"The Time Stealer" was the fourth of 11 TOS stories produced by Peter Pan Records. It was initially released in 1975 as an audio production along with three other stories. It was subsequently repackaged with a nine-page comic book and as a solo audio product. This was the fourth of seven stories set during Captain James T. Kirk’s first five-year mission aboard the USS Enterprise and the third of six with an associated comic book.
In this story, the crew of the Enterprise tried to prevent an orbiting temporal disruption from affecting an inhabited planet.
Description[]
- Ad for Peter Pan Records
- Federation freaks will hail these full-length adventures as the hottest thing since Vulcan ear-muffs! "A Mirror for Futility," "The Time Stealer," "Logistics of Stampede" and "To Starve a Fleaver," all on a high-quality 33 1/3 RPM disc! Warning: do not play at Romulan sock-hops!
Summary[]
Log entries[]
- Captain's log... stardate 6134.6
- The mysterious... time slow-down we're experiencing has affected... not only every crew member on board... but all the Enterprise's instruments and computer banks... it's as if... time itself were winding down... and us with it...
Heading away from an energy source reverses the temporal effects. Sensors detect a warship approaching at warp three. Konrac demands that Enterprise surrender and fires a salvo. Before Captain James T. Kirk can return fire, Spock detects only two lifeforms aboard, so Kirk has the two beamed aboard. By the time Kirk and Spock arrive in the transporter room, however, huge barbarian Konrac has knocked out Montgomery Scott and destroyed half of the equipment. Kirk cautiously fights the far stronger opponent, while Spock slips behind Klee and knocks him out with a Vulcan nerve pinch. Konrac suddenly has normal human strength levels, and Kirk is able to subdue him.
In sickbay, Doctor Leonard McCoy examines the new arrivals, discovering that Klee is able to manipulate strange energies inside him to produce magic. It was how Konrac fought with super strength, and how their warship was propelled. Konrac's civilization is stalled developmentally for centuries each time the temporal phenomenon passes by their homeworld and lacks sufficient science for interstellar travel. Calling it the Gola, they consider it a scourge to be destroyed.
- Captain's log, supplemental
- Konrac and Klee were sincere. Their entire race was counting on them to wipe out the menace that had held their culture locked in a standstill for centuries. And now they had the help of a starship!’’
With Klee's magic, Spock modifies the sensors to transmit the mental energy of Klee's entire civilization, and when that isn't enough, Spock supplements it with energy from his Vulcan culture, and the Gola is paralyzed. Sensors pick up its thoughts, and it's crying. Gola is a lost infant seeking its parent.
- Captain's log... stardate 6453.2.
- After using a long-range tractor beam to pull Gola behind us for several days, we finally released it moments ago... as we orbited the star sun Spock’s calculations had pinpointed as the parent. All of us watched the screen in eager anticipation...
Gola drops into the star's core, having found its home at last.
References[]
Characters[]
- Pavel Chekov • Gola • James T. Kirk • Klee • Konrac • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • Klee's warship
Locations[]
- the galaxy
- Referenced only
- Atlantis • Earth • Konrac's planet
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and classification[]
- battle axe • computer • computer bank • coordinates • hail • impulse power • intercom • lifeform • light-year • orbit • phaser • photon torpedo • science • sensor • shields • starships • time • tractor beam • transporter • viewscreen • warp engine
Occupations and titles[]
- barbarian • captain • crewmember • doctor • first officer • mister • sorcerer • warrior
Other references[]
- alien • bridge • century • continent • culture • day • energy • galaxy • history • kilometer • logic • magic • mental energy • planet • race • science • sea • sickbay • space • star • time • transporter room • Vulcan nerve pinch • warp factor (warp one • warp three) • warship
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TOS episode: "The City on the Edge of Forever" — The Guardian of Forever time portal, which generates waves of time displacement, said he was both being and machine.
- TAS episode: "One of Our Planets Is Missing" — The Enterprise attempts to communicate with the cosmic cloud cosmozoan before it ingested the inhabited planet Mantilles.
Background[]
In-universe[]
- Thought transmissions of the Gola were broadcast on the bridge, echoing a similar technique used to communicate with the cosmic cloud in TAS episode: "One of Our Planets Is Missing".
- The Gola’s time dilation effects were perceived by the people affected by it. That made it unusual when compared to how relativity and time dilation are normally experienced, as described by Albert Einstein in the Theory of General Relativity. For example, someone within the event horizon of a black hole would feel time progressing normally. He would be unaware that time was passing more quickly to those outside of the event horizon.
Real-world[]
- Pavel Chekov was drawn to resemble Walter Koenig. His uniform was colored green when seen close-up but colored blue when seen from behind.
- Montgomery Scott was drawn to resemble James Doohan on the cover of record #2. In the story he was depicted once, knocked unconscious in the back of the transporter room.
- Hikaru Sulu and Nyota Uhura were not drawn to resemble George Takei and Nichelle Nichols.
- The cover to record #4 showed Konrac slicing through the arm of Kirk’s command chair with a battle axe. While that did not happen in the story, the barbarian did expose some of the inner technology of the transporter room.
- The inside cover of record #8 reproduced line art from the back cover as well as artwork from three other Power Records sets. In particular it included a Neal Adams/Dick Giordano illustration of Sherlock Holmes lighting a pipe and wearing his trademark hat, a scene often mimicked by Data.
- John Buscema was attributed as artist for a set of pages depicting Konrac. (Heritage Auctions)
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: The Crier in Emptiness |
Peter Pan Records audiobooks | Next story: To Starve a Fleaver |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Judgment Rites |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: The Chosen Deadlock |
| Previous story: Judgment Rites |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Four | Next story: The Chosen Deadlock |
Production history[]
- "The Time Stealer" was released seven times. It was initially released on Peter Pan TOS record #2 of 23, a 33-rpm LP, along with "To Starve a Fleaver", The Logistics of Stampede and "A Mirror for Futility".
- Released as a solo audio product on record #4.
- Released on a 33-rpm LP accompanied by a comic book, along with "A Mirror for Futility", on record #8.
- Record #2 re-released as record #10 with TOS movie: The Motion Picture cover imagery.
- Released as a solo audio product on record #17.
- Released on a 33-rpm LP accompanied by a comic book, along with "A Mirror for Futility", on record #9.
- Released on audio with four other stories on record #23.
- September 2008
- Comic collected on CD-ROM in The Complete Comic Book Collection. (Graphic Imaging Technologies.)
- 28 May 2020
- Comic reprinted in Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 114. (Eaglemoss Collections)
External links[]
- The Time Stealer article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Peter Pan Records article at Sequart.