What I’m Reading – Star Trek: The Kobayashi Maru by Julia Eckler

Unless you’ve been living in cave somewhere (in which case you’re probably not reading this), you’re familiar with Star Trek. You might even be familiar with a command test that has been discussed a time or two in the movies, TV shows, and different books. It’s called the Kobayashi Maru Scenario.

Here how it works. You’re in command of a starship, and you’re patrolling the Neutral Zone, a section of space established between the Federation of Planets (which you represent) and another group (usually the Klingons). It’s a buffer zone between the two in which neither side is supposed to enter for any reason at all. To do so means the other side can come in, kill the invading ship, and begin an old war all over again.

What happens is you’re on patrol and receive a distress signal from a liner known as the Kobayashi Maru. It’s been disabled by a gravitic mine, and drifted into the Neutral Zone. Power and life support are failing. As captain, you need to make the decision to go in and rescue it and the passengers.

Now, this is where the fun begins. It’s never adequately determined if the Kobayashi Maru even exists. If you go into the Neutral Zone, you’re attacked by Klingon battlecruisers. If you defeat one group, more show up until eventually your ship is destroyed.

It’s called the “No-Win Scenario,” something any commander might face. Every command cadet faces it, and only one man ever beat it.

So the title of the book. Now for the story. Captain Kirk, Commanders Chekov and Sulu, Scotty, and Dr. McCoy have just finished a trip to a science station in a solar system that is full of debris. In the course of returning to the Enterprise, their shuttlecraft strikes a gravitic mine and is badly damaged. With communications and engines damaged, the shuttle and some of the crew injured, the shuttle is adrift, and power and life support failing, there’s little they can do except wait to be rescued.

The conversation drifts to one thing they all have in common and that’s the Kobayashi Maru. We get a fascinating look into each characters psychology and motivations.

Kirk, who refused to give up, even if it meant cheating to do it. Unlike what we got in the new movie, Kirk, with the help of a friend, hacked the program so that the Klingons suddenly became very cooperative when he explained his mission.

Chekov who blew the scenario, but in another scenario totally screwed things up because he assumed Kirk (whom he admired) would do what he did. He found out that Kirk was one of the few who passed that test by demonstrating leadership over survival.

Sulu is a man who believes in the impossible, but kept his ship out of the Neutral Zone and harms way. And almost had to deal with a mutiny as a result.

Scotty never wanted to be there at all, but learned it was okay to chart his own course through life.

The thing is if you’re a Trekkie or Trekker (take your choice), you probably know a lot about all these characters including their shoe size. The author didn’t take any liberties with them at all. They were still very much the characters that fans have grown to know and love.

And it’s also one whopping story about staying alive.

A very simple, easy read that’s also fun.