The Business, As Usual, During Altercations was a short story featuring Harry Mudd. It was written by J.A. Lawrence as part of the Mudd's Angels TOS episode novelization collection in 1978.
Description[]
- Captain's log, stardate 6276.6.
- Responding to a top priority message from Starfleet Command three days ago, the Enterprise began a systematic investigation of all dilithium-producing planets to determine why scheduled deliveries to Starbase fueling depots were not being made. The answer: a new consortium of companies has been outbidding not only Federation but Romulan and Klingon representatives as well for the precious crystals, resulting in a virtual paralysis of the galactic economy. The madness behind this method is obvious: a monopoly on the most valuable fuel source in the universe guarantees unlimited wealth and power.
- And the man behind this madness? None other than our old friend — Harry Mudd.
Summary[]
Log entries[]
- Captain's log, stardate 6273.6.
- Top priority message from Star Fleet Command reporting abnormal shortfall in deliveries of dilithium crystals to starbase fueling depots. All Class 1 Starships abort non-emergency missions and investigate. Possible Condition Red. Accordingly, I have canceled the expedition to the Aldebaran Sector and we are heading for the planet Muldoon, the nearest dilithium source to our present position.
References[]
Characters[]
- Al • Alice 47 • Andree • Aruhu 7 • Aruhu 38 • Blunt • Pavel Chekov • Clarence • Daniel (android) • Joe (Akladian) • James T. Kirk • Laro • J.A. Lawrence (Integrator) • Louise (android) • Marilyn 47 • Leonard McCoy • Mike (miner) • Harry Mudd • Stella Mudd • Stella Mudd's mother • Perry (android) • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Spxyx • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Weinberg
- Referenced only
- Amanda • Antonio • Blather • Drashevin • God • Jenghis Khan • Shere Khan • Merman • Sarek • Shylock • Solomon • Tamerlane • Togluk Temur
Starships and vehicles[]
- aircar • USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • freighters • one-man pod • scout ship • shuttlecraft
- Mudd's fleet
- Dark Stella • Evening Stella • Interstella • Stella Sapphrite • Superstella
Locations[]
- Akladi • Coridan system • Galactic barrier • the galaxy • Klingon Neutral Zone • Kuban • Large Magellanic Cloud • Liticia (Mudd Mahal) • Muldoon • NGC 104 • Sarai • Sector 27-F • Sector 29-G • Small Magellanic Cloud • Starbase 7 • Starbase 152 • Starfleet Headquarters • Stella Mudd's planet • Tucana constellation • unnamed planets
- Referenced only
- Aldebaran Sector • Alpha Aldiss • Andromeda Galaxy • Earth (Europe • Herat • Ispahan • Iakander • Taj Mahal • Tana River • Venice) • Hell • N'cai • Sector 78
Races and cultures[]
- Akladian • android • Coridan • Human • Vulcan
- Referenced only
- Human (Greek • Mameluk • Russian • Tartar) • Klingon • Organian • Regulan • Romulan
States and organizations[]
- Council of the United Federation of Planets • Federation Diplomatic Corps • Independent Government of Liticia • Klingon Empire • Klingon-Romulan League • Romulan Empire • Scientific Advisory Board • Starfleet • Starfleet Command • Star Fleet’s Legal Department • Supreme Court of the Government of Liticia • United Federation of Planets
- Mudd's firms
- British East India Company • Galactic Trading Corporation • The Governors and Company of the Merchants of the Levant • The Great Western Railway Company • The Muscovy Trading Company • South Sea Bubble Company • Vocational Training Institute • Yukon Fur Trading Company
Science and classification[]
- actinabulator • android • arrow • Aruhu series • chronometer • communications • communicator • coordinates • deflector shield • dilithium cracking station • Dirac beep • hypnosis • hypospray • laboratory • library computer • life support • Marilyn series • medical tricorder • phaser • psychotricorder • quadrant • radio • robot • sector • shotgun • soporific • star map • Stella series • subspace communication • terraforming • tractor beam • tranquilizer • transporter • tricorder • turbolift • universal translator
Foods and beverages[]
- alcohol • butter • cake • canapé • chicken • Chicken à la King • clam • fish • fruit • jelly bean • meat • Meritan burgundy • pear • pineapple • pomegranate • potato • sandwich • sherbet • turkey • vegetable • wine
Materials and substances[]
- adrenaline • blood • carpet • chemical • dilithium crystal • fur • ice • leather • marble • mercury • mineral • oxygen • perfume • petroleum • protactinium • velvet • wood • wulframite
Ranks and titles[]
- Assistant Vice Chief of Star Base Supplies • Assistant Vice Commissioner of Inventory Accounts • astrogator • bureaucrat • chief engineer • chief medical officer • Chief of Staff • communications officer • crewman • doctor • duty officer • engineer • engineering officer • ensign • first officer • integrator • judge • lawyer • lieutenant • monarch • navigator • pirate • psychiatrist • psychohistorian • senior officer • traitor • yeoman
Other references[]
- 1504 • androlepsy • animal • antidote • aquarium • Articles of Confederation • atmosphere • auction • beam • billygoat • binary star • bridge • briefing room • brig • cell • church • class 1 starship • Constitution of Liticia • coroborree • day • Drashevin versus the Licensing Board of Shere Khan • ecology • elephant • emotion • energy • engine room • Federation flag • fire • flower • fuel depot • galaxy • ghee • government • honor • horse • income tax • kitchen • leech • lifeform • logic • messroom • minute • standard orbit • Organian Peace Treaty • philosophy • poo-jah • pool • scorpion • security division • Shylock versus Antonio • sickbay • slave • song • soul • space • star • starbase • subspace • Swahili • telepathy • theology • time travel • transporter room • tree • trial • trinary star • vacuum • variable star • virus • voodoo • Vulcan nerve pinch
Appendices[]
Background[]
- Blish and Lawrence intended to weave Mudd's TOS adventures into an expanded novel-length story. Neither could come up with an idea that worked, so Lawrence created this story to fill out the Mudd's Angels collection. (ST reference: Voyages of Imagination)
- Harry Mudd's android lawyer cited two fictional trials as legal precedent, one that took place in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, and one referencing Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book.
- Mudd quoted, "Amid pleasures and palaces though you may roam, be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home," which are first two lines of a song written by John Howard Payne and Henry Rowley Bishop in 1823. (Home! Sweet Home! article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
- The planet Mudd was also shown in the process of being terraformed with arable land and crops in 2269 in TOS - New Visions comic: "The Survival Equation".
- The story referenced a property of subspace communication called the Dirac beep, and cited further reading in Blish's 1973 science fiction novel The Quincunx of Time. The phenomenon also played a part in the short story on which his novel was based, "Beep". (The Quincunx of Time article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
Errata[]
- The large crystalline mass of dilithium that formed in the Small Magellanic Cloud was said to contain antimatter. When a nearby variable star absorbed the mass, the antimatter caused it to explode. However, dilithium does not contain antimatter.
Related stories[]
- As footnoted in the story
- TOS episode: "Journey to Babel" in Star Trek 4 – Sarek and Amanda were cited, but not by name.
- TOS episodes: "The Trouble With Tribbles", "Day of the Dove" in Star Trek 3 and Star Trek 11 – The Organian Peace Treaty was cited, but not by name.
- TOS episodes: "By Any Other Name", "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" in Star Trek 6, Star Trek 8, and Star Trek 10 – the Galactic barrier.
- Other stories
- TOS episodes: "Mudd's Women", "I, Mudd" – Prior Harry Mudd stories in the Mudd's Angels collection
Connections[]
| Media featuring Harry Mudd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episodes | "Mudd's Women" • "I, Mudd" • "Mudd's Passion" • "Choose Your Pain" • "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" • "The Escape Artist" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Novels and collections | Mudd's Angels • Mudd's Enterprise • Mudd in Your Eye • The Light Fantastic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Short stories | "The Business, As Usual, During Altercations" • "A Sucker Born" • "Dilithium Is a Girl's Best Friend" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RPGs and Video games | 25th Anniversary • 25th Anniversary (NES) • Starfleet Academy (game) • Through a Glass, Darkly m • Trexels • Star Trek Timelines • Fleet Command | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comics | "Operation Con Game" • "It's a Living" • "Made Out of Mudd" • "The Survival Equation" • Discovery - Succession, Issue 1 m • "Vote Mudd!" (Year Five, Issue 15 • Issue 16) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Return of Mudd | "When You Wish Upon a Star...!" • "Mudd's Magic!" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Return of Harry Mudd | "Mission: Muddled" • "The Sky Above...The Mudd Below" • "Target: Mudd!" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| m : Mirror universe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published Order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: I, Mudd |
Mudd's Angels | Next story: final story |
| Previous story: I, Mudd |
Stories by: J.A. Lawrence |
Next story: final story |
| Chronological Order | ||
| Previous adventure: The Procrustean Petard |
Pocket Books Timeline | Next adventure: The Tears of the Singers |
| Previous adventure: Trekkers |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: The Tears of the Singers |
| Previous story: Mudd's Passion |
The adventures of Harcourt Fenton Mudd | Next story: It's a Living |
External links[]
- The Business, As Usual, During Altercations article at the Orion Press blog.
- The Business, As Usual, During Altercations article at the Bunging a Rock at It blog.