The USS Enterprise is sent to Patria I to discuss that world's application for Federation membership. But Captain Kirk and his landing party soon discover that the Patrians have a strict system of laws—enforced by a telepathic police force.
In the midst of this startling revelation, the crew finds themselves in the middle of Patria's growing political unrest. Caught between the Patrian police and a deadly group of terrorists, Kirk, Spock and the others must fight for their lives on a world where their thoughts make them criminals—and all crimes are punishable by death.