Attached Meant

Zine
Title:	Attached Meant
Publisher:	Star Borne Press
Editor:
Author(s):	Margaret Basta
Cover Artist(s):
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	1996
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TNG
Language:	English
External Links:	An expanded version is online here.
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Attached Meant is a 137-page het Star Trek: TNG novel by Margaret A. Basta. From the cover: "Or what really should have happened after the episode 'ATTACHED'..."

Summary from the publisher: "A post-Attached tale about what really should have happened after Beverly and Jean-Luc enjoyed the hospitality of KesPrytt."

Reactions and Reviews

"Within two hours of first seeing the episode, 'Attached,' I knew that I had to write a zine that dealt with how the episode should have ended..." As is so very true of many fanfiction authors, Margaret Basta was prompted to write out of necessity, to provide the missing scenes, to write the correct ending and thus bring about a more satisfying conclusion to an episode. But rather than just writing a "short" story, she went much farther, fleshing out the befores and the much, much afters.

Beginning with Beverly Crusher's departure at the conclusion of "Attached," Jean-Luc Picard is forced to reflect on his actions and Beverly's reaction during their post-KesPrytt dinner. And as he ponders whether his overtures to intimacy will forever sully his close friendship with Crusher, he takes a journey into his memories, aided by some of the family business.

Meanwhile, Crusher also does some soul searching, recalling a time of reckless impetuosity which led to her first encounter with her future captain and best friend. And afterwards, she resolves to change the nature of that relationship in a mutually satisfying manner.

Basta peppers this novella with a great many characters, from the regular 1701D crew and assorted extras, such as Tasha and Wesley, Admirals Nechayev and Nakamura, and the always wise Guinan, to those of her own creation. And also manages to link as many of these people together in ways never suggested in aired episodes nor, unfortunately, in manners consistent with the established characterizations. The Tipster found that in the effort to tie up every perceivable loose end, Ms. Basta took too many liberties—except in the case of Picard's reasons for relinquishing his captaincy, which were definitely plausible—with the characters. In all fairness, the story was entertaining, and certainly the end result was wonderfully satisfying, but the execution simply was not the best the Tipster has ever examined, or at least, not as cleverly done as in several of her previously examined short stories.