Issue 34 of Star Trek from Gold Key Comics was ready for fans in October 1975. It was once again written by Arnold Drake. It featured art by Alberto Giolitti and George Wilson continued to churn out wonderful cover paintings.

The issue’s splash page shows Kirk and Scotty in an underground chamber. They and the cave’s crystal being inhabitants are being attacked by a large crystalline monster. The inhabitants don’t seem to have any weapons to fight back – everyone is doomed!

The Enterprise is on a routine mineral and biological survey. Spock has discovered a planet nearby with highly intricate crystal structures. If he’s right, they may be of use in their technology. So the Enterprise settles into orbit and a landing party is assembled.

While Spock minds the store Kirk, McCoy and Scotty beam down to investigate. Arriving on the surface, they all suffer from headaches and think it’s a transporter malfunction. Butt perhaps its the way the crystals they discover resonate.

Kirk splits the group up to go around a butte. He says Scotty is a better climber than he is so Scotty is to going up and over while Kirk and McCoy split up to encircle it. If he’s such a good climber he should have gone with the gang to Yosemite in The Final Frontier.

During his climb, Scotty discovers a large crystal but before he can take a sample of it, it fires on him!

Then the crystal begins to show him a number of various images all relating to desires, fears and beliefs. It sees and explores all sides of his being, reflecting them back at him until he almost snaps and the crystal fires on him again.

Before Kirk can do the same thing with a crystal he’s come across, he’s summoned by Scotty’s cry. Rousing the engineer they go in search of McCoy before he can fall victim to one of the mind reading crystals. Oops, too late.

Before McCoy can cause anyone lots of grief, Kirk decks him and that seems to shake the doctor’s mind back into place. As they settle in for the night, it seems something has had an effect on Kirk as well. He attacks Scotty, convinced the engineer is getting ready to kill him. McCoy hits him with a narco-pellet (?) and renders the captain unconscious. When Kirk awakens he is fine again.

Kirk makes the decision that they should return to the Enterprise and come back better prepared. They are unable to contact the starship because something ,the crystals, are jamming the signal.

A crystal being arrives and disarms Scott. He introduces himself as Izor. He points out that the crystals that the landing party encountered are their young and some have been stolen, kidnapped, the thieves are unaware that they are living beings.

Kirk intentionally drops his open communicator as Izor guides them to his underground civilization. It is a world of intelligent crystal beings who sing and cavort and live in a kind of paradise. They have no fear or want yet, as the landing party points out, Izor is armed.

They are brought before the president who sentences them for what stealing the crystals – their children. Kirk and company didn’t do it, but someone did. Kirk attempts to explain but he isn’t believed and they are jailed (in a library as they have no prisons) to await their execution.

But Kirk and the landing party have missed their two check-ins so Spock beams to the surface to investigate!

The Vulcan is detected and is promptly captured. He joins the rest of the landing party. Before they can all be executed without a chance to prove their innocence an alarm goes off. It’s a Slourda – a crystal dragon! And it is heading to the city centre!

The locals are able to fend it off, but for how long? They are able to use some thought beams, but the slourda has developed an immunity over the years.

What if the landing party can help them beat the creature? Using their ‘alien’ thoughts and an infant crystal, they can create a deadly beam that may end the creature, save the crystal civilization and prove the Enterprise crew comes in peace. It works, and the crew leave behind some science texts to further the crystals education, and fight the slourda.

The enterprise heads on its way. Boldly going to the next issue where they will discover A Bomb in Time!