Wild Card is the third of six TOS stories by William Rotsler in the young adult anthology Star Trek II Short Stories. The stories depict events in 2277 during Captain Kirk's second five-year mission aboard the refurbished USS Enterprise. In this story, the crew were overcome by a contagious lifeform.

Description

In "Wild Card" an unknown enemy threatens the very existence of the Enterprise and its crew.

Summary

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References

Characters

Linda Chang • Pavel Chekov • Galloway • Glaser • James T. Kirk • Langhorne • Ryan Leslie • Leonard McCoy • Lex Nakashima • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura

Referenced only

Charles Darwin • Davis • Friedman • Charles Jackson • Merlino • Pearson • Alfred Wallace

Starships and vehicles

USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser)

Starship classifications

scout ship • shuttlecraft

Locations

Marris V

Referenced only

Automate-66 • Axanar • Earth (Galápagos Islands • South America) • Milky Way Galaxy • Omicron Theta • Psi Nu Alpha/St. Sebastian • Rigel III

Shipboard locations

airlock • bridge • captain's quarters • crew quarters (Spock's) • sickbay • turbolift

Races and cultures

Human (Russian) • Vulcan

Referenced only

Rigellian

States and organizations

Federation • Sisters of the Sacred Heart • Starfleet • University of South Wales

Science and technology

blood analyzer unit • camera • chronometer • communicator • computer • coordinates • decontamination tube • diagnostic table • hatch • hypospray • intercom • laboratory • library computer • microscope • Morpheus-Nine • ocean • protection suit • phaser • robot • self destruct system • sonic shower • star • stomach • subwarp message • transporter • tricorder • ventilation system

Areas of study

biochemistry • botany • ecology • entomology • ethnology • evolution • parallel evolution • xenobiology • zoology

Materials and substances

blood • chitin • chocolate • crystal • lacrose • levfrum • metal • pylene • salt • strychnine • sugar • turpentine • vitamin

Ranks and titles

admiral • chief engineer • colonist • commander • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • midshipman • navigator • yeoman

Other references

bacteria • bat • berry • binary star • cell • Cenozoic Era • colony • cow • dog • dorf • fish • flower • galaxy • headache • hour • insect • ion storm • logic • mammal • medieval • monastery • mutiny • The New England Journal of Medicine • orange dwarf • phytoplankton • plague • plant • quarantine • second • star • stun • trade route • Triacus pod wine • Ultra Purple code • ultraviolet ray • uniform • virus • Vulcan nerve pinch • Warp Stresses in Real Time • year • yellow star • zombie

Appendices

Related stories

• TOS - Year Four comic: "Issue 3" – In 2269, the Enterprise crew were infected by the Ur, leaving Kirk and Chapel to be infected last.
• TOS comic: "Taking Shape" – In 2277, body-duplicating Manarkites replaced most of the crew of the Enterprise before they were caught.

Background

• Nyota Uhura had the conn during one duty shift.
• Pavel Chekov had the conn near the end of the story. He was referred to as an assistant navigator, while Galloway was the ship's security chief.

Connections

Star Trek: The Original Series collected short stories, novellas and short novels
The New Voyages	The New Voyages ("Ni Var" • "Intersection Point" • "The Enchanted Pool" • "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" • "The Face on the Barroom Floor" • "The Hunting" • "The Winged Dreamers" • "Mind-Sifter" • "Sonnet from the Vulcan: Omicron Ceti Three") • The New Voyages 2 ("Surprise!" • "Snake Pit!" • "The Patient Parasites" • "In the Maze" • "Cave-In" • "Marginal Existence" • "The Procrustean Petard" • "The Sleeping God" • "Elegy for Charlie" • "Soliloquy")
Star Trek II & III Short Stories	Star Trek II Short Stories ("The Blaze of Glory" • "Under Twin Moons" • "Wild Card" • "The Secret Empire" • "Intelligence Test" • "To Wherever") • Star Trek III Short Stories ("The Azphari Enigma" • "The Jungles of Memory" • "A Vulcan, A Klingon, and an Angel" • "World's End" • "As Old as Forever")
Strange New Worlds	I ("A Private Anecdote" • "The Last Tribble" • "The Lights in the Sky" • "Reflections") • II ("Triptych" • "The Quick and the Dead" • "The First Law of Metaphysics" • "The Hero of My Own Life" • "Doctors Three") • III ("If I Lose Thee..." • "The Aliens Are Coming!" • "Family Matters") • IV ("A Little More Action" • "Prodigal Father" • "Missed" • "Tears for Eternity" • "Countdown" • "First Star I See Tonight" • "Scotty's Song" • "The Name of the Cat") • V ("Disappearance on 21st Street" • "The Trouble with Borg Tribbles" • "Legal Action" • "Yeoman Figgs" • "The Shoulders of Giants") • VI ("Whales Weep Not" • "One Last Adventure" • "Marking Time" • "Ancient History" • "Bum Radish: Five Spins on a Turquoise Reindeer" • "A Piece of the Pie") • VII ("A Test of Character" • "Indomitable" • "Project Blue Book" • "The Trouble With Tribals" • "All Fall Down" • "A Sucker Born" • "Obligations Discharged") • 8 ("Shanghaied" • "Assignment: One" • "Demon" • "Don't Call Me Tiny") • 9 ("Gone Native" • "A Bad Day for Koloth" • "Book of Fulfillment" • "The Smallest Choices") • 10 ("The Smell of Dead Roses" • "The Doomsday Gambit" • "Empty") • 2016 ("Dilithium Is a Girl's Best Friend")
Constellations	"First, Do No Harm" • "The Landing Party" • "Official Record" • "Fracture" • "Chaotic Response" • "As Others See Us" • "See No Evil" • "The Leader" • "Ambition" • "Devices and Desires" • "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" • "Make-Believe"
Star Trek: Explorer	"All That Most Maddens and Torments" • "The Way to Exile" • "Cumulative Damage" • "Explorers of the Storm" • "The Guardian" • "The Trouble with Jones" • "Sundering" • "A Dish Served Cold" • "Forewarned and Three-Armed" • "Working Miracles" • "Cat and Mouse" • "Housewarming" • "Memoriam"• "Chekov's Challenge" • "My Name is Mudd" • "The Lost Noel"
Misc. short stories	"Though Hell Should Bar the Way" • "Conflicting Natures" • "The Avenger" • "Night Whispers" • "Just Another Little Training Cruise" • "Safe Harbors" • "Ill Winds" • "The Greater Good"
Misc. novellas & short novels	"The Business, As Usual, During Altercations" • "The Badlands, Part I" • "One Giant Leap" • "The First Artifact" • "The Sorrows of Empire" • "A Less Perfect Union" • "The Chimes at Midnight"

Timeline

published order
Previous story: Under Twin Moons	Star Trek II Short Stories	Next story: The Secret Empire
Previous story: Under Twin Moons Star Trek II Short Stories	TOS short stories	Next story: The Secret Empire Star Trek II Short Stories
Previous story: Under Twin Moons Star Trek II Short Stories	Stories by: William Rotsler	Next story: The Secret Empire Star Trek II Short Stories
chronological order
Previous adventure: Under Twin Moons Star Trek II Short Stories	Pocket Books Timeline	Next adventure: The Secret Empire Star Trek II Short Stories