Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a planet that is in the path on an oncoming meteor. They find an idyllic place that is very similar to Earth and whose population is virtually identical to North American Natives. Their visit is meant to be a short one since their mission is to deflect the meteor, still several months away. Before they can return to the ship, Kirk disappears and loses his memory in an accident, forcing Spock to take command of the Enterprise and to leave him behind. On the planet, Kirk is treated like a god when they see him emerge from an obelisk that is actually a deflector beam (which no one remembers how to use, however). When the Enterprise fails to deflect the meteor, they return to the planet only hours before the annihilating meteor's arrival.