The Covenant of the Crown

As a young officer, Kirk worked closely with Stevvin, king of the planet Shad. The planet was suffering through a civil war sparked by the Klingons. The situation grew dire, and Kirk and the other Federation people withdrew, evacuating Stevvin and his family, in hopes that they could soon return.

18 years have passed, and the situation has finally calmed enough that the return of the monarch might be sufficient to quash the civil war altogether. Kirk is the only man Stevvin trusts to bring him back to his planet, so the Enterprise is sent to collect him and bring peace to Shad.

However, Stevvin has grown old. He is in no condition to make the trip back to Shad. Instead, he plans for his daughter, Kailyn, to take his place. To become queen of Shad, she must wear the crown and demonstrate that she possesses the Power of Times, an ESP-like ability of the ruling family.

Stevvin hid the crown on another planet, so they must first retrieve it. And the Klingons remain a threat: they have a strong interest in preventing Kailyn from returning to Shad and ending the civil war in favor of the traditional rulers, and thus the Federation, their allies.

Spock and McCoy accompany Kailyn to Sigma 1212 to retrieve the crown. The planet is inhospitable, and they encounter great difficulty in reaching Shirn O'tay, the man who hid the crown for Stevvin. Additionally, Kailyn is uncertain that she will be able to demonstrate the Power of Times–and her own uncertainty could be enough to decide the matter. She is not even able to give herself injections of holulin, needed to treat her choriocytosis.

She grows through these hardships, and in the end is able to awaken the power, and become queen of Shad.

Notes

Guest stars

• King Stevvin: The king of the planet Shad, living in exile due to the ongoing civil war.
• Kailyn: The king's daughter and future ruler of Shad.
• Paul Harrington: An admiral. English.
• Shirn O'tay: A native of Sigma 1212. He was educated off-planet, and returned to lead his people. Stevvin entrusted him with the keeping of the Crown of Shad.

Regulars

• Kirk: We learn that Kirk spent a year on the planet Shad, growing close to King Stevvin as he attempted to quell the civil war.
• Spock: He tells Kailyn that his childhood on the planet Vulcan was difficult, due to his being half-human, leading to his emotional development being slower than others; Vulcans are not immune to emotion, and he "was a victim of one–a remnant of bigotry." (162)
• McCoy: McCoy is feeling his age. When the story begins, he's grumpy because it's his birthday. He becomes romantically entangled with Kailyn, but eventually turns her down, explaining that their lives must take different paths.

Connections

• McCoy thinks about his "daughter Joanna, now grown and practically a stranger to him" (48).
• Kailyn has choriocytosis, a disease introduced in "The Pirates of Orion".
• The Klingons must work indirectly on Shad, because they don't want the Organians to interfere. This is a result of the peace treaty instituted in "Errand of Mercy".

Trivia

• Kirk tells McCoy: "You're a doctor, not a plant." (19)
• Don Quixote is mentioned as one of Kirk's favorite books (45).
• McCoy tells Kailyn that she feels close to them due to "crisis syndrome", and her feelings will fade when they're out of danger. (138)
• McCoy is a psychiatric specialist. (157)
• Vulcan children undego a test, the kahs-wan ordeal, "a test of physical stamina and wits that marks the passing from childhood to maturity." (161)