Star Trek 1162: Vacation's Over

1162. Vacation's Over / Memoirs of an Invisible Ferengi

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Maquis - Soldier of Peace #1, Malibu Comics, February 1995

CREATORS: Mark A. Altman / Chris Dows & Colin Clayton (writers), Rob Davis and Terry Pallot / Brian Michael Bendis and Bruce McCorkindale (artists)

STARDATE: 48573.3 / Unknown (between Destiny and Prophet Motive)

PLOT: Bashir leaves for Risa and meets the beautiful Tessa on the transport. Unfortunately for him, she's a Maquis cell leader who needs a Doctor for her mission after the one contracted drops out. That mission: To get back the crews of the Voyager and Chakotay's ship believed captives of the Cardassians. Bashir is forcibly drafted and the gang gets smuggled by traders to a Cardassian prison. They get the drop on the Cardassians, but are captured after finding no trace of Chakotay and the rest... In Memoirs of an Invisible Ferengi, Quark steals a Romulan belt that makes him invisible. Unfortunately, whatever he tries, he gets trampled, burned or knocked over the head. He returns the belt, and the Romulans reveal it is a prototype toxic to Romulans, though a Ferengi won't get much more than two weeks worth of diarrhea.

CONTINUITY: Bashir tries to go to Risa; he'll make it in Let He Who Is Without Sin... The Maquis of course premiered in The Maquis, Parts I and II. There is a reference to Voyager and Chakotay's ship disappearing, and what looks like the Enterprise-D and the USS Cairo (Captain Jellico's ship, as per Chain of Command) are seen searching for them. Memoirs of an Invisible Ferengi features Rom.

DIVERGENCES: Memoirs of an Invisible Ferengi mentions a Romulan science vessel, but a Warbird is shown.

PANEL OF THE DAY - The Risa experience starts on the luxury liner.
REVIEW: Altman is turning out to be one of the better DS9 writers, connecting to the television stories in meaningful ways. The Maquis story is a perfectly logical one in the wake of Voyager's launch, and Bashir is as good a character as any to go on this ride. I'm not even worried about the absence of the rest of the cast. And with what we know about the Cardassian penal system, the idea of our hero being captured by them is more of a cliffhanger than it otherwise would be. The back-up (with art by Bendis, look at that) is a fluff comedy piece. Better than most, though I could have done without the mention of diarrhea. Cruel, Romulans. Real cruel.

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