Killing Time

Killing Time is a novel by the American writer Della Van Hise, published by Pocket Books in 1985. It is part of the Star Trek: The Original Series range of novels.

The book begins with the Enterprise on patrol near the Romulan neutral zone and the crew troubled by unusual dreams, which is not a condition Starfleet has procedures for. Kirk and Spock discover that they are sharing the same dream, and that in it their ranks are reversed, with Spock in command and Kirk a junior officer. Starfleet intelligence connects the disturbance to the Romulans, who are attempting to use time travel and are sending more ships into the region to investigate. By the time Kirk goes to sleep and wakes as an ensign aboard a ship that resembles his own, the novel has become a story about identity and rank as much as about the Romulan threat.

The book is also remembered for what happened after publication: the first printing was recalled when the romantic material involving Kirk and Spock reached the office of Star Trek's creator, and more than fifty changes were made before the revised edition appeared, which left the recalled printing a collector's item.