Eleventh Story Arc This summary is of a story arc from the newspaper comic strip " Star Trek " . Summary . The follows the Klingon s from Sarsinthia to the Vulpecula 12 system . The Klingons hide among the debris field from the fourth planet , which was an Earth - like world with a civilization until it was hit and shattered by a meteor thousands of years before . The Klingon ship fires and severely disables the " Enterprise " , so much so that the Klingon Captain Kolak believes them to be finished and leaves the area , as his ship is still damaged . But in about an hour , after the " Enterprise " is battle - ready and starting to search for the Klingons again , a sublight probe broadcasting a distress call is picked up . The call is to any biological organism to help combat genocide , and to " beware the Omnimind " . Shortly thereafter they find the Klingon ship adrift in an asteroid field the probe passed through ; the vessel is blown apart and devoid of all life . Spock notes that the field is very odd in that it appears to have been arranged intentionally to encircle a planet . Moreover , if the probe was from that planet it would have been launched about a century before . At that moment , a planetary defense system in the asteroids opens fire on the ship . The weapons have no effect against the shields , and only destroyed the Klingon vessel because they had lost their main shields in the battle with the Sarsith . Kirk decides to demonstrate the ship ' s firepower and destroys a few asteroids . After that , Kolak calls Kirk from the planet ' s surface and invites him down to discuss the Sarsithian incident . Kirk , Spock , McCoy , Uhura , and two security guards ( one of whom is Umeki ) beam down to the planet Iskonia . They do not find a conference ready to begin ; instead they find Klingons floating in individual egg - like chambers with tubes leading to them , and a wheeled , non - humanoid robot . Spock theorizes that in the war the probe spoke of it was man versus machines , and the machines won . The robot speaks to Kirk and tells him the Klingons will soon join the Omnimind , and that the robot is but " a servant ; one part of the whole " . The robot refuses to take Kirk to the Omnimind and instead gas ses the landing party , saying that " even vermin can serve . " But perhaps more importantly , the robots want the secret of why their weapons did not harm the " Enterprise " . The sleeping gas wears off quickly , except for the one alien security guard for whom the gas was fatal . The robots sense the crew is awake and enter to subdue them again , but the officers fight back and destroy the first robot to come in . And they succeed at disabling various other robots that attack them . In looking for an exit , the crew stumbles across a lab where robots are experimenting on a humanoid , who is able to escape . At that point Captain Kolak and another Klingon enter . But they have been changed into cyborgs , with an enhanced metal arm and an implant over the Captain ' s eye . They are taking orders from the Omnimind , which wants the crew dead . Kirk tries to remind his fellow captain that he is a Klingon , not a machine , and Kolak begins to respond . He tells Kirk haltingly of how his crew was betrayed by the robots and his ship destroyed , after which the Omnimind increases its control power to him , causing him great pain . Kolak finally kills as requested , but rather than the Starfleet officers he begins to kill the robots . Fires erupt and Spock retrieves some robotic parts . The Klingon captain , with one last desperate cry of " " I . . . Klingon ! " " , destroys a robot , but dies in the resultant explosion . The humanoid they helped to escape the lab , Harré , leads them into the city ' s sewer system , where he claims there is safety . Spock ' s scavenging has provided components from which they hope to build a transmitter . They are then joined by the rest of Harré ' s strike force , which consist of humanoid / cyborg fusions of various designs . They explain that they are not native to the planet , and that the Omnimind was originally their ship ' s computer . First it wanted to protect , then perfect biological organisms . A lead cyborg , Lyra , confesses to Kirk that she is the result of failed experimentations and considers herself a " freak " . Kirk begins to become attracted to her , though . The transmitter works and Kirk finds out a security team with infrared targeting helmets has beamed down to look for them . Lyra decides to go with Kirk and crew to confront the Omnimind . Along the way they find out the Omnimind has captured the security detail , including Marsha Latham , who is romantically involved with Umeki . Using photon grenade s the crew makes it past the Omnimind ' s guards and gets inside the main dome . Once inside they find rotting , skeleton - like cyborgs , long ago left for dead by the Omnimind . Lyra claims they are acting on instinct , vaguely recalling when they once lived . Spock then concludes that the Omnimind is not a pure machine intelligence , that it is " " obsessed with altering and redesigning the humanoid life form . . . instead of working from a new and more logical pattern ! " " The Omnimind itself begins its " metamorphosis " , using the body of Latham , and a powerful field attracts and kills the half - dead cyborgs . Lyra is also attracted to the deadly emanations , but Kirk prevents her from getting too close . The crew breaks into a computer core area , and Lieutenant Latham emerges – except that it isn ' t Latham , but a robotic copy . Kirk taunts the robot copy , and because it cannot control the unexpected emotions of the copy the Omnimind drops its guard . The crew then concentrates phaser fire and destroys it . However , once gone the Omnimind speaks to Kirk , telling him what was destroyed was not the Omnimind but a mere watchdog program created to handle mundane tasks while the actual Omnimind – the computer analog of the first colony leader – thought about the meaning of life . Fearing death and not wanting to leave the colony without a leader , he programmed a computer with his memories and personality . He has allowed the watchdog to handle everything until now , but given awareness of what has been going on he decides to shut himself off . Umeki finds the real Latham alive and well , and before the Omnimind shuts down completely Kirk asks it what it discovered about the secret of life . The Omnimind fades out saying : " " I found only that the secret of life is death , for without it , there is no continuity . " " Kirk and Spock look at each other . Kirk says " " That wasn ' t very helpful " " , and Spock replies " " I found it somewhat disappointing myself , Captain . " " The story ends with the implication that Kirk will help the cyborgs deal with their sudden loss of the Omnimind ' s control over their lives . Memorable quotes . " " He ' s the Captain of a starship , Umeki ! He deserves better than to die as a slave of the robots ! " " Background information . This story arc is a continuation of the prior one , starting up right where the story of the Sarsith leaves off . It introduces Kirk to creatures quite like the Borg about eight years before " " encountered them on TV . The Omnimind shares a lot with the Borg , actually : both are seeking perfection , both consider biological lifeforms to be expendable tools , both meld humanoids and machines together to accomplish their goals , and both attempt to assimilate rather than destroy if possible . ( Of course , that is " V ' Ger " in some ways as well . ) The primary difference is the Omnimind waits for people to come to it , rather than seeking them out . The end of the story shares some themes with and in that the machine lifeform creates a robotic form based on a woman , and by making too close a copy introduces emotion into the mix . It also includes some elements of as well , with a leader who programs himself into a computer to continue caring for his people beyond death . Despite such similarities , the story is unique in many ways and one of the better comic strip ones . Harris continued to draw characters with tight clothing where possible , and Kirk ' s casual uniform shirt and pants in the opening sequence resemble nothing less than a leotard in terms of fit . This story was given the title " Restructuring is Futile " in " " .