Star Trek: The Motion Picture
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| NOVELIZATION | |
| Star Trek: The Motion Picture | |
| | |
| Attribution | |
| Series: | The Original Series |
| Author(s): | Gene Roddenberry |
| Publication information | |
| Published: | paperback - December 1979 |
| Pages: | 252 |
| ISBN: | ISBN 0671830880 |
| | |
| | |
| Story by: | Alan Dean Foster |
| Screenplay by: | Harold Livingston |
| Directed by: | Robert Wise |
| Producer: | Gene Roddenberry |
| Release date: | 7 December 1979 |
| | |
| Cover by Bob Larkin | |
| Writer(s): | Marv Wolfman |
| Penciller(s): | Dave Cockrum |
| Inker(s): | Klaus Janson |
| Colorist(s): | Marie Severin |
| Letterer(s): | John Costanza |
| Editor(s): | Jim Shooter & Richard Marschall |
| Publisher: | Marvel Comics |
| Published: | December 1979 |
| Omnibus: | Star Trek: The Motion Picture TPB Movie Omnibus |
| Chronology | |
| Date: | 2273 |
| Stardate: | 7412.4 |
Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the first Star Trek movie, released in 1979. As well as the novelization there was a comic adaptation.
[edit] Introduction
The Great Bird of the Galaxy writes a Star Trek novel!
The writer-producer who created Mr. Spock and all the other Star Trek characters—who invented the starship Enterprise, who gave the show its looks, its ideals—puts it all together again here for his first Star Trek novel!
Their historic 5-year mission is over. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, all the crew have scattered to other jobs or other lives. Now, they are back together again on a fabulously refitted USS Enterprise as an incredibly destructive power threatens Earth and the human race.
[edit] Summary
[edit] Admiral Kirk's preface
James Tiberius Kirk introduces himself with an explanation of his name, noting that the custom of using a male-surname is rare among most humans, except those serving in Starfleet. Kirk characterizes Starfleet as a conservative, individualistic group where old customs "die hard." This aspect is often criticized as "primitive" by modern critics calling themselves New Humans, who tend to bury their identities into group consciousness. While Kirk acknowledges this may be more evolved, it makes for poor space travelers as shown by Starfleet's early history.
Kirk's Academy class was allegedly composed of those possessing more limited "intellectual agility" than previous classes. The reminiscent admiral finds this ironic considering the larger-than-life public treatment he has received upon the conclusion of his five-year mission. However, such treatment makes him uncomfortable as 94 of his crew died under his command.
The following chronicle is an attempt to accurately relay Kirk's actions and experiences during the Enterprise's encounter with Vejur.
[edit] Author's preface
The author notes his surprise at being chosen by Admiral Kirk to write his story as he was responsible for many of the chronicles criticized by the admiral as inaccurate. The following story has been proofread and corrected by everyone involved.
The author closes by noting that the adventures of the Enterprise reflect the author's personal views about Earth and humanity.
[edit] Chapter One
- In the beginning... there was darkness. Then, God said "Let there be light!" ... and the light was good! (from the comic adaptation)
A squadron of Klingon battle cruisers approach a massive cloud of energetic gas in space. The lead ship's captain, Krase, orders a tactical display and preparation to fire photon torpedoes. The weapons do nothing, and the cloud fires back. Krase orders full force fields and evasive maneuvers, but his starship is quickly engulfed by the cloud's energy bolts.
[edit] Chapter Two
Across the galaxy, on the planet Vulcan, Spock attends the ceremony of his attainment of kolinahr. Before receiving the symbol of logic, Spock is telepathically distracted by a consciousness from space. He mind melds with T'sai, who finds him too confused to receive the symbol of kolinahr.
[edit] Chapter Three
At Gibraltar, James T. Kirk contacts Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco and speaks to Vice Admiral Lori Ciana, a member of Admiral Heihachiro Nogura's staff. Kirk and Ciana had recently lived together on the standard one-year arrangement. She tells Kirk that the Intruder cloud is headed toward Earth at over warp seven, and that the only ship in interception range is the Enterprise, presently docked in Earth orbit. Kirk's protégé Willard Decker is now captain of the Enterprise. Lori, presumably at Nogura's urging, reminds Kirk that Decker is far more familiar with the refitted Enterprise than Kirk is.
[edit] Chapter Four
In San Francisco, Kirk arrives at the Starfleet Headquarters air tram station. He meets Commander Sonak there and confirms his recommendation that Sonak be assigned as science officer. He then informs Sonak of the accelerated launch schedule and that he intends to meet him aboard the Enterprise in an hour.
[edit] Chapter Five
Kirk leaves the orbital office complex in a travel pod piloted by Montgomery Scott and docks with the Enterprise. He informs Scotty that he has been given command of the Enterprise, and gets his first glimpse of the newly refit vessel.
[edit] Chapter Six
Meeting Uhura, Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov on the bridge, Kirk asks for Captain Decker's location so he may inform him of the change.
[edit] Chapter Seven
In engineering, Decker is supervising the final phase of readiness for the new ship. Kirk meets him and informs him that Decker will be his executive officer on the mission. Angered, Decker states that Kirk doesn't know the new ship a fraction as well as he does. Nonplussed, Kirk informs him that is the main reason Decker is staying aboard. Their conversation is cut short by an alarm from the transporter room. Sonak and Lori Ciana are beaming aboard, but the transporter sensors fail in mid-transport, killing them.
[edit] Chapter Eight
Kirk calls a briefing of all crewmembers on the ship's massive new recreation deck. While he addresses the crew, the ship receives an update from Station Epsilon IX. Commander Branch reports that the cloud is passing close to his space station, when suddenly the cloud seems to react to the station's sensors. The facility is destroyed quickly while the horrified Enterprise crew looks on.
[edit] Chapter Nine
The final crewmembers come aboard, including Lieutenant Ilia, the ship's new Deltan navigator. Ilia is surprised to see an old acquaintance, Will Decker, at a lowered rank as executive officer. Kirk confirms with Ilia that her oath of celibacy is in effect. The final crew replacements come aboard, save the chief medical officer, who is wary of the transporter. Kirk orders him beamed aboard, and informs Leonard McCoy that he is needed, as an explanation for the doctor's reserve activation.
[edit] Chapter Ten
The Enterprise clears her drydock, even as top officers worry about the efficacy of the ship's new, untested warp drive. Seeing the look of fulfillment on Kirk's face, Decker realizes that he feels less bitter than he had expected. Earth rapidly recedes from view behind the ship.
[edit] Chapter Eleven
- Captain's log, stardate 7412.6
- In order to intercept the intruder at the earliest possible time, we must now risk engaging warp drive while still within the solar system.
The Enterprise sets out to attain warp speed, but is quickly caught up in the wormhole effect, caused by a drive imbalance. The vortex in space drags the Enterprise into it, along with a giant asteroid, which threatens to collide with the ship.
[edit] Chapter Twelve
Kirk quickly orders phasers to be targeted on the asteroid, but Decker countermands the order, and has Chekov prepare a photon torpedo instead. After a tense moment, the torpedo fires and destroys the asteroid, just as the wormhole effect diminishes and releases its hold on the ship.
Furious, Kirk demands to know why Decker countermanded his order. Decker states that, with the warp engines in an imbalance failure, there would be no phaser functions, as the two systems were interconnected power sources. Kirk, unaware of this modification, grudgingly apologizes for the mistake and asks Decker to help him through the design difficulties. Ilia and Decker confer briefly about their separation and hardships of reacquaintance in the crisis situation.
The Enterprise receives a signal from the shuttlecraft Surak, which separates from a warp sled to deliver a passenger. Spock has arrived to help.
[edit] Chapter Thirteen
On the bridge, Decker yields his seat at the science station to Spock, who offers his services as science officer. Spock seems totally emotionless and is unresponsive to his old friends' delight at seeing him again. As he prepares to go to Engineering to work on the ship's engine problems, McCoy and Chapel step out of the turbolift. Chapel grins inanely as she tries to greet Spock, but he ignores both of them and leaves the bridge.
[edit] Chapter Fourteen
After an hour of computer work in Engineering, Spock proposes an intermix formula which proves almost perfect. Scotty is exasperated by Spock's ignoring him, but wishes Spock had become an engineer, since no one expects engineers to have pleasant demeanors. Spock finds an unoccupied alcove for meditation in the front section of the ship's engineering hull. Gazing out at the stars, he again feels the Intruder touch his mind, and senses a strange puzzlement and desperation from it.
[edit] Chapter Fifteen
The Enterprise successfully goes to warp. In the officers' lounge, Spock tells Kirk and McCoy about his mental contacts with the Intruder. When he leaves, McCoy expresses the concern that the Intruder might somehow turn Spock against his friends. On the bridge, Kirk reviews the status of the ship's departments. Learning that Decker and Scotty were already working on a phaser bypass system, he gives permission for Decker to finish assembling and testing it.
[edit] Chapter Sixteen
As the Enterprise approaches the Intruder cloud, Kirk orders all sensor scans ceased. The ship goes to red alert. The Intruder scans the Enterprise, but does not respond to Uhura's friendship messages. Spock estimates that a twelfth-power energy field is emanating from an object at the cloud's center. A bolt of green energy emerges from the cloud, headed for the Enterprise.
[edit] Chapter Seventeen
The bolt strikes Enterprise with a terrifying noise. As it ravages the ship's forcefields, power reserves drop below fifty percent. In Engineering, Scotty sees a flicker of green on a hull monitor as the energy forces its way into the ship along circuit paths. Assistant Engineer Kugel screams as he is hit by a green bolt from the auxiliary console. Another bolt reaches the bridge and injures Chekov. Chapel comes to his aid; Ilia also helps, using her Deltan abilities to relieve his pain. Spock senses that the Intruder is puzzled because it has communicated with Enterprise and received no response; he finds the message, which lasted only a millisecond, in the computer records. Spock transmits the standard friendship signal again at the speed the Intruder used. Meanwhile, another bolt of green energy has been fired from the cloud, but when Enterprise transmits the message the energy bolt fades away.
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[edit] References
[edit] Characters
- James T. Kirk • Spock • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Hikaru Sulu • Pavel Chekov • Nyota Uhura • Janice Rand • Christine Chapel • Krase • Heihachiro Nogura • Willard Decker • Ilia • T'sai • Sonak • Gerry Auberson • Vaylin Zaand • Cleary • Mosi Nizhoni • Teresa Ross • Joaquin Perez • Marcella DiFalco • Lori Ciana • Branch • Shantherin th'Clane • R'trikahi • Hrrii'ush Uuvu'it • Chezrava • unnamed Klingons • unnamed Vulcans • unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel • unnamed Starfleet personnel
- Referenced only
- Sarek • Amanda Grayson • James • George Samuel Kirk Sr. • James Kirk • Samuel Kirk • Winona Kirk • Tiberius • Xon
[edit] Starships and vehicles
- air tram • S10-class travel pod • Shuttlecraft Surak (SW7-class shuttlecraft) • USS Entente (Federation-class dreadnought) • Enterprise (OV-101) • Enterprise (XCV-330) • V'Ger • workbee
[edit] Locations
[edit] Shipboard locations
- USS Enterprise
- bridge • turbolift • engineering • recreation deck • transporter room • airlock
[edit] Stations and outposts
[edit] Planetary locations
- Earth
- San Francisco (Starfleet Headquarters • San Francisco Fleet Yards • Alcatraz Children's Park • Starfleet Academy • Telegraph Hill) • Gibraltar (Gibraltar Rock) • Egypt-Israeli Museum • Library of Alexandria • Los Angeles • Mediterranean Sea
- Vulcan
- Gol (Plains of Gol)
[edit] Planets and planetoids
- Referenced only
- Aaamazzara
[edit] Stars and systems
- Referenced only
- Betelgeuse • Rigel system
[edit] Stellar locations
[edit] Races and cultures
- Human • Vulcan • Deltan • Arcturian • Rhaandarite • Andorian • Saurian • Zaranite • Betelgeusian • Chelon • Rigelian • Therbian
[edit] States and organizations
- Federation • Starfleet • Klingon Empire • Klingon Defense Force • Mediterranean Alliance • NASA • Starfleet Operations
[edit] Technology and weapons
- probe (Voyager 6) • transporter • starship • biobed • viewscreen • helm • command chair • photon torpedo • drydock • maneuvering thruster • impulse engine • warp drive • warp sled • deflector shields • phaser • force field • senceiver • sensor drone
[edit] Ranks and titles
- admiral • captain • commander • commanding officer • executive officer • flag officer • helmsman • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • navigator • science officer • chief engineer • ensign • communications officer • security chief • tactical officer • chief petty officer • transporter chief • lieutenant junior grade • chief medical officer • Chief of Starfleet Operations • engineer • Vulcan master
[edit] Other references
- space • planet • energy • gas • matter • uniform • insignia • rank • title • The Bible • kolinahr • emotion • logic • mind meld • telepathy • rank insignia • priority signal • Starfleet uniform • oath of celibacy • captain's log • log entry • asteroid • humanoid • wormhole • tactical display • evasive maneuver • weapon • star • system • stardate • Mind Control Revolt • missing in action • refit • surname • t'hy'la • Vulcan language
[edit] Appendices
[edit] Background
[edit] Novelization
- The novel establishes that Gene Roddenberry (perhaps sometime after "The Man Who Sold the Sky") was asked by Kirk to put the V'Ger Incident in literary form.
- A limited edition, slip-cased hardcover edition was available in the USA.
- The Futura mass market paperback editions, published in the UK and Australia, contained numerous, captioned, colour plates of publicity stills from the movie. The text was slightly revised with additional material, in these editions, to better explain how Vice Admiral Lori Ciana came to be transporting aboard during the accident which killed both her and Commander Sonak.
- The first French language translation incorrectly attributed this book to Alan Dean Foster.
[edit] Comic adaptation
- The comic adaptation of the film was released as the fifteenth issue of Marvel Super Special magazine, from Marvel Comics.
- The comic adaptation was reissued as three issues of Marvel's new monthly Star Trek series—TOS comics: "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "V'Ger", "Evolutions".
- The comic adaptation was then released as a pocket-sized trade paperback. The reprint rights have been inactive for many years, but were recently exercised by IDW Publishing for a collection of all Star Trek: TOS film comic adaptations.
- Because of changing standards in the comic industry, as well as a move to high-profile American company Marvel, this was the first Star Trek comic to feature complete credits for writer, penciller, inker, colorist, letterer and editor. Previous Gold Key Comics were created as collaborations between overseas artists studios (with multiple artists contributing) and American editors. These earlier comics did not feature extensive credits, usually only citing artist and writer, if any at all.
- The comic presents a fairly straightforward adaptation of the film, with many panels based on stills taken during the production of the film. The story and narrative are cut in places to account for the smaller pagespace of a comic book.
- As the scenes are based on actual film images, many of the characters are close matches to the film's appearance, down to the Andorian, Saurian and Zaranite officers seen in the recreation deck scene.
[edit] Related Stories
- Night Whispers short story by Diane Duane in Enterprise Logs
- The Lost Years saga
- Ex Machina by Christopher L. Bennett
[edit] Images
An Arcturian. |
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The refit Enterprise. |
[edit] Connections
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: first Pocket paperback | TOS numbered novels | Next novel: The Entropy Effect |
| Previous novelization: Mudd's Angels | TOS novelizations | Next novelization: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: Night Whispers | Next Adventure: A & Ω Section 8 | |
| Previous Adventure: Night Whispers | The Continuing Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) | Next Adventure: Renewal |
[edit] External links
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (novel) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
