Pike and M'Benga seek a rare flower to save Batel and face zombified scientists and a Klingon vendetta.
Batel's Gorn DNA reactivates, and the only hope of saving her is a rare flower that grows on Kenfori, a world contested by the Federation and the Klingons. Pike and M'Benga take a shuttle down and find that the flower has turned the scientists stationed there into zombies. When a Klingon ship arrives, Ortegas's hasty approach forces a riskier maneuver. Bytha, daughter of a Klingon ambassador, hunts M'Benga to avenge her father, whom he admits he killed. He beats her in a duel but spares her life, and she later sacrifices herself so the others can escape.
Back aboard, Una suspends Ortegas for insubordination, and Pike reluctantly accepts Batel's decision to live on as a human-Gorn hybrid. The episode continues the fallout from the Gorn conflict, makes M'Benga answer for his violent wartime past, and shows Ortegas still shaken by her captivity. Dan Liu directed.