The Monsters Of Star Trek
Author: Daniel Cohen
Date: 1980-01-02 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Star Trek; Science Fiction; Reference; Pop Culture; Young Adult; Media Tie In; 20th Century
Description: Original 1st Edition Paperback !!!
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment

A CLOUD MONSTER.

A GIANT SPACE AMOEBA,

A DEATH-DUELING LIZARD—

STRANGE CREATURES FROM STAR TREK!

In the 23rd century the Enterprise speeds through space to explore the known—and unknown—worlds of our galaxy. In outer space the crew encounters strange, alien creatures!

Among them:

The Mugato,
a strong, giant white ape with a poisonous bite

The salt vampire,
who kills humans and sucks salt from their bodies

Yarnek,
the rock creature, whose face glows when he speaks

You’ll find non-humanoids stranger than you can imagine in the amazing adventures of the Star Trek television series!

Expect the Unexpected….

During practically every Star Trek episode the Enterprise and its crew faced some new and strange alien life form. Many of these aliens are what we would popularly call monsters. But for Star Trek the word “monster” needs a little explanation. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, wanted to express the idea that, “to be different is not necessarily to be ugly.” And being different does not necessarily make a creature evil either.

Some of the alien creatures are terrifying in appearance and evil in nature. Others may appear hideous, but their basic nature is good. Still others seem to act in an evil way until one understands why they act as they do. So, when a strange or horrible looking creature appears in a Star Trek episode you can’t assume it is a villain. One of the great joys of Star Trek is that it doesn’t follow the old monster movie pattern. It often surprises you.

But read on and see for yourself….

Books by Daniel Cohen

GHOSTLY TERRORS

THE GREATEST MONSTERS IN THE WORLD

HOLLYWOOD DINOSAUR

HORROR IN THE MOVIES

THE MONSTERS OF STAR TREK

MONSTERS YOU NEVER HEARD OF

REAL GHOSTS

THE RESTLESS DEAD

SCIENCE FICTION’S GREATEST MONSTERS

STRANGE AND AMAZING FACTS ABOUT STAR TREK

SUPERMONSTERS

THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS GHOSTS

Books by Daniel and Susan Cohen

GOING FOR THE GOLD

HEROES OF THE CHALLENGER

THE KID’S GUIDE TO HOME COMPUTERS

ROCK VIDEO SUPERSTARS

ROCK VIDEO SUPERSTARS II

WRESTLING SUPERSTARS

WRESTLING SUPERSTARS II

YOUNG AND FAMOUS: HOLLYWOOD’S NEWEST

SUPERSTARS

YOUNG AND FAMOUS: SPORTS’ NEWEST SUPERSTARS

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Chapter 1
The “Star Trek” Universe

The starship Enterprise

There has never been anything quite like “Star Trek.” “Star Trek” started back in 1966 as a science fiction television series. It turned out to be a great deal more. After the first season network executives decided that not enough people were watching “Star Trek,” and it should be canceled. Then the executives found out that not only were people watching the show, but those who did watch loved it. Over a million letters poured in to protest the cancellation of “Star Trek.” “Star Trek” not only had fans, it had fanatic fans.

So the show was renewed for a second season. After the end of that season the network again announced the show was to be canceled. They got the same angry reaction from the fans. So “Star Trek” went on again for a third season. At the end of that season the network executives finally got their way. The show was canceled. The millions of fans were enraged. They still get angry whenever the subject of the cancellation of “Star Trek” comes up.

In a sense, the real popularity of “Star Trek” began only after the show was canceled by the network. It went into reruns on local TV stations. The original 78 episodes have been rerun at least once in practically every area of the country. In places like New York City or Los Angeles, “Star Trek” episodes have been rerun constantly since the show went off the air. A whole new generation of “Star Trek” fans has grown up. Many of those who watch “Star Trek” regularly today were too young to see it when it first was shown. Many had not even been born when the first episode was aired. But they can be just as fanatic as older fans.

The original “Star Trek” never was brought back. But a series of animated “Star Trek” adventures was made. Millions of copies of books of “Star Trek” adventures have been sold. There have been popular “Star Trek” comic books.

Conventions of “Star Trek” fans attract thousands—young and old. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of “Star Trek,” and many of the show’s stars attract huge audiences when they speak at colleges. No one is sure how many “Star Trek” fan clubs exist today—probably hundreds. Fans publish their own magazines—called fanzines—about “Star Trek.” A model of “Star Trek’s” starship Enterprise is in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It is there along with models of the Wright brothers’ airplane, the Apollo astronauts’ craft, and Charles Lindbergh’s airplane.

And now comes the biggest tribute of all to the long-lasting popularity of “Star Trek”—a major Star Trek motion picture has been made with all of the cast from the original television series back in their original roles.

As I said, there has never been anything quite like “Star Trek.” What accounts for the enormous popularity of the show? Everyone has an idea, but no one really knows.

The basic idea behind “Star Trek” was quite simple. It was to be the adventures of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, sometime in the future. The Enterprise is a large starship with a crew of approximately 430. It is capable of traveling several times faster than the speed of light. Therefore, it can travel throughout the known (and unknown) universe.

The Enterprise is part of the United Federation of Planets Star Fleet. The ship’s primary mission is to explore, “to go where no man has gone before.”

Captain of the Enterprise is James T. (for Tiberius) Kirk. The character is played by William Shatner. Kirk is a man of great courage, intelligence, and charm. Perhaps his charm is his most outstanding characteristic. Females from all over the universe seem to be attracted to him. Though from time to time Kirk appears to fall in love, in the end his only real love is the Enterprise. Many times he has shown himself willing to give up his own life to save his beloved starship.

Captain James T. Kirk
(William Shatner)

In the TV series

In the movie

In the television series, all of the major characters from the Enterprise are Terrans—that is, descendants of people who once lived on the planet Earth. There is only one exception—Mr. Spock, the First Officer and Chief Science Officer of the Enterprise. Spock, as played by the actor Leonard Nimoy, is the most popular character on the show. Spock is an unusual hybrid, the son of a Vulcan man and a Terran woman. He looks like a typical Vulcan. He is tall and thin with a sharply featured face. Actually, Vulcans look a lot like Terrans, except for pointed ears. Spock has pointed ears, too.

Spock
(Leonard Nimoy)

In the TV series

In the movie

Though he may look quite human, Spock does not always act like a human. Far back in their history, Vulcans managed to suppress all of their emotions. They act entirely on the basis of logic. On a few occasions the emotional or human side of Spock’s character breaks through. But the great majority of the time he is coldly logical, in contrast to Kirk and the others of the Enterprise, who can get very excited.

Spock has a few other non-human characteristics and abilities. He is not only intelligent, he has an almost computer-like mind, which can store a great deal of information. He has unusual control over his body. For example, he can endure far more pain than a human being. Spock can use the Vulcan Mind Touch, which is a form of telepathy or mind-reading.

There are a number of other physical differences between Vulcans and Terrans. The most notable is that Vulcans, Spock included, have green blood.

The third major character in the “Star Trek” adventures is Dr. Leonard McCoy, or “Bones,” as Kirk often calls him. Dr. McCoy is the Senior Ship’s Surgeon and Head of The Life Sciences Department. He is played by the actor DeForest Kelley.

Dr. Leonard McCoy
(DeForest Kelley)

In the TV series

In the movie

McCoy has a running feud with Spock. They can and do argue about practically anything. Their basic disagreement, however, is that McCoy dislikes Spock’s coldly unemotional approach to everything. However, in a crisis (and there are many aboard the Enterprise), Spock and McCoy are able to work well together. One would suspect that their arguing is really more of a pose. It is clear that they really like and admire one another.

Other members of the Enterprise crew come from all parts of Terra. There is Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols. She is from the United States of Africa, and her name means “freedom” in the African language, Swahili.

Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, or “Scotty” (played by James Doohan), is, as you might guess, from Scotland. Scotty’s job is to keep the Enterprise running, a job he does very well.

Ensign Pavel Chekov (played by Walter Koenig) is the young Russian navigator. Sulu (played by George Takei) is the Oriental Chief Helmsman of the Enterprise. Christine Chapel (played by Majel Barrett) is head nurse on board the Enterprise. She has fallen hopelessly in love with Spock. Spock has no time for love and tries to avoid her when he can.

For those few among you who have not seen any “Star Trek” adventures yet, there are some items of equipment that you should know about. Phasers are the weapons of Star Fleet. They shoot out energy beams which can either stun or kill, depending on how they are set. Phasers come in many sizes, from small hand versions to huge artillery-sized models mounted on the Enterprise itself.

Spock, Kirk, and Scott with small phasers

The transporter is the main means of moving between the Enterprise and the surface of a planet, or other spacecraft. The transporter converts a person or object to pure energy, beams the energy to a distant point, and then reassembles the original. The operation is almost instantaneous.

McCoy, Kirk, and Spock in the transporter room

When communicating from a distant place back to the Enterprise, the crew uses a small hand communicator. The communicators are strictly for voice communications. The Enterprise also has a large viewscreen on the bridge. Sometimes the viewscreen will be used to project a picture of the person or alien communicating with the ship. Most often it is used to see what is going on around the ship.

Kirk with phaser; Spock with communicator

Practically every week during “Star Trek’s” three exciting seasons on network television, the Enterprise and its crew faced some new and strange alien life form. Many of these aliens are what we would popularly call monsters. They are what this book is about.

But for “Star Trek” the word “monster” needs a little explanation. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of “Star Trek,” didn’t even like to use the word “monster.” One of the things he wanted “Star Trek” to reflect was the idea that “to be different is not necessarily to be ugly.” And being different does not necessarily make a creature evil, either.

Some of the alien creatures are monsters in the strictest sense of the word—they are terrifying in appearance and evil in nature. Others may appear hideous, but their basic nature is good. Still others seem to act in an evil way until one understands why they act as they do.

When a strange or horrible-looking creature appears in a “Star Trek” episode, you can’t immediately assume it is the villain of the piece. One of the great joys of “Star Trek” is that it doesn’t follow the old monster-movie pattern. It often surprises you.

But read on and see for yourself.

Chapter 2
The Shape Shifters

The first episode of “Star Trek” to be aired was called “The Man Trap.” That was in September of 1966. And the show was all about a monster. But at first it is not obvious that there is a monster. This particular creature has the ability to change its shape, or at least to create the illusion that it has changed its shape.

It all seems to start innocently enough. The Enterprise arrives at Planet M113 on a routine visit. The remote planet was supposed to be the home of a small colony. When a landing party from the Enterprise beams down to the planet’s surface, they find that the colony has mysteriously disappeared. The only survivors are an archaeologist named Robert Crater and his wife Nancy. Nancy, as it happens, is an old girl friend of Dr. McCoy.

Something seems very wrong. But Crater insists that everything is just fine. All he needs, he says, are some salt tablets. Then he and his wife just want to be left alone to do their work. Meanwhile, one of the members of the landing party from the Enterprise has met what he thinks is an attractive girl. He wanders off with her. When the rest of the party go to search for him, they find him dead. A round wound like a bite is found on his neck.

Now Kirk knows something is wrong. He orders everybody, including the Craters, back to the Enterprise. That turns out to be a big mistake. For what looks like Nancy Crater is really the M113 Creature, the last survivor of a race that once inhabited the planet. These creatures needed sodium chloride—common salt—to survive. But the planet’s salt supply had run out long ago. That is why the race died out. This final survivor stayed alive by stealing salt from humans who had landed on the planet. When the human salt supply ran out, the M113 Creature began killing them and draining the salt from their bodies. It is a salt vampire.

But there is something far more astonishing about the M113 Creature than its eating habits. It has the power to make those around think it is some other life form. The salt vampire had killed Nancy Crater, and then simply taken her place.

Robert Crater, of course, knew what had happened. But he is determined not to give the monster away. It is the last of its race, and he wants to keep it alive. Once aboard the Enterprise, the salt vampire begins a reign of terror. First it lures members of the crew to some out-of-the-way place by appearing as another member of the crew. Then it kills them and sucks out their body salt. Robert Crater himself falls victim to the monster he has protected.

Finally, Kirk and Spock figure out what has been going on. It seems that no matter what form the creature takes, it gives itself away by its habit of chewing on its own knuckles. But by the time Kirk and Spock make their discovery, the Creature has again assumed the form of Nancy Crater. All of McCoy’s old feelings toward Nancy have been revived. When he is told that what he is in love with is really an alien creature, and a deadly one at that, he refuses to believe it, at first. But finally he is convinced. He kills the monster just as it is about to kill Captain Kirk.

In death the M113 Creature’s true form is revealed. It is roughly humanoid in size and shape. But there the resemblance ends. The Creature is covered with long, stringy hair. It has small eyes, no nose, and a large round mouth studded with small sharp teeth. The shape of the mouth matches the wounds found on its victims.

The Salt Vampire

You finally get a chance to see the real salt vampire. In the episode entitled “By Any Other Name,” there is another species of shape shifters. They are called the Kelvans. But you never actually see the Kelvans in their natural form. Spock gets the impression that they are huge creatures with hundreds of tentacles. Their minds are amazingly powerful. By the time the crew of the Enterprise meets them, the Kelvans have taken on human form. They are not trying to fool anybody. They just assume that human form will be more convenient for what they have in mind. What they have in mind is capturing the Enterprise.

This particular group of Kelvans are scouts and representatives of the great Kelvan Empire in the distant Andromeda galaxy. Their ship has been destroyed and they are stranded on a small Earth-like planet. They need a starship to get back to Andromeda. They lure the Enterprise to the planet, then capture a landing party. The powers of the Kelvans are far greater than those of the humans. The Kelvans are completely ruthless, and without any feeling for other life forms. They will stop at nothing to get what they want.

But when the Kelvans assumed human shapes, they also took on some human traits. In their original form they had never felt physical sensations or emotions. In human form they feel both, just as humans do. It is their weak point. The crew of the Enterprise immediately goes to work on the aliens. Scotty gets one of the Kelvans drunk. A female Kelvan is attracted to Kirk, and this makes the Kelvan leader jealous and angry.

As a result, the Kelvans become confused and begin fighting among themselves. They have now become human in more than appearance. Kirk quickly points this out to the Kelvans. He tells them that they have become too human to attempt to return to their native planet. A trip back to the distant Andromeda galaxy aboard the Enterprise would take several Kelvan generations. During all that time the Kelvans would have to stay in human form. By the time their descendants had arrived at Andromeda, they would be completely alien to the normal Kelvans, and would not be able to live among them.

This argument impresses the Kelvans. They make a record of everything that has happened to them and put it aboard a robot spaceship which is sent back to Andromeda. Then they allow the Enterprise to find them a nice little Earth-like planet in this galaxy to colonize.

A strangely powerful shape-shifting creature called Isis has a small but important role in the episode entitled “Assignment: Earth.” Isis appears as a sleek black cat wearing a diamond necklace, and very briefly as a beautiful dark-haired woman wearing the same necklace. The creature’s original form and origin is unknown.

In “Assignment: Earth,” the Enterprise travels not through space, but through time. The ship is sent back to Earth during the twentieth century, a time just a few years beyond our own. The Earth is threatened by a war that could mean the end of the world.

The Enterprise runs into another space traveler. It is a man who calls himself Gary Seven. He claims to be an Earthman born on a distant planet among highly advanced aliens. Who they are and where, he will not say. Gary insists he has been sent back to Earth as the representative of these aliens. His duty is to help stop Earth from destroying itself. It is all very mysterious. He is accompanied and aided by the even more mysterious cat-woman Isis, who is perhaps one of these aliens.

Gary Seven’s plan is to explode a very large bomb high in the Earth’s atmosphere. The bomb will not be close enough to do any real damage. But it will be close enough to give everyone a bad scare. The scare, he hopes, will shock people into more peaceful activities.

Kirk and Spock do not understand what is going on. They nearly upset the whole plan and cause a major war. Finally, Gary Seven convinces them that he is doing the right thing. In the end, the men of the Enterprise return to their own time. But they are still not sure about the origins of Gary Seven, or of the cat-woman Isis.

Chapter 3
The Mind Benders

In their journey through the universe, the men and women of the Enterprise have faced many dangers. They have been threatened with everything from primitive spears to weapons which dematerialized their victims. But some of the greatest threats they have faced are not physical—they are mental. In the “Star Trek” universe there are beings that work on the mind. These beings have enormous powers to create illusions. The worlds of illusion they create can be more terrifying and dangerous to the crew of the Enterprise than any “real” world.

Powers of illusion are the property of more than one alien race. And they are used for different purposes.

In the episode entitled “Cat’s-paw,” there are two aliens called Sylvia and Korob. In reality they are tiny blue-gray creatures looking a bit like newly hatched vultures. They probably come from somewhere beyond our galaxy. The pair have been sent by their masters, called the Old Ones, to the planet Pyris VII. It is their mission to prepare the plant for possible future colonization.

Sylvia and Korob

None of this is known to the crew of the Enterprise, which is making a routine investigation of Pyris VII. Sylvia and Korob do not wish their identity or mission to be discovered. They want to scare away the Enterprise. But they are aliens, and do not know what frightens humans. So they look into the minds of the crew. They find images of witches’ and wizards’ black magic and lonely fog-shrouded castles. With the powers of illusion they create just such a world on Pyris VII.

One member of the landing party, crewman Jackson, is killed by Sylvia. His corpse is sent back to the Enterprise to warn it away. Scott and Sulu are captured and turned into living zombies. When Kirk, Spock, and McCoy investigate, they are met by three witches who try to frighten them into leaving. When all this fails, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are captured and taken to the witches’ castle.

And a proper witches’ castle it looks, too. It is gloomy and dark. A black cat roams the corridors and skeletons are hidden in corners. Korob appears as a wizard or warlock. He has a shaved head and black beard; he wears a robe and always carries a wand. Sylvia appears as a beautiful dark-haired woman, obviously a witch. She wears a large jewel around her neck. Sylvia also appears in the form of a black cat. The cat, too, wears the jewel.

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are given various demonstrations of the magical pair’s powers. In one, the Enterprise, still orbiting high above Pyris VII, is nearly burned up in a voodoo-like ceremony. In spite of all these evil-looking acts, Sylvia and Korob are not really evil. They just want to be let alone to carry out the orders of the Old Ones; they do not want anything for themselves, at first.

Then something happens. Like females of diverse species, from one end of the universe to the other, Sylvia becomes attracted to Captain Kirk. She also begins to develop a real personal lust for power, and becomes genuinely cruel. What was first an illusion of evil becomes real evil.

Korob sees what has happened. He tries to stop her. But she is the more powerful of the two. She takes the form of a giant black cat and crushes him. By now Kirk and Spock have correctly guessed that the real sources of the pair’s power are in the wizard’s wand and the witch’s jewel. Kirk grabs Korob’s wand and uses it to destroy Sylvia’s jewel.

Instantly, the castle and all the other illusions of terror vanish. Sylvia and Korob are seen for the first time in their true shapes. They look tiny and helpless—without the source of their power, they are, and they quickly perish.

Another race with great powers of illusion is the Melkots. The Melkots don’t want to colonize new planets. They just want to be left alone. The Melkots may once have been space travelers. But long ago they retreated to their own planet. Around the planet are space buoys. They carry a warning that no trespassing will be allowed.

But the Enterprise has a job to do. It has been ordered by the Federation to make contact with the Melkots. So Kirk ignores the warning. Along with Spock, McCoy, and Chekov, he beams down to the Melkotian planet.

The planet is not much to look at. It is a foggy place. No details of the landscape can be seen. A Melkot appears out of the fog. It is not much to look at, either. All the party from the Enterprise can see is a squarish head and glowing white eyes. There is also a hint of tiny nostrils, but no mouth or chin.

The Melkot

The Melkot announces that since the warning was ignored, the men of the Enterprise will be punished. The humans find that their weapons do not work. The party cannot beam back to the Enterprise, or even make contact to warn of their danger. The four men are at the mercy of the Melkots.

The punishment is not to be a strange or alien one. It is to be a punishment right out of the Earthmen’s own heritage. The Melkots have reached into the Earthmen’s minds and plucked out a famous bit of Western history—the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. They use their powers of illusion to create the scene at Tombstone, Arizona, on October 26, 1881. It is not a complete scene. Some of the buildings seem flat. There is fog everywhere. But for the men of the Enterprise it is real enough, and deadly.

In the real gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the Earp brothers and Doc Holiday had a shootout with the Clanton gang. Most of the Clantons were killed in the fight. In most versions of the story, the Earps and Holiday are the heroes. The Clantons are supposed to have gotten what they deserved. But the Melkots have trapped the men of the Enterprise in the Clanton role, and they are the ones who are supposed to die.

The Enterprise party keep trying to break out of the role. But they don’t seem able to. The Melkots’ powers are too great. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Chekov are pushed along toward the hour of 5 P.M. That was the hour at which the gunfight took place, and the Clantons were killed. There seems to be no way to change history.

Then the Melkots make a mistake. Chekov, who is given the character of Billy Claiborne, one of Clanton gang, is killed by Morgan Earp. This doesn’t fit in with the real fight. Billy Claiborne was supposed to have survived the gunfight.

Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig)

The logical Spock now knows everything that is happening is an illusion; they cannot really be hurt. The Melkots are controlling their minds. Since the script was changed once, it can be changed again. Using his superior mental powers, Spock convinces the others. Not only won’t they be killed at the O.K. Corral, they don’t even have to fight.

A fog-shrouded model of the O.K. Corral is the final scene. The Earps and Holiday advance toward the men of the Enterprise with drawn guns. But the men of the Enterprise refuse to play the game. They do not draw their guns and fire.

It is the best thing they could do. The Melkots suddenly realize that the men of the Enterprise are basically peaceful. They return them, including Chekov, whose death was only another illusion, to the ship. The Melkots also agree to establish contact with the Federation.

Another being with great powers of illusion is Yarnek, the rock creature. Yarnek appears in the episode entitled “The Savage Curtain.” This episode begins, as so many do, with the Enterprise conducting a survey of an unknown planet. Instruments on the starship pick up many strange and puzzling conditions on the surface of the planet.

Then an absolutely amazing thing happens. Abraham Lincoln appears outside the Enterprise and asks permission to enter. Of course, it isn’t really Abraham Lincoln, but an image of Lincoln. Still, Captain Kirk has him brought aboard with all the ceremony due a President. Kirk has always been a great admirer of Lincoln.

Soon Spock is confronted with a hero from Vulcan’s past. He is Surak, the father of Vulcan logical thought. Surak is considered to be one of the great Vulcans of history. As Kirk was moved by the image of Lincoln, so Spock is moved by the image of Surak.

Both Lincoln and Surak are illusions created by Yarnek. Spock and Kirk soon meet Yarnek. He is a rock creature. He looks like a large rock, except for his “arms,” which end in claws. Yarnek’s face glows when he speaks. He has tremendous power, particularly the power to create illusions.

Yarnek

Yarnek is not a bad creature, but he is a curious one. He does not really understand good and evil, and wants to know which is stronger. In order to find out, he has arranged a fight between good and evil. The good is represented by Kirk and Spock, and the images of Lincoln and Surak. To represent evil, Yarnek has created the images of Genghis Khan, Colonel Green, Kahless, and Zora—all brutal and evil leaders of the past.

The fight is to be very real. Both Kirk and Spock could be killed by the images, and Yarnek will not let them escape from his planet. Still, Kirk and Spock refuse to fight. So Yarnek informs them if they do not fight, and win, the entire Enterprise will blow up within four hours.

The fight begins. The images of Lincoln and Surak are both “killed.” But in the end, the good, represented by Kirk and Spock, wins. Yarnek is impressed. After discussing the problem of good and evil with them, he returns the pair unharmed to the Enterprise. The ship is then allowed to go its way. The rock creature’s curiosity has been satisfied.

Creatures with great powers of illusion are also central to “The Menagerie,” the only two-part episode ever presented by “Star Trek.” The mind-bending creatures in “The Menagerie” are the Talosians. They are humanoid in appearance, but small and shrunken, with huge heads. The Talosians have relied on their powers of illusion for so long that their bodies have been weakened from lack of use.

While the Talosians are not evil, they are considered extremely dangerous by the Federation. The Federation fears that humans will learn the Talosians’ mental techniques. These techniques in the wrong hands could be disastrous. The planet Talos IV was placed off limits. Anyone who violates the order could be punished by death.

Talosians

Therefore, Kirk is shocked when Spock tampers with the Enterprise controls and sends the starship in the direction of the forbidden Talos IV. Slowly, Spock’s reasons are revealed. Aboard the Enterprise is Captain Christopher Pike. He was the first commander of the Enterprise, and Spock had served under him. At one time in the past, Pike had been a prisoner on Talos IV, but he was released. While on Talos he met a beautiful human girl named Vina. Later Pike was horribly scarred and crippled in an accident. Nothing could be done for him. Spock was trying to return his old friend and commander to Talos IV. There, with the help of the Talosians, he would be able to live out a life of illusion. In the illusion he would be strong and handsome, as he once had been.

The girl Vina was not really young and beautiful at all. She was the survivor of a spaceship crash. She had been badly injured. She was put back together again by doctors who didn’t know much about human anatomy. The Talosians, who were really extremely kind, allowed her to live a life of illusion in which she was healthy and beautiful.

When all this is revealed, Star Fleet Command allows the Enterprise to return Pike to Talos IV, and to the Talosian world of illusion.

Chapter 4
Ancient Races

No one knows the age of the universe. No one knows how many different life forms exist within the universe. What the viewers of “Star Trek” do know is that the human race is a fairly recent development. The Enterprise encountered races far older, and far more powerful than our own.

Some of these races survived very well. Others died out ages ago. Their existence is known only through some of the things they left behind. Then there is a third category, survivors of ancient races that should have died out long ago. Somehow, these survivors have managed to hang on to life, or a half-life.

All physical life on the planet Zetar was totally destroyed at some dim age in the past. Yet a hundred Zetars had such strong minds and desires that they refused to die. In some unexplained way they came together into a light form. This form can be seen as a storm of brilliantly flashing colored lights. Even Spock is puzzled. By his calculations, such a life form is impossible—yet it exists.

The Zetars are completely alien, completely without what we call morality. They sweep through Memory Alpha, a library planetoid. Not only do the lights kill every living thing on the planetoid, but they burn out a central computer system. Thus, a great deal of valuable knowledge is lost forever. The lights of Zetar do not care. They are interested only in surviving. It is not known if all the original inhabitants of Zetar were so ruthless. Perhaps only an unusually ruthless hundred survived. Perhaps their centuries of existence without bodies have made them insane.

It is a body that the lights are looking for, but not any body will do. It has to have a particular personality structure in order to adapt well to being taken over by the Zetars. In Lieutenant Mira Romaine, the Zetars find just the body and personality they have been searching for.

Mira Romaine is on her first space voyage. It is her assignment to transfer some new equipment to Memory Alpha. She is aboard the Enterprise when a “storm” caused by the lights strikes. Later the lights attack the Enterprise itself and lodge themselves in the body of Romaine. There is no way to get them out without killing her. The Zetars have complete control over her body. They cause her to nearly kill Scotty, who has fallen deeply in love with her.

Though the Zetars are enormously powerful, they do have one weakness. Over the centuries they have become adapted to the vacuum of outer space. They are tricked when the body of Lieutenant Romaine is placed in a pressure chamber. They are unable to handle increasing atmospheric pressure and are destroyed. But the pressure never becomes so great that Lieutenant Romaine herself is harmed. The trick frees her of her unwelcome and uninvited guests.

While a hundred may have survived the catastrophe that destroyed Zetar, there were only three survivors of the catastrophe that destroyed the planet Arret.

The inhabitants of Arret brought disaster on themselves. They had a highly advanced civilization, so advanced that they thought they could do anything. They thought they were like gods. Then everything blew up. Half the planet’s atmosphere was ripped away. It was rendered unfit for any kind of life—forever. Before the disaster was complete, three members of the doomed civilization managed to save themselves, or at least part of themselves.

The three had their minds stored in containers deep below the planet’s surface. There is nothing material left of them. They are seen only as glowing lights in large globes. They can really do nothing without bodies. All they can do is wait.

The wait is half a million years. Then the Enterprise comes upon the dead planet. A landing party finds the underground chamber with its strange and alien contents.

The three survivors of Arret want a favor. They need bodies. Unlike the Zetars, they do not seem to want anyone else’s body, not permanently. They wish to build androids, life-like machines, which will contain their intelligences. In order to build the androids, they need the temporary loan of human or near-human bodies. The plan sounds reasonable. After all, half a million years is a long time to wait for anything. So Kirk agrees.

Unfortunately, there is a problem that the crew of the Enterprise does not know about. The three bodiless survivors are not the best of friends. The three are Sargon, his wife Thalassa, and Henoch, who in the old days was Sargon’s deadliest enemy.

Sargon has had a lot of time to think. There isn’t much else that you can do without a body. He has decided that his old differences with Henoch no longer matter. But Henoch has been thinking, too. Brooding might be a better word. He now hates Sargon more than ever, but he keeps quiet about it. He wants revenge. He also wants Thalassa.

Kirk agrees to loan Sargon his body. Thalassa takes the body of Dr. Ann Mulhall. Henoch takes Spock’s body. The intelligences of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Mulhall now are captured in the globes. Once Henoch gets control of Spock’s body, he decides he doesn’t want to leave. He doesn’t want an android body; he wants Spock. To make matters worse, he tries to persuade Thalassa to keep Dr. Mulhall’s body, and then get rid of Sargon completely.

Since Sargon’s intelligence is now in Kirk’s body, Henoch must get rid of Kirk’s body. He poisons Kirk’s body, but Sargon’s intelligence escapes into the hull of the Enterprise. Kirk’s body is kept alive until his intelligence can be returned to it.

Thalassa is tempted to follow Henoch, but finally decides that she loves Sargon. Together they manage to trick Henoch out of Spock’s body and destroy him.

The two survivors of Arret then decide that they will not even take android bodies. They leave the nearly completed androids behind them, to take up a bodiless existence on some distant planet.

The Companion is also a survivor looking for a body. In the end she finds one. The Companion appears only as a colorful column of cloud. But she possesses tremendous powers. Her origins are not clear, but it seems she is the last survivor of a giant planet that exploded. She now lives on a piece of that planet called Gamma Canaris N.

The Companion

The Companion got her name from Zefrem Cochrane, a space travel pioneer. She found him at the age of 87. She restored his youth, and kept him alive and healthy. Though he is over 200 years old, he looks like a young and vigorous man.

In fact, the Companion seems devoted to keeping Cochrane both healthy and happy. What Cochrane wishes for is some human companionship. The Companion supplies this by capturing the shuttlecraft Galileo. The craft contains Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and a very sick woman named Nancy Hedford. She is an important official of the Federation who has contracted a deadly alien disease and is being rushed back to the Enterprise for treatment.

Instead of being happy at seeing other humans for the first time in a century, Cochrane becomes more dissatisfied than ever. He doesn’t want to sit on the little planet any longer. He wants to go back into space and to live among human beings once again. He comes to realize that the Companion is really holding him prisoner.

Not only is the Companion holding Cochrane prisoner, but she will not allow the Galileo to leave. As time passes, Nancy Hedford’s condition grows worse. Cochrane becomes convinced that he must kill the Companion. The plan fails, for no one fully realized how powerful the creature is.

Finally, the men of the Enterprise get in communication with the Companion. They learn that she is holding Cochrane because she is in love with him. Cochrane, however, is not happy at the thought of spending the rest of his life with a cloud of gas, no matter how much the cloud loves him. There is a solution. By this time Nancy Hedford is beyond help. So the Companion enters the body of the dying woman. The cloud creature does not take over or possess the body. What happens is that the two personalities blend.

The result is such a delightful person that Zefrem Cochrane decides that he will spend the rest of his life on Gamma Canaris N with her.

In the episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion,” there is a group of bodiless survivors called the Providers. The Providers don’t want bodies, or love. All they want is a little fun. Of course, their idea of fun is watching people of various planets fight to the death and betting on the winner.

The Providers are three remnants of an ancient race. They have not been reduced to pure energy, but all that is left of them is their brains. These brains exist in cases in an underground vault. The Providers possess tremendous—almost unlimited—powers. They can pluck people from anyplace in the universe and bring them to their home planet, Triskelion.

One of the Providers

That is exactly what happens to Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov. The Enterprise is on a routine survey mission when suddenly the three disappear. They find themselves on Triskelion, where they are being trained to fight as gladiators. At first they have no idea what is happening. What they do know is that they must obey orders. If they don’t, the metal collars they are wearing can be used to inflict great pain.

All the others Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov see are slaves like themselves or overseers. The real power, the Providers, is heard but not seen. The humans try to escape, and fail. Still, the Providers are well pleased. It is obvious that humans will make good fighters.

By this time Spock has managed to locate the missing crew members, and the Enterprise is nearing Triskelion, not knowing how great a peril they face. The Providers capture the Enterprise and want to bring the entire crew down to fight in their games.

Kirk discovers where the three ancient brains are hidden and confronts them. But he can’t really do anything against their power. So he makes a bet with them. If he defeats three of the best fighters, then the Providers will have to change their ways. Instead of wasting all their great powers on making people fight, they will have to free all of the slaves they have captured. Then they will have to train the newly freed slaves in self-government and civilization. The Providers are really bored by their existence. They agree to Kirk’s proposition because it represents a new challenge. But they don’t think he can win. Naturally, he crosses them up and does win.

The Providers prove to be good losers, for they, like so many other “Star Trek” creatures, are not truly evil. They live up to their part of the bargain, and take up the task of teaching the thralls or slaves how to live as free men and women with great enthusiasm. It is like a new game to them.

The Enterprise is freed for further adventures.

Kirk and the Thrall Shahna from the episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion”

Chapter 5
Energy Creatures

If you had to pick the most evil of all creatures of “Star Trek,” Red Jack would be a pretty good candidate. Red Jack isn’t the thing’s real name. Throughout history it has had many names. It is a nearly immortal and bodiless energy being. In fact, it is more of an energy vampire. It feeds off the energy generated by fear. It preys on women because they are supposed to be more prone to being terrified. Red Jack also appears to have hypnotic powers, so that it can be seen only by its victims. It can hide undetected in the bodies of living people.

Red Jack

No one knows where Red Jack came from, but it first appeared in human history in London in 1888. It was responsible for the killing of many women. No one ever saw the murderer. At the time, the killer was called Jack the Ripper.

As human beings moved out into space, Red Jack followed them. In 2105 it was in the Martian colonies, where it killed more women. By 2156 it had arrived at the planet Heliopolis, which circles the star Alpha Proxima II. It killed only two women there. It also appeared on the planet Deneb II, where it was given the name Kesla, and on Rigel IV, Where it was called Beratis. On Rigel IV the entity took over the body of Hengist, a short and ordinary-looking administrator.

Hengist is sent to help run the government of Argelius II. The Argelians are such fun-loving folk that they can never get down to the serious business of government. Hengist takes the murderous entity Red Jack with him. And it is there that the creature encounters the crew of the Enterprise.

Kirk, McCoy, and Scotty are visiting the lively planet of Argelius II for recreation, mainly Scotty’s recreation. He is recovering from a serious accident, and needs some diversion. In an Argelian nightclub, Scott becomes attracted to a beautiful dancer. They leave the club together. A bit later Kirk and McCoy are wandering about in the fog. They hear screams. Rushing to the scene, they find the girl dead and a dazed Scott standing over her holding a blood-stained knife.

Scott says he doesn’t remember what happened. It looks like an open-and-shut case. Even McCoy begins to doubt his friend’s innocence. He wonders if the accident has not somehow affected Scott’s mind.

The case is thrown into the lap of administrator Hengist. He wants Scott arrested. But Kirk delays the arrest in order to try something else. He contacts Sybo, priestess of an ancient cult. She has the power to read people’s minds. Kirk wants her to testify at Scott’s hearing, to be held aboard the Enterprise.

Before she is allowed to give all of her evidence, Sybo and a woman member of the Enterprise crew are attacked and killed. The dying Sybo senses the presence of something with a murderous hatred for women in the room. Once again Scott seems to be the guilty party. This time, however, Red Jack—the real killer—is detected. The entity flees Hengist’s body, which falls lifeless.

Red Jack now tries to take up residence within the Enterprise itself. But it needs the energy of fear. So it tries to terrify the crew and grow stronger. McCoy gives everyone aboard massive doses of tranquilizers. After that, nothing bothers them. Red Jack is literally being starved out of existence, and must return to Hengist’s body. The body, with the murderous Red Jack inside, is beamed off into space, where it will eventually die and disperse.

A very similar energy being appears in the episode called “Day of the Dove.” This being is only called the Entity. It appears as rotating lights of various colors. It makes a high wailing sound and turns a reddish color when it feeds. What it feeds on are the emotions of hate and aggression. When the Entity cannot find enough hatred on its own, it has the power to stir some up.

The Entity very nearly provokes a war between the Federation and its chief rival, the Klingon Empire. The Federation and the Empire had been clinging to an uneasy peace for some years. The Entity manages to trick both the Enterprise and a Klingon ship into a confrontation. The Klingons come aboard the Enterprise hoping to capture it. Then things go haywire, for the Entity is aboard the Enterprise stirring up confusion and hatred.

An equal number of humans and Klingons are isolated in one part of the ship. Phasers are changed to swords. Practically everyone begins acting with irrational hatred. There are many fights. People seem to be fatally wounded, but miraculously they recover in order to be able to fight again. The Entity is having a feast on all the hatred that it has managed to provoke.

Through it all, Spock, whose emotions cannot be affected by the Entity, remains calm. He figures out a way to defeat the thing. If it needs the energy generated by aggression and hostility to survive, then it must be starved out. The best way to do that is to make peace.

This is no easy task, for Klingons and Terrans really don’t trust one another. But finally both sides are won over to Spock’s logical plan. They stop fighting and begin making fun of the Entity, laughing at it. This is something the creature cannot endure. It flees the Enterprise with the sound of human and Klingon laughter ringing in its ears (or whatever passes for ears in such a being).

Red Jack and the Entity are energy vampires. They feed on emotional energy. But the Vampire Cloud of Argus X is a real vampire. It lives off human blood, or at least it drains red blood cells.

The Vampire Cloud

Kirk had met the Vampire Cloud before. While he was serving on the U.S.S. Farragut, the ship met the monster in the region of Tycho IV. The creature killed Captain Garrovick and half the crew of the Farragut. At that time Kirk had hesitated a moment before firing at it. Even after he did fire, the monster was not harmed, but Kirk has always felt guilty about not acting more quickly.

Eleven years later when he meets the Vampire Cloud again, he takes off after it. He does this in spite of the fact that the Enterprise is on another mission altogether. Kirk tracks the Vampire Cloud to the surface of Argus X, where it lives. A meeting with it there leaves a crew member of the Enterprise dead. Kirk is more determined than ever to get the thing.

When the Vampire Cloud leaves Argus X, the Enterprise follows. The cloud is not frightened and will not run away. It turns on the Enterprise and enters it. But the blood-sucker runs into some bad luck. The first person it encounters is Spock. It needs red blood cells and has no taste at all for the Vulcan’s green blood. It flees the Enterprise and heads for Tycho IV, where Kirk fears it intends to reproduce itself.

Kirk and Ensign Garrovick, son of Kirk’s former commanding officer, decide to kill it with a matter/antimatter bomb. But they must serve as bait. The Vampire Cloud just can’t resist the lure of red blood. Kirk and the young ensign manage to escape only seconds before the Vampire Cloud is destroyed by the powerful bomb.

Several “Star Trek” episodes concern the fight between the United Federation of Planets, which the Enterprise serves, and the Klingon Empire. The Federation and the Empire deeply distrust one another, yet at one point they sign a peace treaty. The treaty is not entirely voluntary. It is forced upon them by the Organians. The Organians are among the most powerful creatures in the entire universe. They are pure energy beings. But they do not choose to show their power.

As far as everyone else is concerned, Organia is a rather primitive planet. Its inhabitants appear to be humanoid and are ruled by a rather fussy and ineffective Council of Elders. This is all just a pose. The Organians just want to be left alone. No one would have bothered about them except that their little planet happens to occupy a strategic position between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.

The Federation is afraid that the Klingons are going to invade Organia. The Enterprise is sent to try and persuade the Organians to accept Federation protection from the Klingons. The Organians are not interested. They like their little world just the way it is. They don’t want anything to do with anyone else’s fights.

To Kirk this attitude seems foolhardy. And while discussions with the Organians are dragging on, the Klingons actually do invade. Kirk and Spock are stranded on Organia by the invasion. Not content to just lie low, Kirk and Spock try to sabotage the Klingons. But they are captured. Somehow—no one seems quite sure how—the Organians free them. Kirk and Spock now turn around and capture Kor, the Klingon commander.

Kor’s men try to get him back, and the Enterprise crew gets ready to prevent them. News of the incident has spread. Both the Federation and the Klingons begin moving other ships into the area. A full-scale war over Organia is shaping up.

The Organians’ patience is finally exhausted. They reveal their true powers as highly advanced energy beings. No weapons will work, all fighting is stopped, and the Empire and Federation are simply forced to make peace.

Trelane is another energy being whose true nature is not revealed until the end of the adventure in which he appears, “The Squire of Gothos.” The Enterprise encounters Trelane in a region of space that is not supposed to have anything in it. Suddenly, the Enterprise finds the planet Gothos. No one can explain what it is doing there. Then there is an even bigger surprise; Kirk and Sulu disappear.

Chief Helmsman Sulu (George Takei)

A search party is beamed down to Gothos to look for them. They are found on the surface of the planet, where they have been brought by Trelane. He wants them for his collection. Trelane appears as a rather handsome man wearing eighteenth-century clothes. He has a great interest in Earth history, particularly eighteenth-century military history. His speech is peppered with expressions like “Tally-ho!” and “Oh, rot!”

On the one hand, Trelane is very elegant and gracious. He pays members of the Enterprise crew extravagant compliments, and invites them all down for a banquet. On the other hand, he is also very willful. Not only does he ask the crew of the Enterprise to attend his banquet, he demands it. When Spock tries to leave, Trelane simply brings him back. He seems to have almost unlimited power.

It appears that the source of Trelane’s power is a mysterious piece of equipment. Kirk manages to destroy the equipment, but Trelane’s power is not broken. He repairs his equipment, and he is now extremely angry. Kirk is forced to offer himself as the object of a hunt in exchange for the Enterprise’s freedom.

Trelane easily catches Kirk and seems about to kill him when two shimmering green translucent shapes appear. They order Trelane to free Kirk and the Enterprise. Trelane sulks but obeys. Then they scold him for playing so roughly.

The shapes, it seems, are Trelane’s parents. Trelane is really a child energy being. He has just taken human shape. The planet Gothos is sort of a playhouse that he has constructed for himself. But, like many children, he has little discipline or self-control. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he becomes angry, and sometimes cruel.

Trelane’s parents apologize for their youngster’s bad behavior, and let the Enterprise go on its way.

Another undisciplined child is Charlie Evans, or Charlie X. Charlie is fully human, but he possesses great powers. At first no one on the Enterprise is sure where he got them.

Charlie was the only survivor of an expedition that crashed on the planet Thasus. He is found by the U.S.S. Antares, then transferred to the Enterprise. While the captain of the Antares is trying to tell Kirk something, his ship is destroyed.

Charlie claims that he grew up alone on Thasus. Spock doesn’t believe that story. It becomes more unbelievable as the extent of Charlie’s powers become known. Charlie falls madly in love with Yeoman Rand, one of the women on the Enterprise. When she rejects him, he makes her disappear. Whenever he is stopped from getting what he wants, he strikes out in all directions, and with great effect. He very nearly wrecks the Enterprise completely. As it turns out, it was Charlie who destroyed the Antares. He didn’t think that the crew had been very nice to him.

Charlie demands to be taken to the nearest inhabited planet. He intends to take it over. The thought of this powerful but uncontrolled child ruling a planet frightens Kirk. But there seems to be no way of stopping him.

The situation is saved by the sudden appearance of a Thasian. The Thasian is seen only as a semi-transparent face wavering in the air. The Thasian admits that his kind are responsible for Charlie’s enormous powers. Their motives had been good. When a crash had stranded a human child on their planet, they had given him the powers so that he would be able to survive. But they had never been able to teach him discipline. They knew that it was far too dangerous to allow him to live among human beings again. So they return the protesting Charlie to Thasus. They also fix all the damage that he did to the Enterprise.

Chapter 6
Dangerous Animals

On Earth an amoeba is one of the simplest forms of life. It is a one-celled creature so tiny it can be seen only with a microscope. Amoebas have no regular shape. When they move, they just sort of flow along. They eat by surrounding their food and absorbing it. Earthly amoebas can cause some diseases, but for the most part they are tiny and harmless.

When the U.S.S. Enterprise meets an amoeba, it is no harmless little thing. This amoeba is eleven thousand miles long, and between two and three thousand miles thick. It lives in outer space, and it drains the energy from entire star systems for its food.

The space amoeba itself is a brilliantly colored mass. It moves inside of a cloud of darkness, which is actually negative energy. It has no mind and cannot think. All it has is an instinct to eat, survive, and reproduce. Like earthly amoebas, this gigantic space amoeba reproduces by splitting in two.

Space Amoeba

The first hint that such a monstrous creature exists comes when Spock gets a severe mind jolt. This happens because the starship Intrepid, which is manned by Vulcans, is destroyed. Vulcans are aware of what is happening to other Vulcans, even over great distances. Very soon the crew of the Enterprise realizes that not only has a starship been drained of all life, but all the life in an entire star system has been destroyed.

When they arrive at the scene of the disaster, they find the amoeba. It has come from a distant galaxy in search of food. What is worse, it is just about to divide. One of these monsters is bad enough. Two or more might wipe out all life in the galaxy. Kirk knows that the thing must be destroyed, no matter what the danger or cost.

The Enterprise is able to get through the cloud of darkness right to the creature’s outer skin. But it can’t find a way through the skin, and it can’t get back out through the cloud.

Spock takes a smaller shuttlecraft. With it he is able to penetrate the amoeba’s skin and find its weak spot. The Enterprise follows the small ship. The hope is to explode an antimatter bomb at a vital spot, thus destroying the creature. Time, however, is short. The amoeba can’t think, but it can and does react. It reacts like any ordinary cell would when an alien object gets in. The amoeba’s immunity system begins to operate. If the amoeba isn’t destroyed quickly, it will destroy both the shuttlecraft and the Enterprise itself.

It’s a near thing, particularly for Spock, in the shuttlecraft. But the bomb is exploded in the right spot, and everyone gets away safely, except the amoeba, of course.

Other single-celled menaces are the flying parasites. They are flat, round organisms about the size of a small plate. The creatures are able to fly short distances. They are red and white in color, and have tiny eyes on top, and tiny teeth on the bottom. The teeth allow them to attach themselves to their victims. When firmly attached, they grow tentacles which reach right into the victims’ nervous system. The parasites can control their victims by inflicting severe pain. Finally, the victims may be driven mad by the pain.

Flying Parasites

All that is quite bad enough, but there is something even worse about these creatures. Though the parasites are all separate from one another, they seem to have some kind of communication among themselves. They all work together. In fact, they are not really separate individuals at all. They make up a single larger organism like a gigantic brain. They are probably invaders from some other galaxy.

As these single cells multiply and take control of more host bodies, the total organism itself grows. The larger the total organism becomes, the more powerful, the more intelligent, and the more evil it becomes.

The creature is first known to have appeared in the Beta Portalan system. There it created an epidemic of madness which wiped out an entire civilization. It then appears to have spread to other planets, Lavinius V, Theta Cygni XII, and Ingraham B. It always brought with it madness and death.

The individual cells had no means of flying through space themselves. What they did was force some of their victims to build spaceships and carry them to other inhabited planets. Some survivors from Ingraham B arrived on the planet Deneva, where the usual pattern of destruction is repeated.

It is here that the Enterprise first encounters the flying parasites. Kirk has a very personal involvement in the fate of Deneva. One of the victims there is James Kirk’s own brother, Sam, and his wife, Aurelan.

While investigating the conditions on Deneva, Spock is attacked by one of the flying parasites. Though the creature attaches itself to Spock, it is not able to control him. Unlike humans, Vulcans are able to control pain.

It becomes Dr. McCoy’s job to find a way of getting rid of the parasites without killing their hosts. Since the parasites are firmly attached to the host’s body inside and out, this is no easy task. The doctor thinks that light might be the answer. In a test he exposes Spock to extremely bright lights. The theory is correct; the parasites are killed by the light. But the light is so bright that Spock is blinded.

Only later does McCoy realize that only the invisible ultraviolet rays in light are needed to kill the parasites. Visible light of the type that blinded Spock has no effect upon the parasites. Ultraviolet flares are exploded over Deneva. These kill the parasites quickly, and the threat is ended. Spock recovers, too. His blindness was only temporary. It turns out that all Vulcans have an “extra eyelid,” meant to protect them from the bright Vulcan sun. This time it protected Spock from the blinding light.

While the “Star Trek” adventures contain plenty of strange and monstrous creatures, there are relatively few of the conventional or ordinary sort of monsters found in other science fiction or horror films and television shows. Probably the most conventional monster in the entire series plays only a minor role. It is the Mugato, and it appears in the episode called “A Private Little War.”

The Mugato is a giant ape of the planet Neural. It has white fur. The skin of its hands, feet, and face is a bright red. And to complete its monstrous appearance, it has a big horn sticking out from the middle of its forehead. Not only can it rip a person apart with its bare hands, but its bite is poisonous. The only cure for a Mugato bite is a solution made from a mako root. And only witch doctors of the small Kanutu tribe know how to properly administer the root.

The Mugato

While a landing party from the Enterprise is investigating the possibility of Klingon meddling on Neural, Kirk is bitten by a Mugato. He is cured by Nona, a Kanutu witch doctor and wife of the Kanutu leader.

And then there are the tribbles. Perhaps it is not fair to call tribbles monsters. They are extremely cute and lovable, but they can be a problem, even a danger.

Tribbles are round balls of fur, about the size of an ordinary softball or a bit larger. They come in a variety of attractive shades of color. They have no visible head or feet, but they do seem able to move. They certainly must have a mouth on their underside, for they are big eaters. Their origin is unknown.

Practically anyone who comes in contact with tribbles adores them. The tribbles return the affection. Every time they are near a human being, they begin purring softly. This gentle noise seems to have a tranquilizing effect on most people. Tribbles seem to be perfect pets.

Practically the only life form that tribbles do not like is Klingons. Whenever a Klingon gets near a tribble, the tribble makes loud and irritating shrieking noises. Klingons detest tribbles and call them parasites.

What is the trouble with tribbles? The Enterprise finds out when they are ordered to guard a load of grain stored at Space Station K-7. The grain is needed by a colony on Sherman’s Planet, which has run out of food and faces a severe famine.

Normally, a guard for grain would not be needed, but there are Klingons around. Space Station K-7 is located in a neutral zone between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. Under terms of the Organian Peace Treaty, Klingons are allowed to stop at the station for rest and recreation. That is what a group of Klingons has done. Sherman’s Planet is near enough to the territory of the Klingons for them to make some claim to it. Federation officials are worried that the Klingons might try to make trouble on Sherman’s Planet. The crew of the Enterprise and the Klingons on Space Station K-7 are always on the verge of fighting.

Into this tense situation come the tribbles. One of them has been given to Lieutenant Uhura by a space trader named Cyrano Jones. Jones is not a bad man; he is sort of a general pest. Many of his dealings are slightly dishonest. He hopes to sell tribbles as pets to humans. His gift of one to Uhura was sort of a free sample. Jones really had no idea how much trouble tribbles could be.

Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols)

Tribbles seem only to do two things: eat and reproduce. The more food they get, the more quickly they reproduce. And they can reproduce so fast that when McCoy examines them he says that they almost seem to be born pregnant. Very soon Space Station K-7 is overrun with tribbles. The tribbles get into the storage bins and eat all of the stored grain. This disaster turns out to be a blessing in disguise. When the storage bins are opened, all the tribbles inside are found to be dead. The grain had been poisoned. If it had been sent to Sherman’s Planet, many would have died. The Federation would doubtless have been blamed, and the Klingons might have been able to successfully pursue their claim to the planet.

Who poisoned the grain? The guilty party turns out to be a Klingon who had disguised himself as a Terran official. It is an excellent disguise. The only way the impostor is discovered is when a tribble comes close to him. It begins to scream loudly.

When the Klingon plot is exposed, they leave the space station. The remaining tribbles on the Enterprise are gathered up and beamed aboard the departing Klingon ship. There it is said they will be “no tribble at all….”

Chapter 7
Alien Places

Something is killing miners on Janus VI. It is also wrecking mining equipment. The very existence of the important mining colony is threatened. Whatever it is has to be stopped. The Enterprise is sent to investigate.

While roaming through the underground tunnels, Kirk, Spock, and some security men find the killer. It is a strange stone-like creature about seven feet long and three feet wide. It is covered with heavy armor plates, and has many legs or tentacles on its underside. Phasers are fired, and the thing is apparently wounded. But it escapes by burrowing right through solid rock at great speed.

The creature is then able to corner Kirk and has a chance to kill him. When it doesn’t, Spock is puzzled. Clearly, the thing is no mindless monster. Spock manages to make telepathic contact with it. It is called the Horta, an underground dweller and an original inhabitant of Janus VI.

The Horta

Hortas have a strange life cycle. They live for about sixty thousand years. After that they lay their eggs and the entire generation dies. A single Horta remains alive to take care of the eggs and to help to raise the next generation of Hortas.

The Horta is intelligent and normally quite peaceful. However, the human miners on Janus VI didn’t even know that such a creature existed. One day when the Horta had left the eggs for a while, miners broke through into the underground cavern that contained the eggs. Since the Horta was a life form completely alien to the miners, they were not able to recognize its eggs. The miners thought the eggs were some sort of rock or mineral, and many eggs were destroyed. With the future of its whole race in danger, the Horta struck back in self-defense.

Once the circumstances are understood, Spock and Kirk are able to arrange an agreement between the Horta and the miners. The Horta even agrees to help the miners in some of their operations. She does, however, tell Spock that she thinks all human beings are pretty monstrous looking.

To humans the Horta is ugly, but at least it can be looked at. The Medusans are a race so horrible looking that if a human catches sight of one, he is instantly driven insane. Humans can deal safely with the Medusans only by viewing them through a protective visor. Then they appear as a pattern of lights and green radiation.

Despite their appearance, the Medusans have great beauty and depth of character. They also have a very advanced technology. It is a great advantage for humans and Medusans to cooperate.

Medusans communicate telepathically. The Federation needs an ambassador with telepathic abilities. The job of ambassador is offered to Spock. He turns it down, because Vulcans are also driven insane by the sight of a Medusan. So the job is taken by Dr. Miranda Jones, an extremely beautiful woman with telepathic abilities, who also happens to be blind. She is to travel with the Medusan ambassador Kollos back to Kollos’ home planet. This is to be the first step in setting up a link between the Medusans and the Federation. The Enterprise has the job of transporting the two ambassadors to the Medusans’ home planet.

But there are complications. Larry Marvick, an instrumentation specialist, is in love with Miranda. He tries to persuade Miranda to marry him and quit the project. She refuses. In a jealous rage he then tries to kill Kollos, but he does not use his protective visor, and is driven insane by a glimpse of the Medusan.

Marvick then takes over the Enterprise, and he sends it right out of the galaxy, before he dies of sheer terror.

Now the Enterprise is stuck in a region of space where nothing seems to work properly. No one knows how to get back to more familiar territory. However, Kollos has an entirely different sensory system, and, like all Medusans is an excellent space navigator.

Spock makes mental contact with Kollos, and the Medusan helps guide the Enterprise back into normal space. For a moment Spock forgets his visor, and he is driven insane by the sight of the Medusan.

As a telepath, Dr. Miranda Jones could help. She could contact Spock’s mind and draw it back to reality. But at first she is not willing to help. She has become deeply jealous of Spock. He has greater telepathic ability, and a more logical mind. Kirk finally manages to persuade her to put her jealousy aside, and she does help Spock regain his sanity. She then goes off with the Medusans.

In the episode “The Tholian Web,” we meet the Tholians. They are not really a hostile people. But they are real sticklers about time and place, so much so that they very nearly cause Captain Kirk to spend eternity floating like a ghost in a space between two alternate universes.

The Enterprise is searching for a missing starship, the Defiant. The search leads to an uncharted region of space. It is a region where something strange is happening. Space and time seem to be breaking up, leaving a hole between alternate universes. The Defiant is spotted and a landing party from the Enterprise beams aboard. The entire crew is dead; apparently they killed one another.

As the landing party gets ready to leave the Defiant, time and space begin to shift. Everyone returns to the Enterprise safely except Kirk, who is trapped. The Defiant, with Kirk aboard, disappears. However, Spock calculates that it will reappear again in a few hours, and an attempt to rescue the captain will be made.

At that point a strange face appears on the Enterprise viewscreen. It is a red and gold creature, looking almost as if it is made of crystals. Its only visible features are bright white triangular eyespots. The being is Loskene, commander of a Tholian ship.

A Tholian

In a harsh voice, Loskene tells the Enterprise that it has entered Tholian territory, and orders the ship out. Spock explains the problem. Loskene agrees to allow the Enterprise to stay until the Defiant reappears, but not any longer. Very little is known about the Tholians, but Spock does know one thing; they are noted for being very punctual. If they set a deadline, they stick to it.

There is some question as to whether the Enterprise is even going to last until the deadline. Because of the breakup of time and space, the crew is going insane and the ship has lost power. Then the Defiant does reappear, but the Enterprise is unable to rescue Kirk. The deadline past, the punctual Tholians open fire on the Enterprise.

Spock is forced to fire back. The Tholian ship is disabled. But another one appears. The Tholians then begin weaving a gigantic web in space. With it they intend to trap the Enterprise.

Kirk’s ghostly form is spotted out in space. He is floating in and out of the universe. By some tricky and last-second maneuvering, Spock is able to escape the Tholian web, beam Kirk back on board, and then instantly jump well out of the area claimed by the unreasonably punctual Tholians.

Fights over territory are common in space. In the episode called “Arena,” the Enterprise gets into trouble with two different alien races. The base Cestus III was constructed at a place where the territory of the Federation borders that of the Gorns. The Gorns think the base is a threat and send a ship to destroy it. The Enterprise finds the destroyed base and chases the Gorn ship.

The chase leads both ships into unknown territory. This territory happens to be claimed by the Metrons, and they don’t like trespassers, either. The Metrons are an extremely advanced race, with a very powerful technology. They are far more powerful than either the humans or the Gorns. Both ships are captured and held. Kirk and the Gorn captain are whisked off to an uninhabited asteroid.

The Metrons are quite human in appearance. In fact, the one that appears looks rather like an ancient Greek god. The Metrons have some definite ideas about fighting. They don’t think groups should fight one another. They think that all fights should be settled between individuals.

That is why Kirk and the Gorn captain have been brought to the asteroid. They are to fight it out with one another. The winner and his ship will be freed. The loser and his ship will be destroyed.

Both captains are unarmed. At first it looks as if the Gorn has a tremendous advantage. It is a very large creature, about seven feet tall. More than anything else, it resembles the tyrannosaurus, a flesh-eating dinosaur that once roamed the earth. The Gorn is green, has glowing eyes, long claws, and tremendous strength.

Gorn

But Kirk has some advantages, too. He is much faster. Though the Gorn is intelligent, Kirk is more intelligent. Kirk manages to make gunpowder out of the asteroid’s minerals. He then builds a simple cannon and is able to wound the Gorn. But he refuses to kill his opponent.

This act of mercy surprises and pleases the Metrons. They decide that perhaps humans are not so bad, after all. They then return both captains to their ships and send the ships out of their territory.

The United Federation of Planets is made up of a number of different races from different star systems. The Federation is basically democratic, and the different peoples in it generally cooperate well. But every once in a while there are sharp differences of opinion over specific issues. One such issue is the admission of Coridan to the Federation. The Coridan System has several underpopulated and unprotected planets. These planets contain a huge supply of valuable Dilithium crystals, the basic mineral substance needed to power starships.

The Enterprise is given the delicate job of transporting the representatives of several different planets to a conference on Coridan admission. In this episode, called “Journey to Babel,” we meet the representatives of several different alien races. The most striking is Sarek the Vulcan, Spock’s father. Sarek and his son have not spoken for years, and that just complicates the problem.

A major source of conflict is Gav, a Tellerite. The Tellerites are generally human in appearance. They are short and heavy. Their pink faces have blunt, pig-like noses. While they are not a bad folk at all, the Tellerites do love to argue just for the sake of argument. This they do in aloud and irritating voice.

A Tellerite

Gav is against Coridan admission. Sarek favors it, and the two quarrel. Later Gav is found stabbed to death. Sarek is the number-one suspect in the killing.

However, there are others aboard the Enterprise. One is Thelev the Andorian. The Andorians are also roughly humanoid in form. But there are some very obvious differences, as well. They have blue skin, a full head of white hair, and two small knobbed antennae high on their foreheads.

Andorians are slim in build and speak softly with a slight lisp. At first glance one might think they are a gentle race, but that impression would be wrong. Actually, they are very strong and fierce fighters. But they do not fight without good reason. They are among the more numerous of the races in the Federation, and they appear in several “Star Trek” episodes.

An Andorian

In this case, however, Thelev turns out not to be an Andorian, after all. He is really an Orion in disguise. The Orions are not Federation members. They are an extremely treacherous people who live mainly by piracy. They have been stealing from Coridan for a long time. They were afraid that if Coridan became a member of the Federation, their profitable and illegal operations would be ended. A spy disguised as an Andorian was sent to the Enterprise to disrupt the possible treaty with Coridan. It was the spy that stabbed Gav.

An Orion ship which has been tracking the Enterprise destroys itself When the plot is discovered, and the spy kills himself.

Chapter 8
Androids, Computers, and Mad Machines

Not all of the menaces faced by the Enterprise are alive. Androids figure prominently in several “Star Trek” episodes. Androids are life-like mechanical figures.

Take, for example, the androids of the planet Exo III. At some point in the distant past, the surface of Exo III became too cold to live on. The inhabitants—called the Old Ones—moved to underground caverns. There they built nearly perfect androids to serve them. Instead of serving them, however, the androids destroyed the Old Ones.

Much later, Dr. Roger Korby, a brilliant biologist, discovers the caverns. Only one of the original androids is left. His name is Ruk, a gaunt, hairless giant who probably resembled the Old Ones. Ruk helps Korby learn the secret of making androids. Korby even builds an android to replace his own body when it is badly frozen.

Ruk

Korby plans to make android duplicates of important members of the Federation and substitute them for the originals. In this way he hopes to take over the galaxy.

The Enterprise finds Korby. Korby captures Kirk and sends an android duplicate back to the ship, but Spock quickly sees through the scheme.

Meanwhile, Kirk is being held prisoner and guarded by Ruk. The captain manages to convince the android that Korby is a threat to his “perfect” way of life. Ruk attacks Korby, but is destroyed.

Then Kirk turns his powers of persuasion on Korby himself. He points out that since taking over an android body, Korby has lost many of his basic human feelings. Korby realizes this is true, and horrified, he kills himself.

There are androids in the episode called “Mudd’s Planet.” These androids are trying to be helpful. But they are trying too hard. They nearly kill you with kindness. The androids had been programmed to serve human beings. However, the race that built them died out. The androids have had nothing to do for 1,743,912 years. Then the planet was discovered by one of Captain Kirk’s old enemies, Harry Mudd, a space-traveling crook.

Mudd sets himself up as king of the planet. The androids are more than happy to serve him. But after a while Mudd realizes that he is less a king than a prisoner. With no one else to serve, the androids won’t let him leave.

So Mudd hatches a plot to kidnap the Enterprise. He hopes to exchange his freedom for an entire starship of humans that the androids can serve. The androids have bigger plans. They wish to use the Enterprise to spread out and help humans all over the galaxy. Mudd is still stuck.

In order to escape these all-too-helpful machines, Mudd even agrees to cooperate with Kirk. As part of their plan, all the humans begin behaving illogically. Even the ever-logical Spock acts strangely. The androids can’t cope with this sort of behavior. They begin to short-circuit. Finally, the crew of the Enterprise is able to escape. Mudd is left behind in the custody of the remaining androids. He is to be released only if he reforms. No one thinks that will be soon.

Like the androids of Mudd’s Planet, Vaal is a bit over-protective. Vaal is a huge computer-like machine that rules the planet Gamma Trianguli VI. Above ground it appears as a carved stone serpent. Its mouth is open and large enough for a person to walk into. Its eyes glow and it hums softly. The real power of Vaal, however, is in its underground machinery.

Who built Vaal, and for what purpose, no one knows anymore. The machine has made life sort of a paradise for the inhabitants of Gamma Trianguli VI. But they are also completely dependent upon the machine. When a landing party from the Enterprise arrives, Vaal turns nasty. The machine does not like anyone interfering with its plans. It tries to pull the ship out of orbit. In order to save the Enterprise, Kirk must destroy Vaal. This he does, though after a considerable struggle.

Without Vaal, the people of Gamma Trianguli VI are on their own, and must develop their own way of life.

The computer-like device which runs the planet Sigma Draconis VI needs a brain to keep operating correctly. So it decides to get the best brain around—Spock’s brain.

A mysterious woman named Kara appears aboard the Enterprise. She puts everyone on the ship to sleep. When they wake up she is gone, and so is Spock’s brain. His body is kept alive, while the Enterprise goes in search of the missing brain. The search is an urgent one, for without a brain the body will die within twenty-four hours.

Kara is found on Sigma Draconis VI. It is a planet with a strange culture. All the males live in a primitive state on its ice-covered surface. All the females live underground. They have an advanced technology but do not understand how it works.

Kirk realizes that Kara and the other females are controlled by a gigantic teaching machine. The machine is called the Great Teacher of All Ancient Knowledge. It was created by ancient scientists now long dead. The Great Teacher can program the females of Sigma Draconis VI to do certain specific tasks. But they do not retain the knowledge for long.

By the time the Enterprise arrives, Spock’s brain has already been wired into the machine. It is intended to help run the machinery for ten thousand years. Spock’s brain cannot be taken from the machinery and safely put back in his own body without knowledge contained in the Great Teacher. Kara cannot and will not help. So McCoy undergoes a treatment by the teaching machine. With the knowledge he has gained, he returns Spock’s brain to its proper place. In the process, the controlling machinery of Sigma Draconis VI is destroyed. The women must now go live on the surface with the men and hopefully develop a more normal civilization.

A computer whose original purpose has been lost or distorted is also the villain of the episode called “For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.” Ages ago the computer was put in control of a hollow asteroid called Yonada. The asteroid was to serve as a “seed ship” by a people whose home, one of the planets of the star Fabrina, was about to be destroyed. Refugees from the destruction were to live inside the asteroid. The asteroid was then to be sent on a journey across space. In ten thousand years it was hoped that the asteroid would reach another solar system which could be inhabited by the descendants of the original builders.

But their journey has taken too long. The people living inside the asteroid have forgotten their mission. They have even forgotten that they are living inside an asteroid. They think that the small, hollow asteroid is the whole world.

During the trip the master computer has malfunctioned. It is no longer acting as a guide to the people of Yonada; it has become a sort of god. It demands that people worship the original Fabrini who built it as “the Creators.” People no longer think of them simply as ancestors. The computer itself is called The Oracle of the People.

Everybody on Yonada is controlled by Instruments of Obedience. These are small devices placed under the skin. Through them the Oracle can inflict pain or death. It also uses them to read the thoughts and actions of the people of Yonada. It can protect itself from outsiders by throwing off bolts of electricity or raising the temperature of a room to the boiling point. The Oracle denounces any attempt to meddle with its machinery as a “sacrilege against the people.” Its punishment is severe and merciless.

Not only has the computer malfunction kept Yonada wandering through space far too long, but it has also set the asteroid spaceship on a collision course with one of the Federation planets. This is where the Enterprise comes in.

After many complications, Spock and Kirk are able to locate the computer’s central controls. Spock figures out what is wrong, puts Yonada back on course, and destroys the Oracle’ s god-like pretensions.

Nomad is another machine that malfunctioned—in human terms you might say it has gone crazy. Nomad is a cylindrical metal object about five feet high. It has several antennae, and moves by floating through the air. In many ways it looks rather primitive. And it is. As far as the Enterprise is concerned, it is part of ancient space history.

Nomad is an early Earth space probe. It was launched in the year 2002. Nomad’s original purpose was to seek out alien life forms. But during it’s journey it was struck by a meteor and severely damaged. At some later date it came in contact with an alien space probe called Tan Ru. The purpose of Tan Ru was to sterilize soil samples. The two probes combined. They used their self-repair systems to produce an entirely new and deadly machine. The combined probes now act as if their mission is to find alien life, and get rid of everything that is not perfect.

By the time Nomad encounters the Enterprise, it has already destroyed several planets. It does considerable damage to the Enterprise until it becomes aware of Kirk’s name. Nomad believes that it has found “the Kirk,” the man who created it in the first place. Actually, the man who built Nomad was named Jackson Roykirk, a brilliant but unstable twenty-first century scientist. When he designed the probe, he built into it a reverence for himself.

To get rid of the deadly hybrid, Kirk points out that he is not Roykirk. Nomad has made a mistake; therefore, it is not perfect and must be destroyed. The machine is persuaded by Kirk’s argument and blows itself up.

Nomad and the other machines described in this chapter so far are dangerous because they are not working as they had been designed to work. The berserker is dangerous because it is doing exactly what it was designed to do. It was designed as a doomsday machine, a gigantic weapon that can destroy entire solar systems.

The berserker is a cone-shaped robot ship, a hundred times the size of an ordinary starship. It breaks up entire planets and converts them into energy to sustain itself. It can follow starships, and disable and destroy them with ease.

Spock describes the thing as “an automated weapon of immense size and power, self-sustaining as long as there are planetary bodies to feed on.” It was built as a weapon by some now-extinct race. Kirk believes that the thing was built mainly as a bluff, that it had never been meant to be used, because it would destroy both sides in any war. But it may have been used, anyway, for its builders are gone, but it is still around.

The berserker wanders into the galaxy and destroys several solar systems for fuel. Then it is attacked by the starship Constellation. It is a battle the berserker wins easily. The Constellation is crippled. Everyone in the crew is killed except the ship’s commander, Commodore Matthew Decker. The Enterprise saves Decker’s life, but he has become obsessed with the idea of destroying the monster ship.

Kirk and Scotty are trapped on the Constellation. When the berserker returns, Decker takes over the Enterprise. He wants to destroy the berserker, but goes about it the wrong way. As a result, the Enterprise itself is nearly destroyed. Spock decides that Decker has become mentally unstable, and he relieves him of command.

Decker then steals a small shuttlecraft and flies directly into the robot ship. He is destroyed, but this gives Kirk an idea. He programs the crippled Constellation to explode inside the berserker. Kirk and Scott are then transported back to the Enterprise just as the Constellation does explode. The plan works, and the doomsday machine is turned off forever.

The crew of the Enterprise from the Star Trek movie.

Two “Star Trek” monsters you have never seen:

A creature that was cut out of the two-port episode "The Menagerie”

One of a group of giant humanoids that attack members of the Enterprise crew in the episode “The Galileo Seven.” On the air they were shown only from the rear.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DANIEL COHEN is the author of many books for both young readers and adults, and he is a former managing editor of Science Digest magazine. His titles include Supermonsters, The Greatest Monsters in the World, The Magic Art of Foreseeing the Future, Real Ghosts, Creatures from UFO’s and The World’s Most Famous Ghosts, all of which are available’ in Archway Paperback editions.

Mr. Cohen was born in Chicago and has a degree in journalism from the University of Illinois. He appears frequently on radio and television and has lectured at colleges and universities throughout the country. He lives with his wife, young daughter, two dogs and three cats in Port Jervis, New York.

Table of Contents

- Cover
- Back Cover
- Introduction
- Title Page
- Chapter 1: The “Star Trek” Universe
- Chapter 2: The Shape Shifters
- Chapter 3: The Mind Benders
- Chapter 4: Ancient Races
- Chapter 5: Energy Creatures
- Chapter 6: Dangerous Animals
- Chapter 7: Alien Places

- Chapter 8: Androids, Computers, and Mad Machines

- About the Author