Hello fellow humans, it is I, Ric of Certifiably In Gam-eh. I am to be doing the fleshy speak-thing
about something that is not salt and therefore not important. But this is an episode of the
bestiary where I look into the lore surrounding some of the creatures that crop up in Star
Trek. Ones that generally don’t fit into other categories.
The creature we’re looking at today is a rather tragic one in the Star Trek mythos.
Originally, in ancient times, long before the Federation, the planet M-113 in the Beta
Quadrant not only supported a variety of lifeforms, but its own early civilization, numbering
millions. It is from this intelligent species that he M-113 creature is descended, but due
to a calamitous event, their entire culture collapsed, leaving the survivors to devolve
into more bestial and instinctual creatures. Although they retained their intelligence,
it’s arguably somewhat diminished from its former glory by instinct, yet it is enough
for them to be a cunning predator. The original civilization called their world
Fotialla and although seemingly always rather arid, it was still home to a multitude of
creatures according to the sculptures and designs left in their architecture that scatters
the surface of the now barren world. The surface gravity has been mentioned to be between 1
to 1.1 G and there remains plant life, hardy drybrush and poisonous plants on its surface
as well as some surface water. But there is no salt on the planet. The native
culture, and presumably much of the wildlife, judging by its absence, fed of sodium chloride
directly, making it the staple of their ecosystem. It’s not recorded how it all vanished, only
that it did, leaving the starving creatures to become tribal and nomadic as they roamed
the planet, looking for what little salt they could feed on, even if that meant extracting
it from other lifeforms. In 2261, archaeologist Professor Robert Crater
and his wife Nancy Crater moved to this furnace of a world to uncover the remnants of this
civilization, including temples and samples of their art and works. However, in 2265,
Nancy Crater was killed by the only living M-113 native discovered. In a remarkable act
of compassion(?), recognising the creature for what it was, Robert spared the “Salt
Vampire” as it became known to study. The Creature itself had two very separate
but useful features, its ability to extract salt from almost any object, mineral or organic
and its psionic camouflage. Physically, they were around 1.5 metres tall, with darkish
grey-green skin covered in sporadic white fur. Their face had a circular maw at the
end of a stunted snout and folded skin beneath recessed yellow eyes. Their humanoid limbs
sported three digits per hand which themselves were lined with numerous suckers. These were
the primary method of extracting sodium chloride from organic matter, along with its mouth,
where it could simply ingest it. They had two toes and the end of their feet and the
only one encountered in 2266 wore a rope-woven tunic, presumably fashioned by its own hand.
Its psychic abilities however are what made it truly dangerous. It used this telepathic
camouflage instinctively for protection and to ambush prey. It could project an image
to hide in plain sight or even as a lure. The illusion was based on what the viewer
expected or wanted to see, but what’s more, they could tailor the image to individuals.
Although perhaps “tailor” is the wrong term as it seems that they only detected,
and then projected an expectation and the viewer’s mind filled in the rest. In the
case if the 2266 encounter, both Robert Crater and Doctor McCoy saw the woman they expected,
Nancy Crater, while everyone else saw a different person, having never seen Nancy before. With
practice and exposure to the illusions however, you can see through the projection, probably
by shaking off the telepathic effects. The facade also covers audible effects, as the
creature never spoke outside of an illusionary form and again, the voices heard matched with
the expectations of the individual. This was never demonstrated over any intercom and this
is probably due to a limit of the telepathic range.
A fully adult Salt Vampire was also physically stronger than a Vulcan, and very durable,
although this likely depended on the amount of salt it had ingested.
Cloaked in its psionic shroud, the M-113 creature was an effective ambush predator. It would
close in on a selected victim, one that was preferably isolated and move into grasping
range. From there, it would either use its incredible strength to seize its target and
hold them in place or immobilise them with a form of psychic shock. Then the salt extractors
lining its palms and digits went to work at syphoning out the mineral from the organic
tissue of its prey. This was a very painful and lethal process to the victim. When satiated,
the Salt Vampire would release the depleted quarry, which was left with deep suction marks
across the grasped area, usually the head. A starving M-113 creature was far more likely
to attack, despite what intelligence remained, the fear of death leading them to risk attacks
that would expose its true nature. The Salt Vampire was resistant to phaser fire
to an extent, as with most menacing trek beasties, but higher settings could wound or kill it.
This was the unfortunate fate of the last known M-113 creature in 2266 and the species
is now listed as extinct as no further examples of it have been found.
Star Trek online once had a mission involving these creatures, but that has been removed
with a story revamp, so even in beta content it seems the species is pretty much gone.
Some extraneous lore remains from that time however which is rather interesting so I’ll
add that here too. The Salt vampires extract their meal form the very blood of the victim
and as such, Vulcans and other copper-based creatures were unpalatable to the being. The
ones in STO were suspected to have been biologically altered and dumped on the unsuspecting Romulan
populace by the Tal Shiar. What is canon however, is that by 2328, M-113
is home to a continuing archaeological centre of investigation as well as a prominent tourist
destination where people can visit to learn about the extinct culture. Humans and other
susceptible species, were told to take mineral supplements when visiting the uncomfortably
hot world to make up for those lost through excessive sweating if they were going to be
there for an extended stay. The entity known as Trelane also had a mounted creature in
his possession, but as an immortal, it’s unknown how long ago he obtained it.
The salt creature remains a rather prominent monster in Star Trek for both its terrifying
visage, but also the tragic history behind it, one reflected in its design. Its sentience
was never firmly established, but it clearly is a smart creature, but one whose intellect
is beholden completely to its baser instincts to survive. Its ambush behaviour was motivated
by hunger and it was intelligent enough to attempt to cover its tracks, but inexperienced
in creating a convincing mask for its actions, leading to it eventually being discovered,
which then made it feel even more cornered and threatened.
If a salt vampire was educated enough to suitably hide its presence however? Then you’d have
a creature that could blend right into any culture it wished and feed at whim. Right
until it walked in front of a security camera. For that matter, why did the transporter not
detect it as an alien being when they beamed it up? Unless the telepathic field kicked
in right as it materialised and everyone merely saw what they expected to see when scanning
it, human life signs. Is this a plot hole? Anyway, thanks for watching this bestiary
on the Salt Vampire. I remember it terrifying me as a kid but that’s what made it so cool.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time for another lore video. Until then, I’ve
been Ric, I promise and goodbye.