The Death's Head Nebula
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| Star Trek TOS Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Death's Head Nebula |
| Author(s): | Daniel E. Barth |
| Date(s): | 1983 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| External Links: | |
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The Death's Head Nebula is a Star Trek: TOS story by Daniel E. Barth.
It was published in the print zine Galactic Discourse #4.
Summary
The Enterprise is threatened externally by corrosive bacteria and internally by one officer's incompetence.
Reactions and Reviews
A probe returning from a nebula infects Enterprise with a living corrosive agent. But the story really revolves around the conflict between Ensign Pickering and her pompous supervisor, Lt. Masters; she saves the day by disabling him in an emergency. Nicely written. [1]
"The Death's Head Nebula" by Daniel Barth is not too bad, except for its spliced-gene plot line. At first, some organic crystals are eating through the ship's bulkheads till Spock figures how to stop them, then abruptly the focus switches to an ensign's difficulties with her hard-assed superior. The first part is great--crisp, concise style, wonderful horror, sharp characterization. But the latter plotline does not work; Ensign Pickering disobeys, orders, disregards standard procedure, slugs a superior officer, and only by dumb luck helps save the day, therefore she gets promoted. "'Impetuous behavior is not to be encouraged,'" says Spock in this very piece. Not in deep space, anyway. [2]
References
- ^ from Karen Halliday's Zinedex
- ^ review by Paula Smith in Warped Space #49