Mission and Men

Star Trek TOS Fanfiction
Title:	Mission and Men
Author(s):	Mary Louise Dodge, Laura Scarsdale and Melinda Shreve
Date(s):	1979
Length:
Genre:	gen
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Mission and Men is a Star Trek: TOS story by Mary Louise Dodge, Laura Scarsdale and Melinda Shreve.

It was published in Delta Triad #5.

Reactions and Reviews

Before the 5-year mission. McCoy is in Starfleet, but eager to return to a research post while his boss Althea Cassini pesters him to re-up. Kirk is aide to Vulcan diplomat Seleg, presently trying to resolve a crisis on Vega - the furry native Vegans are trying to expel an immigrant population of smooth-skinned Chiropeans. Things turn ugly when Kirk and Seleg learn of a plot to murder the entire immigrant population. The ambassador is murdered and Kirk ends up in a shuttle trying to reach the Excaliber before he dies of the choriomeningitis with which the evil conspirators have infected him. Excaliber gets Kirk to a medical station where McCoy manages to save him, refusing steadfastly to do anything against his patient's best interest despite pressure and conniving from the higher-ups to get him to bring Kirk to consciousness so that he can be interrogated. Kirk recovers just in time to foil the dastardly plot. Oh, yes, and there's a little Romeo and Juliet plot going on as well. Points for a fun explanation of Kirk's choriomeningitis and an interesting take on Kirk & McCoy's pre-Enterprise lives and their meeting. Some demerits for wild liberties with biology, such as a sun's rays that miraculously destroy all bacteria.

[Overlong stories] like this are "Missions and Men," wherein Lt. Kirk tries to avoid an interplanetary war and contracts choriomeningitis in the process.