On Stardate 5693.2, the U.S.S. Enterprise found the missing starship U.S.S. Defiant caught in a spatial interphase. Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and Ensign Chekov beamed over and found that all of the crew members had killed each other.
The Enterprise began to lose power. Kirk remained behind while the others returned to the Enterprise. When the Defiant disappeared, Kirk was trapped in the spatial interphase and caught between universes.
As rescue operations began, a Tholian ship arrived and its Commander demanded that the Enterprise leave. Spock, in command, refused to abandon Kirk. As two Tholian ships weaved a web around the ship, Enterprise crew members began attacking one another, affected by the interphase. When the ship's power threw the Enterprise free of the web, Kirk was successfully retrieved.