"The Counter-Clock Incident" was the 22nd episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, in the show's second and final season, first aired on 12 October 1974. The episode was written by John Culver^MA, directed by Bill Reed^MA and novelized in Log Seven by Alan Dean Foster. It was the series finale of Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Description[]

Another exciting episode from television's most popular science fiction series

Complete in this volume:

The Counter-Clock Incident

Commodore Robert April, first Captain of the Enterprise, was traveling at warp-speeds toward retirement... a fate worse than death for a seasoned sailor of the spaceways.

There didn't seem to be any way to turn back the hands of time - but then nothing is ever certain in the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Nothing, that is, except that a Klingon in pursuit means trouble... especially when that Klingon is the wily Commander Kumara!

References[]

Characters[]

Episode characters[]

Robert April ��� Sarah Poole-April • Arex Na Eth • Karla Five • Karl Four • Karl Six • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura

Novelization characters[]

Robert April • Sarah Poole-April • Arex Na Eth • Christine Chapel • Char Delminnen • Van Delminnen • Gemas • Kanndad • Karla Five • Karl Four • Karl Six • James T. Kirk • Korreg • Kritt • Kumara • Kursley • John Kyle • M'aart • M'arrt • Leonard McCoy • Mendez • Nobis • Po • Montgomery Scott • Sen • Shundresh • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Sven van Anling • Werthel

Referenced only

Bresica Celli • Franz Joseph IV • Karau • Karhammur the Fortieth • Kattrun dek Prenn • Great Kinkuthanza • Shiboline M'Ress • Rembrandt

Starships and vehicles[]

USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • Karla Five's ship • Klathas

Locations[]

antimatter universe • Arret • Babel • Beta Niobe • Amphion

Races and cultures[]

Human • Klingon • Edosian or Triexian • Vulcan • Wanderers Who Play

States and organizations[]

Starfleet • United Federation of Planets

Appendices[]

Related stories[]

• TOS comic: "Siege in Superspace" - The Enterprise is trapped outside of the primary universe in superspace.
• Stories about de-aging
  • TOS comic: "World Against Time" - The crew of the Enterprise de-aged after visiting a newly-discovered planet.
  • TNG comic: "... Where No One Has Gone Before!" - The Theluvian race in this story aged in reverse.
  • VOY episode: "Innocence" - The Drayan race in this story aged in reverse.
• The Enterprise under April - Captain April's command of the Enterprise had been depicted in the following stories:
  • "Though Hell Should Bar the Way" (TOS short story)
  • Final Frontier (TOS novel)
  • Best Destiny (TOS novel)
  • Crisis on Vulcan (TOS novel)
• Star Trek: Early Voyages - Captain April also appeared in several EV comics "Flesh of My Flesh", "Nemesis" and "Thanatos" and is referenced in several other issues of the series.

Background[]

• This is the seventh of Alan Dean Foster's TAS adaptation collections. It has been reprinted a number of times, often in omnibuses with other Star Trek Log books. Most recently in 2006 by Del Rey Books, an imprint of the original Ballantine Books publishers, as part of Star Trek's 40th Anniversary celebrations.
• This is also the first of the Star Trek Log books to feature the adaptation of a single 30 minute episode. The remainder of the Star Trek Logs series was in this format.
• April is stated as having never commanded a starship before the Enterprise. This is later contradicted by the comic Flesh of My Flesh where April is stated to have commanded a USS Tiberius, although that might have been a ship he commanded temporarily and/or concurrently with his Enterprise command.
• Much of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is stated to have been designed by Chief Construction Engineer Franz Joseph IV.
• The Klingon God of Gods is identified as the Great Kinkuthanza.
• In Foster's essay (preface of the 2006 trade reprint omnibus of Logs Seven and Eight), he explains that the Kumara adventure in Log Seven is based on a two-part Klingon-themed script he prepared for Roddenberry for a potential Season Four of the original series.
• April has a greatly different appearance in this episode and The Star Trek Encyclopedia compared to later canon appearances in SNW. This might overall simply indicate a changed premise, as a retroactive change to continuity by the show creators. It is also possible there is some explanation in the POV of the Star Trek universe such as an alternate history or other transformative event.
  • In particular, this story deals with manipulation of reality by the Wanderers Who Play, who alter the fabric of the universe to allow for the existence of a fake "antimatter universe" and a bogus planetary civilization that comes complete with a fully formed culture and history. It follows that they would of course have the ability to change any aspect of April's appearance and history, and they did seem to be greatly focused on challenging his character. Certainly it was never the original intention of the story to portray them as manipulating any other aspects of April's backstory, but the unexplained change of his hairstyle and skin color would be within their range of abilities, even if there's no apparent reasoning as to why they would do this.
  • Complicating the issue further, April, with his original TAS appearance, was portrayed in the cover art of Final Frontier and several issues of the Star Trek: Early Voyages comic series. The latter EV comic appearances portrayed April acting unusually aggressive and ended on a cliffhanger as the series was cancelled without resolving the storyline explaining the divergence in his characterization. Again, it originally had nothing to do with changing the premise of the character, but some possible scenarios explaining his character turning against the crew could leave the character erased from history and replaced with a different version.

Images[]

Episode images[]

Robert April at around age 45.

Old Robert April.

Sarah Poole-April.

Atimatter universe galaxy map.

Karla Five.

Karla Five's ship.

The Aprils.

Sarah.

The Aprils.

Minara supernova.

Novelization images[]

Cover image.

Cover image.

The bridge.

Enterprise.

Connections[]

Timeline[]

Translations[]

1994

German : Im Schatten schwarzer Sterne. (Goldmann)

External link[]

• The Counter-Clock Incident (episode) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• Star Trek Log 7 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• The Counter-Clock Incident review at TrekToday.
• The Counter-Clock Incident discussion at the Mission Log podcast.