New Life and New Civilizations

As Captain Batel gets ready to take up her new role, the crew discover that the Vezda has escaped from the transporter pattern buffer in a rebuilt version of Gamble's body. Korby tracks Gamble to the entrance of the Vezda prison, but it is a trap: the doorway opens only when M'Benga and Gamble are there together. The crew learn that Batel's unique genetic make-up matches the Beholder, the statue that guards the prison. Their plan calls for the Enterprise and the Farragut to fire in perfect unison, made possible when Spock mind melds with Kirk. Pike and Batel enter the prison and confront Gamble, who destroys the Beholder and frees the other Vezda. Drawing on new powers, Batel shares with Pike a vision of a whole life together, then traps the Vezda inside and becomes the prison's eternal guardian. Grieving, Pike struggles to move on as the Enterprise sets out once more into unexplored space.