Scaean Gate

Scaean Gate is a Star Trek: The Original Series manga story from the 2007 anthology ‘’Kakan ni Shinkou,’’ published by TokyoPop, written by novelist Diane Duane and drawn by Don Hudson and Steve Buccellato. In this story, to end interplanetary war, one world’s queen emigrated to the other world amid political intrigue and threat of attack by a mysterious insectoid race.

Publisher’s Information

 * From the back of the anthology Kakan ni Shinkou
 * ’’…an alien delegation uses the ’’Enterprise’’ as a vessel of deception!’’

Summary

 * Captain's Log, Stardate 4556.7.
 * At the Academy, Professor Maher always said that any starship mission that wasn’t driven by pure science was probably driven by economics. Our current mission now seems to prove his point. The need for trade has led the warring planets Elethia and Alsand to strike a delicate partnership. The Alsandit royal line has ended and they have asked to be ruled by the Elethian monarch. However, she must live on Alsand for the peace to work. The Enterprise has been ordered to transport the Elethian monarch from her homeworld to her new seat of government; a short distance, but one fraught with potential dangers. Beyond the hostile factions within these two worlds, rumors speak of other perils: Pirates. Scavengers. And a mysterious, and apparently vicious, insectoid alien race known only as the Harst. All of this has soured my mood in regard to our diplomatic assignment. But the dread I feel for the difficulty of this mission is overshadowed by one thing more intrinsically unpleasant to me… the inevitable diplomatic reception.

In the rec room, Kirk, Spock and McCoy introduced themselves to Queen Apathei, who took an immediate liking to McCoy. Her playful pet thirsk, a small, reptillian-looking animal, jumped on McCoy, then ran off.

Before the Enterprise left the Elethian system, three unknown vessels appeared at a distance. Built from modular components available on many worlds, they couldn’t be identified, but they had strong shielding.

During a ship’s tour, McCoy brought Apathei to Engineering, where the pet thirsk grabbed an equivocator module, then ran off again. The three alien ships attacked. Chekov was able to destroy one with phasers and torpedoes, prompting the remaining ships to withdraw.


 * Captain's Personal Log…’’’
 * The Enterprise is a little more than two days out from the planet Alsand. In a matter of hours, a vessel from Alsand will be meetings to escort us the rest of the way. Since yesterday’s attack, we have been running at yellow alert, as I expect another, similar test of our capabilities. At least our unknown assailants will have been left in no doubt of our will and ability to defend ourselves. But the word ”test” keeps coming back to haunt me. Were we attacked because that was about when such an attack should have occurred — the time when a prudent command would have expected it? Did our attackers expend no more force than necessary to fulfill our expectations? Were we meant to beat them off as easily as we did… so that we’d assume there would be no further attempts? If that was the purpose, it hasn’t worked.

Scotty brought the thirsk back to Apathei, as it had been in the food processing machinery after spending hours in Engineering. McCoy told her about Helen, a ruler brought to Troy for political reasons, and while no enemy had penetrated the scaean gate of the city’s high walls, the people were afraid.

Kirk suspected another attack. Spock said the attackers were unlikely to be Harst as they’d had little contact with humanoid species, whereas the attacking ships were made of humanoid-manufactured components. Captain Tyren of Alsand arrived for the scheduled rendezvous, reporting his ship had been attacked twice by Harst en route. Beaming over, Apathei approved of the ship as her thirsk again ran off.

Both ships were suddenly under attack by at least seven of the modular alien ships. Apathei ran after her thirsk to save it, and McCoy ran after her to bring her to safety. Finding and scanning her thirsk, then sending Spock the readings, Spock determined the creature to be an organic machine programmed to gather detailed technical information. Kirk wondered who the data was meant for — was it a faction on Elethia opposed to the planetary union? Confronting her, McCoy learned that Apathei was betraying the will of the majority of her people, collecting all that data to be used for leverage. McCoy accused her of making the Enterprise facilitators of her plot, proverbially letting her right through the Troyian gate.

Kirk beamed the thirsk to one of the alien ships, where Spock used it to positively identify the attacking ships as Alsandit. Confronting both Captain Tyren and Queen Apathei of their conspiracy, Apathei claimed immunity as a head of state. Kirk pointed out that, if he publicized their actions, trade with both their worlds would end, as nobody would trust them. He also suggested the Harst might not appreciate their activity. Kirk suggested that Apathei do as both worlds wanted: be their queen. As Apathei beamed back to the Alsand ship, she asked McCoy if he’d ever forgive her.

Characters

 * James T. Kirk • Spock • Leonard McCoy • Nyota Uhura • Montgomery Scott • Hikaru Sulu • Pavel Chekov • Apathei • Miril • Wilkins • Achara • TyrenFmekev • Dohlman of Elas • Harst

Starships and vehicles

 * USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Locations

 * Elethia • Alsand

Races and cultures

 * Human • Elethian • Alsandit

States and organizations

 * Alsandit royal line • Elethia Control

Science and technology

 * thirsk • equivocator • phasers • photon torpedoes • energy output readings • shields • gravity field • bioconstruct • organic machine

Ranks and titles

 * queen

Other References

 * vinesweet • Starfleet • Tribbles • Pon farr

Related stories

 * - Kirk recalled another time he ferried a monarch between worlds.


 * – Scotty recalled there was “trouble” the last time critters got into the food machinery.

Information

 * This story took place after the events of, , and , which were referenced explicitly or implicitly in the story.