Trapped in superspace, the Enterprise crew is relentlessly hunted by a terrifying war machine! — "Siege in Superspace" was a Star Trek: The Original Series comic book story published by Gold Key Comics in 1974. It was the 20th story drawn by Alberto Giolitti and the first of two stories written by Gerry Boudreau. In this story, the USS Enterprise is shot through a black hole in the year 2267 into an unexplored region outside of the universe.
Description[]
- What strange and fantastic terrors lie beyond our own infinite universe? Captain Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterprise uncover the darkest secrets of existence when they are trapped in the void called superspace and they encounter the most feared war machine ever created!
Summary[]
- Captain's log, stardate 36:24.3 – Our destination is Draconis, a semi-civilized planet on the fringes of distant space. The Draconians seek admission to the Federation, and we are to report on their present social and cultural conditions.
A malfunction forces the Enterprise to shut down warp engines. As repairs are conducted, the ship orbits Nymyn, a nearby neutron star, but the star suddenly experiences a gravitational collapse and turns into a black hole. It drags the starship through a vortex into superspace, a region between universes. The Enterprise is near a planet with a breathable atmosphere, so James T. Kirk, Leonard McCoy, and Nyota Uhura beam down to reconnoiter while Spock and Montgomery Scott manage repairs.
The landing party destroys a vegetable metalloid creature to save Rhuna, a citizen of the nearby underground city of Caeminon. Its inhabitants are descendants of a race which built a defensive war machine that malfunctioned and wiped out their civilization. Although the machine itself had been destroyed, its memory core survived. This mind module used genetic engineering to create an army of metalloids to kill the surviving population. Repudiating violence and weaponry, the survivors hid underground and locked away their weapons. Rhuna and her lover Kyr Nostrand were part of a team sent to explore the surface and see if it could be reclaimed, but they were slaughtered by the metalloids. Before her lover died, he gave her a charm bracelet. Rhuna brings the landing party to the underground city.
- Captain's log, stardate 36:24.8: The Enterprise has passed through a "black hole" resulting from the gravitational collapse of a neutron star and lies stranded in superspace. Dr. McCoy, Lt. Uhura and myself have been escorted to Caeminion, now besieged by an army of vegetable-metalloid monsters.
The vegetable metalloids have followed them to the city. Without any weapons, the people are defenseless. Hoping to entrap them, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and Rhuna lead the metalloids to underground energy pools, but the creatures are not fooled and start a rockslide. Rhuna suggests they see if ancient weapons locked away might help them, which turn out to be rifles and swords. As metalloids storm the arsenal, Kirk notices Rhuna's bracelet glowing in the dark. He realizes it is being used to track them and destroys it with his phaser. Suddenly the creatures all freeze, paralyzed. Amid the bracelet's debris is the mind module itself. With it deactivated, the people are safe.
Kirk keeps the small device when the landing party beams up. As the Enterprise proceeds at warp four towards a nearby star that is about to go nova, Spock theorizes that the energy from the explosion might be enough to return them home. Kirk suggests that they fire the mind module into the star to speed up the process of gravitational collapse and create an artificial black hole. Their efforts work, transporting the Enterprise back into the universe.
- Captain's log, stardate 36:25.2: Safely in our own era, we continue our trek to Draconis. In spite of everything, I don't think I will ever be able to forget being trapped in that void called superspace!
References[]
Characters[]
- Anthar • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Kyr Nostrand • Rhuna • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Caeminon • Nymyn • superspace
- Referenced only
- Draconis
Races and cultures[]
- Referenced only
- Draconian
States and organizations[]
Science and classification[]
- computer • engine • genetic engineering • life-support system • machine • mind module • nuclear reactor • phaser • rifle • sensor • technology • transporter • tricorder • void • war machine • weapon
Occupations and titles[]
- captain • doctor • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • governor • lieutenant • pilot • scientist • Starfleet ranks
Other references[]
- arsenal • asteroid • atmosphere • black hole • bracelet • cavern • century • citadel • city • civilization • flower • glass • gravitation • hour • infinity • life • logic • maze • minute • neutron star • nova • orbit • peace • planet • prayer • pressure gauge • reconnaissance party • space • star • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • stone • sword • telepathy • time • universe • vegetation • warehouse • warp four
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TOS episode: "Tomorrow is Yesterday" – The gravitational pull of a black star shoots the USS Enterprise backward in time by three centuries.
- TAS episode & novelization: The Counter-Clock Incident – A voyage into a negative universe.
- TAS episode: "The Time Trap" – A voyage into a pocket universe.
- TOS comic: "Museum at the End of Time" – A similar voyage into a pocket universe.
- TOS movie: Star Trek – Two ships travel through a black hole into a parallel alternate reality.
- TNG episode: "The Arsenal of Freedom" – A runaway planetary weapons system destroys its civilization.
Background[]
- The story of Rhuna and Kyr Nostrand began in two comic book stories written by Gerry Boudreau, drawn by Walt Simonson, and published by DC Comics. In those stories, the war machine blew, Rhuna and Kyr were sent to the surface, the expedition was attacked and the machine's mind module was recovered by Kyr. The stories were printed in Star-Spangled War Stories #170 and #180 and reprinted in the omnibus The Art of Walter Simonson in 1989. (Star Spangled War Stories/Star Trek Crossover article at Martin O'Hearn’s Blog)
- Kirk says that he has never heard of a black hole. The phenomena is explained to readers in dialogue. During contact with a cosmic storm in TOS comic: "Museum at the End of Time", the spatial phenomena was explained in captions. In TOS comic: "War in Space", Kirk and Spock were equally familiar with black holes.
- A similar universal transposition occurs in TAS episode: "The Counter-Clock Incident" when the USS Enterprise travels at extremely high warp through a nova and ends up in a negative universe, then returns home by traveling at high warp through a star which they bring to life prematurely. However, subsequent events in TAS novelization: The Counter-Clock Incident revealed the experience to have been a trick by the Wanderers Who Play.
- Transit into pocket universes by the USS Enterprise occur in TAS episode: "The Time Trap", and in TOS comic: "Museum at the End of Time" via a vortex within a cosmic storm.
- Transit also occurs through a black hole by two 24th century vessels in TOS movie: Star Trek. The Kelvin timeline's version of the USS Enterprise appears to be vulnerable near the event horizon and incapable of surviving the transition.
- This story has been released six times in English and translated into Finnish, German, Italian, Portuguese and Serbian.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: #21: The Mummies of Heitius VII |
TOS comics (Gold Key) | Next comic: #23: Child's Play |
| Previous story: first Star Trek story |
Stories by: Gerry Boudreau |
Next story: Child's Play |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Operation Con Game |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: See No Evil Constellations |
| Previous comic: Operation Con Game |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Two | Next comic: See No Evil Constellations |
Production history[]
- January 1974
- First published by Gold Key Comics
- August 1976
- Printed in the omnibus The Enterprise Logs, Volume 3 (Golden Press)
- June2004
- Printed in the omnibus The Key Collection, Volume 3 (Checker Book Publishing Group)
- September 2008
- Included on The Complete Comic Book Collection DVD (Graphic Imaging Technologies)
- August2014
- Remastered in hardcover in the omnibus Gold Key Archives, Volume 4 (IDW)
- 21 December 2017
- Remastered in hardcover in the omnibus Graphic Novel Collection #26 (Eaglemoss)
Translations[]
- 25 March 1974
- Serbian: In TV 3AБABHИK
- 1974
- Finnish: As "Voitto Superavaruudessa" in Avaruusmatka Star Trek #2 (Apulehti)
- 1976
- German: Abridged in the omnibus "Stadt der Letzten Hoffnung" in Zack Comic Box #22: Enterprise (Koralle-Verlag)
- March 1978
- Portuguese: As "Aprisionados no Super Espaço" in the omnibus Jornada Nas Estrelas Special (Abril)
- 2006
- Italian: In the omnibus The Gold Key Collection, Volume 6 (Free Books)
External links[]
- Siege in Superspace article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.