Warning: Contains spoilers for Star Trek: Defiant #2!There are many destructive substances in the Star Trek universe, and now the most deadly of them all has been confirmed. In IDW Publishing’s Star Trek: Defiant #2, Worf and his renegade crew must obtain information about Kahless and the Red Path from a group of Orion pirates. The pirates are not forthcoming and Worf decides to barter with them–using the deadliest substance known to Federation science.
The issue is written by Christopher Cantwell, drawn by Angel Unzueta, colored by Marissa Louise and lettered by Clayton Cowles. Worf and the crew of the Defiant are on a mission to stop Kahless and his Red Path cult from killing the galaxy’s god-like beings. Worf has traced the Red Path to an Orion ship, the Scarab, a scavenger ship trolling for scrap from the Dominion War. The two ships exchange phaser fire at first, but Ro Laren opens negotiations with the Orions to get the transponder codes for Kahless’ ship. The Orions laugh and refuse to give it up. Ro then offers them some trilithium in exchange for the transponder codes. However, the joke is in the Orions as there is no trilithium–it is a bluff. Then, a text piece reveals the extensive laws and protocols surrounding the manufacturing and possession of the substance; fans learn that any attempt to weaponize trilithium carries the maximum penalty under Federation law.
