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COMIC
Haunted Honeymoon
Cover by Mike O'Connell
Attribution

Summary

Enterprise ensigns Konom and Nancy Bryce have been married by Captain Kirk, with many other crew members in attendance. Sulu catches the bridal bouquet, much to M'Ress' fascination when Chekov tells her about the "Russian tradition" of the bouquet's significance. Sulu walks away to escape M'Ress' flirtation, and Chekov explains to her that his friend is "inscrutable". Elizabeth Sherwood demands to know why William Bearclaw doesn't seem happy, to which Kirk interjects that he's probably afraid of being court-martialled for stowing away on a shuttlecraft. Kirk tells them he will not court-martial Bearclaw, but that his transfer request for him has been approved. Bearclaw refuses Sherwood's offer to speak to Kirk for him.

Both Bearclaw and Dr. McCoy notice that Castille looks unwell. Castille refuses McCoy's suggestion to go to Sickbay, tellling him Mentites never get sick and asking that the heat on the ship be turned down as he wanders off. Meanwhile, Konom and Bryce prepare to enjoy their honeymoon night in Konom's cabin.

The Enterprise rendezvous with the medical transport ship Weinstein and picks up a supply of serum needed by plague victims on planet Chapin One. In his medical log, McCoy expresses concern over his discovery that Mentites indeed do not get sick, meaning that he will not know how to treat Castille if something is wrong with him. In his cabin, Castille tries to distract himself by reading Dante's Inferno, but is ultimately forced to rest. He feels as though his own mind is closed to him, despite his strong telepathic abilities.

Meeting with Spock, Sulu and Scotty, Kirk suddenly perceives them as cartoon animals. The phenomenon ceases after a few moments, but Kirk excuses himself and leaves after startling his fellow officers by asking whether Spock is a penguin.

In a turbolift, M'Ress asks Sulu why he is avoiding her. Sulu says their encounter at Konom's bachelor party should never have happened, asking rhetorically when she last saw a successful interspecies relationship before being embarrassed by the obviousness of the answer. M'Ress asks why they need to have a relationship when they can "just fool around". She seems to be about to kiss him when they are interrupted by the red alert alarm.

Sulu and M'Ress arrive on the bridge to find that a gigantic spaceship has appeared out of nowhere in front of the Enterprise. M'Ress tries a sensor scan but gets nothing, while Uhura gets no response to any hailing frequency. Spock repeats the sensor scan, also with no result. The ship fires upon the Enterprise, which experiences no impact. When the Enterprise fires back, its phaser beams pass through the ship as though it is not there. In his cabin, Castille tosses and turns feverishly, muttering in his own language. The giant spaceship vanishes. Kirk cancels the red alert. Spock expresses the opinion that the Enterprise crew has been "had".

As the red alert siren cuts off, Bryce asks Konom whether he heard something. He says he did not. Castille walks past Konom's cabin and then past two crewmembers, one of whom sees the other's face melting. He passes another crewman standing in front of a door which begins to swallow him. Castille continues down the corridor without hearing the crewman's cries for help as he disappears into the door, which burps. Castille enters a turbolift; a crewman who calls after him to hold the lift sees a glowing three-headed dog burst out of the lift shaft, and runs away in terror.

On the bridge Chekov receives a report of the dog apparition, as well as reports from all over the ship of monsters, animated furniture and other phenomena. Kirk orders a full security alert. Security teams led by Hazzard and Appel fan out across the ship. McCoy suggests that the teams find Castille, since, as a projecting telepath, he could be causing the phenomena.

Castille wanders by the entrance to Engineering as Scotty contacts Kirk to ask what is going on. Suddenly Engineering is filled with glowing, shapeless monsters which begin consuming energy from the power sources. Scotty reports that he has to shut down the systems. Kirk asks him to wait, but a moment later the bridge is plunged into darkness.

The security squads enter Engineering, where Scotty's people are floating through the air in the grip of the creatures. Setting their phaser rifles on stun, the security officers fire into the creature, but one of them hits Scotty. Kirk makes a log entry expressing the opinion that the creatures are illusionary, but the security personnel continue floating through Engineering, firing at nothing. Their blasts hit crucial systems, hampering efforts to bring power back up.

A security officer notices Castille entering the botanical gardens. Reporting Castille's location to the bridge, he follows him inside, calling after him that he has orders to arrest him. Castille, unhearing, crouches down on the ground and begins to scream, images of the chaos throughout the ship flooding his mind.

On the bridge, Spock collapses. As Kirk asks him what is wrong, the bridge officers hear a mind-splitting scream echoing through the ship. Sulu can now get no response from the lower decks. Spock, recovering, expresses the opinion that Castille has unleashed a psychic blast, incapacitating the crew. The bridge officers were least affected because of the distance between the bridge and the botanical section. Kirk says they must go down and find Castille. As the lights come back on, the bridge crew find themselves standing before an iron gate, above which is an inscription: "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here"...

References

Characters

James T. Kirk • Spock • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Nyota Uhura • Hikaru Sulu • Pavel Chekov • Konom • Nancy Bryce • Kobry • M'Ress • Elizabeth Sherwood • Bearclaw • Castille • Arex • Hazzard • Sterno • Appel • Bloemker

Starships and vehicles

USS Weinstein

Planets and planetoids

Chapin One

Comments

• Depending on the theory of stardates to which one subscribes, this story's stardate of 9000.0 may or may not imply that Konom and Bryce are married on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.
• Chekov's comment that Sulu is "inscrutable" echoes the closing exchange between Kirk and Sulu in Walter Koenig's script for TAS episode: "The Infinite Vulcan".
• The medical supply ship Weinstein is presumably named for Star Trek author Howard Weinstein.
• Kirk briefly sees Spock, Sulu and Scotty transformed into characters from the comic strip "Bloom County".
• M'Ress is incorrectly depicted as wearing uniform boots, which she does not need because her feet are padded. (TOS comic: "Who's Who in Star Trek" #2)