KIRK GETS IN TROUBLE AT A BAR AND GOES TO JAIL

 

Name: Star Trek: The New Voyages – Story 5 “The Face on the Barroom Floor”

Author: Eleanor Arnason and Ruth Berman, with an introduction by George Takei  

Publication Date: 3/1976

Publisher: Bantam Books

Page Number: 23

Historian’s Note: Sometime after The Counter-Clock Incident and before the Motion Picture.   

Cast of Characters:  Captain James T. Kirk         Commander Spock              Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”        Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Lieutenant Palmer        Lieutenant Kyle         Nurse Christine Chapel          Ensign Pavel Chekov      Captain Antonio Perez        Second Navigator Lo Chah         Renee            Bud      Morrie Singh          Renee’s two unnamed friends       unnamed bartender     unnamed law enforcement officers

Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Deneb Queen, Starfarer

Planets: Krasni’s Folly

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The story begins as the crew of the Enterprise is about to embark on some overdue shore leave.  Kirk, as is typical, is to duty obsessed to want to engage in the practice.  The Captain would rather not engage in anything that is not mission related that takes him away from his precious ship.  He has to be almost dragged by Dr. McCoy to the planet. 

Yes, Jim you must go on shore leave

While on the planet, called “Krasni’s Folly” for reasons we never discover, Kirk wonders around with McCoy and Sulu.  At one point they come across a samurai outfit that both Sulu and Kirk admire.  Sulu talks about buying it, but Kirk doesn’t think he find anywhere to wear it. McCoy find three women for them to hang out with and one named Renee.  Kirk gets bored with Renne, leaves his shipmates, and goes and buys the samurai outfit. 

At least Sulu can have a good time

Kirk puts his captain’s uniform in a storage locker and proceeds to another bar.  In this bar Kirk pretends to be a crewman of the Deneb Queen.  That turns out to be a mistake as no one here likes people from that ship. Eventually a drunken brawl breaks out that Kirk mostly avoids but the authorities show up an arrest everyone.  As everyone at the ‘police station’ thinks Kirk is a spacefarer who has gotten in trouble for the first time and not use to how things worked. He tries to explain that his captain won’t come to bail him out like everyone else here because he is his own captain.  No one believes him so he is stuck.

                While this is all going on the Enterprise gets contacted by a ship called the Starfarer.  The Starfarer is a passenger ship that is suffering from a serious malfunction and they are now losing life support.  Spock is forced to cancel shore leave and bring everyone back to the ship, but they can’t find the Captain.  A frantic search begins. 

                Back on the planet Kirk arranges an escape by using supreme tactics and fighting skills to assault a guard and then quickly leave the premises with some other prisoners.  Kirk makes his way back to the ship, looking a bit ridiculous, and they leave to save the Starfarer.  

Additional thoughts: I must admit I didn’t really like this one.  It’s supposed to be a comedy, but I don’t find it to be that funny.  Last I checked Starfleet officers are bound by the laws of the planets they are visiting, particularly worlds with space travel that interact with the Federation.  The episode “Wolf in the Fold” had much to be desired but it at least established that important concept, and it was repeated in the episode “Albatross” in the Animated Series.  

                I just don’t like the idea of Kirk who was arrested in a brawl deciding that the local law enforcement on a planet that Starfleet allows shore leave on and is a center of intergalactic commerce, is too inconvenient and bureaucratic to deal with so he breaks out and runs a way.  When they are giving him a chance to contact his ship just explain that he is a Starfleet officer out of uniform and his captain is Kirk on the Enterprise.  The locals would probably be more likely to believe that then the bold (but true claim) that he is Captain Kirk.  The break out might be justified if Kirk knew about the plight of the Starfarer and felt he was the only one who could rescue them.  Of course, Kirk should then come back to settle things with the planet.

                The only parts I liked about this story was Kirk buying the samurai outfit and the captains of the Deneb Queen and Starfarer both being friends of his.  Other than that, this story fell short.

Should it be canon: No, for the reasons listed above. I would rather not have Kirk violating local laws and customs on purpose because he thinks they are inconvenient and have it be official canon. 

Cover Art: What I said in the review of the first story: 

“The cover is beautiful.  You have the Enterprise flying in all its glory in the bottom center of the image.  Behind it looks like a space station built on an asteroid.  Flying above in the opposite direction is an unknown starship whose design I don’t recognize.”

  

Final Grade: Final Grade 2 of 5