On a routine exploratory mission, the Starship U.S.S. "Hood" picks up a distress signal from a research expedition thought lost long ago -- the expedition of Dr. Roger Korby, one of the centuries' greatest scientific minds. Korby himself is dead, it seems, but his colleagues have made a most incredible discover -- a discovery they insist the "Hood's" captain see for himself. Reluctantly, the captain agrees to beam down...

Meanwhile, the crew of the U.S.S. "Enterprise(TM) " begins long-overdue shore leave on Tranquility Seven. James T. Kirk is looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation....until what seems like a bizarre case of mistaken identity plunges Kirk into a whirlpool of mayhem and murder.

And puts an inhuman stranger with his memories and anilities in command of the "Enterprise."