In 2268, Starnes, his wife, and the rest of his party were all poisoned to death by self-administered cyalodin, while under the influence of Gorgan, a malevolent entity, the last of its kind, found surviving in a cave on the planet. He lived long enough to briefly encounter the USS Enterprise landing party which responded to their distress call. Starnes was then buried on the planet by members of the landing party, along with the other casualties of the expedition.