A Book to Color, third story

A Book to Color, third story was the fourth licensed Star Trek: The Original Series story. Published by Saalfield Publishing in, it was the last of three untitled coloring book stories appearing in the anthology A Book to Color. The story was edited for its reprinting in Coloring Book C1856 in 1975.

In this story, the Enterprise helped restock Earth's zoos following an animal epidemic.

Summary
The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) came across a variety of spacecraft, space stations and satellites, including a vessel Spock recognized from the planet. Then Nyota Uhura received word that James T. Kirk was to report to headquarters, where he and Spock were given the ship's next assignment. An epidemic had killed many animals on Earth, and the Enterprise was tasked with bringing back Earth animals from other planets to repopulate several species.

Provisions and animals were loaded aboard the starship. A crewman noticed that one of the animals was unaccounted for – a chimpanzee, which was enticed off of a stack of boxes with a banana. The animals were safely delivered back to Earth.

Kirk shared details of their next assignments with Spock, Uhura and Hikaru Sulu. Their next mission was to find out why they hadn't heard from 150 colonists on Omicron, which Spock pointed out was surrounded by Berthold rays. Uhura realized there was no chance the colonists had survived. Sulu asked if they had to go, but Kirk affirmed that they were ordered to investigate. A later mission would be to visit a planet where inhabitants lived for centuries, which both Spock and Uhura looked forward to.

Characters

 * James T. Kirk • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (2260s) • unnamed Starfleet personnel

Starships and vehicles

 * USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) ( heavy cruiser) * Klingon battle cruiser • Onyx spacecraft • space station • rockets • spacecraft

Locations

 * Earth

Omicron •

Races and cultures

 * Human • Onyx native • Vulcan

Science and technology

 * satellite • communicator • environmental suit • microtape reader • PADD • stylus • tricorder • viewscreen

Ranks and titles

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

Other references

 * animal • apple • banana • bear • bridge • camel • chimpanzee • coffee • epidemic • hippopotamus • kangaroo • leopard • parrot • planet • platypus • rhinoceros • star • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • tiger • turtle • zebra

Chronology

 * The story took place immediately prior to, which was referenced at the end of the story.

Production history

 * : First printed in A Book to Color (Saalfield Publishing)
 * 1975 : Updated as the second of two stories in Coloring Book C1856 (Saalfield Publishing)

Background

 * Burton Marks updated the story for the 1975 edition. (Star Trek coloring books article at the Star Trek Comics Checklist website)

Edition differences

 * Animals
 * The 1967 edition included single-page drawings of a bear, kangaroo, turtle, and zebra. The escaped chimp knocked over a basket of apples and a pile of canned food.
 * The 1975 edition replaced those with drawings on one page of a bear, camel, hippopottamus, and leopard.
 * Briefing
 * In the 1967 edition, an officer briefed Kirk and Spock on the epidemic. He was seen on one page.
 * In the 1975 edition, the officer was seen on two pages, but on the second page he wore a beard and different clothes. The second illustration came from a different briefing in A Book to Color, second story.
 * Preface
 * In the 1967 edition, Onyx natives were unidentified and seen only from the back between the events of A Book to Color, first story and A Book to Color, second story. The preface was four pages long, showing illustrations of Kirk and Spock playing tennis at a "space center", a tricorder, microtape reader, and a "control center" building. Later, en route to picking up the animals, the Enterprise came across various ships and satellites, including a rocket labeled "USAF".
 * For the 1975 edition, the Onyx natives and spacecraft images were moved to the beginning of the story to create a new 12-page preface, with the ship encountering "heavy air traffic". The "USAF" label was removed, although that organization's logo remained on the ship's port side wing.
 * A new illustration was added showing the top view of a Klingon battle cruiser. The 1967 edition could not include such a drawing — the vessel was introduced to Star Trek in September 1968, debuting that month in  and.
 * Denouement
 * The 1967 edition contained a 12-page scene with a coffee break and discussion of future assignments.
 * The 1975 edition reprinted only the last page of that scene, as the Enterprise "starts off on its next mission". The coffee break was moved to the end of A Book to Color, second story.

Related stories

 * – Over dinner in 1986, Kirk claimed to Gillian Taylor that he was on a mission to repopulate the extinct species of humpback whale.
 * – In 2268, huge rampaging herds of dranzers threatened crops and colonists on Ribol II.