Stardate 5121.0: The Enterprise is ordered to evacuate a research outpost in the Minarian system whose sun will go nova. When the attempts to contact the station fail, Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down and find that the crew is gone. Then a transporter locks on to the three officers and beams them into an area where they are being held captive by two Vians - together with a mute woman whom McCoy nicknames "Gem". The Vians have already tortured the crew of the research outpost to death, and they intend to continue their cruel experiments with the Enterprise landing party. After Kirk has been hurt, Gem turns out to be an empath and absorbs his pain. The crew's subsequent attempt to escape together with Gem fails and is obviously part of the Vians' plan. When it comes to the final test, McCoy disables Kirk and then Spock with a hypospray and thereby "volunteers" to be the victim. Kirk and Spock finally manage to transport themselves into the torturing area, where McCoy is already dying. The Vians' actual goal, however, is to test Gem's ability to overcome her instinct of self-preservation and help McCoy, which she does eventually. When Kirk and Spock manage to overwhelm them and end the cruel scheme, the Vians concede that are satisfied now. In their view Gem has proven that of all inhabitants of the Minarian system her race is worthy of being saved.

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