STAR TREK: #19 Arena, 1967

Director: Joseph Pevney
Story By: Fredric L. Brown
Writer: Gene L. Coon

Captain Kirk: William Shatner
Science Officer, First Officer, Cmdr. Spock: Leonard Nimoy
Dr. Leonard “Bones” Mc Coy: DeForest Kelly
Lt. Sulu: George Takei
Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott: James Doohan
Lieutenant Uhura: Nichelle Nichols

Metron: Carole Shelyne
Metron's voice: Vic Perrin
Gorn Captain: Gary Coombs
Gorn Captain: Bobby Clark
Gorn's voice: Vic Perrin
Lieutenant Leslie: Eddie Paskey
Mr. Kelowitz: Grant Woods
Mr. DePaul: Sean Kenney

Stardate 3045.6

The U.S.S. Enterprise follows an invitation to Starfleet base on Cestus III. When they get there, find it destroyed. They are attacked by an unseen enemy, using energy weapons. They fight back and finally succeed in repelling the enemy. They also find the base commander - he's dying, but he manages to tell them that the base was attacked three days ago. The invitation was clearly faked by the assailant in order to ambush the Enterprise. 

Back on board, Kirk decides to follow the alien spaceship to assert the UFP strenght and discourage further attacks. Both pusued and pursuer enter the Metron territory, an advanced race and find themselves dead in space. The Metrons charge the two ship commanders for trespassing, by making them fight each other. Kirk and the alien captain, called a Gorn, are both transported to an uninhabited asteroid to fight to death. To make them fight, the winner is promised to be set free together with his ship and crew while the looser, ship and crew, will be destroyed. The crews are allowed to follow the match on the ships screens. 

The Gorn tells Kirk that Cestus III was destroyed because it was believed to be a hostile intrusion in Gorn space. Kirk needs some time to see a captain as he is himself in the seven feet tall Gorn, a lizard-like creature and much stronger than a human, with an extremely aggressive nature. Kirk is quicker than his opponent and seems also more resourceful. He mixes coal, potassium and sulphur to make gunpowder and builds a primitive cannon to wound the Gorn captain heavily. The wounded captain is now in his hands. And Kirk cannot kill a being who just did he himself would have done and is a captain in charge of a ship and crew as he is. Kirk refuses to kill the wounded Gorn. Witnessing his decision the Metrons decide that there is hope for the human species and set both captains and their ships free. Kirk is transported back on the Enterprise and Spock wonders if their species will meet the Metrons again in future, on a more equal basis. 

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