The Lorelei Signal

TAS Season 1 Episode 4
Air Date: September 29th, 1973

Plot

The Enterprise enter into what seems to be the Bermuda triangle in space. Over the past 150 years many ships have vanished while in this space and from info shared between the Klingons, Romulans and Federation it seems that ships disappear every 27 years. The Enterprise enters the area at the expected time when ships disappear to see what happens.

Uhura receives a signal that sounds like music and is traced to the Taurean system at the edge of the sector. Kirk, Spock and Scotty all indicate they are drawn to it but Uhura says she is not. Almost like it is the call of a siren.

When they arrive at the Taurean system and Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down and meet a colony of beautiful women, or at least they look like women. Spock indicates they are not human. Theela, the "head female" says that they have a device that told them about the Enterprise and its crew. Theela said the men live in another compound. They eat some food and then pass out. When they wake up, they have aged 20 years.

On the Enterprise, Uhura and Nurse Chapel investigate and realize that the men are going to be drawn to the planet and that they will lose all their energy the longer they are close to the planet. Uhura takes command of the ship and puts together an all women security team.

Once the away team have been drained of most of their energy, they are left to die. McCoy is able to use a stimulant to give them the strength to escape. They notice that the headband they are wearing glow when they are close to the woman and that they must be absorbing their life energy as some kind of fountain of youth.

Spock goes alone back into the compound to get their communicators. He is barely able to get a message to the Enterprise to send an all female rescue party. Ugura, Chapel and fouir female security officers beam down and stun all the woman. They find Spock as an old man but not the rest of the away team who are still hiding.

Uhura forces Theela to tell her where the away team is. Theela tells her that her people came to this planet when their planet died. They later found out that the planet itself drains humanoid energy. But the women developed an excretion that let them survive it and even control men. It also gives them eternal life.

Once Uhura finds the away team they all beam back to the ship but they are all near death. Spock theorizes that they could use the transporter pattern history to return them back to their original age during transport.

The women of the planet are told they will be taken away so they can live normal lives.

Commentary

They did a similar trick in an episode of TNG where Dr. Polaski uses the transporter to reverse an aging caused by a disease that she was trying to cure.

Quotes

"We are in orbit around planet two in the Taurean system. Probes and sensors indicate there was once a vast civilisation here. Lovely. Lovely." - Scotty

"I want an all-woman security team on every transporter immediately. No one is to transport down to the planet unless it is on my order." - Uhura

"Aye, aye, Lieutenant." - Davidson

"What are you doing?" - Chapel

"Taking command of this ship." - Uhura