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story identification - What was the name of a Star Trek TOS "Choose Your Own Adventure" style book?


I remember in the late 90s reading a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style book where you were aboard the USS Enterprise alongside Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew. I believe that you were a cadet.


I know that it was not from the official Choose Your Own Adventure line, but it was a similar format. It was not a gamebook nor did it involve dice or anything; you were simply prompted to make a decision and turn to page X if you chose the first option or page Y if you chose the second option.


One thing I remember very distinctly about this was prompted by the question Has there ever been an instance in Star Trek where someone beamed into a solid object?. There was one scene in which you were in contact with a scientist on a planet and you, Spock, and Kirk are planning on beaming down. The scientist tells you to beam down to specific coordinates. Spock checks with the ship computer and finds that beaming down to the coordinates would place you within solid matter. You then have two options:




  1. Let Spock determine his own coordinates and beam down to those. It is successful and the scientist immediately apologizes for giving you the wrong coordinates.

  2. Use the coordinates he gave you. I'm pretty sure that your character says something like "He knows the planet better than we do and must have a good reason". However, you beam down straight into solid matter, resulting in a The End. I recall an illustration where it shows the ground with just your hair sticking out.


What was the name of this Star Trek TOS "Choose Your Own Adventure" style book?



Answer



gamebooks.org has a pretty complete list of "gamebooks" of the choose-your-own-adventure sort, and searching for "Trek" turns up two "Which Way" books based on TOS--the one you are thinking of would seem to be Star Trek: Phaser Fight, since searching for "solid" on its google books page turns up three snippets related to beaming into a solid object, the one from p. 95 seems to involve the reader getting killed:



You beamed down into solid rock! The only part of you that's visible above the rock is your hair!



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