Miri ( episode ) The " Enterprise " discovers an Earth - like planet that was devastated by a horrific degenerative disease and is now populated entirely by impossibly old children . Summary . Teaser . Responding to an Earth - type distress signal over a hundred light year s from Earth , the discovers a planet that is an exact copy of Earth . It has the same mass , circumference , density , and atmosphere . Even the topography is identical . Act One . Beaming down , the landing party of Captain Kirk , Spock , Dr . McCoy , and Janice Rand , along with security officer s Galloway and Fields , discover architecture like that of Earth , circa 1960 . But there is debris in the streets and evidence that decay has been ongoing for at least several centuries . Spock surmises that the distress signal is automated . Then , while McCoy is examining an old bicycle , he is attacked by a diseased man – a man horribly disfigured , insane , and violent . Before Kirk can get any useful information , the man dies , crying out several times , " fibber " . Noises draw the landing party to one of the abandoned buildings , where they discover a terrified girl hiding in a closet , named Miri . Meanwhile , Spock , Galloway , and Fields search the ruins outside . They hear children , and are pelted with debris and rocks , but they never actually see anyone ; the feral children , who call themselves Onlies , know the area too well , and are too canny . Talking to Miri , who only gradually realizes that she is in no danger , Kirk learns that the adults , whom Miri calls grup s , became ill and insane , and the Onlies had to hide from them until all grups died . McCoy realizes that a plague struck this world , and killed most of its people . And then , on Kirk ' s hand , Miri finds a blueish blemish . Kirk has the same disease that killed the grups . Act Two . Miri leads the landing party to an abandoned laboratory where McCoy takes tissue samples from the group in an attempt to isolate the organism responsible for the disease . Everyone in the landing party has this disease except Spock , thanks to his Vulcan green blood . However , Spock is a carrier and the whole crew would contract the disease if he were to beam back to the " Enterprise . " McCoy begins to work , asking Lieutenant John Farrell to have a biocomputer and an electronic microscope beamed down from the ship . Spock discovers research dating back three hundred years : there was a project with the goal of prolonging life . It worked , after a fashion , but a miscalculation annihilated the adults , leaving only the children to survive on their own for the last three centuries . Once they reach puberty , they each succumb to the disease . Spock calculates that within a week , all of the Human members of the landing party will succumb ; even sooner than that , they will go mad . Kirk , wanting to find the elusive children to get some answers , asks Miri to show him where they are hiding . In an old , rundown building , Jahn , the oldest and apparent leader of the Onlies , and a number of Only children , discuss the sudden reappearance of the " grups " . The children are afraid of things returning to the way it was in the " before time " . Jahn hatches a plan to steal the landing party ' s " little boxes " they use to talk to other " grups " so they will be all alone on the planet . Before he can go on further , Kirk arrives with Miri and the children hide . When Kirk enters the building , a deformed and crazed Only child named Louise attacks him and he is forced to stun her with his phaser , which accidentally kills her . Miri , shocked and saddened by the death , saying that she was a little bit older than herself , and embraces Kirk . Act Three . In the laboratory , Kirk orders Spock and McCoy to recreate the way the scientists on the planet ' s thinking . If they can isolate the virus creating the disease , McCoy will be able to create a vaccine . Just then , Kirk hears the Onlies saying " " nyah , nyah , nyah . . . " " outside and runs with Spock and McCoy to investigate . In the empty lab , Jahn emerges from an open vent and takes all of the landing party ' s communicators . Returning to the lab and discovering the communicators missing , McCoy underscores the need for them ; if they do not have the devices , they will not be able to verify their findings through the " Enterprise " s computers and they won ' t have a chance . The disease is starting to affect the landing party ; their nerves are frayed and their tempers are short . Kirk passes by Rand and bumps into her while walking by , causing her to drop a beaker . This causes her to snap , cry hysterically , and run out into the laboratory ' s corridor . Kirk , alone in the corridor with a crying and upset Rand , takes her into in his arms to comfort her . Miri witnesses this and becomes jealous of Kirk ' s attention to her and Rand ' s romantic looks at the Captain . Miri returns to the Onlies and helps Jahn and then develop a plan to capture Rand , thereby luring Kirk to them . Act Four . Meanwhile , McCoy has discovered the organism responsible , and succeeds in isolating a substance that might be the vaccine . But without the ship ' s computer ( still unavailable because the landing party was still without communicators ) , it is impossible to be certain – or to know the dosage . Later , Rand goes missing and Kirk becomes worried and lost in thought with Rand ' s whereabouts , and in finding his " Janice . " Kirk persuades Miri to help him , by revealing the secret the landing party had kept : that she , and all the children , would get the disease , and that the youngest would starve long before that . Miri takes Kirk to where Rand is being held and tied up by Jahn and the other Onlies . The children don ' t trust Kirk and pummel the captain . Beaten and bloodied , Kirk finally makes the children realize they ' re doing what the grups did – hurting others . Meanwhile , a desperate Dr . McCoy injects himself with a hypospray filled with the serum , knowing that without confirmation from the ship ' s computers he could be injecting himself with , as Spock described it , " a beaker full of death . " Returning with Rand and the communicators , and carrying one of the smaller children , Kirk finds Spock and a security man at McCoy ' s side . The doctor is unconscious , perhaps dying . . . and then the blemishes begin to fade . The vaccine is a success . The " Enterprise " departs , leaving a medical team in charge of the children , who will soon receive the care they need . Memorable quotes . " " Now , this is marvelous . The most horrible conglomeration of antique architecture I ' ve ever seen . " " " " Being a red - blooded Human obviously has its disadvantages . " " " " Life prolongation . Didn ' t have much luck , did they ? " " " " I think children have an instinctive need for adults ; they want to be told right and wrong . " " " " A child entering puberty on this planet means a death sentence . " " " " Eternal childhood , filled with play , no responsibilities . It ' s almost like a dream . " " " " I wouldn ' t examine that dream too closely , yeoman . It might not turn out to be very pretty . " " " " I am a carrier . Whatever happens , I can ' t go back to the ship . . . and I " do " want to go back to the ship , captain . " " " " ( smiling ) Of course , Mr . Spock . " " " " Back on the ship , I used to try to get you to look at my legs ! Captain , look at my legs ! " " " " Bonk ! Bonk ! On the head ! Bonk ! Bonk ! " " " " You two will have to re - create their thinking if we ’ re going to isolate that virus and be able to develop a vaccine . " " " " Is that all captain , we have five days you know ? " " " " This is the vaccine ? " " " " That ' s what the computers will tell us . " " " " Without them , it could be a beaker full of death . " " " " Where is she , Miri ! ! Where is she , Miri ! ! Where ' s Janice ? " " " " What ' s the matter with you ? How should I know . " " " " Where is she ! Has something happened to her ! ? " " " " Don ' t you feel all right ? " " " " No , I don ' t feel all right ! ! None of us feel all right ! ! Can ' t you see what ' s going on ! ! ? " " " " Jim , I don ' t want anything to happen to you . " " " " Where is , Janice ! ? I ' ve got to find , Janice ! " " " " Tell ' em , Jim ! " " " " Blah ! Blah ! Blah ! " " " " No blah ! Blah ! Blah ! " " " " LOOK AT MY ARMS ! ! That ' s what ' s going to happen to you . . . unless you let me help you ! " " " " Nyah nyah nyah - nyah nyah ! " " " " I never will understand the medical mind . " " " " Miri . She really loved you , you know . " " " " I never get involved with older women , yeoman . " " " . . . once we entered the set and were directed to the costume room . . . someone handed me a box with a costume in it , and told me to put it on . Since Halloween was one of my favorite holidays , I opened the box eagerly – I was getting a chance to dress up , and it wasn ' t even Halloween ! However , my excitement was somewhat lessened when I saw the costume . It was a beige , apron - like dress with the words " " printed on the left pocket . Even at the age of five , I considered myself too mature to wear such a silly costume . I spent the next hour with my left hand over the print . . . my mother made matters worse when she asked the costumer if they had any green wigs left . She had seen a little girl walk by with a wig of long , green ratty hair and she wanted one for me . I breathed a sigh of relief when she was informed none were left . " Background information . On the set . " Leslie , who was also appearing in the episode ( and got a much better costume than I did ) , accompanied me to the make - up room to visit dad . When we walked into the room , he was sitting in the make - up chair , his back to us . We ran forward excitedly , relieved to see his familiar outline . When he turned towards us , I caught a glimpse of his arm and saw the skin on the inside of his elbow was covered with a long , bluish - red scab ! I blanched , and my dad burst out laughing , and told us to touch the sore . It was made of rubber – at that moment , I realized everything was " pretend . " Once I understood that , I relaxed . " " Finally , my father started talking . I understood that his words belonged to the " pretend " realm , but what he was saying still didn ' t make much sense . " Look at your hands , " he commanded . " They have blood on them . " When no one moved , he stopped talking . " Well , look at them , " he said , and all the kids looked down at their hands . I followed suit , but didn ' t see anything unusual . I wondered why he told me there was blood on my hands when there wasn ' t any . " " The next scene didn ' t clear up my confusion . [ Keith Taylor ] was told to pick me up and carry me towards my father , whereupon I was supposed to take a swipe at my father ' s face . I knew this part was " pretend . " In fact , I couldn ' t keep a smile off my face every time I got close to hitting him . My father kept saying , " No , no you can ' t smile , " every time I grinned . We had to do it four or five times before I finally could keep a straight face . I wasn ' t entirely sure why I was supposed to look as if I meant to hit him . " For the last scene Lisabeth was , where Kirk and the Onlies run to the lab : " My father entered carrying me , and set me down next to the actress playing Janice Rand , who was kneeling on the floor . The scene took a long time to film . Eventually , I began looking around the room , and discovered I had a bird ' s eye view of the top of the actress ' s head . I was utterly fascinated by her hair , which was woven into a checkered pattern on top . I stared at that hair for a long time , wondering if it was possible to actually play checkers on it . " Remastered information . The remastered version of " Miri " was first aired in many North American markets as a " bonus " episode during the weekend of , alongside . These were the first episodes to be " remastered " by CBS Digital and featured a flawed CG - model of the " Enterprise " that was eventually replaced . The episode is notable for the replacement of the original , highly unrealistic shots of Earth Two with brand - new computer - generated versions . The episode was rerun ( finally airing in some markets for the first time ) on the weekend of . Links and references . References . 1900s ; 1960 ; adolescence ; adviser ; atmosphere ; automatic transmission station ; bacteria ; Bartlett Stable ; beaker ; before time ; Biggs ' ; biocomputer ; blackboard ; " Bones " ; ; chemical pollution ; child ; childhood ; circumference ; classroom ; closet ; communicator ; computer bank ; death sentence ; density ; distress signal ; doctor ; dosage ; Earth ; Earth Two ; Earth Two native ; electronic microscope ; extremity ; fever ; foolie ; genetics ; gland ; grup ; hotel ; Human ; Krazy Kat ; laboratory ; landing party ; life prolongation project ; logic ; loneliness ; metabolic rate ; mice ; microscope ; mile ; Milky Way Galaxy ; museum ; mutation ; nitrogen ; nitrogen cycle ; nucleic acid ; old ; " olly olly oxen free " ; onlies ; oxygen ; pain ; Palmerton Cafe ; pencil ; pencil sharpener ; pill ; plague ; police ; post - pubescent ; power ( mathematics ) ; puberty ; radioactivity ; Rusk Hotel ; seizure ; slide ( science ) ; slide ( toy ) ; smoking ; SOS ; Space Central ; stuffed animal ; symptom ; teacher ; test tube ; tissue ; tissue sample ; ton ; tricycle ; truant officer ; typewriter ; vaccine ; virus ; vision ; zoo Unreferenced material . badminton ; basketball ; Beatle ; blood ; cage ; can ; can opener ( aka " mommies " ) ; canary ; cat ; colds ; ghost ; government ; Hongkong ; hots ; lion s ; lion tamer ; mannequin ; money ; North America ; pint ; price tag ; principal ; sailboat s ; ( sailing ) ; surfboard s ; surfers and surferettes ; time bomb ; ( trap ) ; tuxedo s ; water ; wig