The Garden Was a Wild

Star Trek TOS Fanfiction
Title:	The Garden Was a Wild
Author(s):	Marel Lelik
Date(s):	October 1972
Length:
Genre:	gen
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:
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The Garden Was a Wild is a 1972 Star Trek: TOS story by Marel Lelik.

It was first printed in Babel #3. Marel Lelik also wrote a related article called "Lest We Forget" which was also in Babel. Both the story and the article were reprinted in different issues of Academy (story: unknown issue, article: v.2 n.1).

This story was mentioned in the panel discussion Feminism in Treklit in 1976:

Another problem with female characters is that feminism can become too much an issue. One story in ACADEMY was given as an example, in which number One, now an alien ambassador, sits down with a Romulan woman and both bitch interminably about being trodden on by the men in their lives, losing the plot amongst the complaints. The theme of women cooperating with women is a good one, though, and just beginning to develop.

From the author in Academy:

LEST WE FORGET Is reprinted from BABEL III (LL-LL & IGOR PUBLICATION #8 , Oct. 13, 1972) where if served as a background to my first Number One story, THE GARDEN WAS A WILD.

Briefly, GARDEN concerns Number One's promotion to Captain of the U.S.S. Hood in order that she might vie for a Federation alliance with the matriarchal planet Mullebria.

Naturally, she finds competition in the person of the Romulan Commander Min. The two women then proceed to compare notes on male-oriented society.

Number One tries very hard to convey an attitude of amused indulgence toward Starfleet Command, while her true feelings remain her own.

Number One's navigator is Ensign Dva, who is a Terran Lalandean like herself. Her First Officer is former Chief Environmental Engineer David Yellow Knife. Number One and he delight in the lively art of verbal barrage, a pastime in which they engaged no matter what the circumstances.