STORY BY
Jerome Bixby
TELEPLAY BY
D. C. Fontana
&
Jerome Bixby
DIRECTED BY
Marc Daniels
AIRED ON
February 23, 1968
RUNTIME
50 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
255
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-20 03:20:15
PAGE VERSION
Version 8
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BEHIND THE SCENES
- Origins of the Episode: The story was based on a concept by Jerome Bixby, known for his contributions to Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. Bixby originally wanted to explore themes of power and control, imagining a scenario where aliens take over the Enterprise. The final script was refined by D.C. Fontana and others, though the core idea of a hostile alien takeover remained central.
- Kelvans' Inspiration: The Kelvans, who take over the Enterprise, are extragalactic beings who take human form. The concept of these superhuman aliens originated from Bixby's fascination with the notion of beings far more advanced than humanity. The Kelvans' transformation into human bodies also allowed for some humorous moments, as they experienced human senses and desires for the first time, particularly Rojan’s discovery of anger and love.
- Humor and Tone Shift: The episode is notable for its mix of serious science fiction with comedic elements. Once the Kelvans take human form, they begin to succumb to human emotions and desires. Scotty's drinking scene with one of the Kelvans, Tomar, is a fan favorite. Scotty uses alcohol as a weapon to outlast Tomar, getting him so drunk that he passes out. This scene not only provided comic relief but also gave James Doohan, who played Scotty, one of his more memorable moments in the series.
- Special Effects and Budget: Like many episodes of Star Trek, the production was constrained by budget. The "freeze-dried" human forms that the Kelvans turn the crew into (small geometric blocks) were created using colored foam cubes. These cubes were a cost-effective way to represent the drastic effect the Kelvans' devices had on the Enterprise crew. When one of the crew members is crushed while in this form, it’s a chilling moment despite the low-budget prop.
- Guest Stars: Barbara Bouchet, who played Kelinda, had a notable appearance in this episode. Already an established actress and model, her role added a level of intrigue and sensuality, especially with her interactions with Captain Kirk. Kirk’s charm and ability to manipulate Kelinda by evoking her newfound human emotions is a classic example of his leadership style on the show.
- Themes of Control and Humanity: The episode’s main themes revolve around control, power, and the nature of being human. The Kelvans, who initially view human emotions as weaknesses, come to realize that these emotions are integral to understanding what it means to be human. Kirk and his crew's victory comes not through physical force, but by exploiting the emotional vulnerability of the Kelvans after they assume human forms.
- Production Challenges: William Shatner, known for his active involvement in the production, reportedly had some input into Kirk’s scenes with Kelinda, wanting to ensure that the flirtation was balanced with the seriousness of the episode’s central conflict. His ability to walk the line between diplomacy and manipulation was key to the episode’s resolution.
- Legacy and Reception: "By Any Other Name" is often praised for its balance of science fiction, humor, and character development. The episode provided a deeper exploration of human nature, wrapped in a plot about alien invaders. It remains a fan-favorite for its blend of tension, humor, and clever resolutions.
QUOTES
Rojan: We do not colonize. We conquer. We rule! There's no other way for us.
Kirk: Vulcans have the ability to place themselves in a kind of trance, complete relaxation of every part of the mind and body.
Spock: We find it more restful to the body than your so-called vacation.
Spock: When we engage the barrier, the ship will explode. The Kelvans will be stopped here.
Scott: And so will we.
Kirk: Are you mad? I can't just––
Kirk: Captain's log, stardate 4658.9. With The Enterprise under control of the Kelvans, we are approaching the energy barrier at the edge of our galaxy. Spock and Scotty have devised a suicide plan to stop the Kelvans. They have rigged the ship to explode on my signal.
Kelinda: This business of love. You have devoted much literature to it. Why do you build such a mystique around a simple biological function?
McCoy: You've had three shots. I think you better stay on them for a few days, and then we'll see how you're responding.
Hanar: I see no reason for you to refer to yourself in the plural.
Kelinda: This cultural mystique surrounding the biological function.
Kirk: Yes?
Kelinda: You realise humans are overly preoccupied with the subject.
Kirk: Yes. We do think a great deal about it.
Kelinda: I've done some supplemental reading on it, and, er––
Kirk: You have a question?
Kelinda: Yes. I was wondering, would you please apologise to me again?
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REVIEWS
Freeze!
Written by
Pike on 2020-05-11
★
★
★
The end of this second seasons is really interesting! This episode is very fun and shows us, once again, what is the recipe for a great Star Trek episode:
- High stakes.
- No cheesy costumes.
- A simple yet imaginative paranormal phenomenon.
- And yes, a sexy lady in an equally sexy costume!
In this one, Kirk and his crew are getting taken over by a small group of people while using a device that freezes people. Very simple yet very effective.
Oh, and Kirk gets to kiss yet another beautiful women (Barbara Bouchet).
But, the ending is clearly botched, with the bad guy just changing his mind and us not getting to witness the return of the people transformed into stones.
VERDICT
I give it 3 out of 5. Enjoyable.
TRANSCRIPT
[Planet surface]
(A landing party of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Yeoman Thompson and a security guard have just beamed down.)
SPOCK: No life form readings, Captain. Continuing scan.
MCCOY: Well, somebody sent a distress call.
KIRK: No sign of the spaceship. No sign of debris.
SPOCK: I am getting readings on small metallic objects, Captain. It is possible the ship was destroyed in space and the survivors proceeded here in a shuttle craft.
KIRK: But where are they?
THOMPSON: Captain, I'm getting a reading now. Two human forms at bearing three hundred mark seven.
SPOCK: Confirmed.
(A male in an orange suit and a female in a blue outfit approach the party.)
KIRK: I'm Captain James T. Kirk, of the starship Enterprise. We came in answer to your distress call.
ROJAN: It was very kind of you to respond so quickly, captain. Now you will surrender your ship to me.
KIRK: You have a very strange sense of humour, Mister
(The man presses a button on his belt, and Kirk, Spock and McCoy are immobilised. The woman does the same to the Yeoman and guard.)
ROJAN: I am Rojan of Kelva. I am your commander from this moment on. Any efforts to resist us or to escape will be severely punished. Soon we, and you, will leave this galaxy forever. You humans must face the end of your existence as you have known it. You are all paralyzed by a selective field that neutralises nerve impulses to the voluntary muscles. We can control you at will. I will now release you.
KIRK: Stay there.
THOMPSON: Captain.
KIRK: It's all right.
SPOCK: Interesting. A neural field?
ROJAN: Yes. Radiating from a central projector.
KIRK: What do you want?
ROJAN: Your ship, Captain Kirk. It will serve us well in the long voyage that is to come.
KIRK: Voyage? Where?
ROJAN: To your neighbouring galaxy, which you call Andromeda.
KIRK: Andromeda? Why?
ROJAN: It is our home.
SPOCK: What brings you here?
ROJAN: Within ten millennia, high radiation levels in our galaxy will make life there impossible. So the Kelvan Empire sent forth ships to explore other galaxies, to search for one which our race could conquer and occupy.
KIRK: Well, sorry. This galaxy is already occupied.
ROJAN: Captain, you think you are unconquerable and your ship impregnable, but while we've talked, the capture has already begun.
[Bridge]
CHEKOV: Something penetrating from the planet.
SCOTT: Increase power to shields.
(Another male in a purple jumpsuit appears in Engineering and immobilises the crew there.)
CHEKOV: It's dead, sir. All major power disabled.
SCOTT: Sound Red Alert.
UHURA: Red Alert. All personnel, man your battle stations. Go to Red Alert.
(A woman in a mustard coloured outfit takes over Life Support.)
SCOTT: Engineering, come in.
UHURA: Life support, come in.
(Then a man in brown immobilises the bridge crew.)
HANAR: Drea, Tomar, report.
[Life support]
DREA: Life support control, secure.
[Engineering]
TOMAR: Engineering is secure.
[Bridge]
HANAR: Rojan, Hanar here.
[Planet surface]
ROJAN: Report, Hanar.
HANAR [OC]: The ship is ours. We control the bridge, engineering, and life support systems.
ROJAN: Proceed with your orders.
KIRK: What's the point of capturing my ship? Even at maximum warp, the Enterprise couldn't get to Andromeda galaxy for thousands of years.
ROJAN: Captain, we will modify its engines, in order to produce velocities far beyond the reach of your science. The journey between galaxies will take less than three hundred of your years.
Spock Fascinating. Intergalactic travel requiring only three hundred years. That is a leap far beyond anything man has yet accomplished.
THOMPSON: You made a voyage of three hundred years?
KELINDA: Our ships were of multigeneration design. We were born in the intergalactic void. We shall die there during our return journey.
ROJAN: And our mission will be completed by a commander who is my descendant.
KIRK: What happened to your ship?
ROJAN: There is an energy barrier at the rim of your galaxy.
KIRK: Yes, I know. We've been there.
ROJAN: We managed to break through it with great difficulty. Our ship was destroyed. We barely managed to escape in a lifecraft. And now we have the means to begin our journey back to Andromeda.
SPOCK: Why use our vessel? Why not transmit a message to your galaxy?
ROJAN: No form of transmission can penetrate the barrier.
KIRK: Rojan, there's no reason to do this by force. Let's take your problem to the Federation. Research expeditions have catalogued hundreds of uninhabited planets in this galaxy suitable for colonization.
ROJAN: We do not colonize. We conquer. We rule. There's no other way for us.
MCCOY: In other words, the galaxy isn't big enough for both of us.
KIRK: The Federation has handled foreign invasions before.
ROJAN: Captain, we can control the Federation as easily as we can control you. The fate of the inferior in any galaxy.
(Hanar suddenly appears on the planet.)
HANAR: All is proceeding according to plan, Rojan.
ROJAN: Kelinda, take them to the holding area. We'll keep you and your party here, Captain. Your crew will undoubtedly wish to co-operate with us if they understand that you are hostages.
KELINDA: Move there.
HANAR: Tomar has examined the ship. The modifications are underway.
ROJAN: Space again, Hanar. I do not think we could have kept our sanity living too long on this accursed planet.
HANAR: It is an undisciplined environment. One cannot control it. Yet there are things of interest.
ROJAN: Yes, but disturbing. These shells in which we've encased ourselves, they have such heightened senses. To feel. To hear. To smell. How do humans manage to exist in these fragile cases?
HANAR: Since the ship was designed to sustain these forms, we have little choice.
ROJAN: At least we'll be away from all of this openness. This is too strange for us, Hanar. We are creatures of outer space, and soon we will be safe in the comforting closeness of walls.
[Cell]
(Rock walls with metal bars across the 'door'.)
SPOCK: Fascinating material. Similar to diburnium, but considerably more dense. I doubt even phaser fire could disturb its molecular structure.
KIRK: All right. We can't break out. There must be another way.
THOMPSON: Captain, what do they want from us. What kind of people are they?
KIRK: That's a very good question.
MCCOY: They registered as human.
SPOCK: No, Doctor. More than that. They registered as perfect human life forms. I recall noting the readings were almost classic textbook responses. Most curious.
KIRK: Spock, what are the odds in such absolute duplication of life forms in another galaxy?
SPOCK: The chances are very much against it.
GUARD: Captain. (Kalinda has appeared so they move away from the door) Captain. However perfect they are, there don't seem to be very many of them. Why...
KIRK: They have the paralysis field. Rojan mentioned something about a central projector.
MCCOY: Yes. If we could put that out of operation, we might have a chance.
SPOCK: Gentlemen, I'm constrained to point out we do not even know what this projector looks like.
KIRK: Those devices on their belts might indicate the source of the force field.
SPOCK: Possible. I would have to have one to examine.
GUARD: You'll have one, sir, if I have to rip one of the Kelvans apart to get it for you.
KIRK: You'll get your chance, but you'll do it under orders.
GUARD: Yes, sir.
KIRK: On Eminiar Seven, you were able to trick the guard by a Vulcan mind probe.
SPOCK: Yes, I recall, Captain. I led him to believe we had escaped.
KIRK: Do you think you can do it again?
SPOCK: I shall attempt it.
(Kelinda seems to be getting nervous as Spock makes his attempt, then he is suddenly thrown across the cell. They go to his aid, Kelinda enters and Kirk grabs her and knocks her out. He takes the belt device.)
KIRK: Are you all right?
SPOCK: Yes, I will be all right, Captain. We must hurry.
[Planet surface]
(But as they come running out of their cell, Rojan and Hanar immobilise them. Kelinda walks over and is given her device back.)
ROJAN: (releasing Kirk) This cannot go unpunished. Hanar. That one. (the guard) Take him aside. Kelinda, the female.
THOMPSON: Captain?
ROJAN: Go. As a leader, you realize the importance of discipline. I need you and these other specialists, but those two are unnecessary.
KIRK: I'm responsible. Let them go.
ROJAN: I think we're somewhat alike, Captain. Each of us cares less for his own safety than for the lives of his command. We feel pain when others suffer for our mistakes. Your punishment shall be to watch them die. Captain. Proceed, Hanar.
(The guard and the yeoman are reduced to blocks of solid matter.)
ROJAN: Bring them to me. This is the essence of what they were. The flesh and brain and what you call the personality, distilled down into these compact shapes. And once crushed (he demonstrates) this person is dead. However, that one can be restored. (throws it on the ground) Hanar?
(The security guard reappears.)
Captain's log, stardate 4657.5. Work is proceeding on the Enterprise as my crew is forced to make the required changes in the ship for intergalactic travel. I can't forget the picture of Yeoman Thompson crushed to a handful of dust.
[Cell]
MCCOY: Spock, are you sure you're all right?
SPOCK: Yes, quite all right, Doctor.
MCCOY: You didn't look very well when you broke that mind touch.
SPOCK: I did not break it, Doctor. I was thrown away by something I've never experienced before.
KIRK: What was it?
SPOCK: A series of bizarre and exotic images bursting on my mind and consciousness. Colours, shapes, mathematical equations fused and blurred. I've been attempting to isolate them, but so far I've been able to recall clearly only one. Immense beings, a hundred limbs which resemble tentacles. Minds of such control and capacity that each limb is capable of performing a different function.
MCCOY: Do you mean that's what the Kelvans really are?
SPOCK: Undoubtedly.
MCCOY: Well, if they look that way normally, why did they adapt themselves to our bodies?
KIRK: Perhaps practicality. They chose the Enterprise as the best vessel for the trip. Immense beings with a hundred tentacles would have difficulty with the turbolift. We've got to stop them. We outnumber them. Their only hold on us is the paralysis field.
MCCOY: Well, that's enough. One wrong move, and they jam all our neural circuits.
KIRK: Jam. Spock, if you reverse the circuits on McCoy's neuro-analyser, can you set up a counter field to jam the paralysis projector?
SPOCK: I'm dubious of the possibilities of success, Captain. The medical equipment is not designed to put out a great deal of power. The polarized elements would burn out quickly.
KIRK: Is there a chance at all?
SPOCK: A small one.
KIRK: We'll take it. You and Bones have to get to the ship.
MCCOY: How?
KIRK: Yes. Mister Spock, you're sick.
SPOCK: I assure you, Captain, I am in perfect health.
KIRK: No, you're not. Doctor McCoy has given you an thorough examination, and you're ill. In fact, if you don't get to the sickbay, you're going to die.
MCCOY: It's a good idea, Jim, but anyone looking at him can tell he's healthy.
KIRK: Vulcans have the ability to place themselves in a kind of trance, complete relaxation of every part of the mind and body.
SPOCK: We find it more restful to the body than your so-called vacation.
KIRK: Can you do it now and come out of it in the sickbay, say in half an hour?
SPOCK: It will take me a moment to prepare.
KIRK: Go ahead.
(Spock touches his forehead, straightens up, then falls gently into McCoy and Kirk's arms.)
MCCOY: Jim, his heartbeat really is slow. His pulse is practically non-existent.
KIRK: (goes to the door) Hanar? Hanar.
HANAR: What do you want, human?
KIRK: Mister Spock is ill. The doctor thinks he may be dying.
HANAR: This illness came on him rather suddenly. Is it not unusual?
KIRK: He's a Vulcan. They don't react like humans.
MCCOY: He may die. If I can get him up to sickbay, there's a chance he'll live.
HANAR: Stand away from the door. (enters the cell for a closer look) I will have you beamed aboard.
KIRK: Do what you can with him, Bones.
[Sickbay]
(McCoy and Tomar wheel Spock in on a trolley.)
CHAPEL: Doctor, what happened?
MCCOY: Prepare two ccs of stokaline.
CHAPEL: Stokaline? But, doctor, that's
MCCOY: Don't argue, nurse. Just get it. (injects Spock) This may be the turning point. Prepare another shot.
CHAPEL: But, Doctor
MCCOY: Please, nurse, just follow orders, will you?
(Spock opens his eyes then shuts them again before she returns with the hypo. McCoy gives another injection as Tomar watches from a little distance.)
MCCOY: There, that should do it. Just let him rest now. (to Tomar) You see, it's a flare-up of Rigelian Kassaba Fever. He suffered from it about ten years ago, and it recurs every now and then. There's no danger if he gets medication in time. He'll be all right in a couple of hours.
TOMAR: Very well. I will inform Rojan. You will stay here.
[Planet surface]
KIRK: What do you want from me now?
ROJAN: We will beam aboard the vessel shortly. I wish you to understand your duties.
KIRK: My duty is to stop you in any way I can.
ROJAN: You will obey.
KIRK: Or you will kill more of my people?
ROJAN: Captain Kirk, I cannot believe that you do not understand the importance of my mission. We Kelvans have a code of honour. Harsh, demanding. It calls for much from us and much from those whom we conquer. You have been conquered. I respect your devotion to your duty, but I cannot permit it to interfere with mine.
KELINDA: (picking a flower and smelling it) These are lovely. Captain Kirk, what is it you call them?
KIRK: Flowers. I don't know the variety.
KELINDA: Our memory tapes tell us of such things on Kelvan. Crystals that form with such rapidity, they seem to grow. They look like this fragile thing somewhat. We call them Sahsheer.
KIRK: A rose by any other name.
KELINDA: Captain?
KIRK: A quote from a great human poet, Shakespeare. That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
[Bridge]
ROJAN: Drea has computed and laid a course for Kelva, Captain.
CHEKOV: We've jumped to warp eight.
ROJAN: And we'll go faster yet. Increase speed to warp eleven.
KIRK: Increase speed to warp eleven, Mister Chekov.
DREA: On course and proceeding as planned. We will approach the barrier within an hour.
ROJAN: Very well.
KIRK: Rojan, I'm going to sickbay. My first officer was taken ill.
ROJAN: Yes, I was informed. You may go.
[Medical Laboratory]
KIRK: Anything?
SPOCK: I've located their power source, captain. It's installed in Engineering.
MCCOY: We're just going to jam it.
SCOTT: I've tied in all the lab computers. That will give it a bit more power to push with.
[Engineering]
(Scott and Spock are in the upper gallery, while Kirk is apparently talking to Tomar below in main engineering. There is a rounded metal object on the console.)
SCOTT: This is it. Now all we have to do
SPOCK: Whatever it is we must do, it is impossible.
SCOTT: Why?
SPOCK: This material surrounding the projector is the same as I discovered on the planet. Readings indicate it is impervious to any of our weapons. We cannot penetrate the casing to get to the machine.
SCOTT: That's it, then.
SPOCK: There is one other possibility, Mister Scott. The final decision, of course, must be the captain's, but I believe we must have it ready for him. The Enterprise is propelled by matter-anti-matter reactors. The barrier we must traverse is negative energy.
SCOTT: I see what you're getting at. I can't say I like it.
SPOCK: Nor I. But it must be made available to the captain.
[Corridor]
(Spock and Scott meet up with Kirk.)
DREA [OC]: Captain Kirk to the bridge, please.
[Turbolift]
KIRK: Well?
SPOCK: Impossible, Captain. The power source is protected by a material we cannot breach even with our phasers. Mister Scott and I have prepared the means for the only logical alternative available to us.
KIRK: What alternative?
SPOCK: The barrier we must penetrate is composed of negative energy.
SCOTT: I have opened the control valves to the matter-anti-matter nacelles. On your signal, I will flood them with positive energy.
KIRK: What?
SPOCK: When we engage the barrier, the ship will explode. The Kelvans will be stopped here.
SCOTT: And so will we.
KIRK: Are you mad? I can't just
[Bridge]
(The turbolift arrives.)
ROJAN: Take your places, gentlemen. We're approaching the barrier.
(Kirk takes the Captain's chair, Spock and Scott their consoles. As the barrier approaches, Scott's finger is poised over a flashing button.)
Captain's log, stardate 4658.9. With The Enterprise under control of the Kelvans, we are approaching the energy barrier at the edge of our galaxy. Spock and Scotty have devised a suicide plan to stop the Kelvans. They have rigged the ship to explode on my signal.
[Bridge]
KIRK: Reading, Spock.
SPOCK: Sensors indicate density negative, radiation negative, energy negative. (Kirk starts chewing his nails with indecision) All instruments off the dials, Captain. We are in contact with the barrier.
SCOTT: Outside hull temperatures rising, sir. It's over two thousand degrees now. Sir?
KIRK: Hold your position.
(Scott throws switches to stop the button flashing. The ship starts shaking as it passes through the barrier into intergalactic space.)
CHEKOV: We made it.
SPOCK: Instruments returning to normal, Captain.
UHURA: All decks report. Damage and casualties.
SCOTT: Several systems out, sir. Operating on emergency backup. None affect flight procedure.
SPOCK: Life support systems sustaining on emergency.
UHURA: I'll have a full report on ship's status for you in a moment, sir.
ROJAN: Your people are most efficient, Captain.
KIRK: Thank you. So are yours.
ROJAN: Hanar, start the neutralising operation.
(Hanar leaves.)
KIRK: What neutralising operation?
ROJAN: You humans are troublesome for us. We needed you to get us through the barrier. But there aren't enough of us to efficiently guard all of you of the time. Further, the food synthesisers cannot manufacture enough food for the entire journey. We are therefore neutralising all nonessential personnel.
KIRK: No!
ROJAN: The procedure is already underway. Now, as to bridge personnel. Drea? We have no need for communication.
(Uhura is reduced to a block of salts.)
ROJAN: And since Drea is capable of handling the ship from here on.
(Bye, Chekov and other crew.)
[Corridor]
(Kirk is walking along when he comes across a cluster of blocks and some instruments on the floor.)
ROJAN: Do you not agree that this is better thing for them than exploding the ship as your engineer had thought to do? We detected it, of course. Tomar has devised a mechanism to prevent any further tampering. Please accept your situation, Captain. It will make things much less painful.
[Rec room]
KIRK: Is this all?
SPOCK: I have reviewed ship's personnel, Captain. It appears we four are the only ones the Kelvans consider essential.
MCCOY: Scotty tells me you could've destroyed the ship in the barrier. Why didn't you?
KIRK: I couldn't.
MCCOY: But that was our only chance to stop them
KIRK: I didn't think it was.
MCCOY: Jim
KIRK: Bones, that's enough!
MCCOY: Jim, I saw them reduce four of my doctors and nurses into those little
KIRK: They've reduced the whole crew! (thumps table in anger)
TOMAR: I do not understand why you take the trouble to consume this bulk material to sustain yourselves. (holds up a pill box) We have ascertained that these contain all the nutritional elements.
MCCOY: Before you condemn it, why not try it?
TOMAR: I believe I will. Assist me.
KIRK: It's your idea, Doctor. Go ahead.
MCCOY: All right, I'll show you how to work the selector.
(He gets a tray of food for Tomar and sits him down at another table. Tomar takes a cautious mouthful.)
SCOTT: (whispering) Sir, why don't we try again to knock out the paralysis projector? I know the casing looks impenetrable, but I may be able to do something.
KIRK: Even if we could, it's out of the question. We need that projector to bring our people back to human form.
SCOTT: Then how will we stop the Kelvans?
SPOCK: Captain?
(They look over at Tomar, who is enjoying his meal.)
TOMAR: It's quite good.
MCCOY: I'm delighted.
SPOCK: Most curious.
KIRK: What is?
SPOCK: The isolated glimpses of things I saw when I touched Kelinda's mind are beginning to coalesce in my consciousness. The Kelvans have superior intellectual capacity. To achieve it, they have apparently sacrificed anything which would tend to distract them. Perceptive senses such as taste, touch, smell, and, of course, emotions.
KIRK: But then Tomar shouldn't be enjoying the taste of his food.
SPOCK: Yes. Quite correct, Captain. But they have taken human form and are therefore having human reaction.
MCCOY: If he keeps reacting like that, he's going to need a diet.
KIRK: If they all respond to stimulation of the senses, then maybe we can distract them. They can't have been able to handle the senses yet. If we can confuse them enough, we can get those devices from their belts.
SPOCK: That seems reasonable.
KIRK: All right. It may be our only chance. Look for any way to stimulate the senses.
SCOTT: I can think of one way right off. (goes over to Tomar) Lad, you're going to need something to wash that down with. Have you ever tried any Saurian brandy?
[Sickbay]
(McCoy is examining Hanar.)
MCCOY: I don't know about that.
HANAR: Please articulate.
MCCOY: Well, that body of yours is a bit anaemic. Comes from taking food in pills instead of solid sustenance.
HANAR: What are you doing?
MCCOY: I'm going to give you a shot. High-potency vitamin concentrate. You'll need three a day for a few days. And eat some solid food, will you?
[Scott's quarters]
(The brandy bottle is empty, and the two men are full of alcohol.)
TOMAR: No more.
[Kelinda's quarters]
(Kelinda is at a desk, apparently working.)
KIRK: Am I disturbing you?
KELINDA: What is it you wish?
KIRK: I wish to apologise.
KELINDA: I don't understand, Captain.
KIRK: For hitting you. I'm sorry.
KELINDA: That is not necessary. You attempted to escape as we would have.
KIRK: Yes, well, I don't usually go around beating up beautiful women.
KELINDA: Why not?
KIRK: Well, there are better things for men and women to do.
KELINDA: Like what?
(He strokes her collar bone.)
KIRK: Is this where I hit you?
KELINDA: No, the other side.
KIRK: Oh. I'm sorry. (he kisses it) Is that better?
KELINDA: Better? Was it intended as a remedy?
KIRK: This is.
(And gives her a full-on kiss with embrace.)
KELINDA: Is there some significance to this action?
KIRK: Well, among humans, it's meant to express warmth and love.
KELINDA: Oh. You are trying to seduce me. I have been studying you.
KIRK: Me?
KELINDA: All humans. This business of love. You have devoted much literature to it. Why do you build such a mystique around a simple biological function?
KIRK: We enjoy it.
KELINDA: The literature?
KIRK: Kelinda, I'm sorry I brought up the whole subject.
KELINDA: Do you really regard this touching of the lips as pleasurable?
KIRK: I did.
KELINDA: Curious. Let me try.
(She kisses him, and Rojan enters.)
ROJAN: Is there some problem, Captain?
KIRK: Not when I came in.
(Kirk leaves)
ROJAN: What did he want here?
KELINDA: He came to apologise for hitting me. Apparently it involves some peculiar touching contact.
ROJAN: In what manner? (she kisses him) Very odd creatures, these humans.
[Scott's quarters]
(Another bottle has been emptied.)
TOMAR: Do you have more?
SCOTT: Not of this.
TOMAR: Anything.
[Rec room]
(Spock and Rojan are playing 3D chess.)
SPOCK: Yes. Humans are very peculiar. I often find them unfathomable, but an interesting psychological study.
ROJAN: Well, I do not understand this business of pressing with the lips to apologise.
SPOCK: I believe you're referring to a kiss. But it is my understanding that such apologies are usually exchanged between people who have some affection for each other.
ROJAN: Kelinda has no affection for Captain Kirk.
SPOCK: Your game is off. Are you disturbed by the incident?
ROJAN: Why should I be disturbed?
SPOCK: You've known Kelinda for some time. She's a Kelvan as you are. Among humans, I've found the symptoms you're displaying usually indicate jealousy.
ROJAN: I have no reason for such a reaction. Kelinda's a female, nothing more.
SPOCK: Captain Kirk seems to find her quite attractive.
ROJAN: Well, of course she is!
SPOCK: You are not jealous?
ROJAN: No!
SPOCK: Nor upset?
ROJAN: Certainly not.
SPOCK: Checkmate.
[Scott's quarters]
SCOTT: I found this on Ganymood, er, Ganymede.
TOMAR: What is it?
SCOTT: Well, it's, er. (peers at it, sniffs it) It's green.
[Kelinda's quarters]
(Kelinda is preening herself in front of a mirror when Rojan walks in.)
ROJAN: Kelinda, I've been thinking.
KELINDA: Yes?
ROJAN: I do not wish you to fraternise with any of the humans.
KELINDA: Why not?
ROJAN: Well, they, they offer such strange ideas. They're not meant for us. Not for Kelvans.
KELINDA: Have you given this order to the others?
ROJAN: No. And I wish you to particularly avoid Captain Kirk.
KELINDA: I will not. You have told me over and over again, humans are no threat to us. We are superior. I will do as I please.
ROJAN: You will do as I say, or I will neutralise your Captain Kirk and all the other humans as well.
(He has taken a rather firm hold of her arm.)
[Sickbay]
(Hanar is having another vitamin shot.)
HANAR: How many more of these?
MCCOY: Well, now, let's see. You've had three shots. I think you better stay on them for a few days, and then we'll see how you're responding.
HANAR: I see no reason for you to refer to yourself in the plural.
[Scott's quarters]
TOMAR: You have more?
SCOTT: All I have is a bottle of very, very, very old Scotch. Whisky!
TOMAR: I will try it.
SCOTT: I'll get it! (takes the helmet off a breastplate and reaches in, removing a very dusty bottle.) I was saving you for
TOMAR: What?
SCOTT: Never mind. Gie us your glass.
[Rec room]
KIRK: The thing is, I can't tell if we're getting anywhere. And I haven't seen Scotty in hours.
MCCOY: We haven't seen Tomar either. But my man Hanar is getting more irritable by the minute. I'm giving him shots of formazine. That should have him climbing the walls.
SPOCK: Rojan has exhibited symptoms of jealousy.
(Kelinda enters.)
KELINDA: I would like to speak with you, Captain.
SPOCK: Doctor, I'm due for another injection of stokaline.
MCCOY: Hmm?
SPOCK: Stokaline.
MCCOY: Oh. You will pardon us.
(Spock and McCoy leave.)
KIRK: You had something to say?
KELINDA: Yes. This cultural mystique surrounding the biological function.
KIRK: Yes?
KELINDA: You realise humans are overly preoccupied with the subject.
KIRK: Yes. We do think a great deal about it.
KELINDA: I've done some supplemental reading on it, and, er
KIRK: You have a question?
KELINDA: Yes. I was wondering, would you please apologise to me again?
(Kirk smiles broadly.)
[Bridge]
HANAR: Rojan, I want to talk to you.
ROJAN: Very well.
HANAR: First, I do not like the way responsibility and duty has been portioned out to us.
ROJAN: It's the way your duties have always been assigned.
HANAR: That is my second quarrel with you.
ROJAN: Hanar!
HANAR: And further, I do not care much for the way you run this ship.
ROJAN: Hanar, confine yourself to your quarters!
(Hanar storms off the bridge, and Rojan hits the arm of the Captain's chair. Drea stares.)
[Rec room]
(There's a whole lot of smooching going on.)
KELINDA: (coming up for air) Rojan has forbidden me to see you.
KIRK: Yes, that's too bad. Why do you defy him?
KELINDA: It's not a question of defiance. We were told to find out everything we could about you.
KIRK: Huh. And how's the research going?
KELINDA: I need some more experiments.
(She's getting the hang of kissing.)
[Bridge]
ROJAN: Mister Spock, you were not ordered to the bridge. What is your purpose here?
SPOCK: Automatic sensors and various other recording devices require monitoring and periodic adjustments.
ROJAN: Very well. Proceed. Have you seen Captain Kirk?
SPOCK: If you wish, I shall call him to the bridge.
ROJAN: No. I was wondering where he was.
SPOCK: I left him in the recreation room.
ROJAN: He was alone then.
SPOCK: No, Kelinda was with him. She seemed anxious to speak to him.
ROJAN: I told her to stay away from him.
SPOCK: It would appear, sir, that you have little control over her. Or perhaps Captain Kirk has more.
(Rojan leaves the bridge.)
[Scott's quarters]
(The last drops of Scotch go into Tomar's glass.)
TOMAR: Very interesting. But I feel rather strange.
(He makes some jerking motions then falls off his chair onto the floor.)
SCOTT: We did it, you and me. Put him right under the table. (takes the paralyser off Tomar's belt) I'll take this to the captain.
(He gets to the door, then stops and gently falls back against the wall. He slides to the floor, as out of it as Tomar is.)
[Rec room]
(Rojan breaks up the kissing session.)
ROJAN: Kelinda, I told you to avoid this human.
KELINDA: I did not wish to.
ROJAN: I am your commander.
KIRK: That's not enough, Rojan.
ROJAN: You did this to her, corrupted her, turned her away from me!
KIRK: If you can't keep her, that's not my problem.
ROJAN: You will release her!
(Rojan drags Kirk away from Kalinda. Kirk slaps him across the face, twice. Finally he has goaded him into a fight.)
KIRK: Why don't you use your paralyser? You thought I was taking your woman away from you. You're jealous! You tried to kill me with your bare hands. Would a Kelvan do that? Would he have to? You're reacting with the emotions of a human. You are a human.
ROJAN: No, I cannot be!
(He throws off Kirk, into the arms of Spock and McCoy who are entering the room.)
KIRK: I'm stimulating him. (McCoy pushes him back into the fight.) You have no choice. To use this ship, you have to use our form and now you're stuck with it, you and your descendants, for the next three hundred years.
ROJAN: You fool. These bodies are tools. We remain Kelvans!
KIRK: Look what's happened in the short time you've been exposed to us. What do you think will happen in three centuries? When this ship gets to Kelva, the people on it will be human. They'll be aliens. Enemies!
ROJAN: We have a duty, our mission. We've got to accomplish any way we can.
KIRK: Your mission is to find new worlds for your people to live in. You can still do that. We can bring this problem to the Federation. There are many planets in this galaxy that can be inhabited.
ROJAN: You would really do that? You would extend welcome to invaders?
(They finally stop fighting.)
KIRK: No. But we would welcome friends.
SPOCK: Rojan, you are only a link in a chain, following an order given three hundred years ago. This is an opportunity for you to establish a destiny of your own.
ROJAN: Perhaps. Perhaps it could be done.
SPOCK: A robot ship could be sent to Kelva with the Federation proposal.
ROJAN: But if we retain this form, where could we find a place?
MCCOY: Seems to me that little planet you were on is kind of nice.
ROJAN: And you. You would wish to remain with him?
KELINDA: He's most interesting, but I wish to go with you. I believe I owe you an apology. (she kisses Rojan) It's most pleasurable.
ROJAN: Yes. Very curious.
KIRK: You see, Rojan, being human does have certain advantages. Being able to appreciate the beauty of a flower or a woman.
ROJAN: Bridge, this is Rojan.
DREA [OC]: Yes, Commander.
ROJAN: I'm returning command of the ship to Captain Kirk. You will follow his orders.
DREA [OC]: Sir?
KIRK: Turn the ship around. We're going home.
2024-09-20 03:21:31 -
Pike:
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2024-09-20 03:20:15 -
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2024-09-19 18:13:48 -
Pike:
Added the writers.
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