Vulcan ' s Forge ( novel ) " In the tradition of " Sarek " and " Spock ' s World " . . . " Vulcan ' s Forge is a Pocket TOS novel – the first in the " Vulcan " series – written by Josepha Sherman & Susan Shwartz . Published by Pocket Books , it was first released in hardback in . Summary . This book explores Spock ' s decision to defy his father and the tradition of his people to join Starfleet , and it looks ahead to how the crew cope with the loss of Kirk to the Nexus . The story reveals the cold logic of the Vulcan mind , the ruthless pragmatism of the Romulan s , and the violent passion that sometimes erupts between them . And it shows Spock ' s adolescent rite of passage , how he first learned to deal with Human s on their own terms , and how much progress he has made over the years . The story introduces David Rabin , a Human who befriends Spock at his presentation at Mount Seleya , and the plot shows two intersections in the lives of Spock and Rabin , once as boys and then years later when both have the rank of Starfleet captain . The two plot lines run in parallel . In the earlier plot line , a dissident Vulcan visionary named Sered disrupts a ceremony at Mount Seleya and takes a group of hostages , both Vulcan and visiting Federation dignitaries . Sered ' s plan is to restore the qualities lost by the Vulcan people when they were sundered from the Romulans ; he brings in Romulan allies to further his end . Spock and Rabin , alone , trek across the harsh desert known as Vulcan ' s Forge , even across its volcanic heart , a hellish place known as the Womb of Fire . In a confused melee involving hallucinogenic lichen and improvised weapon s , Spock kills a Romulan to protect the hostages . Raised to respect life , even to the point of being a vegetarian , Spock is forced to take a life to protect others for the first time . He realizes that his curiosity about the universe is too large to be contained by the Vulcan Science Academy , and that peace sometimes requires effective action to secure the needs of the many . He applies to join Starfleet on the recommendation of David ' s mother , Captain Nechama Rabin . The conflict between Spock and Sarek erupts for the first time here . Many years later , Captain David Rabin is posted to a Federation outpost on the backward world of Obsidian , near the Romulan Neutral Zone . Rabin ' s efforts to protect the people of this radiation - scarred world makes little impact , partly due to a series of setbacks and unfortunate coincidences . When the wells of Kalara City are poisoned and the storehouses set ablaze , Rabin suspects the forces moving against him are more than just local malcontents . He calls for help , and the nearest Federation ship responding is the under the command of Captain Spock . Spock comes to the aid of his old friend Rabin , while Dr . McCoy comes to the planet to try to find solutions to the endemic problems of solar radiation , and Spock ' s second , Commander Uhura , holds the bridge while he is on the planet . Obsidian is a pre - industrial world with crowded cities and nomadic tribes , giving a Lawrence of Arabia cast to the setting . The local hermit " mahdi " turns out to be a certain familiar Vulcan , with a new contingent of Romulan henchmen . Again Rabin and Spock must cross hostile terrain , on a landscape that makes Vulcan ' s desert look positively lush by comparison . McCoy is captured by natives and Romulans . The story ends with logical introspection and a new transition . Spock ' s facility for dealing with non - Vulcans gives him new options .