Spock's first mission aboard the Enterprise!—Vulcan's Glory was a novel, 44th in the Pocket TOS series of numbered books. Written by D.C. Fontana, Vulcan's Glory was released in February 1989.
Description
- Here is a very special Star Trek novel—from the woman constantly voted by the fans as their favorite writer from the original Star Trek television series!
- D.C. Fontana, writer of such classic Star Trek episodes as "Journey to Babel" and "This Side of Paradise", here brings us the never-before-told story of a very young Mr. Spock, on his first mission aboard the USS Enterprise. You'll also meet Captain Christopher Pike and his enigmatic first officer "Number One" (previously seen only in the original Star Trek pilot, "The Cage"), as well as the ship's brand new engineering officer, Montgomery Scott.
- Vulcan's Glory is the tale of Spock's struggle to reconcile his many obligations - those forced on him by his Vulcan heritage, and those chosen by him upon his enlistment in Starfleet - to balance the wishes of others against the desires of his own heart.
Summary
At Ka'a Beach on Kauai, Hawaii, Lieutenant Spock walks barefoot and reminisces about the events surrounding his kahs-wan ritual. He has recently been promoted and assigned to the USS Enterprise, but has received two weeks' leave prior to his new assignment, during which he has been ordered to relax by his previous commanding officer, Captain Daniels of the USS Artemis. Spock receives a message from his father, Sarek, ordering him to return to Vulcan.
On Vulcan, Sarek refuses to see his son but communicates through Amanda his disappointment with Spock's management of family properties and of his delayed marriage to his betrothed T'Pring. After coming to an agreement with his father, Spock goes to visit T'Pring, where she expresses her own dissatisfaction with their arrangement. Only after Spock agrees to make a formal announcement of their marriage and pay a bride price to her family for the duration of their "engagement" is T'Pring satisfied (along with her secret lover, Stonn).
Meanwhile, the USS Enterprise prepares to resume its mission after a shore leave over Earth, while Captain Christopher Pike and his first officer Number One discuss their new second officer – Spock. Shortly after his transfer is complete, the Enterprise is ordered to the planet, Areta, to follow up on a previous mission during which Pike masqueraded as an Aretian to promote trading among three isolated populations on the planet, still recovering from a deadly nuclear holocaust. However, soon after launch, the Enterprise is redirected to investigate a new lead in the historical mystery of Vulcan's Glory, a priceless historical emerald that disappeared from Vulcan centuries ago.
When new research determines the course of the Vulcan ship He-shii carrying the Glory, the Enterprise follows it to an uncatalogued world. Pike allows a team of Vulcans to investigate the world where the He-shii might have crashed out of cultural sensitivity regarding the Glory. On the team, Spock and a junior scientist, T'Pris discover the remains of the Vulcan ship, missing an escape pod. Eventually, it is determined that the likely destination of the escape pod was Areta itself and the Enterprise resumes its original mission.
Meanwhile, the newly-transferred junior engineer Montgomery Scott and his roommate Bob Brien, engage in an age-old tradition of brewing engine room "hooch," or moonshine, during the downtime of the graveyard shift. Spock finds himself gradually drawn to T'Pris, in part for her difference from T'Pring and the two grow close as their mission advances. When the Enterprise arrives at Areta, the site of the escape pod's landing is discovered and the Vulcan away team transports down -- and soon discovers the Glory cradled in the arms of a dead Vulcan.
While Pike resumes his mission of promoting trade among the three populations of Aretians, a pair of star-crossed Aretian lovers (from opposing factions) are abducted by the third population (the mutant survivors of the nuclear war). On the Enterprise the ship's geologist, Meadows, seeks authorization to study the Glory, despite Pike's orders to keep it in a security vault. Even as Spock and T'Pris develop a romantic relationship, Meadows forges the captain's signature to obtain the Glory from the vault and takes it to study. Soon after, Spock is called away from T'Pris to learn that Meadows has been murdered and the Glory stolen.
When Spock points out that the method of Meadows' murder could only have been performed by a Vulcan, the few Vulcan crew members are put under investigation, including himself and T'Pris.
On Areta, Pike encounters a familiar tribe of nomads and learns about the abduction of the lovers -- the son of a nomad leader and daughter of a city-dweller leader -- and becomes involved in the search for the two youths. Eventually, it is discovered that the youths were taken by mutants and the fathers become convinced their children are dead. But Pike insists on continuing the search and requests an away team assist him.
On the Enterprise, Number One puts T'Pris in charge of the investigation, which leads the Vulcan woman to search personnel histories for a clue into the possible non-Vulcan suspects. However, before long, T'Pris becomes a victim of the murderer herself and her research is erased.
Spock, Pike, and the other officers discover the location of the mutant settlement and stage a rescue attempt of the lovers, only to discover that they intend to stay with the surprisingly-civilized and docile mutants. However, the mutant leader soon explains his purpose for abducting them: to serve as ambassadors between the mutants and two other populations. When Pike returns with the lovers, they serve to establish trade between the three populations and he realizes his mission is complete. Upon returning to Enterprise, Spock learns his own lover is dead and requests to conduct the investigation himself.
In the end, Spock realizes that the murderer is a human-Vulcan hybrid like himself but one with more human genes than Vulcan, and therefore able to masquerade as a human. The officer is eventually taken into custody, explaining his intentions to avenge his banished Vulcan great-grandmother for injustices received by Vulcan.
References
Characters
USS Enterprise personnel
- Andela • Caitlin Barry • Blayton • Philip Boyce • Bob Brien • Pete Bryce • Ars Dan • Davies • Endel • George Meadows • Number One • Orloff • Oyama • Christopher Pike/Krees • Daniel Reed • Sandson • Montgomery Scott • Sefor • Spahn • Spock/Selek (alias) • Myoki Takahara • T'Pris • unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (transporter chief, shuttlebay chief) • Zacharia
Other characters
- Barden Aliat • Melkor Aliat • Berendel • Andor Clite • Daniels • Durlin • Farnah • Ingarin • Neepah • Panlow • Sarek • T'Sai Amanda Aduna Sarek • Senak • Silene • Sirak • Solen • Stonn • T'Dar • T'Pring • unnamed Vulcans (the healer)
- Referenced only
- Alicia Boyce • Janeese Carlisle • Arthur Conan Doyle • Sherlock Holmes • Sanford Lynch • Edgar Allan Poe • Sadar-es • Senak of Zayus • Sepel • Sidak • Sorrd • Spens • Stepn • T'Clar • T'Dess • T'Lan
.jpg "Amanda Grayson (alternate reality).jpg (63 KB)")
Starships and vehicles
- USS Artemis • USS Enterprise (Constitution-class) • unnamed shuttlecraft (maintenance shuttles, inspection shuttle, passenger shuttle)
- Referenced only
- He-shii • USS Lionheart • USS Musashi • USS Yorktown (Constitution-class)
Starship types
- cutter • cruiser • life shell • shuttlecraft
Locations
Shipboard or stationbound locations
- USS Enterprise
- bridge • briefing room • corridor • engineering • gymnasium • Jefferies tube • quarters (Spock's, Pike's, Scotty's, Reed's) • recreation room • shuttlebay • transporter room (3) • turbolift
Outposts and stations
- Referenced only
- Starbase 13
Planets and planetoids
- Referenced only
- Delta Indus II • Vulcan
Planetary locations and institutions
- Earth
- Hawaii (Ka'a Beach & Lihue, Kauai; Honolulu) • Pacific Ocean • referenced only: California (Carmel; Starfleet Academy, San Francisco; Mojave) • Cape Cod, Massachusetts • Colorado Springs, Colorado • Scotland (Linlithgow, West Lothian)
- Luna
- Armstrong Lunaport
- Vulcan
- Llangon Hills • ShiKahr • In-Yar • referenced only: Keldeen • Lan • Vulcan Science Academy • Zayus
- Areta
- Andasia • Antorin Oasis • Druncara Range • Sendai • Tisirah Oasis
Stars and star systems
- Beta Circinus • Delta Indus • Sol (Sol system) • Vulcan system
Races and cultures
- Referenced only
- Tellarite
States and organizations
Vulcan clans
Science and classification
Technology and weapons
- communicator • dree • food synthesizer • ground car • impulse engine • knife • lance • library computer • message beacon • nuclear weapon • phaser • pressure suit • short-hopper • shuttlecraft • spacedock • space probe • starship • still • subspace radio • sword • targe • transporter • tricorder • turbolift • universal translator • warp engine • warp nacelle
Lifeforms
Animals
- ape • bird • dog • dolphin • fish • insect • le-matya • meercan • ox • reptilian • sehlat (I-Chaya) • ucha
Plants
- barrel cactus • birch • bonsai • candlestick tree • grass • induku • isuke • karanji • kerra • maple • oak • rose
Substances and energies
Radiation
Food and drink
- engine room hooch • fruit • fruit-water • Glenlivet • grape • herb tea • mash • Saurian brandy • saya • Scotch whisky • sweetmeat • tartlet • tea • ucha meat stew • water • whisky • wine
Ranks and titles
- ambassador • cadet • captain • chief • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commander • commanding officer • communications officer • doctor • engineer • ensign • first officer • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • lieutenant junior grade • makleh • navigator • officer • science officer • second officer • security • security chief • shinsei • shuttlebay chief • specialist • superintendant • technician • third officer • transporter chief
Other references
- agriculture • Aretian language • astrobiology • astrophysics • Battle of Deen T'zal • biology • cards • chess • chooka • city • class M planet • cloud • communications • credit • December • diplomacy • DNA • drink • food • game • gemology • genetic engineering • genetic hybrid • geology • government • gravity • holography • kahs-wan • keshel • kilometer • koan • landing party • lan-dovna • lifeform • light-year • literature • logic • marriage • meditation • mineralogy • money • mutant • nakh • nation-state • null-G ball • orbit • philosophy • planet • planetary classification • plant • poetry • poker • pon farr • rank • science • serial number • shore leave • smoking • space • spaceport • star • Starfleet regulations • Starfleet uniform • subspace • tal-shaya • technology • three-dimensional chess • title • uniform • vid • vidrama • Vulcan language (Ancient High Vulcan) • Vulcan lute • Vulcan neck pinch • Vulcan's Glory •
Chronology
- 1443 (Vulcan year)
- The Glory is taken from the house of Kawarda by the clan Archenida at the battle of Deen T'zal.
- 796 AD
- Areta's nuclear holocaust.
- 2215
- Orloff born.
- 2237
- Spock reminisces of his kahs-wan
- 2253
- Spock is transferred to the Enterprise, when that vessel recovers an ancient Vulcan starship and travels to Areta in search of the Glory stone.
Appendices
Related media
Background
- To better present Number One in the novel, author D.C. Fontana discussed the character with actor Majel Barrett. "She told me a little bit about what she thought the background of the character was, how she had been created, and why she was called Number One. Then I thought to myself, 'Now, these two people (Number One and Pike) have a relationship that calls for a great deal of one-on-one interaction. Why not lay in a potential relationship that may or may not have happened by the time we got to "The Cage".' ... Even though she was rather cool and emotionless on the bridge, I never felt that that was the woman underneath. That was just her professional side." (The Official Fan Club Magazine Issue 66: "Where No Man...: Vulcan's Glory")
- Vulcan's Glory was reissued in 2006 as part of the Star Trek 40th Anniversary celebration, along with The Entropy Effect, Federation and Strangers from the Sky.
- This novel contains an early mention of Vulcan's Forge, a concept that would eventually be used in canon episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as many other sources. The Forge was first mentioned in Fontana's script for TAS episode: "Yesteryear".
Images
Connections
Timeline=
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: The Final Nexus |
TOS numbered novels | Next novel: Double, Double |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: Flesh of My Flesh Flashback |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next Adventure: Alien Spotlight: Vulcans |
| Previous Adventure: Chaotic Response Sections 5 & 7 |
Next Adventure: Shadows on the Sun Book Two | |
| Previous Adventure: Flesh of My Flesh Flashback |
The Early Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) |
Next Adventure: Alien Spotlight: Vulcans |
External link
- Vulcan's Glory (novel) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
