Under Twin Moons is the second of six TOS stories by William Rotsler in the young adult anthology Star Trek II Short Stories. The stories depict events in 2277 during Captain Kirk's second five-year mission aboard the refurbished USS Enterprise. In this story, Uhura meets a dashing prince while on shore leave.
Publisher’s description
- From the back cover
- Travel with your favorite Star Trek II characters into six new and original short stories written especially for you! — In UNDER TWIN MOONS Lieutenant Uhura (sic) finds an unusual way to relax from starship duty. — A treasure trove of adventure for all Star Trek fans.
Summary
In the rec room, Leonard McCoy, Nyota Uhura and young Lex Nakashima were discussing upcoming shore leave on the popular independent world Macedon III. Uhura had not taken leave at the last two ports, so McCoy ordered her to go this time. She accompanied a group of officers aboard the Columbus who landed in the city of New Athens in the evening. In the light of the planet’s moons, Circe and Artemis, Uhura lamented the loss of Jomo Murumbi, with whom she’d been in love, but decided she had mourned enough.
A strikingly handsome man approached and chatted her up. He was a prince, Jaral Stephanopoulos, nephew to Queen Miranie. Jarel decided to introduce Uhura to the matriarch, so he brought her into a fancy dress ballroom event where Miranie was talking with Admiral Kirk in his dress uniform. Jarel told Miranie he would be showing Uhura a few of the sights tomorrow. Miranie warned Uhura that Jarel was a heart-breaker. To counter that, he asked Admiral Kirk’s permission to show Uhura the wonders of the city this evening. As they left, Uhura said he could have asked her first. He countered by saying everyone wants to see the sights, tourists and locals alike, and she said that was true, so he said he would take her to the ruins of Corin, called “the greatest romantic sight in the galaxy…but I’m sure it must be Thracians who say that.”
Jarel and Uhura rode a carriage through a couple of valleys in New Athens to the outskirts of the city, after which lay Thracian ruins. When Earth settlers had come to Macedon III in sleeper ships, they’d found surviving locales from multiple wars, Thracians, and assimilated them into their culture and government. They left the carriage and walked along through the ruins. Suddenly dark figures attacked them with clubs, and they fell.
Kicked in the side, Uhura winced and awoke in a stone room, her arms bound, her communicator taken. Threats that she was a Federation officer were ignored. The captor ordered her to clean Jarel, gesturing at a wooden water bucket and some bandages, then left. Jarel lay unconscious, his face bloodied. She tended to Jarel till he woke up about an hour later. They were able to untie each other’s bonds. He said their captors were Traasmeen, a group representing about four percent of the population. They had intermarried with the Thracians, maintained historic hatreds, used terrorist tactics to try to overthrow the government, and would not accept offers to live in a land of their own. He would be given a very public death, and he apologized for involving her, not having known of a Traasmeen terrorist cell nearby.
Bickering about the best strategy for an escape, they agreed to try the dying prisoner routine, with Jarel as the one dying. It worked, and they hurriedly left Corin on foot.
Back aboard the Enterprise as the ship left Macedon, Kirk asked Uhura if she enjoyed her shore leave. Yes, she replied, it was educational.
References
Characters
- Pavel Chekov • James T. Kirk • Ryan Leslie • Leonard McCoy • Miranie • Lex Nakashima • Elizabeth Palmer • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Jaral Stephanopoulos • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura
- Referenced only
- Caligula • Daria • Adolf Hitler • Murray Fox • Jomo Murumbi • Philistra • Joseph Stalin • George Washington • Zog • unnamed Thracians
Starships and vehicles
- Columbus • USS Enterprise
- Referenced only
- USS Crockett • USS Xerxes
- Starship classications
- heavy cruiser • shuttlecraft • sleeper ship
Locations
- Planets and moons
- Artemis • Circe • Macedon III
- Planetary locations
- Corin • Fireflower Islands • Hotel Terra • Museum of Terran History • New Athens • New Temple of Zeus • Pool of Circe • Sea of Argos
- Shipboard
- bridge • rec room
- Referenced only
- Apollonia • Arabia • Bactria • Bastille • Byzantion • Delphi • Earth • Greater New York • Korai • Lieberman's World • Marsport • Samos • San Francisco • Sparta • Telemachus • Tellar • Upsilon Xi III • Winter Palace
Races and cultures
States and organizations
- Companions of Alexandria • Continental Congress • Empire of Thrace • Klingon-Romulan Alliance • Macedon Chamber of Commerce • Order of the Shield of Medusa • Special Forces • Starfleet • United Federation of Planets • United States of Africa
Science and technology
Ranks and titles
- A-and-A officer • Baron of Bactria • captain • chief medical officer • colonel • Count of Samos • Duchess of Korai • Heriditary Colonel of the Companions of Alexander • Keeper of the Sacred Flame • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • matriarch • Matriarch of New Athens • pope • Priestess of Artemis • prince • Protector of Delphi • Sworn Warrior of the Empire of Thrace
Other references
- 2164 • atmosphere • capital city • cards • cari • city • class III planet • computer game • darkbeetle • Farkash dynasty • firefly • Gorgon • liberty • Moonflower • October • orix • ormachi • plume dancer • port • Prime Directive • queen • Star of Apollo • Starfleet uniform • sword • tree • uniform • Warrior-King • Museum of the History of Thrace • opal
Appendices
Background
- The Pocket Books Timeline places this story and all of those in Star Trek II Short Stories in 2277.
- Murumbi's date of birth is stated to have been in 2164, as opposed to a more likely 2264.
- Sciences lieutenant Lex Nakashima appeared in two other novellas by William Rotsler, Distress Call! and The Vulcan Treasure, as well as "The Blaze of Glory" and other stories in Star Trek II Short Stories.
- Uhura stated that Starfleet was considering new uniforms. Given the setting of this story in 2277, the crew of the Enterprise would have been wearing the uniforms from The Motion Picture (Starfleet uniform (early 2270s)), which soon would be changed to those from The Wrath of Khan (Starfleet uniform (2278-2350s)).
- The story stated that the Enterprise carried two shuttles. Given the previous story, The Blaze of Glory, in 2277 the ship's shuttles were named Galileo and Columbus, just as they were eleven years earlier in TOS episode: "The Galileo Seven".
- The story stated that it was more efficient to ferry crew to a planet via two shuttles than to beam them down, and implied that the number of people carried aboard a shuttle was much larger than the number which could be beamed down at one time. However, fueling, boarding groups of passengers and pilots in shuttles, then flying them to and from the surface would be far less efficient than just beaming down the people in groups, even large groups, as was seen in TOS episode: "This Side of Paradise".
Connections
Timeline
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: The Blaze of Glory |
Star Trek II Short Stories | Next story: Wild Card |
| Previous story: The Blaze of Glory Star Trek II Short Stories |
TOS short stories | Next story: Wild Card Star Trek II Short Stories |
| Previous story: The Blaze of Glory Star Trek II Short Stories |
Stories by: William Rotsler |
Next story: Wild Card Star Trek II Short Stories |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: The Blaze of Glory Star Trek II Short Stories |
Pocket Books Timeline | Next adventure: Wild Card Star Trek II Short Stories |
External links
- Star Trek II Short Stories article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- William Rotsler article at Memory Alpha.