“What punishment do you set for me?”
Stardate: Unknown
Well, in my journey through the Star Trek litverse, I have already encountered everyone’s least favorite Ayn Randian Objectivists, Sandra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, several times. And each encounter has been an atrocious reading experience. I’m not sure how these two managed to sneak past the editors at Pocket Books and Bantam, but I would only recommend reading their Star Trek books to strict completionist (or if you are a glutton for punishment). Set after The Motion Picture (wherein “Vejur” is referenced frequently), in The Prometheus Design the crew pays a visit to the planet Helvan, where a horned species of devilish aliens (wonderfully depicted in the book’s cover artwork) are experiencing shockingly rapid technological advancement, followed by subsequent mob violence and an impending revolution. Suffice it to say the planet is in turmoil.
At the same time, Kirk and several other human crew members of the Enterprise are apparently experiencing dire memory lapses and violent visions. But suddenly, Admiral Nogura orders the Enterprise to rendezvous with a Federation scout ship carrying a passenger who has urgent orders. The mysterious passenger turns out to be a huge respected Vulcan named “Savaj of Vulcan,” a Vulcan in his prime, aged somewhere “on the high side of a hundred.” He is called “S’haile” Savaj, a title connoting respect, and he has apparently written an influential book on alien communications, much of which has become the basis for the universal translator.
Almost immediately, Savaj becomes the alpha of the ship (recall that Marshak and Culbreath are obsessed with alpha male dominance). Kirk is relieved of command (somehow?) and a cantankerous Spock is immediately made captain (“Spock I wasn’t in command today. I’m carrying some alien mental time bomb. Unless I can break, I’m not fit to command now”). Savaj begins referring to Kirk as “Mr. Kirk” and the ship is placed under the rule of the two Vulcans thanks to a switch in their heads that awakens “Vulcan Command Mode.” From here, there are a few odd scenes of Savaj showcasing his dominance over Kirk: first in a game of 3-D Chess then in a physical competition of nearly nude Vulcan mat wrestling (wearing “asumi” loincloths). Then there are new fitness requirements released for the crew as signed by Captain Spock, and Savaj shows off an odd exotic rhythmic performance that is compared to a Cossack dance (for some reason?). Then there are strange attempts to kill both Spock (while he is in an asphyxiating cocoon inside a locker room cubicle) and Savaj (who is nearly killed by monoxide poisoning while in a trance). Everything is very unusual, especially Savaj’s provocative demeanor.
It turns out this was all a ruse by Savaj to lure a group of alien beings to the Enterprise so they can study aggression. The Federation believes these aliens are conducting some sort of experiment on the planet Helvan and Savaj feels that Vulcans are the only proper creatures who can handle such strange beings. The Enterprise then returns to Helvan where Spock and Savaj beam down in their culturally appropriate satanic-horns (in fact, Spock seems to be donning horns throughout much of the novel). Spock and Savaj quickly run into trouble so Kirk disobeys orders and rescues them, and he is followed by other crew members. Thankfully, everyone is spared from a race of no-mouth aliens who appear to be like scientists conducting horrific experiments and strapping their victims to tables. Kirk is then repeatedly admonished by a slave-driving Captain Spock but then he is allowed to simply continue along for the mission anyway (there are several different back-and-forth scenes of Kirk being locked up and escaping while facing the threat of court martial by Spock). However, Kirk and the team actually manage to capture one of the no-mouth creatures, and after interrogating it, they discover there is another superior race to the no-mouth creatures called the Designers. These Designers have been hiding out in the Helvan mountains, causing the memory lapses and violent visions of the crew, and even spurring on the attempted murders of Spock and Savaj.
Kirk, Spock, Savaj, and Bones then lead an expedition back down to the mountains of Helvan to track down the Designers. Here, they eventually uncover another dimension where they are greeted by a tall statuesque human female who says, “You may designate me Belen.” She leads them into a laboratory where they meet more Designers, like Tarth and Flaem, as well as extensive scenes of exposition and allusions to sexual activity. The Designers explain their plans to force rapid advancement on other planets, much like Helvan (not unlike Prometheus bringing fire to humanity), to see if civilizations will always fall prey to violence and revolution: “As a rule a man –or a species– would rather die than be proved wrong. We seek to defeat that process.” Then comes the big climax wherein Kirk offers himself up to the Designers in exchange for saving the galaxy, and then there is a huge arena battle between Spock and Savaj (for some reason?) where the two are once again draped in skimpy loincloths and paraded around for entertainment.
Luckily, they all somehow manage to wriggle their way out of this mess after Kirk finally agrees to acquiesce to Spock’s leadership (demonstrating that humans can, in fact, change course) and Spock explains to the Designers:
“Blindness is not a condition of one man or one species. One can see farther, at times, through the eyes of others. One can learn from those who are struggling to be born. Change your pattern. Give an end to callousness a chance –before it hastens your doom” (181-182).
In the end, Kirk is given his captaincy back again, Spock says Kirk will likely not face mutiny charges, and Spock invites Kirk to be friendly again so they can settle their personal matter “privately.” The book ends with an ominous epilogue (a mirror to the prologue at the beginning) in which the mysterious fire-presences discuss possibly visiting the Enterprise again.
My Thoughts on The Prometheus Design
Thus ends another very bizarre Star Trek novel from Sandra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. With a few passing references to their previous novels The Price of the Phoenix and The Fate of the Phoenix, as well as various nods to TOS episodes and even interesting glossary of Vulcan words, this book was at least well-researched for its time. However, it still carries the echoes of early slash fiction with the mention of an intimate telepathic link between Kirk and Spock, random bouts of nudity, and a very tender Kirk confessing his “shame” at being captured and dominated by aliens. It’s all very silly but apparently Marshak and Culbreath were very serious about their interpretation of Star Trek as essentially erotica. In a 2013 Facebook post, David Gerrold discussed all the “Spirk” fantasy literature circulating around in the early days. He recounted a story in which he was approached by the two leading female fanfiction writers at a convention (heavily implied to be Marshak and Culbreath) when they condescendingly told him: “What you Star Trek writers don’t understand… is that Kirk secretly wants to be raped by Spock.” Imagine the gall of two Objectivist erotica fanfiction writers critiquing one of the most celebrated TOS writers, the man who came up with Tribbles! It’s as head-shaking as it is baffling. At any rate, The Prometheus Design opens with an intriguing enough Trekkian premise, but it quickly runs off the rails amidst all the disorienting, jarring, stilted writing (especially the pretentious, overly philosophical dialogue). I’m sorry to say The Prometheus Design is a truly abysmal read, but somehow the two Bantam Phoenix books they wrote were just a shade worse in my view. Tragically there is still one more Marshak/Culbreath Star Trek book I will have to suffer through in the near future if I want to continue along the numbered TOS Pocket line (Triangle published in 1983).
Marshak, Sandra and Myrna Culbreath. The Prometheus Design. A Timescape Book published by Pocket Books, 1982, New York, New York. Dedicated to Albert Nessim Hassan and in memory of his parents Maurice and Regina Hassan.