"Haunted Honeymoon" was the 51st issue of DC Comics's 1984 ongoing series of Star Trek comics. The issue consists of a 22-page story written by Peter David. Pencil and ink art was by Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran, respectively, with colors by Michele Wolfman and lettering by Tim Harkins. This issue was edited by Robert Greenberger.
Summary[]
- Captain's log, stardate 9000.0
- Of the many duties I attend to as captain, the one I enjoy the most—and do the least—is perform weddings.
- And when I do, as I have just married Ensigns Konom and Nancy Bryce, it becomes an event for the entire crew.
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 Captain 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, telling 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 quarters.
- Enterprise medical log, stardate 9000.1
- We have rendezvoused as scheduled with the medical transport ship Weinstein…
- The Weinstein has transported over a shipment of serum that is desperately needed for a plague that is ravaging the planet Chapin I. It should be a relatively routine mission…
- … But those are the ones that always seem to go the most wrong. If that sounds as if I'm getting cynical in my old age, I'm not. I was born cynical.
- One additional note. I am concerned about Lieutenant Castille. He is quite correct. Mentites apparently never get ill. Which makes me all the more concerned that, if something is wrong with him, I won't know how to handle it.
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, and 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.
- Captain's log, stardate 9000.2
- Pandemonium has gripped the ship. Bizarre illusions have sprung to life. Security forces have converged on engineering to fight monsters that Mr. Scott claimed were attacking.
- It is my belief that whatever they're encountering isn't really there. But these illusions are so overpowering that they completely convince the victim of their reality. They imagine themselves to be attacked. They "see" each other in the creatures' clutches—and act accordingly. And if there's as much firepower flying around down there as I believe there to be—
- … Then ultimately it won't make any difference what they believe. The phaser blasts will be quite real, and with wild shots they could decommission each other. Power is down all over the ship. Turbolifts are frozen. We're struggling to bring auxiliary power on line, but phaser blasts in engineering may have hit systems controls and monitoring sections. We're riding a blind horse.
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[]
- Appel • Arex • William Bearclaw • Bloemker • Nancy Bryce • Castille • Pavel Chekov • Hazzard • James T. Kirk • Kobry • Konom • Leonard McCoy • M'Ress • Montgomery Scott • Elizabeth Sherwood • Spock • Sterno • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) personnel
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise-A (Enterprise-subclass refit Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • USS Weinstein (medical transport) • unnamed starships (illusory ship)
Locations[]
- Chapin I
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and technology[]
- communication • energy • lifeform • matter • phaser • space • starship • transporter
Ranks and titles[]
- captain • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commander • commanding officer • communications officer • crewman • doctor • engineer • ensign • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s-2350s) • first officer • helmsman • navigator • officer • science officer • second officer • security chief • tactical officer • weapons officer
Other references[]
- captain's log • captain's log, USS Enterprise-A, 2286 • clothing • government • log entry • medical log • medical log, USS Enterprise-A • nation-state • penguin • races and cultures • rank • security • stardate • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2278-2350s) • technology • title • uniform • weapon
Chronology[]
- 2286 (voyages of the USS Enterprise-A)
- Enterprise-A beams supplies from USS Weinstein.
Appendices[]
Background[]
- 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 CountyWP".
- M'Ress is unusually depicted as wearing uniform boots, which she does not need because her feet are padded. (TOS comic: "Who's Who in Star Trek, Issue 2")
Images[]
Connections[]
| previous comic: #50: Marriage of Inconvenience Who Killed Captain Kirk? |
The Original Series (DC Comics, Series One) |
next comic: #52: Hell in a Handbasket Who Killed Captain Kirk? |
|---|
External link[]
- Haunted Honeymoon article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.