Some spoilers for Zero Point Issue #1 below!🖖
When will Starfleet learn? A supercomputer, especially one the size of a small planet can never be a good idea, no matter how many safeguards you think you have in place!
The comic mentions Richard Daystrom’s M-5 multitronic unit (from the TOS Episode Ultimate Computer), AGIMUS (from multiple episodes of Lower Decks) and then has a redacted entry which I am assuming is Control, the super AI from Discovery. There’s also V’Ger, Nomad and Vexilon and, to a certain extent, the Borg to add to the list. Why Janeway thought this was the best course of action is a strange choice for her to make.
It’s an interesting story though and definitely shows a lot of promise as there are so many events and missions that Endeavour can be sent on thanks to Sybil’s fortune telling powers. It’ll also be interesting to find out why Sybil chose the face of Uhuru as a way to interface with Raffi and Tendi when it could have chosen anyone from Human history – or even just appeared as a glowing blob à la Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey but perhaps that is too on the nose.
As I mentioned in my Star Trek Issue #1 review, it’s a shame that we’ve jumped 5 years into the future away from the events post season three of Star Trek: Picard. While it would have been nice to see the re-kindling of Seven and Raffi’s relationship and the shenanigans they might get up to together on the Enterprise G, I can understand why they have jumped ahead — I’m hoping too that we get a 5 Year Mission from Seven and her crew with Star Trek: Legacy, but whether that will go ahead remains to be seen given the current state of Paramount and the Trek franchise in general. So this jump gives room for Legacy missions if we ever get to see it.
One big difference between Star Trek #1 and Zero Point is that I do like the art style here. It’s clear and the characters are well drawn and look like their TV counterparts. And, unlike Star Trek #1, the panels are bright and you can see what’s happening clearly.
I’m looking forward to forthcoming issues and getting to find out what kind of a captain Raffi is and what her crew get up to — there are certainly some interesting characters amongst them and I think there will be some friction which could make for some intriguing sub plots.
