The Terratin Incident ( episode ) When a strange flash of light paralyzes the entire crew of the " Enterprise , " they begin to shrink . Kirk beams down to the nearest planet , Cepheus , and discovers a miniature race ( of descendants of a lost Earth colony ) desperate to leave their volcanic homeworld . Summary . Spock reports from his station that Arachna has reached its cycle of strongest emissions . Kirk orders " " Uhura , inform Starbase 23 we have arrived at the gas cloud and are starting to map . " " The receives a garbled message . Uhura reports interference and there is only one comprehensible portion of a signal , which emanates from the star Cepheus , although that particular area has not produced any radio transmissions before . Transmitting in intersat code , a code that has not been used in centuries , is the word ' terratin . ' Kirk has Sulu set course for Cepheus . Upon the " Enterprise " S arrival and subsequent investigation , the starship encounters a planet of crystalline structure , barraged by volcanic activity . While in orbit , a flash of light passes through the ship , paralyzing the crew . Scotty reports that the dilithium crystal s are unpeeling like the rind of an orange and all connections are busted . Kirk asks , " " Spock , are you slumping ? " " The Vulcan replies , " " I have never slumped in my life , captain , but I was about to ask you the same . . . " " Kirk interrupts and insists the ship must get away from the planet as fast as possible . Uhura reports , " " No reply to our mayday , captain . I don ' t believe we have enough power to transmit to Starbase 23 . " " Kirk asks McCoy for answers . He shows Kirk that they are indeed degenerating . The space between the molecules of their body is diminishing so they retain their original weight . Spock notes all organic matter on the ship is shrinking . Spock calculates that in a matter of minutes the entire crew will stand 1 / 16 inch high , well past the operative point of ship ' s controls . By using man - made ladders , the crew manages to get to their consoles and use their collective strength to press the transporter buttons . Kirk orders Scott to set automatic return for him in ten minutes . Kirk then orders Scott that a crew be sent down to the transporter room to beam himself down to the surface . Upon materialization on the surface of the planet , Kirk immediately grows back to full size , since the transporter retained a memory of his body ' s molecular structure and changed it to previously detailed size and shape . While on the planet , Kirk encounters a miniature city , but is beamed back to the ship by the transporter ' s automatic settings . Upon returning , he discovers that his bridge crew has been transported off the ship to the planet ' s surface . Kirk opens a channel and threatens the city with all the ship ' s armament locked onto it if his crew is not immediately returned unharmed . The leader , the Mendant , informs Kirk that the lightning attack was the only way he could get the full attention of the starship , and apologizes . He informs Kirk that their city is being threatened by volcanic activity and their adoptive planet is dying . Spock discovers the Terratin natives to be mutated descendants of a missing early scientific expedition ; the survivors named the planet Terra Ten . The crew is transported back to the ship , but since the Terratins cannot be restored to the size of their ancestors , they and their entire city are beamed aboard the " Enterprise " to be taken to a more stable planet . The leader shows the appreciation of all Terratin inhabitants by naming all the " Enterprise " crew honorary Terratins now and for all time to come . Spock notes " " We came rather close to more than honorary . " " Kirk says , " " Yes , I ' d say just about a sixteenth of an inch close . " " Memorable quotes . " " Spock - are you slumping ? " " " " I have never slumped in my life , captain . " " " " Visual sweeps are already impossible , sir . My eyes no longer fit the opticals . " " " " And I can ' t reach the dial I turned five minutes ago ! " " " " We ' ve got twenty - nine minutes before we ' re too small to operate ship controls ! " " " " Spock ' s theory is right , we ' re contracting . " " " " That ' s why our weight remains the same . Same number of atoms . The effect is just reducing the space between the molecules . It ' s something I ' ve never seen before . " " " " What is the composition of this decoration ? " " " " It was an arm bracelet , more like a necklace now . " " " " Yet the uniform on which you wear it fits as well as ever . Uniform made of algae - based xenylon , I believe . " " " " Scotty , is it you ? " " " " Aye , captain . For the love of heaven , be careful where you step ! " " Links and references . References . 21st century ; 2069 ; aquarium ; algae ; Arachna ; bone - knitting laser ; " Bones " ; bracelet ; centimeter ; Cepheus ; chair ; class M ; colony ; compound fracture ; coral ; crust ; crystal ; dilithium ; DNA ; double helix ; ear ; Earth ; electric eye ; fertility ; fingernail ; gossamer mouse ; hairpin ; halo fish ; honorary ; inch ; infrared ; intersat code ; invasion defense antenna ; kitten ; lab ; lava ; Libra ; Lilliputian ; macroscope ; mantle ; mayday ; mendant ; mess officer ; meteoritic rock ; microscope laser ; miniature laser ; miniaturization ; nitrogen ; orange ; oxygen ; planetary core ; purr ; radiation ; ring ; shock ; silverware ; speaker ; splint ; spiroid epsilon wave ; spiroid wave analysis ; star ; star chatter ; Starbase 23 ; Starfleet uniform ; subspace ; super nova ; table ; tadpole ; Terra 10 ; Terratin ; titanium ; titanium smith ; transporter ; Verdanis ; volcano ; xenylon