#1 (1976)     #2 (1977)     #3 (?)     #4 (1980)    

"No Time For Past Regrets" (p.3-10) / Ingrid Cross

On the eve of his departure for a new life in Starfleet, McCoy is busy drowning his recent sorrows -- his demented wife Arianna having murdered his female colleague in a fit of unwarranted jealousy -- when he is called upon to rescue his new captain from unseemly drunkenness. Also sets up the hostilities between Spock and McCoy. Not one of Ingrid's best, and nothing much really happens here.

"Wings of Wonder" (p.11-14) / Valerie McLean

A crewwoman finds herself dissociating from her body and must be retrieved by Spock via -- you guessed it -- mind-meld. Ho-hum.

"Caison [sic] Occurence" (p.16-23) / Signe Jesson

Crossover with Ann McCaffrey's dragon series. The Enterprise officers are negotiating with the dragonrider planet when a rogue queen dragon creates havoc in the province -- and traps Kirk in a cavern collapse. Best bit is actually the alternate farce ending provided by the editors - in which McCoy nabs the unconscious Kirk's little black book.

"Dancer" (p.25) / Ingrid Cross

Vignette - Uhura indulging improbably in romantic daydreams on the bridge.

"Encounter" (p.27-28) / Ingrid Cross

Internal Kirk/Spock dialog as they engage in their first mind-meld.

"The Sight of Kollos" (p.29) / Leslie Fish

Inside Spock's mind as he catches sight of Kollos and goes crazy. Nice bit is that Kirk's warning cry is what drives his paranoia - he knows there is danger but can't correctly identify it.

"Night Creatures" (p.30-37) / Mandi Schultz

Seems to be part of Diamonds and Rust series, or at least related. Chantal, who is not explained here, is sleeping with Kirk, who is reliving his days on Tarsus IV in his dreams. Kodos spared 14-year-old cadet Jim Kirk and his younger brother Sam in return for the boy's sexual favors. Not as interesting and nearly as salacious as the later stories.

"The Fear Of You" (p.39-47) / Anne Laurie Logan

Odd and rather disturbing tale in which Spock, sent along with a New Danaan woman and her symbiotic pet tiggy to investigate a mushroom hallucinogen smuggling ring on a planet on which Tellerites have seeded telepathic hounds... well, it was hard to follow, but the woman and her tiggy - which was quite a nice critter - end up dead and Spock ends up joining the hounds in massacreing the smugglers. Ick.

"Never Enough Dark" (p.48-54)/ Cheryl Rice

Nice dilemma, though needed more done with it. Enterprise has rescued a bunch of bird-like folks from their nova-ing star, has filled the ship with them and has several boatloads in tow, but the transporters are burned out and they can't warp away. Spock advocates dropping the load to escape -- but then ends up providing incubator space for the rambunctious babies in his nice, warm cabin. I still don't get the title.

"When the Good is Gone from Goodbye" (p.8-10) / Karen Fleming

McCoy’s final argument with his wife Arianna.

* "Change of Habit" (p.11-21) / Meg Hogue

Christine Chapel hits menopause and becomes refreshingly feisty, sparking McCoy’s interest. Nice McCoy lines: “Everyone tells the truth in confession. Those are the rules.” and “... if you’ll remember, I never propositioned the other Christine.”

"Any Time But This, Any Place But Now" (p.23) / Cheryl Rice

Vignette. One of McCoy’s techs, whining about how boring life is and dreaming of other times.

"To the Edge" (p.26-32) / Mona Delitsky

Typical H/C. With all three wounded, McCoy faces fear, pain and doubt to watch over Kirk and Spock.

"No Child of Man" (p.37-41) / Anne Laurie Logan

Illo interp: McCoy with a woman wearing a moon amulet. Without doubt the wildest version of McCoy’s divorce I’ve come across! Arianna as a member of a coven, with McCoy having her committed after witnessing her indulging in bloody ritual during her pregnancy. It also speculates that Jo may be parthenogenic - Ari’s child, but not McCoy’s after all. Definitely original, and rather spellbinding.

"The Southern Surgeon’s Nightmare" (p.42-43) / Paula Block

Illo interp: Civil War. McCoy wonders what sins have landed him in a purgatory of endless Civil War surgery.

"Night" (p.44) / Leslie Hobart

Illo interp: McCoy with an arm that doesn’t seem quite his. Nightmare vignette. McCoy is running, trying and failing to escape a transformation. He believes he wakes in a rec room and heads for the way out, but we discover that he has in fact been lost from a landing party.

* "Ain’t No Virgins" (p.46) / Paula Block

Illo interp: McCoy dozing with a unicorn nearby. Pretty entertaining stream-of-consciousness from McCoy, suffering the mother of all hangovers and trying to make sense of the unicorn checking him out.

"Mad Dogs and Earthmen" (p.48-50) / C.R. Faddis

Illo interp: McCoy playing some kind of game with a vulture-y being. Dialogue between McCoy and a phoenix, who alternately threatens and teases him, offering him dragon fewmets for a snack. Seems to be a delirium from being lost in a desert. Cute enough.

"The Real McCoy" (p.52-62) / Leslie Hobart

McCoy is imprisoned for rape, theft and sacrilege perpetrated by a doppelganger, then rescued against his will by a mysterious woman. An entertaining little thriller with some nice tongue-in-cheek dialogue.

* "De-Funitions" (p.63-67)

Agonizing -- and illustrated -- puns on De Kelley’s name.

"To Each His Own" (p.72-99) / Mandi Schultz & Cheryl Rice

[Diamonds & Rust series, Chapter 3. ]

Wow. I don’t quite know what to think of these. On one hand they are annoying Mary Sue tales. On the other... well, this one is worth the read for the shock value alone. The story-telling is suspenseful and compelling, and the writing good when not dwelling on the perfections and wardrobe of heroine super-spy Chantal Caberfae. In this installment: shore leave on Yemen, in the Argellius system, turns into a truly hideous nightmare for McCoy when a pleasant dalliance turns to incest, suicide and total breakdown. Chantal, having pushed Joanna McCoy to suicide while relentlessly pursuing her Target, struggles with unfamiliar affection for McCoy and resolves to try to repair what damage she can.

"Idols I Have Loved" (p.100-144) / Mandi Schultz & Cheryl Rice

[Diamonds & Rust series, Chapter 4. ]

Chantal obtains treatment (that is, brainwashing) for McCoy from her espionage organization so that he can remain in his post. The doctor she takes him to, her old enemy/friend Brandy Burns, insists on payment with sex, which about gives her a breakdown herself. McCoy, unaware that he is being treated with hypnotism and psychotherapy, naturally falls in love with her, at which point she drops him and they quarrel. Chantal wants out of her Enterprise assignment, as she is growing too close to the crew. It is disturbing to see McCoy dragged through the wringer of his daughter’s death; it is much more disturbing to have him behaving normally and pursuing romance with another young woman just two weeks later. But again, the writing is compelling.

* "Logjam" (p.145-150) / April Pentland

Nicely done McCoy & Kirk confrontation. Kirk reports McCoy drunk in his official log, leading to an estrangement that begins to affect the entire ship. Spock prods McCoy to restore amity with an apology. McCoy does so, but gains revenge at the same time that he eases the tensions, by reporting the Captain “not drunk today” in his official medical log.

POEM: "The Naked Time" (p.33) / Gerry Downes

Why wasn’t McCoy affected? “Even in his hidden secret dreams / He is always ... the Doctor”

POEM: "Prisoners in a Cold Cell" (p.34) / J. Feaster

McCoy musing on and apologizing to Spock in “Bread and Circuses.”

 

---

Alpha Continuum #4
Ed.: Marty Siegrist, Lansing, MI, March 1980, 98p.

 

"Year of the Cat" (p.3-7) / Cheryl Rice & Mandi Schultz

[Diamonds & Rust series.]
Kirk and Chantal pining for each other, with Kirk telling himself "the way to get over a woman is to have her" and Chantal regretting having to lie to him all the time, until she finally comes to his bed.

"Made for Each Other" (p.9-18) / Anne Laurie Logan

[reprinted from Warped Space #6]
Silly but entertaining and creative were-creature story, told in first-person by a young ambassador from planet Paradox. Various crew members seem to be carrying a were-gene, and when exposed to the star they are orbiting, they Change. Spock becomes a cat and scratches McCoy when the doctor tries to pat his head. The planet's inhabitants are also were-"wulves" and the Paradox contingent beam down to discuss arranging Organian protection for them. Also, security crewman Norton abandons ship to run off - as a wulf - with his superior officer. Best bit in this story was the "beastume" - an artificial lifeform that transforms into one's clothing at will.

* "Wide Open Spaces" (p.19-21) / Vicky Edgerton

Spock and McCoy debate the wisdom of Enterprise's current missoin of investigating the Galactic Barrier. Cut to two exasperated aliens on a higher plane, annoyed at the creatures who keep messing up their nice restraint, only to run back into the Galaxy again, and wondering if they'll need to be destroyed. Nice alien cowboy illo.

"Sea Change" (p.24) / Cheryl Rice

Illo interp. Kirk can't seem to decide whether to follow mermaid Chantal until she leaves him.

"Girl of My Dreams" (p.26-29) / Donna Toutant

Illo interp. Kirk, adrift on a sea after a shuttle wreck, finds a mirage-woman -- only to wake in Sickbay.

* "Sunflower" (p.30) / Cheryl Rice

Illo interp. Spock accompanies Kirk to his Iowa home on an ill-fated home leave in which we learn that Mrs. Kirk is an alien-hater. In one short page, Spock falls ill from an allergy to sunflowers and waxes eloquent (at least in internal monologue) about the sun flowering in Kirk's hair. Nice touch is Spock's conclusion that McCoy was wrong, "you can go home, but you will wonder why you bothered."

* Untitled. (p. 32) / Daphne Hamilton

Illo interp. McCoy's -- and Kirk's -- fears are realized when the doctor vanishes into the transport beam.

"Spell Sword" (p. 34-36) / Ingrid Cross

Illo interp. Kirk finds himself in some purgatory expiating sins by reliving a scenario in which his crew are killed and he kills Spock with a sword, over and over.

"Where Sirens Sing" (p.37-39) / Mandi Schultz

Illo Interp. [Diamonds & Rust universe] Kirk ponders the custom of referring to ships as "she." Chantal's answer is that men personalize them for the glory of early romance, and then whine that the beloved does not love them back, though it never had a heart to give.

Untitled. (p. 40) / April Pentland

Illo interp. Kirk has been trapped in some medieval planet's revolution and dies on a mountaintop, soaring with eagles.

"Responsibility" (p.43-50) / Anne Laurie Logan

Illo interp - one of the Three in cloaks in the mountains, Kirk with a staff, plus one of Kirk, chained to a rock with a serpent after him.
Suffering from debilitating nightmares, Kirk seeks the help of dream therapists - (apparently on the planet where the women engineers gave Enterprise's computer its quirky personality). They send him on a dream Quest, with Spock & McCoy also providing their dreams to the technicians. In payment, Kirk captures an Orion pirate ship that has been plaguing their planet.

"Song of the Jellicles" (p. 53-72) / April Pentland

The Enterprise bunch encounter a race caught in a cycle of advancing civilization and reduction to primitive level, all caused by health effects of a passing comet. Premise is rather vague, but story has some nice points, including a little romance for McCoy with the civilian archaeologist.

"Reunion" (p. 73-79) / Rusty Hancock

Former shipmates of Will Decker gather in a pub to toast his memory, and end up discussing their own affairs with Deltans.

"No Special Hurry" (p.81-91) / Cheryl Rice & Mandi Schultz

[Diamonds & Rust series. Editorial notes that Diamonds & Rust was supposed to be a multivolume series. Volume 1 was published, but volume 2 was never completed. In this story, the authors wrap up loose ends and summarize where the tale was intended to go.]
     Kirk and Caidan indulge in verbal, drinking and physical sparring over Chantal. Caidan hates Kirk because he's the only one superspsy Chantal ever loved back. Chantal has once again lied to Kirk and left him, supposedly to go along -- as honor demands -- as slave to an alien messiah who happened by just in time to save the galaxy from some evil plot involving creation of a black hole and... uh, well... I'm sure it would have been a roller coaster. Again, while I don't care for Chantal, or the premises and plots of these stories, the excellent writing makes them all palatable.

* "Memento Mori" (p.92-98) / Cheryl Rice

[Reprinted from Guardian #2]
Kirk receives visitations from the women his conscience blames him for. A very nice take on this idea,with a good, strong Edith Keeler still pretty mushed up from the truck.