According to Bacon-Smith, the stories that represent the "pure" form of the Mary Sue character are "found in the Star Trek section of any bookstore". In the 1986 Star Trek novel Dreadnought! by Diane Carey, for example, the protagonist, cadet Piper, beats a training test using a maneuver from a girls' adventure novel; is told that she is the first person ever to pass the test honestly; is recruited for the Enterprise by Captain Kirk, with whom she feels a "subliminal connection"; becomes central to the plot involving a hijacked ship; must free Kirk from captivity by distracting his guards; takes command of the ship during the story's climax; is promoted first to Lieutenant, then Lieutenant Commander; becomes the youngest to receive the Federation's second highest award for her ingenuity in "helping to save Star Fleet"; and in the closing of the novel, makes a date with Kirk to go sailing.
