Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

1986
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

 STORY BY

Leonard Nimoy & Harve Bennett

 SCREENPLAY BY

Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes & Harve Bennett & Nicholas Meyer

 DIRECTED BY

Leonard Nimoy

 RELEASED ON

Wednesday November 26, 1986

 VIEWS

290

 LAST UPDATE

2024-09-29 11:42:14

 PAGE VERSION

Version 11

 LIKES

1

 SUMMARY

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home follows Admiral James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise as they embark on a time-travel mission to 20th-century Earth. In the 23rd century, a powerful alien probe threatens Earth, seeking communication with humpback whales—now extinct in their time. To save humanity, Kirk and his crew must journey back in time to 1986, find and transport a pair of whales, and bring them to the future. The film blends humor, environmental themes, and sci-fi adventure, culminating in the crew's successful rescue mission and their return to their original timeline.

 STARRING

William Shatner	James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	Spock

 STORY

 BEHIND THE SCENES

• Humorous Tone by Design: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was deliberately written as a more lighthearted and humorous entry in the franchise. After the darker themes of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the writers (Leonard Nimoy, Harve Bennett, and Nicholas Meyer) felt it was time to lighten the tone. The humorous interplay between the 23rd-century crew and 20th-century Earth was a primary focus, with Nimoy, who directed the film, encouraging the actors to embrace the comedic elements.
• Leonard Nimoy's Influence: As the director, Leonard Nimoy had significant creative control over the film. Nimoy was committed to making The Voyage Home accessible to non-Star Trek fans. He pushed for a storyline that didn’t involve heavy use of space battles or complex Trek-specific lore. The idea of time travel back to contemporary Earth emerged, allowing for a story that blended science fiction with ecological themes.
• Saving the Whales: The movie’s plot revolves around saving humpback whales, which had become extinct in the 23rd century. The choice to focus on whales came from Leonard Nimoy’s desire to emphasize an environmental message. At the time, commercial whaling was a significant environmental issue, and the film subtly pushed the idea of conservation. The whale characters, George and Gracie, were actually animatronics and models, designed because filming real whales was too risky and impractical.
• Eddie Murphy's Potential Role: Eddie Murphy, a huge Star Trek fan, was originally considered for a role in The Voyage Home. A draft of the script included a character tailor-made for him—a college professor who believed in extraterrestrial life. Murphy was interested but ultimately turned it down to work on The Golden Child (1986). The part was eventually reworked into the role of Dr. Gillian Taylor, played by Catherine Hicks.
• The Transparent Aluminum Scene: In the film, Scotty "invents" transparent aluminum, a futuristic material used to transport the whales. This scene is a fan favorite, but it also had a real-world scientific impact. At the time of the film’s release, transparent aluminum didn’t exist, but in 2009, scientists developed a ceramic material with similar properties, showing how science fiction can sometimes inspire real-world innovation.
• Kirk Thatcher as the Punk on the Bus: In the famous scene where Spock nerve-pinches a punk rocker on a bus, the actor playing the punk, Kirk Thatcher, was actually an associate producer on the film. Thatcher wrote and performed the song I Hate You, which the character blasts loudly before Spock incapacitates him. This scene is a favorite among fans for its humor and Thatcher's perfect embodiment of the 1980s punk attitude.
• Filming Locations in San Francisco: Many of the scenes set in 20th-century San Francisco were actually filmed on location. The production utilized several famous landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Monterey Bay Aquarium (standing in for the Cetacean Institute). These real-world locations added a layer of authenticity to the scenes. One of the most iconic moments in the film is when Chekov, a Russian character, innocently asks people for directions to the "nuclear wessels." Koenig improvised some of this, but the responses of bystanders in the scene were genuine, as the filmmakers shot parts of it guerilla-style without informing the people on the street that they were being filmed.
• Time Travel Inspiration from Tomorrow is Yesterday: The time travel plot device used in The Voyage Home borrows from the original series episode Tomorrow is Yesterday, where the Enterprise is accidentally sent back to the 1960s. The idea of "sling-shotting" around the sun to travel through time was revived for the film.
• Budget Constraints and Reuse of Props: The production faced budget constraints, which led to the reuse of some props and effects from previous films. For instance, the Klingon Bird of Prey featured in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was reused for this movie. The decision to set much of the movie on contemporary Earth also helped save on the budget, as it allowed the filmmakers to avoid costly futuristic sets.
• Nimoy and Shatner's Contract Negotiations: Both Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner had contract negotiations before agreeing to do the film. Shatner’s deal included a "favored nations" clause, ensuring that whatever Nimoy received, Shatner would also get. Nimoy, on the other hand, secured his directorial role and increased creative control as part of his deal.
• The Film's Box Office Success: The Voyage Home became one of the most commercially successful Star Trek films, grossing over $133 million worldwide. Its success helped ensure the continuation of the Star Trek film series and proved that Star Trek could appeal to a broader audience. Its environmental message also resonated with contemporary audiences, contributing to its popularity.
• Critical Reception and Awards: The film was well-received by both critics and fans, praised for its humor, heart, and socially conscious message. It was nominated for several awards, including four Academy Awards (Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Original Score). Though it didn’t win, these nominations validated its artistic and technical accomplishments.

 DVD/BLU-RAY COMMENTARY

 PLAYLIST

 QUOTES

Kirk: How soon can we be underway?
Scott: Give me one more day, sir. Damage control is easy. Reading Klingon, That's hard.

McCoy: Umm. Well, I just wanted to say it sure is nice to have your katra back in your head, not mine. What I mean is I may have carried your soul, but I sure couldn't fill your shoes.
Spock: My shoes?
McCoy: Forget it.

McCoy: Perhaps we could cover a little philosophical ground? Life, Death, Life. Things of that nature?
Spock: I did not have time on Vulcan to review the philosophical disciplines.
McCoy: Come on Spock, it's me, McCoy! You really have gone where no man has gone before. Can't you tell me what it felt like?
Spock: It would be impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame of reference.
McCoy: You're joking!
Spock: A joke is a story with a humorous climax.
McCoy: You mean I have to die to discuss your insights on death?

Spock: As suspected, the Probe's transmissions are the songs sung by whales.
Kirk: Whales?
Spock: Specifically, humpback whales.
McCoy: That's crazy! Who would send a Probe hundreds of light years to talk to a whale?

McCoy: I'd prefer a dose of common sense. You are proposing to head backwards in time, find humpback whales, then bring them forward in time, drop them off, and hope to hell they tell this Probe what to do with itself!
Kirk: That's the general idea.
McCoy: That's crazy!
Kirk: You have a better idea, now's the time.


Kirk (on viewscreen): We are going to attempt time-travel.

McCoy: Angels and ministers of grace, defend us.
Spock: Hamlet, Act one scene four.

Kirk: I want you all to be very careful. This is terra incognita. Many of their customs will doubtless take us by surprise. It's a forgone conclusion that none of these people have ever seen an extra-terrestrial before.

Kirk: This is an extremely primitive and paranoid culture.

Car driver: Why don't you watch where you're going, dumb ass!
Kirk: Double dumb ass on you!

Spock: What does it mean, 'Exact change'?

Spock: Your use of language has altered since our arrival. It is currently laced with, shall I say, more colourful metaphors. 'Double dumb ass on you' and so forth.

Kirk: Back in the sixties he was part of the Free Speech movement at Berkeley. I think he had a little too much LDS.
Gillian: LDS?

Kirk: Okay, the truth. I am from what, on your calendar, would be the late twenty-third century. I've come back in time... to bring two humpback whales with me in an attempt to... repopulate the species.

Kirk: Hello, Alice. Welcome to wonderland.

Spock: Admiral, may I suggest that Doctor McCoy is correct. We must help Chekov.
Kirk: Is that the logical thing to do, Spock?
Spock: No, but is the human thing to do.

Spock: Mister Scott cannot give me exact figures, Admiral. So I will make a guess.
Kirk: A guess? You, Spock? That's extraordinary!
Spock: I don't think he understands.
McCoy: No, Spock. He means that he feels safer about your 'guesses' than most other people's facts.
Spock: Then you're saying... it is a compliment.
McCoy: It is.
Spock: Ah, then I will try to make the best guess I can.

Kirk: They say 'The sea is cold but the sea contains the hottest blood of all'.
Gillian: 'Whales Weep Not', D.H. Lawrence.

Federation President: James T. Kirk, it is the judgment of this Council that you be reduced in rank to Captain and that as a consequence of your new rank, you be given the duties for which you have repeatedly demonstrated unswerving ability. The command of a starship. Silence! Captain Kirk, You and your crew have saved this planet from its own short-sightedness... and we are forever in your debt.


Kirk: Well, like they say in your century, I don't even have your telephone number.

Sarek: Do you have a message for your mother?
Spock: Yes. Tell her... I feel fine. Live long and prosper, father.
Sarek: Live long and prosper, my son.

McCoy: The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe.

Kirk: My friends, we've come home.

 REVIEWS

Joyful!

Written by Pike on 2017-09-11
★ ★ ★ ★ ★

MAGIC
Motion pictures is magic. A deeply fragile tiny universe of only two hours where it usually works or it doesn't. The first Star Trek movie was trying very hard to be. The next instalment felt better. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home feels right and from the very beginning.

CONTINUITY
First, one of the best elements from the beginning of the film is that the continuity is top notch. Every film starts where the previous left off and there is a strong sense of a big screen series. This is particularly relevant when watching it in 2020, an era filled with constant reboots or even reboots of reboots of reboots.

SAN FRANCISCO, 1986
The film cleverly takes us back in time, which actually is for us the present... well now it's actually the past. Anyway, I just simply loved this simple idea. Many times before, episodes from Star Trek took the Enterprise crew back on Earth, but often at a different era. Here, we are in the present and it feels great. Watching the characters walk in the middle of San Francisco is just pure joy. Not only this, but it could easily have been a very, very bad film. They say that movies are created three times: once during the writing, once during the filming and once during the editing. This script, while great on the screen, could have been really horrible. Spock swimming with whales while wearing a headband?

TAKING A BIG, BIG CHANGE
Which takes me to the most important aspect. Making a funny Star Trek movie is such a ballsy move. Because yes, I believe it is far easier to create an evil bad guy like Khan and make it the ultimate villain than coming up with a funny but still compelling story. Making audience laugh is, to me, a far more complex formula than making audience cry.

HILARIOUS
Which brings me to how hilarious this movie is. This was pure gold. Kirk and Spock kicked out of a bus, Spock swimming with a whale, the movie is wildly fun and just a joy to watch. This shows the wild spectrum of Star Trek, that can produce highly elaborated stories such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture (meta story), a classic revenge story (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn), a rescue mission (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) and now a time travel story. The franchise compared often to Star Wars may not have the same level of drama, but it can go in areas that Star Wars could not even remotely engage. I just highly appreciate how the franchise was able to move onto the big screen with a serialized precision.

THREE TEAMS
What is also very clever and efficient is the split of the crew to three separate teams. Suddenly, it makes their role very important. They are no longer just useless characters like Chekov in the first movie. They have an actual role in the story.

CHEKOV
As I said in the beginning, I never liked Chekov in The Original Series. Well, I think his role in both Star Trek II and IV is really interesting.

VERDICT
I give it 5 out of 5. Outstanding.
___________________________________________

 TRANSCRIPT

Captain's log, stardate 8031 in the twenty-third century. As commanding officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise, I look back on our most recent adventure and realise I could not have asked for a more dependable ship or dedicated crew. Chekov, Doctor McCoy, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, and our late comrade, Spock, whose heroic sacrifice in our last mission is now deeply felt. Our ship and our lives have been endangered by an experimental project called Genesis designed to bring new life to barren moons. We sent Spock's body there to rest in peace.

(scenes from "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.")

[Kirk's apartment]

SAREK: Why did you leave him on Genesis! Spock trusted you. You denied him his future!
KIRK: I saw no future.

[Electronic center]

SAREK: Only his body was in death, Kirk. ...bring him to us ...and bring that which he gave you ...his living spirit.

[Starfleet officer's lounge]

KIRK: ...if there's a chance that Spock has an eternal soul ...then it's my responsibility. ...Give me back the Enterprise!
MORROW: Out of the question, my friend!
SULU: The word, sir?
KIRK: The word ...is no I am therefore going anyway.

[Spacedock cafeteria]

FIRST OFFICER (on intercom): Sir, someone is stealing the Enterprise!
STARFLEET VOICE: All stations, Yellow Alert!

[Enterprise bridge]

CHEKOV: Sir. Commander, Starfleet on emergency channel. He orders you to surrender this vessel.
KIRK: No reply, Chekov.
SULU: One minute to space doors.

[Excelsior bridge]

STYLES: Kirk! If you do this, you'll never sit in the Captain's chair again.

[Enterprise bridge]

KIRK: Warp speed.
SULU: ...Warp speed.
KIRK: Best speed to Genesis.

Captain's log. (continued) Unfortunately we were not the first to arrive.

[Enterprise bridge]

SULU: Klingon Bird of Prey, sir! She's arming torpedoes!

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK (on viewscreen): ...your presence here is an act of war.
KRUGE: Fire!

Captain's log. (continued) Quickly overpowered, we had no choice but to allow the Klingons aboard, which meant the only way to defeat them was to destroy the Enterprise.

[Enterprise bridge]

TORG: ...The ship appears to be deserted.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KRUGE: ...They're hiding!

Captain's log. (continued) Leaving our ship for the last time we fled to Genesis.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

COMPUTER VOICE: ...five,...
KRUGE: Get out! Get out...

[Genesis planet - Kirk's landing]

KIRK: ...What have I done?
McCOY: What you had to do...

Captain's log. (continued) Just as the planet began to self-destruct we found Spock, and he was alive. His body had been regenerated but his mind was blank. Escaping Genesis we used the captured Klingon vessel to transport us to Vulcan where a mysterious ceremony was performed by Spock's people in an attempt to restore his memory.

[Vulcan temple area - sunrise]

SPOCK: ...You came back for me.
KIRK: You would have done the same for me.
SPOCK: Why would you do this?
KIRK: Because the needs of the one ...outweigh the needs of the many.

Captain's log. (continued) Meanwhile, back on Earth, the punishment for our disobedience awaited us.

"The cast and crew of Star Trek wish to dedicate this film to the men and women of the spaceship Challenger whose courageous spirit shall live to the twenty-third century and beyond...."

OPENING CREDITS

[Saratoga bridge]

SARATOGA CAPTAIN (OC): What do you make of it?
SARATOGA HELMSMAN: It appears to be a probe, Captain, from an intelligence unknown to us.
SARATOGA CAPTAIN: Continue transmitting, universal 'Peace' and 'Hello' in all known languages. ...Get me Starfleet Command.
SARATOGA HELMSMAN: Ready, Captain.
SARATOGA CAPTAIN: Starfleet Command, this is U.S.S. Saratoga patrolling Sector Five, Neutral Zone. We are tracking a probe of unknown origin on apparent trajectory to the Terran solar system. Attempts to communicate with the probe have been negative on all known frequencies.
STARFLEET VOICE (on intercom): Continue tracking, Saratoga. We will analyse transmissions and advise.
SARATOGA CAPTAIN: Roger, Starfleet, Saratoga out.

[Federation council chamber]

COMPUTER VOICE (on viewscreen): ...six, ...five, ...four, ...three, ...two, ...one...
(on the viewscreen the Enterprise self-destructs)
KLINGON AMBASSADOR: Hold the image. Hold! ...Behold! The quintessential devil in these matters! James T. Kirk, renegade and terrorist! Not only is he responsible for the murder of a Klingon crew, the theft of a Klingon vessel. See now the real plot and intentions, Even as this Federation was negotiating a peace treaty with us, Kirk was secretly developing the Genesis torpedo, conceived by Kirk's son and test detonated by the Admiral himself! The result of this awesome energy was euphemistically called 'The Genesis Planet' ...A secret base from which to launch the annihilation of the Klingon people! We demand the extradition of Kirk! We demand justice!
SAREK: Klingon justice is a unique point of view, Mister President. ...Genesis was perfectly named. The creation of life not death. The Klingons shed the first blood while attempting to possess its secrets.
KLINGON AMBASSADOR: Vulcans are well known as the intellectual puppets of this Federation!
SAREK: Your vessel did destroy U.S.S. Grissom. Your men did kill Kirk's son. Do you deny these events?
KLINGON AMBASSADOR: We deny nothing! We have the right to preserve our race!
SAREK: Do you have the right to commit murder?
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: Silence! Silence! There will be no further outbursts from the floor.
SAREK: Mister President, I have come to speak on behalf of the accused.
KLINGON AMBASSADOR: Personal bias! His son was saved by Kirk!
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: Mister Ambassador, with all respect, the Council's deliberations are over.
KLINGON AMBASSADOR: Then Kirk goes unpunished?
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: Admiral Kirk has been charged with nine violations of Starfleet regulations.
KLINGON AMBASSADOR: Starfleet regulations? That's outrageous! Remember this well. There shall be no peace as long as Kirk lives!

Captain's log, stardate 8390. We are in the third month of our Vulcan exile. And it was Doctor McCoy with a fine sense of historical irony, who decided on a name for our captured Klingon vessel.

('HMS BOUNTY' is roughly painted in large red capital letters along the side of the Bird-of-Prey)

Captain's log. (continued) ...And like those mutineers of five hundred years ago, we too have a hard choice to make.

[Vulcan - Bird-of-Prey on landing pad]

KIRK: Doctor McCoy?
McCOY: Aye sir.
KIRK: Mister Scott?
SCOTT: Aye sir.
KIRK: Uhura?
UHURA: Aye sir.
KIRK: Chekov?
CHEKOV: Aye sir.
KIRK: Sulu?
SULU: Aye sir.
KIRK: Let the record show that the commander and the crew of the late Starship Enterprise have voted unanimously to return to Earth to face the consequences of their actions in the rescue of their comrade, Captain Spock. ...Thank you all. ...Repair stations, please.
KIRK: Mister Scott!
SCOTT: Aye sir?
KIRK: How soon can we be underway?
SCOTT: Give me one more day, sir. Damage control is easy. Reading Klingon, That's hard.
McCOY: You'd think they could at least send a ship. It's bad enough to be court marshalled and spend the rest of our lives mining borite, ...but to go home in this Klingon flea trap...
KIRK: We could learn a thing or two from this flea trap. It's got a cloaking device that cost us a lot.
McCOY: I just wish we could cloak the stench.

[Spock's Test Chamber]

SPOCK: Computer. Resume testing. ...T'plana-Hath, matron of Vulcan philosophy
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: What is the molecular formula of aluminum sulfide crystal?
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: ...White Queen to section five, grid six. Queen takes Knight. Rook takes Queen. White pawn to section five, grid seven, pawn takes rook. Checkmate.
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: ...Correct. What significant contribution to bioengineering was made on the Loonkerian outpost on Klendth?
SPOCK: The universal atmospheric element compensator.
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: Evaluate and conclude. A starship's sensors indicate it is being pursued so closely that it occupies the same space as its pursuer.
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: ...Correct. Identify object and it's cultural significance.
SPOCK: Klingon mummification glyph.
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: What was the principle historical event on the planet Earth in the year nineteen eighty-seven?
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: ...Correct. What is Kiri-kin-tha's first law of metaphysics?
SPOCK: Nothing unreal exists.
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: ...Correct. Adjust the sine wave of this magnetic envelope so that anti-neutrons can pass through it but anti-gravitons cannot.
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: ...Correct. What is the electronic configuration of gadolinium?
TEST COMPUTER VOICE: ...Correct. How do you feel? ...How do you feel?
SPOCK: I do not understand the question.
AMANDA: What is it, Spock?
SPOCK: I do not understand the question, Mother.
AMANDA: You're half human. The computer knows that.
SPOCK: The question is irrelevant.
AMANDA: Spock, ...the retraining of your mind has been in the Vulcan way, so you may not understand feelings. But as my son, you have them. They will surface.
SPOCK: As you wish, since you deem them of value. But I cannot wait here to find them.
AMANDA: Where must you go?
SPOCK: I must go to Earth. To offer testimony.
AMANDA: You do this ...for friendship?
SPOCK: I do it because I was there,
AMANDA: Spock. Does the good of the many outweigh the good of the one?
SPOCK: I would accept that as an axiom.
AMANDA: Then you stand here alive because of a mistake ...made by your flawed, feeling, human friends. They have sacrificed their futures because they believed that the good of the one, ...you, ...was more important to them.
SPOCK: Humans make illogical decisions.
AMANDA: They do, indeed.

[Saratoga bridge]

SARATOGA HELMSMAN: Here it comes now.
SARATOGA CAPTAIN: What's causing that?
SARATOGA SCIENCE OFFICER: Their call is being carried on an amplification wave of enormous power!
SARATOGA CAPTAIN: Can you isolate the wave?
SARATOGA SCIENCE OFFICER: Negative. It's impacting on all our systems!
SARATOGA CAPTAIN: Yellow Alert! Shields up. Helm, reduce closing speed!
SARATOGA HELMSMAN: Thruster controls have been neutralised!
SARATOGA CAPTAIN: Emergency Thrusters!
SARATOGA HELMSMAN: No response, Captain!
SARATOGA CAPTAIN (OC): Emergency lights! ...Damage report!
SARATOGA SCIENCE OFFICER: All systems have failed. ...We are functioning on reserve power only.
SARATOGA CAPTAIN: Starfleet Command, this is Saratoga. Can you hear me? Come in, please. ...Come in, please.

[Starfleet Command]

STARFLEET AIDE: Thank you, sir.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: Status report, Admiral!
CARTWRIGHT: Mister President, the Probe is headed directly for us, The signal is damaging everything in its path. The Klingons have lost two vessels. Two starships and three smaller vessels have been neutralised.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: Neutralised? How?
CARTWRIGHT: We don't know. Get me the Yorktown.
YORKTOWN CAPTAIN: (on viewscreen) Emergency channel zero one three zero. Code red. It has been three hours since our contact with the alien Probe. All attempts at regaining power have failed.
CARTWRIGHT: It's using forms of energy we do not understand.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: Can you protect us?
CARTWRIGHT: We are launching everything we have.
YORKTOWN CAPTAIN: (on viewscreen) Our systems engineers are trying to deploy a makeshift solar-sail. We have high hopes that this will, if successful, generate power to keep us alive.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: Systems report. Communications?
UHURA: Communications systems all ready, sir. Communications officer is as ready as she'll ever be.
KIRK: Mister Sulu?
SULU: Guidance is functional. Onboard computer will interface with Federation memory bank.
KIRK: Weapons systems?
CHEKOV: Operational, Admiral. Cloaking device now available on all flight modes.
KIRK: I'm impressed, A lot of effort for a short voyage.
CHEKOV: We are in an enemy wessel, sir. I didn't wish to be shot down on the way to our own funeral.
KIRK: Most prudent. ...Engine room. Report, Mister Scott.

[Bird-of-Prey engineering]

SCOTT: We're ready, sir. I've converted the dilithium sequencer into something a little less primitive. And Admiral, ...I have replaced the Klingon food packs. They was givin' me sour stomach.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: Oh, is that what it was? ...Prepare for departure. Everybody not going to Earth had better get off. Saavik, ...this is goodbye.
SAAVIK: Yes sir.
KIRK: Thank you.
SAAVIK: Sir. I have not had the opportunity to tell you about your son. David died most bravely. He saved Spock. He saved us all. ...I thought you should know. ...Good day, Captain Spock. ...May your journey be free of incident.
SPOCK: Live long and prosper, Lieutenant. ...Permission to come aboard.
KIRK: Permission granted.
SPOCK: Thank you, Admiral.
KIRK: Jim, Spock! Jim! Don't you remember?
SPOCK: It would not be proper to refer to you as Jim while you are in command, Admiral. ...Also, I must apologise for my attire. ...I seem to have misplaced my uniform.
KIRK: Station.
McCOY: Are you sure this is such a bright idea?
KIRK: What do you mean?
McCOY: Him? I mean him, back at his post, like nothing happened. I don't know if you've got the whole picture but he isn't exactly working on all thrusters.
KIRK: It'll come back to him.
McCOY: Are you sure? ...That's what I thought.
KIRK: Mister Sulu, ...take us home.
SULU: Thrusters functional. ...One-quarter impulse power

[Spacedock]

STARFLEET VOICE: (on intercom) Spacedock, this is Starfleet Command. Launch all vessels. Launch all vessels.
CONTROLLER #2: Sir! Spacedock doors are inoperative! All emergency systems are non-functional.
CONTROLLER #1: Engage reserve power.
CONTROLLER #2: Aye sir.
CONTROLLER #1: Starfleet Command, this is Spacedock on emergency channel. We have lost all internal power.
(the Probe over Earth is disturbing the oceans and the weather)

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

SULU: Estimating Planet Earth, one point six hours present speed.
KIRK: Continue on course. Chekov, any signs of Federation escort?
CHEKOV: No sir. And no Federation wessels on assigned patrol stations.
KIRK: That's odd. Uhura, what's on the com channels?
UHURA: Very active, sir. Multi-phasic transmissions, overlapping. It's almost a gibberish. I will see if I can sort it out.
McCOY: Hi. ...Busy?
SPOCK: Uhura is busy. I am monitoring.
McCOY: Umm. Well, I just wanted to say it sure is nice to have your katra back in your head, not mine. What I mean is I may have carried your soul, but I sure couldn't fill your shoes.
SPOCK: My shoes.
McCOY: Forget it! ...Perhaps we could cover a little philosophical ground? Life, Death, Life. Things of that nature?
SPOCK: I did not have time on Vulcan to review the philosophical disciplines.
McCOY: Come on Spock, it's me, McCoy! You really have gone where no man has gone before. Can't you tell me what it felt like?
SPOCK: It would be impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame of reference.
McCOY: You're joking!
SPOCK: A joke is a story with a humorous climax.
McCOY: You mean I have to die to discuss your insights on death?
SPOCK: Forgive me, Doctor, I am receiving a number of distress calls.
McCOY: I don't doubt it!

[Starfleet Command]

(the Probe is affecting Earth's oceans and weather more violently)
STARFLEET COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: Juneau, Alaska, clouds increasing to ninety-five percent!
STARFLEET DISPLAY OFFICER: Tokyo, total cloud coverage. All power is from reserve banks. Leningrad has lost all electrical power. Cloud cover one hundred percent. Temperatures decreasing rapidly.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: What is the estimated cloud cover of the Planet exactly?
COMPUTER VOICE: Seventy-eight point six percent.
CARTWRIGHT: Notify all stations. Starfleet Emergency, RED ALERT. Switch power immediately to planetary reserves. ...Mister President, even with planetary reserves we cannot survive without the sun.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: I am well aware of that, Admiral. Ambassador Sarek, I'm afraid you're trapped her with us. There seems to be no way we can answer this Probe.
SAREK: It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question. ...Mister President, perhaps you should transmit a planet distress signal, ...while we still have time.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

UHURA: Admiral?
KIRK: What is it?
UHURA: Overlapping distress calls, and now a message coming in from the Federation.
KIRK: On screen!
FEDERATION PRESIDENT (on viewscreen): This is the President of the United Federation of Planets. Do not approach Earth!
FEDERATION PRESIDENT (OC): The transmissions of an orbiting Probe are causing critical damage to this planet.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT (on viewscreen): It has almost totally ionised our atmosphere.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT (OC): All power sources have failed. All orbiting starships are powerless. The Probe is vaporising our oceans.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT (on viewscreen): We cannot survive unless a way can be found to respond to the Probe. Further communications may not be possible
FEDERATION PRESIDENT (OC): Save your energy, Save yourselves.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT (on viewscreen): Avoid the Planet Earth at all costs. ...Farewell.
KIRK: Uhura, let's hear the Probe's transmissions.
UHURA: Yes sir. ...On speakers.
KIRK: Spock? What do you make of that?
SPOCK: Most unusual. An unknown form of energy of great power and intelligence. Evidently unaware that its transmissions are disruptive. I find it illogical that its intentions could be hostile.
McCOY: Well, dammit? You think this is its way of saying 'Hi there' to the people of the Earth?
SPOCK: There are other forms on intelligence on Earth, Doctor. Only human arrogance would assume the message must be meant for man.
KIRK: You're suggesting the transmission is meant for lifeform other than man?
SPOCK: It is a possibility, Admiral. The President did say that it was directed at Earth's oceans
KIRK: Uhura, ...can you modify the Probe's signals accounting for density and temperature and salinity factors?
UHURA: I'll try, sir. ...I think I have it.
KIRK: And this is what it would sound like underwater?
UHURA: Yes sir.
SPOCK: Fascinating. If my suspicion is correct, there can be no response to this message.
KIRK: Where are you going?
SPOCK: To test my theory.
KIRK: Bones, you stay here.
McCOY: No way, ...somebody's gotta keep an eye on him!

[Bird-of-Prey computer room]

KIRK: Spock?
SPOCK: As suspected, the Probe's transmissions are the songs sung by whales.
KIRK: Whales?
SPOCK: Specifically, humpback whales.
McCOY: That's crazy! Who would send a Probe hundreds of light years to talk to a whale?
KIRK: It's possible. Whales have been on Earth far earlier than man.
SPOCK: Ten million years earlier. And humpbacks were heavily hunted by man. They've been extinct since the twenty-first century. It is possible that an alien intelligence sent the Probe to determine why they lost contact.
McCOY: My God!
KIRK: Spock, could the humpback's answer to this call be simulated?
SPOCK: The sounds, but not the language. We would be responding in gibberish.
KIRK: Does the species exist on any other planet?
SPOCK: Negative. Humpbacks were indigenous to Earth. Earth of the past.
KIRK: Then we have no choice. We must destroy the Probe before it destroys Earth.
SPOCK: To attempt to do so would be futile, Admiral. The Probe could render us neutral easily.
KIRK: But we can't turn away! ...There must be an alternative?
SPOCK: There is one possibility, but I cannot guarantee its success. We could attempt to find some humpback whales.
McCOY: You just said there aren't any, except on Earth of the past.
SPOCK: Yes Doctor, that's exactly what I said.
McCOY: Well, in that case... Now wait just a damn minute!
KIRK: Spock, start your computations for time warp. ...Bones, you come with me.

[Starfleet Command]

COMPUTER VOICE: RED ALERT! RED ALERT! RED ALERT!
STARFLEET COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: Admiral, we need that power to keep the medical and emergency systems functioning.
STARFLEET COMMUNICATIONS ENSIGN: All underground storage systems have been shut down.
COMPUTER VOICE: RED ALERT! RED ALERT! ...RED ALERT! RED ALERT!
(the chaotic scene continues as engineers try to reinforce a large window)

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

KIRK: Scotty, how long is this bay?
SCOTT: About sixty feet, Admiral.
KIRK: Can you enclose it to hold water?
SCOTT: I suppose I could. Are you planning to take a swim?
McCOY: Off the deep end, Mister Scott.
KIRK: Scotty, we've got to find some humpbacks.
SCOTT: Humpbacked ...people?
KIRK: Whales, Mister Scott, whales! Forty-five to fifty feet long, about forty tons each.

[Bird-of-Prey corridor]

McCOY: Are you really going to try this time travel in this rust bucket?
KIRK: We've done it before.
McCOY: Sure, slingshot around the sun. If you pick up enough speed you're in time warp. If you don't, you fry.
KIRK: Would you prefer to do nothing?
McCOY: I'd prefer a dose of common sense. You are proposing to head backwards in time, find humpback whales, then bring them forward in time, drop them off, and hope to hell they tell this Probe what to do with itself!
KIRK: That's the general idea.
McCOY: That's crazy!
KIRK: You have a better idea, now's the time.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: The computations, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: In progress, Admiral.
KIRK: Uhura. Get me through to Starfleet Command.

[Starfleet Command]

COMPUTER VOICE: RED ALERT!
STARFLEET COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: I'm picking up a faint transmission, ...I think it's Admiral Kirk calling!
CARTWRIGHT: On screen!
KIRK (on viewscreen): Starfleet Command. This is Admiral James T. Kirk. ...We have intercepted and analysed the call of the Probe.
CARTWRIGHT: Go to reserve power. ...Now!
KIRK (on viewscreen): It is our opinion that humpback whales can give a proper response to the Probe.
CARTWRIGHT: Stabilise! Emergency reserve!
STARFLEET COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER (OC): Emergency reserve.
KIRK (on viewscreen): We are going to attempt time-travel. We are computing our trajectory at this time.
CARTWRIGHT: Get him back! Get him back!
(the large window starts to collapse)

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

SPOCK: Ready to engage computer, Admiral.
KIRK: What is our target in time?
SPOCK: Late twentieth century.
KIRK: Surely you can be more specific.
SPOCK: Not with this equipment. I have had to programme some of the variables from memory.
KIRK: What are some of the variables?
SPOCK: Availability of fuel components, mass of the vessel through a time continuum, and the probable location of humpback whales, in this case, the Pacific basin.
KIRK: You've programmed that from memory?
SPOCK: I have.
McCOY: Angels and ministers of grace, defend us.
SPOCK: Hamlet, Act one scene four.
KIRK: No doubts about your memory. Engage computer. Prepare for warp speed. ...Shields, Mister Chekov.
CHEKOV: Shields, aye.
KIRK: May fortune favour the foolish? ...Warp speed, Mister Sulu!
SULU: Warp two, ...warp three.
KIRK: Steady as she goes.
SULU: Warp four, ... warp five, ...warp six, ...warp seven, warp eight.
CHEKOV: Heat shields at maximum.
SULU: Warp nine! ...Nine point two, ...nine point three.
KIRK: We need breakaway speed!
SULU: Nine point five, nine point six, nine point seven, nine point eight.
KIRK: Now, Mister Sulu!
(after the slingshot around the sun, ethereal voices)
UHURA: I should never have left him.
McCOY: Jim, where are we?
KIRK: You're talking about the end of everybody on Earth.
(the crew awake from the time-travel)
KIRK: Mister Sulu? ...Mister Sulu! ...Mister Sulu.
SULU: Aye sir?
KIRK: What is our condition?
SULU: Sir, ...the braking thrusters have fired.
KIRK: Picture, please. ...Earth. ...But when? ...Spock?
SPOCK: Judging by the pollution content of the atmosphere, I believe we have arrived at the latter half of the twentieth century.
KIRK: Well done, Spock.
SPOCK: Admiral, if I may, we're probably already visible to the tracking devices of the time.
KIRK: Quite right, Mister Spock. Engage cloaking device, Mister Chekov.
SULU: We are crossing the terminator into night.
SPOCK: Homing in on the west coast of North America.
UHURA: Admiral, I am receiving whale song.
KIRK: Put them on speakers.
UHURA: Admiral, this is strange. The song is directly ahead. It's coming from San Francisco.
KIRK: From the city? That doesn't make sense.

[Bird-of-Prey engineering]

SCOTT: Admiral, we have a serious problem. Would you please come down? It's these Klingon crystals, Admiral. The time-travel drained them. They're giving out. De-crystallising.
KIRK: Give me a round figure, Mister Scott.
SCOTT: Oh, twenty-four hours, give or take, staying cloaked. After that, Admiral, we're visible, ...and dead in the water. In any case, we won't have enough to break out of Earth's gravity, to say nothing of getting back home.
KIRK: I can't believe we've come this far only to be stopped by this! Is there no way to re-crystallise dilithium?
SCOTT: Sorry, sir. We can't even do that in the twenty-third century.
SPOCK: Admiral, there may be a twentieth century possibility.
KIRK: Explain.
SPOCK: If memory serves, there was a dubious flirtation with nuclear fission reactors resulting in toxic side effects. By the beginning of the fusion era, these reactors had been replaced, but at this time, we may be able to find some.
KIRK: I thought you said they were toxic.
SPOCK: We could construct a device to collect their high-energy photons safely. These photons could then be injected into the dilithium chamber, causing crystalline restructure. ...Theoretically.
KIRK: Where would we find these reactors, ...theoretically?
SPOCK: Nuclear power was widely used in naval vessels.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

SULU: San Francisco. I was born there.
McCOY: It doesn't look all that different.
KIRK: Set us down in Golden Gate Park.
SULU: Aye sir. Descending.
KIRK: We'll divide into teams. Uhura and Chekov are assigned to the uranium problem.
CHEKOV: Yes sir.
KIRK: Doctor McCoy, you, Mister Scott and Commander Sulu will convert us a whale tank.
McCOY: Oh, joy.
KIRK: While Captain Spock and I will attempt to trace these whale songs to their source.
UHURA: I'll have bearing and distance for you, sir.
KIRK: I want you all to be very careful. This is terra incognita. Many of their customs will doubtless take us by surprise. It's a forgone conclusion that none of these people have ever seen an extra-terrestrial before.
(Spock tears off part of his robe and ties it round his forehead and over his ears)
KIRK: This is an extremely primitive and paranoid culture. Mister Chekov will issue a phaser and communicator to each team. We'll maintain radio silence except in emergencies. Those of you in uniform, remove your rank insignia. Any questions? All right, let's do our job and get out of here. Our own world is waiting for us to save it ...if we can. Commence landing procedure.
SULU: Aye sir.

[Golden Gate Park]

GARBAGE MAN #1: You don't mean to tell me you two were fighting again. I thought you made it up with her last night. Why are you two always fighting?
GARBAGE MAN #2: I like the way she fights! Anyway I said to her, 'If you think I'm going to spend sixty dollars for a goddam toaster oven, you're out of you're mind'.
GARBAGE MAN #2: What did she say to that?
GARBAGE MAN #1: Well...
(a 'wind' blows the dustbins around and one gets flattened and they catch a glimpse of the landing ramp opening)
GARBAGE MAN #1: What the hell was that?
GARBAGE MAN #2: Did you see that?
GARBAGE MAN #1: No. And neither did you, so shut up.
KIRK: Bearing to the whales?
UHURA: Two eight three degrees, ...fifteen point two kilometres.
KIRK: Everyone remember where we parked.

[San Francisco - downtown]

CAR DRIVER: Why don't you watch where you're going, dumb ass!
KIRK: Double dumb ass on you!
McCOY: It's a miracle these people ever got out of the twentieth century.
KIRK: They're still using money. We've got to find some.
KIRK: Spock! The rest of you stay here. ...The rest of you break up. You look like a cadet review.

[Antique store]

ANTIQUE STORE OWNER: Yes, they're eighteenth century American, quite valuable. Are you sure you want to part with them?
KIRK: How much will you give me for them?
SPOCK: Excuse me, weren't those a birthday present from Doctor McCoy?
KIRK: And they will be again, that's the beauty of it. How much?
ANTIQUE STORE OWNER: Well, they'd be worth more if the lenses were intact. I'll give you one hundred dollars.
KIRK: Is that a lot?

[San Francisco - downtown]

KIRK: That's all there is. Don't splurge. All set? Good hunting. ...Well, Spock, here we are, thanks to your restored memory and a little bit of good luck, we're walking the streets of San Francisco looking for a couple of humpback whales. How do you propose to solve this minor problem?
SPOCK: Simple logic will suffice. I believe I shall begin by making use of this map. I have the distance and bearing which were provided by Commander Uhura. If we juxtapose our coordinates we should be able to find our destination. It lies at two eight three point seven degrees...
(a bus with an advertisement on the side pulls up)
KIRK: I think we'll find what we're looking for at the Cetacean Institute in Sausalito. A pair of humpbacks named George and Gracie.
SPOCK: How do you know this?
KIRK: Simple logic.
(they attempt to board the bus)
SPOCK: What does it mean, 'Exact change'?
(Kirk and Spock start to walk)

[San Francisco - another street]

McCOY: Would you mind telling me how we plan to convert this tank?
SCOTT: Ordinarily, I could do it with a piece of transparent aluminum.
SULU: I'm afraid you're a number of years too early for that.
SCOTT: I know. We've got to find the twentieth century equivalent.
McCOY: But where?

[San Francisco - elsewhere]

(Uhura and Chekov at a phone booth)
UHURA: Did you find it?
CHEKOV: Yes, under 'U.S. Government.' Now we need directions. ...Excuse me, sir. Can you direct me to the Navy base in Alameda? It's where they keep the nuclear wessels. ...Nuc-le-ar wes-sels.
UHURA: Excuse us!
CHEKOV: Excuse me. We are looking for nuclear wessels.
UHURA: Can you tell me where the naval base is in Alameda?
CHEKOV: Hello! We are looking for the nuclear wessels in Alameda. Could you tell me where...
UHURA: Can you help us?
CHEKOV: We are looking for the naval base in Alameda. Could you tell me where the nuclear wessels are?
PASSER-BY: Oh, I don't know if I know the answer to that. I think it's across the bay in Alameda.
CHEKOV: That's what I said. Alameda.
UHURA: Alameda.
CHEKOV: I know that!
UHURA: But where is Alameda?

[On a bus]

KIRK: Excuse me! ...Excuse me! Would you mind stopping that noise?
(a punk turns up his ghetto blaster sound)
KIRK: Excuse me! Would you mind stopping that damn noise?
(Spock gives the punk a nerve pinch, stopping the noise and gains a round of applause from the bus)
SPOCK: Admiral, may I ask you a question?
KIRK: Spock, don't call me Admiral. ...You used to call me Jim. Don't you remember? Jim. ...What's your question?
SPOCK: Your use of language has altered since our arrival. It is currently laced with, ...shall I say, ...more colourful metaphors. 'Double dumb ass on you' ...and so forth.
KIRK: You mean profanity. That's simply the way they talk here. Nobody pays any attention to you if you don't swear every other word. You'll find it in all the literature of the period.
SPOCK: For example?
KIRK: Oh, the collective works of Jacqueline Susann. The novels of Harold Robbins.
SPOCK: Ah! ...'The giants'.

[Cetacean Institute]

TANNOY VOICE: The next showing of 'The Wonderful World of Whales' will begin in five minutes in the marine theater.
GILLIAN: Here I go. ...Good morning. I'm your guide this morning, my name is Doctor Gillian Taylor, but you can call me Gillian. I'm Assistant Director of the Maritime Cetacean Institute. So please follow me and just give a yell if you can't hear me, okay? ...The Cetacean Institute is the only museum in the world exclusively devoted to whales. As you can see we have a great deal to offer, but that is small compared to what we know, ...or rather what we don't know, about whales. The first commonly held misconception is that whales are fish. They're not, they're mammals just like you and me. Warm-blooded, needing air to breathe and producing milk to nurse their young.
MAN: Do whales attack people ...like in 'Moby Dick'?
GILLIAN: No. ...No, most whales don't even have teeth. They have a soft gum-like tissue that strains vast amounts of tiny shrimp for food and that is the limit of their hostility. Unfortunately, their principle enemy is far, far more aggressive.
KIRK: You mean man.
GILLIAN: To put it mildly. Since the dawn of time, men have harvested whales for a variety of purposes, most of which can be achieved synthetically at this point. One hundred years ago, using hand-thrown harpoons, man did plenty of damage, ...but that is nothing compared to what he has achieved in this century. ...This is mankind's legacy, whales hunted to the brink of extinction. Virtually gone is the blue whale, the largest creature ever to inhabit the Earth. Despite all attempts at banning whaling, there are still countries and pirates currently engaged in the slaughter of these inoffensive creatures. Where the humpback whale once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, today there are less than ten thousand specimens alive and those that are taken are no longer fully grown. In addition, many of the females are killed, while still bearing unborn calves.
SPOCK: To hunt a species to extinction is not logical.
GILLIAN: Whoever said the human race was logical? ...Now if you'll follow me, please, I'll introduce you to the Institute's pride and joy.

[Whale tank - outside]

GILLIAN: This is the largest seawater tank in the world. It contains the only two humpback whales in captivity. ...They are mature humpbacks, weighing forty-five thousand pounds each. They wandered into San Francisco Bay as calves and were brought here. We call them George and Gracie.
KIRK: It's perfect, Spock. A male and a female in a contained space. We beam them up together and consider ourselves lucky.
GILLIAN: Beautiful, aren't they? And extremely intelligent. ...Now if you'll follow me please.

[Whale tank - inside]

GILLIAN: Despite all the things that they are teaching us we have to return George and Gracie to the open sea.
KIRK: Why's that?
GILLIAN: Well, for one thing, we simply don't have enough money to keep feeding them two of tons of shrimp a day!
KIRK: How soon?
GILLIAN: Soon. ...It's too bad because they're really quite friendly, as you can see. I've grown quite attached to them. ...And now, here's a much better way to see George and Gracie ...underwater.

[Whale tank - the underwater window]

GILLIAN: What you're hearing is recorded whale song. It is sung by the male. He'll sing anywhere from six to as long as thirty minutes, and then, start again. In the ocean, the other whales will pick up the song, and pass it on.
(Spock is seen swimming in the underwater tank)
GILLIAN: The songs change every year, but we still don't know what purpose they serve. Are they some kind of navigational signal? Could they be part of the mating ritual? Or is it pure communication beyond our comprehension? Frankly we just don't know
OLDER WOMAN: Maybe he's singing to that man.
GILLIAN: What the hell! ...Excuse me! Wait right here!

[Whale tank - outside]

GILLIAN: Excuse me, please! ...Who the hell are you? What were you doing in there?
KIRK: Yes, speak up!
SPOCK: Attempting the hell to communicate.
GILLIAN: Communicate? Communicate what? You have no right to be here!
KIRK: You heard the lady!
SPOCK: Admiral, if we were to assume these whales are ours to do with as we please, we would be as guilty as those who caused their extinction.
GILLIAN: Okay. I don't know what this is all about, but I want you guys out of here right now or I call the cops.
KIRK: I assure you that won't be necessary. We were only trying to help.
GILLIAN: The hell you were, buster. Your friend was messing up my whales.
SPOCK: They like you very much. But they are not the hell your whales.
GILLIAN: I ...I suppose they told you that? Huh!
SPOCK: The hell they did.
GILLIAN: Right!

[Road near the Cetacean Institute]

KIRK: Spock.
SPOCK: Yes?
KIRK: About those colourful metaphors we discussed. I don't think you should try to use them any more.
SPOCK: Why not?
KIRK: Well, for one thing, you haven't quite got the knack of it.
SPOCK: I see.
KIRK: And another thing, it is not always necessary to tell the truth.
SPOCK: I cannot tell a lie.
KIRK: I don't mean lie, ...but you could exaggerate.
SPOCK: Exaggerate.
KIRK: Exaggerate! You've done it before. Can't you remember?
SPOCK: The hell I can't
KIRK: What else did you learn from your mind-meld?
SPOCK: They're unhappy about the way their species has been treated by man.
KIRK: They have a right to be. Are they going to help us?
SPOCK: I believe I was successful in communicating our intentions.
KIRK: I see.

[Whale tank - outside]

GILLIAN: (to the whales) It's all right. Yes. I know. It's okay. They didn't mean any harm.
BOB: Heard there was some excitement.
GILLIAN: Oh, just a couple of kooks.
BOB: How you doing?
GILLIAN: I'm fine.
BOB: Don't tell me your fish stories, kiddo. I've known you too long.
GILLIAN: Bob, ...it's tearing me apart. Okay?
BOB: I know. I feel the same thing, but we're between a rock and a hard place. If we can't keep them here without risking their lives. We can't let them go without a taking the same chance.
GILLIAN: I know, I know.
BOB: And besides we're not talking about human beings here. It's never been proven their intelligence is anyw...
GILLIAN: Oh, come on Bob. I don't know about you, but my compassion for someone is not limited to my estimate of their intelligence.

[Alameda Naval Base]

CHEKOV: Team leader, this is team two. Come in, please.
UHURA: I have the coordinates of the reactor.
KIRK (on intercom): Kirk here.
CHEKOV: Admiral, we have found the nuclear wessel.
KIRK (on intercom): Well done, you two!
CHEKOV: And Admiral, ... it is the Enterprise!

[Road near the Cetacean Institute]

KIRK: Understood. What's your plan?

[Alameda Naval Base]

CHEKOV: We will beam in tonight, collect the photons and beam out. No one will ever know we were there.

[Road near the Cetacean Institute]

KIRK: Understood and approved. Keep me informed. Kirk out. ...There she is, from the Institute. If we play our cards right, we may be able to find out when those whales are leaving.
SPOCK: How will playing cards help?
GILLIAN (OC): Well, if it isn't Robin Hood and Friar Tuck.
GILLIAN: Where're you fellahs heading?
KIRK: Back to San Francisco.
GILLIAN: Came all the way down here to jump in and swim with the kiddies, huh?
KIRK: There's very little point in my trying to explain.
GILLIAN: Yeah, I'll buy that. What about him?
KIRK: Him? He's harmless. Back in the sixties he was part of the Free Speech movement at Berkeley. I think he had a little too much LDS.
GILLIAN: LDS? ...Come on then, lemme give you a lift. I have a notorious weakness for hard luck cases, that's why I work with whales.
KIRK: We don't want to be any trouble.
GILLIAN: You've already been that. C'mon.

[Cab of Gillian's pick-up)
]

KIRK: Well, thank you very much.
GILLIAN: Don't mention it. And don't try anything either. I got a tire iron right where I can get at it.
GILLIAN: So, ...you were at ...Berkeley?
SPOCK: I was not.
KIRK: Memory problems, too.
GILLIAN: What about you? Where are you from?
KIRK: Iowa.
GILLIAN: Oh, a landlubber. Come on, what the hell were you guys really trying to do back there? It wasn't some kinda macho thing, was it? Because if that's all, I'll be real disappointed. I really hate that macho stuff.
KIRK: Can I ask you a question?
GILLIAN: Go ahead.
KIRK: What's going to happen when you release the whales?
GILLIAN: They're gonna have to take their chances.
KIRK: What does that mean, exactly? Take their chances.
GILLIAN: It means that they will be at risk from whale hunters ...same as the rest of the humpbacks. ...What did you mean when you said all that stuff back at the Institute about extinction?
SPOCK: I meant...
KIRK: He meant what you said on the tour, that if things keep going the way they are, humpbacks will disappear forever.
GILLIAN: That's not what he said, farm boy. 'Admiral, if we were to assume those whales are ours to do with as we please, we would be as guilty as those who caused' ...past tense... 'their extinction.' ...I have a photographic memory. I see words.
SPOCK: Are you sure it isn't time for a colourful metaphor?
GILLIAN: You're not one of those guys from the military, are you? Trying to teach whales to retrieve torpedoes, or some dipshit stuff like that?
KIRK: No, ma'am. No dipshit.
GILLIAN: Well, good, that's one thing. I'da let you off right here.
SPOCK: Gracie is pregnant.
(the pick-up screams to a halt)
GILLIAN: All right. Who are you? And don't jerk me around any more. I want to know how you know that.
KIRK: We can't tell you that. ...Please, let me finish. I can tell you that we're not in the military and that we intend no harm towards the whales.
GILLIAN: Then what...
KIRK: In fact, we may be able to help you in ways that, frankly, you couldn't possibly imagine.
GILLIAN: Or believe, I'll bet.
KIRK: Very likely. ...You're not exactly catching us at our best.
SPOCK: That much is certain.
KIRK: I have got a hunch we'd all be a lot happier discussing this over dinner. What do you say?
GILLIAN: You guys like Italian?
SPOCK/KIRK: No. Yes. No. Yes.
KIRK: Yes, I love Italian and so do you.
SPOCK: Yes.

[Plexicorp Factory - inside]

NICHOLS: Professor Scott, I'm Doctor Nichols, plant manager. I'm terribly sorry but there's been an awful mix-up Would you believe I was never told about your visit?
McCOY: I tried to clear things up, Professor Scott. I explained you'd come all the way her from Edinburgh on appointment to study methods of manufacturing by Plexicorp, but they don't seem to know anything about it.
SCOTT: Don't know anything about it? I find it hard to believe that I've come millions of miles.
McCOY: Thousands! Thousands!
SCOTT: Thousands of miles on an invited tour of inspection, only to be...
NICHOLS: Professor Scott, if you'll just...
SCOTT: I demand to see the owners! I demand...
McCOY: Professor Scott, just take it easy! Doctor Nichols has offered to take us around the plant personally.
SCOTT: He has?
NICHOLS: With pleasure.
SCOTT: Well, that's different.
NICHOLS: Gregory!
(a forklift drives up)
NICHOLS: Professor...
SCOTT: May my assistant join us?
NICHOLS: Of course.
McCOY: Don't bury yourself in the part.

[Plexicorp Factory - outside]

PILOT: Hi!
SULU: Hi! A good-looking ship. Huey two oh four, isn't it?
PILOT: Right on. Do you fly?
SULU: Oh, here and there. ...I flew something similar back in my Academy days.
PILOT: All right, then this must be old stuff to you?
SULU: Old, yes. But interesting. ...Do you mind if I ask a few questions?
PILOT: Sure!

[Plexicorp Factory - Nichol's office]

SCOTT: Well, this a fine place you have here, Doctor Nichols.
NICHOLS: Thank you. I must say, Professor, your knowledge of engineering is most impressive.
McCOY: Back home, we call him the miracle worker.
NICHOLS: Indeed. ...May I offer you something, gentlemen?
SCOTT: Doctor Nichols, I may be able to offer something to you.
NICHOLS: Yes?
SCOTT: I notice you're still working with polymers.
NICHOLS: Still? What else would I be working with?
SCOTT: Ah, what else indeed? I'll put it another way. How thick would a piece of your plexiglass need to be, at sixty feet by ten feet to withstand the pressure of eighteen thousand cubic feet of water?
NICHOLS: That's easy, six inches. We carry stuff that big in stock.
SCOTT: Aye, I've noticed. Now suppose, ...just suppose, ...I was to show you a way to manufacture a wall that would do the same job but be only one inch thick. Would that be worth something to you, eh?
NICHOLS: You're joking?
McCOY: Perhaps the professor could use your computer.
NICHOLS: Please.
SCOTT: Computer... Computer!
(McCoy hands him the computer mouse which Scott tries to use as a microphone)
SCOTT: Ah! Hello computer?
NICHOLS: Just use the keyboard.
SCOTT: The keyboard. ...How quaint.
(Scott rapidly types a formula into the computer that appears on the monitor screen)
NICHOLS: Transparent aluminum?
SCOTT: That's the ticket, laddie.
NICHOLS: It would take years just to figure out the dynamics of this matrix.
McCOY: Yes, but you'd be rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
SCOTT: So, is it worth something to you? Or should I just punch up 'clear'.
NICHOLS: No! No! (a female employee comes into the office) ...Not now Madeline! ...What exactly did you have in mind?
McCOY: Well, a moment alone, please. ...Do you realise of course, if we give him the formula, we're altering the future.
SCOTT: Why? How do we know he didn't invent the thing!
McCOY: Yeah!

[Golden Gate Park]

(Gillian's pick-up arrives)
GILLIAN: Sure you won't change your mind?
SPOCK: Is there something wrong with the one I have?
KIRK: Just a little joke. Goodbye, old friend.
GILLIAN: Wait a minute! How did you know Gracie's pregnant? Nobody knows that.
SPOCK: Gracie does. ...I'll be right here.
GILLIAN: Is he just going to hang around the bushes while we eat?
KIRK: It's his way.
(as the pick-up drives off, Spock disappears in a transporter beam)

[Italian restaurant]

GILLIAN: Do you trust me?
KIRK: Implicitly.
GILLIAN: Good. Large mushroom, pepperoni with extra onions and a Michelob, please.
WAITER: Great choice, ...and you, sir?
KIRK: Make that two. ...Well, how does a nice girl like you get to be a cetacean biologist?
GILLIAN: Just lucky, I guess.
KIRK: You're upset about losing the whales aren't you?
GILLIAN: You're very perceptive.
KIRK: How will that be done, exactly?
GILLIAN: They'll be flown in a special seven four seven to Alaska and released there.
KIRK: Flown, ...and that's the last you'll see of them?
GILLIAN: See, yes. But we'll tag them with radio transmitters on a special frequency so we can keep tabs on them.
KIRK: You know, ...I could take those whales somewhere, ...where they'd never be hunted.
GILLIAN: You? You can't even get from Sausalito to San Francisco without a lift.
KIRK: If you have such a low opinion of my abilities, how come we're having dinner?
GILLIAN: I'm a sucker for hard luck cases. ...Cheers! ...Besides, I want to know why you travel around with that ditzy guy who knows that Gracie is pregnant and calls you 'Admiral'. ...Where could you take them?
KIRK: Hm?
GILLIAN: My whales? Where could you take them where they'd be safe?
KIRK: It's not so much a matter of a place as of time.
GILLIAN: The time would have to be right now.
KIRK: Why right now?
GILLIAN: Let's just say that no humpback born in captivity has ever survived. ...The problem is that they won't be that much safer at sea because of all the hunting this time of year. ...So you see, that, as they say, is that... (her eyes begin to moisten) Damn!
(Kirk's communicator beeps)
GILLIAN: What's that?
KIRK: What's what?
GILLIAN: You have a pocket pager? ...Are you a doctor?
(Kirk's communicator beeps again)
KIRK: What is it? I thought I told you not to call me.
SCOTT (on communicator): Sorry, Admiral. I thought you'd like to know, we're beaming them in now.
KIRK: Oh, all right. ...Tell Them phasers on stun. Good luck. Kirk out.
GILLIAN: You wanna try it from the top?
KIRK: Why don't you tell me when those whales are leaving?
GILLIAN: Who are you?
KIRK: Who do you think I am?
GILLIAN: Don't tell me. You're from outer space.
KIRK: No, I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space.
GILLIAN: Ah! Well, I was close. I mean I knew outer space was going to come into it sooner or later.
KIRK: The truth?
GILLIAN: I'm all ears.
KIRK: Ha, ha, ha...
GILLIAN: Ha, ha, ha...
KIRK: Ha, ha, ha... Okay, the truth. ...I am from what, on your calendar, would be the late twenty-third century. I've come back in time ...to bring two humpback whales with me in an attempt to ...repopulate the species.
GILLIAN: Well, why didn't you just say so? I mean, why all the coy disguises?
KIRK: You want the details?
GILLIAN: Oh! I wouldn't miss this for all the tea in China.
KIRK: When are those whales being released?
GILLIAN: Okay, what the hell! Your friend was right. Gracie is not only pregnant, she is very pregnant ...and at noon tomorrow, ...when there is sure to be a media circus, ...the whales get shipped out.
KIRK: Noon tomorrow!
GILLIAN: Are we leaving?
KIRK: Come on! We don't have much time.
GILLIAN: Uh, ...could we have that to go, please?
WAITER: Sure! Who gets the bad news?
GILLIAN: Don't' tell me they don't use money in the twenty-third century.
KIRK: Well, they don't.

[U.S.S. Enterprise reactor room]

(a dog-patrol and an alsatian seem to sense Uhura and Chekov)
UHURA: How long?
CHEKOV: It depends on how much shielding there is between us and the reactor.

[Golden Gate Park]

GILLIAN: Well, 'Admiral', that was the briefest dinner I've ever had in my life, and certainly the biggest cockamamie fish story I've ever heard.
KIRK: You asked. Now, do tell me something? ...George and Gracie's transmitter. What's the radio frequency?
GILLIAN: Sorry, that's classified. Look, I don't really have a clue who you are. Really! You wouldn't want to show me around your space ship, would you?
KIRK: That wouldn't be my first choice, no.
GILLIAN: Well, there we are.
KIRK: Lemme tell you something. I'm here to bring two humpbacks into the twenty-third century. If I have to, I'll go to the open sea to get them, but I'd much rather have yours. ...Better for me, better for you. It's better for them. ...Think about it
GILLIAN: Who are you?
KIRK: Think about it, but don't take too long. I'm out of time. If you change your mind, this is where I'll be.
GILLIAN: Here, ...in the park?
KIRK: Right.
(Gillian drives off, hears the transporter sound, stops and looks back. Kirk has disappeared)

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

KIRK: Status?
SPOCK: The tank will be finished by morning.
KIRK: That's cutting it closer than you know. What about team two?
SPOCK: No word since beam-in. We can only wait for them to call.
KIRK: Damn. ...Dammit! We've been so lucky. We have the two perfect whales right in our hands, but if we don't move quickly, we'll lose them!
SPOCK: In that event, the probabilities are that our mission would fail.
KIRK: Our mission! You're talking about the end of every life on Earth! You're half human, haven't you got any goddamned feelings about that!!

[U.S.S. Enterprise reactor room]

(Uhura and Chekov anxiously watch progress on gathering the photons as another patrol passes)

[U.S.S. Enterprise C.I.C. room]

RADAR OPERATOR: There it is again.
ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN: That's too weird. ...Commander.
C.D.O.: I thought you gents were running a test programme.
ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN: Yes sir, but we are apparently getting a power drain and it must be coming from inside the ship.
C.D.O.: C.I.C., Command Officer Rogerson. Yes, Chief, we're tracking that, too. What do you make of it?

[U.S.S. Enterprise reactor room]

UHURA: Scotty, we're ready for beam out. ...Scotty! Can you hear me?

[U.S.S. Enterprise C.I.C. room]

C.D.O.: Confirmed, Roger that. ...Mardet commanding officer! This is the Command Duty Officer, Commander Rodgerson. We have an intruder in the number four M.M.R. I say again. We have an intruder in the number four M.M.R.

[U.S.S. Enterprise reactor room]

UHURA: Scotty! Did you read?

[Bird-of-Prey transporter room]

UHURA (on communicator): Scotty! ...Scotty!
SCOTT: Lass, I can hardly hear you. ...My transporter power's down to minimal. I've got to bring you in one at a time.

[U.S.S. Enterprise reactor room]

CHEKOV: Take the collector. You go first!

[Bird-of-Prey transporter room]

SCOTT: Stand by.
(Uhura transports out)

[U.S.S. Enterprise reactor room]

CHEKOV: Hello? ...Come in, please. ...Scotty, how soon?

[Bird-of-Prey transporter room]

SCOTT: Chekov, you're breaking up. Please signal again. ...Chekov, can you hear me?

[U.S.S. Enterprise reactor room]

CHEKOV: Scotty! ...Now would be a good time.
MARINE LIEUTENANT: Freeze!

[Bird-of-Prey transporter room]

SCOTT: Chekov! ...I've lost him.

[U.S.S. Enterprise interrogation room]

FBI AGENT: Commander Pavel Chekov, Starfleet, United Federation of Planets. ...Right, Commander, is there anything you wanna tell us?
CHEKOV: Like what?
FBI AGENT: Like who you really are and what you're doing here and what these things here are.
CHEKOV: I am Pavel Chekov. Commander in Starfleet, United Federation of Planets, service number six five six, five eight two seven, D.
FBI AGENT: All right. Let's take it from the top.
CHEKOV: The top of what?
FBI AGENT: Name?
CHEKOV: My name?
FBI AGENT: No, my name.
CHEKOV: I do not know your name.
FBI AGENT: You play games with me, mister, and you're through
CHEKOV: I am? May I go now?
FBI AGENT: What do you think?
CIVILIAN AGENT: He's a Russkie.
FBI AGENT: That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life. Of course he's a russkie, but he's a retard or something.
CIVILIAN AGENT: You'd better call Washington.
CHEKOV: Don't move!
FBI AGENT: Okay. ...Make nice. Give us the ray gun.
CHEKOV: I varn you. If you don't lie on the floor, I vill have to stun you.
FBI AGENT: Go ahead. Stun me.
CHEKOV: I'm wery sorry. ...It must be the radiation.
(Chekov throws the useless phaser to the agent and heads off into the ship)
VOICES: Gangway! ...Hit the deck!
(Chekov goes over the side of the ship and lies comatose)

[Alameda quayside]

MARINE SERGEANT: Man down! Get a corpsman over here.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: Any luck?
UHURA: Nothing. Admiral, I should never have left him.
KIRK: You did what was necessary. ...Keep trying to find him. ...Scotty, you promised me an estimate on the dilithium crystals.

[Bird-of-Prey engineering]

SCOTT: It's going slowly, sir. It'll be well into tomorrow.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: That's not good enough, Mister Scott. You've got to do better!

[Bird-of-Prey engineering]

SCOTT: I'll try, sir. Scott out. He's in a wee bit of a snit, isn't he?
SPOCK: He is a man of deep feelings.
SCOTT: Aye, what else is new?

[Cetacean Institute]

(Gillian arrives and finds the tank is empty)
BOB: They left last night. We didn't want a mob scene with the press. It wouldn't have been good for them. Besides ...we thought it would be easier on you this way.
GILLIAN: You sent them away without even letting me say goodbye?
BOB: Gillian.
GILLIAN: You son of a bitch.

[Golden Gate Park]

(Gillian arrives in a hurry to see the Plexicorp helicopter hovering with a sheet of Plexiglass suspended below it)
GILLIAN: Admiral! Admiral Kirk! ...Admiral Kirk!
(Gillian stares in disbelief as the top half Scotty appears and the Plexiglass begins to disappear)
GILLIAN: Admiral! ...Admiral Kirk! ...Admiral Kir...
(Gillian runs across the grass and bumps into the cloaked Bird-of-Prey where its landing footprint can be seen)
GILLIAN: Admiral! ...Admiral! ...Admiral Kirk, can you hear me? They're gone! I need your help. Are you in there?
SCOTT: Admiral, we have problem.

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

GILLIAN (OC): Admiral! ...Admiral Kirk! ...Can you hear me? ...Admiral! ...Admiral Kirk! ...Can you hear me? ...Admiral Kirk! ...Can you hear me? I need your help!

[Golden Gate Park]

GILLIAN: Oh, my God! Aahh...

[Bird-of-Prey transporter room]

KIRK: Hello, Alice. Welcome to wonderland.
GILLIAN: Oh, it's true!
KIRK: Yes, it's true.
GILLIAN: What you said.
KIRK: Yes, it is. I'm glad you're here, but I must admit you picked a helluva time to drop in. ...Take it easy, now. We need your help.
GILLIAN: Is this real?
KIRK: Yes, it's all real. Take a look.

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

KIRK: Storage tanks for your whales. We'll bring them up the same we brought you. It's calle..
GILLIAN: Admiral, they're gone.
KIRK: Gone?
GILLIAN: They were taken last night. I wasn't told. They're in Alaska by now.
KIRK: Damn!
GILLIAN: But they're tagged, like I told you, you can go find them, right?
KIRK: I can't go anywhere.
GILLIAN: What kind of spaceship is this?
KIRK: It's a spaceship with a missing man.
SPOCK: Admiral. Full power has been restored.
KIRK: Thank you, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Hello, Doctor. Welcome aboard.
UHURA (OC): Admiral, ...are you there?
KIRK: Yes, Uhura, ...what's wrong?

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

UHURA: I've found Chekov, sir. They're taking him to emergency surgery right now.

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

KIRK: Uhura! ...Where!
UHURA (OC): Mercy Hospital.
KIRK: Mercy Hospital?
GILLIAN: That's in the Mission District.
UHURA (OC): They report his condition as critical.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

UHURA: He is not expected to survive.
McCOY: Jim, you've got to let me go in there! Don't leave him in the hands of twentieth century medicine.
SPOCK: Admiral, may I suggest that Doctor McCoy is correct. We must help Chekov.
KIRK: Is that the logical thing to do, Spock?
SPOCK: No, but is the human thing to do.
KIRK: Right. ...Will you help us?
GILLIAN: How?
McCOY: Well, we're gonna have to look like physicians.

[Mercy Hospital corridors]

KIRK: We'll try down here. You check there.
WOMAN PATIENT: Doctor.
McCOY: What's the matter with you?
WOMAN PATIENT: Kidney ...dialysis.
McCOY: Dialysis? My god, what is this, the Dark Ages? Here, you swallow that. If you have a problem, just call me.
KIRK: Here, I've got it. ...Let's go. ...He's being held in the security corridor one flight up. His condition is critical.
McCOY: Come on.
KIRK: Excuse me, we'll take that! ... Hold the door! Emergency!
(they push the hi-jacked gurney with Gillian on it into the elevator)

[Mercy Hospital Elevator]

INTERN #1: Did you hear anything?
INTERN #2: I was there. I heard the whole thing.
INTERN #1: Weintrub said radical chemotherapy or she's gonna croak. Just like that.
INTERN #2: Well, what about Gottlieb?
INTERN #1: All he talked about was image therapy, or otherwise he'd cut it out.
McCOY: Unbelievable.
INTERN #1: You have a different view, Doctor?
McCOY: It sounds like the goddam Spanish Inquisition.
KIRK: Bad day!

[Mercy Hospital corridor]

McCOY: Out of the way!
POLICEMAN: We have strict orders...
McCOY: Dammit, do you want an acute case on your hands? This woman has immediate post-prandial upper abdominal distension! ...Get out of the way! Get out of the way!

[Mercy Hospital operating room]

KIRK: What did you say she was got?
McCOY: Cramps.
DOCTOR #1: Who are you? Why aren't you masked? Who are these people?
DOCTOR #2: I don't know.
DOCTOR #1: What the hell is that? What are you doing?
McCOY: Tearing of the middle meningeal artery.
DOCTOR #1: What's your degree in, dentistry?
McCOY: How do you explain slowing pulse, low respiratory rate and coma?
DOCTOR: Fundoscopic examination...
McCOY: Fundoscopic examination is unrevealing in these cases!
DOCTOR #1: A simple evacuation of the expanding epidural hematoma will relieve the pressure.
McCOY: My God, man, drilling holes in his head's not the answer. The artery must be repaired. Now put away your butcher knives and let me save this patient before it's too late!
DOCTOR #1: I'm going to have you removed.
KIRK: Doctors! Such unprofessional behaviour. ...Into that little room please.
DOCTOR #1: What is that? A gun?
MEDICAL STAFF: What is this? ...I have no idea!
(Kirk fuses the lock of the little room with his phaser)
DOCTOR #1: He melted the lock!
McCOY: We're dealing with medievalism here! ...Chemotherapy! ...Fundoscopic examinations!
McCOY: Come on, Chekov. Wake up!
KIRK: Pavel, can you hear me?
McCOY: He's coming round, Jim.
KIRK: Pavel, talk to me. ...Name! Rank!
CHEKOV: ...Chekov, ...Pavel, ...Rank, ...Admiral!

[Mercy Hospital corridor]

POLICEMAN #1: How's the patient, Doctor?
KIRK: He's gonna make it!
POLICEMAN #2: He? He went in with a she.
KIRK: One little mistake.

[Mercy Hospital operating room]

DOCTOR #1: Get us out of here! ...They've taken the patient! Get some help!

[Mercy Hospital corridor]

(Kirk, McCoy and Gillian flee, pushing Chekov on the gurney)
POLICEMAN #1: Hold it!
KIRK: Not now, Pavel!
POLICEMAN #1: Hold it! ...Hold it!
WOMAN PATIENT: The doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney.
DOCTOR #3: It's fully functional.
DOCTOR #4: Fully functional?
(the police chase them to an elevator, run down the stairs to find the elevator empty)

[Golden Gate Park]

KIRK: Where would the whales be by now?
GILLIAN: Please, do you have a chart on board? I'll show you.
KIRK: No, no, no. All I need is the radio frequency to track them.
GILLIAN: What are you talking about? I'm coming with you.
KIRK: You can't. Our next stop is the twenty-third century.
GILLIAN: I don't care? I've got nobody here. I have got to help those whales.
KIRK: I have no time to argue with you, or even tell you how much you've meant to us. ...The radio frequency, please.
GILLIAN: The frequency's four oh one megahertz.
KIRK: Thank you, ...for everything. Scotty, beam me up!
GILLIAN: Surprise!
(Gillian leaps, putting her arms around Kirk's neck and transports with him)

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: Spock, where the hell is the power you promised me?
SPOCK: One damn minute, Admiral.
SCOTT (OC): I'm ready Spock. Let's go find George and Gracie.
KIRK: Sulu?
SULU: I'm trying to remember how this works. I got used to a Huey.
KIRK: You tricked me.
GILLIAN: You need me.
SULU (OC): Ready, sir.
KIRK: Take a seat. Now, Mister Sulu.

[Golden Gate Park]

JOGGER: What the hell was that!

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

CHEKOV (OC): Cloaking device is stable. ...All systems normal.
KIRK (OC): Stabilise Energy Reserve! ...Report helm.
SULU: Maintaining impulse climb. Wing five by zero, helm steady.
KIRK: Advise reaching ten thousand. Steer three one zero.
SULU: Three one zero, aye!
KIRK: Uhura, scan for the whales. four oh one megahertz!
UHURA: Scanning, sir!
SULU: Ten thousand M.S.L., Admiral.
KIRK: Wing to cruise configuration. Full impulse power.
SULU: Aye sir. ...Three one zero to the Bering Sea. E.T.A. twelve minutes.
KIRK: Scotty, are the whale tanks secure?

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

SCOTT: Aye, sir. But I've never beamed up four hundred tons before.
KIRK (OC): Four hundred tons?
SCOTT: It not just the whales, it's the water.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: Yes, of course. ...The whales, any contact?
UHURA: Negative, sir.
McCOY: You, ah... You present the appearance of a man with a problem.
SPOCK: Your perception is correct, Doctor. In order to return us to the exact moment at which we left the twenty-third century, I have used our journey back through time as a reference, calculating the coefficient of elapsed time in relation to the acceleration curve.
McCOY: Naturally. So what's your problem?
SPOCK: Acceleration is no longer a constant.
McCOY: Well, then you're gonna have to take your best shot.
SPOCK: Best shot?
McCOY: Guess, Spock. Your best guess.
SPOCK: Guessing is not in my nature, Doctor.
McCOY: Well, ...nobody's perfect.
GILLIAN: That's it. That's it!
UHURA: Affirmative. Contact with the whales.
KIRK: Bearing!
UHURA: Bearing three two seven, range six hundred nautical.
KIRK: Put them on screen!
GILLIAN: How can you do that?
UHURA: On screen! ...Admiral, I have a signal closing in on the whales. Bearing three two eight degrees.
KIRK: Let's see it.
McCOY: What kind of ship is that?
GILLIAN: A whaling ship, Doctor. Are we too late?
KIRK: Full power descent, Mister Sulu.
SULU: Aye sir. Full power descent.
(the whaler, having spotted the whales, loads a harpoon and prepares to fire)
SULU: Ten seconds, sir!
(when one of the whales surfaces the harpoon is fired but it drops into ocean after a metallic clunk. The Bird-of-Prey decloaks causing the whaler to veer off)
KIRK: All right Scotty, it's up to you.

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

SCOTT: Ten seconds, Admiral, five, four, three, two, one. ...Admiral! There be whales here!

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: Well done, Mister Scott. How soon can we be ready for warp speed?

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

SCOTT: Full power now, sir.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: If you will, Mister Sulu.
SULU: Aye sir, warp speed!
KIRK: Mister Sulu, you have the con. I'm gonna take our guest down and have a look at her whales. Oh, Mister Spock! Have you accounted for the variable mass of whales and water in your time re-entry programme?
SPOCK: Mister Scott cannot give me exact figures, Admiral. ...So I will make a guess.
KIRK: A guess? You, Spock? That's extraordinary!
SPOCK: I don't think he understands.
McCOY: No, Spock. He means that he feels safer about your 'guesses' than most other people's facts.
SPOCK: Then you're saying ...it is a compliment.
McCOY: It is.
SPOCK: Ah, then I will try to make the best guess I can.

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

KIRK: They say 'The sea is cold but the sea contains the hottest blood of all'
GILLIAN: 'Whales Weep Not', D.H. Lawrence.
KIRK: It's ironic. When man was killing these creatures, he was destroying his own future.
SCOTT: The beasties seem happy to see you, Doctor. I hope you like our little aquarium.
GILLIAN: A miracle, Mister Scott.
SCOTT: A miracle? That's yet to come.
GILLIAN: What does that mean?
KIRK: It means that our chances of getting home are not too good. You might have lived a longer life if you'd stayed where you belong.
GILLIAN: I belong here. I am a whale biologist. Suppose by some miracle you do get them through. ...Who in the twenty-third century knows anything about humpback whales?
KIRK: You have a point.
GILLIAN: What was that?
SCOTT: Admiral! I think you'd better get up there. We're having a power fall-off.
KIRK: Stay with them. I'm on my way.
SCOTT: Hold on tight, lassie. It gets bumpy from here.

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

SCOTT (OC): Warp seven point five, ...Seven point nine,...
CHEKOV: Shields at Maximum!

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

SCOTT: Mister Sulu, that's all I can give you!

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: Can we make breakaway speed?
SPOCK: Hardly, Admiral, I cannot even guarantee we will escape the sun's gravity! I shall attempt to compensate by altering our trajectory.
SULU: Warp eight. Eight point one... Maximum speed, sir!
SPOCK: Admiral, I need thruster control.
KIRK: Acceleration thrusters at Spock's command!
SPOCK: Steady. ...Steady. ...Now!
(the Bird-of-Prey slingshots around the sun)
KIRK: Did braking thrusters fire?
SPOCK: They did, Admiral.
KIRK: Then where the hell are we? ...The Probe! ...Condition report, Spock.
SPOCK: No data, Admiral. Computers are non-functional.
CHEKOV: The mains are down, sir! Aux. power is not responding.
KIRK: Switch to manual control, Mister Sulu.
SULU: I have no control, sir!
McCOY: My God, Jim, where are we?
KIRK: Out of control, and blind as a bat!

[Starfleet Command]

CARTWRIGHT: Get him back! Get him back!
(the large window collapses)
SAREK: Look!
CARTWRIGHT: They're heading for the bridge!

[Bird-of-Prey bridge]

KIRK: Ground cushion! Keep the nose up if you can.
KIRK: We're in the water! Blow the hatch! ...You got us to the right place, Spock. Now all we have to do is get the whales out before we sink. Abandon ship! ...Scotty, do you hear me? ...Scotty? Move, move! See to the safety of all hands.
SPOCK (OC): I will.

[Bird-of-Prey cargo bay]

SCOTT: Lassie, get my arm!
GILLIAN: I've got it.
KIRK (OC): Scotty?
(outside the cargo bay doors)
SCOTT (OC): Admiral, help!
KIRK: I'm here, Scotty. I'm here!
(Kirk gets the cargo bay doors open releasing Gillian and Scotty)
KIRK: You're gonna be all right.
GILLIAN: The whales are trapped. What's wrong?
SCOTT: There's no power to the bay doors.
KIRK: Explosive override?
SCOTT: It's under water and there's no way to reach it.
KIRK: You go on ahead. Close the hatch!
SCOTT: Admiral, you'll be trapped!
KIRK: Go on!
(Kirk swims underwater and operates the manual release for the external cargo bay doors releasing the whales)

[Bird-of-Prey exterior floating in the bay]

UHURA: Do you see them?
GILLIAN: Oohh...
KIRK: There! ... Why don't they answer? Why don't they sing?
(the whales sing, the Probe retracts its antenna and moves off. The rain stops and the clouds recede)

[Starfleet Command]

CARTWRIGHT: Mister President, ...we have power!

[Bird-of-Prey exterior floating in the bay]

(in the bay the whales, the crew and Gillian frolic!)

[Federation council chamber]

FEDERATION PRESIDENT: The Council is now in session. If you will all take your seats. Bring in the accused. ...Captain Spock, you do not stand accused.
SPOCK: Mister President, I stand with my shipmates.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: As you wish. ...The charges and specifications are. Conspiracy. Assault on Federation Officers. Theft of Federation Property, namely the Starship Enterprise. Sabotage of the U.S.S. Excelsior, Wilful destruction of Federation Property, specifically the aforementioned U.S.S. Enterprise. And finally, disobeying direct orders of the Starfleet Commander. ...Admiral Kirk, how do you plead?
KIRK: On behalf of all of us, Mister President, I am authorised to plead guilty.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: So entered. Because of certain mitigating circumstances, all charges but one are summarily dismissed. ...The remaining charge, disobeying orders of a superior officer is directed solely at Admiral Kirk. I'm sure the Admiral will recognise the necessity of keeping discipline in any chain of command.
KIRK: I do, sir.
FEDERATION PRESIDENT: James T. Kirk. ...It is the judgment of this Council that you be reduced in rank to Captain, ...and that as a consequence of your new rank, you be given the duties for which you have repeatedly demonstrated unswerving ability. The command of a starship. ...Silence! Captain Kirk, You and your crew have saved this planet from its own short-sightedness ...and we are forever in your debt.
(prolonged applause and cheers from all those present)
GILLIAN: I'm so happy for you, I can't tell you! Thank you, so much.
KIRK: Wait a minute! Where you going?
GILLIAN: You're going to your ship. I'm going to mine. Science vessel. I've got three hundred years of catch-up learning to do.
KIRK: You mean this is ...goodbye?
GILLIAN: Why does it have to be goodbye?
KIRK: Well, like they say in your century, ...I don't even have your telephone number. ...How will I find you?
GILLIAN: Don't worry. ...I'll find you. (a kiss) See you around the galaxy.
SPOCK: Father?
SAREK: I am returning to Vulcan within the hour. I would like to take my leave of you.
SPOCK: It was most kind of you to make this effort.
SAREK: It was not an effort. You are my son. ...Besides, I am most impressed with your performance in this ...crisis.
SPOCK: Most kind.
SAREK: As I recall, I opposed your enlistment in Starfleet. ...It is possible that judgment was incorrect. ...Your associates are people of good character.
SPOCK: They are my friends.
SAREK: Yes, of course. ...Do you have a message for your mother?
SPOCK: Yes. Tell her ...I feel fine. Live long and prosper, father.
SAREK: Live long and prosper, my son.

[Shuttlecraft]

McCOY: The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe. We'll get a freighter.
SULU: With all respect, Doctor, I'm counting on Excelsior.
SCOTT: Excelsior? Why in God's name would you want that bucket of bolts?
KIRK: A ship is a ship.
SCOTT: Whatever you say, sir. Thy will be done.
KIRK: My friends, ...we've come home.
(they approach a shiny new Constitution-class starship, NCC-1701A, a New Enterprise)

[Enterprise-A bridge]

SULU: Helm ready, Captain.
KIRK: All right, Mister Sulu, Let's see what she's got.
SULU: Aye sir!
END CREDITS

 HISTORY

2024-09-29 12:13:56 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 12:12:56 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 12:12:29 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 12:10:49 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 12:09:42 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 12:03:18 - Pike: Review modified.
2024-09-29 11:55:09 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 11:54:39 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 11:51:16 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 11:42:14 - Pike: Added some actors.
2024-09-29 11:40:31 - Pike: Added a summary.
2024-09-29 11:38:19 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 11:32:43 - Pike: Review modified.
2024-09-29 11:24:42 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 11:18:14 - Pike: Review modified.
2024-09-29 11:06:43 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 11:05:57 - Pike: Updated the trivia.
2024-09-29 10:57:06 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:54:27 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:53:03 - Pike: Updated the transcript.
2024-09-29 10:51:53 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:49:48 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:49:29 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:40:43 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:39:59 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:39:32 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:36:25 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:31:03 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:30:29 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-29 10:29:42 - Pike: Added some trivia.
2024-09-29 10:16:35 - Pike: New quote added.
2024-09-28 15:42:53 - Pike: Added a banner.
2024-09-23 17:43:55 - Pike: Added the writers and director.
2024-09-12 00:54:14 - Pike: Added the transcript.
2024-08-22 18:10:41 - Pike: Updated summary.