Star Trek: A Touch of Greatness by John Erik Ege - HTML preview

Note from the Author

My best friend and I have often commented that someone should write a sequel to Star Trek:TOS episode, “A Piece of the Action.” In fact, we already have a title for it: “Another Piece of the Action.” What we didn’t have, yet, was a finished story. I set out to write that story, but before I could, I had to write “A Touch of Greatness,” just to get it out of my head. What I tried to do differently in this story was to stretch time out over a larger time period. I did this partly because very few things in life are so neatly wrapped up over a week, or month’s time, which is the usual episode time. The other part was to try and show that who we are comes about through a life time of choices, people encounters, and learning opportunities. The events in this story take place before TNG episode, “Unification.”

I have endeavored to stay consistent with “Trek” history, (or trivia if you prefer,) blending multiple forms of Star Trek media, including episodes, books, movies, and the original cartoon series. Given the amount of material available, it may be impossible to keep every published story in sync with every one else’s vision, but I’m still endeavoring to keep my stories in sync, first with the tv and movies, and next with the books. There are those who know more of the trivia than I, and there are no doubt better story tellers, so feel free to contact me for disparities or continuity issues. Enclosed here are my references. References… Umm, references almost make this seem scholarly. It’s not. It’s just my way of paying tribute to the people that deserve credit for the ideas in my head and for providing me with a vehicle to share those abstracts in some meaningful form. At least, I hope there is meaning. I will settle for coherence and continuity. Again, I consider this document a work in progress, so feel free to email me corrections or ideas.

STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES

Yes, I watched the cartoons. And, yes, I remember them.

So, let’s start by going back to “Yesteryear,” episode 3. This is a “I want a sehlat” classic. We get to see Spock as a child. Hell, we get to see Spock as an adult see Spock as a child, which is well done for a time travel episode. The quality of the writing for the animated series was really refreshing. I didn’t know that at the time. I was just a kid and I didn’t have millions of people writing me letters saying, “Please, bring Star Trek back.” Hello! Was that a clue or what?

Sorry, little bit of a tangent there. (Chasing rabbits.) LOL. Where was I? Ah, yes, it’s a time travel episode. But it’s actually not trite. Besides, it’s not like time travel ever happens in the Star Trek universe. Very often. It was also nice to see the use of the Guardian of Forever again.

And then there was the “The Slaver Weapon,” episode 11. What makes this one particularly special is that it was a short story written by Larry Niven, and you just can’t have a sci-fi classic without a reference to Larry Niven! If you watch the episode, take notice of the “life belt” which eliminated the need for space suits by surrounding the user with a force field and breathable atmosphere. (It makes characters seem as if they had an aura, like the daughters of Zeus in the movie Xanadu.). Umm, I wonder if there were some health related issues which caused Star Fleet to recall them. (I will revisit the life belts in Another Piece of the Action.)

STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES.

I made passing, and perhaps obscure, references to the following episodes: “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” by Lee Craven; The Mark of Gideon, by George Slavin and Stanley Adams; The Savage Cutain, by Gene Roddenberry; The Enemy Within, by Richard Matheson; and, The Deadly Years, by David Pharmon.

“Is There no Truth in Beauty” TOS episode 62, written by Jean Lisette Aroeste, and aired first in 1968. Not a crucial episode for this story, but I do reference the Medusan, which was featured in this episode. The Medusan have minds that are believed the most beautiful in the Universe, but their physical form is so hideous in appearance that a human being can be driven mad by merely looking at one without a protective visor. It would be interesting to know if the damage is strictly psychological in nature or has a neurological component.

“By Any Other Name” episode 50, first aired in 1968. (Did I say I was born in 1968? Do you know, the episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion” first aired on my birthday and there’s a good chance my mom was watching it with me? Okay, maybe I wasn’t really watching it, and maybe it wasn’t actually my birthday, but it would have been the episode of the week and I’m sure my little ears were absorbing all the sound effects… (Where do all these rabbits come from?)) The Kelvan are extremely crucial to the plot of “ATOG.” It’s not compulsory to watch the episode, or read any of the references, just highly recommended. One of these days I’m going to have a Star Trek pizza restaurant, and you can come in and watch the episodes while having a (vegetarian) Vulcan pizza.

Star Trek is my paradise, so I suppose it no wonder that paradise is a theme so often revisited. “The Paradise Syndrome” Star Trek time line: Year 2268. Gives you a hint of who “the Preservers” are and what their mission might be. It also lends good evidence that the Milky Way was/is being seeded, at least in the Star Trek Universe, and this theme will also be seen again and again. Anyhow, we keep trying to get to paradise. Sometimes we even get there and decide it wasn’t really what we wanted after all. And sometimes, we even take it away from those who were quite happy with their paradise until we came along and showed them, hey, this isn’t paradise. It’s amazing what the power of perspective can do.

“A Piece of the Action.” If you know how it ends, you know McCoy left technology behind and Kirk is heard saying, “Who knows, in a few years, the Iotians may be demanding a piece of our action,” or something to that effect. Is that a set up for a sequel, or what? (Another friend bought Star Trek trivia, we started to play, I answered one question, he packed the game up, closed the box, and put it away. Was it something I said?) Um, wouldn’t it be great if the Enterprise D were to return one hundred years after Kirk, who was there one hundred years after the Horizon and see what happens?

“The Trouble With Tribbles.” A Star Trek book without a reference to Tribbles is just begging for trouble. A little more development for Sherman’s planet, just because I wanted more, and I thought, wouldn’t it be funny if neither the Klingon Empire or the Federation won the rights to Sherman’s planet. (And just who is Sherman, anyway?)

“For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky” Year 2268 A must see, especially if you’re a McCoy/Kelley fan. I would like to hope Kirk wasn’t the only one to have a romance. We have to go back there with McCoy. We want to know more of that story. Just a little bit. Don’t want to invade his privacy too much.

“City on the Edge of Forever” this has to be the all time best original episode ever. The Guardian of Forever will be found here. So will Edith Keeler. And it was this episode that helped me get an A on a research paper for World Lit. Yes, I did a compare and contrast between “The Aeneid,” and “City on the Edge of Forever.” I’ve never heard anyone else make that comparison, either, so I can only hope that I have written something original! So, if you needed another reason to read classic literature, or World Lit, well, there you have it. (Not that anyone who watches Star Trek has a problem with that. Almost all the characters read classic Lit, so you’re getting compounded with allusions in the scripts and in the episode titles and… A case for Star Trek and Literature as a college level course!)

“The Menagerie.” Episode Sixteen, by Jason Warren. It might have been the first episode had the ‘powers that be’ not considered “The Cage” as “too cerebral” for us poor Americans to handle. Still, it’s an important episode with some interesting sociological over tones that humans may need to consider should our entertainment technology continue to advance as it is.

“The Cloud Minders.” Written by David Gerald and Oliver Crawford. Every planet should have a floating city, but since that doesn’t seem to be the case, the protagonist gets to visit this one. Sure, it’s a plot contrivance, and filler. Not that this needs filler. It’s pretty thick as it is.

And the android episodes:

“Requiem For Methusela”

TOS episode #76, by Jerome Bixby. Stardate 5843.7 Long before Lal has an emotional conflict that ultimately causes her cascade failure, and death, a similar emotional conflict with Rayna Kapec causes her demise.

“What Little Girls are Made of”

TOS episode #10 by Robert Bloch

Sub plot for this is that the android/robots destroyed the civilization that created them.

Kind of reminiscent of Terminator, so Exo Three is the example Tammas is referring to in his final ramblings.

“I, Mudd”

TOS episode 41, by Stephen Kendel… begs the question: Where can I get my Alice series android?

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

Since this story’s resolution takes place before 2368, and some of those events take place at Star Fleet Academy, I’ve relied on some of the characters established in “The First Duty” (episode 89, by Ronald Moore and Naren Shankar) for familiar faces around the campus.

“The Last Outpost,” episode 7, by Krzemien, (Yes, that’s really how it’s spelled! I’ve looked it up four times now because Word doesn’t recognize it…) introduces us to the Tkon Empire. I wanted more Tkon Empire! (It could be I just want more in general. I must be a Ferengi at heart.) Anyway, it’s a nice introduction to the Ferengi who play a crucial part in the sequel and so it’s important to note this episode’s influence on this particular writer and story. It’s not that I’m obsessive compulsive, it’s just… Okay. I got OCD. Anyway, there is more on the Tkon Empire in a TNG book… or so I heard, but I haven’t read this one or know its name. It supposedly delves further into their extinction level event and gives us more of the Dyson Sphere, as seen in the episode “Relics.” (Go, Scotty!)

“Justice,” Episode 9, by Ralph Wills and Worley Thorne. You got to have Justice. Yeah, I know, some of the first season shows were tough to sit through, but this episode has so much promise, and, well, I actually had to watch it again during a college level course! (What’s that, you say? Credit for watching Star Trek? Can life be any sweeter or what?! (The course was at UNT, run by Doctor Chilton, Criminal Justice.) And can you see me in class, imitating Picard, “there can be no justice as long as laws are absolute…”) Okay, I’m back now. The character, Rivan, plays a crucial role in the third and fourth books, and in others if this continues to develop as I am hoping. (I assume if you’re actually reading this, you have managed to tolerate my ramblings so far. Possible title, “The Other Klingons?”

“Peak Performance” (episode 47, by David Kemper) Can you have a game without Strategema?

“Coming of Age” (Episode 18, by Sandy Fries.) is the episode where we meet Olana Mirren, and the species Zaldens.

STAR TREK: TNG BOOKS

I have read a number of Star Trek books and there are some authors I simply can’t turn away from. Peter David is one of them. His book “Imzadi” is an absolute must read. I draw heavily on the characters in that book as being major influences on my protagonist in his childhood years. (And there’s the Guardian of Forever, again. Is there no-when safe?)

True, I was hesitant about the Round Table concept, but who can argue with David’s logic, hidden in the guise of his alter ego, Captain Mackenzy, (not verbatim:) “In a Universe where President Lincoln, creatures of molten lava, and giant hands reach out and grab your ship, and…” Well. Point taken. (Oh, and I may be mistaken about Mackenzy being Peter’s alter ego. I mean, I’m sure there’s none of me in Arblaster-Garcia. Pretty sure. Alright, alright, but who doesn’t want to be a hero? And maybe I did watch too much television, but hey, when you can get college level credit for watching Star Trek your life starts to have some legitimacy.)

You know, you will also find allusions to Peter David’s “New Frontier” books in this, but I’ve decided to let you do your own homework… Just go read his books. That’s an order. (Mr. Peter, should you be reading this, I do hope you like it. I tried to keep the integrity of what you had written, as well as maintain the continuity of the time line, story line, etc...)

I also wish to mention a Star Trek TNG, book, titled CROSSOVER, by Michael Jan Friedman. There were parts of it I liked, like stealing a Starship, something I’ve always wanted to do, and Scotty seemed the right person to do it. What I didn’t like was the stereotypical way the aged McCoy was presented. Specifically, I didn’t like McCoy coming across like dithering, old fool, as if anyone that reaches McCoy’s age has to be experiencing senility. I gave McCoy more naps. That seems reasonable, but knowing what we know today about senescence, it seems reasonable that the 24^th century will have eliminated many of the negative qualities associated with growing old. Our best science suggest that people who exercise regularly and have access to good nutrition, and keep their mind stimulated, barring diseases such as Alzheimer’s, can function into their eighties and nineties while maintaining the activity level of a sixty year old. (My grandfather is a testament to that mind set. He’s in his eighties, has worked every day of his life, and is still going strong. He still mows lawns for a living! Of course, he might be an alien, or just really old school.) Medically speaking, though, our knowledge of senescence is already begun to slow the aging process. When we throw in what we know of genetics, and where that will soon be taking us, it is not unreasonable to believe that through science we can reverse, or even stop, the aging process within the next twenty to thirty years. Though Star Trek has explored this concept a little, with usually a negative spin, such as in the movie, “Insurrection,” one would think that, given 24^th century’s advance knowledge of genetics, where the whole ship can mutate and de-evolve into their primal states, and be returned to normal, all in one episode, with no negative side effects, it is reasonable to speculate that McCoy could technically live forever, barring accident or encounter with a unknown disease.

And that is a theme I would like to further explore, and McCoy had to die to do it. There’s always the hope of resurrection, something that has happened quite a few times in Star Trek. (Renascence is probably a better choice of words than resurrection, due to the religious connotation of that word. Roddenberry did not mutter when it came to proselytizing that religious ideology as well as the politics of the time are hindering the progress of man by keeping us divided, along with concepts of nationalism, and any other ism that you can think of that divides the human race.) So, my cross road is this: if I consider CROSSOVER as legitimate Star Trek history, as opposed to an alternate universe’s history, then McCoy being brought back from the dead, somehow, is compulsory. (That and the powers that be won’t allow his death to happen. (Plot spoiler. (No worries, folks. McCoy will be back.)))

STAR TREK: THE MOVIES

Finally, the movies. There are some references to “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” Specifically the Kolinar sequence. I know I should lighten up and just accept that Star Trek is not real history and therefore movie producers are entitled to some creative license. I can appreciate that while Spock/Nimoy was there on Vulcan, doing his Kolinar, the director saw the empty blue behind him, or the curtain on the set for all I know, and thought to himself: “You know, all I see are curtains… No. I see… a blue sky. No. I see, a blue sky, and a moon. No, two moons. Okay, three moons. Yes. That’s it. The scene is now perfect. Cut. That’s a wrap.” (Oh, I have a new release of that film and there are no moons! Did I go crazy and just remembered that wrong, or has someone actually heard my plea and erased the moons?!)

Okay. Excuse me! Yes, me, out here in the audience. I know I don’t have a life, but according to the Original Episodes, “Vulcan has no moon.” (That’s a direct quote from Spock responding to a query from Lt Uhura who wanted to know about romance on Vulcan. True, Spock said “Vulcan has no moon,” which I suppose could be interpreted as meaning not one moon, making three moons acceptable, but that would be stretching it knowing that Spock was not prone to misdirection, exaggerations, or lying at that stage in his development, and he has a propensity of being extremely accurate when it comes to specific details. (Don’t even get me started on the half brother thing.)) Anyway, I’m now so distracted by the moons that I can’t focus. I’m getting hot and the glue on my Vulcan ears is starting to melt and my ears are sliding off. Yes, me, the dorky one in row five who Shatner is yelling at: “Get a life!” Not only was it apparent that you didn’t do your homework, but, if I’m not mistaken, that’s the Earth’s moon! Did you think I wouldn’t recognize my own moon? Do you know how long I’ve wanted to tell you this? What, when our moon ripped away in “Space 1999” it ended up on Vulcan after passing through a replicator? (Can someone hire a fan to make sure the continuity of Star Trek history is preserved?)

But I’m so much better now. The medicines today, let me tell you… Sorry. Chasing rabbits. I just wanted to say, to who ever was responsible for the moon fiasco, I forgive you. And, knowing how important it is to be in sync with all your Star Trek friends, fanatics, critiques, um, audience… I have provided you a solution with-in the confines of this story. (Besides, anyone with the taste to choose Perrin as the Deltan deserves a little leeway.)

Finally:

Did I forget anyone? Let me know. I dedicated this to Deforest Kelley, for his portrayal of McCoy, for he embodied the ideals of the kinder side of medicine and science. (He would have made a good Doctor in “People Will Talk.”) Of course, I would be negligent not mentioning Gene Roddenberry. After all, it was his dream that inspired me and so many people around the world! Just in case there is any doubt, yes, I have been touched by greatness. (Oh, it’s also probably in my best interest to make the compulsory compliment to Paramount, which I now respectfully pay my homage… (I think there’s a rule of acquisition in there somewhere…)) Since finishing the first draft of this, and publishing version 1 on the net, James Doohan died. I met him in person twice, and he was an extremely kind man.

Oh, and finally, the potential other legal disclosure: Um, this story is like, fiction, m’kay? Any coincidental similarities with characters in and with real life is just that: a coincidence. As to copying, duplicating, or otherwise sharing it: be my guest. It’s not like I wrote it to be rich and famous. I just wanted to write. I need the practice. Just let people know where you got it, so if there are any crazy stalker types that want to kill all writers of Trek, they’ll get the “write” guy.

John Erik Ege
SOLARCHARIOT@HOTMAIL.COM