Children of the Comet

Cadet Nyota Uhura, on rotation aboard the Enterprise, admits over dinner at the captain's table that she joined Starfleet to escape her grief after losing her parents, and may not stay. The ship is studying an ancient comet on course to strike Persephone III, home to a pre-warp people. When the comet shrugs off attempts to deflect it, an away team including Uhura, Spock, La'an and Lt Sam Kirk lands to investigate a structure inside. Uhura realises the comet responds to music, and by singing with Spock she helps the team get out. Then the Shepherds arrive: powerful guardians who revere the comet as M'hanit, an ancient arbiter of life, and will let no one interfere with it. While the Enterprise distracts them, Spock uses a shuttle to alter the comet's course, and the water vapour it releases enriches the planet. Uhura then decodes the comet's song, which seems to have foreseen everything, leaving Pike wondering about fate.