Captives in Space

Captives in Space was a Star Trek: The Original Series comic strip published in. It was the third of 11 annual stories in the UK comic strips series, and was printed along with the comic strip "Planet of Rejects" and short story "Gateway to the Future" in TV21 Annual 1971.

Publisher's description

 * Omnibus teaser
 * The Enterprise visits Skur, a world inhabited by sentient felinoids and humanoid beasts. When Scotty's bigoted rudeness offends planetary leader Zeldon, the landing party is thrown in a zoo.

Summary
Kirk beamed down with Spock and Montgomery Scott for a diplomatic visit to the planet Skur. As they neared a city, they thought they saw a farmer, but it was actually a caveman with only an animal's intelligence. Using their translator communicator, they spoke with Ambassador Meng, a felinoid — who was as surprised by the landing party's resemblance to his world's humanoid beasts as they were. Scott was particularly disturbed by it.

Relations were strained when Meng introduced the Starfleet representatives to his father, supreme head Zeldon. At a banquet, Scott rudely commented on Skurian table manners. Deeply offended, Zeldon locked the men in a zoo and ordered the destruction of the Enterprise.

Kirk effected a quick jailbreak and let some captive beasts loose as a distraction. When Meng and armed guards pursued, Kirk hoped to jump them and retrieve the communicator. Suddenly the felinoids were overrun by beasts. Kirk dove for a dropped rifle and shot an attacking humanoid to save Meng's life. In gratitude, Meng returned the communicator. Later, as the landing party prepared to beam up, Meng saw them off, hoping that one day their species might understand each other.

Characters

 * James T. Kirk • Meng • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Nyota Uhura • Zeldon • unnamed Skurians

Starships and vehicles

 * USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) ( heavy cruiser) • hovercraft

Locations

 * Skur

Jupiter

Races and cultures

 * Human • Skurian • Vulcan

Science and technology

 * communications • translator communicator • evolution • gun • rifle • universal translator • transporter

Ranks and titles

 * ambassador • captain • chief engineer • farmer • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • first officer • • lieutenant • skipper • Starfleet ranks • vice regent

Other references

 * animal • atmosphere • beam • city • civilization • felinoid • minute • space • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • tree • zoo

Production history

 * 1971 : First printed in TV21 Annual 1971 (City Magazines)
 * December 2016 : Reprinted in the omnibus The Classic UK Comics, Volume 2 (IDW Publishing)

Background

 * Montgomery Scott's bigotry in the story was unusual, particularly given his later service with Lieutenant Shiboline M'Ress.
 * As with many stories in the UK comic strips series, a universal translator was built into some of their communicators, foreshadowing this development in later Star Trek series.
 * The publication date was September 1, 1970. (Amazon.com.)

Related stories

 * – In 2266, Yerba cavemen imprisoned in zoos on Hercula led a revolution for their freedom.
 * – In 2266, Kirk and his rescue party were captured by Mantis and locked in a zoo.
 * – In 2270, two Starfleet landing parties were trapped in a zoo on Lactra VII.