Despite the focus of Part One on Klingons extraordinaire Robert O’Reilly and J. G. Hertzler, they weren’t the only unforgettable personalities appearing at this year’s Starbase Indy convention. For Trek fans who’d attended previous cons (and therefore already had the chance to meet each Klingon warrior), the headliner would be Nicole DeBoer, making her first Indianapolis appearance. She’s known to us as Ezri Dax, a season-seven regular from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who had big shoes to fill when Terry Farrell’s Jadzia Dax exited the series.

In her Q&A, DeBoer also fielded questions about her non-Trek work such as The Dead Zone, Kids in the Hall, Stargate Atlantis, one schmaltzy direct-to-video Christmas movie, and the cult flick Cube. She recounted a couple of audition stories, and was candid about her Canadian heritage, particularly how working in Toronto afforded her career opportunities for which she’s eternally thankful. She also wished for a new Trek series about the post-DS9 adventures of Captain Ezri Dax, but that alt-reality is likely a job for fanfic writers. Preferably good ones.

If you’re more into real science than sci-fi, returning to Starbase Indy was Dr. David A. Wolf, a genuine astronaut — veteran of several Space Shuttle missions, spacewalks, and extended space-station assignments, one of which lasted over 120 days and necessitated two years of physical rehab after his return to Earth.

Dr. Wolf brought a compilation of NASA footage from his various voyages in the general direction of the final frontier, including launches, zero-g acrobatics, and spacewalks. He recounted one especially harrowing tale about his first spacewalk, which dragged out to an unplanned and dangerous fourteen hours due to severe airlock malfunction. He’s one of several astronauts who recently retired from NASA following the decommission of the Space Shuttle program. Considering that NASA is now averaging two Americans into space per year, Wolf expected far fewer opportunities for actual space-bound missions and decided it was time. NASA’s loss was Starbase Indy’s gain.

Alexis Cruz is best known as Skaara from the Stargate universe, but also plugged his involvement in an indie graphic novel called The Unprofessionals and a planned adaptation of the ancient TSR RPG Metamorphosis Alpha. He’d love to spearhead a Stargate comic book series of his own, but would have to commandeer the publishing rights away from current holder Avatar Press.

Returning SBI mainstays included Trek cartoonist David Reddick and one-time actress Deborah Downey, whose claim to fame was playing the main “hippie chick” who “rocked with Spock” (both phrases hers) in the well-known Star Trek episode “The Way to Eden”, a searing political indictment of space hippies living in space hippie communes and making space hippie music.

Downey is a veteran of many a Starbase Indy gathering. (She’s become to SBI what Noel Neill is to Metropolis’ annual Superman Celebration.) In honor of her ongoing support and contributions to SBI, the staff presented her with a meticulously hand-crafted replica of her original space hippie instrument. The presenter was even dressed as her character. For extra Eden-osity, both were also joined onstage by Mirror-Spock wielding Spock’s own space hippie instrument from that same episode. Sadly, both were merely space hippie replicas, neither imbued with the necessary space hippie technology required to make them work or jam.

My wife wasn’t on the guest list, but she found that if you waited until a lull between stage presentations, asked nicely, and appeared cute and harmless, security would let you sit in the Captain’s Chair for a very special photo op.

To be concluded! In tomorrow night’s finale: costumes!