Black Fire is a Star Trek: The Original Series novel by Sonni Cooper, published in 1983, the 8th book in Pocket Books' series of numbered Star Trek novels.
Description[]
- There is sabotage aboard the Enterprise, and Spock's investigation leads him into defiance of the Federation and a bizarre alliance with the Romulan and Klingon Empires against the bloodthirsty Tomarii—a savage race for whom war and battle are life itself.
- Now Spock has been declared a traitor and condemned to the shame of the Federation's highest security prison. And now Captain James Kirk must face the toughest decision of his command, while a lifelong friendship and the destiny of the free universe hang in the balance!
Summary[]
There is sabotage aboard the Enterprise, Captain Kirk is seriously injured and Spock's and Scotty's investigation leads them into defiance of the Federation and a bizarre alliance with the Romulan and Klingon Empires against the bloodthirsty Tomarii - a savage race for whom war and battle are life itself. They, two Klingons, and two Romulans are captured by the Tomarii, and Spock subsequently gets paralyzed by a sliver of metal in his back. Spock and Scotty, the only two surviving members of the capture, get rescued by the Enterprise. Spock is put on trial for treason, and convicted on a technicality.
Now Spock has been declared a traitor and condemned to the shame of the Federation's highest security prison, Minos. He manages to escape with a Romulan named Desus, and joins the pirates on Ceta V. Desus comes up with a cunning plan for the two of them to work together as one pirate known only as "Black Fire". After his exploits are finished, he joins the Romulan Empire to attack Tomarii, but he makes it back to the Federation.
Spock returns to the Federation on the Enterprise where Kirk says that there is something wrong about all of this, and then reaches the conclusion of "You were a plant! By God Spock, you aren't a traitor at all!" Uhura then arives with the news that Spock has been cleared of all charges. The book ends on a humorous note with McCoy asking Spock for his autograph as Black Fire, and Spock instead giving him his earring. "The black jewel gleamed with a strange luminescence on McCoys palm, but it was nothing compared to the gleam in Spock's dark eyes."
References[]
Characters[]
- Astro • Black Fire • Bragg • Bryant • Christine Chapel • Liviana Charvanek • Pavel Chekov • Kingston Clark • Clea • Delus • Desus • Heath Douglas • Lucas Freed • Galicia • Gurt • Yolanda Helman • IIob • IIram • IIsa • Ellen Janest • Julina • Kasus • James T. Kirk • Klee • Alexander Leonidas • Jonah Levine • Linia • Lowry • Tim Macklen • Thorin Martin • Jabilo M'Benga • Leonard McCoy • Melek • Harry Needham • Pierce • Placus • Janice Rand • John Real • Relos • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Iko Tomako • Isabel Tomari • Nyota Uhura • unnamed Andorians (Andorian pirate) • unnamed Starfleet personnel • Cathy White
Starships and vehicles[]
- Equus (pirate cruiser) • IIlan (Tomarii command ship) • Talon (pirate cruiser)
Federation ships[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class) • USS Hood (Constitution-class) • USS Potemkin (Constitution-class) • USS Raven (class AA starship) • USS Republic • USS Sackett (cruiser) • unnamed Federation starships (Starbase 12 cruiser, captured cruiser)
Romulan ships[]
- ChR Bird of Prey (Vas Hatham-class) • ChR Moonhawk • ChR Space Hawk • ChR Sun Falcon
Klingon ships[]
Locations[]
Shipboard locations[]
- bridge • engineering • quarters (Kirk's, Spock's/Leonidas's) • sickbay • transporter room
Stations and outposts[]
- Starbase 12 • Starfleet Correctional and Rehabilitation Center
- Referenced only
- Starbase 3
Planets and planetoids[]
- Referenced only
- Altos • Galor • Lithos II • Relus • Rigel I
Stars and systems[]
- Gamma 400 • Romulan system • Tomariian system (IIlan)
- Referenced only
- Alpha Centauri • Lithos • Rigel • Vega
Astronomical regions[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Klingon Defense Force • Klingon Empire • Romulan Imperial Fleet • Romulan Star Empire • Starfleet • Tomariian Empire • United Federation of Planets
Other references[]
- banana • begum • brandy • chess • cigar • cordrazine • Denite glow-gem • lauric-mono ethanolamide stearic diethanolamine sorbatin triolate • manuil • suicide • Tribidian crystal • trilithium • tri-ox
Appendices[]
Background[]
- New Starfleet uniforms are introduced on the Enterprise.
- Chekov is promoted to Lieutenant.
- This novel depicts the replacement of the TOS era Enterprise bridge module with a new version after a catastrophic explosion. This would place the events at some point before TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Motion Picture, when a new version is in place, and furthermore before the Enterprise was disassembled in TOS - The Lost Years novel: The Lost Years. However, several other sources depict the Enterprise finishing its five-year mission with the original bridge intact, including TNG novel: Crossover which shows the module being put into the Starfleet Museum. Further confusing the chronology of this is the cover image, depicting the refit Enterprise from after The Motion Picture.
- This installment of the Pocket novel series featured cover art by Boris Vallejo, depicting Kirk in his Admiral dress uniform and the refit Enterprise from TMP (rather than the TOS version). The lurid shot of the Enterprise firing on a Klingon ship is not featured in the novel—only one Klingon ship is mentioned, but it is never encountered, and the Romulan ships are mentioned to be non-Klingon designs. For the Heyne-Verlag German translation, the cover art from Web of the Romulans was used instead.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan |
TOS numbered novels | Next novel: Triangle |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: The Fate of the Phoenix |
Next Adventure: The Abode of Life | |
Translations[]
- 1986
- German : Schwarzes Feuer, translated by Hans Maeter. (Heyne)
- 1993
- Italian : Il fuoco nero, translated by Giampiero Roversi. (Armenia Editore)
- 1994
- French : Flamme noire. (Fleuve Noir)
External links[]
- Black Fire (novel) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.