Epic Proportions

   

Epic Proportions

Summary[]

Captain's log,stardate 8752.5.

TheEnterprise has been sent toTheata Leonis to makefirst contact with aspecies called theAtyansa. The first-in survey described this species as highly intelligent and peaceful. If all this is true, this mission should be a pleasure.

Theata Leonis is close toKlingon space. The survey team reported the Atyansa were "uniquelyprepared for contact", and they have requestedKirk,Spock andMcCoy by name, although they have never before visited theplanet. Kirk asks Spock if the Atyansa could have overheardStarfleetcommunications, but they are at thetechnological level of16th centuryEarth.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down into a verdant landscape. They are met by a group of pink-skinned, four-armed children, who shout, "They'reback!" The children guide the three men to the home ofLagonda, the chief, who is surprised to see them -- she did not expect "the space people" to come today. Lagonda greets them by name, including "McCoy of thecomplaints." Expecting them soon to leave on their quest, she shows them an ancient scroll depicting them climbing amountain accompanied by an Atyansa boy. Lagonda explains that the boy is her son,Meresh, who will be their guide, as he was when they last did this a thousand years earlier. Meresh enters, eager to leave and confront "the creature of the mountain". Lagonda says the book makes clear they must find the creature.

The KlingonbattlecruiserIKSArekkieh, commanded byKalak, decloaks in front of theEnterprise. Kalak demands thatEnterprise leave the area.Scotty retorts that the system will not become part of Klingon space for 13.6 standard years. Kalak threatens the landing party, which the Klingons have been monitoring, but Scotty promises to destroy the battlecruiser if they harm the landing party. Kalak cuts off the transmission. In accordance with thePrime Directive, the landing party is unarmed. Scotty wonders if there is some way to prevent the Klingons from beaming down. AskingUhura to tell Kirk what has happened when he checks in, he leaves thebridge for thetransporter room.

At their camp, McCoy and Spock bring firewood while Kirk tries to start a fire with two sticks. Meresh does so easily with a match and flint. As they sit around the fire, Meresh tells the Starfleet officers that the creature is guarded by "each trespasser's worstgoblin", things which killed some questers and drove others half-mad. Kirk and Spock wonder if this is some form of mind control, but realize it cannot be a hallucination if it has killed people. Kirk feels as though he is in an epic poem; Meresh agrees that the four of them are heroes. Saying he considers being a hero overrated, McCoy asks what weapons they will use on the monster. Meresh shows him a forked stave, like the ones they were carrying in the ancient drawing.

Working under thetransporter console, Scotty is informed that energy readings from the planet have increased. Kirk contacts him, and Scotty explains that the readings are low frequency, but massive and close to Kirk's position. He predicts that the Klingons will soon attempt to beam down to investigate the anomaly, but tells Kirk and Spock that he can use the transporter to jam the Klingons' transporters in the area where they are -- but he will not be able to use the transporter otherwise while doing so.

The three men and Meresh have entered a snowy area. Spock detects increased energy readings, including high levels of broadcast power. Suddenly they are attacked by aGorn, aMugato, a large serpent and a purple flying creature. The entities are solid and leave footprints in the snow. Kirk kicks the Mugato under the jaw, and Spock jams a stick in the serpent's mouth. Seeing the "Gorn" as a large hairy creature with four arms, Meresh fells it by using his forked stave as aslingshot. Kirk realizes that he and Meresh perceive the creature differently. Spock declares that their minds are being influenced, and that the energy readings have quadrupled. As they walk off into the snow, the Gorn fades away.

On the bridge, Scotty asksRyder to tell him when the Klingon transporters power up. He has to let the first Klingons beam down in order to calibrate the jamming. The Klingons transport a large number of personnel, but when they try to transport again, their beaming is jammed, trapping the second group in transit. A Klingon with an eyepatch appears on theviewscreen and demands that theEnterprise cease its interference or be destroyed. Scotty points out that that would also destroy the patterns of the second landing party -- possibly includingCaptain Kalak.

Kirk and the others have defeated aTalosian and asalt vampire, which put up less of a fight than the previous creatures. As they approach a cave, the first group of Klingons appears and fires on them. Kirk contacts Scotty, who says he cannot beam the Klingons away without losing the patterns of the Klingons in transit. At Spock's suggestion, the group uses their slingshots to loosen rocks above the cave mouth, allowing them to dash inside the cave. The rocks seal the cave entrance, temporarily blocking the Klingons from entering.

Kirk's group enters a large cavern filled with an advancedcomputer installation. They are greeted by the "creature", who appears as a beautiful woman with silver skin, hair and clothes. Spock'stricorder readings show she has been waiting for them for 550,005 years. She explains that her programming allows her to appear in a form that gains attention from the life-forms to which she speaks. She was built by the ancestors of the Atyansa, who gave hertachyonic data inputs, allowing her to see all that happens for thousands oflight years and extrapolate future events.

The Klingons are burning their way into the cave with their hand weapons. The "creature" knew Kirk and the others would come and wrote Lagonda's ancient book, but protected herself with the monsters so no one else could damage the installation. She is about to cease functioning, and needs theFederation to recover the data banks containing the knowledge of the Atyansa's ancestors. The Klingons enter and demand the surrender of the installation, but the "creature" transforms into a terrifying female Klingon monster. Towering over the Klingons, she threatens to destroy their ship if they do not return to it, and makes their weapons explode in their hands. Kirk orders Scotty to drop the jamming, and the Klingons beam up, vowing to return. As Kirk, Spock and McCoy prepare to beam up, the "creature" explains that she presented the quest as an eternal cycle because it was comforting to the Atyansa that way.

Kirk returns to theEnterprise bridge, where Kalak rages at him on the viewscreen. Both ships arm weapons, but the Klingon ship is knocked out oforbit atwarp factor 9.4 by atractor beam from the planet's surface. Kirk asks Uhura to notify Starfleet of the "creature"'s request for help. In theturbolift on the way to Kirk'squarters, Spock tells Kirk and McCoy he is satisfied that the Atyansa will long remember "McCoy of thecomplaints!"

References[]

Characters[]

Kalak •James T. Kirk •Lagonda •Leonard McCoy •Meresh •Ryder •Montgomery Scott •Spock •Nyota Uhura

Starships and vehicles[]

IKSArekkieh (K't'inga-class) •USSEnterprise-A (Constitution-class)

Locations[]

Theata Leonis

Referenced only

Earth

Races and cultures[]

Atyansa •Gorn •Human •Klingon •M-113 creature •Talosian •Vulcan

Science and technology[]

communications •communicator •computer •hologram •phaser •shields •slingshot •tachyonic data input •tractor beam •transporter •tricorder

Other references[]

16th century •bridge •egg •first contact •grch •hairyman •Klingon language •mind control •mugato •omelet •Prime Directive •transporter room

Appendices[]

Connections[]

Background[]

• Scotty refers to himself aslieutenant commander in a line of dialogue, but by thetime period portrayed by thestardate,uniforms andrank insignia, he should have been acaptain.

External link[]

• Epic Proportions article atMemory Alpha, the wiki for canonStar Trek.