For the Good of the Service
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| Star Trek TOS Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | For the Good of the Service |
| Author(s): | Pat Foley |
| Date(s): | 1986 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| External Links: | For the Good of the Service |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
For the Good of the Service is a Star Trek: TOS story by Pat Foley.
It was published in Masiform D #15.
Summary
"Pike forces Spock to remain on the Enterprise."
Reactions and Reviews
Of the long stories, Pat Foley's "For the Good of the Service" is the most interesting, because of its serious and successful attempt at characterization of Christopher Pike (Number One and Spock also get some character focus). Yet another entry into her Pike series, Foley's principal theme is Pike and his style of captaincy. In this piece, Pike has been transferred to command of the REPUBLIC, and the occasion offers a chance for reappraisal of his tendency to hold onto his officers--11 years with Spock, e.g.--and not recommend them for transfer, thus hold back their careers. This examination is done with the help of Dr. Boyce, who, as usual, comes off almost as a clone of McCoy. Pike' s principal concern is Numer One, who be believes deserves a Starship captaincy of her own, while Starfleet limits her to command of a light cruiser. The scene with Number One (who apparently does not want command) contains a common problem with most fan attempts at portraying her. She is far too flat, much more so than in 'The Cage.' But there are hints of humanity in Foley's characterization of her, as in Number One's keen understanding and compassion of Pike's frustration at the Fleet's prejudices against her, and of his desire to understand why she does not wish to pursue command. Foley does imbue her with realism and practicality, and a fine awareness of her own limitations to take on command. Spock, with whom Pike has a father-son relationship is Pike's second problem. Pike realizes he must let Spock free of his command, instead of taking the young Vulcan on the REPUBLIC with him. But Spock is strongly attached to Pike. Foley handles this forced separation with intelligence and sensitivity, showing us why Spock's behavior changed so much from what we saw in "The Cage" to his life on the ENTERPRISE under Kirk. It's unfortunate that not enough fan writers delve into Spock's years under Pike, especially since most of his Starfleet career was spent under the latter's command, not Kirk's. Leah Rosenthal has an adequate rendition of the young Spock, though her profile of Pike is weak. Pat O'Neill's portrait of Pike and another officer who I don't recognize (the story gives no clues) are genuinely good, stylish pieces with distinctive features. One piece by Gennie Summers is a mystery to me. It's a BEM (bug-eyed monster for the uninitiated), and Foley's story makes no mention of such an alien. [1]
"For the Good of the Service," by Pat Foley, startled me because one of my favorite all-time Star Trek stories, by Ruth Berman (in T-NEGATIVE 1) has the same title. Another coincidence is that both stories have the same theme: promotion and its implications. Whereas Ruth's story deals with Spock's promotion between first and second seasons. Pat's deals with promotions given prior to first season, when Captain Pike and Number One left the ENTERPRISE. Because of the inevitable comparison. Pat's had to be a darned good story in order to win me over. To my (pleasant) surprise, it was. The characterizations are very good, very accurate, and very believable. The plot advances smoothly, the resolution is convincing. I still think Ruth's is the better story, but that is to take nothing away from Pat's, which is quite good. [2]