[1] Fontana was a writer and producer on the original Star Trek television series and was primarily responsible for writing much of the backstory surrounding Spock's Vulcan heritage.

The characters of Number One and Dr. Philip Boyce (both present in "The Cage") also appear, as does a younger version of future Enterprise chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott.

Spock requests that an all-Vulcan team be assigned to find the Glory; among the members he selects is T'Pris, a female veteran officer and widow.

They discover that a shuttlecraft carrying the surviving crew of He-shii and the Glory departed for Areta in the hopes of finding a suitable environment to await rescue.

Pike then departs alone to complete his original mission under the assumed identity of "Krees": he discovers that the townsmen and nomads are in an uproar over the abduction of Bardan and Silene, the children of two influential leaders who share a forbidden romance.

They find the missing youths, but also discover that, contrary to what they had previously assumed, the mutants are highly intelligent and have asked Bardan and Silene to serve as emissaries to their people to plead for mutual understanding and peace.

On the Enterprise, geologist Gregory Meadows violates Pike's orders and steals the Glory, hoping to make his name by cataloging it for the Federation.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant (junior grade) Montgomery Scott is recruited by a fellow crewman to set up an illegal still in the engineering bay so the two can profit on the sale of moonshine to their comrades.