Fifteenth Story Arc This summary is of a story arc from the newspaper comic strip " Star Trek " . Summary . Captain Kirk , Spock , and Lt . T ' Yee are about to beam up with medical supplies from Manark V , a Federation member , when they are attacked by a man wielding a mace on a chain . T ' Yee is injured , Spock stuns the man with a phaser , and the Manarkite ambassador apologizes profusely . The man is a terrorist , opposed to Manark V ' s Federation membership . After the leaves orbit , they proceed to the Vanowen colony , which is plagued by Rigellian fever . When Dr . McCoy learns of the attack , he explodes in anger , calling the Manarkites savages and completely irrational . His eyes also have an unusual glow about them , which is unnoticed by the crew . Storming out rather than discuss things with Spock , McCoy returns to sickbay . Dr . Chapel is examining T ' Yee ' s wound in sickbay when Chapel is stunned and a shadowy figure removes her from sickbay . Spock and Kirk , engaged in a game of three - dimensional chess , discuss that many of the crew have reported " aberrational behavior " in Dr . McCoy . Kirk grants Spock ' s request to investigate , guessing it is probably little more than stress . After the investigation , Spock is convinced " " that the Dr . McCoy now aboard the " Enterprise " is not the Dr . McCoy we know " " . Moreover , he can prove it . At the same time , Chapel – now with glowing eyes – is attempting to give T ' Yee a sedative . T ' Yee screams , sensing that Chapel is not whom she appears to be . Outside in the corridor , McCoy hears the screaming . But he is quickly rendered unconscious by a nerve pinch administered by Spock , who does not hear T ' Yee ' s cries for help . Spock then examines McCoy in sickbay in private , with the data access restricted to Kirk and himself . His scan shows " " that brain structure matches no known patterns in humanoid s . In sum : entity is not Dr . McCoy . . . but is evidently an alien duplication of him . " " Spock returns McCoy to consciousness , but uses a Vulcan mind meld to erase memory of his examination . Chapel then introduces a duplicate T ' Yee to McCoy , saying she is " one of us now " . As Kirk is sending a message that the ship is delayed due to an ion storm in the sector , Spock informs him of what he ' s found out . Looking over the data with Spock , Kirk feels the ship shake and after a harrowing ride in a free - fall turbolift , discovers that they are " bracketed " by Romulan cruisers of the " K ' t ' inga " design . The Romulans claim the " Enterprise " has violated their territory and are moving to destroy the ship . Kirk is confused , since they should be nowhere near Romulan space . Spock confirms their position : in the Romulan Neutral Zone . " " It would seem the Romulans have developed a new weapon with which they not only evaded our sensors , but also temporarily incapacitated them . . . causing a navigational error that allowed the " Enterprise " to proceed into the Neutral Zone " " . Warp drive is offline due to the attack , but rather than press their advantage , the Romulans leave the sector at maximum warp . Casualty reports come in , with Scotty being among them . He has a concussion and first - degree burns , and despite his protest that they don ' t seem quite normal , is treated by the medical staff . The treatment includes being placed in a scanner so that a duplicate can be made of him – one with glowing eyes . The intention is to duplicate all the injured and discard the originals . Kirk decides not to do anything about McCoy until they can figure out what the alien is trying to accomplish . As he makes that choice , the duplicate T ' Yee determines she is to distract Kirk so the duplicate Scott can accomplish a task on the bridge . Her solution : offer to bring Kirk his dinner in his quarters , since Kirk ' s personal aide was injured in the attack . Kirk is flustered by the offer , but agrees . Starfleet ' s answer to the problem of a damaged " Enterprise " is to have the " Enterprise " rendezvous with the USS " Potemkin " , which will finish the mission . Kirk then has his dinner delivered to him in his quarters by the duplicate and casually attired T ' Yee . She tells him that she has arranged to be assigned as his personal aide because she is " fascinated " by him . Kirk replies that he is finding himself being " drawn " to her . Kissing T ' Yee , Kirk calls Uhura and asks not to be disturbed . Uhura contacts Spock . She is concerned that the computer shows that various injured personnel are returning to duty much sooner than she would have anticipated . Meanwhile , the duplicate Chapel states that " " 32 . 2 % of the crew has been replaced by members of our race " " . The duplicate Scott arrives on the bridge to correct a computer malfunction , but Sulu doesn ' t believe him and activates a channel to Spock without Scott ' s knowledge . Spock goes to the bridge and orders Scott to stop . When he doesn ' t , Spock places Scotty under arrest ; rather than comply , Scott attacks . Spock easily defends himself , destroys the station to prevent further tampering , and contacts Kirk . Kirk is bothered in that he had asked not to be disturbed , but Spock tells him that unless immediate action is taken the ship may be taken over by hostile alien forces . Kirk asks Spock to meet him in the briefing room , and tears himself away from T ' Yee , who is seen in silhouette with a transparent cape . Spock explains that Scott tried to tamper with the computer only after Kirk gave orders not to be disturbed . He does not think it a coincidence and believes that T ' Yee , Scott , and others are conspiring to take over the ship . Since McCoy was first to be duplicated , they head to sickbay . On the way , they reason that the casualty list would tell them who has been replaced with duplicates , and that that was the data Scott was trying to erase . Rendezvousing with the " Potemkin " ( a ship ) , Sulu tells the transporter room to get the medical supplies ready to beam over . The crew finds only empty crates , though . Spock scans the crates and learns that a microscopic alien embryo was inside the containers and escaped detection . It then fed on the medicines and escaped , living inside the medical computer . Just then , a large alien bursts out from behind the medical computer wall and is shot at by Kirk . He misses , and the creature morphs into something able to fly ; it is a " shape - changer " and can take on the shape of anyone or anything whose physical data is in the medical computer bank . Chekov and a security guard arrive . The guard tries to shoot Kirk instead of the alien , as the guard is a duplicate . Spock " nerve - pinches " him , but the activity allows the alien to hide . The alien , in the shape of a snake , attacks Kirk again but this time Kirk fires on target . Stunned , the creature reverts to its natural form : a native of Manark V , where they originally picked up the medical supplies . Learning of this , T ' Yee tells her fellow duplicates that their discovery means they must abandon the ship and deal " death to the crew ! " T ' Yee begins to transport the duplicates to Murakam , a planet to which the ship has been diverted as duplicates were in control of the bridge . The plan : leave the real crew aboard and have the ship crash into the planet . Just in case , the duplicates arm themselves with phasers . Kirk , Spock , and Chekov rush down to confront the duplicates who are left and find themselves in a fire fight . Kirk sets his phaser to overload and uses it like a grenade . It explodes and takes out several duplicates . The sensor s show where the Manarkites beamed down , and Kirk remarks that they have to pursue them " " or we ' ll never see our friends alive again ! " " Spock notices that internal sensors show Human lifeform readings still on the " Enterprise " . Spock goes in search of the crew and finds Scott sealed in his own quarters . The orbit decaying , Scott goes to work with Spock to find more of the crew and restart the engines . Meanwhile , Kirk and Chekov beam down to confront the " alien impostors " . They enter a cave and Chekov falls down a hole . Kirk sees T ' Yee , but doesn ' t realize she is a duplicate because her limited telepathic ability – sufficient to cloud his mind – was also duplicated . She reaches for him as to kiss him . Suddenly , a Manarkite alien appears , as does Chekov . Chekov shoots at the alien , but the duplicate T ' Yee leaps into the path of the beam . It slices through both her and the alien , killing both . In her death , T ' Yee assumes her true form as a Manarkite alien , which Chekov can tell was the leader of the alien impostors . A rumble is heard in the caves . The phaser blast triggered a cave - in , and the men run for the exit only to find a dozen Manarkite aliens waiting . Kirk calls Spock and orders a wide beam phaser blast at his coordinates , on stun . It works . The Manarkites are interrogated by Starfleet and it is discovered they were in league with the Romulans . The plan was for them to take over the " Enterprise " . The ship speeds to Organia to pick up more medical supplies , and Kirk confesses to McCoy that he is as fond of the real T ' Yee as her duplicate . Kirk invites her to dinner , which she refuses , saying " " That would be improper , Admiral " " . The story ends with McCoy saying in response to T ' Yee ' s resistance to Kirk ' s charms , " " Got your work cut out for you , Jim ! " " Memorable quotes . " " Uhura , I don ' t want to be disturbed for the next hour . " " Background information . This is the third time the comic has returned to the theme of secession from the Federation , the second time McCoy has been replaced by a lookalike , and the second time it has invoked Rigelian fever as a plot device . It also hearkens back visually to the duplication sequence in . There are a few nice touches . One is the reference to an ion storm , not heard of since the original series . Also , a wide area phaser shot on the ground from the ship was used in , but had not been seen again prior to this . The communicators from the second film were used as well . Another nice touch would have been a more compelling reason for not immediately arresting the McCoy duplicate once found out . Or why the crew was kept alive at all . And one wonders what McCoy ' s reaction would have been to the surprise nerve pinch had he not been an alien duplicate but just grouchy . The aliens themselves look remarkably like the alien from the movie " Alien " , which had come out four years prior to this story arc . But the most troubling bit is the subplot of the normal , unduplicated Kirk expressing affection and lust for a young lieutenant under his direct command ; it is both forced and somewhat difficult to accept . In a nice change , Uhura and Sulu are shown as being among the most prudent and professional of officers , much more so than Kirk is shown to be in this story . Pasko originally intended to use the character of Saavik , but was apparently prohibited to do so by Paramount Pictures ; Lt . T ' Yee took her place for story purposes . For unknown reasons , possibly related to an attempt at cost - savings due to poor distribution , the Sunday color comic was no longer produced beginning with this story arc . This story was given the title " Taking Shape " in " " .