Scotty gets his chance to say goodbye to Captain Kirk

Lt. Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott never had a chance to say goodbye to Captain Kirk, but that’s all been changed. 

In Star Trek: Generations, Captain Kirk is assumed dead after he attempted to help rescue the newly-minted Enterprise-B from a massive energy ribbon that had captured two El-Aurian refugee ships as well. The Enterprise does break free, but a hole is torn in the ship’s hull, and Kirk is presumed dead. And many things are left unsaid between the captain and his former crew, especially Scotty, who served as the chief engineer aboard the original Enterprise.

That all changed in IDW Publishing’s Star Trek Annual 2023 when Scotty, who is now serving under Captain Benjamin Siskso aboard the USS Theseus, comes face to face with a holographic replica of Captain Kirk, and the hardworking engineer finally gets to tell his former captain what working with him meant.

Captain Kirk returns in Star Trek Annual 2023 but only as a hologram

Written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, drawn by Rachael Stott, colored by Charlie Kirchoff and lettered by Clayton Cowles, Star Trek Annual 2023 brings sentience to the USS Theseus’ neural network. Along with that sentience comes holographic versions of figures from Starfleet history who try to persuade the crew to set them free. Unsurprisingly, the first hologram to show up is a security protocol that looks and sounds exactly like Captain Kirk.

While this Kirk attempts to convince the crew of the USS Theseus that the holograms aren’t to be trusted, Scotty intervenes, telling Kirk that the captain thinks his only purpose was to solve problems…just like the human Kirk. Scotty’s talk works and hologram Kirk joins the other holograms on their own world which Scotty thinks is appropriate as ” every intelligent species deserves as least one Jim Kirk.”

Scotty’s conversation with hologram Kirk is beautiful and poignant and says what fans wish they could have seen onscreen. This pair deserved a chance to say goodbye, but then, Kirk didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to anyone before becoming trapped in the Nexus. It was a shame that his life ended on Veridian III so abruptly and unnecessarily, leaving a vast amount of words unsaid between him and his former crew. At least Star Trek Annual 2023 allows some closure between Kirk and Scotty.

Star Trek Annual 2023 is on sale now.