Clark Terrell Captain Clark Terrell was a Starfleet commanding officer who lived in the 23rd century . In 2285 , Captain Terrell commanded the starship , having been assigned to support the Genesis Project by searching for a suitable planet on which to test the Genesis Device . He had never met Admiral James T . Kirk , but knew of him , in part through his first officer , Pavel Chekov . During a surface survey of what they believed to be Ceti Alpha VI , Terrell and Chekov were captured by Khan Noonien Singh and his followers , who had been exile d there some 15 years previously . ( ) Terrell and Chekov discovered that they were in fact on Ceti Alpha V , and that Ceti Alpha VI had actually exploded only six months after Khan was marooned . In order to force Terrell to reveal their purpose on the surface , Khan infested him and Chekov with parasitic Ceti eel s , which affected the cerebral cortex and allowed Khan to control them by suggestion . Using Terrell , Khan took control of the " Reliant " , stranded the Starfleet crew on the surface , and attacked spacelab Regula I , the location of the research for the Genesis Project . When Khan failed to find Genesis , he abandoned Terrell and Chekov on the station as a trap for Admiral Kirk . The pair were rescued a short time later by a boarding party from the , and subsequently discovered where the Genesis materials had been hidden – underground on Regula I itself . With the Genesis materials uncovered , Terrell contacted Khan with the coordinates , allowing Khan to steal the powerful Genesis torpedo . Believing Kirk ' killed everyone they left behind ' and had ordered Terrell to take possession of Genesis , David Marcus rushed Kirk in a fit of anger . Terrell fired his phaser , with Saavik tackling David . The blast instead hit Jedda , who was vaporized . Khan then ordered Terrell to kill Admiral Kirk . However , Terrell resisted this last deadly order . Under immense pain from the Ceti eel , Terrell turned his phaser on himself , choosing to commit suicide rather than murder another Starfleet officer . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Captain Terrell was played by actor Paul Winfield . Director Nicholas Meyer cast Winfield purely because , after being impressed by the performer ' s acting , he wanted to work with the actor . " " There was no real reason for him to be the captain of the " Reliant " , other than my great desire to direct him in scenes ! " " said Meyer . " " I knew he could do it , without any question . " " ( ; ) In the shooting script for " Star Trek II " , it is revealed that Terrell and Dr . McCoy were old friends , but the dialogue that established this was cut from the final film . The script describes him as " " about 45 , soft spoken and in good shape , but somewhat laconic . " " Terrell ' s first name is derived from the script and wasn ' t spoken onscreen . Apocrypha . The novelization of " " incorporates the concept of Terrell being old friends with Dr . McCoy . Terrell is a recurring character in the " " novel series , in which he serves as first officer of the USS " Sagittarius " , later becoming its captain . His mirror universe counterpart appears in " The Sorrows of Empire " . According to the video game " " , Terrell was married to a woman named June . He had two sons named Richard and Clark Jr , and a daughter named Kim . The alternate reality version of Terrell appears in the IDW comic series " " as Captain of the USS " Concord " and his first name was Craig . Commander served as his first officer .