Cadet Kirk has been assigned the prestigious job of transporting Richard Daystrom to a seminar at Colony Cambria, as a reward for good grades, but at the last minute his orders change and instead he is assigned to transport two ensigns, Spock and Leonard McCoy. On a fly past of the automated Atlantis Outpost, they are captured by a tractor beam. Swingle's Klingon employers arrive but quickly retreat at the sight of the Enterprise, responding to the Spitfire's distress call. Captain Pike takes Swingle and his men into custody and invites Kirk, Spock and McCoy aboard his ship.