Captain's log, Stardate 1513.1.
Our position-- orbiting planet M-113.
On board the Enterprise...
Mr. Spock temporarily in command.
On the planet...
the ruins of an ancient and long-dead civilization.
Ship's surgeon McCoy and myself...
are now beaming down to the planet's surface.
Our mission--
routine medical examination...
of archaeologist Robert Crater and his wife Nancy.
Routine but for the fact that Nancy Crater...
is that one woman in Dr. McCoy's past.
Shall we pick some flowers, Doctor?
When a man visits an old girlfriend...
she usually expects something like that.
Is that how you get girls to like you-- by bribing them?
There doesn't seem to be anybody around.
They'll be along.
You rushed us down 10 minutes early.
Professor Crater?
Professor!
Mrs. Crater?
Nervous, Dr. McCoy?
Yeah, a little bit, I guess.
You see, we walked out of each other's lives 10 years ago.
She married Crater, and for all I know she's forgotten me.
Of all the bonehead ideas, Jim!
[ Singing ]
Leonard!
Nancy.
Hello.
It's good to see you.
Let me look at you.
You haven't aged a day.
Oh, this is Captain Jim Kirk of the Enterprise.
Mrs. Crater. I've heard a lot about you.
All good, I hope.
And Crewman Darnell.
How do you do, ma'am?
Something wrong, Darnell?
Excuse me, sir. Ma'am, if I didn't know better...
I'd swear I knew you on Wrigley's Pleasure Planet.
You're exactly like a girl--
Less mouth, Darnell!
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--
I know it's impossible, of course.
Why don't you step outside, Darnell?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Maybe I'll step outside, too.
What?
And let Plum examine me all alone?
Plum?
Plum.
A nickname I gave Leonard
When we were very young.
I'll, uh, I'll wait for the professor...
and I'll catch you both at once.
I'd better go get Bob.
Every time he starts digging...
he forgets time, sleep, food-- everything.
Be back in a minute.
It's warm here, isn't it?
Space...
the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
Its five-year mission--
to explore strange new worlds...
to seek out new life and new civilizations...
to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Captain's log, additional entry.
Since our mission was routine...
we had beamed down to the planet without suspicion.
We were unaware each member of the landing party...
was seeing a different woman, a different Nancy Crater.
Professor Crater, I'm Captain Kirk--
The heroic captain and intrepid doctor...
cross interstellar space to preserve our health.
Your sense of duty is overwhelming.
Now will you please go back where you came from...
and leave me and my wife alone?
We need salt against the heat.
Otherwise, we're doing very well.
I'm pleased you're doing well...
but I'm required to confirm that.
Doubtless the good surgeon will enjoy...
prodding and poking us with his arcane machinery.
Go away! We don't want you.
What you want is unimportant.
What you will get is required by the book.
Quote, "All research personnel on alien planets...
are required to have their health certified...
by a starship surgeon at one-year intervals."
Like it or not, Professor, I'm required--
To show your gold braid to everyone. You love it.
He's all yours, Plum. Dr. McCoy.
Sit down and breathe deeply, please.
Your name is McCoy?
Yes.
McCoy.
I've heard Nancy speak of a Dr. McCoy.
That's me. Didn't she mention I was here?
You've seen Nancy?
She went to get you.
You've seen her?
Yes. Why?
Nothing. It's just that it gives me pleasure...
to know that she's gotten to see an old friend.
It's different for me. I enjoy solitude.
But for a woman--
You understand, of course?
Well, it certainly hasn't aged her.
She looks exactly as I knew her 12 years ago.
Amazing, Jim! Like a girl of 25.
I'm sorry, Captain. Sit down.
I have forgotten my manners.
Quite all right.
I'm not joking. She hasn't aged a day.
She doesn't have a gray hair.
She's got some gray, Bones.
Excuse me, Professor.
She's a handsome woman, but hardly 25.
You've seen my wife with the eyes...
of your past attachment, Doctor.
I'm sure when Nancy lets-- when you see her again...
she'll be a believable age.
At any rate, she doesn't look a day over 30.
Genuine affection.
I'm glad you still feel it for her.
Leonard, isn't it?
She's a fine woman.
Open your mouth.
Why, I thought the machine--
The machine is capable of almost anything...
but I'll still trust healthy tonsils.
Now, open your mouth.
[ Woman Screaming ]
Aah!
Aah!
McCoy!
Dead, Jim.
How strange.
A red mottling all over his face.
What happened?
You beam down a crewman who eats an untested plant.
I've lost a crewman. What happened?
Well, l--
I--
Take it easy, Nancy.
Just tell us what you know.
Well, I was just--
I couldn't find Bob, and I was coming back.
I crossed to your crewman.
I wanted him to know...
I wasn't offended by the things he'd said.
You remember.
Then l--
I noticed he had a Borgia plant in his hand.
Before I could say anything, he--
he'd taken a bite from it...
he fell...
his face all twisted, and--
You don't believe me?
No, it's not that. It's something entirely different.
Jim, I suppose...
we could complete these examinations later.
We don't need an examination.
Perhaps you'd better take your man--
We're aware of our duties.
We'll complete your examinations tomorrow.
Transporter room.
Transporter room, Captain.
Three beaming up.
Locked onto you, Captain.
You did ask about salt tablets?
I'll take care of the provisioning, Nancy.
Miss Uhura, your last sub-space log...
contained an error in the frequencies column.
Sometimes I think if I hear "frequency" again, I'll cry.
Cry?
I was just trying to start a conversation.
Well, since it is illogical...
for a communications officer to resent the word "frequency"...
I have no answer.
No, you have an answer.
I'm an illogical woman who's beginning to feel...
too much a part of that communications console.
Why don't you tell me...
I'm an attractive young lady...
or ask me if I've ever been in love?
Tell me how planet Vulcan looks when the moon is full.
Vulcan has no moon, Miss Uhura.
I'm not surprised, Mr. Spock.
Transporter room to Bridge.
Landing party returning.
They report one death.
Bridge acknowledging.
I don't believe it.
Explain.
You explain.
That means that somebody is dead...
and you just... sit there.
It could be Captain Kirk. He's your friend.
Lieutenant, my demonstration of concern...
will not change what happened.
The transporter room is well-manned...
and they will call if they need assistance.
She called it a Borgia plant.
Something new to me.
Bridge to dispensary.
Borgia plant listed in library record tapes
as carbon group three vegetation...
similar to Earth nightshade family.
Alkaloid poison. Chemical structure...
common to class "M" planets.
About the strange mottling on his facial skin...
there's no reference to this symptom.
Well, then this man wasn't poisoned.
Stand by, Mr. Spock.
She said she saw him eat the plant.
She's mistaken. There's no poison in his body.
There were bits of the plant in his mouth.
Jim, he could not have swallowed any.
My instruments would have picked up any trace.
I tell you, this man shouldn't be dead.
According to all the tests...
he should get up and walk away.
I don't know.
I'll double-check the tests.
My eyes may be tricking me.
I swear, Jim, when I first saw her...
she looked just as she did 10 years ago.
I may have been looking through a romantic haze.
How love affects your vision doesn't interest me!
I want to know what killed this man!
Yes, sir.
Captain's log, Stardate 1513.4.
In orbit around planet M-113.
One crewman, member of the landing party...
dead by violence.
Cause unknown.
But we are certain the cause of death was not poison.
Message, Captain.
Starship base requesting explanation of our delay, sir.
Space Commander Dominguez says...
we have supplies he urgently needs.
Tell Jose he'll get his chili peppers soon.
They're prime Mexican reds. I handpicked them.
But he won't die without them.
Yes, Captain.
Well?
No mistake in our record tapes.
Borgia plant-- its sole deadly property is alkaloid poison.
And the Craters?
Check out perfectly.
They arrived here five years ago.
Visited by various vessels.
Made fairly heavy shipments out, of artifacts and reports.
However, there has been a marked drop in shipments...
during the last year.
Dispensary to Captain.
Kirk here.
We found something.
What is it?
I'd rather not put it on the speaker.
Fascinating.
So improbable, we almost didn't check it.
Sodium chloride. Not a trace of it.
This man has no salt in his body.
Can you explain that, Doctor?
I can't. What we normally carry in our bodies is gone.
He would die almost instantly.
How?
The rings on his face.
You called that skin mottling.
I thought it was, sir.
Another error on my part.
I'm not counting them, Bones.
Are you in the mood for an apology?
I probably was mooning over her.
I should have been thinking about my job.
Both Nancy and Crater...
emphasized one item they needed.
Salt tablets.
Mr. Spock!
Outfit a landing party.
We're beaming down with some questions.
One might think you had more important duties...
than harassing people.
I have. Where is Mrs. Crater?
I want to talk to her, too.
You can't just beam down and bully us.
Mrs. Crater. I won't ask again.
Possibly at the other diggings.
Green, find her.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Spock.
Standing by.
Sturgeon, transport a plant sample.
We'll check if it's the Borgia plant or something else.
Complete analysis.
Captain, considering the fact that you are a trespasser...
on my planet--
Your complaint is noted, sir.
Look, something we don't understand...
killed one of my men.
It could prove to be a danger to you and Mrs. Crater, too.
We've been here five years.
If there were anything hostile...
we would know about it, wouldn't we?
Tell the professor what the autopsy revealed.
Our crewman died of salt depletion--
sudden, total loss.
Medically impossible by any standards.
And by coincidence, both you and Mrs. Crater...
requested salt tablets.
And your esteemed physician cannot explain...
our need for salt tablets?
We're all aware of the need for salt...
on a hot and arid planet like this.
But it's a mystery, and I don't like mysteries.
They give me a bellyache.
Nancy and I started with 25 pounds.
This is what we have left.
What is so mysterious about that?
Salt.
One of the Enterprise's missions...
is to protect human life in places like this.
You and Mrs. Crater will have to stay aboard my ship.
You can't do that!
But I can.
It'll interfere with our work.
How? You've been here five years.
Will a couple of days make a difference?
Mr. Spock...
arrange quarters for Professor and Mrs. Crater.
Did you get the plant analysis?
It is Borgia. Could not have caused Darnell's death.
Jim, he's run off!
Nancy!
You!
Salt!
I've got salt! Smell it!
Smell it, Nancy!
Professor Crater! Professor Crater!
Professor Crater!
Professor Crater!
Professor!
Professor!
Jim!
Jim, it's Sturgeon!
He's dead.
We better locate Crewman Green.
Green!
Green!
Crewman Green, report!
Green!
Crewman Green, report!
Green!
Green, where are you?
Could it be Crater?
I don't know.
Green!
Did you see this?
Yes, sir. Sturgeon was dead...
when I found him.
I was circling to find whatever it was.
Same red rings on his face.
Have you seen Nancy-- Mrs. Crater?
No, sir. I checked all through the ruins.
I'm worried about her.
She's not at the quarters or the diggings.
- Nancy! - Crater!
Nancy, it's Leonard!
We're beaming up.
You can't leave her!
You could learn something from Mr. Spock.
The Enterprise has equipment that could pinpoint a match...
anywhere on this planet-- or a body.
Transporter room, Kirk speaking.
Three to beam up.
Kirk to Bridge.
Spock here.
I want surface coordinates on two people.
There's a body down there-- Sturgeon.
We'll bring him home, sir.
You could use some sleep, Bones.
All right, Jim.
Bridge.
Oh, Green, what went on down there?
Who do you think you are?
Something odd, Captain.
You said two people.
Professor and Nancy Crater.
We get a reading on only one person...
probably Crater.
He's circling as if searching for something.
Expand search radius.
Yes, sir.
Why don't you go chase an asteroid?
Hey, Janice, is that for me?
Don't you wish it was?
How about that?
How'd you like...
to have her as your personal yeoman?
Where are you, Sulu?
In here feeding the weepers.
I've got your tray.
May the great bird of the galaxy bless your planet.
Hello, Beauregard. How are you today, darling?
Her name's Gertrude.
No, it's a he plant. A girl can tell.
Why do people have to call inanimate objects "she"?
Like "she's a fast ship."
He is not an inanimate object.
He's so animate he makes me nervous.
In fact, I keep expecting...
one of these plants of yours to grab me.
Hello, Green.
He's not talking today.
You been nipping saurian brandy?
[ Screeching ]
Take it easy.
Calm down.
Very sensitive.
He's the real spook.
Suppose he's going space happy?
The door to my quarters still rattles when it opens.
Would you stop by and look?
Thanks, Bobby.
Crewman...
do I know you?
In a way, ma'am.
You were just thinking of someone like me.
I'm guessing, but you do look a little lonely.
So naturally, when I'm lonely, I think of you.
[ Speaking Swahili ]
[ Speaking Swahili ]
You're Swahili?
[ Ship's Whistle ]
[ Kirk ] Lieutenant Uhura to the bridge.
[ Ship's Whistle ]
[ Kirk ] Lieutenant Uhura to the bridge.
I better get this tray back.
Bye, Beauregard.
Wait a minute. I'll walk along.
Lieutenant Uhura, report to the bridge.
Lieutenant Uhura.
On my way, sir.
McCoy to Bridge. Captain there?
Kirk here.
Nothing to report. We haven't located Mrs. Crater.
- Can't you sleep? - Nope.
Take one of those pills you gave me.
You'll sleep.
[ Beeping ]
The simple fact is...
unless there's something seriously wrong...
with the ship's equipment...
there's only one person within a 100-mile circle.
All right. We'll triangulate on him.
We'll let Professor Crater explain...
what happened to his wife.
Remember my instructions, Lieutenant.
Keep a tight fix on us.
If we yell...
I want an armed party down there before the echo dies.
Nancy!
Well, come in. come in.
I've been worried sick about you.
I wonder why Jim didn't tell me...
he found you.
I'm so happy to see you, Leonard.
The others-- I don't relate to them as much.
You have such strong memories of me.
You do care, don't you, Leonard?
It makes me feel so...
so safe.
Nancy, um...
My husband?
I like your feelings better.
Much...
stronger.
But you're tired.
You need to rest.
Ha ha ha!
You're as bad as Jim Kirk.
He's been telling me to take these.
Oh, I think you should.
I'll get you some water.
Oh!
Look at his face!
Bridge. Sulu. Trouble on deck nine, section two.
We need a medical team.
Captain's log, Stardate 1513.8.
I am now certain that the violent death of my crewmen...
was caused by some strange life-form.
I was so worried.
Your husband acting strange.
Crewmen dying.
You're so tired, darling. Just rest now.
- [ Ship's Whistle ] - Medical department alert.
Doctors and medics acknowledge.
It's nothing, dear. It's nothing.
You just sleep.
Nancy will take care of everything.
- [ Ship's Whistle ] - Dr. McCoy to the bridge.
Dr. McCoy to the bridge.
- [ Ship's Whistle ] - Dr. McCoy to the bridge.
Captain's log, additional.
Armed and able-bodied crewmen are not attacked...
and slaughtered this easily.
Apparently, the killer can immobilize them...
as it approaches...
perhaps with some hypnotic or paralyzing power.
The answer lies with Professor Crater.
Professor Crater.
Go away! We don't want you here.
We? Where's your wife, Professor?
We're concerned about her.
I'm armed. Go away.
Where's your wife, Professor?
She's no concern of yours.
We're worried about her safety.
Aren't you?
Professor, you're a reasonable man.
Let me--
[ Communicator Beeps ]
Kirk here.
[ Sulu ] Casualty, Captain.
Barnhart was found dead. Same symptoms.
Spock cutting in, Captain.
Something here, through the arches to your left.
Stand by, Mr. Sulu. Spock has something.
Green.
He beamed up to the ship with us.
Or something did.
Enterprise, from Kirk.
Bridge. Sulu.
You have an intruder aboard.
Could be masquerading as Crewman Green.
General quarters.
Security condition three.
G.Q. security three, sir.
General quarters three. Intruder alert.
G.Q. three. Intruder alert.
[ Alarm Sounding ]
General quarters three.
Intruder alert.
G.Q. three. Intruder alert.
Reporting G.Q. three secure, Captain.
Do you require assistance there?
Crater knows the creature.
If we take him alive--
Negative, but keep locked in on us. Out.
Let's get him.
We don't want you here!
We're happy alone!
I'll kill to stay alone.
You hear that, Kirk? Or you'll have to kill me.
I don't care either way.
Obviously, taking him alive...
is going to be difficult.
Set your phaser on 1/4.
I'll leave mine on stun.
Why risk your life for his?
He's just trying to frighten us...
and he's doing a pretty good job.
Yeah.
G.Q. three now secured except for decks 5, 7, and 10.
Come in, please.
[ Uhura ] He's not in supply.
Run through file photos of the crewmen in engineering.
Check.
Deck five reporting.
Crewman Green is not in his quarters.
[ Sulu ] lf you find him, he's not Crewman Green.
And he-- rather, it-- followed me.
There was something twitchy about him.
He-- whatever-- was probably your crewman, too, Lieutenant.
He must have been it.
I would have remembered a crewman like him.
The creature leading you a merry chase?
The creature?
Or whatever it is that's killing the crewmen.
Perhaps I can help. Fill me in.
Set.
Acknowledged.
Crater!
Your wife, Professor. Where is she?
Your wife, Professor. Where is she?
She...
was the last of her kind.
The last of her kind?
The last of its kind.
Earth history, remember?
Like the passenger pigeon or buffalo.
Ooh!
I feel strange.
Just stunned. You'll be able to think in a minute.
The Earth buffalo. What about it?
Once there were millions of them...
prairies black with them.
One herd covered three whole states...
and when they moved, they were like thunder.
And now they're gone. Is that what you mean?
Like the creatures here.
Once there were millions of them.
Now there's one left.
Nancy understood.
Always in the past tense.
Where's your wife? Where's she now?
Dead. Buried up on a hill. It killed her.
When?
Oh, a year...
or was it two?
Kirk to Enterprise.
Bridge to Captain. Sulu here.
It's definite, Mr. Sulu.
The intruder can assume any shape--
you, myself, anyone. Go to G.Q. four.
General quarters four.
The creature was trying to survive.
It has that right.
Kirk to transporter room. Three to beam up.
They needed salt to stay alive. There was no more salt.
It's the last one.
The buffalo. There is no difference.
There's one, Professor.
Your creature is killing my people.
Captain's log, continuing.
The Enterprise has been invaded by a creature...
capable of assuming any form...
and with the capacity to paralyze...
and draw the life from any one of us.
[ Sulu ] Deck five, section three. Report.
Security 3-A, here. 3-B, in sight.
Negative, Captain. I've checked everyone.
It wasn't a crewman I saw.
Yeoman Rand, how long was Green with you?
As long as it thought it could get salt.
Mr. Spock?
Supplies of salt...
have been set out as bait at all decks.
No one, or nothing, has approached them yet.
Dr. McCoy?
Yes?
Medical department report, Doctor.
Oh.
Well, we could offer it salt without tricks.
There's no reason for it to attack us.
Your attitude is laudable, but your reasoning's reckless.
The creature is not dangerous when fed.
No. It's simply trying to survive...
by using its natural ability to take other forms.
The way the chameleon uses...
its protective coloring...
an ability retained from its primitive state.
the way we have retained our incisor teeth.
Certain muscles were designed for chase.
It uses its ability the way we'd use...
our muscles and teeth, if necessary...
to stay alive.
Like us, it's an intelligent animal.
There's no need to hunt it down.
A very interesting hypothesis, Doctor.
[ Ship's Whistle ]
Briefing room.
All the halls sealed off.
All weapons accounted for and locked away.
Security four in effect. No lead on intruder.
Thank you, Lieutenant.
Continue the search.
Crater, we don't know who or what we're looking for.
We need your help now.
I begged you to leave.
Can you recognize this thing When you see it?
Professor, I'll forego charges up to this point...
but this creature's aboard my ship.
I'll have it, or I'll have your skin. Where is it?
I loved Nancy very much.
Few women like my Nancy.
She lives in my dreams.
She walks and sings in them.
And it becomes Nancy for you?
Not because of tricks. It doesn't trick me.
It needs love as much as it needs salt.
When it killed Nancy, I almost destroyed it...
but...
it isn't just a beast.
It is intelligent...
and the last of its kind.
You bleed too much, Crater.
You're too pure and noble.
Are you saving the last of its kind...
or has this become Crater's private heaven here?
This thing becomes wife, lover, best friend...
wise man, fool, idol, slave.
It isn't bad to have everyone in the universe...
at your beck and call.
You win all the arguments.
You don't understand.
Have you learned to see it in any form?
Yes.
Are you going to help us find it?
Sorry, I can't.
Recommend we use truth serum, Captain.
Doctor?
Well, I resist using it, but in this case...
the professor will give us the truth.
Take him.
I'll accompany you, Doctor.
Oh, yes. Of course.
Captain Kirk to dispensary. Captain Kirk to dispensary.
It wasn't McCoy. It was the creature.
It hit me.
Crater grabbed my phaser.
I wondered about McCoy.
Doubt had crossed my mind.
Captain.
Professor Crater.
Dead.
But it had you, too.
Fortunately, my ancestors spawned...
in another ocean than yours did.
My blood cells are different.
Leonard, wake up! Please, help me!
Help me, Leonard!
Don't let them kill me!
Easy, easy.
But you must help me!
Move aside, Bones.
What's going on here, Jim?
She's not Nancy, Bones.
Are you insane?
It killed four crewmen. Now Crater.
It?
The creature. It kills.
It needs salt. Move aside.
No!
My guess is she needs more.
You want it, Nancy?
Come get it.
You're frightening her, Jim.
Not fright.
Hunger. Look at her.
If you love me, make him go away.
Come on.
You want this, Nancy?
Come on. Come and get it.
Stop it, Jim!
McCoy, get out of the way!
Are you out of your mind?
It's killing the Captain. Shoot it, Doctor, quickly!
No!
No!
It's killing the captain! Shoot quick!
I won't shoot Nancy.
This is not Nancy. Could Nancy take this?
Stop it! Stop it, Spock!
Stop it!
Is that Nancy, Doctor?
No.
No!
Aah!
Aah!
Leonard.
Leonard, no.
Leonard, please.
Lord, forgive me.
I'm sorry, Bones.
Ready to leave orbit, Captain.
Something wrong, Captain?
I was thinking about the buffalo, Mr. Spock.
Warp 1, Mr. Sulu.
Warp 1, sir.
Leaving orbit.
 |
|
|
