"What am I, a Doctor or a moon-shuttle conductor!?"
-- Doctor Leonard McCoy

Synopsis

The U.S.S. Enterprise encounters a mysterious spinning cube and Captain Kirk is called to the bridge. As the cube moves closer, Kirk is forced to destroy it. This is followed by an enormous spherical ship approaching the Enterprise. The ship's captain identifies himself as Balok, and because the crew is a savage race, tells them he will destroy the ship.

As crewman Bailey cracks under pressure, Kirk turns to Spock, who describes the Enterprise's predicament as "checkmate". Kirk uses spock's metaphor, and plays by the rules of poker. He tells Balok that the Enterprise is equipped with a substance known as Corbomite, which reflects the energy of any weapon used against the ship - destroying the attacker.

The bluff works, almost. Balok tows the Enterprise using a small pilot vessel to an internment planet, but the Enterprise breaks free, and Lt. Uhura reports that Balok is sending a distress signal to his home planet. Kirk, McCoy and Bailey beam over to the vessel where they discover that the Balok they knew was a dummy - and that the real Balok is a child-like alien, and reveals that he only wanted to test their intentions.

Captain's Log

"On the third day of star mapping, an unexplained cubical object blocked our vessel's path. On the bridge, Mr. Spock ordered general alert. My location - sickbay. Quarterly physical check..."

Writer, Director, Crew

Written by Jerry Sohl
Directed by Joseph Sargent

Guest Stars

Clint Howard as Balok
Anthony Hall as Lt. Dave Bailey

Episode Info

Production Number: 3
Stardate: 1512.2
First Aired In USA:10th November, 1966

Episode Media

Preview - TOS00301.AVI
Image - Balok

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