The Mark of Gideon ( episode ) Kirk is held captive on an empty duplicate of the USS " Enterprise " . Summary . Teaser . The is in synchronous orbit over the capital city of , a candidate for Federation membership . The physio - cultural report s the Gideon s have submitted to the Federation describe their planet as a virtual paradise , with a germ - free atmosphere . Yet for the duration of the delicate negotiations , Starfleet has agreed to the Gideons ' unusual stipulation that no surveillance scans be carried out upon their planet . Hodin , the Gideon Council ' s " de facto " ambassador to the Federation , accordingly provides the coordinates for the landing party ' s beam - down – 875 - 020 - 079 – a spot he says is within the Council Chamber . Furthermore , the " Enterprise " landing party must comprise of only one particular individual : Captain Kirk . After being beamed down by Commander Spock , Kirk arrives in what seems to be a completely depopulated " Enterprise " . He presumes the beam - down was unsuccessful , and upon arriving on the empty bridge satisfies himself from looking at the viewscreen that he and the ship are " still orbiting Gideon . " Act One . In a corridor , Kirk continues to search every part of the ship , and can find no one . He has sustained a bruise on his arm , but has lost any recollection of the incident or indeed the minutes in which it occurred . While speaking to Spock via a viewscreen , The High Council ' s Ambassador Hodin denies responsibility for the loss of the captain , suggesting that the " Enterprise " s equipment must be faulty . Hodin repeats the coordinates for Kirk ' s transport that were given to the " Enterprise " , which Chekov confirms on a PADD that he was sent to . He frustrates ship ' s surgeon McCoy and even First Officer Spock with his steadfast refusal to drop his planet ' s sensor - jamming shields . He claims they are necessary to protect the Gideons against any " contaminating contact " with violent otherworldly nature . Hodin does assent to a " thorough search " but pretends that Spock has agreed that the High Council should be the party to institute it . Continuing his search , Kirk encounters a young woman wandering the empty corridors of the ship in an ecstasy of new - found personal space . Telling Kirk that her name is Odona , she says that on her world " " thousands pressed in against me . I could hardly breathe . " " When she evinces fear Kirk consoles her , offering his hand . She notes that Kirk too seems to be troubled . The captains says he is , " " I seem to be the only one of my crew left on board the " Enterprise " . 430 . . . and I apparently am the only one left . " " Lieutenant Uhura tells Spock that Starfleet wants him to go through diplomatic channels – the Federation – but that the department she has been referred to , the Bureau of Planetary Treaties , has , of course , no treaty with the Gideon and wishes Starfleet to handle the crisis . Spock muses that diplomats and bureaucrats may function differently , but they seem to achieve the same results . Seeing the chronometer on the astrogator , Kirk says that there are indeed some nine minutes that are unaccounted for since his transport . Odona is plainly a Gideon , but apparently is not in the habit of calling her world by that name . Putting the " Enterprise " s forward environs onto the main viewer , Kirk finds that they seem no longer to be in orbit , but rather in some unfamiliar quadrant . Act Two . Meanwhile , back on the real USS " Enterprise " , the ambassador informs Spock that Kirk is not on Gideon after conducting a thorough search of the planet by the natives . However , Spock insists on transporting to the planet . The ambassador grants permission with the provision that a Gideon co - worker beam aboard the " Enterprise " . Spock agrees , and Scotty beams Krodak , a Gideon representative aboard , but when Spock begins to press for his beam - down to the planet , the Gideon ambassador prevaricates again , and claims that he has acted outside his authority to grant Spock the permission to come to the planet . Spock is clearly insistent and exasperated by both the bureaucratic logjam in the Federation , and by the diplomatic stonewalling of the ambassador . He tells Uhura to demand an answer from Starfleet about the issue of beaming to the planet ' s surface . At the same time , Kirk and Odona are together on the bridge of the empty " Enterprise " , and unable to raise any form of communication at all . At the engineering station , the captain drops the ship out of warp , explaining this to Odona , who remarks that it feels exactly the same as when they were at warp . This raises Kirk ' s attention because there " " is no change in how the ship feels . " " He grows suspicious and looks at the viewscreen , which is displaying a field of stars moving slowly . Odona asks Kirk if he is having a problem with the way the stars look . After Odona and Kirk toy with the idea of remaining alone aboard the " Enterprise " , Kirk decides he has to discover and contact whoever is manipulating them . He asks Odona about her homeworld , and she says she doesn ' t remember ; she only knows she is at the moment happy . She explains that her home planet is packed to the brim with people . There is not one area on the surface where an individual can find solitude , in fact , there are some who would kill for it . Odona and Kirk embrace , however , other hooded people now appear on the viewscreen unbeknownst to them . Act Three . While Kirk and Odona walk about the ship and discuss Kirk ' s bruise , they hear a strange thumping noise . Though Odona believes it is the engines or a storm , the captain knows every sound the " Enterprise " makes and that is not one of them . He opens a viewport , which shows an ordinary star field after a momentary ghostly appearance of the dense planetary population " en masse " , with the captain surmising the thumping sound was the heartbeats of all the people he saw out the window . As Kirk begins to request answers from Odona , she begins to feel faint with the manifest prognostics of illness as the ambassador – her father – and his aides watch from the council chamber , unknown to them . Hodin then boards what Kirk now knows to be a fake " Enterprise " . The captain and the ambassador partake in a brief exchange regarding Odona ' s health before Hodin takes Kirk prisoner and lays Odona in a bed in the captain ' s quarters . Act Four . Spock contacts Starfleet Command and argues with Admiral , who refuses to allow Spock to beam down to the planet ' s surface without being able to determine that Kirk ' s life is in immediate danger . On the planet , Hodin comforts Odona in Kirk ' s quarters , expecting her to die . However , he asks her what pain is like , foreign to both of them , and is proud of her strength in fighting the infection . Going outside to Kirk , he reveals he knows what she has - - Vegan choriomeningitis - - and that they sought Kirk out because they knew he had it . Kirk attempts to subdue the guards unsuccessfully . On the " Enterprise " , Spock finally resolves to violate Starfleet orders and search for Kirk . He demonstrates the slight difference between the coordinates given them for beaming down Kirk to those beaming up the Gideon councilman , Krodak . He orders McCoy and the others to remain aboard the " Enterprise " , leaving Scott in command . Hodin explains to Kirk in the council chambers how Gideon was once a paradise , and its atmosphere has always been germ - free . The lifespan increased and death became almost unknown to the Gideons . The birthrate continued to rise until Gideon became encased in a " living mass , " with no space to live in comfort . Hodin says sterilization is impossible as their organs renew , and contraception is unthinkable because of their " love of life . " Eventually , they decided to introduce mortal illness to Gideon , choosing Kirk as its source , and Odona as an inspirational model of self - sacrificial heroism . Hodin tries to convince Kirk to stay and provide the necessary virus , but Kirk argues against it . They are notified of the approaching death of Odona and they go to her . Meanwhile , Spock initiates a search for Kirk on the duplicate " Enterprise " and surmises that this is some experiment and Kirk is in danger . Spock finds them , subdues the guards . On Kirk ' s orders , Spock asks Scotty to beam up him , Kirk , and Odona to the " Enterprise " immediately . He warns Hodin not to interfere . In sickbay , McCoy then cures Odona and Kirk shows her around the real " Enterprise " , now filled with people . She tries in vain to persuade Kirk to go live with her on Gideon , wishing her homeworld could now fit one more person on it . They part , and she beams down to save her planet . Memorable quotes . " " We must acknowledge once and for all that the purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis . " " " " Diplomats and bureaucrats may function differently , but they achieve exactly the same results . " " " " And just when I was beginning to think you might find a whole new career as a diplomat , Mr . Spock . " " " " Do not give up hope , doctor . " " " " You ' re mad ! " " " " No . We are desperate . " " " " Your report to the Federation was a tissue of lies ! You described conditions that would make Gideon a virtual paradise ! " " " " We are incapable of destroying or interfering with the creation of that which we love so deeply . Life , in every form , from fetus to developed being . It is against our tradition , against our very nature . We simply could not do it . " " " " Yet you can kill a young girl . " " " " Your Excellency , please do not interfere . I already have one serious problem to resolve with upper echelons . " " " " How can you bear to look at me after the way I deceived you ? " " " " At least you owe me the privilege of letting me look at you . " " " " You are a gentleman , Captain Kirk . " " " " As crowded as my planet is , I could wish for it to hold one more person . " " Links and references . References . arm ; assistant ; atmosphere ; auditorium ; birth rate ; blood ; " Bones " ; Bureau of Planetary Treaties ; bureaucrat ; capital city ; conception ; diplomacy ; diplomat ; " Enterprise " , USS ( replica ) ; Excellency ; Federation ; fetus ; fever ; five - year mission ; germ ; Gideon ; Gideon ( planet ) ; Gideon Council ; Gideon Council Chamber ; Gideon prime minister ; language ; life span ; logic ; medical kit ; medical practitioner ; medical tricorder ; microorganism ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mirage ; oxygen ; paradise ; physio - cultural report ; population ; prime minister ; quadrant ; red priority ; repairman ; representative ; scientist ; Starfleet Command ; sterile ; synchronous orbit ; terminology ; thigh ; transporter ; tricorder ; Vegan choriomeningitis ; viewing port ; Vulcan neck pinch