War in Space

War in Space was a Star Trek: The Original Series coloring book, one of three 18" x 22" giant-sized books published in 1978.

In this story, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was threatened by what seemed to be a spacial anomaly.

Summary
While en route to a diplomatic mission on Omega IX, the Enterprise was drawn off course by a massive gravitational field, one so strong that Spock suspected it could be a black hole. Debris drawn in by gravity rocked the ship. As they drew closer, Spock picked up life readings. Becoming suspicious, Kirk contacted Starfleet Command, who informed them that Klingon activity was reportedly high in the region, but their intentions were unknown.

Suddenly they were hailed by Klingon commander Jadar, who was proud to have ensnared the famous Captain James T. Kirk with the latest Klingon weapon, one which he claimed utilized similar principles to a black hole. The Enterprise would be crushed in less than four hours. After the crew researched options, Montgomery Scott climbed through a Jefferies tube and jettisoned some antimatter from the warp engines. The antimatter destroyed Jadar's gravitational field weapon, heavily damaging Jadar's ship but leaving the Enterprise with only moderate injuries and damage. Spock estimated that they could still reach Omega IX on time, and the ship resumed its course.

Characters

 * Jadar • James T. Kirk • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Uhura • unnamed Starfleet personnel (admiral) • unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (2260s)

Starships and vehicles

 * USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) ( heavy cruiser) • Jadar's battlecruiser

Locations

 * Interstellar space


 * Omega IX

Races and cultures

 * Human • Klingon • Vulcan

States and organizations

 * Federation • Starfleet Command

Science and technology

 * antimatter • communicator • engine • gravitational field weapon • intercom • Jefferies tube • memory bank • PADD • phaser • phaser rifle • viewscreen • warp three • weapon

Ranks and titles

 * captain • Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s)

Other references

 * asteroid • black hole • bridge • crew • gravitational field • gravity • life • light • quadrant • space • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • universe

Background

 * The book was 18" x 22" with a soft cover, newsprint interior pages, and a blank cardboard back cover, bound with staples and yellow tape.
 * The cover's watercolor paintings were all based on scenes from the story, except for the image of Kirk holding a phaser rifle, which did not happen in the story.
 * Liza Hamill and Don Dyen also produced "Space Ark" and "The Unchartered World" in 1978.
 * The book did not contain crosswords, games, or extra pages to color.
 * In the story, Kirk and Spock accurately discussed the nature of a black hole, noting that it would not be visible on the viewscreen and that not even light could escape it. In, Kirk professed to not have heard of a black hole, a story conceit so Spock could explain it for young readers.
 * Jadar's battlecruiser was shown only on the cover. The Enterprise was shown firing phasers on the cover, but the ship only released antimatter in the story.
 * Although he did not use the term, Jadar's weapon probably employed a microsingularity, much as 24th century Romulan Warbirds would later harness them as a power source.
 * Jadar resembled, particularly on the cover.
 * The Enterprise has been to the Omega system several times. . They also transported Omegan ambassador T'Ki there in.

Related stories

 * – tested a Klingon prototype stasis projector on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).

External link

 * Star Trek coloring books page at the Star Trek Comics Checklist website.