A Triangle of peril: an alien beast—McCoy's daughter—and the Enterprise! — "Furlough to Fury" was a Star Trek comic book story published by Gold Key Comics in 1976, the 40th issue of their TOS series. It was the second story drawn by Alden McWilliams and the 12th written by Arnold Drake.
In this story, Leonard McCoy reunited with his estranged daughter Barbara McCoy during a layover on Earth in 2266.
Description[]
- A near disaster in space brings the crew of the starship Enterprise an unexpected boon — a triple-R: rest, recreation and repair. But what awaits them is less a holiday than a horror-day!
Summary[]
- Captain's log, stardate 19:25.9.
- Instruments indicate a giant cosmic storm approaching. Cannot escape it. Only hope is to minimize casualties and damages! The plan is to reduce the impact of the crash by not opposing the mammoth force.
Energy waves from the storm penetrated shields and cracked the forward secondary hull. Afterward, Spock led a repair crew outside, driving a mobile laser welder to seal a fissure and secure the ship to travel to the nearest repair base, which was on Earth's moon.
Leonard McCoy invited James T. Kirk to accompany him to visit his daughter, an assistant professor at Urey University. After they'd eaten lunch, Barbara McCoy showed them a massive bearlike vrell. Mature vrell relay thoughts telepathically. As Kirk walked with Barbara, she heard Kirk think about asking her on a date, and he heard a thought from her that she already had a date.
- Captain's personal log.
- Dr. McCoy's daughter did accept my theatre invitation! It was while we were enjoying the Xanathian comedy, "Bride of Three Worlds", that the trouble began with the giant vrell!
At the university ampitheatre, sadistic guard Spencer whipped the vrell. The vrell lashed back, swiped Spencer's narco-dart gun and broke free. Fellow guard Clagg retreated and called for reinforcements as the other guard was crushed. Barbara McCoy was paged at the theater.
Meanwhile, Scott shared drinks with his friend Jigo at the Engineer's Club. They caught sight of Red Garvin, a former Enterprise crewman. On the planet Orthoo, Garvin had been suspected of stealing a sacred ruby, and Kirk had kicked him off the ship. Scott overheard Garvin plotting to sabotage the Enterprise, but Garvin caught Scott and knocked him unconscious before he could take action.
At Galileo Tower, the vrell was being fired on by armed hovercraft. Barbara climbed up the tower to calm the vrell. It recognized her. She reached out anxiously, but too far, and fell over the stairs. The vrell leaped and caught her, then carried her to Kirk with a final, mortal effort. Before it died, it relayed a telepathic message to Kirk from Scott.
On the Enterprise, Garvin and two accomplices sneaked into his old cabin. He retrieved the stolen ruby, which had been hidden behind a ventilation grid, and planted a bomb. As the criminals disembarked, however, Kirk and Leonard McCoy arrived. The officers were able to capture Garvin and his two accomplices, recover the ruby, and disable the bomb.
References[]
Characters[]
- Clagg • Red Garvin • Jigo • Jobo • James T. Kirk • Loi • Barbara McCoy • Mitchum • Montgomery Scott • Spencer • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Yo • Zari • unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel (repair crew)
- Referenced only
- Norris • Robby Scott
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Sol system • Earth • Luna (Luna repair base)
- Referenced only
- Alpha Centauri • Glasgow • Mercury • Orthoo
Races and cultures[]
- Alphaurian • Human • Orthoo • Vulcan • Xanathian
States and organizations[]
Ranks and titles[]
- assistant professor • captain • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commanding officer • doctor • engineer • first officer • helmsman • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • medical practitioner • professor • science officer • weapons officer
Science and technology[]
- animal • antimatter • antimatter physics • bone • cosmic storm • dart gun • dimension • energy • inch • ion • laser welder • narco-dart • narco-dart gun • neuro-verity test • phaser • physics • radio energy • repair base • rocket • sensor • sonar • speedwalk • star system • thrust engine • volcano • X terrestrial animal research
Other references[]
- ampitheatre • ant • beverage • "Bride of Three Worlds" • bridge • coconut • credit • Engineer's Club • Great Eye of Ara • holiday • hull • iron • knife • milk • moon • Murvonian coconut punch • music • opera • paradise • punch • ruby • Rykunian octopus • seafood • Solithian asparagus • steak • technology • telepathy • vrell • year
Chronology[]
- 2265
- The USS Enterprise visited the planet Orthoo. The Great Eye of Ara ruby was stolen while under guard. Red Garvin was suspected, and James T. Kirk kicked him off the ship.
- Stardate 1925.9
- The USS Enterprise was damaged by a cosmic storm in or near the Sol system.
- Sometime after stardate 1925.9
- The USS Enterprise docked at the Luna repair base for repairs.
Appendices[]
Related stories[]
- TOS comic: "World Beneath the Waves" – Barbara McCoy returned three issues later, keeping a promise to do her offworld university studies with an assignment aboard the Enterprise.
- TOS comic: "All the Infinite Ways" – Leonard McCoy reunited with his daughter Joanna McCoy on the planet Hephaestus in 2274.
- Untold Voyages comic: "Past Imperfect" – Relative to All The Infinite Ways, a much different look at Leonard McCoy’s reunion with daughter Joanna in 2275.
Background[]
- This story has been released six times in English. It has also been translated into Dutch, German and Italian.
- Written in 1976, this was the third time a Star Trek comic book story had been set on Earth in the 23rd century. It was implied that "The Trial of Captain Kirk" (#24) took place in San Francisco, although the location wasn't named. The previous story, "Prophet of Peace" (#39), was also set on 23rd century Earth. "A Bomb in Time" (#36) took place in southern California, but in 1855 and 1955. Written in 1978, TOS comic: "No Time Like the Past" (#56) would be set in 218 BC.
- Urey University was probably named after Harold Clayton Urey. Urey won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering deuterium. He was also known for the Miller-Urey experiment, a test that researched the origins of life on Earth. In the test, when early Earth atmospheric gases were subjected to early planetary conditions, the gases formed complex amino acids, building blocks for life.
- Urey University’s location was not specified, but it seemed to be in North America. All of the local signage was in English.
- After being damaged by the cosmic storm, the Enterprise traveled slowly for at least two days. "With each day, the moon looms larger" sounded like a long, slow trip in the Sol system.
- The bridge was exposed to "radio waves" and perhaps sigma rays (exposing skeletons within Kirk and Sulu), so the cosmic storm must have significantly overloaded the shields.
- Written in 1976, the Luna repair base was established prior to the introduction of the San Francisco Fleet Yards and Earth Spacedock seen in TOS movies: The Motion Picture, The Search for Spock.
- Some outdated tech was seen in the story. A "sonar" scan was used to assess hull damage after the storm. A laser welder sealed hull fissures.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| Published Order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: #39: Prophet of Peace |
TOS comics (Gold Key) | Next comic: #41: The Evictors |
| Previous story: Prophet of Peace |
Stories by: Arnold Drake |
Next story: The Evictors |
| Chronological Order | ||
| Previous adventure: Escape from the Clinging Dags |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: The World Beneath the Waves |
| Previous comic: Escape from the Clinging Dags |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Two | Next comic: The World Beneath the Waves |
Production history[]
- September 1976
- First published by Gold Key Comics
- 1978
- Printed in hardcover in Star Trek Annual 1979 (World Distributors Limited)
- 1985
- Printed in hardcover in Star Trek Annual 1986 (World Distributors Limited)
- June 2004
- Printed in the omnibus The Key Collection, Volume 5 (Checker Book Publishing Group)
- September 2008
- Included on The Complete Comic Book Collection DVD (Graphic Imaging Technologies)
- 16 August 2018
- Printed in Graphic Novel Collection #43 (Eaglemoss)
Translations[]
- 1977
- Dutch: As "Verlof met verwikkelingen" in the omnibus Ruimteschip Enterprise Classics Strip-Paperback #1 (De Vrijbuiter)
- 1978
- German: As "Urlaub der Alpträume" in the omnibus Raumschiff Enterprise Comic Taschenbuch #1 (Condor)
- 2007
- Italian: As "Licenza alla collera" in the omnibus The Gold Key Collection, Volume 10 (Free Books)
External links[]
- Furlough to Fury article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Furlough to Fury article at Curt Danhauser's Guide to the Gold Key Star Trek Comics.
- Furlough to Fury article at Siskoid's Blog of Geekery.