Editing Amok Time (section)

==Plot==
[[Spock]], first officer of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS ''Enterprise'']], exhibits unusual behavior and requests leave on his home planet Vulcan. Captain [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] and Chief Medical Officer [[Leonard McCoy|Dr. McCoy]] agree, and Kirk diverts ''Enterprise''. En route, Kirk receives orders from Starfleet to represent the Federation at the inauguration ceremony for Altair VI's new president. Though Kirk sets course for Altair VI, Spock secretly changes course back to Vulcan. Spock claims no memory of ordering the course change.

Kirk orders Spock to Sickbay, where McCoy finds evidence of physical and emotional stress which will kill him within eight days if not treated. Spock explains that he is undergoing ''[[pon farr]]'', a condition male Vulcans experience periodically throughout their adult life, and that he must mate or die. Kirk sets course for Vulcan, believing that Spock's life is more important than his career.

At Vulcan, Spock invites Kirk and McCoy to accompany him to the wedding. T'Pring, Spock's betrothed, arrives with Stonn, a pureblood Vulcan whom she prefers to Spock. [[T'Pau (Star Trek)|T'Pau]], a renowned matriarch, begins the ceremony. However, T'Pring demands the ''kal-if-fee'', a physical challenge between Spock and a champion she selects; unexpectedly, she chooses Kirk. Spock begs T'Pau to forbid it, but T'Pau leaves the decision to Kirk; another champion will be selected if he refuses. Kirk accepts the challenge, only to learn that it is "to the death".

The two fight with [[List of weapons in Star Trek#Lirpa|''lirpa'']]. Kirk is challenged by Spock's strength and agility as well as the thinner atmosphere of Vulcan. T'Pau lets McCoy inject Kirk with a compound to offset the effects of the Vulcan atmosphere. Spock later garrots Kirk with an [[List of weapons in Star Trek#Ahn'woon|''ahn'woon'']]. McCoy declares Kirk dead and requests transport to ''Enterprise''.

Spock renounces his claim on T'Pring, who explains that she feared losing Stonn in the ''kal-if-fee''. By choosing Kirk, T'Pring would have Stonn either way: If Spock was the victor, he would release her from the marriage for having made the challenge, and if Kirk won, he would not want her. Spock compliments T'Pring on her logic and returns to the ''Enterprise'', warning Stonn that "having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting".

Aboard ''Enterprise'', Spock announces his intent to submit himself for trial for killing Kirk, when he discovers Kirk is alive and well. The injection McCoy gave Kirk was a [[Neuromuscular-blocking drug|neuroparalyzer]]. Asked about what followed, Spock states that he lost all desire for T'Pring after he thought he killed Kirk. Kirk learns that Starfleet, at T'Pau's request, has belatedly given the ''Enterprise'' permission to travel to Vulcan.