Warning: contains spoilers for “Facemaker,” appearing in Star Trek Celebrations: Pride!

In the Star Trek franchise, first contact situations are dicey propositions, but fortunately, the Federation has protocols and technology aiding in the process–and now the origin of one vital piece has been revealed. In the story “Facemaker,” in Star Trek Celebrations: Pride, Nurse Christine Chapel is on the verge of a major breakthrough, one that would facilitate Starfleet in first contact scenarios.

“Facemaker,” appearing in Star Trek Celebrations: Pride, was written by Mags Visaggio and drawn by Tench. Nurse Chapel, working for Project:Chimera, is growing frustrated over her inability to create a way for Federation observers to pass undetected in pre-warp societies. Her work involves genetic modification–which is illegal under Federation law. Chapel is venting to her lover, Ensign Lozana, about her frustrations.

In the end, it is Lozana, who uses subdermal patches for a variety of tasks, including estrogen production.

This gives Chapel the “push” she needs, and she is successful in developing a new technology called “QERPEM.”

First Contact Situations Are Critical to Star Trek

The Federation Was Seeking Safer Ways to Initiate First Contacts

First contact situations can be nerve-wracking, not to mention dangerous. Federation and Starfleet law prevent interference in the development of pre-warp and non-aligned worlds. Federation observers first examine a world by passing as members of that species. These observers then decide if the planet is ready to learn about extraterrestrials. When initiating first contacts in the past, as Chapel notes in this story, the Federation would apply prosthetics to researchers, but these came with a host of problems on their own. Nurse Chapel, and Project Chimera, were looking for a way to make this easier.

When fans meet Nurse Chapel in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, she has largely perfected Chimera’s technology, and this story shows her “eureka” moment. As Chapel worked night and day on the project, she continually ran afoul of Federation law. Thanks to humanity’s nasty history of genetic engineering and eugenics, which was carried to its horrifying extreme by Khan Noonian Singh, it has been outlawed throughout the Federation. Chapel needed to find a workaround, and it was her partner who provided the spark and inspiration she needed.

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Future Generations Owe a Debt to Nurse Chapel and Her Lover

First Contacts Will Go Much Smoother in the Future

“Facemaker” shows not only how a vital piece of Federation first contact technology came to pass, but is also a testament to Nurse Chapel’s intellect and drive. She hit brick wall after brick wall, but never gave up. Her trans lover, who used subdermal patches for estrogen production, breast growth and gamet production, was the one who helped Chapel crack the code. Future generations of researchers in the Star Trek universe owe Nurse Chapel and Ensign Lozano a huge debt, as they helped make first contact situations just a little bit smoother.

Star Trek Celebrations: Pride is on sale now from IDW Publishing!