Shortly after reference stardate 1/8305.10, the as-yet unnamed prototype NCC-1701, which was to become the famous USS Enterprise, was sent on an emergency rescue mission to rescue colony ship SS Rosenberg from an ion storm. Because of tampering by Romulan agents during the construction and testing, the ship was set to automatically warp to a point in the Romulan Star Empire. The nearest star system to that point contained a class M planetoid.
The planet had a rugged, rocky terrain, and was inhabited by an array of plants and animals, including a carnivorous wolf-like predator. When Romulan starships in the area wished to confer with the damaged Federation ship's commanding officer, First Officer George Samuel Kirk, Jr. took a shuttlecraft to this planet in the injured Captain April's stead. When a Romulan mutineer ordered their ships to fire on the planet, the Romulan shuttle and the Federation shuttle were destroyed. Kirk sought cover, mistaking the Romulan Field Primus T'Cael for a captured Vulcan. Kirk and T'Cael were hunted by the wolf-animals for a time before they were beamed to the NCC-1701. (TOS novel: Final Frontier)