This shuttlecraft was a 23rd century Federation shuttlecraft that embarked from the Starfleet starship USS Rickover in the 2240s decade, unaccounted for for years after the Rickover inexplicably vanished.
Service history and disposition[]
The craft was appropriated by Thomas Clayton who used it to make contact with the USS Enterprise when that vessel approached Lyra in the late 2260s. Clayton was among the many outside space travelers who had been drawn into Lyra by the being known as Ay-nab, and he resided there for many years among the Rickover crew, with Ay-nab drawing off their mental energy, leaving them little more than zombies. He had known that Ay-nab had left the shuttle there for some time, but like many others of those interred, he was too fearful to use it. When Ay-nab sensed the Enterprise nearby, it reasoned that Clayton would be a good choice to attract the starship, as Clayton was an old acquaintance of James T. Kirk, the Enterprise captain. Ay-nab allowed the idea of stealing the shuttle to form in Clayton's mind, and allowed the craft to leave Lyra. Clayton, maddened by the freedom from years of his mental energy being drawn parasitically, approached the Enterprise and sent subspace communications claiming that he was Jesus Christ. When the antique shuttle from the lost Rickover was brought aboard, Kirk recognized Clayton. The mystery of the shuttle from a lost expedition piloted by an old friend was successful to pique Kirk's curiosity and bring the Enterprise to Ay-nab's grasp. (TOS novel: The Starless World)
- The Rickover shuttle was not mentioned again after Clayton disembarked when the craft was taken aboard Enterprise. Presumably, it was studied for clues as to how Ay-nab captured the Rickover, and possibly scrapped or decommissioned as a museum piece. There is also a chance it could have been resupplied and pressed back into service aboard a new mothership.
Appendices[]
Background[]
Shuttlecraft in the USS Enterprise shuttlebay in the late 2260s decade.
- The shuttle was not overtly designated in the novel, but like other Starfleet shuttles of the era, probably had some type of name or number on the hull. Presumably, this was a shuttle intended to be of a type seen in TOS or TAS, but lacking any description associating it with any of those classes, it is possible it was a different design. At this point in Star Trek history, the only shuttlecraft that had been seen in live-action productions was the class F shuttlecraft, and only a handful of other types had been shown in animation.
Kelvin shuttle.
- The Rickover expedition would be roughly concurrent with the USS Kelvin seen in 2009's Star Trek film, so it is also possible that those older shuttles seen embarking from Kelvin might be of the same type as this craft.
