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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

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AN-TI-BO-DIES

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It took a while, but Spock finally domesticated the doctor. Now he comes at his bidding.

(Still trying to teach him how to sit properly, though).

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"The Vulcan Academy Murders" review

Novel by Jean Lorrah, from 1984. Set entirely on Vulcan, after "Journey to Babel" but a bit before M'Benga joins the Enterprise. It seems that Spock can never have a quiet family reunion with his parents, since this time, a suspicious series of computer malfunctions start killing patients in the Academy hospital...

As an insight into Vulcan culture, and specially Spock's family, the story is fine. There are lots of anecdotes from his childhood, as well as Sarek and Amanda's marriage. Spock has also resolved his differences with Sarek, after the events of Babel, and they're starting to understand and appreciate each other much better now. Apart from this, we get to see how Vulcans treat foreigners, and how even in this society there are dissenting parties, that aren't so fond of Surak's teachings.

As a murder mystery, though, the narrative is rather clumsy. The real culprit is pretty obvious, at least from halfway into the novel. Even moreso, by the way the characters brush aside their suspicions about this person for no discernible reason, to focus instead on the (also obvious) red herring. Kirk in particular seems pretty irresponsible in the way he conducts the investigation. But in general, the only reason the murderer escapes capture for so long, it's because all characters seem determined to play the idiot ball around this person.

The structure is a bit uneven as well. A couple of original characters get a lot of exposure in the early parts, even with entire chapters written from their point of view, but eventually return to the background without truly becoming protagonists. It's also a bit weird to see such quiet scenes, like Sarek telling stories about his wife, or Kirk planning to go out on a date, while Amanda's life is still so seriously threatened.

So, not all that great (though fans of Sarek and Amanda will probably love it), but not bad either.

I'll try to explain the plot a bit without spoiling everything. But just in case, spoilers under the cut:

During a battle against Klingons, a crewman sustains grave nervous damage, and he's left in a vegetative state. Spock, however, has heard about a revolutionary treatment, recently developed in Vulcan, that can completely regenerate a nervous system. He knows about the treatment because his own mother is undergoing it, due to a degenerative disease (not that he'd have talked about such trifles with Kirk or McCoy, of course). So they head to Vulcan, and leave the crewman in the hands of Vulcan healer Sorel, and his human partner Daniel, the developers of the new treatment. It consists in placing the patient in a stasis chamber, where he remains unconscious for several days until his system is regenerated. Amanda will be ready to leave her chamber in a couple of days, but the disconnection procedure is very delicate, and doing it too soon would be fatal for the person.

All seems well, so Kirk, Spock and McCoy get a little shore leave at Sarek's house. The story also introduces some other characters, like Eleyna, a human who helps Sarek at the Academy, or Sendet, an elitist Vulcan working under Sorel. However, the problems begin when Sorel's wife suffers also an accident that damages her nerves, and she's put in yet another stasis chamber (so there's a total of three patients now). Shortly thereafter, an apparent power failure disconnects the stasis field around the Vulcan woman, and then she's dead, Jim. Feeling the bond with his wife breaking, Sorel almost dies as well (yes, this is something that happens to Vulcans in this novel; and it's a bit impractical). But Daniel manages to mind-meld with his partner, as he's considered part of the family, and together with Sorel's children, they heal him and bring him out of his shock.

The investigations about the power malfunction don't show any problem with the equipment itself, nor with the computer, and yet the alarms didn't activate until it was too late. When a little later, the chamber that holds Kirk's crewman also fails, and the ensign dies, it starts looking as a murder case and not a simple accident. Vulcan hasn't had any murders for millennia (if you're not counting things like Spock's wedding, that is), so Vulcans are very reluctant to accept it's a crime. But Kirk, Sarek and Spock decide to start their own investigation, as Vulcan lacks a proper police. If there's a murderer, Amanda could be the next target. Kirk starts interrogating several suspects (including T'Pau!), while Sarek and Spock try to retrieve info about the malfunctions from the Academy computer network. Meanwhile, McCoy is doing his medical things, or drinking mint juleps, I'm not sure... Also, Kirk thinks this is an appropiate time to ask Eleyna on a date (sigh...).

At last, Sarek and Spock seem to be on the track of something with the computers. But just then, there's a massive power failure in the whole hospital, the computer's memory is wiped, and all lights go out. To complicate things further, a fire breaks in the hospital immediately after. And Kirk and Sarek are injured while trying to protect Amanda's chamber from the fire. Meanwhile, Daniel had confessed his love for T'Mir (Sorel's daughter), and they had established a bond. Sendet, who's really dismissive of outworlders and wanted T'Mir for himself, attacks Daniel in public. This turns Sendet into suspect number one, apparently causing the stasis malfunctions to discredit Daniel's work. But is he?...

In the last part Kirk, instead of going out on a date with Eleyna, ends up lost in the Vulcan desert at night. And he's almost eaten by a carnivorous plant and a le-matya (the thing in the cover which Spock, in fact, NEVER fights in the book). McCoy proves he's a better detective than all the others conducting the case, when he guesses what happened with Kirk and goes to his rescue. Kirk is unconscious at first, but upon waking up, he reveals the identity of the killer.

McSpirk Meter: 5/10*. It's difficult to separate the relationships in this case. Kirk and McCoy are both invited to Sarek's house, and it's obvious he sees them as part of Spock's family. Also, Sarek isn't very concerned about his son not marrying a woman again (this, in a society that is absolutely obsessed with getting people married). For their part, both Kirk and McCoy seem very interested in learning things about Spock's past, and his family relationships. McCoy "feels warmth" when Spock trusts him as a doctor to treat Amanda. And Kirk is said to only tolerate the presence of Spock while in intense pain; as McCoy explains, "Spock is very good with people in pain". On the other hand, it's significant how the novel avoids any mention of Spock having a mental link with Kirk or McCoy (which is almost a staple in many novels and comics). Precisely in a story that stresses so much the mind link, as a bond between a married man and woman...

On a more comedic note, there's also a bit of McKirk. They tell an anecdote about Kirk and McCoy beaming down stark naked to a nudist planet, and how they tried to cover their junk in embarrassment. And then something about them getting drunk in shore leave, and McCoy putting Kirk to bed... Sarek even wonders if this "putting the Captain to bed" is something McCoy does on a regular basis.

Last but not least, the relationship between Sorel and Daniel is... well... Daniel gets to experience a really intense warmth and belonging while melding with Sorel, during which he also shares his feelings for his wife. Then he's pained to break the link. It's obvious they're really, really close, and Daniel wants to be a part of Sorel's family above anything else. The Vulcan-human relationship somehow mirrors that of Spock with Kirk and McCoy, where he's found his other family as well. The narrative tries to avert this direction by insisting Sorel and Daniel are "like brothers". And then tries to avert it more by having Daniel bond with T'Mir (Sorel's MUCH younger daughter). Which yeah, it's not gay but... in hindsight, it looks a bit incestuous instead.

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jim ur....command(o)

(otherwise titled as: ebay is a gift that keeps on giving.)

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Nothing like finding time to be gay with your chief medical officer while planetside

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Even in the case with Mirror Spock, Bones doesn't seem to really believe he's going to hurt him. He's intimidated, yes, but not afraid. He doesn't resist or yell for help; which says a lot about his faith in this guy, deep down, just because he's a version of Spock.

god that All Our Yesterdays still drives me so crazy. even completely out of context, it's like an overly obvious illustration of some richard siken poem - one distraught man with his hand wrapped around the neck of a calm man whose hands are wrapped around the stranglers in an embrace. There appears to be the same pressure applied in the hand around neck and those around the arms. And then in context. The flipped roles. This within their specific dynamic. Makes me 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

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I am fascinated by this toy

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NSFW, full on my Ao3

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This should have been a TOS episode, if it wasn't for censorship. Fanart of "nudist planet mission" when!!?

From novel "The Vulcan Academy Murders".

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And then they were high for the rest of the season...

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disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence.

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Bones illustration dump ^.^

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Drawing old man yaoi before bed like it’s a warm glass of milk

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"The Tears of the Singers" review

Novel from 1984, by Melinda Snodgrass. A very romance-focused novel, distinctive for having Uhura as a main character. She gets in a love relationship with a virtuoso composer, who will be the key to resolve the problem at hand: deciphering the musical language of a new species, to warn them about their impending doom. The other romantic couple in the book is most unexpected: the Klingon general Kor (from Errand of Mercy) and his recent wife.

The narrative is fine, though the central section of the novel plods a bit, and there's no major development for several chapters, with characters going in circles around the same problems. The solution to the central mystery is also, in my opinion, quite predictable since at least half of the novel. Music is, of course, a central theme in the story. And I think the narrative did a good job of capturing its elusive nature, specially at the end. There's also a kind of environmentalist message, since the new aliens (the Taygetians or Singers) are very similar to seals, and are being slaughtered by greedy hunters. The Federation comes off as quite unsympathetic, because it seems to be totally okay with this as long as the Taygetians are considered just "unintelligent animals". (Come on! I would have expected them to be more respectful of animals, intelligent or not, by the 23rd century. They're only killing them to collect some stupid jewels, after all!). Also, I wonder if the writers of The Voyage Home took some inspiration from this book, since humpback whales are said to be extinct...

As for characters, Guy Maslin (Uhura's love interest) gets a good development. He starts as a snobbish, self-centered celebrity, and progresses to a brave man, willing to sacrifice himself for a good cause, despite his physical frailty. Uhura is portrayed as strong, caring and determined, but I don't think the reader gets to know much more about her than what's already present in the series: she sings, she likes music, she's sometimes torn between her duty to Starfleet and her desire of a family... You know, the usual. In fact, the portrayal of female characters (specially Kor's wife) is rather sexist, for the standards of other novels of this era. On the other hand, the triumvirate gets a more secondary role compared with Uhura and Maslin. Spock is a bit fastidious sometimes; he tends to present objections to everything, even when he doesn't have a better suggestion (shut up, Spock!). But McCoy bounces on his feet, which is great. And Kirk defeats a guy, in one of his famous hand-to-hand combats, by kicking him in the balls, which is... great as well.

Overall, it was a decent novel, though I wouldn't count it among my favorites.

Spoilers under the cut:

A space-time warp is eating starships in the Taygeta system, and it seems the warp is quickly expanding, so the Enterprise cancels all shore leaves and is tasked with investigating it. The only inhabited planet in the system is home to some seal-like beings, who spend their whole lives singing. They're currently being hunted for their precious crystal tears, which they shed upon dying, since they're considered simple animals. But Spock is convinced that their musical language is proof of a higher intelligence, and that investigating it may cast some light on the nature of the space warp. However, deciphering such a complex language would require the skills of a really talented musician.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for the guy), there's just such a musician in their current starbase: Guy Maslin. Uhura had attented his concert, and a bit by chance, she ended up on a date with him. The guy is quite a jerk, and very dismissive of the military, but Uhura holds her ground. And despite their continous bantering, it's obvious there's a growing attraction between them (you know, they're just like Spock and McCoy). However, Maslin's opinion of Starfleet doesn't improve much when he's forcefully recruited into the Enterprise to help with the Taygeta problem. Some of his criticisms are kind of fun, since they reflect what many viewers of the series must have thought at times; like why is Kirk always going down with the landing party, instead of taking care of his ship... Anyway, the guy is determined to hate every second of this forced mission. But Kirk insists on bringing him, even after learning he's suffering from a serious illness, that gets much worse with stress and overwork.

During the trip to Taygeta, Uhura and Maslin start falling in love despite all their discussions. Maslin is a pale, sickly little man, and often insufferable, so not your average love interest. And Uhura seems the only one who can deal with him. It's fine that the romance gets development and is treated with seriousness for a change. Compared with Kirk's romances (actually quite infrequent so far: only in three novels), which never get beyond the very initial stages and feel pretty shallow.

Upon arriving in Taygeta, the Enterprise is greeted by two Klingon ships, tasked with a similar mission. But those ships are commanded by Kor, who still has much admiration for Kirk, and a sort of Klingon honor. So they make a truce to collaborate in the investigation of the warp. Spock has the theory that everything is related to the Singers, and for the following days, Maslin tries to crack their music to no avail. The adult Singers never leave their grottos, and sing a continous melody, while the cubs are really cute and friendly to humans. At this point, the only result of Maslin's analysis is that the adults' song presents gaps in the structure, as if some instruments were missing. The landing party also observes a strange phenomenon among the cubs: tons of fish leap out the sea, the cubs sing a different melody, and the fishes are magically transported to the grottos, for the adults to eat. Besides, the Enterprise scanners notice that the planet's terrain is continually shifting, with forests appearing where there was previously a desert, and viceversa.

Maslin keeps working on the music, each time more involved with the mission, despite the aggravation of his symptoms and Uhura's worries about his health. Meanwhile, Kor's wife (Kali) suspects his husband's first officer is conspiring to take his place. And she starts getting closer and friendlier with the humans. Kali also discovers a group of hunters stranded on the planet and killing Taygetians. So Kor and Kirk beat the bastards and put them in the brig.

At last, the landing party begins to understand some of the strange phenomena. The cubs' singing has the property to manipulate the environment at their will. While the adults' song, with its gaps due to the hunters killing them, is causing the warp in space. When the Klingon learn about this reality-altering power, they decide to use the Taygetians for their own benefit. They betray Kor and the humans, and while the landing party battles them on ground, Kirk faces the Klingon ships from the Enterprise. Outnumbered, Kirk sees no other solution than luring the enemy ships into the warp, and they all disappear into another dimension.

Maslin is over-exerted after the battle on the surface, and very much in the throes of death, but wants to complete his magnum opus. Having deciphered at last the Taygetians' language, and using Uhura as a singer, they ask the cubs for help. With their powers, the creatures are able to recover the lost ships, and they transport Kor back to his starship, where he kills the traitor and ends the mutiny. Then Kirk and the others are granted an audience with the Taygetian matriarch. And through a mixture of music and telepathic contact, they convince her of the necessity of stopping the song at once. The adults had been singing continually since three thousand years ago, to protect their planet from a nova. The radiation, however, is gone by now, so there's no more need for the song, which is in fact ripping the dangerous warp in space. The Taygetians stop singing, and the warp disappears. But right then, Maslin dies in Uhura's arms (not very surprising, considering the fate of those who enter into a serious relationship with anyone from the regular crew...).

In the end, the Federation offers diplomatic relations to the Taygetians, now free of the burden of keeping the song. And Uhura deals with the loss of her lover.

Spirk Meter: 7/10*. Only brief moments, but rather blatant. Kirk watches Spock's "slender fingers" caressing a chess piece, and reflects on how much he has missed him, remembering Edith Keeler's words about how Spock belongs to his side. Later, Kirk is getting dressed in his cabin with Spock present (he came from the gym, which means he was walking around showing his tits as usual). When the Enterprise disappears inside the warp, Spock is sure that Kirk is alive, since he still feels his bond with him. And when Kirk is momentarily lost in the telepathic link with the Taygetian matriarch, he feels reassurance in Spock's "strong and beloved touch".

Besides this, Kor appears in the novel, so you know what that means... And this time, his hate-love for Kirk is more like love-love. He defends Kirk against the Klingon factions that wish to destroy the humans, and is quite willing to collaborate with him. Kor also expresses often his admiration for Kirk. And it's obvious he's been pestering his wife about how awesome Kirk is, during these past years. It doesn't help that the narrative presents some of his officers as "handsome" or "elegant", when writing from Kor's point of view.

Also, we have this little gem from McCoy:

"Spock, you're just beggin' for a physical. A complete physical."

Sounds... hmmm... invasive.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

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Forgot to schedule his d!ck appointment :/