Stardate 2947.3: The Enterprise arrives at Starbase 11 for repairs after an ion storm. During the storm Kirk had to jettison the ion pod, which was occupied by Lt. Cmdr. Ben Finney, but not before issuing a red alert. Finney, however, apparently didn't make it out in time. On the starbase Commodore Stone reviews evidence of the incident, and he urges Kirk to give up his command. When Kirk refuses, Stone sets up a court martial for negligent homicide. Kirk meets his old flame Areel Shaw, only to learn that she is the prosecutor. He finds help in the person of the old-fashioned attorney Samuel Cogley. All of Cogley's efforts seem to be in vain when visual evidence of Kirk pressing the "Jettison Ion Pod" button already at yellow alert is presented. Spock, however, discovers programming errors in the Enterprise's computer, a hint that it has been tampered with. Finney may be still alive. The court moves to the Enterprise in order to find Finney on the ship. He has faked his death and has been hiding in engineering, in the hope that he could ruin Kirk's career, for Kirk was promoted ahead of him.

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