Star Trek 2 (Novel)
| Series | Star Trek |
| Published by | Bantam Books |
| Previous | Star Trek 1 (Blish01) |
| Next | Star Trek 3 (Blish03) |
| Written by | James Blish |
| Released | Feb 1968 |
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The Ultimate Trip! Worlds Beyond Time! Worlds Beyond Ken!
Based on the exciting NBC-TV series created by Gene Roddenberry
Eight journeys into the unexpected with the crew of the Starship Enterprise. Travel to the unexplored reaches of outer space, to worlds where humans are an alien race and the unusual is routine. Astonishing new worlds of strange beings, bizarre customs, unknown dangers and awesome excitement.
- A world where war is fought by computers!
- A world inhabited by great lizard-like creatures of conquest!
- A world ravaged by a relentless plague of madness and death!
- A world where life has developed beyond the need for physical bodies!
Travel now to the bold new worlds of tomorrow.
Circling the Solar Sphere in Search of New Worlds and High Adventure
Captain James Kirk—Assigned to the top position in Space Service—Starship Command—Kirk alone must make decisions in his contact with other worlds that can affect the future course of civilization throughout the Universe.
Science Officer Spock—Inheriting a precise, logical thinking pattern from his father, a native of the planet Vulcan, Mr. Spock maintains a dangerous Earth trait… an intense curiousity about things of alien origin.
Lt. Uhura—Easily the most popular member of the crew, the truly "out-of-this-world" female has drawn the important assignment of scan engineer on her first mission in deep space.
With a crew of 400 skilled specialists, the mammoth space ship Enterprise blasts off for intergalactic intrigue in the unexplored realms of outer space.
Arena
Adapted from the episode Arena, with a teleplay by Gene L. Coon, from a story by Fredric Brown.
Stardate 3045.6: Kirk is pitted in a barehanded duel with a Gorn.
Captain Kirk receives a request from Commodore Travers to visit the Star Fleet base on the new colony at Cestus III. Upon arriving, Kirk finds the base completely destroyed. Suddenly Kirk and his landing party are ambushed; the call was a trap, set by the attackers. The Enterprise follows the enemy ship, but the two vessels intrude upon the territory of the powerful Metrons, who decide to settle the conflict by having Kirk fight the alien commander, a Gorn, in single combat: the loser's ship will be destroyed. The Gorn is a human-sized, immensely strong reptilian being, as resourceful as Kirk in battle. The captain manages to construct a weapon with which he defeats the Gorn—and his refusal to kill his defeated opponent impresses the Metrons. Perhaps one day, they tell Kirk, the Federation may be mature enough to meet them as friends and equals.
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A Taste of Armageddon
Adapted from the episode A Taste of Armageddon, written by Robert Hamner and Gene L. Coon, from a story by Robert Hamner.
Stardate 3192.1: The Enterprise is diverted by two planets fighting a computerized war.
The Enterprise journeys to planet Eminiar VII to establish diplomatic contact. Although the Eminians warn Captain Kirk against visiting, at the insistence of Federation Ambassador Robert Fox, a landing party beams down. They discover Eminiar has been at war for centuries with its neighbor world, Vendikar. Suddenly, Kirk is informed that the Enterprise has been declared a "casualty," and all aboard her are considered dead. Through Eminiar's council head, Anan 7, and a young woman named Mea 3, Kirk learns that the "war" is fought with computers: "casualties" on both planets willingly enter antimatter chambers and die to prevent all-out destruction. After the landing party is imprisoned, Ambassador Fox beams down and learns of the situation—whereupon Kirk and Spock escape and destroy Eminiar's computers. Now, Kirk tells the Eminiars, they will have to fight their war for real. To escape the horrors of material destruction, the two worlds, with the aid of Ambassador Fox, begin to negotiate for peace.
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Tomorrow is Yesterday
Adapted from the episode Tomorrow is Yesterday, written by D.C. Fontana.
Stardate 3113.2: The Enterprise is thrown back to 20th century Earth.
After an encounter with the gravitational forces of a "black star," the Enterprise is hurled backward in time to the twentieth century. Flying over Nebraska, the starship is sighted and classified as a UFO, and Air Force pilot Captain John Christopher photographs the Enterprise with his jet's wing cameras. When his jet is accidentally destroyed by the starship's tractor beam, he is transported aboard. After first deciding that it would not alter history if Christopher never returned to Earth, Spock then discovers that Captain Sean Geoffrey Christopher, the pilot's as-yet-unborn son, will lead an important expedition into space.
This leaves Kirk and crew with three large problems: retrieving the film that shows the Enterprise in Earth's atmosphere; getting the pilot back where he belongs; and returning to their own time without changing history. After Sulu, Kirk, and Spock surreptitiously obtain the film, Scotty duplicates the "slingshot effect" responsible for their temporal displacement. Christopher is returned to his jet, and the Enterprise returns home.
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Errand of Mercy
Adapted from the episode Errand of Mercy, written by Gene L. Coon.
Stardate 3198.4: Kirk and Spock battle Klingons to free Organia.
As hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire reach their peak, the Enterprise is dispatched to the strategically located planet Organia. The Organian Council of Elders, five smiling, elderly men, seem strangely unconcerned about the prospect of war centering about their planet. Klingon Commander Kor leads an occupation force in an invasion of Organia. Kirk and Spock go undercover, disguised as two traders, but are betrayed by the council and condemned to death. The Organians rescue them very easily. As the moment of all-out war approaches, the Organians reveal themselves as omnipotent beings of pure energy. Using their mental abilities, they neutralize all weapons. Kirk realizes with horror that part of him had been anticipating the hostilities; he is also relieved to know that from now on the Organians will be watching to see that things do not get out of hand.
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Court Martial
Adapted from the episode Court Martial, teleplay by Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos, from a story by Don M. Mankiewicz.
Stardate 2947.3: Kirk is recalled for a potential court-martial.
During an ion storm, the Enterprise takes a severe buffeting and Records Officer Ben Finney enters the starship's ion pod to take important readings. When the storm makes it necessary to jettison the pod, Captain Kirk follows normal procedures and warns Finney to evacuate. The pod is jettisoned, with Finney apparently still inside. At Starbase 11, Commodore L.T. Stone institutes a court martial against Kirk after discovering that computer records show that the captain did not give Finney an adequate chance to escape from the pod. Lieutenant Areel Shaw, the prosecuting attorney and an old girlfriend of Kirk's, retains the brilliant but eccentric lawyer Samuel Cogley to defend the captain. Although the evidence is against Kirk, Mr. Spock refuses to believe that his captain did not go by the rules. The Vulcan decides that the Enterprise computer's evidence is wrong. He plays chess with the computer, winning several games, and thereby discovers the machine's programming has been altered. Finney is actually alive, in hiding aboard the ship: due to an old grudge, he had hoped to fake his death to discredit Kirk.
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Operation—Annihilate!
Adapted from the episode Operation -- Annihilate!, written by Steven W. Carabatsos.
Stardate 3287.2: The Enterprise crew saves Deneva from deadly parasites.
The planet Deneva, home of Captain Kirk's brother George "Sam" Kirk and his family, is in the path of an interplanetary epidemic of mass insanity. Approaching the planet, the Enterprise intercepts a radio message from a Denevan pilot who deliberately steers his ship into the sun — destroying himself and an unknown danger. Beaming down with a landing party, Kirk discovers his brother dead, his sister-in-law Aurelan dying, and his nephew Peter unconscious. Deneva has been invaded by bat-size, amoeba-like creatures that intertwine with the humanoid nervous system, manipulating their victims by causing excruciating pain. Spock is attacked and infected by one of the creatures. Kirk, remembering the Denevan who flew into the sun, theorizes that the creatures, who have proven resistant to everything Dr. McCoy has thrown at them, may be sensitive to intense light. Spock volunteers to be McCoy's guinea pig. The experiment works—but Spock has been blinded by exposure to the light. Too late, McCoy discovers that only ultraviolet light is needed to kill the creatures. A chain of satellites is placed in orbit to free the Denevans from their nightmare — just as a fully sighted Spock returns to the bridge. Vulcans, it turns out, developed an extra eyelid to protect them from the harsh sunlight on their homeworld.
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The City on the Edge of Forever
Adapted from the episode The City on the Edge of Forever, written by Harlan Ellison.
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Space Seed
Adapted from the episode Space Seed, written by NAME.
