Journey to Babel ( episode ) As the " Enterprise " comes under attack on the way to a diplomatic conference on Babel , one of the alien dignitaries is murdered , and Spock ' s estranged father Sarek is the prime suspect – but he is also deathly ill , and only Spock can save him . Summary . Teaser . The arrives in orbit around the planet , picking up the last delegation of Vulcan s to add to an assortment of 114 ambassador s and dignitaries aboard ( including Andorian s and Tellarite s ) . The delegates will be attending a conference on the neutral planetoid named Babel to decide the admission of the planet to the Federation , which is rich in dilithium but is poorly defended . As the Vulcan delegation arrive on the shuttle Galileo , Kirk , Spock , and McCoy greet the Vulcan ambassador to Earth , Sarek , and his Human wife Amanda . Welcoming the ambassador aboard , Kirk offers to have Spock take him and his wife on a tour of the ship , but Sarek coldly asks that someone else give it . Sensing unpleasantness between the two Vulcans , the captain suggests to Spock that , with two hours before the ship leaves orbit , he should beam down to the planet and visit his parents , which Spock insists would be unnecessary , for the ambassador and his wife , in fact , " are " his parents . Act One . As Kirk conducts a tour of the ship for the ambassador and his wife , he seeks out the roots of estrangement between Spock and his parents once they pass by Spock in Engineering . The rift seemingly sprang from Spock ' s election to attend Starfleet Academy over his fathers ' choice of the Vulcan Science Academy as Sarek followed his father ' s teachings . Kirk voices support of Spock ' s choices and notes that he has a personal friendship with Spock to his mother Amanda , who appreciates the sentiment but also warns that the estrangement between father and son may be permanent , since it has been 18 years . The delegates meet at a reception on the Enterprise . The Tellarite ambassador , Gav , confronts Sarek asking about his vote on Coridan ' s admission , to which he replies that it would be known at the conference . Kirk and Sarek move on to other guests while McCoy discovers a hint of Spock ' s childhood from Amanda , that he had a pet " sehlat " , " " a fat teddy bear , " " as Amanda says , delighting the doctor . Spock corrects his mother ' s sentiment , saying that on Vulcan , the " teddy bears " are alive and have six - inch long fangs . Kirk also learns the " Enterprise " is being tailed by a mysterious unidentified vessel . On the bridge , they determine that the vessel is an unknown configuration , unauthorized , and not responding to hails . Kirk orders an intercept to take a closer look . Meanwhile , Amanda speaks with her husband against their son ' s estrangement in their quarters , but Sarek resists , saying that Spock is due respect for his own achievements , not for feelings of pride . Amanda believes Sarek feels pride in Spock despite his disapproval of Starfleet but won ' t show it . The unidentified vessel makes a pass at the " Enterprise " at warp 10 without firing . Later , Sarek is again confronted by Gav at the reception area , and Sarek reveals that he would vote in favor of admission , citing that Coridan needs the Federation ' s protection against illegal dilithium mining , which alludes to illegal Tellarite mining operations on Coridan . A brief struggle between the two ambassadors ensues , broken up by Kirk who just arrived . In a few hours , Gav ' s lifeless body is later found stuffed up a Jefferies tube on deck eleven by security officer Josephs . Act Two . Kirk , Spock , and McCoy investigate Gav ' s murder . McCoy explains his neck was broken in a very precise manner , leading Spock to conclude it can only be a Vulcan execution technique called tal - shaya . Kirk then deduces that Sarek is logic ally the prime suspect , but when he is confronted by Kirk , Spock , and McCoy , it is revealed that Sarek is becoming increasingly ill with a cardiac defect , and claims he could not have committed the murder , as he was in solitude at the time of Gav ' s death on the " Enterprise " s observation deck . McCoy takes him to sickbay . Kirk and Spock go to the bridge and rule out the Romulans and Klingons . Uhura additionally finds that the communication signal is being received inside the ship , but not pinpointed . It falls on McCoy to attempt to heal the ambassador with heart surgery , but the doctor has reservations , what with his own limited surgical experience on Vulcan physiology and the requirement of large amounts of a rare Vulcan blood type , T - negative . Spock elects to take the role of blood donor , risking his own life by taking a dangerous stimulant only tested on Rigelians to induce blood cell production despite Amanda ' s objections . They debate this for a while . However , Kirk is suddenly stabbed by the Andorian delegate Thelev . He subdues Thelev in a corridor on deck five just outside his quarters and alerts Spock on the bridge through an intercom panel just before passing out in the corridor . Act Three . Thelev is placed into custody in the " Enterprise " s brig . Kirk has survived the assassination attempt , but now Spock refuses to participate in the procedure while his commanding officer is lying in sickbay , stating his first duty is to the ship , and cannot relinquish command due to " personal privilege . " He goes to the brig and questions Thelev , however , even under a verifier scan and truth drug , he does not answer . The lead Andorian doesn ' t know him that well , and can ' t help other than to say the Andorians have no quarrel with Kirk . Amanda comes to Spock to convince him to help Sarek , but Spock ' s decision is unchanged . However , in a bold move , despite objections from McCoy , Kirk assumes command before he is fully healed , and sends Spock to surgery , with the intent of handing command over to Scotty while Spock is undergoing the blood transfusion and recover in his quarters . When he does , however , the alien vessel comes closer and Uhura picks up a signal and determines that it ' s being received in the brig . Kirk orders red alert and security to search Thelev . As McCoy takes blood from Spock and begins to operate on Sarek , Thelev attempts to escape from his cell while being searched , but is stunned unconscious . As he falls his antenna breaks , revealing a transmitter used to communicate with the intruder vessel . The intruder ship begins to open fire on the " Enterprise " . The smaller vessel makes unbelievably quick passes and phaser strikes against the larger starship , too fast for " Enterprise " to return fire effectively , missing with a phaser attack . Despite being faster than the " Enterprise " , their weapons only consist of standard phasers according to Ensign Chekov , indicating to Kirk they have little chance of success . The " Enterprise " continues to fight a battle against the smaller and faster ship , shuddering with each successive hit and suffering power losses . McCoy fears he may lose both his patients if the ship continues to take a pounding . Act Four . As " Enterprise " struggles against the unknown vessel , missing with a full spread of photon torpedo es , Thelev is brought to the bridge , where Kirk confronts him as to his true identity as a spy . Thelev is uncooperative , preferring to taunt Kirk and enjoy the view of his fellow ship succeeding over the larger " Enterprise " . As the power goes out in sickbay , Sarek goes into cardiac arrest . McCoy and Nurse Christine Chapel try to make do with portable resuscitation equipment in an attempt to restart his heart again . Meanwhile , Kirk , fed up with Thelev ' s taunts and the other ship ' s apparently superior tactical ability , does the unthinkable . He drops the shields , then systematically fakes losing all power to lure the other ship in . The " Enterprise " appears dead in space . The enemy ship appears to hesitate , then slowly closes in for the kill . As soon as it is in range , Kirk delivers phaser fire that cripples the vessel , to the observing Thelev ' s disappointment . The mystery ship then self - destruct s to avoid capture , and Thelev dies of an apparent suicide via slow poison . In sickbay , Kirk discovers that Sarek ' s surgery was a success , and not only are he and Spock recovering well , but they are also talking again as father and son . They even tease Amanda together , Sarek explaining that despite her rampant emotions a marriage to Amanda seemed at the time the only logical thing to do . When Kirk orders McCoy to perform an autopsy on Thelev to determine his true identity , Spock surmises Thelev and the attackers in the enemy ship were Orion s , who had much to gain from disrupting the Babel conference so they could continue to loot Coridan of its dilithium . Kirk then slumps , finally too exhausted and in too much pain to continue , but he continues to protest as he is led to another empty bed in the ward by McCoy and Nurse Chapel . McCoy , exercising his rightful medical authority over his patients , is eventually successful in telling Kirk and Spock to lie still and be quiet , finally and gleefully getting " the last word " . Memorable quotes . " " I feel like my neck ' s in a sling . " " " " That hurts worse than the uniform . " " " " Vulcans believe that peace should not depend on force . " " " " Isn ' t it unusual for a Vulcan to retire at your age ? After all , You ' re only 102 . " " " " 102 . 437 precisely , doctor . Measured in " your " years . I . . . had . . . other concerns . " " " " Tellarites do not argue for reasons . They simply argue . " " " " On Vulcan , the teddy bears are alive . And they have six - inch fangs . " " " " You ' re showing almost Human pride in your son . " " " " It does not require pride to ask that Spock be given the respect which is his due . . . not as my son , but as Spock . " " " " Threats are illogical . And payment is usually expensive . " " " " Vulcans do not approve of violence . " " " " Perhaps you should forget logic and devote yourself to motivations of passion or gain . Those are reasons for murder . " " " " You ' re Human , too . Let that part of you come through . " " " " My patients don ' t walk out in the middle of an operation . " " " " It ' s . . . important . . . " " " " So is your father ' s life . " " " " Logic ! Logic ! I ' m sick to death of logic ! " " " " Emotional , isn ' t she ? " " " " She has always been that way . " " " " Indeed . Why did you marry her ? " " " " At the time , it seemed the logical thing to do . " " " " Well , what do you know ? I finally got the last word . " " Links and references . References . 2165 ; 2237 ; 2250 ; 2264 ; alert status four ; ; antimatter ; Andorian ; autopsy ; Babel ; Babel Conference ; benjisidrine ; blood ; blood bank ; blood plasma ; blood pressure ; blood transfusion ; " Bones " ; brig ; cardiostimulator ; cardiovascular system ; cloak ; " Columbus " ; commission ; computer science ; Computer Statistics ; Coridan ; Coridan ( planet ) ; Coridan system ; cyrogenic open - heart procedure ; delegate ; dilithium ; directional locator ; donor ; Earthmen ; engineering section ; execution ; fang ; Federation Council ; Federation law ; fire control ; " " ; general quarters ; hangar deck ; heart ; heart attack ; heart valve ; heartbeat ; honor guard ; Human factors ; Ithenite ; interplanetary war ; K - 2 factor ; Klingon ; liver ; logic ; lung ; meditation ; mining ; observation deck ; Orion ; Orion scout ship ; parallel course ; patricide ; personal receiver ; phaser s ; physical examination ; physician ; physiology ; planetoid ; power utilization curve ; puncture ; quarterly physical ; reader tube ; recorder ; red alert ; Rigel V ; Rigel system ; Rigelian s ; Rigelian test subjects ; Romulan s ; Saurian brandy ; ; " sehlat " ; sensor locator ; sensor probe ; Skon ; sledgehammer ; ; spleen ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet dress uniform ; Starfleet Intelligence ; Starfleet regulations ; sterile field ; stimulant ; suicide ; surgical support frame ; T - negative ; tag ; " tal - shaya " ; teddy bear ; Tellarite ; Tellarite ship ; transceiver ; tri - tritanium ; truth drug ; verifier scan ; Vulcan ; Vulcan ( planet ) ; Vulcan salute ; Vulcan Science Academy ; yellow alert