"The Crier in Emptiness" was the third of 11 TOS stories produced by Peter Pan Records. It was initially released in 1975 as an audio production along with two other stories. It was subsequently packaged by itself accompanied by a 20-page comic book. This was the third of seven stories set during Captain James T. Kirk’s first five-year mission aboard the USS Enterprise and the second of six with an associated comic book.
In this story, the crew were visited by a non-corporeal entity composed of pure sound.
Description[]
- Ad for TOS record #1
- The crew of the Enterprise in a trio of exciting adventures on a long-playing 33 1/3 RPM disc! You'll be on the edge of your seat for the "Passage to Moauv," weep for "The Crier in Emptiness," and drink in "In Vino Veritas"! High-quality recordings, with no "warp factor"!
Summary[]
While star charting the relatively empty Moran sector, strange noises are heard aboard the USS Enterprise. It seems non-ending, disrupting sleep, and gets louder. After three days, Spock observes that the sounds have a deliberate modulation, ebbing and flowing as if it moving through the ship. He hypothesizes that the source might be a sound entity, and considers that ever-increasing volume could permanently deafen the crew. Its emissions begin overriding subspace communications. When one sound shatters the surface of the helm console, Spock points out that the entity might accidentally produce a resonant frequency to shatter bones.
Navigator Connors has an idea, and drags his Edoan Elisiar keyboard onto the bridge so that he can play music in an attempt at communication. It seems to work — the entity responds as a musical partner — but after a lengthy period Connors begins to tire. Just as he's about to give up, the sounds end. The creature has departed the ship. Kirk thinks it meant no harm, and was just lonely.
Log entries[]
- Captain's log, stardate 5444.9: The Enterprise is on a charting run through the partially explored Moran sector. Since this region seems relatively devoid of suns and planets, we expect to be finished here in a few days. Kirk out.
- Captain's log, supplementary: The mysterious music has been with us for three days now and gives indications of increasing rather than abating. Every effort to locate some source for the sounds has proven futile. We are no closer to an explanation than we were days ago.
References[]
Characters[]
- Connors • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • sound entity • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura
- Referenced only
- Christine Chapel
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser)
- Referenced only
- shuttlecraft
Locations[]
- Moran sector
- Referenced only
- Earth
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and classification[]
- black hole • communications • computer • Elisiar • helm • mathematics • parsec • quasar • radisar • sensor • star chart • subspace communications • turbolift • viewscreen
Occupations and titles[]
- captain • doctor • lieutenant • mister • nurse
Other references[]
- assignment patch • Bible • bone • bridge • captain's log, USS Enterprise, 2268 • concerto • day • emotion • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • keyboard • language • log entry • logic • minute • music • navigation • rank • sign language • sleep • sound • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • violin • xylophone
Appendices[]
Background[]
In-universe[]
- McCoy rotated personnel in shifts aboard a shuttlecraft so that they would be able get sleep without interruption from the sound creature. Only one shuttle was used for this purpose.
- The stardate suggested that this story took place shortly after the previous audio production, In Vino Veritas.
- The Elisiar was mentioned several times in ST novel: A Singular Destiny. Joran Dax saw it played in a concert. During the Dominion War, the A.C. Walden Medicine Show musical troupe performed with the Elisiar on Romii. In 2381, they considered having A'l'e'r'w'w'o'k play the Elisiar on Troyius. In 2381, Ezri Dax heard a jam session on the Aventine which featured Spon on the Elisiar. Dax considered the instrument’s sound to be haunting.
- When Kirk remarked about the sound creature possibly being lonely, Uhura quietly commented, "I heard a voice crying in the wilderness." She was paraphrasing several quotes in the Bible, including a statement made by John the Baptist in the Book of Isaiah. (Voice in the Wilderness article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
Real-world[]
- The inside cover artwork was the same as with the single release for "Passage to Moauv", with line-art illustrations of characters from the Planet of the Apes movie series seen by Roberta Lincoln. The USS Enterprise traveled through a spatial anomaly into Apes continuity in the TOS comic: "The Primate Directive". The artwork also included Dracula, who briefly appeared in TOS comic: "The Haunting of Thallus!".
- Although the captain’s log said the Enterprise was in an empty region of the Moran sector, the accompanying artwork depicted the Enterprise in a star system close to a star with at least four planets and a moon.
- Conners cited a lack of "radisars" in the Moran sector. Radisars are not a currently-known astronomical phenomena.
- Nyota Uhura was drawn like Nichelle Nichols on the cover, but not in the interior. Hikaru Sulu was drawn as an African-American.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: In Vino Veritas |
Peter Pan Records | Next story: The Time Stealer |
| Previous story: In Vino Veritas |
Stories by: Alan Dean Foster |
Next story: To Starve a Fleaver |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: In Vino Veritas |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: The Logistics of Stampede |
| Previous story: In Vino Veritas |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Five | Next story: The Logistics of Stampede |
Production history[]
- First released on Peter Pan TOS record #1 of 23, a 33-rpm LP, along with "Passage to Moauv" and In Vino Veritas.
- Repackaged as a solo story on 45-rpm record #6 accompanied by a 20-page comic book printed on thicker, whiter paper than was normal for comics at that time.
- Subsequent record re-releases had cover imagery from TOS movie: The Motion Picture. The audio appeared on records #11 and 22 and the audio/comic on records #12 and #13.
- The audio/comic was also released on audio cassette together with "Passage to Moauv".
- September 2008
- Released on CD-ROM in The Complete Comic Book Collection. (Graphic Imaging Technologies.)
- 16 April 2020
- Reprinted in Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 108. (Eaglemoss Collections)
External links[]
- The Crier in Emptiness article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.