AN ENEMY WHO BECOMES A FRIEND

 

Name: My Enemy, My Ally

Author: Diane Duane

Publication Date: 7/1984

Publisher: Pocket Books (Star Trek #18)

Page Number: 210 (Hardcover)  309 (paperback)

Historian’s Note: Two years after the events of The Immunity Syndrome.  Most likely between season 1 and 2 of The Animated Series.

Cast of Characters:  Captain James T. Kirk       Commander Spock              Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”       Lieutenant Commander Lia Burke                     Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu              Lieutenant Nyota Uhura            Lieutenant John Kyle     Lieutenant Harb Tanzer          Lieutenant Athendë           Dr. Joseph M'Benga              Lieutenant Roz Bates                Lieutenant Jerry Freeman               Lieutenant Harrison                Lieutenant Janíce Kerasus                   Lieutenant Mahásë             Lieutenant Colin Matlock              Nurse Christine Chapel          Ensign Pavel Chekov                 Ensign Brand           Ensign Hwavirë                   Ensign Lihwa                Ensign Robbie London           Ensign Dahai Iohor Naraht          Yeoman Third Class Yeoman Harry Matshushita                 Crewman Amekentra          Crewman Eisenberg        Crewman Feder           Crewman Edward Fisher Crewman Paul         Crewman Remner        Crewman Rotsler          Crewman Satha      Captain Nhauris Rihaul        Commander Aroun Yihoun                 Lieutenant Commander Lellyn UUriul            Dr. Lahiyn Roharrn           Lieutenant Syill         Captain Mike Walsh            Commander  Raela hr'Sassish       Dr. Aline MacDougall         Lieutenant Commander Iwao Sasoaka             Captain Suvuk         Commander Sehlk      Lieutenant Commander T'Leiar                 Dr. Sobek              Crewman Setek           Crewman T'Kiha      Crewman Si'jsk                Commander-General  Ael i-Mhiessan t'Rllaillieu               Subcommander Tafv ei-Leinarrh tr'Rllaillieu           Nniol t'AAnikh         Dhiemn          Ejiul          Dr.  T'Hrienteh            Master Engineer Giellun tr'Keirianh              Hvaid t'Khaethaetreh                Khiy              Antecenturion Aidoann t'Khnialmnae          Khoal            Liha tr'Rllaillieu              N'alae            Commander LLunih tr'Raedheol           T'maekh

Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, USS Constellation NCC-1974, USS Intrepid NCC-1730, USS Hood NCC-1703, USS Potemkin NCC-1657, USS Inaieu NCC-2003, Arakkab, ChR Arien, ChR Battlequeen, ChR Bloodwing, ChR Courser, ChR Cuirass, ChR Eisn, Ehhak, ChR Helve, Hsaaja, ChR Javelin, Kenek, ChR Lahai, ChR Rea's Helm, ChR Wildfire, Ykir

Planets: Levaeri V, Earth, Romulus, and Remus

My Spoiler filled summary and review: This Star Trek adventure begins not with our heroes, but with those who fans regard as the enemy.  The Romulan Star Empire is the oldest adversary for the United Federation of Planets.  We are introduced to Commander-General Ael i-Mhiessan t'Rllaillieu henceforth referred to as Ael, an extraordinarily successful military commander.  However, politics have been removed from her traditional command of the Bloodwing and instead assigned to the Cuirass.  This was done to separate her from her loyal officers and place her with those installed by her political opponents. 

Bloodwing

On the Federation side, Kirk and Spock are now playing 4-D chess, a new game.  Kirk starts to lose but McCoy takes cover and beats Spock.  While discussing this the Enterprise is summoned to the Romulan Neutral Zone.  While on the Romulan side Ael has discovered something horrible that the imperial government is doing that it makes her question her loyalty.  Not to the Empire but to its Senate and Praetors.  She devices a plan where she escapes her present ship and returns to her old command and loyal crew.  When they are given the information from her the crew agrees to join her on her quest.

At the Neutral Zone the Enterprise joins several other starships including the new Constellation and Intrepid.  They have an all-staffs meeting where they decide to come up with a plan to deal with the Romulans.  However, before they are finished the Bloodwing shows up and the Ael wants a meeting with Captain Kirk.  Ael has fought Captain Kirk on many occasions, and they respected each other as rivals.  They agreed to meet.  They engage in some small talk, and we learn that it was Ael’s niece that that Kirk and Spock had tricked in “The Enterprise Incident.”  This originally made her despise Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the rest of the Enterprise.  However, as time went on, she came to see her adversaries as honorable people despite what happened to her dear niece.  As “good to meet you” conversation came to an end that is where Ael gives them some shocking information.

Commander Ael's niece 

The information she gives them is this.  The Romulan Empire has been raiding civilian vessels that had been carrying Vulcans.  They kidnap the Vulcans and use the bodies for experiments in order to capitalize on the telepathic capabilities that the Romulans seem to have lost to evolution.  They are using Vulcan biological material to create a telepathic superweapon.  This knowledge is what caused Ael to become disillusioned with the Empire and wants to help Starfleet to stop it.  Where this monstrosity is located is on a Starbase orbiting the planet Levaeri V, which is deep in Romulan space.  Ael proposes that they allow her and her crew to “capture” the Enterprise and bring it in is a prize before they attack the base together. 

She agrees to a mind meld with Mr. Spock, but Kirk doubts they will be able to cooperate with this plan.  There are too many X-factors and Kirk couldn’t justify risking his ship.  However, they then received news that the Romulans using this new Vulcan bioweapon were able to capture the new Intrepid.  Kirk is now forced to go along with the plan.

As they sneak into Romulan space with the Enterprise pretending to be the prisoner of the Bloodwing, the two crews get to know each other.  There is much cultural exchange, and friendships are made at all levels from the commanders to the doctors, and even a good deal of the regulars on each crew.  The first Romulan ship they encounter has an arrogant commander who will not except explanations and insists on inspecting the captured ship.  This results in a quick battle that ends in that ship’s destruction.  

The Enterprise captured

They get to their destination and organize a giant landing party to free the Intrepid crew, their ship, and destroy this weapon the Romulans have created.  They run into two unexpected problems.  The first is the weapon is made of biological matter from the earlier Vulcan victims an it’s alive.  Spock now wants to rescue and not destroy it so it can have a home on Vulcan.  Also, the Subcommander of the Bloodwing, Tafv, who also happens to be the Commander’s son, betrays his mother and her cause by leading the younger members of his crew to try to steal the Enterprise for real.  Sulu and Chekov lead a resistance to this.  Both the problems on the ship and on the ground are resolved by our heroes shooting their way out. When the Enterprise, Intrepid, and Bloodwing are ready to leave they defeat the Romulan fleet which was sent to stop them.   Tafv was mortally wounded in the battle, and he is dying but he lives long enough to explain to his mother that he did what he did to avenge his cousin on Kirk and Spock. She then takes his life as custom dictates she must to a traitor, although he was going to die anyway.    

The two leading the ship resistance.

In the end the Federation is in a good position, the Starfleet characters are set to resume their lives, while Commander Ael embraces her new existence, taking her ship elsewhere to become a freelance operator in space.  Kirk is fine with this so long as she doesn’t take up piracy.

Additional thoughts: When “The Search for Spock” was being written the Romulans were supposed to be the villains.  Nimoy changed it to the Klingons because he wanted to explore their culture more.  This is why the Klingons in that film had a cloaking device on a ship called a bird of prey.  This book gives the Romulans a chance to shine.  However, it is one that pits Romulan against Romulan.  The honorable ones vs. the corruptible.

Okay, one error the author has in this book is forgetting that Kirk is better at chess than Spock.  Spock is a scientist; Kirk is a military tactician.  Often Kirk’s “illogical” thinking confounds and confuses him.  We first see this in “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and in “Court Martial” Kirk, thinking his career is over, tells Spock “Maybe he can beat his next captain at chess.”

Kirk is more the master

This book takes place toward the end of the five-year mission but what is neat is when Intrepid arrives it is clearly the Constitution-class refit design, the Enterprise herself will have by "The Motion Picture."  It is also a little sad because it is a reminder that this is the first Star Trek adventure that features the Enterprise where we know her final fate.  We know the ship will survive this because she is fated to die in orbit over the Genesis planet. 

I really enjoyed the Horta character, Ensign Dahai Iohor Naraht.  “The Devil in the Dark” is one of the great episodes of the original series. It challenged us to look at life and recognize that the monster in the dark might not be a monster at all.  The Horta looks like a moving pizza, but the Silicon-based life gives them a great advantage in certain situations.

Horta

Commander Ael is a great role model for someone serving in a regime that turns fascist. In the end of the day Ael is a Romulan patriot but she will stand by while her government commits these horrible Josef Mengele-type crimes.  She will even defect to her traditional enemies if she can see they have honor.  Yet, she never supplies the Federation with more information than they need to stop these atrocities, and they do not get any real advantage over the Empire.  It is also interesting to compare her actions to those that Kirk will take in “The Search for Spock” when he betrays Starfleet for the life of his friend. There are limits in his betrayal because he won’t give up Genesis to the Klingons even to save Spock. 

I do like that Kirk doesn’t jump on board immediately with Ael’s plan.  For one it was too great of a risk.  She easily could have been a Romulan plant and given that the Romulans and Vulcans are kin she may have been able to resist or trick a mind meld.  Kirk only agrees when he has no better option. 

In an earlier pair Star Trek novels The Price of the Phoenix and The Fate of the Phoenix, the Romulan Commander from “The Enterprise Incident” shows up as an ally to Kirk and Spock.  This something I found ridiculous considering what they did to her in that episode is something that no one would just brush off as no big deal, and the fact that the Romulans would still have in her in a high-profile position after that major mess-up is absurd.  In this book, her Aunt Ael gives her a more realistic fate, in her explanation of the aftermath of that encounter.  That she was stripped of her command, rank, and House.  This rendering her a non-person in Romulan society.  No one knows where she is now or what she is doing.   

Her fall only makes sense.

I felt the use of the Romulan language to be distracting, it was interesting at first, but I had to keep reminding myself that Rihannsu and Romulan are the same thing as the author keeps using the former.  I don’t mind them mentioning it once but since every other word I don’t see why they don’t continue to use throughout the book.

Something I found odd, so the Enterprise is summoned to the Neutral Zone with four other starships.  So, you have four separate equally ranked captains and command staff, don’t you think a flag officer such as a rear admiral or commodore would have been sent to direct operations instead of a committee of captains?  I thought that the absence of one was very odd. 

Overall, I thought this was a good story.  However, I do feel the ending was a bit rushed. There was a lot of time building up to this but when the final event came it was just “shoot and get out of there”-type scenes.  

Should it be canon: I see no conflicts with stories depicted in the action or animated series of any of the shows.  So, I have no issue with this book being accepted into the general canon of Star Trek.

Cover Art: The cover art is pretty cool.  It has Captain Kirk on the front holding what I think is a Romulan disruptor because it doesn’t look like any phaser I have seen.  Behind him is Commander Ael holding a similar weapon and behind both is a futuristic looking city.

Final Grade: Final Grade 3 of 5