Ishmael ( novel ) " The " Enterprise " has only a few baffling clues to find Spock – somewhere in the past ! " Ishmael is a Pocket TOS novel – # 23 in the numbered series – written by Barbara Hambly . Published by Pocket Books , it was first released in . Summary . Chapter 1 . The " Enterprise " is on a visit to Starbase 12 , set up to study the nearby Tau Eridani Cloud , through which a white dwarf star is passing . A Klingon ore transport is also present and the Klingon cruiser " Rapache " is nearby . The transport , however , is giving off unusual power readings and has more crew than is usual for such a ship . Spock goes aboard to investigate , but does not show up for a scheduled rendezvous later , apparently because he is still on the transport . This suddenly accelerates to a high warp speed and vanishes into the cloud . Spock has time to send a cryptic message " " White dwarf . Khlaru . Tillman ' s Factor . Guardian " " and another consisting of a series of numbers ( 18 , 60 , 7 ) before the transport vanishes . Chapter 2 . The scene shifts to the Pacific Northwest of the United States around Seattle , a primitive logging town . The time is apparently the mid - nineteenth century . Spock is found in the forest , unconscious and showing signs of having been tortured , by Aaron Stemple , a prominent local businessman . He recognizes that Spock is an extra - terrestrial and that he would probably be done to death if taken back to Human society of the time . He takes Spock to his isolated cabin at Eagle Head Point , intending to nurse him back to health . He is visited there by Lottie Hatfield , proprietress of a saloon bar in Seattle , with whom he shares the secret of Spock ' s existence and extraterrestrial nature . Returning to her saloon , Lottie sees two Klingons . She recognizes them as alien and evil , but wrongly concludes they and Spock must be the same species . She decides to go back to Eagle Head Point and warn Stemple , but is prevented from doing so by bad weather . Chapter 3 . Spock regains consciousness , suffering from amnesia , but surprising Aaron with his command of English . He seems to be sinking into a malaise from which he may die , but Aaron more or less forces him to cheer up . His damaged memory tells him that he came from the stars . Stemple offers him an accounting job in his mill . Chapter 4 . Back in the 23rd century , Kirk discusses Spock ' s message with Maria Kellogg , commander of Starbase 12 . They theorize that the " Guardian " he mentioned was the Guardian of Forever and that Khlaru refers to a place of that name on Klinzhai , the Klingon home world . She then realizes that there is also a Klingon historian called Khin Khlaru currently at Starbase 12 . Tillmann ' s Factor is a mathematical constant to do with acceleration past light - speed . Maybe the Klingons have used the cloud and the white dwarf to create a time slip . The numbers in the second message might be a date . They consult with the Vulcan historian Trae , who is also on the station . He tells them some Klingon history . The Klingons were conquered by a race called the Karsids centuries ago . Karsid strategy was to locate preindustrial societies and offer them economic and other help . This would lead to increasing interference on their part in those societies until they took over completely . The Klingons succumbed to this , but later rebelled and succeeded in overthrowing the Karsid Empire around the late 19th century , Earth time . Chapter 5 . Aaron brings Spock to Seattle and introduces him to Lottie . They agree to pass him off as Aaron ' s nephew , giving him the name Ishmael Marx . We learn that the women living in a dormitory near Lottie ' s saloon have been brought from the East Coast by the Bolt brothers – Jason ( the oldest ) , Joshua , and Jeremy ( the youngest ) – to provide wives for the loggers . Jason and Aaron have a bet on regarding the title to Bridal Veil Mountain . If not all the women , among whom are Candy Pruitt and Biddy Cloom , are married within a year of their arrival , title to the mountain passes to Aaron . Chapter 6 . Ishmael / Spock has been accepted by everyone in the Seattle community . One evening at the cabin on Eagle Head Point , Jeremy Bolt asks Candy Pruitt to marry him . Wrongly thinking that he is not sincere and is only asking her as part of Jason Bolt ' s campaign to marry off all the girls , Candy furiously refuses and storms out , despite the very heavy rain falling at the time . Jeremy follows her . The two do not arrive in Seattle and a search party , including Ishmael / Spock , goes looking for them . Ishmael / Spock ' s superhuman hearing enables him to hear them singing and they are found where they had taken refuge in an abandoned mine . Since none of the Humans could hear the singing , Aaron has to explain away the fact that Ishmael / Spock could , to calm suspicions about him . Ishmael / Spock worries , despite Aaron ' s reassurances , that he may have inadvertently done something to cause an unremembered mission to fail . We learn in this chapter that the year is 1867 . Chapter 7 . Kirk and Maria Kellogg consult with Drelb astrophysicist Aurelia Steiner . She confirms that it would be possible for the Klingons to use the Tau Eridani cloud to effect time travel and begins work on how the " Enterprise " could do the same . Kirk and Kellogg agree that 1867 in Spock ' s message most likely refers to that year in the Christian calendar , since other possibilities yield no meaningful results . Chapter 8 . Aaron and Ishmael / Spock are in San Francisco with Joshua Bolt , staying at a boarding house run by a Mrs . O ' Shaughnessy . One of the other guests is Sarah Gay who reveals a quick and precise intelligence during a complex logistical game played over tea . The same evening , Aaron is assaulted by two men . Again thanks to Ishmael / Spock ' s superhuman hearing , he and Joshua are able to intervene in time to prevent Aaron from coming to any harm beyond a sprained ankle . Sarah , who works as a nurse at St . Brendan ' s Hospital , provides medical attention . Chapter 9 . Returning late at night from shore leave on Starbase 12 , Sulu and Uhura interrupt a Klingon attempt to kill the Vulcan historian , Trae . Kellogg tells Kirk that Khin Khlaru has left the base , bound for the Klingon Empire , having been kept incommunicado for some time before his departure . Trae concedes that this and the Klingons ' attempt on his life have given away that something is afoot . He agrees to help Kirk and the others discover what it is . Chapter 10 . Back at Seattle , Biddy Cloom has moved in with Aaron and Ishmael / Spock to help care for Aaron while his ankle heals . Ishmael / Spock tries to convince Aaron that the bet he has with Jason Bolt is unfair to the girls . We learn that not many of the girls are still to be married – Biddy is one . Aaron accuses Ishmael / Spock of being sentimental , which he concedes . Later , during Sunday tea at the dormitory , Ishmael / Spock surprises Aaron and the others by singing a romantic sea shanty . Chapter 11 . Kirk , McCoy , Maria Kellogg , and Trae begin investigating what the Klingons were up to . They discover that the Klingon Imperial Representative tried to destroy the relevant records , but was foiled by Khin Khlaru . The records reveal that the Karsids began their attempt to subvert and take over Earth in 1868 or soon after , but their efforts were thwarted by stiff resistance from the first government they contacted , that of the United States . While they were still trying to overcome that resistance , the Klingon rebellions began that brought about the downfall of the Karsid Empire . The resistance was led by one man . Further investigation reveals that the man was the United States representative from Washington Territory – Aaron Stemple . Chapter 12 . The Bolt brothers visit Ishmael / Spock and tell him that Aaron has offered to let Jason have Bridal Veil Mountain for a straightforward cash payment of $ 50 , 000 . They propose a trip to San Francisco , to raise this money by gambling . Ishmael / Spock agrees to accompany them and to devise a system they can use to win the money . In San Francisco , they begin winning the money and romance blossoms between Joshua Bolt and Sarah Gay . Meanwhile , Jason Bolt is becoming curious about Ishmael / Spock ' s background and personality , particularly why he never loses his temper . In one of the casinos , he also sees two men he thinks he has seen somewhere before . One evening , after the four of them leave a casino with their winnings , some men attack and try to rob them . Mostly due to Ishmael / Spock ' s superhuman strength , they beat off the attackers without losing any money . Chapter 13 . In a conversation with Joshua Bolt , Sarah Gay reveals that she actually qualified as a doctor on the East Coast , but was not taken seriously in that role on the West Coast because she is a woman . She declines Joshua ' s marriage proposal . Later , Jason realizes that he had seen the two men he found familiar at Lottie ' s ( they are the Klingons she also saw there ) . While he and Jeremy are discussing it , Sarah turns up looking for Joshua , who was supposed to be having dinner with her but never showed up . They and Ishmael / Spock set out in search of him . Sarah and Ishmael / Spock encounter an eccentric Englishman who calls himself the " Emperor of the United States " who says he has found Joshua , after he has apparently been mugged . They find he has burns similar to those Ishmael / Spock had when Aaron found him near Seattle . Later , Jason begins winning large amounts of money by breaking with the system Ishmael / Spock devised for him ( while Ishmael / Spock is winning smaller sums at chess ) . He risks all their winnings so far on what he thinks is a winning hand . Chapter 14 . Unfortunately for him , it isn ' t and he loses all the money . The Bolts and Ishmael / Spock have to work their passage home on a cattle ship bound for Vancouver . Back in Seattle , Ishmael / Spock finds a piece of jewelry worn by Biddy Cloom enticingly familiar , but cannot place it . He again intercedes for Biddy with Aaron , who admits to liking her . He wants to win the bet , but would not mind losing it if that meant seeing Jason having to marry Biddy to win it . Jason later asks Ishmael / Spock whether he intends to ask Biddy to marry him . Ishmael / Spock makes up a story of hereditary insanity in his family to explain why he can ' t . Chapter 15 . Kirk , Kellogg and the others manage to pinpoint Aaron ' s location in both time and place . They speculate that the Klingons mean to eliminate him so that he cannot lead the resistance to Karsid attempts at intervention , leading to Earth being subjugated by the Karsids . The Federation would thus never come into existence . Chapter 16 . At a dance in Seattle to celebrate Jeremy Bolt ' s marriage to Candy Pruitt , Jason proposes to Biddy , but she turns him down , even though she is the only one of the East Coast girls still unattached . Sarah Gay arrives unexpectedly , having changed her mind about marrying Joshua . Aaron then asks Biddy to marry him and she accepts ; this means that since all the girls are spoken for , Jason has won the bet . While Aaron and Biddy are dancing , a message is brought to Aaron to ask him to go to the mill office . Ishmael / Spock then dances with Biddy until he sees two men evidently following Aaron out . He recognizes them as Klingons and the shock restores his memory . Leaving the dance , he is not in time to prevent the Klingons shooting Aaron , who is badly wounded , but not killed . Ishmael / Spock stops the Klingons finishing Aaron off and they leave , convinced he will die anyway . Chapter 17 . Ishmael / Spock is tending to Aaron ' s wounds , keeping him alive with blood transfusions . Sarah Gay marvels at the wounds , which have not healed , and then tells Ishmael / Spock that she knows he is not human . His skin tone and body temperature give him away to people with medical training . She also tells him it doesn ' t matter . Chapter 18 . The " Enterprise " arrives at Earth in 1867 . Spock ' s life signs are detected and Kirk beams down with McCoy to Aaron ' s cabin , where they find Spock tending Aaron . Biddy is also there . Ishmael / Spock tells her that he is taking Aaron away for medical treatment . Aaron will return after three days , but Ishmael / Spock will not . Biddy tells Ishmael / Spock that she turned down Jason Bolt because she loves Aaron . They then bid each other a surprisingly tender farewell . Chapter 19 . McCoy heals Aaron ' s injuries and Spock says goodbye to Aaron . Later , he fills Kirk and McCoy in on events since his disappearance , revealing that , historically , he was in Seattle in 1867 ; the Klingons ' attempts to change history were actually a part of that history . Returning to his quarters , Kirk calls up Spock ' s data in the computer and discovers that Spock is descended from Aaron Stemple and Biddy Cloom on his mother ' s side . Memorable quotes . " " I do not know what the range of that thing is , or why you want him dead , but I will kill you if you come near . " Spock had always been too logical to be much of an actor . He could never , he had always known , fake people out the way Captain Kirk did . But the anger that shook in his voice was genuine . The Vulcan half of his mind reflected detachedly that they would never associate such emotion with the Vulcan prisoner who had escaped them ; the Human half knew that the words were not a threat , but a promise . " " " " The Klingons had accomplished their mission , and departed . His own last link with his own time , his own world , was severed . He was alone , and he had failed . " " " " It was the nearest Kirk had ever seen Spock come to that sudden tangle of Human emotion that is between laughter and tears . " " " " Watching his face , Kirk saw that he realized , perhaps for the first time , that Aaron Stemple , and Biddy Cloom , and the Bolt brothers , and Lottie , and Candy , and Dr . Gay , were dead now . Had been dead for centuries . " " " " As Maria Kellogg had said , what was the point of being commander if you couldn ' t pull classified files now and again ? " "