- Kirk and the gang arrive on the Enterprise for an inspection and a little training cruise.
- Over on Regula One, zombot Chekov calls in and says that the Reliant will be along to pick up the Genesis Device.
- Dr. Marcus and her staff have kittens; they try to pin down who gave the order to pick up the device. Chekov—forced into being a lying liar because of the space eel—tells them it was James Kirk.
- Dr. Marcus calls Kirk in a fine temper, demanding to know what he thinks he's doing with Genesis.
- The call keeps breaking up (signal strength is still a problem, even in outer space) and Kirk can't get any more than the basics.
- He decides to call Starfleet Command to figure things out.
- The doctors try to think of a way to hide Genesis from the Reliant, which is most decidedly not supposed to be in the Genesis-picking-up business.
- Kirk and Spock have a heart-to-heart.
- Spock offers Kirk command of the ship, and confirms that he'll be Kirk's Number One Good Buddy until the day they die.
- Kirk, Spock and McCoy research the Genesis Device: a missile that can be fired at a dead planet and turn it into a paradise.
- One problem? Fire the missile at a living planet and every living thing on that planet would be wiped out in favor of "its new matrix."
- Their heated discussion about the ethical implications of the Device are interrupted by the arrival of the Reliant.