1:[4,#B],8:[1,#I],52:[1,#I],101:[1,#I],113:[38,#I],153:[50,#I],204:[27,#I],232:[41,#I]@1“Tomorrow Is Yesterday” (TOS)@2Stardate 3113.2. The Enterprise is accidentally thrown back in time to 1969 after near collision with black hole, where the starship’s appearance results in potential disruption of Earth history. This potential disruption is in the form of U.S. Air Force Captain John Christopher, accidentally taken aboard the Enterprise when the ship is sighted as a UFO in Earth’s atmosphere. Research suggests Christopher’s inadvertent abduction would prevent him from fathering a child who, according to records, will lead the first successful Earth-Saturn probe. Kirk leads a landing party to Earth’s surface to avoid altering history before the Enterprise can employ the light-speed breakaway factor to return to present day.
Editors’ Note: When Air Force Captain Fellini threatens to lock Kirk up “for two hundred years,” Kirk wryly responds, “That ought to be just about right.” If taken literally, this conflicts with the basic assumption that the original Star Trek series is set 300 years in the future. One might, on the other hand, grant Kirk a bit of poetic licence in what seemed to be a pretty tough situation. (See also the Editors’ Note after “Space Seed” [TOS]).
Kirk’s line to Captain Christopher establishes that there were only twelve Constitution class starships in the Starfleet at this point. Despite the fact that the term “Starfleet Command” had been established several episodes earlier, the operating authority for the Enterprise is described in this episode as being either Starfleet Control (heard in a Starfleet comm voice over the radio) or the United Earth Space Probe Agency (mentioned by Kirk to Christopher). See also the Editors’ Note following “The Naked Time” (TOS).
~1:[5,#B],9:[2,#I],16:[2,#I],30:[1,#I],76:[1,#I],108:[6,#I],116:[1,#I],167:[8,#I]@1“Return of the Archons” (TOS)@2Stardate 3156.2. The U.S.S. Enterprise investigates the loss of the Starship Archon, which disappeared near planet Beta III in 2167. Landing party discovers the Archon had been destroyed by a sophisticated computer that acts to protect and provide for the planet’s inhabitants. The self-aware computer system, known as “Landru” to the planet’s inhabitants, self-destructs when it realizes it has become harmful to the society it was designed to protect.
• Enterprise sociologist Lindstrom and a team of experts remain on planet Beta III to help the native inhabitants, now free of Landru’s control, guide their culture back to a more normal form.
After “Return of the Archons” (TOS).
• The Enterprise heads for star cluster NGC 321 under orders from Federation Ambassador Robert Fox. Thousands of Federation lives have been lost in the region over the past twenty years, and it is hoped that a treaty port can be established at planet Eminiar VII to help avoid future loss of life.
Just prior to “A Taste of Armageddon” (TOS).
~1:[5,#B],9:[2,#I],22:[2,#I],38:[1,#I]@1“A Taste of Armageddon” (TOS)@2Stardate 3192.1. The U.S.S. Enterprise is warned to remain away from planet Eminiar VII, where the Starship Valiant had disappeared in 2217. Despite a Code 710 forbidding contact, Ambassador Fox orders the Enterprise to make contact with the local planetary government. The ship’s crew is declared a casualty in a computerized war with neighboring planet Vendikar, according to Eminiar official Anan Seven. Kirk, acting to protect his ship, causes the war agreement to be abrogated, resulting in both sides suing for peace rather than facing actual armed combat.
~1:[3,#B],7:[2,#I],31:[3,#I],89:[1,#I],112:[14,#I],128:[57,#I],187:[11,#I],199:[19,#I],220:[14,#I],236:[26,#I],264:[15,#I],286:[16,#I],304:[13,#I],320:[34,#I],355:[5,#I]@1“Space Seed” (TOS)@2Stardate 3141.9. The Starship Enterprise detects a distress signal from old DY-100 interplanetary space vehicle, adrift near the Mutara sector. Investigation determines the craft to be the S.S. Botany Bay, a sleeper ship carrying refugees from Earth’s Eugenics Wars.
One surviving passenger on the ship is identified as Khan Noonien Singh, former dictator of one-quarter of planet Earth. Captain Kirk renders an administrative ruling permitting Khan and his shipmates to settle on planet Ceti Alpha V. Also choosing to settle on Ceti Alpha V is Enterprise historian Marla McGivers, charged with acting improperly in rendering aid to Khan during an unsuccessful bid to take control of the ship.
Editors’ Note: There is a possible inconsistency in Kirk’s mention to Khan that the Botany Bay had been in transit for about two centuries. Given a 1996 launch, this would put the episode at about 2196, instead of 2267. One might rationalize that Kirk was not giving an exact figure, or that he was making a deliberate effort to avoid giving Khan accurate information. It is likely that the producers of the original Star Trek series had not yet tied down a specific date for the Enterprise’s adventures at this relatively early point in the show’s production. Another point: If the first season of the original Star Trek series was indeed two hundred years in the future, it would mean that the S.S. Valiant (from “Where No Man Has Gone Before”), which was lost 200 years prior to the episode, would have been launched around 1965. The notion that the Botany Bay was found near the Mutara Sector is, of course, purely based on circumstantial evidence from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
An inconsistency is the fact that the character of Chekov was not yet part of the Star Trek cast when “Space Seed” was filmed, although Khan claimed to remember him in Star Trek II. Writer Ron Moore speculates that Kirk may have been breaking the rules in releasing Khan, and that he therefore never told Starfleet about the settlement on Ceti Alpha V. This could explain why the Reliant’s crew knew nothing about Khan.
~1:[5,#B],9:[2,#I],73:[1,#I],109:[2,#I],122:[8,#I]@1“This Side of Paradise” (TOS)@2Stardate 3417.3. The U.S.S. Enterprise investigates the Omicron Ceti III colony, believed to be seriously endangered by prolonged exposure to lethal Berthold rays. Medical tests show all colonists to be in perfect health, a phenomenon later found to be due to the effects of a symbiotic alien spore which also protected the colonists from the Berthold rays. The spores also had unusual psychological effects upon their hosts. Enterprise personnel are also affected by these spores, but exposure to intense subsonic energy is found to nullify their effects.
• Fifty mining personnel on planet Janus VI are killed by a mysterious subterranean entity. The Starship Enterprise is summoned by colony administrator Vanderberg to help investigate the deaths.
Prior to “The Devil in the Dark” (TOS).
~1:[6,#B],10:[2,#I],133:[1,#I],136:[19,#I],161:[40,#I]@1“The Devil in the Dark” (TOS)@2Stardate 3196.1. The U.S.S. Enterprise arrives at Janus VI pergium mining colony to probe mysterious deaths. Investigation determines the deaths to have been caused by a silicon-based indigenous life-form known as a Horta. Further investigation reveals the Horta to be intelligent and the killings to have occurred in self-defense after miners inadvertently damaged the Horta’s underground egg chamber when opening a new level three months ago. Peaceful relations are established with the newly discovered life-form.
• Negotiations with the Klingon Empire over disputed areas of space are reported in danger of breaking down. Starfleet Command anticipates a possible surprise attack by the Klingons, who have just issued an ultimatum to withdraw from disputed areas. Starfleet learns the Klingons have invaded the planet Organia, and orders the Enterprise to intervene.
Prior to “Errand of Mercy” (TOS), according to Kirk.
Editors’ Note: This back story was also alluded to in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which suggested that hostilities with the Klingons had extended back as far as 2223, 70 years prior to that film and in “Day of the Dove” which together suggest that first contact with the Klingons had taken place in 2218.
~1:[4,#B],8:[2,#I],105:[12,#I],119:[127,#I]@1“Errand of Mercy” (TOS)@2Stardate 3198.4. The Starship Enterprise is assigned to prevent an anticipated Klingon incursion at Organia, a planet believed to be inhabited by an agrarian humanoid culture of relatively low technical sophistication. This incursion becomes the focal point of the long-simmering dispute between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, threatening to erupt into interstellar war.
Local planetary government declines offer of Starfleet assistance, at which time the true noncorporeal form of the Organians is discovered. The immensely powerful Organians announce the imposition the Organian Peace Treaty on both the Klingons and the Federation, predicting that the two adversaries would become friends.
Editors’ Note: This episode marks the first appearance of the Klingons in Star Trek. It is interesting to note how the Klingons evolved over the years from being relatively simplistic villains into a complex, aggressive, yet highly honorable and tradition-bound society. Similarly, it is interesting to note how the look of the Klingons continually evolved as makeup and costuming techniques (and budgets) improved over the years. Dorothy Fontana tells us that the Klingons were used more often than the Romulans in the original series because their makeup was simpler, and therefore less expensive. Fontana notes that she felt the Romulans offered more interesting elements as adversaries, but that the tightly budgeted show just couldn’t afford all those pointed ears! Nearly three decades after “Errand of Mercy” (TOS) was filmed, actor John Colicos reprised his role of Kor in “Blood Oath” (DS9).
~1:[8,#B],15:[2,#I]@1“The City on the Edge of Forever” (TOS)@2(No stardate given in episode.) The U.S.S. Enterprise investigates a time/space distortion phenomenon, later discovered to be a time portal, an artifact of an ancient dead civilization. While treating helmsman Sulu for injuries suffered during a shipboard mishap, ship’s surgeon Leonard McCoy is accidentally injected with an overdose of cordrazine. Suffering from the resulting paranoid delusions, McCoy flees through the time portal, effecting disastrous changes in Earth’s history. Kirk and Spock follow in an attempt to undo the damage. While searching for McCoy in the past, Kirk falls in love with a social worker named Edith Keeler. Although Kirk and Spock are ultimately successful in restoring the time continuum, the mission is made infinitely more difficult when Kirk learns that to repair the damage, he must permit the death of Keeler.
~1:[3,#B],7:[2,#I],149:[99,#I]@1“Operation: Annihilate!” (TOS)@2Stardate 3287.2. The Starship Enterprise makes an unsuccessful attempt to save the pilot of a small spacecraft on a course directly into the sun of the planet Deneva. Further investigation reveals that the entire population of the Deneva colony (approximately 1,000,000 individuals) had been infected by a parasite that dominates its host through control of the nervous system.
Among the victims are Kirk’s brother, George Samuel Kirk, and his sister-in-law, Aurelan Kirk. They are survived by their son Peter Kirk.
This same parasite, which was apparently of extragalactic origin, was also believed responsible for planetwide infestations in the Beta Portalan system, on planet Lavinius V, and on Ingraham B. McCoy develops a means of eradicating the parasites by exposing them to high levels of ultraviolet radiation. Planetwide treatment of Deneva is effected through the use of 210 ultraviolet satellites placed into orbit around the planet.
Editors’ Note: In “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” James Kirk says his brother Sam has three sons. This seems to suggest that Sam has two other surviving sons besides Peter. That episode also indicated that Sam had wanted to transfer to the Earth Colony Two research station. Since Sam was apparently older than James, these other two sons may have been old enough to have been away at college, or pursuing careers of their own. The reason why Sam Kirk’s body bears such a family resemblance to his brother is that the part was “played” by William Shatner!
5.2 STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES – YEAR 2
~1:[2,#B],6:[2,#I],33:[1,#I],47:[1,#I],77:[5,#I]@1“Catspaw” (TOS)@2Stardate 3018.2. The U.S.S. Enterprise explores planet Pyris VII, making first contact with entities of unknown origin. These aliens are found to possess technology permitting transmutation of matter.
• The Enterprise is assigned to treat Assistant Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford for Sakuro’s disease. An Enterprise shuttlecraft is dispatched to pick up Commissioner Hedford from Epsilon Canaris III for transport to the ship. Hedford had been assigned to Epsilon Canaris III to prevent a war.
Just prior to “Metamorphosis” (TOS).
~1:[2,#B],6:[2,#I],39:[1,#I],57:[50,#I]@1“Metamorphosis” (TOS)@2Stardate 3219.8. The Shuttlecraft Galileo, carrying Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Commissioner Hedford, loses control and makes an emergency landing on a planetoid in the Gamma Canaris region. The shuttlecraft is successfully recovered, along with the missing Enterprise personnel, but the terminally ill Commissioner Hedford chooses to remain behind and is presumed to have died.
Editors’ Note: In the episode Kirk and company meet Zefram Cochrane and his mysterious friend, the Companion, but later promise not to reveal Cochrane’s whereabouts. We therefore assume that historical records based on Kirk’s logs would not include any mention of Cochrane, Hedford’s recovery, or the Companion on the planetoid.
~1:[3,#B],7:[2,#I]@1“Friday’s Child” (TOS)@2Stardate 3497.2. The U.S.S. Enterprise is assigned to negotiate a mining treaty with inhabitants of planet Capella IV. Also bidding for rights is a Klingon agent. Negotiations are complicated by local power struggle, resulting in selection of a new leader, whose regent agrees to a treaty with the Federation. The new leader, an infant chosen according to Capellan law, is named Leonard James Akaar, in recognition of the assistance of Leonard McCoy and James Kirk in maintaining Capellan independence.
~1:[5,#B],9:[1,#I],67:[2,#I],101:[7,#I]@1“Who Mourns for Adonais?” (TOS)@2Stardate 3468.1. The Enterprise, collecting data on planets in the Beta Geminorum system, discovers a previously unknown life-form near planet Pollux IV. This life-form, identifying itself as Apollo, was apparently the last of a group of entities that resided on ancient Earth, and claimed to be the basis of the Greeks’ myths of the gods.
• Spock, under the influence of pon farr, the Vulcan mating drive, ceases eating and becomes severely withdrawn. Dr. McCoy later examines Spock and expresses the opinion that Spock must return to his home world within a week or die.
Three days prior to “Amok Time” (TOS).
~1:[3,#B],7:[2,#I],56:[1,#I],75:[2,#I],120:[2,#I],162:[6,#I],170:[2,#I],217:[7,#I]@1“Amok Time (TOS)@2Stardate 3372.7. The U.S.S. Enterprise is on a diplomatic mission to planet Altair VI. Kirk, acting against Starfleet orders, diverts the ship instead to planet Vulcan so that Science Officer Spock may return to his native world to fulfill the normal Vulcan seven-year mating cycle.
On Vulcan, T’Pring, Spock’s betrothed, demands a Koon-ut-kal-if-fee challenge for the right of marriage. T’Pring later chooses instead to marry Stonn, thus freeing Spock.
• The U.S.S. Enterprise proceeds to planet Altair VI on its diplomatic mission, albeit a bit late. The mission entails participation in a presidential inauguration ceremony, expected to stabilize the entire Altair system after a long interplanetary conflict.
Just after “Amok Time” (TOS).
• Stardate 4202.1. The Starship Constellation, under the command of Commodore Matt Decker, encounters several destroyed solar systems, presumably including system L-370. Science officer Masada reports the fourth planet of system L-374 seems to be breaking up, but heavy subspace interference prevents notification of Starfleet Command.
Prior to “The Doomsday Machine” (TOS).
• The Starship Constellation is nearly destroyed by an automated weapon of unknown origin. In an effort to save his crew, Commodore Matt Decker transports the ship’s company to the third planet of system L-374, but all are subsequently killed when the robot weapon destroys that world as well.
Just prior to “The Doomsday Machine” (TOS).
~1:[4,#B],9:[2,#I],17:[2,#I],34:[1,#I],54:[1,#I],148:[1,#I],160:[1,#I],179:[9,#I]@1“The Doomsday Machine” (TOS)@2(No stardate given.) The U.S.S. Enterprise, responding to a distress call from Starship Constellation, discovers widespread destruction in solar systems L-370, L-374, and other systems in the sector. The Constellation is discovered to be derelict, apparently attacked by an immensely powerful force. Commodore Matt Decker, in command of the Constellation, is found to be the sole surviving crew member. Decker reports his findings on the nature of the automated planet killer, theorizing that it is of ancient extragalactic origin. Tactical projections suggest that if unchecked, this device will pass through the most densely populated portion of the galaxy near the Rigel colonies. In an effort to prevent this, Decker pilots a shuttlecraft on a suicide mission into the “doomsday machine.” Decker is unsuccessful, but data from his attempt are used to conduct a second effort, using the more powerful reactors from the derelict Constellation. The second attempt is successful, resulting in the destruction of the Constellation and the deactivation of the planet-killer.
• Engineering officer Montgomery Scott is injured in an explosion aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Prior to “Wolf in the Fold” (TOS).
~1:[5,#B],130:[5,#I]@1“Wolf in the Fold” (TOS)@2Stardate 3614.9. Engineering officer Scott, on therapeutic shore leave on planet Argelius II, is accused of the brutal murder of a native woman. Inquiry by local authorities supports the accusation, and diplomatic relations between Argelius and the Federation are strained by two additional murders for which Scott is also accused. Further investigation reveals the presence of a previously undiscovered energy entity which feeds on the emotion fear in humanoids. It is further discovered that this life-form was the actual cause of the murders, as well as numerous other previously unsolved crimes.
• The four planets of the Malurian system are attacked by an unknown agency. More than four billion people are wiped out, including members of a Federation science team headed by Dr. Manway.
