"Yonder Is the Wolf That Makes This Spoil"

"Wolf in the Fold."
Story by Robert Bloch (1917-94; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and the IMDb HERE).
Adapted by James Blish (1921-75; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; the SFE HERE; and the IMDb HERE).
First appearance: Star Trek 8, 1972.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Novelette (32 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

   "The viewer was a riot of changing colors. Figures began to emerge from them. Serpents writhed through pentagons. Naked women, hair streaming behind them, rode astride the shaggy backs of goats. Horned beasts pranced with toads. Rivers boiled, steaming. Above them, embraced bodies drifted down fiery winds. Human shoulders, pinioned under rocks, lifted pleading arms. Then the red glow, shedding its bloody mist over the screen, gave way to the deathly whiteness of a cold, unending snow. Up from the glacial landscape rose a towering three headed shape, its mouths agape with gusts of silent laughter. A cross, upturned, appeared beside it. The shape crawled up it, suspending itself upon it in an unspeakable travesty of the crucifixion. Its vast, leathery wings unfolded . . ."

A therapeutic shore leave turns into a nightmare for Mr. Scott when he becomes the prime suspect in not one, not two, but three murders. And he's as prime as a suspect gets, being found in every case hovering over the victims with the murder weapon in his hand. For Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy it's going to take some real doing to clear their friend . . .

Main characters:
~ Kara, Scott, Kirk, McCoy, Mr. Hengist, Jaris, Sybo, Karen Tracy, Tark, Morla, Spock, Boratis—Kesla—Redjac, Tancris, Sulu, the nurse, and the Transporter Chief.

(Our title is from Henry VI, Part 3, Act 5, Scene 4.)

References:
- "Venusberg" (Wikipedia HERE)
- "The few polyesters" (Wikipedia HERE)
- "fleshpots" (Merriam-Webster HERE).

Resource:
- Well over a decade ago we dealt with the TV episode (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.
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