"Assignment: One" was a Star Trek: The Original Series short story by Kevin Lauderdale. It appeared in Strange New Worlds 8, the eighth edition of the Strange New Worlds anthology series which was published by Pocket Books in 2005.
Summary
From his office in New York City, Gary Seven prepares for his next assignment: surreptitiously saving the life of one man from the September 11 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. His target, Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, is one of several special people he's been ordered to protect by the Aegis. Christopher is currently in Boston attending a conference, but will soon board a doomed flight if he isn't stopped. Seven transports to Christopher's hotel in Boston early in the morning, but is too late: Christopher had departed extra early to avoid construction traffic.
Seven transports to the airport and introduces himself to Christopher as a colonel from NASA. Seven knocks out Christopher with a servo, ensuring that he will sleep past his 7:49 a.m. departure. When Christopher awakes two hours later, his wife Debbie Lauderdale is calling him on his cell phone in a panic. Christopher catches sight of CNN news reports of planes having crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center. He reassures his wife that he is safe at the airport.
References
Characters
- Shaun Geoffrey Christopher • Gamma-3 computer • Debbie Lauderdale • Gary Seven
- Referenced only
- Barquero • John Christopher • Katie Christopher • Tom Clancy • Isis • Roberta Lincoln • Jackson Roykirk • Agent 201 • Agent 347
Starships and vehicles
- Referenced only
- F-117 Nighthawk • SR-71 Blackbird
Locations
- Earth (Boston • East Sixty-Eighth Street • Logan International Airport • Manhattan • Mojave • New York City • World Trade Center)
- Referenced only
- Earth (Colorado • Edwards Air Force Base • Empire State Building • Hiroshima • Los Angeles • Pearl Harbor • Tokyo • Washington, DC) • Saturn • Vulcan
Races and cultures
States and organizations
- Aegis • Ambassadors Club • FAA • FBI • NASA • United States Air Force • United States Air Force Academy • United States Congress
Science and technology
- cell phone • hologram • laptop computer • metal detector • microgravity materials science • robot • servo • television • transporter • wormhole • X-ray
Occupations and titles
- astronaut • colonel • director • hijacker • lieutenant colonel • scientist • supervisor
Other references
- 1945 • 1968 • September 11, 2001 • airport • bank • city • CNN • conference • day • disease • Ebola • Eugenics Wars • government • history • hotel • hour • identification card • novel • nuclear war • orbit • planet • pretzel • sleep • uniform • World War III • Y2K
Appendices
Related media
- TOS episode & Star Trek 3 novelization: Assignment: Earth
- TOS novel: Assignment: Eternity
- ST novel: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1
- ST novel: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 2
- VOY - Strange New Worlds VI short story: "Seven and Seven"
- TOS - Strange New Worlds III short story: "The Aliens Are Coming!"
- TOS novel: The Rings of Time
Background
- The story cited an apparent death for Gary Seven's partner Isis a few years prior to 2001. However, she was seen alive after 2001. In particular, she and an aged Seven rendezvoused with Captain James T. Kirk in the 2260s in TOS - New Visions comic: "1971/4860.2". For Kirk the meeting was two weeks later. Seven claimed that for him it was 200 years later, although time travel may have played a role in both Seven's and Isis's personal timelines.
- Seven's hair had gotten whiter at the time of this story, and he expected his tour of duty on Earth to end prior to the coming nuclear holocaust.
- Roberta was noted as having retired as an agent in 2000 at the age of 52.
- Christopher recalled the historic 1945 plane crash into the Empire State Building.
- When Christopher considered that aircraft should be launched to control New York air space in response to the attacks, a F-117A was cited. However, the author may have been thinking about the F-117A video game. In reality, the F-117 stealth fighter has no A variant. (F-117 (disambiguation) article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
Connections
| Media featuring Gary Seven | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Assignment: Earth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miniseries | The Peacekeeper • Convergence • The Eugenics Wars • Assignment: Earth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Novels | Assignment: Eternity • The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1 • The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 2 • From History's Shadow • Elusive Salvation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Short stories | "The Aliens Are Coming!" • "Seven and Seven" • "Assignment: One" • "Rocket Man" • "Time Line" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comics | "The Peacekeeper, Part One" • "The Peacekeeper, Part Two" • "Split Infinities" • "Future Imperiled" • "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" • "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" • "My Name Is Legion" • "We Have Met the Enemy..." • "Too Many Presidents" • "Ah-Ha!" • "Medics" • "Hosts" • "1971/4860.2" • "An Unexpected Yesterday" • "Year Five, Issue 11" • "Year Five, Issue 12" • "Year Five, Issue 15" • "Year Five, Issue 16" • "Year Five, Issue 17" • "Year Five, Issue 21" • "Year Five, Issue 22" • "Year Five, Issue 23" • "Year Five, Issue 24" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Timeline
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: Shanghaied |
Strange New Worlds 8 | Next story: Demon |
| Previous story: Shanghaied Strange New Worlds 8 |
TOS short stories | Next story: Demon Strange New Worlds 8 |
| Previous story: A Test of Character Strange New Worlds VII |
Stories by: Kevin Lauderdale |
Next story: The Rules of War Strange New Worlds 9 |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: 11:59 past scenes |
Pocket Books Timeline | Next adventure: Project Blue Book Strange New Worlds VII |