| abstract | - The Enterprise is transporting an ambassador who will be organizing peace talks between Pavak and Oyolo, two warring planets. The ambassador in question is Kevin Riley, former crewmember of the original Enterprise. During a visit to a refugee camp on Oyolo, Kirk and McCoy identify one of the aid workers, Lyla Kassidy, as Lenore Karidian, who tried to kill Kirk and Riley twenty years previous: She was released five years previous after undergoing psychiatric treatment. Kirk invites her aboard the Enterprise for a reception but the event is marred when the Pavakian delegate, General Tem, is murdered. An overloading phaser left at the scene resembles one of Lenore's crimes from twenty years earlier. Meanwhile, Spock and Scotty are on Pavak overseeing the disarming of the Pavakians' protomatter missiles. They find themselves detained when news of the assassination comes through but discover that one of the warheads was removed prior to destruction. The Oyolu delegate, A'Barra, is also murdered, poisoned with zetaproprion, a medication that Lenore uses. Both the Pavakian and Oyolu media reveal Lenore's identity and call for extradition. The aid workers on Oyolo are taken hostage to try and force her release but rescued by the Enterprise crew. Spock and Scotty convince their Pavakian contact, Pogg, that elements of his military are trying to disrupt the peace process. They track down Major Takk, the officer who stole the warhead, but he no longer has it with him. The assassin is revealed to be Colonel Gast, Tem's aide and a member of the rogue Pavakian element. She underwent a transporter process similar to the one Kirk underwent at Alfa 177 to split herself in two and give herself an alibi. Having researched Kirk's past, she recognised Lenore and framed her. The rogue Pavakians fire the warhead at the Oyolo capital and sabotage by Gast leaves the Enterprise unable to intercept. Lenore has stolen the shuttle Copernicus, intending to surrender herself, but is convinced to set the shuttle on a collision course with the warhead and then bail out. The warhead is destroyed and Lenore is rescued by Spock and Scotty in the Gaileo. The two Gasts die during an attempt at reintegration, the other Pavakians conspirators are apprehended and the peace process can continue.
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