The Omega Glory ( episode ) The " Enterprise " discovers the derelict starship " Exeter " drifting in space , its entire crew killed by an unknown plague and her captain missing . Summary . Teaser . The discovers the starship in orbit upon arriving at the planet Omega IV . When Captain Kirk , Spock , McCoy , and Lieutenant Galloway beam over to the empty ship ' s engineering section to investigate , they discover the ship to be seemingly abandoned . . . only s ; and some crystals remain . Act One . Kirk uses the ship ' s intercom to raise anyone on board the ship . Spock hails Kirk and reports the same thing as in engineering , while Galloway reports all four of the " Exeter " s shuttlecraft are on board , proving the crew didn ' t leave that way . McCoy and Kirk then head to the " Exeter " s bridge and then order both men to meet them there . Arriving at the " Exeter " s bridge , McCoy ' s analysis finds the crystals to be what was left of the crew with all the water removed . A tape left by the " Exeter " s ship ' s surgeon , Carter , reveals the crew was killed by a virus which was brought up to the ship by the landing party ; only Captain Ronald Tracey remained alive by staying on the planet ' s surface . Kirk orders the landing party to beam down to the planet at once , and gazes down at the floor at the remains of the ship ' s surgeon . Once on the planet , they interrupt some natives about to behead another , and Captain Tracey , apparently in charge , calms them down and welcomes them . Captain Tracey has been living among the Kohm s , an iron - age people engaged in a war with the Yang s , a seemingly primitive , savage and fierce tribal culture – one of whose leaders has just been taken captive . He informs them there is a natural immunity offered by the planet ' s environment – they will stay alive only as long as they remain on Omega IV . The landing party sets up in a building to contact the " Enterprise " , for McCoy to confirm the disease and Kirk to record a log entry . Kirk is disappointed that Tracey has apparently used Federation technology to assist the Kohms in their fight . Because of this , he has become something of a leader of the group , which is a clear violation of Starfleet ' s Prime Directive of non - interference with developing civilizations . McCoy notes the similarity of the infection to some inflicted during biological warfare experiments on Earth in the 1990s . Suddenly , Spock and Galloway return , with Galloway critically injured from a Yang ambush . Spock confirms the viciousness of the Yangs , and that they are preparing to attack , however , Spock also finds an empty phaser pack , confirming he is using his technology to help the Kohms . Before Kirk can contact the Enterprise , Tracey enters , prevents him , and kills Galloway . Act Two . The landing party is disarmed and Tracey makes Sulu think the landing party is indisposed . Tracey explains to Kirk alone that the Kohm people have no record of any kind of disease but possess extremely long lifespans , for example , his guard Wu is over 400 Earth years old , his father over 1 , 000 years . He wishes to use the resources of the " Enterprise " to isolate the cause for this " super - immunity " , cure themselves and share it for a profit . To do this , he must keep the Yangs at bay , and asks for Kirk ' s help . Kirk instead tries to escape unsuccessfully , and is thrown into a cell with the savage and his woman from before , while Tracey plans to attack the Yangs . After a fierce fight , however , Kirk comes to realize that the Yangs worship concepts such as freedom and bear remarkable similarities to the native peoples of North America – the " North American Natives " – and helps the Yang prisoners escape . However , the male prisoner knocks Kirk unconscious with an iron bar while he and his female partner escape . Act Three . Seven hours and eight minutes later , Kirk awakens and together he and Spock ( who is in the next cell ) get the keys to escape their cells . McCoy , conducting medical research in the meantime under guard , learns that both the super - immunity enjoyed by the Omega IV inhabitants , and the plague which killed the " Exeter " s crew are the results of biological warfare similar to experiments researched by Earth in the late twentieth century , in the 1990s . The plague still exists , but after this war , the planet ' s ecosystem developed powerful immunizing agents , essentially due to natural evolution . McCoy discovers that the longer a person stays on the planet , the more well - established the immunity ; tragically , if the " Exeter " landing party had stayed on the planet just a few hours longer , no one would have died . Spock and Kirk subdue the guard and learn everything from McCoy . Since they are now cured of the plague , Kirk tells Spock to repair the transmitter so they can beam up to the " Enterprise " . Just as Spock is about to do so , the console is destroyed by a phaser blast , injuring him . Tracey stumbles into the room , trembling , and recounts how his Kohm force was routed by the Yangs , despite the thousands of Yangs that Tracey and his allies killed with their phasers . Tracey assumes that Kirk freed the Yang prisoner to warn the others of the attack . Kirk demands that Spock be beamed up to the " Enterprise " for medical attention . When Tracey objects that they are still infected , Kirk and McCoy furiously tell him that they are now immunized , there is no serum , and there is nothing that Tracey can " extract " that will excuse the atrocities he has committed . On being told that he has thrown away his crew , his career , and his honor for nothing , Tracey seems to lose what remains of his sanity . Focusing on the impending Yang attack , Tracey marches Kirk outside and tells him to call the " Enterprise " with his communicator and have it beam down more phasers . Kirk obligingly relays the request to Lieutenant Sulu , who says that he cannot do that without verification . Staring down the muzzle of Tracey ' s phaser , Kirk carefully says that the landing party is in danger . Sulu says that , if that is the case , then teams of armed volunteers are ready to beam down – which is the last thing Tracey wants . Kirk says the danger to the landing party is not imminent , and tells Sulu not to beam anyone else down , before flipping his communicator shut . Just as Tracey begins to understand that he is stymied , Kirk tries to overpower him , and the two men fight , only for them both to be taken prisoner by the Yangs . Kirk and Spock eventually realize that Omega IV ' s culture was an extremely close parallel of Earth ' s ( " Yangs " is a mispronunciation of " Yankees " , while " Kohms " originally were " Communists " ) except the Omegans fought the war Earth managed to avoid , and the Kohms took over the planet . The Yangs have been fighting to regain their land ever since ; this is confirmed when the victorious Yangs bring in their battle standard – an ancient , tattered " stars and stripes " US flag . Act Four . The Yang prisoner is Cloud William , their , and the " holy words " ( which only a chief may speak ) are a badly slurred version of the Pledge of Allegiance . Kirk interprets the Pledge and speaks the words himself , and begins to explain where he is from , but Tracey picks up on the theme and tries to turn the Yangs against Kirk by declaring he was " cast out of heaven " – pointing to Spock ' s appearance as similar to the appearance of the servant of " the evil one " . To test Kirk , Cloud William reads from the " greatest of holies " and challenges Kirk to translate or else Spock is killed . Unable to initially translate , Kirk counters that their sacred legends promise that good is stronger than evil , and fights Tracey man - to - man to prove it . While the fight takes place , Spock uses his telepathic abilities to get Cloud William ' s mate , to use one of the communicators , after which a landing party of volunteers from the " Enterprise " , led by Lieutenant Sulu , beams down armed with phasers to take control of the situation . Fortunately , Kirk wins the fight with Tracey anyway . Seeing these events , Cloud William believes Kirk to be God ' s servant . Kirk informs the Yangs that the " holy words " were not merely written for chiefs , but for everyone , even the Kohms . He reads the " greatest of holies " – the preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America , and tells Cloud William the words must apply to everyone or they are meaningless . Cloud William does not understand the meaning behind Kirk ' s words , but promises that he will obey the " holy words . " When Spock asks Kirk if his actions do not also violate the Prime Directive , Kirk explains he was simply explaining the meaning of what they were fighting for . . . as " all " the Yangs read the Constitution . Before leaving Omega IV , Kirk glances at the torn and tattered US flag . Memorable quotes . " " If you ' ve come aboard this ship , you ' re dead men . " " " " A star captain ' s most solemn oath is that he will give his life , even his entire crew , rather than violate the Prime Directive . " " " " Keep trying , captain . Their behavior is highly illogical . " " " " No point in repeating that it ' s illogical , Spock . I ' m – quite aware of it . " " " " Pity you can ' t teach me that . " " " " I have tried , captain . " " " " No native to this planet has ever had any trace of any kind of disease . How long would a man live if all disease were erased , Jim ? Wu ! " " ( Wu enters ) " " Tell Captain Kirk your age . " " " " Age ? Well , I have seen 42 years of the red bird . My eldest brother is . . . " " " " Their year of the red bird comes once every 11 years , which he ' s seen 42 times . Multiply it . Wu is 462 years old . His father is well over a thousand . Interested , Jim ? " " " " Freedom ? Freedom ? That is a worship word . Yang worship . You will not speak it . " " " " Who knows ? It might one day cure the common cold , but lengthen lives ? Poppycock ! I can do more for you if you just eat right and exercise regularly . " " " " They sacrificed hundreds just to draw us out in the open . And then they came , and they came . We drained four of our phasers , and they still came . We killed thousands and they still came ! " " " " There ' s no serum ! There are no miracles ! There ' s no immortality here ! All this is for nothing ! " " " " Ay plegli ianectu flaggen , tupep like for stahn – " " " " And to the republic for which it stands , one nation under God , indivisible , with liberty and justice for all . " " " " Spock , I ' ve found that evil usually triumphs unless good is very , very careful . " " " " What are you doing ? " " " " I ' m making a suggestion . " " " " They must apply to everyone or they mean nothing ! " " " " Liberty and freedom have to be more than just words . " " Background information . Remastered information . The remastered version of " The Omega Glory " aired in many North American markets during the weekend of . The episode included dramatic new effects shots of the " Enterprise " and the " Exeter " in orbit of a more Earth - like , computer - generated Omega IV . Among the fine details inserted into the show , a small glimpse of the " Exeter " appears on the " Enterprise " viewscreen as it approaches the planet at the start of the episode . Links and references . References . 1990s ; American Indian ; Asiatic ; auto - navigation ; ax ; bacteriology ; blood - analyzer unit ; " Bones " ; bow ; calcium ; carbon ; chief ; Cloud William ' s father ; common cold ; Communist ; Connecticut ; ; delirium ; Earth ; evil ; exercise ; ; " Exeter " bridge officers ; " Exeter " engineers ; fever ; fire box ; Fountain of Youth ; Georgia ; good ; governor ; hangar deck ; heart ; Holy Word ; immunity ; immunization ; internal organ ; Kohm ; lance ; logic ; mannerism ; Massachusetts ; Maryland ; medi - scanner ; meter ; ; New Hampshire ; New Jersey ; New York ; North Carolina ; Omega IV ; Omega IV virus ; Omega IV native ; Pennsylvania ; phosphorus ; potassium ; pound ; power pack ; Prime Directive ; republic ; Rhode Island ; skin ; shuttlecraft ; South Carolina ; star captain ; Starfleet Regulation 7 ; stoicism ; tribe ; United States Congress ; United States Constitution ; United States of America ; Virginia ; Vulcan ; Vulcan nerve pinch ; warrior ; water ; Wu ' s brother ; Wu ' s father ; Yang ; Yankee ; Year of the Red Bird Bible ( Omega IV ) references . Darius ; Evil One ; God ; Haggai ; high priest ; Jerusalem ; Josedech ; Joshua ; Judah ; king ; Shealtiel ; Zerubbabel ; Zion