- This article is about the TOS episode and novelization. You may be looking for the IDW TOS comic story, Operation: Annihilate.
"Operation -- Annihilate!" was the 29th episode of Star Trek: The Original Series in the show's first season, first aired on 13 April 1967. The episode was written by Steven W. CarabatsosMA, directed by Herschel DaughertyMA and novelized as Operation—Annihilate! in Star Trek 2 by James Blish.
Summary[]
The USS Enterprise approaches Deneva. Captain Kirk is concerned; Uhura has been unable to contact any transmitter on the planet. Spock's research has revealed that a pattern of mass insanity has been spreading in a straight line through this part of the galaxy, and Deneva is next.
Sulu picks up a spacecraft on sensors. The small craft is on course directly for the Denevan sun, and does not appear to be out of control. Kirk orders a warp 8 interception course. The ship is out of range of the tractor beam; the Enterprise pursues. Finally, they make contact: seconds before the ship burns up, the pilot suddenly cries out, "I did it! It's finally gone! I'm free!!"
Kirk forms a landing party consisting of him, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Yeoman Zahra Jamal and Robert Abrams. Once on the planet, they are struck by the curious lack of people; in a city of 100,000 people, no one is visible – until, a few minutes later, they are attacked by four men who, even as they charge, scream, "Go away! We don't want to hurt you!" But, with their crude clubs, they try anyway, forcing the landing party to stun them, an attitude inconsistent with their actions. Then McCoy discovers that the unconscious men's nervous systems are violently active – as if these are somehow still being stimulated.
A scream draws them next to Kirk's brother's laboratory. Captain Kirk's brother, Sam Kirk, lies dead on the floor. Aurelan, Sam's wife, is hysterical, and their child Peter is unconscious nearby. Evidence suggests something has been trying to force its way in, despite the fact that the sensors showed nothing on Deneva that did not belong there.
Aurelan, in terrible pain, tells Kirk that "things" came, eight months ago, on a ship from Ingraham B. As she tries to answer Kirk's questions, she experiences more and more pain, until McCoy is forced to sedate her. The creatures use the Denevans as their arms and legs, and are forcing them to build ships. They control their hosts with pain. Aurelan's last act is to implore Kirk not to let the things go any further; this effort costs her everything she has left, and she dies.
Kirk rejoins the landing party; he knows there is some sort of creature present, but the landing party has not yet discovered anything beyond a curious buzzing. Entering a building where they heard this sound, the landing party discovers strange lifeforms. Looking like little more than jellyfish, the blastoneurons emit a bizarre buzzing noise, and employ a crude, wingless flight. A phaser at force 4 – sufficient to destroy most organisms – barely affects these creatures, even after several seconds of exposure. And the creatures do not register on Spock's tricorder.
Kirk orders the landing party out of the infested area; as they leave, a creature strikes Spock, leaving a strange puncture wound. McCoy removes a small strand of tissue, and then, over Nurse Chapel's objections, he closes the wound. The creatures attack by stinging; the neural parasites leave behind a piece of this tissue that rapidly infiltrates the victim's entire nervous system, far too completely for conventional surgery to remove it.
Spock recovers consciousness, charges out of sickbay and storms the bridge. His goal: to take the ship out of orbit. Spock is ultimately overcome and returned to sickbay, where McCoy makes another grim discovery. The K3 indicator, described here as being a measure of pain, is very, very high. The reason for the madness is confirmed: victims are in such agony that their minds eventually break under the stress. Spock, recovering consciousness, now claims the ability to control the pain. But after his visit to the main bridge, Kirk is less sure.
Spock, conquering the pain, breaks out of sickbay and plans to visit the planet's surface. Scotty, acting on Kirk's orders, refuses to transport him. A scuffle breaks out, and when Kirk appears, Spock explains that his plan is to retrieve a creature for study. He believes that since his nervous system has already been infiltrated, there is little more the creatures can do to him. Kirk is convinced, and over McCoy's objections Spock beams down to collect a creature for study.
Spock returns with a creature and begins to study it. Immediately, he realizes that the creature resembles, more than anything, an enormous brain cell. Kirk catches on immediately: these creatures are not separate animals, but instead all of them are parts of a single entity, connected in some mysterious fashion; this fashion appears to be telepathic, though whether it actually is telepathic is not made clear. This is how it resists phaser fire: each part draws strength from the whole.
McCoy's efforts to find some method to kill the creatures fail. Not heat, not radiation - nothing kills it. Kirk knows that if they cannot find a way to kill these creatures, he will be forced to destroy Deneva to prevent their spread. A million people will die if nothing can be done. Kirk cannot let the creatures spread, and has no wish to kill the Denevans, including his nephew. He demands a third alternative.
The key lies in exploring the properties of the sun. The Denevan was free of the creature moments before he died; something in the sun killed it. It is neither radiation nor heat – could it be light? Kirk thinks it is. McCoy rigs a test cubicle, puts the sample creature inside, and confirms the theory: high intensity light is fatal to these creatures. Spock enters next; it is necessary to see what will happen to tissue that has infiltrated a victim. Spock volunteers to enter the cubicle. This test, too, succeeds: the blinding light frees Spock of the creature and the pain – at the cost of his eyesight. Spock, exiting the cubicle, remarks that it is an equitable trade – the closest he comes to revealing how much pain he has been experiencing. And then the true tragedy is revealed: lab tests indicate that the creatures are vulnerable only to a specific subset of the light spectrum: ultraviolet light is its Achilles heel. McCoy is chagrined to realize that Spock need not have been blinded at all.
Despite this, the answer is at hand. Kirk orders satellite control to deploy a formation of 210 ultraviolet satellites at 72 miles altitude, in a permanent orbit. The satellites are turned on; the creatures begin to fail, to fall, to smoke and to die. Ground stations on Deneva quickly make contact; the creatures are dying everywhere.
Spock returns to the bridge; he can once again see. It seems that an inner eyelid, a hereditary trait of Vulcans which they tend to ignore as a Human does his or her own appendix, had automatically protected his eyes.
References[]
Characters[]
Episode characters[]
- Robert Abrams • Clifford Brent[1] • Christine Chapel • Bill Hadley • Blastoneurons • Harrison (Lieutenant) • Kartan • Aurelan Kirk • George Samuel Kirk, Jr. • James T. Kirk • Peter Kirk • Ryan Leslie • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Vinci[2] • Zahra Jamal • unnamed Denevans • unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel (USS Enterprise personnel • roster) • Kirk family
Novelization characters[]
- Robert Abrams • Ames • Anhalt • Aurelan • Denevan neural parasites • Kartan (Denevan) • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Menen • Noban • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Zahara • USS Enterprise personnel (roster) • Kirk family
- Referenced only
- God
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Deneva (Deneva system, Fornax constellation, the galaxy's Beta Quadrant) • blastoneuron homeworld (Orion sector, Sirius sector block, Orion constellation, the galaxy's Beta Quadrant)
- Referenced only
- Aldebaran Magnus V (Aldebaran Magnus system) • Cygni Theta XII (Cygni Theta system) • Ingraham B • Orion Complex • Earth • Orion sector • Orion Nebula • New Orion Nebula • Levinius V (Levinius system) • Beta Portolan
Shipboard areas[]
- USS Enterprise
- bridge • laboratory • sickbay • transporter room
- Referenced only
- arms control • satellite control
Planetary locales[]
- Deneva
- Sam Kirk's home/laboratory • Denevan ground stations
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and classification[]
- astronomy • beaming • communications • electromagnetism • energy • laboratory • lifeform • light • magnetism • matter • measurement • medicine • phaser force 4 • phaser stun • radiation • solid • technology • telepathy • time • universe • warp 8 • ultraviolet light • ultraviolet radiation • weapon
Astronomy[]
- orbit • planet • space • star • star system
Communications[]
- captain's log • captain's log, USS Enterprise, 2267 • language • log entry • ship's log • ship's log, USS Enterprise
Lifeforms[]
- animal • bee • blastoneuron • germ • humanoid • jellyfish • organism • parasite • microbe • microorganism • termite • virus
Materials and substances[]
- atmosphere • blood • gas • metal • oxygen
Measurement[]
Medicine[]
- anatomy • disease • dolorimeter • germ • K3 indicator • medical kit • microbe • microorganism • phaser stun • sedative • virus
Anatomy[]
Technology and weapons[]
- city • communicator • dolorimeter • ground station • intercom • K3 indicator • medical kit • medical tricorder • phaser • planet-wrecker • satellite • sensors • spacecraft • starship • tractor beam • transmitter • transporter • tricorder • ultraviolet satellite
Occupations and titles[]
- captain • chief engineer • chief medical officer • command division • commander • commanding officer • communications officer • doctor • engineer • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • first officer • landing party • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • helmsman • medic • medical practitioner • navigator • officer • operations division • physician • pilot • rank • scientist • science officer • sciences division • second officer • weapons officer
Other references[]
- Achilles heel • Bones • boot • clothing • Federation members • five-year mission • government • homeworld • insanity • insignia • jumpsuit • lifeform • logic • missile • nation-state • orbit • pants • population • races and cultures • rank insignia • red alert • science • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2260s) • suicide • title • tunic • uniform • universe • Vulcan neck pinch
Chronology[]
- years prior to 2267 (2250s chronology)
- Ingraham B becomes infested. (prior to episode/novelization)
- stardate 3287.2, 2267 (2260s chronology, Enterprise voyages)
- Enterprise travels to Deneva.
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- Kelvin timeline comic story arc Operation: Annihilate
- ST references: Star Trek Maps, Star Charts
- Depicts the coordinates and maps of the Deneva system and homeworld.
- Inside Star Trek: The Real Story
- The World of Star Trek
Novel adaptations[]
Video releases[]
Background[]
Novelization[]
- There was no reference to James T. Kirk's family in the novelized version of this episode, Operation—Annihilate in Star Trek 2 by James Blish. In the novelized version, it was magnetism, not light which killed the parasites. In the episode, Spock was the first to try the cure for the parasites, in the novelization, Kartan was first cured. Additionally, the book has the USS Enterprise travel to the home planet of the "mother" parasite and destroys that entire world, while it was the episode that involved satellites and ultra-violet light.
Images[]
Episode images[]
Adaptation images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous episode: The City on the Edge of Forever |
TOS episode produced | Next episode: Catspaw |
| Previous episode: The City on the Edge of Forever |
TOS episode aired | Next episode: Amok Time |
| Previous story: Court Martial |
Star Trek 2
|
Next story: The City on the Edge of Forever |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: Final Frontier (framing story) |
Next Adventure: The Winged Dreamers | |
| Previous Adventure: Final Frontier (framing story) |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (2264 to 2270) |
Next Adventure: The Winged Dreamers |
Production and publication history[]
Translations[]
- 1969
- Japanese language: 謎の精神寄生体, translated by Makoto Sawa. (Hayakawa)
- 1972
- German language: Unternehmen Vernichtung, translated by Hans Maeter. (Williams)
- 1973
- Turkish: Çıldiran insanlar, translated by Reha Pinar. (Altın Kitaplar)
- 1975
- Dutch: Operatie Roei-Ze-Uit!, translated by Jan Koesen. (Luitingh)
- 1978
- Italian language: Operazione annientamento, translated by Rosella Sanità. (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore)
- 1991
- French language: Opération destructrice, translated by Paul Couturiau. (Lefrancq)
References[]
- ↑ The character of Clifford Brent was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing an officer's Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Brent in TOS episode: "The Naked Time". The same actor also played the character of Vinci.
- ↑ The character Vinci was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing the same operations division Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Vinci in TOS episode: "The Devil in the Dark". The same actor also played the character of Clifford Brent.
External links[]
- "Operation -- Annihilate!" article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Operation: Annihilate! article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.