DROXINE (Diana Ewing), in the Cloud Minders episode of Star Trek (1966), was the daughter of Plasus, the High Adviser of Stratos on the planet Ardana. Eventually she succeeded her father as High Adviser and negotiated a compact with Vanna, political leader of the Troglytes. That compact has kept the peace on Ardana to this day and contributed to the prosperity of Stratos-dweller and Troglyte alike.Droxine lived a privileged life in the cloud city above the planet's surface. She, like her father, believed the Troglytes to be inferior beings.Then came an event that changed her life: the visit of USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Captain James T. Kirk commanding. Captain Kirk steered his ship to Ardana to collect a consignment of zenite, Ardana's unique money mineral, to combat a botanical plague on Merak II. She met the delegation from the Enterprise, consisting of Captain Kirk and his First Officer, Spock of Vulcan. She took quite an interest in Spock, who uncharacteristically referred to her as a work of art. A group of Troglytes, known as Disruptors, prevented the zenite delivery. With the result that Spock and Captain Kirk had to extend their stay. This gave Droxine the chance to get to know Spock better. She found his logical, advanced mind fascinating, but was troubled by his philosophical critique of the class system of Stratos. Under his influence, she began to question the beliefs she had always held, even as she continued to be repelled by the violence and brutality of the Disruptors. Droxine's father applied equally brutal methods, however, to try to force the Disruptors to give in.Ultimately, the chief medical officer of the Enterprise and his scientific staff found a solution to the problem. The Troglyte miners were suffering from the retarding effects of raw zenite, which emitted an odorless gas that lessened emotional control and intelligence. This explained how they had come to seem an inferior race to the privileged residents of Stratos, who benefited from their labor. By fitting them with simple masks, they could become the equals of their masters, emotionally and intellectually. However, Droxine's father continued to resist the change, while Droxine pined for her Vulcan love.Captain Kirk used an unorthodox method to resolve the situation: he kidnapped Vanna, the leader of the Disruptors, and Plasus, and trapped them in the mine with him and the gas. Ultimately, the effect of the gas became obvious as Kirk and Plasus attacked one another savagely. Plasus admitted the gas's existence and allowed the masks to be utilized. Vanna ordered her people to give the zenite to the Federation. On her parting with Mr. Spock, Droxine informed him that she preferred the aesthetic term Protectors as descriptions of the masks, and expressed a desire to end her isolation in the clouds, soon to visit the mines, and one day hopefully the planet Vulcan.Droxine was as good as her word, though she would not see Spock again for many years. She visited the mines, and began a dialog with Vanna--who, earlier in Droxine's life, had been a servant in the Plasus household. Eventually, Plasus retired from public life, and nominated Droxine to succeed him. And as soon as she took the civil command, she negotiated a permanent reform of Ardanan society--the Droxine-Vanna Compact. Among other provisions, the Stratos engineers built a new, much larger city where members of both classes could reside. The two classes needed a generation to trust one another. But that next generation produced leaders determined to end the class segregation forever.Spock did indeed visit Ardana again--after he had long retired from Starfleet and joined the Federation Diplomatic Corps. Ironically he lived long enough to see Droxine's grandson join Starfleet. By then, zenite was obsolete--but Ardana had become a center for the arts, in an era in which the most valuable gifts are intellectual, not material. Show less «