"Space Ark" was a TOS coloring book, one of three 17" x 22" giant-sized books published in 1978. In this story, the USS Enterprise rescued various endangered animals on a planet threatened by a supernova.
Summary
Following the supernova of a giant star in an uncharted region, the USS Enterprise is ordered to search for intelligent life in neighboring systems ahead of the blast radius. After hours of searching, scanners locate a small planet with an abundance of life, but nobody answers the ship's hails. A landing party materializes in a jungle paradise full of exotic-looking birds, small elephants with antlers, and wildlife resembling hippopotamus, parrots, mice, giraffes, and there's even a two-headed rabbit. But they find no signs of sapient life.
Because they don't have much time, James T. Kirk prepares to beam back to the ship, but Spock notes that saving these endangered creatures could help make up for some of the careless man-made extinctions in Earth's history. Kirk gives them an hour to transport a cross-section of animal pairs off-world. Soon the starship is packed full of noisy beasts running amok. Kirk orders crew members to report to the workshop to start manufacturing crates and cages, and the Enterprise departs with only minutes to spare.
Starfleet Command locates a suitable habitat on a planet in the home quadrant. Once the Enterprise enters orbit, Kirk asks Scott to marshal clean-up duties while Spock beams down the animals. Kirk is disappointed in the messy condition of the ship and hopes it never happens again, while Spock compares their experience to Noah's.
References
Characters
- James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (landing party, transporter chief)
- Referenced only
- Noah
Starships and vehicles
Locations
- unnamed planets • unnamed stars and systems
- Referenced only
- Earth
Races and cultures
States and organizations
Science and technology
- communications • communicator • computer • intercom • memory bank • radio • scanner • transporter • viewscreen
Ranks and titles
Other references
- animal • assignment patch • atmosphere • beam • bicephaly • bird • bridge • cabin • day • development • elephant • extinction • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • flower • fruit • giant star • giraffe • grass • hippopotamus • home quadrant • hour • jungle • kitchen • landing party • life • minute • mouse • orbit • planet • plant • quadrant • species • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • starship • star system • sun • supernova • transporter room • tree • universe • water
Appendices
Background
- The book was 17" x 22" with a soft cover, newsprint interior pages, and a blank cardboard back cover, bound with staples and red tape.
- James T. Kirk couldn't recall the last time his ship was packed full of animals, suggesting that this story took place prior to the Enterprise being overwhelmed by tribbles, in TOS episode & Star Trek 3 novelization: The Trouble with Tribbles.
- Radiation or debris from the Beta Origii, Beta Niobe, Hobus, and Phi Puma supernovas also affected multiple systems like the one in this story.
- Liza Hamill and Don Dyen also produced "The Unchartered World" and "War in Space" in 1978.
Related stories
- TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Voyage Home – The extinction of humpback whales threatened Earth's future in 2286.
- TOS comic: "A Book to Color, third story" – In 2267, the USS Enterprise restocked animals after an animal epidemic on Earth.
- Supernovas also had systems-wide impact in:
Images
Connections
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: first story |
Giant coloring books | Next story: The Unchartered World |
| Previous story: first story |
Stories by: Liza Hamill |
Next story: The Unchartered World |