"Terminally Yours" is a TOS comic strip written by Gerry Conway in 1983. It is the 18th story in the US Comic Strips series, published in newspapers over a period of 41 days by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. This story took place a few years prior to TOS movie: The Wrath of Khan.
Description[]
Summary[]
- Captain's Log, stardate 9620.
- Yesterday, a thief aboard the Enterprise stole one of our shuttlecraft. The theft remained undetected for hours, because the thief had drugged the duty officer and apparently knew enough about the Enterprise to avoid alerting the rest of the ship. The medical staff has failed to revive the duty officer, so I had Dr. McCoy paged — but he hasn't responded, and the door to his quarters is sealed shut with a new computer code... so I have no choice but to order a privacy override.
Security finds a sealed message disc in McCoy's quarters. In the briefing room, officers listen as McCoy recounts events from twelve days ago, when the ship responded to a distress call from Circe and discovered its 30,000 colonists had died from a virulent plague. While checking a corpse, McCoy accidentally cuts his hand, exposing himself to the virus. He is too embarrassed to report it, but after returning to the ship, he confirms that he is infected. He sterilizes the medical lab and his quarters, then flees the Enterprise in a two-man shuttlecraft. Admiral James T. Kirk and Captain Spock agree that McCoy isn't thinking rationally, since he easily could have been quarantined, so they set out to find McCoy and seek a cure for his disease.
- McCoy's log, stardate 9623.
- It's getting harder to think clearly... the disease I caught on Circe-Six is already well progressed... But I must stay sane... long enough to reach my destination that's the only way... to keep the Enterprise safe... have to... keep them safe...
- Science log, stardate 9630.
- Spock reporting. I have examined samples of Dr. McCoy's infected blood and I have determined the nature of the disease which destroyed the inhabitants of Circe-Two [sic], and may yet cost McCoy his life...
Spock identifies the contagion as the same virus that caused the Red Plague on Vulcan two centuries earlier. Kirk agrees that Spock should proceed to Vulcan aboard a shuttle to retrieve the cure, while the Enterprise continues searching.
- Admiral's log, stardate 9632.1.
- Captain Spock has departed the Enterprise to seek a cure of McCoy's illness on the planet Vulcan...
- Admiral's log, stardate 9633.2.
- Still no sign of Dr McCoy's shuttle...
Kirk thinks McCoy returned to Circe, where he can't harm anyone else. Kirk, Christine Chapel and Montgomery Scott beam down to Circe in environmental suits, leaving Hikaru Sulu in command.
- Science log, stardate 9633.3.
- I saw no need to worry Admiral Kirk with any additional concerns before my departure from the Enterprise, so I have neglected to inform him that there is some small danger involved in attaining the cure for McCoy's contagion. In any case, the probability that I might die in the attempt is only .57808. An acceptable risk. Spock out.
- Science log, stardate 9635.2.
- I have arrived on Vulcan, in desolate out-region known as Kendha-Ya—"the Dead Ocean." It was here, two centuries ago, that the Red Plague killed more than a million of my people—and may today kill Dr. McCoy! Only one thing saved us... the healing nectar of a flowering vegetation known as Shin-Ka-Ti. The question is... after 200 years, do any of these flowers yet remain?
Spock locates a living Shin-Ka-Ti plant, and carefully removes it. But at that moment, an enormous sand worm pops out of the dry ocean sand and threatens him. Spock fires his phaser at its head, and it collapses on top of him, forcing him to shoot his way out of the dead animal.
- Captain's log, stardate 9636.3.
- Commander Sulu reporting for Admiral Kirk; the admiral has spent several hours on Circe-Two, searching for Dr. McCoy, who is dying from a disease known only as the Red Plague. So far, the admiral's found no trace of McCoy, but even if he does find him, there's little we can...
Arriving at Circe, Spock lands near the search party. They have found McCoy, but he is hidden in a building, shooting at them to keep them away. Spock plays a gambit with McCoy, implying that Vulcans are immune to these "human" diseases, distracting the doctor long enough for Chapel to inject him with the antidote. Spock then asks her to inject him too. Vulcans actually are very susceptible to this illness.
- Captain's log, stardate 9637.02.
- In the sickbay aboard the USS Enterprise...
Chapel oversees McCoy and Spock's recovery. Back to normal, McCoy explains how quickly he became paranoid after being exposed. Spock denies acting heroically to save McCoy's life, citing the doctor's value as a Starfleet investment.
Chronology[]
- 2170s
- The Red Plague erupts on Vulcan and kills more than one million Vulcans. ("some two hundred years” prior to the story)
- 13 days prior to stardate 9620
- The Enterprise responds to a distress call on Circe VI and finds 30,000 colonists dead from the Red Plague.
- One day prior to stardate 9620
- McCoy flees the Enterprise in a two-man shuttlecraft.
References[]
Characters[]
- Christine Chapel • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (navigator • security guards)
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Enterprise-subclass refit Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • unnamed Federation shuttlecraft (2 two-man shuttlecraft)
Locations[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and classification[]
- biobed • computer • distress call • drug • environmental suit • hypospray • laboratory • message disc • phaser • quarantine • sensor • tricorder
Occupations and titles[]
Other references[]
- blood • bridge • captain's log, USS Enterprise, 2279 • century • city • colony • conference room • day • death • disease • Federation Starfleet ranks (2278-2350s) • flower • helmet • hour • lifeform • log entry • logic • medical • minute • month • nectar • ocean • paranoia • personal log • plague • quarters • Red Plague • sand worm • Shin-Ka-Ti • sickbay • Starfleet uniform (2278-2350s) • universe • vegetation • virus
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TOS episode: "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" — McCoy contracted xenopolycythemia, a deadly disease, and left the Enterprise, remaining on Yonada.
- TOS comic: "Quarantine" – Chapel contracted a plaque with symptoms of paranoia and fled in a small ship, and like McCoy neither reported it nor took steps to quarantine themselves.
- TAS episode: "The Pirates of Orion" — Spock contracted choriocytosis, deadly to Vulcans.
- TOS comic: "Cura Te Ipsum" – Spock contracted a plague on a planet in the Omicron Persei system, an illness which had devastated the population of the planet. A cure was made from Suja moss, a bioluminescent plant, which Montgomery Scott brought back from distant hills.
Background[]
- Published in 36 strips (over a span of 41 days, skipping Sundays), this was the second shortest story in the series. Only "It's a Living" at 35 strips (over 35 days) was shorter. "Called Home" at 42 strips (over 42 days) and "Getting Real" at 42 strips (over 48 days) tied for third shortest.
- This was the third of five stories written by Gerry Conway, who crafted a period when Admiral Kirk revisited the Enterprise before the events of TOS movie: The Wrath of Khan. After a revolving door of four artists, Dick Kulpa took over the strip, illustrating its final three stories.
- The story’s title was lost to time, so a new one was chosen by Rich Handley for the story's reprinting in The Newspaper Comics, Volume 2. (http://www.hassleinbooks.com/pdfs/TrekComics.pdf)
- Based on the stardates, this story followed shortly after the previous arc, "Goodbye to Spock". Evidence for setting Conway's arcs in 2279 was apparent in the first of his stories, "Send in the Clones".
- The two-man shuttlecraft design was unique to Conway's stories. These ships were also seen in "Goodbye to Spock" and "Getting Real". This particular design may have been an experimental type, per the testbed status of the Enterprise during this period, as described in TOS - Mere Anarchy eBook: The Darkness Drops Again.
- Spock avoided lying to McCoy by implying Vulcans were immune to "human" diseases.
- The unnamed navigator is this story resembled Pavel Chekov. But as he was not identified by name and did not speak with an accent, it’s uncertain whether he was meant to be Chekov. However, Chekov was not in any of the other comic strip stories set in 2279.
Errata[]
- The devastated planet was called Circe VI in the strips for July 8, 11, and 16, 1983. But without explanation beginning with the 7/17/83 strip, it was called Circe II. While implausible, perhaps the system's orbital configuration shifted so much that the sixth planet became the second planet within a few weeks.
- Kirk stated in a log entry that he ordered a "privacy override" to McCoy’s quarters. This seems like he had requested an authorization code from the computer to override the lock. Instead, security guards destroyed the door with phasers.
Images[]
Connections[]
| US Comic Strips stories | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stories | "Called Home" • "Dilithium Dilemma" • "The Real McCoy" • "Double Bluff" • "Aberration on Abaris" • "Husian Gambit" • "Heads of State" • "It's a Living" • "The Savage Within" • "Quarantine" • "Restructuring Is Futile" • "The Wristwatch Plantation" • "The Nogura Regatta" • "A Merchant's Loyalty" • "Taking Shape" • "Send in the Clones" • "Goodbye to Spock" • "Terminally Yours" • "The Retirement of Admiral Kirk" • "Getting Real" | |
| Collections | The Newspaper Comics (1 • 2) • Graphic Novel Collection (15 • 24 • 34) | |
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: #17: Goodbye to Spock |
TOS comics US Comic Strips |
Next comic: #19: The Retirement of Admiral Kirk |
| Previous story: Goodbye to Spock |
Stories by: Gerry Conway |
Next story: The Retirement of Admiral Kirk |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Goodbye to Spock |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: The Retirement of Admiral Kirk |
| Previous comic: Goodbye to Spock |
Continuing voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) | Next comic: The Retirement of Admiral Kirk |
Production history[]
- 4 July 1983 – 13 August 1983
- Published in daily newspapers. (Los Angeles Times Syndicate)
- 1 October 2013
- Collected in The Newspaper Comics, Volume 2. (IDW Publishing)
- 12 April 2018
- Collected in Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 34. (Eaglemoss Collections)
External links[]
- Eighteenth Story Arc article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.