The Cloud Minders

(by Collin R. Skocik, adapted for this article) On the planet Ardana is the beautiful cloud city, Stratos. Here, people live a life of intellectual pursuit and endless hedonism. But their perfect world is fed by the labors of the Troglytes, people who live below in the mines, digging for the zenite that sustains Stratos. …

The Way to Eden

(by Collin R. Skocik) Star Trek’s grooviest episode. The Enterprise chases down a group of space hippies bookin’ in a stolen space cruiser. One of them is the son of the Katullan Ambassador, and so Kirk is forced to be more tolerant of their antics than he would like to be, until finally they take …

Requiem For Methuselah

(by Collin R. Skocik) In order to combat a raging epidemic of Rigellian Fever that has struck the Enterprise, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to Halberg 917-G to collect the only known antidote, ryetalin (not to be confused with ritalin). There, they meet a mysterious stranger named Flint and his adopted daughter, Rayna. Spock …

The Lights of Zetar

(by Collin R. Skocik) Once before, Scotty fell in love. He was head-over-heels for Lt. Carolyn Palamas—but oblivious to the fact that she was completely uninterested in him. Even when she ran off with Apollo, Scotty remained utterly devoted to her, risking his life for her numerous times and incurring Apollo’s wrath. Now he’s in …

That Which Survives

(by Collin R. Skocik) When the Enterprise is hurled halfway across the galaxy, Kirk, McCoy, and Sulu are stranded on a mysterious planet where they are stalked by a strange woman who can kill with a touch. A story of survival in deep space, this episode tells two parallel stories. We follow Kirk, McCoy, and …

The Mark of Gideon

(by Collin R. Skocik, adapted for this article) Beaming down to the planet Gideon, Kirk finds himself not in the Gideon Council Chamber, but back aboard the Enterprise—and the entire crew has disappeared. Of course he’s not on board the Enterprise at all, but an identical duplicate, while aboard the real Enterprise, Spock fights with …

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

(by Collin R. Skocik) I can just hear the Star Trek creative team. “We’re going off the air anyway—let’s go for the jugular!” The sheer courage and audacity of this episode still resonates fifty years later. First-generation Star Trek fans have told me they watched this episode in open-mouthed astonishment when it first aired. They …

Whom Gods Destroy

(by Collin R. Skocik, adapted for this article) The lunatics are running the asylum. Elba II is a mental hospital for the last incorrigible criminally insane of the galaxy. Their newest inmate, Captain Garth of Izar, proves too clever to be contained, and as Kirk and Spock find out the hard way, has released all …

Elaan of Troyius

(by Collin R. Skocik) The Enterprise has to ferry Elaan, the Dohlman of Elas, to the planet Troyius to marry the Troyian ruler. Unlike her namesake, Helen of Troy, Elaan’s coming marriage will not start a ten-year war, but is intended to bring peace between the two warring planets. And unlike Helen, Elaan is a …

The Empath

(by Collin R. Skocik) Star Trek differs from a lot of science fiction, especially classic science fiction, in one important way. The fiction of Verne, Wells, Asimov, and Clarke venerates the intellect, encourages scientific pursuit and technological advancement, and discourages emotion. Humanity, much of the literature tells us, is an intermediate step between animals and …