View source for How Much for Just the Planet?

{{novel
| type        = novel
| title       = How Much for Just the Planet?
| cover image = justThe Planet.jpg
| series      = {{sT|The Original Series}}
| number      = 36
| miniseries = [[Star Trek: Worlds Apart]]
| minino = 2
| date        = [[2268]]
| author      = [[John M. Ford]]
| published   = {{srcdate|1987|October}}
| format      = [[paperback]]
| pages       = 253
| ISBN        = {{ISBN|0671629980}}
}}
'''''How Much for Just the Planet?''''' was a ''[[Star Trek]]'' [[novel]] written by [[John M. Ford]].

==Description==
:''[[Dilithium]].''

:''In crystalline form, the most valuable mineral in the [[galaxy]]. It powers the [[Federation]]'s starships...and the [[Klingon Empire]]'s battlecruisers. Now on a small, out-of-the-way planet named [[Direidi]], the greatest fortune in [[dilithium crystal]]s ever seen has been found.''

:''Under the terms of the [[Organian Peace Treaty]], the planet will go to the best side able to develop the planet and its resources. Each side will contest the prize with the prime of its fleet. For the Federation - [[Captain]] [[James T. Kirk]] and the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|Starship ''Enterprise'']]. For the [[Klingon]]s - Captain [[Kaden vestai-Oparai]] and the [[IKS Fire Blossom|''Fire Blossom'']].''

:''Only the [[Diredians]] are writing their own script for the contest - a script that propels the crew of the ''Enterprise'' into their strangest adventure yet!''

==Summary==
{{incomplete}}
===In Space, No One Can Fry an Egg===
The novel opens with three separate instances of breakfasts on board three different starships, each with it's own minor replicator malfunction. On board the Enterprise, Kirk discusses the testing of the new Deployable Practice Target over blue orange juice with Spock, Scotty, and Bones. Elsewhere, on board the Imperial Klingon cruiser Fire Blossom, the captain and his crew are breakfasting on green battertoast when they detect a small vessel. On board the Exploratory Vessel the Jefferson Randolph Smith, the small crew of human Captain Trofimov, bird-like First Officer Tellihu, and Science Officer T'Vau (a rare instance of a sloppy Vulcan) also breakfast over blue orange juice and ponder the dullness of their tour and the possibility that the ship's computer has gone mad when they detect a high amount of Hecht radiation, indicating they've found a large quantity of dilithium.

====Educational Short Subject: Useful Facts about Dilithium====
An educational short subject on the nature of Dilithium from the Deneva Mining Consortium, featuring Dr. Wallace Thaumazein of "Dr. Wally's Kitchen of Wonders".

===The Dilithium Crystal as Big as the Ritz===
====Historical Interlude====
===Organian Jumpball===
===Overtures===
===All's Fair in Love and Dilithium===
===The Dawn Patrol===
===Afternoon Matinee===
===All Through the Night===
===Come Up and See Me Sometime===
===Dilithium Split===

==References==
===Characters===
:[[Aperokei]] • [[Arizhel]] • [[Askade]] • [[Christine Chapel]] • [[Pavel Chekov]] • [[Dee Dee]] • [[Ross Flyter]] • [[Ilen the Magian]] • {{kl|Kaden|hon=vestai|line=Oparai}} • [[James T. Kirk]] • [[Maglus]] • [[Leonard McCoy]] • [[Orvy]] • {{dis|Owens|technician}} • [[Charlotte Sanchez]] • [[Montgomery Scott]] • [[Spock]] • [[Hikaru Sulu]] • [[Tellihu]] • [[Thedd]] • [[Tatyana Trofimov]] • [[T'Vau]] • [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] • [[Esther Vicinanzo]]
{{ref}} [[Ralph Meeker]]

===Starships and vehicles===
:{{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} ({{class|Constitution}} [[heavy cruiser]]) • {{ship|IKS|Fire Blossom}} ({{class|D7C}} [[battle cruiser]]) • {{USS|Jefferson Randolph Smith}} ({{class|Sulek}} [[surveyor]])
{{ref}} {{USS|Dawson City}} ([[mining ship]]) • [[escape pod]] • {{USS|Robert Moses}} ([[planetformer]]) • [[Sopwith Camel]] • [[unnamed Klingon starships#Unnamed B5-class destroyer|unnamed Klingon starships]] (Kaden's {{class|B5}} [[destroyer]]) • [[unnamed Klingon starships#Unnamed light attack cruiser|unnamed Klingon starships]] ([[light attack cruiser]]) • [[unnamed starships]] ([[Tellarite freighter]]s) • [[warship]]

===Locations===
:[[Direidi Hotel]] • [[Miskatonic University]]

====Shipboard areas====
; USS ''Enterprise'' : [[bridge]] • [[officer's mess]]

; IKS ''Fire Blossom'' : [[bridge]] • [[officer's mess]]

; USS ''Smith'' : [[bridge]] • [[officer's mess]]

====Stations and outposts====
:[[Starbase 1]]

====Planets and planetoids====
:[[Direidi]] • [[Earth]]
{{ref}} [[Reynaud II]]

====Stars and systems====
:[[Pi Pharosi]] • [[Sol]]
{{ref}} [[Reynaud]]

====Astronomical regions====
:[[Cygnus-Carina Fringe]] • [[the galaxy]] • [[Organian Treaty Zone]] 

===Races and cultures===
:[[Human]] • [[Klingon]] • [[Vulcan]] • [[Withiki]]
{{ref}} [[Andorian]] • [[Organian]] • [[Romulan]]

===States and organizations===
:[[Black Fleet]] • [[Federation]] • [[Klingon Defense Force]] • [[Klingon Empire]] • [[Starfleet]] ([[Starfleet Command]] • [[Starfleet Exploration Command]] • [[Starfleet Psychological Division]] • [[Starfleet Resources Division]])

===Science and classification===
:[[computer]] • [[deployable practice target]] • [[disposal cubicle]] • [[food synthesizer]] • [[magnetic bottle]] • [[starship]] • [[warp drive]] 

===Substances and energies===
:[[antimatter]] • [[chromium]] • [[dilithium]] • [[Hecht radiation]] • [[liquid]] • [[metal]] • [[oil]] • [[polymer]] • [[rubber]] • [[sugar]] 

===Lifeforms===
:[[lion]] • [[yeast]]

===Food and beverages===
:[[bacon]] • [[battertoast]] • [[birdseed]] • [[butter]] • [[Canadian bacon]] • [[coffee]] • [[cream cheese]] • [[egg]]s • [[English muffin]] • [[fried fish]] • [[fruit juice]] • [[grape]] • [[grape juice]] • [[grapefruit]] • [[grapefruit juice]] • [[grilled cheese]] • [[grits]] • [[ham]] • [[kelp]] • [[kipper]] • [[liver]] • [[mayonnaise]] • [[milk]] • [[milkshake]] • [[mushroom]] • ''[[n'gaan]]'' • [[oatcake]] • [[omelet]] • [[orange juice]] • [[Romulan ale]] • [[sandwich]] • [[soya salad]] • [[soya wafer]] • [[spinach]] • [[steak]] • [[strawberry jam]] ([[strawberry]]) • [[sugar]] • [[syrup]] • [[toast]] • [[vinegar]] • [[waffle cone]] • [[watercress sandwich]] • [[wheat toast]] 

===Ranks and titles===
:[[admiral]] • [[captain]] • [[chief engineer]] • [[chief medical officer]] • [[commander]] • [[commanding officer]] • [[communications officer]] • [[ensign]] • [[first officer]] • [[force leader]] • [[helmsman]] • [[lieutenant]] • [[lieutenant commander]] • [[navigator]] • [[princess]] • [[science officer]] • [[tactical officer]] • [[zan]]

===Other references===
:[[animal]] • [[Art Deco]] • [[astronomy]] • [[beverage]] • [[chess]] • [[cislunar orbit]] • [[credit]] • [[energy]] • [[food]] • [[government]] • [[hull]] • "[[I Got Plenty o' Nothing]]" • [[Klingon language]] (''[[cha'puj]]'' • ''[[Klingonese glossary (G)|g'day't]]'' • ''[[Klingonese glossary (I)|iraltu cha'puj]]'') • [[lifeform]] • ''[[Macmain]]'' • ''[[The Maltese Falcon]]'' • [[moon]] • [[nation-state]] • [[newsfax]] • [[orbit]] • [[photosphere]] • [[Plan C]] • [[planet]] • [[plant]] • [[space]] • [[star]] • [[starbase]] • ''[[Starfleet Institute Proceedings]]'' • [[star system]] • [[technology]] • [[Wars of Internal Dissension]] • [[weapon]] 

==Appendices==
===Background===
* The novel is written in the style of a [[Wikipedia:musical theatre|musical comedy]], with various numbers throughout which are set to the tune of existing songs [http://therinofandor.blogspot.com/p/how-much-for-just-planet-search-for.html], including the "[[Wikipedia:Rawhide (song)|Theme from ''Rawhide'']]," "[[Wikipedia:Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)|Falling in Love Again]]," and "[[Wikipedia:Just a Gigolo (song)|Just a Gigolo]]."
* A number of characters in the book are based on Ford (stage manager), Neil Gaiman (Ilen the Magian) [http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2006/09/ten-years-ago.html], [[Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet]] and her husband, David [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/msg/17cca1f8d6b1d4f5?pli=1], and Ford's fellow ''Star Trek'' authors, including [[A.C. Crispin]], [[Diane Duane]], [[Janet Kagan]] (and her husband, Rick), and [[Peter Morwood]].

===Images===
<gallery>
justThe Planet.jpg
flyter.jpg
kaden.jpg
direidi surface.jpg
</gallery>

===Connections===
{{timeline
| type1 = novel
| series1 = TOS
| format1 = numnov
| before1 = {{small|{{dis|Rihannsu|novels}}, Book 2:}}<br>[[The Romulan Way]]|
| after1 = [[Bloodthirst]]
| prevpocket = [[Spock's Brain]]
| nextpocket = [[Is There In Truth No Beauty?]]
| voyages1 = TOS
| adbefore1 = [[Spock's Brain]]
| adafter1 = [[Is There In Truth No Beauty?]]
}}

======Translations======
;[[1992]] : German : ''Was kostet dieser Planet?'', translated by Andreas Brandhorst. (Heyne)

===External links===
* {{memoryalpha}}
* {{wikipedia}}
[[category:TOS novels]]