Vulcan!

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

Vulcan! is a Bantam TOS novel, written by Kathleen Sky, first published in September 1978.

Summary[]

From the book cover (1978 publication): A universe where a series of freak ion storms has changed the boundaries of space…where Arachne IV, inhabited by a strange race, may be lost forever to the Federation…where Spock is sent on a death-defying assignment into a war of ant-types along with a brilliant, beautiful, bigoted scientist who hates Vulcans!

Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew of the Starship Enterprise daringly journey on another thrilling mission toward the perils of unknown worlds.

From the book cover (1998 reprint): CAPTAIN'S LOG, 6454.4

Due to a series of freak ion storms, the Neutral Zone separating the Federation from the Romulan Empire will soon shift – and the planet Arachnae will fall entirely within Romulan space. Our mission: seek out intelligent life there and, if it exists, offer full Federation protection.

To help us complete the necessary surveys, Dr. Katalya Tremain was assigned to the USS Enterprise. She is the Federation's foremost expert on the exobiology of this region – and, as I have just discovered, has a fanatical hatred of any and all things Vulcan… including my first officer.

I have logged an official protest with Starfleet Command. Her behavior towards Mr. Spock is not only a disgrace to both her uniform and the Federation but also threatens the success of our mission…a threat we cannot afford when the fate of an entire civilization may rest upon our actions in the coming hours.

From the Star Trek Adventures reprint: Dr. Katalya Tremaine is a brilliant scientist, but behind her logical facade lies an irrational loathing: she hates Vulcans. So when she is paired with Spock on a mission to the planet Arachne, she deducts that the planet isn't big enough for both of them. It is a tense situation, made worse when the other members of the team are killed by insectoid natives. Spock and Tremaine are stranded alone on the planet – and utterly dependent on each other for survival.

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Background information[]

The book includes an introduction by writer David Gerrold dated 1 February 1978 that recounts his years of friendship with author Kathleen Sky and her then-husband Stephen Goldin
Vulcan! was based on a script outline Sky submitted for what would have been the fourth season of Star Trek: The Original Series. Although Sky's outline was approved by Gene Roddenberry, the show's cancellation put paid to further development. When Bantam Books approached Sky to develop a novel for their Star Trek line, she decided to adapt the outline's concept. (Voyages of Imagination, p. 19)

Cover gallery[]

Characters[]

Canon characters listed below are linked to the main article about them. Non-canon characters are not linked, but those that recurred, appearing or being mentioned in more than one story, are defined further in Bantam TOS characters.
James T. Kirk
Spock
Katalya Tremain: A Federation exobiologist with a deep hatred of Vulcans
Commodore Stone

References[]

Neutral Zone

External link[]

Vulcan! at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works

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