"Under the Sea" was an 18-page Star Trek: The Original Series comic strip published in 1970. It was the 16th story arc in the UK comic strips series, released in six parts within issues of TV21 Weekly. This was the last of four stories drawn by Mike Noble. In this story, the Galileo searches underwater for a missing survey ship.
Description[]
- Omnibus teaser
- Kirk's crew investigates the disappearance of a Federation survey expedition to Tekkor, whose population moved beneath the sea nine centuries prior when a storm flooded all surface land.
Summary[]
Aboard the Galileo, James T. Kirk, Pavel Chekov, Smith and three other crewmen search the water world Tekkor for wreckage of Survey II, which vanished two months earlier. When the Galileo reaches the site of the surveyor's final transmission, a massive red octopus monster emerges from the ocean and grabs the shuttlecraft in mid-air. Kirk electrifies the hull, shocking the animal into releasing them, but the Galileo plummets wildly into the sea.
After they regain control of the ship, they head for the sea floor to search for wreckage, traveling deep enough that the sea blocks communications with the USS Enterprise. They suddenly spot more octopus monsters. But as they evade them, ice forms around the Galileo. It is dragged through an airlock into a hangar next to the missing survey ship. Kirk's crew disembark and locate the survey team nearby in stasis chambers. Armed Tekkorians approach, and one of the crewmen holding a phaser rifle instinctively fires at them, thinking they are about to shoot. Eventually, Kirk's group is captured.
Early the next day, Spock takes shuttle NCC-1701/8 alone on a rescue mission. He comes upon an underwater battle between octopus monsters and several Tekkorian sea-snakes. One of the sea-snakes wrecks a nearby mounted cannon and stuns the two Tekkorians manning it. Spock quickly acts to rescue the humanoids, who explain that they'd rescued the human surveyor crew after their ship was damaged by sea-snakes, and they were recovering in a hospital. Unfortunately, Kirk's team thought the Tekkorians were hostile and had no universal translators to clear up the misunderstanding. Spock quickly takes his shuttle underwater.
Meanwhile, Kirk's team has escaped and is engaged in a firefight. One of the Survey II crewmen awakes from stasis and intercedes in the battle, telling Kirk that the Tekkorians are friendly. When Spock arrives, Kirk borrows his translator and establishes friendly relations. As the two shuttles return to the Enterprise, he hopes the way was paved for a future alliance with the Federation.
References[]
Characters[]
- Pavel Chekov • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Sandor • Montgomery Scott • Smith • Spock • Nyota Uhura • unnamed Tekkorians • red octopus monsters • Tekkorian sea-snakes
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • Galileo (II) (class F shuttlecraft) • NCC-1701/8 • submarine • Survey II (surveyor)
Locations[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and technology[]
- airlock • cannon • communicator • engine • intercom • machine • missile • phaser • phaser rifle • radio • stabilizer • stasis pod • translator communicator • viewscreen • weapons battery
Ranks and titles[]
- captain • engineering officer • ensign • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • officer • rank • skipper • Starfleet ranks
Other references[]
- assignment patch • bell • century • city • civilization • continent • fish • government • hospital • hour • hull • ice • life • month • ocean • orbit • sector • star • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • suicide • water • year
Appendices[]
Chronology[]
- This story takes place in 2267 while Pavel Chekov is still an inexperienced officer, but after his visit to Modala in May 2267, his first planet-based mission seen in TOS comic: "The Modala Imperative".
Related media[]
- TOS comic: "Nor Any Drop to Drink" – In 2265, the USS Enterprise is encased in ice within a globular planet.
- TOS comic: "World Beneath the Waves" – In 2266, James T. Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy and Barbara McCoy use diving gear and comp-ox capsules to explore the underwater culture of Bwuja.
- TAS episode: "The Ambergris Element" – In 2270, a class S-4 aquashuttle is used to survey Argo, which endured a similar planet-wide catastrophe.
- TOS comic: "What Pain It Is to Drown" – In 2270, the USS Enterprise is trapped within an artificial water body.
Background[]
- The story was not printed with a title, but it was given one ("Under the Sea") for its reprinting in the omnibus The Classic UK Comics, Volume 1.
- Kirk appears to be piloting the shuttle with Chekov as co-pilot.
- Kirk electrically charges the hull the same way Montgomery Scott does in TOS episode & Star Trek 10 novelization: The Galileo Seven.
- Galileo operates underwater. The class F shuttlecraft NCC-1701/8 hovers as well as operates underwater.
Errata[]
- Artist Mike Noble depicted the unnamed sapient cephalopods with four tentacles, whereas dialogue indicated that they had eight tentacles. On the 26 September 1970 cover, the one which grabbed Galileo either had five tentacles, or a second creature's tentacle was visible.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: Thorpex |
TOS comics (UK comic strips) | Next story: Revolt on Dak-Alpha |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Thorpex |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Where Giants Tread |
| Previous comic: Thorpex |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Two | Next comic: Where Giants Tread |
Production history[]
- This story was serialized over six weekly issues:
- 19 September: Pages 1-3 published in TV21 Weekly #52.
- 26 September: Pages 4-6 published in TV21 Weekly #53.
- 3 October: Pages 7-9 published in TV21 Weekly #54.
- 10 October: Pages 10-12 published in TV21 Weekly #55.
- 17 October: Pages 13-15 published in TV21 Weekly #56.
- 24 October: Pages 16-18 published in TV21 Weekly #57.
- April 2016
- Reprinted in the omnibus The Classic UK Comics, Volume 1. (IDW Publishing)
- 28 September 2017
- Reprinted in the omnibus Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 20. (Eaglemoss Collections)
External link[]
- Under the Sea article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.