The Enchanted Pool

Fanfiction
Title:	The Enchanted Pool
Author(s):	Marcia Ericson
Date(s):	1976
Length:
Genre(s):	gen
Fandom(s):
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The Enchanted Pool is a story by Marcia Ericson.

It is in Star Trek: The New Voyages #1 (1976).

Summary

Spock gazes into the waters of a strange world and sees his true love—and finds the answer to the mystery of a lost starship at the same time.

The Enterprise is set to find a shuttlecraft from the Yorktown which carries a secret weapon, the "Excalibur", stolen by renegade Andorians. His own shuttlecraft having crashed on a planet where certain elements disrupt communications, he becomes imprisoned in a forcefield which also holds an "enchanted pool" and Phyllida, a woman dressed in leaves, who speaks in a wildly fanciful manner. (We're led to assume she's a member of one of the colonies of eccentric back-to-nature humans living nearby.) Claiming to be enchanted, she entices him to come to nearby caverns, where her true nature can be revealed. Once inside she identifies herself as an officer from the Yorktown hiding out from the Andorians, who are monitoring everything inside the forcefield; the place she has brought him lies outside the forcefield's range. Her mythological language was coded speech explaining her identity and mission, which he had completely failed to understand. Together they recover the "Excalibur", destroy the forcefield and return to their respective ships.

Reactions and Reviews

1976

This is another one that does nothing for me. Objectively, I can say, nicely written, well worth inclusion on several counts - but it doesn't turn me on.

It is an enchanting tale of Spock's encounter with a delicate, fairy-like young lady while he is on a lone mission to recover a secret weapon. It is handled delicately and with a light touch of humour. It is somewhat of a mystery with word clues sprinkled throughout. The pixie-like creature frolics and speaks in a way reminiscent of Shakespeare. The clues are very cleverly concealed in the poetic prose of the mysterious being. I was completely fooled, but enjoyed re-reading the story to spot the hidden symbols. This story is a real treat for puzzle-lovers.

1977

For a mushy, sweet story that makes no sense, read The Enchanted Pool by Marcia Ericson. Full of fairytale gibberish and technical tripe, it has a plot that leaves a lot to be desired. All in all, a story worthy of Space: 1999, and not ST. The introduction is by Nichelle Nichols and reveals a kind compassionate interior underneath an equally kind, compassionate exterior.

2008

Here we go… un-educated readers might jump and shout with glee about it’s “originality”, but this is what I would call a “forced-motif”, forcing a story to fit into another totally different theme, and this is totally out-of-the-water and it feels so.

This is a story about the fabled Arthurian Excalibur sword forced to match up in a Star Trek storyline. Serious science fiction editors reject this type of stories almost immediately.

2009

Ohgod, this was terrible. Ridiculous prose, bad characterisation and a stupid story.