Twentieth Story Arc This summary is of a story arc from the newspaper comic strip " Star Trek " . Summary . Two young boys , Malcolm and Joey are playing a video game . They finish , leave the arcade , and as they pass by an alley see James T . Kirk , Spock , and Montgomery Scott materialize wearing 20th century American clothing . The men notice the boys , who enthusiastically come up to them asking for autographs . Spock asks them who the boys think they are . The boys immediately answer : Admiral Kirk , Mr . Spock , and Scotty . Kirk wonders how they could know them back on twentieth century Earth , and they boys say they watch them on TV all the time , pointing to a poster advertising " Star Trek " . Joey has figured it out and pulls his friend away , saying that the men are not actors , but " the real thing ! " The boys run , and Kirk remarks that they can ' t let them get away as their mission depends on absolute secrecy . The boys are stopped by a police officer , who does not believe their stories of spacemen . Nor does he believe them when they say Mr . Spock is about to give him a nerve pinch . Having rendered the officer unconscious , Spock takes the boys to the roof of a building . They discuss what to do with the boys , and the boys themselves request to be taken to the . Joey is reluctant , but to no avail . Beam ing aboard , the boys are told they will have to remain as their knowledge could affect history . They also discover the reason for the ship ' s presence : to shoot down a NASA shuttle with a photon torpedo . That is why they were on Earth , to check and make sure they had the right date in 1983 . Malcolm attacks Kirk at this news and Spock gives him a nerve pinch . While Malcolm is unconscious , Kirk allows as how he understands the boy ' s anger . " " How can I explain to that boy , Spock – that destroying a NASA space shuttle is actually an act of mercy ? " " History shows that a microbe entering the shuttle " Icarus " infected the Earth and wiped out half the population of Florida . Dr . McCoy attempts to explain this all to the boys in sickbay when Joey discovers a hypo labeled " sedative " . He grabs it and injects McCoy . The boys then put on uniforms , which hang all over them as they are much too large . They are spotted on their way to the shuttlecraft deck , and Kirk races down to find out what they are doing there . What they are doing is launching themselves in a shuttle . Malcolm is elated , comparing flying a shuttle to a video game . It is then that Spock reveals that his research shows that this is a parallel universe , whose history is different from that which Kirk is familiar . Sensor s , for instance , confirm that the deadly microbe exists , but that it ages much more rapidly than in their world . The microbe will thus be harmless by the time it returns to Earth , which means they do not have to shoot down the shuttle . The boys , however , are about to burn up in the Earth ' s atmosphere . With a sigh Kirk orders Spock to rescue them . A tractor beam is locked on and the boys are brought on board again . Kirk tells the boys they were right , and promises not to shoot down any shuttle on this or any other world . Malcolm and Joey are overjoyed . They are also returned home , since without the shuttle incident the boys have nothing to prove their story . Wearing a " " Star Trek " Lives " shirt , the boys return to the video arcade where the games , at least , " don ' t disappear on you . " Memorable quotes . " " These guys aren ' t actors from the TV show , Mal . . . they ' re the real thing ! " " " " It seems to me you gentlemen had an unrealistic view of heroism . " " Background information . This was the final story arc for the run of the comic strip . This last entry is not as tightly plotted as some others , though . For instance , when the landing party first arrives , Spock is not hiding his ears in any way ; they could have easily checked the date from orbit by listening to broadcasts ; and Kirk rather cavalierly decides to disregard orders and not destroy any shuttles even in his own timeline . This mission is unusual in that the ship is actually attempting to change history this time , not restore it . The idea of the crew beaming down to an Earth where their lives are duplicated on a television show had been a staple of fanzines for years , sort of a reverse " Mary Sue " or " Mary Jane " story ( wherein someone acting as a stand - in for the author finds out the " Enterprise " is real in a parallel universe ) . What is disappointing is that so little of the story arc was devoted to the crew finding out about the show that portrayed them so accurately . This story was given the title " Getting Real " in " " .