Robert D. Baker
Glen A. RITCHIE

Glen A. RITCHIE
Whatever their exoskeleton consists of, it would have to be resistant to being melted by acid (through nature or by design?). By the way, I'm sure I'll seem daft for a "Star Trek" fan, but I can't remember the Horta in "Star Trek" - who or what were they? Were they similar to these alien creatures? Which "Star Trek" series were they featured in?

Robert D. Baker
The Horta was in the "Original" series; one of my favorite episodes. The basic story line has miners being mysteriously killed, and so the Enterprise is sent in - it turns out that the mining operations are destroying the Horta's eggs, and she's one unhappy mama. (The Horta looked like a big rock, and traveled through the ground by tunneling, using acid to melt her way.) The miners thought the eggs were just "silicone nodules", if memory serves.

Anyway, there's the delightfully melodramatic mind-meld scene, and Bones utters another classic line: "Dammit, I'm a doctor, not a brick-layer!" The Horta had been injured by phaser fire, and once they figured out (via mind-meld) that it was really non- hostile, they called in McCoy to patch her up...and she's basically a big rock...;)

And, in Shatner's book, he tells a rather funny story about shooting the mind-meld scene. He wasn't on the set when Nimoy did his lines ("Pain! PAIN!!"),

and goes to work on Nimoy to do it again, for him, so he can better do his reaction shots. Nimoy didn't really want to (it's a bit over-the-top), but Bill convinces him. So, Nimoy is down on his hands and knees, pouring his heart into his craft, re-creating the scene for his fellow actor. When he gets to the "Pain!" bit, Shatner leaps up and yells, "Somebody get this Vulcan an aspirin!"