The Next Item Up For Bid
| Star Traks: The Original Series | |
| Episode name | The Next Item Up For Bid |
|---|---|
| Season | The Lost Years |
| Episode number | 5 |
| Writer(s) | Alan Decker |
| Year | 2376 |
| Stardate | Unknown |
| Chronology | |
| Previous in series | Doggerel [TRK] |
| Next in series | So Happy Together [TRK] |
| Previous in timeline | A Deadly Shade Of Blue [WAY] |
| Next in timeline | Birds Of A Feather [VEX] |
Karina Durham finds herself in a whole lot of trouble when she gets mixed up with a piece of top-secret Dillon Enterprises technology.
Summary
Karina Durham is hired by one of Bradley Dillon's business rivals to transport a prototype subspace generator, which has been smuggled out of the Dillon Enterprises Research & Development facility. On her way to the drop site, she cuts through Shelliak space. The Shelliak aren't especially pleased at the trespass and capture her and her ship, both of which they say are now their property. Not having much use for a human woman or her ship, the Shelliak auction both off. Durham finds that she has been bought by Captain Alexander Rydell. Rydell tells her that her actual employer is Bradley Dillon, who used her to help him discover who was stealing items from his lab. Now he wants his subspace generator back. Unfortunately, it is hidden inside Durham's ship, the Acapella II, which was sold to John Simms, Jr. as a birthday present for his son. Rydell got involved when he saw the Shelliak announcement of the auction and her name.
They trace the Acapella II to the space port of Mirador. In a bar there, they are confronted by Spaanz and Taanz, who inform Durham and Rydell that Bradley Dillon has sent them to watch the humans' backs. Durham tries to buy her ship back from Simms' son, Johnny, who refuses. Rydell comes up with an alternate plan, getting himself a gig as a performer at Johnny's birthday party. While Rydell performs, Durham slips onto the Acapella II, retrieves the subspace generator, and then hides the Acapella II inside the generator. When she beams back to the ship she and Rydell have been using, Spaanz and Taanz are waiting for her. Rydell intervenes, and, after a fight, Durham is able to retrieve her ship, but she loses the generator to Spaanz and Taanz. Rydell and Durham go to see Bradley Dillon on Waystation. He has never heard of Spaanz and Taanz and is furious that Rydell and Durham lost his generator. Rydell and Durham go their separate ways, but they are much closer than they were before.
Featuring
- Karina Durham
- Captain Alexander Rydell
Also Featuring
Author's Comments
This is the first Star Traks story that I ever wrote using the first-person perspective. The only other time was for one of the stories in The Star Traks Reunion Special. In Please Hold For Oblivion, I'd had Rydell marry Karina Durham. It seemed like a fitting idea. Of course, when I wrote Oblivion, I had no clue that I would eventually have to go back and explain how this ended up happening. Durham hadn't been seen since Star Traks 2. In fact, I don't believe she's even mentioned again until Oblivion. When I decided to do "The Lost Years," one of the big things I knew I was going to have to do was reintroduce her. This is her first appearance, and I thought that a good way to handle the reintroduction was to do the entire story from her perspective.
Anybody who has ever seen the musical "The Phantom of the Opera" might recognize Durham's auction lot number.
This story is part of the Next Federation Arc.