Name: Web of the Romulans
Author: M.S. Murdock
Publication Date: 6/1983
Publisher: Pocket Books (Star Trek #10)
Page Number: 220
Historian’s Note:
This book takes place shortly after the episode “Tomorrow is Yesterday”
Cast of Characters: Captain James T. Kirk Commander
Spock Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
AKA “Bones” Lieutenant
Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”
Lieutenant Commander Rex Colfax
Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu Lieutenant Nyota Uhura Lieutenant Kyle Lieutenant Kevin Thomas Riley Lieutenant
Arviela Lieutenant Onorax Lieutenant Bryan Dr. Joseph M'Benga Dr. Laurence Kalvecchio Nurse Christine Chapel Ensign Pavel Chekov Ensign
Garrovick Ensign
Stewart Yeoman First Class Janice Rand Yeoman Second Class Briala Yeoman Third Class Kyotamo Admiral Jake Iota Rear Admiral Arc Poppaelia Rear Admiral Zoraxz Rear Admiral Kaal Commodore Yang Li Captain Mikel Garson Captain Charles Captain
Popov Commander Yellowhorse Lieutenant Murphy Lieutenant Ben Greeen Ensign Heery Yeoman Second Class Kouc Specialist
Belisanna Romm Joramm
Jaael
Praetor
Jublius Mannius Supreme
Commander Tiercellus Commander S'Talon Commander
S’Tor Commander Pompe Centurion S'Tarleya Navigator Argelian Weapons Master Hexce Science Officer S'Tokkr Lieutenant
S'Teer Lieutenant Livius
Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701,
USS Exter NCC-1672, USS Excalibur NCC-1664, USS Hood NCC-1703, USS Potemkin
NCC-1657, Starbase 8, ChR Eagle, ChR Raptor, and ChR Remus
Planets: Romulus and Canara
My Spoiler filled summary and review: This adventure starts in a different place
than normal. Instead of beginning on the Enterprise,
the audience is brought to the planet Romulus. The Romulan Praetor has a special mission for
the Romulan Commander S’Talon. S’Talon
is a well-respected commander, a fact the paranoid Praetor finds threatening,
he is willing to overlook it as this mission is far too important to be left to
just anyone. Either way he assigns his
nephew to the Commander’s ship the Raptor
to spy on him. 
The Raptor
After receiving his assignment he
goes to his loyal Centurion, a female Romulan named S’Tarleya, explains their
mission to her and the two of them go to visit the Commander’s mentor. This elderly Romulan is named Tiercellus, he
is a retired Supreme Commander. S’Talon
makes it clear that he does not expect to return from this mission. He doesn’t hesitate because the survival of
the Empire is at stake. However the
reader is not given any information about the threat that they are facing.
 |
| The Commander has the Praetor's nephew |
The Enterprise’s main computer is still infected with the reprograming from
the technicians on Cygnet XIV, this was the planet dominated by women who
decided to give the ship a female personality.
It has evolved from a minor inconvenience into a huge problem as the
ship seems to be falling in love with Captain Kirk complete with jealously and
refusing of orders. Kirk thinks the
Enterprise needs to be taking out of commission until they can get this fixed,
however heave Romulan activity makes that impossible. 
Kirk and Spock having trouble with the computer
The Raptor crosses the Neutral Zone and the Enterprise pursues. What
happens is a cat and mouse game with the Romulans relying heavily on its
cloaking device while trying to avoid direct engagement. While this is going on back on Romulus Supreme
Commander Tiercellus has been reactivated and placed in command of a fleet with
a very special mission. 
The Romulans on mission
The head of Starfleet intelligence,
Admiral Iota, becomes concerned that the safety of the Federation is currently
as stake and the Romulans are about to strike.
This feeling doubles when Spock found a spy device on the Enterprise’s bridge that Kirk orders
deactivated. Iota is now convinced the
Enterprise was destroyed by the Romulans and tries to get Starfleet to respond.
The computer growing jealous for
Captain Kirk’s affections decides to “murder” the competition by deleting the
files of every female member of the crew.
This has the effect of making it so the women onboard cannot access any
computer system and the automatic doors won’t open for them. This severally hampers the ship’s
effectiveness while fighting the Romulans as half the crew has now been locked
out.
Members of the Raptor crew grow impatient at the lack of engagement with the Enterprise and Commander S’Talon
survives one direct challenge to his command.
Elsewhere at the meeting of the Starfleet defense committee, Admiral
Iota finds he is the only hawk alive.
Others on the committee urge more caution, including Admiral Poppaelia,
the committee’s chair. It is decided to
dispatch a fleet to the Romulan Neutral Zone with Admiral Iota in charge of the
diplomatic and intelligence end, but with the Admiral not being a line officer,
Captain Garson of the Potemkin is
given command over the military side of the operation. 
Defense Council
Things go from bad to worse as the
computer decides to the delate the profiles of all the crew, save Captain
Kirk. She prevents them from accessing
auxiliary control. It is at this point
that the Romulans begin to attack. Kirk,
as the Bane of all Artificial Intelligence, begins to work his magic Spock
stops him, as he reminds the Captain that in the middle of the battle would be
the wrong time to talk the computer into suicide. Instead, Kirk goes easy and just convinces
the computer to give him back control. Once
Kirk has control back he goes to work on the Romulans and being a master
tactician he quickly defeats them.
S’Talon decides not to go the way of the Romulan Commander from “Balance of Terror”, and instead just surrenders his ship to Kirk. Once on aboard after some tough “let’s get to
know each other moments” that include a bluff of torture we finally arrive at
the truth of what is going on with the Romulans. A virus is spreading across the Empire threatening
to wipe them out. The only potential
cure exists on the planet Canara, a Federation member. The Raptor
was going to provide a distraction so a fleet of Romulan ships can take the
planet for themselves. While discussing
this, the Centurion collapse and dies of the very disease. 
Trying to save everyone!
The Romulan Fleet and the Starfleet
task force nearly come to blows while the citizens of Canara threaten to
destroy their crops then submit to Romulan domination. Kirk is able to negotiate a peace deal
allowing the Romulans to purchase for a fair price what they need. However,
Admiral Iota won’t accept and he hides in the auxiliary control room of the Potemkin
and try to use it to attack the Romulans.
The other Starfleet ships move into stop him, but Kirk reactivates the
intelligence device to show the Admiral the truth. The Admiral back down and there is once again
peace in this side of the galaxy.
Additional thoughts: When “Balance of Terror” first introduced fans to the Romulans a good
deal of the story was shown through their perspective. In this book the story begins on Romulus and
a great deal of the story is through the eyes of the Romulans. You can almost say the Romulans are the
protagonists in this story. You see the diversity
in Romulans thought where you have the honorable S’Talon and the devious
Praetor.
The “computer is in love with Kirk”
storyline is one I could have done without.
It seemed like plot busywork to me.
Keep the crew of the Enterprise
occupied until their story can be directly tied to the Romulans. Once the Romulans and the Enterprise crew have engaged the
computer story almost fades away. The
computer story also is the beginning of a messy time line.
The computer plot comes from a minor part of
the episode “Tomorrow is Yesterday.” In the book the crew is dealing with the
aftermath of that episode and have gone to Starbase 8 to complain that the
problem of the reprogrammed computer is becoming a larger problem by the
day. Yet, the book keeps referring to
adventures in episodes that came after all the way to the third season. For example the Romulans reference how Kirk
has beaten them twice and a footnote in the text lets us know they are
referring to “The Enterprise Incident.”
That was an episode from the third season of the show quite a while from
the point in time they are supposed in.
And strangely enough that also means they are conveniently forgetting
that encounter was actually the third time that Kirk defeated the
Romulans. The second occurred in “The Deadly Years.” There is also a reference
to the episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion” again an episode that took place
long after where this book is supposed to be. 
Ensign Chekov is here
There are also characters that
weren’t on the show at this point, primarily Ensigns Chekov and Garrovick. Now Chekov has already been established in The Wrath of Khan to have been on the Enterprise,
just probably in a different department, but this book has him in his season 2
job. Ensign Garrovick, however, he had clearly just joined the crew in
“Obsession.” There didn’t seem to be any
reason for him to be in this story, it was as if the author just choose to drop
his name in.
 |
| Why is he here! |
This book is a great statement on
the values of the United Federation of Planets and those who fall short of them
through paranoia. The Romulans maybe the
oldest enemy of the Federation but they aren’t going to sit on their hands and
allow a disease to wipe them out when know they can save them. The preservation of life, even Romulan life,
is far too important. Yet people like
Admiral Iota can’t see it that way he cannot stop thinking about the Romulans
in tactical terms. People like him do
have a place in our society, someone needs to be concerned with our safety, but
the book shows that people like him shouldn’t be absolutely in charge.
To be fair, Iota wasn’t absolutely
in charge in one of the best examples of “don’t confuse your rank with my
authority” the defense committee gives Captain Garson joint command and in
charge of the military aspect of it.
Given his place as an officer of the line it is felt that Garson is a
far better choice than Iota despite his much higher rank. One of the unresolved issues of this story is
Admiral Iota’s fate. You would think
that someone who tried to commit munity on a starship and almost started a war
would face high penalties for his actions.
Should it be canon: Yes, but you would have to remove
the computer story and replace the adventure as happening sometime after the
third season of classic Star Trek.
Cover Art: The faces of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy sit at
the bottom of the cover. Kirk’s delta is
the wrong side for some reason. Above
their heads flies the Romulan Bird of Prey Raptor.
Final Grade: Final Grade 4 of 5
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