The USS Enterprise arrives at planet M-113 to provide supplies and routine medical exams to Doctor Robert Crater and his wife, Nancy, who have been living there for the past five years, during which they have conducted an archaeological survey of the planet's ruins.
Kirk, Bones, Zari, and Crewman Darnell beam down to the planet and walk to Dr. Crater and his wife, Nancy, home. When they reach the Crater's home, Kirk spots a dried shrub.
"Shall we pick some flowers, Doctor?" Kirk teased as he picks from the shrub, " When a man visits an old girlfriend she usually expects something like that. "
"Is that how you get girls to like you, by bribing them?" Bones said back, Kirk chuckled before throwing what he picked from the shrub to the ground, "There doesn't seem to be anybody around, does there,"
"They'll be along. You rushed us down ten minutes early," Kirk reminded him.
They then went inside the home and looked to see if anyone was inside.
"Professor Crater? Professor? Mrs. Crater?" Kirk calls out before asking, " Nervous, Dr. McCoy?"
"Yeah, a little bit, I guess," He answered, " You see, we walked out of each other's lives ten years ago. She married Crater, and for all, I know she may have forgotten me completely. Of all the bonehead ideas, Jim, how'd I let myself in for things like this?"
Before anyone could say anything they heard a woman singing from outside, and it was getting closer, they turned their heads to see a woman entering the house holding an artifact.
After dusting the artifact off a little she looks up, stops singing, and says with a big smile, "Leonard!"
"Nancy," Bones said.
"Hello," She said as she walked closer to him and he held her empty hand with both of his.
"It's good to see you," He said
"Let me look at you."
"You haven't aged a day," Bones complimented and stared in awe, "Oh, this is Captain Jim Kirk of the Enterprise."
"Mrs. Crater. I've heard a great deal about you," Kirk greeted.
"All good, I hope," Nancy returned with a smile.
"This is Lieutenant Alara Zari, chief of security," He gestured to her.
"It's nice to meet you, Ma'am," Zari greeted.
"And you too, my dear."
"And Crewman Darnell."
"How do you do, ma'am?" Darnell then strangely looks at Nancy.
"Something wrong, Darnell?" Kirk asked.
"Excuse me sir but, ma'am, if I didn't know better I would swear you were someone I left behind on Wrigley's Pleasure Planet. It's funny, you're exactly like a girl that-"
"A little less mouth, Darnell," Bones interrupted Darnell.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," He apologized, "I mean, I know it's impossible, of course."
"Why don't you step outside, Darnell?" Kirk suggested.
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Darnell said as he left the home.
"Maybe Zari and I will step outside, too."
"What? And let Plum examine me all alone?" Nancy handed Kirk the artifact in her hand.
"Plum?" Kirk questioned.
"Plum," Bones confirmed.
"A nickname I gave Leonard when we were very young," Nancy explained to Kirk and Zari as she put her hands on Mccoy's face.
"I'll, er, I'll wait for the professor and I'll catch you both at once," Bones said.
"I'd better go get Bob. Every time he starts digging he forgets time, sleep, food, everything. Be back in a minute," Nancy told them as she left the house.
As they waited for Nancy to return with Professor Crater, Kirk, Bones, and Zari looked at the artifacts. A while later, Professor Crater enters the house, but Nancy was not with him.
"Professor Crater, I'm Captain Kirk. This is-"
"The heroic Captain. The first, though only half, Zatoan to join the federation who happens to be the greatest and youngest chief of security. And the intrepid doctor cross interstellar space to preserve our health," Professor Crater interrupted Kirk," Your sense of duty is overwhelming. Now, will you please go back where you came from and tell whoever issues your orders to leave me and my wife alone. We need salt against the heat. Aside from that, we're doing very well, thank you."
"I'm pleased you're doing well but I'm required to confirm that fact," Bones told Crater.
"Doubtless the good surgeon will enjoy prodding and poking us with his arcane machinery. Go away, we don't want you."
"What you want is unimportant right now. What you will get is required by the book," He argued.
"Quote. All research personnel on alien planets are required to have their health certified by a starship surgeon at one-year intervals. Like it or not, Professor, as commander of the starship, I'm required-" Kirk began.
"To show your gold braid to everyone," Professor Crater interrupted him, "You love it, don't you."
"He's all yours, Plum," Kirk said before correcting himself, "Doctor McCoy."
"Sit down and breathe deeply, please," Bones told Professor Crater.
"Did I hear you call him Doctor McCoy?" ProfessorCrater questioned after he sat down and let McCoy scan him with a tricorder.
"You did," He replied.
"McCoy. I've heard Nancy speak of a Doctor McCoy," Professor Crater told him.
"That's me. Didn't she mention I was here?" Bones asked.
"You've seen Nancy?" Professor Crater asked.
"She went out to get you," Kirk told him.
"You've seen her too? You were with the good Doctor? Both of you?" He asked Kirk and Zari.
"Yes," Kirk replied.
"Professor Crater, is there something we should be concerned about?" Zari questioned.
"No," He answered, "It's just that it gives me pleasure to know that she's gotten to see an old friend and has a chance for some company. It's different for me, I enjoy solitude. But for a woman. You understand, of course."
"Well, it certainly hasn't aged her," Bones said, "She looks exactly as I knew her twelve years ago. Amazing, Jim. Like a girl of twenty-five."
"Sorry. I'm sorry, Captain, sit down. I seem to have forgotten my manners," Professor Crater apologized.
"Quite all right," Kirk said as he took a seat.
"I'm not joking, Jim. She hasn't aged a day. She doesn't have a grey hair on her head," Bones told him.
"She's got some grey, Bones. Excuse me, Professor, she's a handsome woman, yes, but hardly twenty-five."
"And forgive me, Professor. Dr. McCoy, Nancy has aged," Zari told him, "but perhaps your brain is tricking you to only see her in a certain way."
"Lieutenant Zari is right. You've seen my wife with the eyes of your past attachment. Doctor. I'm sure when Nancy lets," Professor Crater stopped mid-sentence before continuing, "when you see her again she'll be a believable age.
"Well, at any rate, she doesn't look a day over thirty," Bones said.
"Genuine affection. I'm glad you still feel it for her. Leonard, isn't it? She's a fine woman."
"Open your mouth," Bones told the Professor as he holds a tongue depressor in his hand.
"Why I thought the machine-" Professor Crater began before being interrupted.
"The machine is capable of almost anything but I'll still put my trust in a healthy set of tonsils. Now, open your mouth."
They then hear a woman scream, they dash out, Kirk and Zari with their phasers drawn. They then find Darnell lying on a rock, and Nancy standing by him. Darnell's face is scarred with circular marks.
Zari removes a piece of a plant from Darnell's mouth and shows it to Kirk.
"McCoy," Kirk called.
Bones checks for a pulse, "Dead, Jim. Strange. A red mottling all over his face."
"What happened?" Kirk asked Nancy.
"What do you suppose happened, Captain?" Professor Crater questioned, "You beam down a crewman who doesn't know better than to eat an untested plant."
"I've just lost a crewman, Mrs. Crater. I want to know what happened."
"Well, I, I-" Nancy tried to answer.
"Take it easy, Nancy. Just tell us what you know," Bones said, trying to comfort her.
"I was just. I couldn't find Bob, and I was coming back. I crossed to your crewman. I wanted him to know I wasn't offended by the things he'd said back there. You remember. Then, I noticed he had a Borgia plant in his hand. Before I could say anything, he'd taken a bite from it. He fell, his face all twisted, and," She told them what happened. Nancy sees that Bones is looking at her differently, "Leonard, you're looking at me like you don't believe me."
"No, no, no, no, it's not that. It's something entirely different," Bones told Nancy before she bit her knuckles, "Jim, I suppose we could complete these examinations later."
"We don't need an examination, you can see that. Perhaps you'd better take your man and-"
"We're well aware of our next duties, Professor. We'll complete your examinations tomorrow," Kirk then takes out his communicator, "Transporter room."
"Transporter room, Captain," A crewman answered.
"Lock onto us. Four beaming up."
"Locked onto you, Captain," Scotty said.
"Salt. You did ask them about more salt tablets?" Nancy asked her husband.
"I'll take care of the provisioning, Nancy," Professor Crater told her.
Kirk, Bones, Zari, along with KirkDarnell's body, were then beamed up to the Enterprise.
In sickbay, Kirk, Bones, Zari, and Darnell's body reappeared. Darnell's body was laid on a biobed and McCoy covered him with a light green sheet.
"She called it a Borgia plant," Bones said, bringing up was supposedly killed Darnell as he walked toward Zari and Kirk, who was sitting down.
"Something new to me," Kirk said.
"I have heard of it before, Captain, but I can't remember any more details," Zari told him.
"Bridge to Dispensary," The three heard Spock's voice through the intercom system.
Kirk turns on the monitor next to him and says, "Go ahead, Mister Spock."
"Borgia plant listed in library record tapes as carbon group three vegetation similar to Earth nightshade family. Alkaloid poison. Chemical structure common to class M planets. About the strange mottling on his facial skin surface. There is no reference to this symptom," Spock informed them.
"Hmm. Well then, this man wasn't poisoned," Bones said.
"Stand by, Mister Spock," Kirk turns the monitor off and reminds Bones, "She said she saw him eat the plant."
"She's mistaken," He argued, "I know alkaloid poison, what to look for. There's not a trace of it in his body."
"There were bits of the plant in his mouth," He reasoned.
"Jim, don't tell me my business. He could not have swallowed any. My instruments would have picked up any trace of it whatsoever," Bones added.
"Then what could have killed a healthy man?" Zari questioned.
"I'll tell you something else. This man shouldn't be dead. I can't find anything wrong with him," He told Kirk and Zari, "According to all the tests he should just get up and walk away from here. I don't know. I'll have the tests double-checked. My eyes may be tricking me. I swear, Jim when I first saw her she looked just as I'd known her ten years ago. Granted, for a moment I may have been looking at her through a romantic haze," Bones smiled.
"How your lost love affects your vision, Doctor doesn't interest me. I've lost a man. I want to know what killed him," Kirk ordered.
"Yes, sir," He said.
Later, on the bridge. Zari was sitting next to Uhura looking for anything similar to what happened to Darnell when Uhura received a message.
"Message, Captain. Starship base on Caran 4 requesting explanation of our delay here, sir. Space Commander Dominguez says we have supplies he urgently needs," Uhura alerted him.
"Tell Jose he'll get his chili peppers when we get there. Tell him they're prime Mexican reds. I handpicked them myself, but he won't die if he goes a few more days without them," Kirk told her, "Got it?"
"Got it, Captain," She replied.
"Well?" Kirk said as he turned to Spock and Zari.
"No mistake in our record tapes. Borgia plant. Its sole deadly property is alkaloid poison," Spock informed him.
"And Professor Crater and wife?"
"Check out perfectly," He answered, "They arrived here nearly five years ago. Visited by various vessels, made fairly heavy shipments out, of artifactsKirk and reports. However, there has been a marked drop in shipments during the last year."
"What about what happened to Darnell?" Kirk asked Zari.
"I'm sorry, Captain," She replied, "But I could not find anything remotely close to what happened to Darnell."
"Dispensary to Captain," Bones called through the comm system.
"Kirk here," Kirk responded.
"We found something," He said.
"What is it?"
"I'd rather not put it on the speaker."
Kirk looked over at Spock and Zari before they left the bridge and head toward sickbay.
At sickbay, the four looked at the monitor above Darnell's body and found something odd.
"Fascinating," Spock commented.
"Agreed, but most definitely strange," Zari said.
"So improbable we almost didn't check it," Bones told them.
"What?" Kirk asked.
"Sodium chloride. Not a trace of it," Spock answered.
"This man has no salt in his body at all," Bones added.
"Can you explain that, Doctor?" Kirk inquired.
"I can't, except that what we normally carry in our bodies is gone from his," He replied.
"Darnell would have died almost instantly," Zari said.
"How?" Kirk questioned, "There isn't a mark on his body."
"Except the red rings on his face," Bones pointed.
"You called that skin mottling," Kirk reminded him.
"I thought it was, sir. Another error on my part."
"I'm not counting them, Bones. Are you in the mood for an apology? He asked with a smile
"Oh, forget it," Bones said, "I probably was mooning over her. I should have been thinking about my job."
"Perhaps you were," Kirko agreed, "Both Nancy and Crater went out of their way to mention one item they needed."
"Salt tablets," He mentioned.
"Mister Spock, Zari, outfit a landing party. We're beaming down with some questions," Kirk ordered.
After beaming down, Kirk, Bones, Zari, Green, and Sturgeon went to the Crater's home to speak with them, but only found Professor Crater.
"One might think that you had more important duties than harassing people, Captain," Professor Crater said to Kirk.
"I have, Professor. Believe me, I have. Where is Mrs. Crater?" He asked, "I want to talk to her, too."
"Captain, you can't just beam down here and bully us, and interfere with our work."
"Mrs. Crater. I won't ask again," Kirk stressed.
"Possibly at the other diggings. We don't keep military logs," Professor Crater informed.
"Green, find her," Kirk ordered.
"Yes, sir," Green leaves the house.
Kirk takes out his communicator, "Mister Spock."
"Standing by," He responded.
"Sturgeon, transport a sample of the plant to Mister Spock. We'll check if it's actually the Borgia plant or something we don't understand," Kirk ordered and Sturgeon leaves, "You got that, Mister Spock?"
"Complete analysis," Spock replied.
"Captain, considering the inescapable fact that you are a trespasser on my planet," Professor Crater pointed out to him.
"Your complaint is noted, sir," Kirk said, "Look, something we don't understand killed one of my men. It could prove to be a danger to you and Mrs. Crater, too."
"We've been here for almost five years. If there were anything hostile here we would know about it, wouldn't we?"
"Bones, tell the professor what the autopsy revealed."
"Our crewman died of salt depletion. Sudden, total loss of it. Medically impossible by any standards," Bones informed Professor Crater.
"And both you and Mrs. Crater requested salt tablets," Zari added," Bit of a coincidence, don't you think, Professor?"
"And your esteemed physician cannot explain our need for salt tablets, Captain?" Professor Crater inquired.
"We're all aware of the need for salt on a hot and arid planet like this, Professor," He replied, "but it's a mystery, and I don't like mysteries. They give me a bellyache and I've got a beauty right now."
Professor Crater opens a storage box, "Nancy and I started with twenty-five pounds. This is what we have left," He takes out a jaw with a few tablets at the bottom, "Now what is so mysterious about that?"
"Salt," Bones said as he checked the tablets.
"One of the missions of the Enterprise is to protect human life in places like this. I'm going to have to ask you and Mrs. Crater to stay aboard my ship until we find out what killed that crewman," Kirk told Professor Crater
"But you can't do that," He protested.
"But I can, Professor. How? You've been here five years. Will a couple of days make a difference?" Kirk walked over to Bones and Zari, all of their backs turned to Professor Crater before he took out his communicator, "Mister Spock."
"Spock here."
"Arrange quarters for Professor and Mrs. Crater. Did you get the plant analysis?"
"It is the Borgia variety, Captain. Could not have caused Darnell's death," Spock informed him.
Zari looks over her shoulder and sees that Professor Crater is not there, "Jim, he's runoff."
The three run out of the house and search for Professor Crater.
"Professor Crater! Professor Crater!" Kirk, Zari, and Bones called out as they search the ruins near the home. Bones then spotted Sturgeon with the same marks as Darnell on his face and he rushed over to him. Zari noticed and followed him.
"Jim!" Bones called and he ran over, "Jim, it's Sturgeon. He's dead."
"I'll try and locate Crewman Green, Captain," Zari said before she took out her communicator, "Green! Green! Crewman Green, report! Green! Crewman Green, report! Green! Green, where are you?"
"Could it be Crater?" Bones asked, "He came this way"
"I don't know. Green!" Kirk called out. A moment later, Green arrives, "Did you see this?"
"Yes, sir. Sturgeon was dead when I found him," He replied, "I was circling to find whatever it was."
"Same red rings on his face. Have you seen Nancy, Mrs. Crater?" Bones asked him.
"No, sir," Green answered, "I checked all through the ruins."
"I'm worried about her, Jim. She's not at the quarters, she's not at the diggings. She could be in trouble," Bones stressed, "Nancy!"
"Crater!" Kirk and Zari called.
"Nancy, it's Leonard!" Bones shouted.
"We're beaming aboard the ship, Doctor," Kirk told him.
"You can't leave her!" He exclaimed.
"We can't search this whole planet on foot."
"Jim!"
"You could learn something from Mister Spock, Doctor. Stop thinking with your glands. We've equipment aboard the Enterprise that could pinpoint a match lit anywhere on this planet, or the heat of a body," Kirk told Bones before taking out his communicator, "Transporter room, Kirk speaking. Four to beam up."
After being transported to the transporter room, the four stepped off the pad.
"Zari, I want you to go to the bridge and do a sweep of the surface for Professor and Mrs. Crater," Kirk ordered.
"Of course, Captain," She responded before leaving the transporter room.
After entering the bridge, Zari began searching the planet's surface for Professor and Mrs. Crater, but what she found during the search was odd.
"Captain, I found something odd," She informed Kirk through the communicator in the turbolift.
"What do you mean, Zari," He asked.
"Well, the search was for Professor and Mrs. Crater, but we are getting a reading for only one person, it's probably Crater. He's just circling, almost as if he's searching for something," Zari informed him.
"Expand search radius," Kirk said.
"Yes, sir," She responded.
On the bridge, Spock and Zari look over the readings and walked over to Kirk.
"The simple fact is unless there's something seriously wrong with the ship's equipment, there's only one person within a one hundred-mile circle," Spock informed him.
"Captain, I suggest that we approach Professor Crater and let him explain what happened to Mrs. Crater," Zari suggested.
"Very well," Kirk turns to Uhura, "Remember my instructions, Lieutenant. Keep a tight fix on us. If we let out a yell I want an armed party down there before the echo dies."
"Yes, Captain," She responded.
Kirk, Spock, and Zari beamed down to the Plant's surface and began their search for Professor Crater. The three stopped when they spotted Professor Crater standing behind a boulder.
"Professor Crater," Kirk called.
"Go away!" Professor Crater yelled, "We don't want you here."
"We? Where's your wife, Professor?" He asked, "We're concerned about her."
"I'm armed," Professor Crater shows them a phaser in his hand, "Go away."
Kirk shares a look with Spock and Zari before he walks toward Professor Crater.
"Where's your wife, Professor?" Kirk asked.
"She's no concern of yours," He told Kirk.
"We're worried about her safety. Aren't you? Professor, you're a reasonable man, let me," Kirk was cut off by the communicator beeping and he answered it, "Kirk here."
While Zari stood behind Kirk, Spock walked away to survey the scene.
"Casualty, Captain. Barnhart was found dead on deck nine. Same symptoms," Sulu informed Kirk.
"Spock cutting in, Captain," Spock said, "Something here, through the arches to your left."
"Stand by, Mister Sulu," Kirk said, "Spock has something."
Kirk and Zari left Crater and walked over to where Spock is. Upon arriving, they saw Spock kneeling next to the dead body of Crewman Green.
"Green," He told them.
"He beamed up to the ship with us," Kirk reminded Spock.
"Or something did."
Zari took out her communicator, "Zari to Enterprise."
"Bridge to Zari," Sulu answered.
"Sulu, there is an intruder aboard the Enterprise that's possibly masquerading around as Green. General quarters, security condition three," Zari gave the order.
"GQ security three, Ma'am," He said.
"Reporting GQ three secure, Captain. Do you require assistance there?" Uhura asked.
"Crater knows the creature. If we could take him alive," Spock said.
"Negative, Lieutenant, but keep locked in on us. Kirk out," Kirk puts away his communicator before saying to Spock and Zari, "Let's get him."
A phaser is fired, destroying a column that three were near. Spock grabbed ahold of Zari and ran one way while Kirk ran the other to take cover from Professor Crater.
"We don't want you here! We're happy alone! I'll kill to stay alone. You hear that, Kirk? Or you'll have to kill me. I don't care either way," Professor Crater shouted.
Spock and Zari crawled on their stomach to rejoin Kirk by the destroyed column where he had decided to take cover.
"Obviously, taking him alive is going to be difficult," Spock spoke.
"Set your phaser on one quarter. I'll leave mine on stun. Zari, you made of sterner stuff, I want you to sneak up from behind and set your phaser to stun," Kirk told them the plan.
"On it, sir," Zari said before she snuck away without being spotted by Professor Crater and managed to hide behind a pillar close enough behind him.
"Professor Crater," Zari called.
Professor Crater turns around and Zari fires her phaser. Professor Crater slumps down and drops his phaser as the three rush over toward him.
"Your wife, Professor. Where is she? Your wife, Professor. Where is she?" Kirk demanded.
"She was the last of her kind," He responded.
Zari, Spock, and Kirk share a confused look at what Professor Crater had just said to them.
"The last of her kind?" Kirk repeated, confused.
"The last of its kind. Earth history, remember? Like the passenger pigeon or buffalo," Professor Crater said, "Ooh! I feel strange."
"You're just stunned, Professor. You'll be able to think in a minute," Zari told him.
"The Earth buffalo. What about it?" Spock inquired.
"Once there were millions of them prairies black with them. One herd covered three whole states, and when they moved they were like thunder," Professor Crater explained.
"And now they're gone. Is that what you mean?"
"Like the creatures here. Once there were millions of them. Now there's one left. Nancy understood," He explained.
"Always in the past tense," Spock noted.
"Where's your wife? Where is she now?" Kirk asked.
"Dead. Buried up on the hill. It killed her," Professor Crater replied.
"When?"
"Oh, a year, or was it two?" He answered, slightly delirious.
Kirk took out his communicator, "Kirk to Enterprise."
"Bridge to Captain," Sulu answered, "Sulu here."
"It's definite, Mister Sulu. The intruder can assume any shape. Crewmen, you, myself, anyone," He warned him, "Do you understand?"
"Affirmative, Captain."
"Go to GQ four, Sulu," Zari ordered.
"General quarters four, Zari," Sulu responded.
"The creature was trying to survive. It has that right, doesn't it?" Professor Crater asked them.
Kirk took out his communicator, "Kirk to the transporter room. Three to beam up."
"They needed salt to stay alive. There was no more salt. It's the last one. The buffalo. There is no difference," He pleaded with them.
"There's one, Professor. Your creature is killing my people."
In the briefing room, Kirk, Bones, Spock, Zari, Uhura, Rand, and Professor Crater were discussing the creature that is terrorizing them.
"Negative, Captain. I've checked every face on this vessel. It was not a crewman I saw," Uhura informed Kirk.
"Yeoman Rand, how long was this Green with you?" Kirk asked.
"As long as he, it thought it could get to the salt on my tray, sir," She answered.
"Mister Spock?"
"Supplies of salt have been set out as bait at all decks and engineering levels, Captain. However, no one or nothing has approached them as yet," He responded
"Zari?"
"Every room is being checked by two men each with a phaser and tagged just in case," She responded.
"Dr. McCoy?"
"Yes?" Bones asked, having been pulled away from his thoughts.
"Medical department report, Doctor," Kirk said.
"Oh. Well, we could offer it salt without tricks," Bones suggested, "There's no reason for it to attack us."
"Your attitude is laudable, Doctor, but your reasoning is reckless," Spock stated.
"The creature is not dangerous when fed," Crater said as he eyed Bones carefully.
"No, it's simply trying to survive by using its natural ability to take other forms," Bones agreed.
"The way the chameleon uses its protective coloring," Crater added, "an ability retained no doubt from its primitive state, the way we have retained our incisor teeth. They were once fangs. Certain of our muscles were designed for chase. It uses its ability the way we would use our muscles and teeth if necessary, to stay alive.
"And like us, it's an intelligent animal," Bones said, "There's no need to hunt it down."
"A very interesting hypothesis, Doctor," Spock commented. The bosun's whistle sounded and Spock turns on the monitor, "Briefing room."
"All the halls sealed off. All weapons accounted for and locked away. Security four in effect on every level. Still no lead on the intruder," Sulu informed them.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Continue the search," Kirk said before turning his attention to the Professor, "Crater, we don't know who or what we're looking for. We need your help, and now."
"I demanded, I even begged that you get off my planet," Crater told him.
"Can you recognize this thing when you see it? Professor, I'll forego charges up to this point but this creature's aboard my ship and I'll have it, or I'll have your skin or both. Now, where is it?" Kirk questioned him. Kirk, Zari, and Spock looked at Crater, waiting for him to answer them.
"I loved Nancy very much. Few women like my Nancy. She lives in my dreams. She walks and sings in them," Crater said with fondness and a smile on his face.
"And it becomes Nancy for you."
"Not because of tricks. It doesn't trick me. It needs love as much as it needs salt. When it killed Nancy, I almost destroyed it but, it isn't just a beast. It is intelligent and the last of its kind," Crater told them, trying to gain sympathy from them.
"You bleed too much, Crater. You're too pure and noble," Kirk stands up from his seat and walks over to Professor Crater, "Are you saving the last of its kind, or has this become Crater's private heaven, here on this planet? This thing becomes wife, lover, best friend, wise man, fool, idol, slave," He walks away from Profesor Crater, "It isn't a bad life to have everyone in the universe at your beck and call, and you win all the arguments."
"You don't understand," Crater told him.
"Have you learned to see this thing in whatever form it becomes?" Kirk asked.
"Yes," He answered.
"Are you going to help us find it?"
"Sorry, I can't."
"Recommend we use truth serum, Captain.
"It may be our only option, Captain," Zari agreed.
"Doctor?" Kirk asked Bones.
"Well, I resist using it, but in this case, the professor will give us the truth," He replied.
"Take him," Kirk ordered. Everyone stood up from their seats, Zari and Spock approached Bones and Crater.
"I'll accompany you, Doctor," Spock said.
"Me too," Zari said.
"Oh, yes. Of course," Bones agreed.
The four left the briefing room and ventured to Sickbay for the truth serum.
When they entered Sick Bay, Bones hits Spock on the head and Crater grabs his phaser. Zari tried to grab his phaser but wasn't fast enough as Bones turned into the creature before trying to drain Zari of the salt in her body.
She soon began to feel weak, but before she passed out Zari managed to fight off the creature and was released from its grip. Zari watched the creature turn back into Bones before her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
In Sick Bay, Spock and Zari were both on biobeds while being treated for their injuries. The two had begun to regain consciousness as two members of the Sick Bay staff began to examine and heal them, and Kirk walked into Sick Bay with Rand.
"It wasn't McCoy," Spock said weakly, "It was the creature. It hit me. Crater grabbed my phaser. I wondered about McCoy. Doubt had crossed my mind."
"I saw Bones turn into the creature, Captain," Zari informed him.
Rand then noticed something in the other room in Sick Bay and walked over, "Captain," She called. Kirk walked over and saw Crater lying dead on the ground and the circle marks on his face that the creature makes, "Professor Crater."
"Dead," Kirk said before walking back over to Spock and Zari, "But it had both you, too."
"Fortunately, my ancestors spawned in another ocean than yours did. My blood cells are quite different," Spock explained.
"I was able to fight it off and it left me alone," Zari explained.
A moment later, Kirk left the infirmary to search for the creature and Bones.
After being cleared from Sickbay, Spock and Zari rush to Bones' quarters. When they entered Bones' quarters, Spock and Zari saw the creature, disguised as Nancy, with its hands placed on Kirk's face and began draining Kirk of the salt in his body. They looked over to the side and saw Bones standing there with the phaser in his hand.
"It's killing the Captain. Shoot it, Doctor, quickly!" Spock commanded him.
"No! No!" Bones responded as he would not dare hurt the thing that looked like the woman he loved.
The two men struggle for the phaser but stop when they saw Zaristanding between the creature and Kirk.
"It's killing the captain! Shoot, quick!" Zari told Bones.
"I won't shoot Nancy," He said.
"This is not Nancy," Zari hits the creature repeatedly, but it stood there not showing any pain, "If she were Nancy, could she take this?"
"Stop it! Stop it, Zari! Stop it!" Bones demanded.
Nancy sends Zari flying with one slap and she fell to the ground after hitting the wall and knocked down some books.
"Is that Nancy, Doctor?" Spock asked him as he rushed over to Zari.
"No," He replied. Bones looks over and saw the creature going after Kirk again, "No!"
The creature stops and turns its attention to Bones. She transforms into her natural state. Kirk screams, Bones fires the phaser, knocking it away from Kirk. It lays in the corner for a moment before it changes back into Nancy.
"Leonard. Leonard, no. Leonard, please," The creature pleaded as it walked toward Bones.
"Lord, forgive me," Bones said before he fires again and the creature dies.
Kirk looks up from the creature and at Bones before saying, "I'm sorry, Bones."
After everything with the creature was handled and Kirk and Zari were checked out, the crew was on the bridge ready to leave. Kirk was sitting in his Captain's chair and appeared to be in deep thought. Bones and Zari stood on either side of the chair as Spock walked in.
"Ready to leave orbit, Captain," Sulu informed.
"Something wrong, Captain?" Spock asked as he walked over to him and having noticed that Kirk was deeply thinking about something. Kirk was pulled out of his thoughts and looked at Spock for a moment before speaking.
"I was thinking about the buffalo, Mister Spock," He replied, "Warp one, Mister Sulu."
"Warp one, sir. Leaving orbit," Sulu said before the Enterprise was off to encounter its next adventure.