A mission to retrieve a religious artifact unites aliens of very different cultures.
Kirk and Spock are summoned to the asteroid of the Vedala, an ancient and powerful race, to join a secret team charged with recovering the Soul of the Skorr. The stolen relic is sacred to the Skorr, and its loss threatens to set off a holy war across the galaxy.
The team includes the Skorr prince Tchar, the powerful reptilian Sord, an insect-like lockpick and a humanoid huntress, Lara. On the hostile world where the relic is hidden, Kirk learns that Tchar stole it himself to drive his people back to their warrior past. When Kirk and Spock return, almost no time has passed aboard the Enterprise. Stephen Kandel wrote the episode.