"The Wristwatch Plantation" is a Star Trek: The Original Series comic strip. It is the 12th story in the US Comic Strips series, published in daily newspapers over a period of 20 weeks by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. The story was set during Captain Kirk's second five-year mission aboard the refit USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). It was co-written by Larry Niven and features the return of the Kzinti introduced in TAS episode: "The Slaver Weapon". In this epic story, a Kzinti warship attacks the Enterprise with a devastating new weapon.
Description[]
- Omnibus teaser
- Investigating the fate of a Bebebebeque colony on Mimit, the Enterprise faces Kzinti invaders.
Summary[]
- Captain's log: stardate 7731.1.
- Medical and psychiatric personnel, as well as a sociology team, are remaining on Iskonia to help Lyra and her people to adjust to their new lives. Lt. Marsha Latham and her men are recovering from their ordeal in sick bay, as we proceed to the Neumenedes star system for a well-deserved R&R.
Before Kirk can complete a sentence about their upcoming shore leave, Uhura receives a priority message from Starfleet ordering them to divert immediately to Starbase 18.
- Captain's log: stardate 7738.5.
- R&R has been delayed by a priority mission. We are proceeding to the planet Mimit, in the Zeta-Sagittarii system, with V.I.P. passengers — a delegation of high-ranking Bebebebeque. Because of their stature in the Federation, the Enterprise has been temporarily placed under the supervision of Starfleet Colonial Operations. We have been diverted from normal patrol to determine the fate of a Bebebebeque colony established on Mimit approximately 15 Earth years ago.
En route at warp three on a week-long trip to Mimit, the crew and the Bebebebeque encounter difficulty working together, with the diminutive insectoid species darting about in small anti-grav sleds to avoid the (to them) massive humanoids. As McCoy explains, they have "a real fear of being stepped on" and "feel safer at our eye level."
- Captain's log: stardate 7739.1.
- We are en route to the Zeta Sagittarii system with a delegation of Bebebebeque aboard. Our orders are to investigate the fate of their colony, established on the planet Mimit 15 standard years ago. Because of their special needs, and their importance in the Federation, certain areas of the Enterprise have been converted for their use. But despite those efforts, difficulties have arisen among my crew — most notably a fatigue syndrome Dr. McCoy has labeled Bebebebequephobia.
- Captain's log: supplemental.
- A fatigue syndrome, which Dr. McCoy has labeled Bebebebequephobia, is decimating my crew, and I am critically short of personnel to run this ship.
Sickbay overflows with crew freaked out by the Beeks, but Kirk is hesitant to take action. The species is known for being sensitive and taking offense, with the result being losing them as a trading partner. Kirk is ordered "not to offend them in any way." Meanwhile, the Beeks find themselves more comfortable with engineers, offering to build a miniature component for Scotty to improve the signal strength of the transporter and modifying phaser controls in the auxiliary control room.
- Captain's log: supplemental.
- Tensions between my crew and the Bebebebeque continue to escalate everywhere except in Engineering. Starfleet has authorized experimental modifications to the transporter and auxiliary phaser controls, and it is my theory that activity accounts for the lack of hostilities there. However, we are due to arrive at Mimit in one standard week. Lieutenant Commanders Uhura and Sulu are wagering we will not make it without a major incident elsewhere on the ship.
Deciding to consult the Beeks expert that came aboard, Kirk meets with Chief Alienologist Mernat, who is a Ferreth, a race that has been trading with the Beeks longer than the Federation.
- Captain's log: supplemental.
- Only Mr. Spock and I know the real reason for the presence of the Ferreth alienologist, Mernat, aboard the Enterprise. Some of my crew may be involved in smuggling a canister of an illegal drug known as theep onto the ship using the confusion caused by transporting the Bebebebeque to Mimit as a cover.
Fearing tipping off smugglers, Kirk and Spock agree not to alert security about the potential threat, leaving them as the only ones to help Ferreth.
- Captain's log: supplemental.
- Only Mr. Spock and I know the truth about Mernat, the Ferreth alienologist... He is here as an investigator. Some of my crew have smuggled a canister of theep... thiotrichloride ethepeptine... onto the ship. The drug is a hormonal stimulant affecting only Ferreth males, who kill for mating priviliges as Vulcans do. But, more important, if the drug is here, it is a danger to the ship. Theep is an unstable and highly corrosive substance that will quickly eat through any material... including its own container!
Mernat spends much time in the cargo bay looking for patterns indicative of smuggling. His instincts are proven right. Afraid of being detected, Lucy urges her smuggling partner, engineering Ensign Mike Carpenter, to move a theep canister from its hiding place in the cargo bay before the Beeks discover it while taking apart loading machinery.
- Captain's log: supplemental.
- A fist fight has broken out in the enlisted crew mess hall. Up to now, sporadic arguments involving the Beeks and my crew have been averted, and I only hope this incident is not an indication of a new behavioral trend among ship's personnel...
Taking advantage of the distraction, Mike Carpenter and Lucy retrieve the theep canister hidden in the cargo bay. But as they hide it behind a panel in auxiliary control, they are discovered by Pete Conroy. They coax Conroy to partner with them, promising wealth when they arrive at their next port, Cyonis IV, but only tell him about one of their two theep containers.
As Kirk assigns disciplinary action for the brawl to Scott, they are interrupted by a yellow alert. Uhura recognizes an approaching vessel as a Kzinti warship. It has a old-style warp drive and is armed with lasers and particle beam cannons in violation of the Treaty of Sirius.
- Captain's log: stardate 7748.5.
- Everyone aboard the Enterprise is experiencing an intense pain, much like that of a migraine headache. According to Mr. Spock, it is because our minds are being read by a Kzinti telepath…
Spock urges the crew to think of eating raw vegetables, but it isn't enough to stop Telepath aboard the warship Giant Killer from learning all about the starship's mission. Needing to prevent the Enterprise from reaching Mimit, Fth-Captain prepares to fire his ship's new weapon.
- Captain's log: supplemental.
- Despite my full report of the incident with the Kzinti telepath, Starfleet has ordered us to the Bebebebeque colony on Mimit without investigating the purpose of the armed Kzinti warship...
Hamstringer fires at Enterprise.
As Sulu prepares to depart at warp four, the theep canister hidden in auxiliary control starts leaking, causing circuit failures. Scotty and Chief Engineer of the Seventh Nest locate the trouble, but shields won't respond as Giant Killer fires Hamstringer, a beam weapon that shuts down the Enterprise's gravity.
- Captain's log: supplemental.
- The Kzinti weapon has burned out our artificial gravity generators. Without them we are forced to operate the Enterprise while contending with the true weightless condition of outer space. Our malfunctioning deflector shields and phasers, coupled with this new problem, make it necessary for us to retreat from the Kzinti. Our speed is the only effective weapon we have.
Giant Killer's engines are no match for the starship. Fth-Captain urges Flyer to get their speed up to warp 3.8 to pursue as quickly as they can.
- Captain's log: stardate 7749.2.
- Cruising at warp ten, we have accomplished an ignoble but successful retreat from the Kzinti warship, and we are proceeding to the Bebebebeque colony on Mimit. Gravity has been restored to some areas of the ship, and repairs are under way on the malfunctioning phasers and shields. We have also found the cause of those malfunctions... a leaking container of theep hidden in auxiliary control...
- Captain's log: supplemental.
- The Enterprise's artificial gravity generators have been repaired and partial power has been restored to our deflector shields with the help of the Bebebebeque engineers. We are now due to arrive in the Mimit system in a few hours, and I have called a meeting in my quarters to inform the landing party.
Beeks converse
Carpenter finds their other theep canister leaking into Transporter 3's circuit junction. He is confronted by Pete Conroy, and, angered by the sight of a second canister he hadn't been told about, a fight ensues. Mernat had followed Lucy and both saw the fight, but vapors from the theep affect Mernat and he goes into a killing fever. The transporter short-circuits and beams Conroy and Carpenter into space. Lucy is caught by security, McCoy injects a counter-agent into Mernat, and a team spreads foam to stop the Theep from dissolving through the deck.
- Captain's log: stardate 7750.3.
- Due to a transporter malfunction caused by a second leaking container of theep, the landing party, consisting of myself, Lt. Commander Sulu, Lt. Marsha Latham, and the First High Councilor and his Nest, are going down to the surface of Mimit via shuttle. The fate of the Bebebebeque colony, established there 15 years ago, remains a mystery...
Kzinti fighters
The team heads down in a SW7-class shuttle with a warp sled. A ground-based defense squadron of Kzinti fighters launches from the surface. Its flagship, Blood Gnat, attacks the Enterprise with particle beam cannons while their rear guard tackles the shuttle. The shuttle fires phasers in response, but a direct hit sends it spiraling out of control. They manage to separate the shuttle from its warp sled but it plummets and crashes on the surface.
The Beeks are uninjured and try to revive the humans as a large creature starts ripping through the hull to eat them. Fumbling with Lt. Latham's phaser rifle, four Beeks are able to stun the creature. The humans revive and call the ship. Their signal is intercepted by the Kzinti base, which sends out a hunting party to kill them. Mimit Beek colonials, slaves on the base, are ordered to assist, but secretly they alert hidden compatriots who beam over to the shuttle.
- Captain's log: stardate 7752.3.
- The Bebebebeque colonials have warned us that a Kzinti hunting party is on its way here. We are making use of the colony's hidden transporter base to escape...
- Captain's log: stardate 7752.3.
- 15 years previously the Bebebebeque colony on Mimit was nearly destroyed by Ravagers. The Kzinti, coming to Mimit to hunt these animals, saved the colonists, then enslaved them.
Mimit ground base
Now in the colony's hidden transporter base with knowledge about how to defeat the Hamstringer weapon, Kirk relays that information to his ship. Their hidden base is located directly underneath the Kzinti's base, however, and Kzinti trace the signal. But the creature, a Ravager, is part of a large, starving herd of hundreds that has followed the Kzinti hunting party back to their base and starts storming it. The Kzinti are too busy fighting the Ravagers to worry about Kirk's team.
In orbit, Giant Killer arrives and joins the battle, firing its Hamstringer, but this time the Enterprise's shields hold. Spock has to maintain a "full-strength bombardment" to deplete Giant Killer's dilithium crystals, while not losing the Enterprise's shields in the process.
Ravagers invade the Kzinti's base.
Learning that there are Beek slaves on Giant Killer, Kirk conceives a battle strategy. Sulu and Latham locate a Ravager group and get its coordinates. Giant Killer's Beeks prepare to drop shields at the right moment. With the secret transporter, Beeks then beam Ravagers onto Giant Killer's bridge, sending the ship careening out of control.
Unnoticed, Blood Gnat lands at the Mimit base to retrieve Kzinti survivors. Powerless and drifting into deep space, Giant Killer explodes, its surviving crew having beamed to Blood Gnat. Blood Gnat flees to the nearest Free Trader outpost, its crew now exiled from Kzin.
- Captain's log: stardate 7760.5.
- With the Bebebebeque colony now safely transplanted on another uninhabited world, the Enterprise returns to Starfleet Command Headquarters...
References[]
Characters[]
USS Enterprise crew[]
- Mike Carpenter • Pavel Chekov • Pete Conroy • Farnsworth • Gunderson • Thomas Hadley • James T. Kirk • Marsha Latham • Lucy • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Umeki • unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (bridge crew, engineers, enlisted personnel, helmsman)
Kzinti[]
- Arm-of-the-Hamstringer • Flyer • Fth-Captain • Gunner • Telepath • unnamed Kzinti
- Referenced only
- Srith • Patriarch of Kzin
Others[]
- First High Councilor • Chief Engineer of the Seventh Nest • Mernat • Senior Technician of the Seventh Nest
- Referenced only
- William Shakespeare
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Enterprise-subclass refit Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • Blood Gnat (Kzinti fighter) • Death Dagger (Kzinti fighter) • Giant Killer (Kzinti warship) • hovercraft • unnamed Federation shuttlecraft (SW7-class shuttle)
- Referenced only
- bus • police ship
Locations[]
- Zeta Sagittarii system (Mimit • Kzinti ground base)
- Referenced only
- Alpha Parnaculon IV • Argelius II • Beta Lyrae system • Cyonis IV • Earth • Iskonia • Neumenedes system • Rigel III • Saturn • Starbase 18 • Starfleet Command Headquarters • Tynt system (Gamma Velorum)
Races and cultures[]
- Arcturan • Human • Bebebebeque • Ferreth • Free Trader • Kzinti • Ravager • Vulcan • unnamed races and cultures (alien crewman)
States and organizations[]
- Starfleet (Starfleet Academy • Starfleet Colonial Operations • Starfleet Command) • Federation • Mimit Defense Squadron
- Referenced only
- Kzinti Patriarchy • Free Trader outpost
Science and classification[]
- anti-grav sled • artificial gravity generator • Atalskes phaser IV • biobed • cannon • cargo loader • coordinates • deflector shield • first generation warp drive • fuel line • gravity stabilizer • Hamstringer • hand phaser • Hero's Tongue • hydroponics • impulse power • laser bank • laser welder • life support • PADD • particle beam • phaser • phaser bank • phaser rifle • power unit • sensor • stimulant • subspace communication • transporter (matter converter • signal amplifier) • tricorder • universal translator • warp drive • warp sled • water pistol • wrench
Fields of study[]
- agriculture • ecology • life sciences • psychiatry • sociology
Materials and substances[]
- acid • blood • drug • carbon dioxide • chemical • dilithium crystal • element • food • hormone • meat • metal • oxygen • pill • rock • Sargassian wufti juice • theep (thiotrichloride ethepeptine) • vegetable
Lifeforms[]
Ranks and titles[]
- alienologist • captain • communications officer • councilor • crewman • criminal • doctor • engineer • enlisted • ensign • first officer • helmsman • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • medic • operative • Patriarch of Kzin • pirate • slave • smuggler • technician • telepath
Other references[]
- alert status (red alert • security alert • yellow alert) • alien • assignment patch • atmosphere • auxiliary control • beam • Bebebebequephobia • brain • bridge • brig • cargo bay • clan • colony • communication • crew • culture • day • Eleventh Sense • energy • engineering • execution (fire • hanging • orbvcs • torture) • exile • fleet • free fall exercises • free fall • garden level • gravity • headache • hibernation • hotel • hour • landing party • language • life support • lifeform • light • mess hall • migraine • millimeter • minute • Nest • orbit • outpost • parking orbit • quarters • rank • satellite • second • security • shell mark • shore leave • sickbay • slavery • smuggling • space • species • starbase • Starfleet regulations • Starfleet Life Sciences Reference Manual • Starfleet Pharmacology Handbook • Starfleet Spaceflight Manual • Starfleet uniform (early 2270s) • stun • sun • psychic energy • three-dimensional chess • transporter room • Treaty of Sirius • universe • war • warp speed (warp three • warp 3.8 • warp four • warp six • warp ten) • water • year
Chronology[]
- Bebebebeque establish a colony on Mimit.
- Kzinti occupy Mimit, turn colony into a secret outpost and weapons manufacturing facility.
- Kzinti warship Giant Killer launches, armed with ship-mounted Hamstringer weapon.
- Giant Killer attacks the USS Enterprise.
- Mimit colony is destroyed by Ravagers.
- Bebebebeque colonists are resettled on another planet.
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TAS episode: "The Slaver Weapon" – Introduced Larry Niven's Kzinti, exploring the Treaty of Sirius and various Kzinti lore.
- Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever, Issue 1 – The original script to TOS episode: "The City on the Edge of Forever" by Harlan Ellison also featured a rare look at Starfleet crew smuggling drugs for financial profit.
Background[]
- This is the 12th of 13 story arcs set after the events of TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Motion Picture with the crew wearing the early 2270s Starfleet uniform, and the seventh of eight set in 2274. It is the fourth of five comic strip stories written by Sharman DiVono, the only one she co-authored.
- The Kzinti were adapted from Larry Niven's Known Space stories. Likewise, the Bebebebeque were adapted from Larry Niven's Draco Tavern stories.
- Larry Niven described the development of this story, having co-written the story at Sharman DiVono's invitation. The authors worked out the plot together, and then DiVono adapted it to work in the format of a daily comic strip, for which Niven was unfamiliar. The Ferreth and theep were Divono's creations, introduced as a means of creating vulnerabilities for the ship.
- Presented over a 20 week span in 139 daily strips, this story was the longest in the series. It was initially conceived as being longer. According to Niven, overworked artist Ron Harris wanted to quit the strip near the end, but was willing to complete the story, if it would end sooner. The authors preferred not to change artists. A longer, dynamic, epic battle was shortened by DiVono by having Ravagers disable Giant Killer.
- Niven and DiVono considered novelizing the original story or reprinting the strip in book form. According to Niven, they had initially gotten permission from Paramount, but it was revoked after a staff change.
- This story arc was not printed with a title. Larry Niven provided its title in an essay he wrote about the story. ("The Lost Ideas," essay in "Playgrounds of the Mind," Larry Niven, 1991, Tor Books)
- This story began immediately after the previous story, "Restructuring Is Futile". The next story, "The Nogura Regatta", started with a log entry closing out events from this story.
- Recurring original characters: Security officer Umeki appeared in four of Sharman DiVono's comic strip stories. He also appeared in "The Savage Within", "Quarantine", and "Restructuring Is Futile". Security Lt. Marsha Latham also appeared in "Restructuring Is Futile". They were romantically involved. Engineering Ensign Thomas Hadley was featured in "The Savage Within", and reappeared here as a lieutenant.
- James T. Kirk referenced Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 2, when he stated, "the Patriarch doth protest too much, methinks." (The lady doth protest too much, methinks article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
- Kirk also quoted the idiom, "curiosity killed the cat". (Curiosity killed the cat article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
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: #11: Restructuring Is Futile |
TOS comics US Comic Strips |
Next comic: #13: The Nogura Regatta |
| Previous story: The Slaver Weapon |
Stories by: Larry Niven |
Next story: latest story |
| Previous story: Restructuring Is Futile |
Stories by: Sharman DiVono |
Next story: The Nogura Regatta |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Restructuring Is Futile |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: The Nogura Regatta |
Production history[]
- 1 March 1982 – 17 July 1982
- Published in daily newspapers. (Los Angeles Times Syndicate)
- September 2013
- Collected in the omnibus The Newspaper Comics, Volume 2. (IDW Publishing)
- 23 November 2017
- First half (through May 8) collected in the omnibus Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 24. (Eaglemoss Collections)
- 12 April 2018
- Second half collected in the omnibus Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 34. (Eaglemoss Collections)
External links[]
- The Wristwatch Plantation article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- The Wristwatch Plantation article at the Republibot blog.
- The Wristwatch Plantation article at Tor books.