Tom Collins was a 23rd century Human male. By the late 2270s, Collins was serving in Starfleet as an security lieutenant aboard the USS Enterprise. When the Enterprise detected signals in ancient Vulcanese from the three moons of the planet Cathy in the Novak system, Admiral James T. Kirk ordered Collins to select security teams to accompany landing parties to the moons. Collins commanded the team consisting of himself, Ricky Randall and Maude Fox, which accompanied Lieutenant Pavel Chekov, Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Engineering Ensign Pat Bradley to the moon Gerald. In the desert on Gerald, the landing party excavated a dune and found the entrance to a glass-walled tunnel, beyond which lay one-third of the lost treasure of Vulcan. (TOS novella: The Vulcan Treasure)