Legal Action

Summary

Kirk is summoned to Sigma Iotia II to answer a lawsuit, accused of breach of contract. The accuser is the Kid, who turns out to be the boy that helped Kirk and Spock break into Krako's hideout. He points out that Kirk promised him a piece of the action and never delivered.

In the course of combatting the lawsuit, Kirk is the subject of a number of assassination attempts. The culprit turns out to be Slugo, the hood who Kirk pulled the fizzbin trick on and stripped of his clothes in order to fit in. He blames Kirk for making him a laughing stock and unemployable, but is easily overcome.

Kirk then makes his argument: The Federation's cut of the profits have been channelled into Iotia's education and legal system, which the Kid has benefitted from, meaning he has received a piece of the action. The case is dismissed.

References

Characters

The Kid • James T. Kirk • Mugsy • Bela Oxmyx • Slugo • Spock • Squinteyes

Referenced only: Gino • Jojo Krako

Other references

alcohol • billiards • Chicago Mobs of the Twenties • contract • fizzbin • lawyer • machine gun • phaser • restaurant • transporter

Chronology

Appendices

Related media

TOS episode & Star Trek 4 novelization: A Piece of the Action

Background

This story is set in the year 2288, exactly twenty years after the events of the TOS television episode "A Piece of the Action" (itself set in 2268).

Connections

Star Trek: The Original Series collected short stories, novellas and short novels
The New Voyages	The New Voyages ("Ni Var" • "Intersection Point" • "The Enchanted Pool" • "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" • "The Face on the Barroom Floor" • "The Hunting" • "The Winged Dreamers" • "Mind-Sifter" • "Sonnet from the Vulcan: Omicron Ceti Three") • The New Voyages 2 ("Surprise!" • "Snake Pit!" • "The Patient Parasites" • "In the Maze" • "Cave-In" • "Marginal Existence" • "The Procrustean Petard" • "The Sleeping God" • "Elegy for Charlie" • "Soliloquy")
Star Trek II & III Short Stories	Star Trek II Short Stories ("The Blaze of Glory" • "Under Twin Moons" • "Wild Card" • "The Secret Empire" • "Intelligence Test" • "To Wherever") • Star Trek III Short Stories ("The Azphari Enigma" • "The Jungles of Memory" • "A Vulcan, A Klingon, and an Angel" • "World's End" • "As Old as Forever")
Strange New Worlds	I ("A Private Anecdote" • "The Last Tribble" • "The Lights in the Sky" • "Reflections") • II ("Triptych" • "The Quick and the Dead" • "The First Law of Metaphysics" • "The Hero of My Own Life" • "Doctors Three") • III ("If I Lose Thee..." • "The Aliens Are Coming!" • "Family Matters") • IV ("A Little More Action" • "Prodigal Father" • "Missed" • "Tears for Eternity" • "Countdown" • "First Star I See Tonight" • "Scotty's Song" • "The Name of the Cat") • V ("Disappearance on 21st Street" • "The Trouble with Borg Tribbles" • "Legal Action" • "Yeoman Figgs" • "The Shoulders of Giants") • VI ("Whales Weep Not" • "One Last Adventure" • "Marking Time" • "Ancient History" • "Bum Radish: Five Spins on a Turquoise Reindeer" • "A Piece of the Pie") • VII ("A Test of Character" • "Indomitable" • "Project Blue Book" • "The Trouble With Tribals" • "All Fall Down" • "A Sucker Born" • "Obligations Discharged") • 8 ("Shanghaied" • "Assignment: One" • "Demon" • "Don't Call Me Tiny") • 9 ("Gone Native" • "A Bad Day for Koloth" • "Book of Fulfillment" • "The Smallest Choices") • 10 ("The Smell of Dead Roses" • "The Doomsday Gambit" • "Empty") • 2016 ("Dilithium Is a Girl's Best Friend")
Constellations	"First, Do No Harm" • "The Landing Party" • "Official Record" • "Fracture" • "Chaotic Response" • "As Others See Us" • "See No Evil" • "The Leader" • "Ambition" • "Devices and Desires" • "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" • "Make-Believe"
Star Trek: Explorer	"All That Most Maddens and Torments" • "The Way to Exile" • "Cumulative Damage" • "Explorers of the Storm" • "The Guardian" • "The Trouble with Jones" • "Sundering" • "A Dish Served Cold" • "Forewarned and Three-Armed" • "Working Miracles" • "Cat and Mouse" • "Housewarming" • "Memoriam"• "Chekov's Challenge" • "My Name is Mudd" • "The Lost Noel"
Misc. short stories	"Though Hell Should Bar the Way" • "Conflicting Natures" • "The Avenger" • "Night Whispers" • "Just Another Little Training Cruise" • "Safe Harbors" • "Ill Winds" • "The Greater Good"
Misc. novellas & short novels	"The Business, As Usual, During Altercations" • "The Badlands, Part I" • "One Giant Leap" • "The First Artifact" • "The Sorrows of Empire" • "A Less Perfect Union" • "The Chimes at Midnight"

Timeline

published order
Previous story: The Trouble with Borg Tribbles	Strange New Worlds V	Next story: Yeoman Figgs
Previous story: The Trouble with Borg Tribbles Strange New Worlds V	TOS short stories	Next story: Yeoman Figgs Strange New Worlds V
Previous story: first Star Trek story	Stories by: Alan L. Lickiss	Next story: most recent work
chronological order
Previous adventure: Pathways chapter 14, section 3	Pocket Books Timeline	Next adventure: Starfleet Academy

Legal Action

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Summary

References

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