Years before he came to be known as the best first officer in the fleet, Spock was a conflicted young ensign, serving on the Starship Enterprise(TM) under Captain Christopher Pike. Struggling to reconcile his many obligations--those forced on him by his Vulcan heritage, and those chosen by him upon his enrollment in Starfleet Academy--Spock must also balance the desires of his own heart.

Those conflicting demands intersect during a mission to retrieve one of his world's most sacred artifacts, a relic of Vulcan's ancient past--the search for which will reveal dark and deadly secrets, forever altering the course of Spock's life and defining the man he became.

A classic tale from D.C. Fontana, one of Star Trek(R)'s original producers and the writer of such classic episodes as Journey to Babel and This Side of Paradise.