Space Bug 7 was a space bug, an auxiliary craft in service to Starfleet in the 23rd century. The vehicle was assigned to the Federation starship USS Enterprise in the mid-2260s and maintained in Bay 4.
History[]
In 2266, poisonous spores from Crucial III infected a landing party and drove them to mutiny. Hurst and his team sabotaged Space Bug 7, wrecking its communications equipment. They then used the vessel to exile James T. Kirk and Leonard McCoy. The vessel drifted near the planet Vultra, where Kirk managed to land the space bug and make some hasty repairs.
The indigenous population faced an impending, perpetual ice age. Soldiers led by Zella commandeered Space Bug 7 and lifted off into space. Unfortunately, Zella's course brought him near the Enterprise. Hurst's mutineers spotted Space Bug 7. Believing that Kirk was attempting to return, they fired at the space bug and obliterated it. Spock witnessed the vessel's destruction and made the same conclusion. (TOS comic: "The Crucial Element")