When phasers have no effect, Kirk takes the "Enterprise" inside the cloud in an attempt to stop it. Avoiding obstacles and proceeding from one chamber to another, the ship begins to lose power. One chamber contains protrusions consisting of pure anti-matter which Chief Engineer Scott beams aboard in a special container and uses to replenish the warp drive engines. Science Officer Spock discovers that the cloud has a brain. Kirk orders preparations be made to self-destruct the "Enterprise" in the creature's brain in order to kill it. Seeking an alternative to loss of life, however, he suggests Spock use a Vulcan mind meld to communicate with the entity. Since physical contact with the entity is impossible, the ship's sensors are focused on the electrical impulses of the entity's synapses, translating them into thought in order to accomplish the mind meld. Spock tells it that there is life on the planet it plans to consume and allows it to perceive them through Spock's own eyes. Not wanting to kill other life forms, the cloud entity agrees to leave the "Enterprise" alone and return to its place of origin.