Sixth UK Story Arc " The star ship " Enterprise " has lost all external visual contact . Spock and Captain Kirk go out to service the scanner s , but the captain moves away from Spock and scratches a strange message on the ship ' s hull . . . " Summary . Having technical difficulties with the " Enterprise " s scanners for several days , Kirk writes up a report . Involuntarily , he writes " Spock " at the end , and is puzzled as to why he would do this . Putting his log aside , Kirk goes to the bridge and gets an update from Spock . The scanner tests are proceeding , and no malfunctions have been found . Still , the cameras just pick up starless blackness outside . Kirk visits sickbay , and when Doctor McCoy asks for the captain ' s signature for some prescriptions , Kirk writes " Spock must die " . This disturbs Kirk , and McCoy consoles him by saying that it may just be a result of stress . Spock informs Kirk that internal scanner checks have been completed , and Kirk says that he and Spock will go outside the ship to examine the sensors firsthand . As Spock works on a sensor , Kirk takes a tool and writes on the ship ' s hull " I MUST KILL SPOCK " . Kirk then attempts to impale Spock , but Spock reacts quickly and fires a phaser in defense . The recoil sends Spock hurtling off into space , but he hits a black membrane that surrounds the ship . Kirk and Spock examine the membrane and cut through it , but it instantly repairs itself . As Kirk and Spock consider the black skin enveloping the " Enterprise " , a group of energy - based aliens appear . They take responsibility for trapping the ship as well as manipulating Kirk to attack Spock , explaining that the crew would have arrested Kirk for murdering Spock , making the ship easier for takeover . Kirk orders Bailey to fire the ship ' s phasers at the aliens . The aliens absorb the blasts , and the strange membranes form around Kirk , Spock , and the aliens . Kirk and Spock use their thrusters and radios , and are able to get back aboard the ship . Once they get through the airlock s , the membranes melt away . Spock concludes that the ship is passing through some sort of gas eous cloud which the ship ' s engines react with to form a chemical skin , and that the aliens were bluffing about controlling it . Uhura reports the signal of a large planet in the vicinity , and Kirk orders the engines shut down . The skin dissolves , revealing a planet below . While Kirk and Spock discuss how to land without interference from the membranes , they observe the aliens descending to the planet ' s surface . Scans show that the unusual poisonous gas is the planet ' s atmosphere , generating its own heat and special light within a massive translucent blue membrane that surrounds the planet . Despite the initial hostility shown by the aliens , Kirk resolves to travel to the planet ' s surface and establish friendly contact , in accordance with the " Enterprise " s mission . Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet in environmental suit s and marvel at the luxuriant plant life , sustained by the cloud rather than water . They arrive at a clearing , littered with crater s , and discover another large membrane in the bottom of a crater . A group of the aliens emerge , heading toward the landing party , and they conclude that the source of power under the dome must be a city . As quickly as the aliens appeared , they disappear back into their dome in panic . The cloud above Kirk and Spock tears open , and a shower of meteorites rushes through . Kirk and Spock rush for the dome , and the aliens lower their force - shield , letting them through . The two are brought to the aliens ' leader , Lutian , who explains that they harness electricity generated by the plant life to power their equipment . Lutian says that his people are the Kalins , who are peaceful and inventive . The aliens that attacked them earlier were the Balants , a race of warriors who have no protection from the meteors and want to leave the planet . The Balants then arrive , and levitate the fallen meteors on top of the town ' s force shield , trapping everyone inside . Scheming against the " Enterprise " , the Balants then leave the planet ' s surface . Kirk contacts Bailey aboard the " Enterprise " , and tells him to come down with the " Galileo " . Relying on instruments alone , Bailey pilots the membrane - enveloped shuttle and destroys the meteorites piled on the town . Back in orbit , the Balants attach a device to one of the Enterprise ' s portholes , melting through and then shattering the window , and enveloping the crew in membranes . After a few moments of chaos , Doctor McCoy manages to activate autoglazer controls , reforming the window and dissolving the membranes inside the ship . Kirk reasons that if the atmosphere is toxic to the crew , than the ship ' s atmosphere may be toxic to the Balants . He orders the oxygen output on the ship to double maximum and beams back to the " Enterprise " . Gaining access to the ship through an airlock , the Balants ' leader reacts to the oxygen and disintegrates . Kirk then takes a spacewalk and talks to the surviving Balants , explaining that their leader died because he failed to appreciate that the cloud is their protector . One day , he says , they will learn to take the cloud with them , just as his own people have learned to take their atmosphere with them . Until then , he admonishes them to make peace with the Kalins . Memorable quotes . " " I hope the captain ' s not cracking up . Many a good man has lost his mind during a long tour of space duty . " " " " It ' s like delivering the mail . . . " " " " Do you think they will do as you suggested ? " " " " Not immediately . . . But they have paid the price of trying to run before they can walk . That lesson will help them to mature and see sense . " " " " " Now I suggest we both get some rest . We never know when we will meet more of the inhabitants of the universe ! " " Background information . Publishing history . None of the UK weekly stories had titles . Each installment was two pages in length . This was the longest arc to date , double the 8 - page lengths of stories 1 - 5 . The lettering in # 25 appears to have been done by a different person than the rest of the story arc . Cover gallery . Out of the seven story arcs published in " Joe 90 : Top Secret " , this is the only arc where " Star Trek " was featured on the cover .