The USS Enterprise is mapping a region of deep space near the Shapley Center. During a philosophical discussion between McCoy and Scott on the nature of the transporters, word is received that war with the Klingons has broken out, Organia has apparently been destroyed, and the Enterprise has been cut off from the Federation. Kirk decides to head through Klingon space to Organia to find out why the Organians have not intervened, a journey which will take nearly six months. To save time, Scott proposes to Kirk that they use tachyons to create a temporary copy of Spock, beam him to Organia, and retrieve him with the information they need. However, when the experiment is carried out and the sealed transporter is opened, they find that not only has the copy failed to reach Organia, but a duplic