FASTER THAN FASTER THAN LIGHT

 

Name: The Wounded Sky

Author: Diane Duane

Publication Date: 12/1983

Publisher: Pocket Books (Star Trek #13)

Page Number: 255

Historian’s Note:  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 Larry Aledort                Lieutenant Kyle           Lieutenant Amekentra                    Lieutenant Athendë            Lieutenant Jerry Freeman         Lieutenant Heming            Lieutenant Janíce Kerasus               Lieutenant Mahásë               Lieutenant  Harb Tanzer      Dr. Joseph M'Benga        Nurse Christine Chapel          Nurse Lia Burke           Ensign Pavel Chekov      Ensign Anita Ross        Ensign Niwa Awath-mánë ri d'Hennish enu-ma'Qe           Crewman Dithra              Crewman Matlock        Crewman Mosley               Crewman Niliet,               Crewman Mayri Sagady,             Commodore Katha'sat        Commander K’t’lk            

Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Starbase 18, USS Arizona (Registration unknown), USS Armstrong (Registration unknown), USS Bannockburn (Registration unknown), USS Bismarck (Registration unknown), USS Bonhomme Richard NCC-1712, USS Challenger NCC-1715, USS Clarke (Registration unknown), USS Condor (Registration unknown), USS Constellation NCC-1728, USS Constitution NCC-1700, USS Dataphda (Registration unknown), USS Divine Wind (Registration unknown), USS Eilonwy (Registration unknown), USS Erinnye (Registration unknown), USS Ewet (Registration unknown), USS Ferris's Folly (Registration unknown), USS Henrietta Leavitt (Registration unknown), USS Hypsipyle (Registration unknown), USS Inaieu (Registration unknown), USS Indomitable (Registration unknown) USS Intrepid NCC-1730, USS Isshasshte (Registration unknown), USS John F. Kennedy (Registration unknown), USS Kamë (Registration unknown), USS Lewis (Registration unknown), USS Lookfar (Registration unknown), USS Malacandra (Registration unknown), USS Manhattan (Registration unknown), USS Marya Morevna (Registration unknown), USS M'hasien (Registration unknown), USS Milton Humason (Registration unknown), USS Mor'anh Merin'hen (Registration unknown), USS Na'i'in (Registration unknown), USS Potemkin NCC-1657, USS Queen Elizabeth III (Registration unknown),USS Queen Christina (Registration unknown), USS Ransom (Registration unknown), USS Raptor (Registration unknown), USS Resolute (Registration unknown), USS Rodger Young (Registration unknown), USS Sadat (Registration unknown), USS Sorithias (Registration unknown), USS Sulam (Registration unknown), USS Surak (Registration unknown), USS Tao Feng (Registration unknown), USS Thermopylae (Registration unknown), USS T'Laea (Registration unknown), USS Valkyr (Registration unknown), USS Yorktown NCC-1717, IKS Amak, IKS Enekti, IKS Kaza, IKS K'j'khrry, IKS Kytin, IKS Menekku, IKS Okuv, IKS Tukab

Planets: Altair IV, Mars, and Rukbah V

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The adventure begins when Captain Kirk receives exciting news, the Enterprise has been selected to participate in an experiment in a new type of faster than light propulsion.  They arrive at Starbase 18.  While at the Starbase the meet the inventor of this new technology. Her name is Commander K’t’lk, a Starfleet reserve officer.  Her species is Hamalki, a giant spider-like species, whose center body is shiny and at times transparent.  Someone who fears spiders might have a hard time serving with her, however she could very well win them over with her charming personality.  She instantly makes friends with almost all the crew, particularly the Captain and Chief Engineer.   

K’t’lk explains her device, the inversion drive, operates on a similar level to the transporter, but it is its own pad. They will be able to use it to go to one end of the universe to another in a simple blink.  Scotty assists his new friend install her invention into the ship’s engines.   

Spock and Scotty helping to install the device

As the ship gets underway, they are suddenly attacked by a fleet of Klingon ships that have somehow snuck past the Neutral Zone.  While outnumbered seven to one, the Enterprise files for its life.   Sulu uses a known but rarely used maneuver where he flies the ship close to an unstable star and gets it to go nova.  The Enterprise escapes using the new inversion drive while the Klingon ships are destroyed in the nova.   

The Enterprise under attack from the Klingons

  

They end up going in the exact opposite direction of where they intended.  They are in orbit around a white dwarf star that is located so many light-years away it would take them decades to return to Federation space under normal warp.  Spock is eager to study the new star as not doing so would be a great loss to science, Kirk is more concerned with its instability with the ship being so close.   Most of the crew start to feel odd after the jump.  Spock asks to be relieved of duty because of how it has effective him.  Kirk doesn’t allow it.  After talking with K’t’lk, who has experienced none of the uneasiness that others had suffered, she thinks she can get them back to their original destination  

They jump again and the inversion drive succeeds in getting them where they had intended to be the first time.  However, this trip takes longer.  Captain Kirk feels his mind leave his body and for a while he is someone else entirely, then his mind leaves that person and enters another.  Kirk discovers for a moment that he is Ensign Chekov.  Finally, he gets back to his own body.  It turns out that this experience is unique to him but everyone, except K’t’lk, has had the same experience Kirk had.  How each crewmember dealt with it varied according to the individual.

These jumps are making us feel weird. 

The crew discovers the more they use the inversion drive the worse these out of body experiences get but that is not the worst part.  The worst part is they may be causing the destruction of all reality.  During their last jump another supernova occurred.  While Spock and others are observing that area of space it appears that entropy and the normal flow of time has ceased. The use of the drive has torn a hole with another universe where entropy does not exist.  That reality is spilling over into this one.  

They are forced to use the inversion drive again and this time the crew is displaced to Mars but it’s Mars of a different time period than they were used to.  Here they were themselves, but they were all younger and heathier.  They also were able to read each other’s minds telepathically.  As the ship pulls into normal space again, they have all returned to their positions on the Enterprise.  They are quickly under attack from Klingons again.  They are able to evade their attackers, but they have a bigger problem because the universe is about to get swallowed up.  K’t’lk has an idea that can fix everything.  They have no choice but to leave it up to her.  Spock and others had earlier determined there is intelligence in the other reality.  If K’t’lk can communicate with it, she might be able to put it all back together using her inversion drive.  Spock thinks this has less than 50% chance of success, but Kirk doesn’t see any other option.  They activate the inversion drive and K’t’lk succeeds, but at the cost of her own life.  However, she has laid an egg, and her species can pass memories to their offspring so it’s not that much of a sacrifice.  The Enterprise is welcomed back by the fleet and this adventure is over.

Enterprise is greeted by the fleet!

Additional thoughts: The story presents an interesting concept.  Who wouldn’t want to be able to go faster than warp?  Warp is fast, it allows ships like the Enterprise to move about the galaxy.  However, it has its limits.  The ship’s adventures are all intra-galactic, the inversion drive would allow them to “pop” into any part of the universe they would want to.  It would be the death of distance.  

It makes sense that if the Federation were to develop something like the inversion drive, then the Klingons would have an interest in either destroying or stealing it.  My only problem is the Klingon threat shows up but has little to do with the story.  They are dealt with so easily that they are almost a footnote.  Yet the way they were destroyed was quite destructive, causing a supernova, but the crew acted like that was no big deal, just basic strategy.

I like the author taking advantage of the medium of books and allowing her imagination to come up with a character who looks like a giant spider.  Despite such, to human eyes, a ghastly appearance, K’t’lk is one of the sweetest and kindest characters you will ever meet.  True, her invention almost destroys all of reality, but she sacrifices herself to save it, sort of. 

Who would have predicted these side-effects from a device that was made for traveling the stars: having the crew be mentally displaced from their bodies and scattered about the universe for a time and almost destroying all known reality.   So, let’s talk about the threat.  I have a problem with threats to destroy the whole galaxy, universe, or multi-verse etc.  When you make the story’s conflict that big you know how it is going to end, clearly in the ongoing saga reality itself will not be destroyed. I am not saying you can’t tell good stories with those high stakes, but in order to do so you have to know those are the stakes for most of the story.  A good example of this is “The Doomsday Machine” right of the bat we are exposed to a threat that ended and entire solar system and crippled on the Enterprise’s sister ships.  So, the viewer goes in knowing that this thing the characters are facing is incredible dangerous and the Enterprise, by itself, can’t stop it. When the threat shows up right at the end, it leaves a lot to be desired.  It seems like the writer is just throwing words in to make everything seem more dangerous than it is.  This becomes especially clear when the crew quickly solves the problem to the universal level threat. This threat is big because I say it is.  Yawn. 

Should it be canon: I don’t see why not, nothing in this book contradicts what happened in the series.

Cover Art: The cover has a dark background.  On the bottom of the cover is Kirk and Spock, with Kirk on the viewers right. Behing them is K’t’lk in all her glory.  It is an okay cover.

Final Grade: Final Grade 3 of 5

 

THE CREW IS BRAINWASHED AGAIN!

 

Name: Mutiny on the Enterprise

Author: Robert E. Vardeman

Publication Date: 10/1983

Publisher: Pocket Books (Star Trek #12)

Page Number: 189

Historian’s Note:  This book takes place right after Pocket Books’ Star Trek #3 The Klingon Gambit

Cast of Characters:  Captain James T. Kirk       Commander Spock              Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”       Lieutenant Commander Buchanan              Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Lieutenant Nyota Uhura              Lieutenant Candra Avitts                Lieutenant Kyle           Lieutenant Patten                    Lieutenant Gordon            Lieutenant Candra Avitts          Lieutenant Deke Kesselmann            Dr. Joseph M'Benga        Nurse Christine Chapel          Ensign Pavel Chekov      Ensign Anita Ross          Chief Petty Officer  Heather McConel     Chief Petty Officer Andres        Crewman Bretton             Crewman Gabriel               Admiral McKenna          Ambassador Mek Jokkor       Ambassador Zarv        Ambassador Donald Lorritson    Speaker Lorelei        

Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, USS Scarborough (unknown registry number), USS Farallones, (unknown registry number), Galileo NCC-1701/7, Sklora

Planets: Unnamed single life-form planet, Ammdon, and Jurnamoria

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise is in serious need of a maintenance overhaul and the crew is desperate for some shore leave.  When they arrive at Starbase One, however, they are greeted by an Admiral who throws a new assignment on their laps.  Despite Kirk’s pleading, Admiral McKenna insists that the mission is important, and the Enterprise is the least damaged ship they have.  She tells him that they must get a diplomatic team led by Ambassador Zarv, a Tellarite, to the Ammdon system because the planets Ammdon and Jurnamoria are about to go to war.  The two other ambassadors are a human named Lorritson and a sentient plant named Mek Jokkor.  It is important to make peace in the region as if it becomes unstable the Romulans could become involved.

On their way to Starbase One

Ambassador Zarv is annoying and impatient.  He is upset at the Enterprise’s slow speed.  He doesn’t want to or can’t acknowledge the reality of the situation.  The Enterprise is in such a condition that they can’t do any more than warp 3.  He even gets upset when they are diverted for a distress call. They find a small ship with a single passenger in distress.  The passenger is a woman of an unknown species, and her name is Lorelei.  Lorelei claims to come from the planet Hyla, that has been undiscovered by the Federation.  When Kirk tells her of their mission she tries to talk him out of it.  She says the Enterprise’s presence will lead to a war between the two parties.

Annoying ambassador

Lorelei is having a strange effect on the crew.  Even Kirk finds her arguments persuasive, but many of his crew are taking what she says to heart.  Many are acting openly insubordinate and put on report. To make matters worse Zarv is becoming even more annoying, at one point suggesting Kirk fire Scotty and give Spock his job.  Spock concludes that this woman has a special power and that this may lead the crew into a munity.  Kirk isn’t convinced of what Spock is saying.  Kirk sees this as a case of a smart person making a strong case against an overworked crew.  He decides, against Spock’s advice, to have a debate between Lorelei and Zarv. 

Crew not playing along

It turns out Spock was right, and Lorelei was able to get control of a good deal of the crew. Almost all become pacifistic and won’t fight even if needed.  The ship is sabotaged, and they lose warp drive and subspace communication.   They are close enough to a solar system to explore it.  The ship limps over and finds a planet that seems to have intelligent life upon it.  It seems to be very advanced, but it has no space travel.  They decide to make first contact anyway in hopes of securing resources to repair the Enterprise.  Given the security situation on the ship Kirk doesn’t dare leave it so he sends a landing party led by Spock and McCoy.  It appears that all the technology on this planet is plant-based, the buildings are grown not built.  When the landing party encounters the local life forms, they notice their universal translator is useless as the locals have no ears.  Spock then attempts a mind meld, but the locals react negatively and capture the landing party.  Hearing this Zarv volunteers his diplomatic team to go down and negotiate.  Kirk refuses but Zarv ignores this and proceeds anyway, commandeering the transporter for that use.  When the Ambassadors beam down, they too are all captured by the local population.    

Hacking into a tricorder dropped by the landing party, the bridge crew is able to see what is happening on the surface.  They see one of the security officers try to escape but is killed by the biological prison.  Kirk tries to help them with the ship’s phasers, but his entire bridge crew is now under the spell of Lorelei.  The crew munities, hence, the title, and Kirk is deposed and transported unconscious to the surface for the world.  Kirk finds the missing tricorder they were using to watch things from the bridge earlier, and he uses it to find the landing party and ambassadors.

Finding a way to get back

When he gets there Spock informs him that the entire planet is one living organism and the “people” they saw weren’t individuals at all but rather they were more like antibodies in a human. Kirk also learns that Ambassador Mek Jokkor was eaten alive by the antibody people.  McCoy, being the great doctor that he is, finds a way to put their section of the world to sleep so the main intelligence doesn’t know what is going on there. 

Lorelei has managed to communicate with the planet and has secured the necessary materials for the crew under her control to fix the ship.  McCoy designed a material to put in their ears to block Lorelei’s power.  Kirk is able to liberate Scotty from her control and together they use a shuttle craft that was transporting materials to sneak back on the ship. Before that occurs the Zarv and Lorritison are killed, and Kirk almost dies trying to save them.   

As soon as the shuttle’s door opens, they begin firing phasers to stun.  Kirk manages to fight all the way to the bridge, but Lorelei is able to escape with the aid of the bridge crew.  She locks herself in auxiliary control and tries to take control of the ship from there.  Kirk and Lorelei debate their philosophies with Kirk pointing out some of the obvious inconsistencies such as saying they shouldn’t use their phasers even in self-defense while trying to use them on him.  This is a ruse, however, as Kirk’s motive isn’t to win an argument it is to delay.  Scotty has rewired the ship’s intercom system so that when she tries to communicate with the crew, she receives annoying screeching gibberish back overwhelming her and causing her to pass out.   

sneaking back in the shuttle

With Lorelei looked away so she cannot speak with anyone, and ship repaired they make all possible speed to their original destination.  Ammdon and Jurnamoria are on the brink of war and with the diplomatic team all dead, it looks like nothing can stop it. Kirk’s attempts at negotiation fail, but he has one more trick he can pull.  He kidnaps the leaders from both sides and looks them up with Lorelei.  With her power she is able to convince the leaders of both planets that war is not in their best interest. After that they go back to their respective worlds and Lorelei convinces the leaders’ immediate underlings that war should not happen and after that peace is declared.

 With the war averted Kirk and Lorelei come to an understanding and they agree to let her go on her way.  She does leave them with some information on how to reach Hela in order to establish first contact.

Additional thoughts: This was a fun adventure.  It may be a little mistitled after I would only call the crew’s action a mutiny if they were acting within the right minds, not pawns under someone else’s control.  This is not the first time the crew has had their minds messed with.  We saw that during both “The Naked Time” and “This Side of Paradise.”  This is more like the second case.  When they went to Omicron Ceti III it led to the crew disobeying Captain Kirk and leaving the ship.  The only difference is someone is directing the cause, where the locals on Omicron Ceti III were also victims. In all three cases Captain Kirk is able to overcome the mind control by just being awesome.   

“We’re the only ship in the quadrant or sector” is one of the most overused phrases in Star Trek.  How many ships is Starfleet supposed to have?  Why are they the only ship to defend Earth from V’ger?  This book has a unique take on it.  As they entered Starbase One the commanding Admiral shows Captain Kirk the state of the fleet.  Every ship was damaged more than the Enterprise.  One ship was even missing its bridge. So, the Enterprise must undertake the mission. 

When Zarv keeps refusing to acknowledge the reality of the ship’s condition, Kirk should have stolen his chief engineer’s line and tell him that he can’t change the laws of physics.  I think such an action might have pleased Kirk more than he would realize. 

In the book “The Abode of Life” they have a debate on how the prime directive may apply to a planet that is separated from the rest of the universe visually, so they never develop space travel but have developed to be almost equal or better in other levels of technology.  In both cases the Enterprise is damaged and needs the planet’s help to effect repairs.  Now in this book there is no debate on how to proceed, however that is not a contradiction as the earlier book took place between season 2 and 3 of classic Star Trek and this book takes place after season 3 but before the start of the Animated Series. 

The crew discovers that the planet is one singular life form and the “people” on it function mostly as antibodies of that lifeform.  We have seen that before also in the book “World Without End.”  The difference between the two is the previous book the Chatalia all had names and personalities.  That made me question the whole “they aren’t alive” bit.  In this book there is no question about the singleness of life on this planet.  

The part where the crew all at once became pacifists reminded me of the book “Perry’s Planet” where the Enterprise crew were infected by a virus that made anyone who thought of violence faint.  This was a huge problem because it made the incapable of dealing with the Klingon threat.

It is a bit of a mystery of how Lorelei was able to negotiate with the planet.  The lifeform was completely deaf, so it had no concept of sound.  Lorelei’s power is clearly audible, so how did she get the planet to do what she wanted it to do?  I kept waiting for this to be explained but it never was.

When Scotty is saved from Lorelei’s control, he is deeply ashamed to have been under it.  Why? He has been mind-controlled before he knows there is no shame in it.  You didn’t see him moping about because of what happened in “Cat’s Paw” did you?  

Scotty and Sulu under control

So, what were the planets Ammdon and Jurnamoria fighting about anyway.  It was never explained in the book, someone mentioned some dispute over land ownership, but it was never explained on.  Personally, I thought the Federation should have been more in favor of its member world.   

I did think it was amusing that Spock thought it might be beneficial to arrange for the Romulans to kidnap Lorelei.  What a surprise they would be in for.  However, Spock was able to hold Lorelei’s power at bay for some time, maybe the Romulans might have the same ability?  Nevertheless, I think what the Enterprise should do once they get her repaired is to go back to that single life form planet and study it.   

Should it be canon: I don’t see a reason it shouldn’t be.  Nothing in this story contradicts anything else in the series as a whole.

Cover Art: The Cover is located on the bridge of the Enterprise.  With the science stations in the background there are three charters facing the viewer.  From the viewers left to right they are Captain Kirk, Lorelei, and Mr. Spock.  The cover is a bit of a lie because Kirk and Spock are in their Motion Picture uniforms while this takes place during the classic five-year mission. 

Final Grade: Final Grade 4 of 5

 

SPOCK GOT ZARABETH PREGNANT!

Name: Yesterday’s Son

Author: A.C. Crispin  

Publication Date: 8/1983

Publisher: Pocket Books (Star Trek #11)

Page Number: 189

Historian’s Note:  This story takes place two years after the event s in “All Our Yesterdays” and before the events in “Yesteryear.”  Book 1 in the Yesterday Saga!

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            Nurse Christine Chapel          Ensign Pavel Chekov       Ensign Teresa McNair                   Ensign Juan Cordova         Ensign David Steinberg            Admiral James Komack    Commodore Robert Wesley          Dr.  Anna Vargas                     Zarabeth               Zar          T’Pau            Commander Tal    many unnamed Federation Marines, Federation scientists, and Romulan soldiers

Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, USS Lexington NCC-1709, Starbase 11,  ChR Glory Quest, numerous unnamed Starfleet and Romulan ships.

Planets: Guardian’s homeworld now called “Gateway,” Vulcan, and Sarpeidon

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The adventure begins with a young woman; named Ensign Teresa McNair who discovered something while studying archeological images from the destroyed planet Sarpeidon.  It appears to be a cave painting of a Vulcan.  She shows this to Mr. Spock asking if there were any Vulcan expeditions at that time.  Spock calmly tells the Ensign that there are many such historical coincidences such as Pan in Earth legends.

The Enterprise arrives at Starbase 11 for a much needed overhaul.  Spock at this moment requests leave time from Kirk.  Since Spock doesn’t normally request leave like this Kirk immediately knows that Spock has some sort of trouble of a personal nature, and as always Spock feels that his personal problems should be faced by him alone despite the fact that he has friends who would walk through a radiation infected engine room for him and he them.  Kirk then demands on going.  Spock tries to argue otherwise but it is useless if he wants to go on the mission Kirk is going coming along.  Spock tells him that he is convinced he fathered a son with Zarabeth as the Vulcan in the cave paintings dated to that time period.  That Vulcan was also a long haired child so it could not have been him.  With Sarpedion and its time device destroyed Spock wants to use the Guardian of Forever.

Spock's one time girlfriend

Spock contacts T’Pau on Vulcan and explains the situation; with her great authority Spock is able to secure access to the Guardian.  When he returns from the Enterprise to meet up with Kirk they find McCoy now insisting on coming along too.  They try to argue but McCoy points out they need his medical knowledge to help both Zarabeth and her son.  Kirk tries to point out that Spock only has secured permission for two, but Spock actually got it for three because he predicted McCoy’s behavior.  (I love that part.) 

T'Pau can secure access to anything

The three arrive at the Gateway planet and are greeted by Dr. Anna Vargas head of the expedition to explore the planet and the Guardian.  She is excited to meet the discoverers and the only people ever to use the Guardian.  She is amazed they got permission to do so again. They explain they are trying to save a child who is a relative of Mr. Spock, who is trapped in the past. When the three are alone with the Guardian, Spock speaks with it.  He is able to confirm that the Guardian can send them back to Sarpedion of five thousand years past.  Spock gets the Guardian to focus on the lifeform that most resembles Spock’s.  With that they jump through the great donut again. 

Once again using the Guardian

Back in the ice age of Sarpedion, this time at least they are in the summer; McCoy notices how strange the star looks.  He describes it as looking like it could blow at any moment.  The three take comfort in the knowledge that it won’t be destroyed for another five thousand years.  That night they set up a tent and sleep in it.  When they wake up they wonder around and have to dodge some predators.  They find a person has been watching him.  They catch up to this individual and discover that he is the person they have been looking for.  It appears they have miscalculated for they thought they came for a small child but they traveled to a time where Spock’s son is twenty-eight Earth years old.  They explain who they are and the man is very excited to meet his father.  He introduces himself as Zar.  Zar’s mother explained that his father came from a different point in time and space.  When they ask about Zarabeth he explains that his mother was killed in an accident some ten years ago.  He has been alone since. 

Zar takes them back to the cave the Spock and McCoy shared with Zarabeth during their adventure here.  Zar explains his life to the three.  There becomes a tense moment where Spock asks Zar to stop calling him “father” as he doesn’t think it’s right a “stranger” calls him that.  Zar is taken aback but complies.  They let them know they mean to return with him using the Guardian of Forever.  Zar packs his bag and they cremate Zarabeth’s body that Zar kept in a type of cold storage.

 As they return, Dr. Vargas is surprised to see an adult when she was expecting a child.  However, science he lived as a caveman in an ice age, Dr. Vargas now had a number of questions about his life style, all of which Zar happily answered.  They return to the ship and Dr. McCoy gives him a check-up, gives him all the necessary vaccines, and a shave and haircut.  Zar strongly resembles his father but given their closeness in actual age it is decided that he will claim to just be Spock’s relative.  Zar express a desire to use the Guardian to save his mother but Spock basically explains the grandfather paradox to him.  Spock says it’s easier to express in a mathematical formula than with words.  McCoy is uncertain how Spock and Zar’s relationship is going to progress.

Zar looks like a younger version of his father

Zar takes to life on the Enterprise like a fish to water.  Spock creates an educational program for him that he quickly aces.  His intelligence rivals that of his father’s.  Kirk bunks him with two security officers and Zar gains their friendship fast.  He learns of Vulcan culture and can reasonably present as one.  However, Spock is still treating his son more as a responsibility that is his obligation than a person whom he deeply cares about.   Zar confronts Captain Kirk about this and the Captain tells Zar about the circumstances that led to his birth.  He also told Zar that the time device on Sarpeidon had affected Spock so that he was emotionally unstable when he sought comfort in the arms of Zar’s mother.  Zar is disappointed an expresses that Spock views him as some sort of bastard what Vulcans call a “Krenath.”

  Zar goes into delayed teenage rebellion mode.  After finishing one of his lessons he gets himself a meat sandwich from the recreation room and eats in right front of Spock.  McCoy tells Kirk the Spock was very upset by his action.  There is no time to follow up on this because the Romulans have entered the Gateway planet’s solar system.  When they get there Kirk sends down a landing party to protect the scientists from the Romulans and prevent the Romulans from getting their hands on the Guardian.  The Romulans already have land troops and they attack the expedition.  All are killed including two who were bunkmates of Zar.  As they die, Zar feels their deaths.  He gets extreme pain, interrupting a conversation he was having with Ensign McNair about images of relics from his homeworld.  His reaction is similar to Spock’s in “The Immunity Syndrome.”  It takes a while but Zar recovers.  

With the Romulans on the ground and winning, the ship’s senior officers, plus Zar, are all coming up with nightmare scenarios once the Romulans have discovered the time portal.  Zar asked if it how they would know if they haven’t already used it, if history altered he reasoned wouldn’t their reality alter round them.  Lt. Uhura is one who brings the conversation back to reality.  She points out that if the Romulans knew what the Guardian was it would represent a security breach so high up in the Federation that they would have to already know that such a breach exists.  She points out the most likely scenario is the Romulans have noticed starships on regular patrols here and that has peaked their interests in the planet’s potential secrets.

Romulans taking an interest in what the Federation is hiding 

The Enterprise crew discovers that the Romulans on the planet have set up a cloaking device on the ground hiding the Guardian from the sensors.  Kirk decides he might have to destroy the Gateway world to prevent it from falling in the wrong hands.  To avoid this he sends Spock on a mission with Zar, possibly violating regulations since Zar is a civilian.  However Zar’s telepathic hunting abilities that Spock himself doesn’t have particularly the power to broadcast fear into others maybe vital to stopping the Romulans.  While on the mission Spock and Zar get a chance to speak father to son.  He tells Zar of their family history about how he is only half-Vulcan so Zar himself is a quarter.  Most importantly he explains to him that “Krenath” actually refers to parents who have wronged their child not the children themselves.  Later the two will mind meld, a process Spock earlier refused. 

A Romulan fleet enters orbit, with only the USS Enterprise, and the USS Lexington to hold them off.  A task force from Starfleet is on their way but won’t be here for another hour.  Since they can’t beam through shields Kirk and the landing party is stranded.  Commodore Bob Wesley is going to have to team up with Scotty to fight the Romulans.  

Two starships getting ready for a fight!

While trying to sabotage the Romulans’ cloaking device Zar ends up killing a Romulan guard leading to a disagreement about the proper use of killing and violence.  (Personally, I am on Zar’s side on this one.)  Either way they fail to destroy the cloaking device and must report that failure to Captain Kirk. Kirk and Spock decided to give it one more try, but Spock nerve pinches Zar so that he will stay behind.  This mission is a failure to as Kirk and Spock are both captured. 

The Captain and First Officer were now the prisoners of Commander Tal, who as Subcommander had faced off against them in “The Enterprise Incident.”  He is mad at what the two did to his previous commander so he will take some new pleasure in this assignment.   Tal demands to know why this planet is important and what they are hiding on it.  He begins to torture Captain Kirk hoping that one of the two will then tell him.

Zar recovers and he successfully rescues his father and Captain.  He does this without killing Tal which pleases his father.  The Starfleet task force arrives under the command of Admiral Komack, all the Romulans on the planet are captured.  Everything seems to be over except Zar has some news.  He is going to back to his home planet and time.  When asked why Zar explains that he was looking over some images from Enterprise’s computer with Ensign McNair and discovered that around this time his planet was supposed to undergo a social transformation that he will lead.  As they try to argue Zar pointed out that they didn’t think it was odd that his mother spoke English?  He has to go back to preserve the time line and allow his people to enjoy 5,000 years of civilization that they might not otherwise have.  With that he returns through the Guardian of Forever, back to his homeworld and time but much farther south geographically. 

 Back on the ship Kirk and Spock are talking and Kirk tells Spock that he doesn’t know how to view Zar.  As someone who is alive on the other side of a portal, or a person who died around 5,000 years ago.  Spock shows the Captain and image from Sarpeidon.  It’s an image of a Vulcan man giving the “live long and prosper” salute next to an image of the Enterprise.

Additional thoughts: Out of all the books I have reviewed for this blog so far, this one is by far the greatest.  This story set the standard for what a great Star Trek novel could be. The model that the author provides is one that was replicated by others in the four decades sense.  That model is you start with an episode from the show, in this case “All Our Yesterdays,” and use the strengths of the written medium to explore that episode’s concepts in way the sixty -minutes –with-commercials format wasn’t able to.  Include elements from other famous episodes as in this case The Guardian of Forever from “The City on the Edge of Forever.”  Finally bring the characters on an interesting and thought provoking adventure such as they have never been on before.   

What ends up making this so great is it not only tells its own great story but it adds richness to the original material.  I had always thought of “All Our Yesterdays” as a good episode, but I had my issues with it.  In my review of it for this blog I wrote the following:

“In this episode we encounter Mr. Atoz who has sent his entire planet’s population back to the past.  Your mind will quickly go numb at all the possible butterfly effects flying around.  How the Atavachron time travel device survives all these time alterations I have no clue.  It was amazing not to mention lucky for them to dodge all these potential temporal paradoxes to continue to sending their massive population to the past.  Now the Atavachron did require its subjects to go through a preparation where their cells and brainwaves were to match their intended time period.   This is interesting because we have seen our characters go back in time and have never required such a thing.”

 I continued to go through and nitpick every little part about it.  What this book did is it created in me a greater appreciation for the episode than I had before I read it.  Although I just re-read this book for my blog, I originally read this back in middle school.  I think knowing about this story made my subconscious grade “All Our Yesterdays” higher than I might have otherwise.  However let me be clear: this book makes the original source material better by being part of it.

The author’s mastery of these characters is evident in her writing.  There are such great small character moments throughout the book.  My favorite is after Kirk forces his way on to the mission Spock goes ahead and reserves three seats because he knows Dr. McCoy will try to force himself on as well so he might as well prepare now.  Speaking of McCoy, I also like how the author makes him Zar’s best mentor on the ship. 

McCoy was Zar's best mentor

Another rich character moment is also not a positive one.  It seems that Spock seems to inherited toxic father traits from Sarek.  It is often the case that children who were abused grow up to become abusers themselves.  Spock’s seems to have inherited his father’s disposition in dealing with the “disappointing child.”  Spock looks out for him and takes care of him but only as a duty and keeps him at arm’s distance to prevent any attachment from forming.  The low point was near the beginning when he demanded that Zar not call him “father.”  Now I understand that Spock was expecting a small child and is somewhat shocked to see his son fully grown up, which is no excuse he really needs to get over it.

Was not the best role model in terms of fatherhood

I also enjoyed McCoy chiding Kirk as things are getting more intense with the Romulans that he is starting to remind him of Matt Decker from “The Doomsday Machine.”  The best character moment comes when Uhura brings the senior staff back to reality when they were all in a panic about the Romulans using the Guardian of Forever. 

Uhura, "I will let you know when you're all being stupid!"

There may be many flaws with Vulcan culture but how they treat the “Krenath” versus how humans have historically treated “bastards” is not one of them.  In fact, their approach could teach humanity a number of lessons historically.   

I did love the use of Tal from “The Enterprise Incident.” It makes sense that he would have this intense hatred for Kirk and Spock considering their actions against him and his commander in that episode.  Unfortunately for him, like the Romulan Fleet Commander in that episode, he ends up a prisoner of Starfleet.

Tal returns!

Zar’s final fate explains a lot of the Earth/Sarpeidon similarities. Not only was Zarabeth and others great speakers of English, the medieval period that Kirk found himself in were almost identical to our own.  It even included witch hunts.  Now this was probably because they were limited in the costume department in the cost-cutting third season.  Having Zar help the planet in its cultural revolution has a lot of that making since retroactively.  I just wish he told his people that witches were not real.  It would have caused fewer headaches down the road.

 So I never saw the Guardian as a user friendly time machine.  There is just two much of an x-factor with it being an intelligent entity.  Also I thought Spock was a little plot stupid when he didn’t bother to ask the Guardian to make sure to send them back to Zar’s childhood.  Instead he tells the Guaridan to find the lifeform like himself and now he encounters his son almost as old as himself.  Before they used Spock’s tricorder to determine the right jumping point they didn’t ask the Guardian for the moment.  I also wondered when the Romulans showed up, why didn’t anyone suggest asking the Guardian not to let the Romulans through, sense the Guardian always pulls them back when the mission is over its not unreasonable to assume it could discriminate against certain users.. 

An error regarding the USS Lexington, its registry number is NCC-1709 not NCC-1704.  Also since Bob Wesley is a Commodore, when the Enterprise and the Lexington were in battle shouldn’t he have had overall command? 

Commodore Bob Wesley

It is interesting a year after fans saw Spock live out his final moments and die saving everyone in The Wrath of Khan we get these books that are so Spock-centric.  First was Black Fire that was all about our Mr. Spock, and now we have a follow up to one of Spock’s most famous episodes.  It’s almost like the writers were protesting the loss of such a great character.

Should it be canon: Yes, my god yes!

Cover Art: The cover has Spock’s face on the bottom of the viewer’s left.  Spock is facing the viewer. Behind him is the Guardian of Forever. The Guardian of Forever is showing the image of Sarpedion’s ice age.  Next to Spock and in front of the Guardian is Zar facing toward the viewer’s right side.  We see the entire right side of Zar’s face.   The cover does lie a little bit.  Spock’s collar is clearly from his uniform from “The Wrath of Khan” but this story doesn’t take place during that time period rather it takes place in the fifth year of the original five-year mission. 

Final Grade: Final Grade 5 of 5