| abstract | - In 2259, on the class M planet of Nibiru, Captain James T. Kirk is being chased away from a temple located at the base of an active volcano by native Nibirans. He is startled by an animal, and stuns it with his phaser. Behind the animal is an upset Leonard McCoy; Kirk has just stunned their "ride", forcing the two of them to flee on foot. Kirk had stolen a scroll that the Nibirans had been worshipping. Elsewhere, Hikaru Sulu is piloting a shuttlecraft into a volcano, with Spock and Nyota Uhura on board. Spock is encased in a heat suit, and preparing to drop a cold fusion device inside the volcano that would stop a cataclysmic eruption from extinguishing life on the planet. Kirk tells them of their plight by communicator. Spock reminds Kirk about the Prime Directive, as the Nibirans are a primitive society. Kirk assures his first officer that he and Dr. McCoy were disguised; they were merely leading the natives further away from the volcano. With the shuttlecraft's thruster choked by ash, Spock has to act fast. After a kiss from Uhura, he is lowered into the volcano. During the descent, the shuttlecraft takes too much damage, and Sulu attempts to abort the drop. But the wire Spock is hanging by snaps, dropping him down the central crater. Surprisingly, he survives the fall in his protective suit, and the cold fusion device is still operational. Sulu and Uhura are forced to abandon the shuttle; Uhura promises they will get Spock out. Satisfied they were far enough from the volcano, Kirk hangs the scroll he stole off a tree. The Nibirans cease their pursuit, allowing Kirk and McCoy to get away, jumping off a cliff into the ocean. Using miniprops and breathing apparatuses, they swim to the USS Enterprise and board through an airlock. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott is still not happy that they are hiding at the bottom of an ocean. The officers return to the bridge. Spock arms the "cold fusion device," which has a three-minute timer. The volcano has a small eruption, with pyroclastic ejecta destroying the temple in which the group of Nibirans had been worshiping. Nibiru has a very strong magnetic field that was jamming their transporters; the only way they can save Spock is by revealing themselves to fly above the volcano, which would violate the Prime Directive. Kirk asks Dr. McCoy what Spock would do if Kirk were the one deploying the device; Bones replies that Spock would let him die. Spock was indeed prepared for that likelihood. The cold fusion device would freeze and kill him, along with the volcano. The Nibirans are shocked when they see the Enterprise rising out of the ocean and above the volcano. Right before the cold fusion device is activated, Spock is beamed aboard the Enterprise, and they make their getaway. Kirk and McCoy join him in the transporter room. Spock is shocked that Kirk has blatantly violated the Prime Directive. Uhura tells them that the cold fusion device worked, but the crew is irked by Spock's apparent lack of gratitude. The native Nibirans begin to worship an image of the Enterprise they have drawn in the soil, accepting it as their new deity.
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