You'll enjoy Commodore Travers.
He sets a good table.
I wonder if he brought his personal chef with him to Cestus III.
Probably. Rank hath its privileges.
- How well we both know that, huh? - [Intercom Whistles]
Scotty. Kirk here.
Travers,Jim. We're waiting.
Good, Commodore. We're on our way.
Besure to bring along your tactical people.
I've got an interesting problem forthem.
We'll beam down immediately, Commodore. Kirk out.
Captain, I wonder why he's insistent that our tactical aides come down.
His colony is isolated, exposed, out on the edge of now here.
He probably wants additional advice.
- Perhaps, but never the less-- - Spock, isn't it enough...
the commodore is famous for his hospitality?
I, for one, could use a good nonreconstituted meal.
Doctor, you are a sensualist.
You bet your pointed ears I am.
Ready whenever you are, Captain.
Energize.
Kirk to Enterprise, red alert.
- What is it, Captain? - Cestus III has been destroyed.
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.
Full alert.
Tricorder readings, Mr. Spock: life detection.
Those messages we got, Captain,
the one directing us here yesterday--
Faked. All this happened several days ago.
Lang, over there. Look for survivors.
Kelowitz, that way.
O'Herlihy, stick with me.
Captain, impulses that direction--
Very weak, possibly a survivor.
Come on, Bones.
Captain's log, Stardate 3045.6--
The Enterprise has responded to a call
from Earth observation outpost on Cestus III.
On landing, we have discovered
that the outpost has been destroyed.
Captain, over there.
Careful, careful.
Shock, radiation burns, internal injuries for certain.
- He's in a bad way, Captain. - Keep him alive, Bones.
I want to know what's been happening here.
Getting another life reading, Captain.
Survivors?
Not survivors-- not warmblooded.
Living creatures, but not human.
Where?
Azimuth 93 degrees,
range 1,570 yards.
O'Herlihy.
Captain, I see something.
[Shell Falls]
[Explosion]
[Shell Falls]
O'Herlihy!
[Explosion]
Kirk to Enterprise, lock on transporters. Beam us up.
Captain, we're coming under attack--
Unidentified ship quartering in.
We can't beam you up.
I've just rigged up defensive screens.
Keep those screens up. Fire all phasers.
Firing phasers, Captain.
Alien has screens up, too.
Take all action necessary to protect the ship.
We'll hold out here.
Are you under attack, Captain?
We could drop screens.
Keep those screens up.
Worry about us when the ship is safe.
Kirk out.
[Shell Falls]
[Explosion]
If they lower those screens to beam us up,
they'll be open to phaser attack.
We're hopelessly outnumbered here, Captain.
With those disruptors versus our hand phasers--
We're stuck with it, Mr. Spock.
We'll have to make do with what we've got.
Kelowitz, Lang, flank out.
Lay down fire on coordinates Mr. Spock gave you--
even if you don't see them.
Keep your heads down.
We're helpless down here,
and the Enterprise--
Sulu's an experienced combat officer.
It's my ship, Mr. Spock. I should be there.
We can't even get at them.
Nor can they at us at the moment.
Not unless they move their original position...
to that intervening high ground.
You remember the layout of this place, the arsenal?
About 100 yards in that direction.
But after an attack as thorough as this one--
I'll risk it.
[Explosion]
[Shell Falls]
[Shell Falls]
[Explosion]
Kirk here. Report.
Captain, are you all right?
Never mind me. What about the ship?
We returned fire with all phaser banks--
Negative against his deflector screen.
Arm your photon torpedoes.
Aye, aye, sir.
Arm photon torpedoes. Stand by.
-Identification on attacking vessel? -No, sir.
Doesn't correspond with any configuration we're familiar with.
We can't get visual contact. She's too far away.
Mr. Sulu, photon torpedoes locked on.
Photon torpedoes locked on, Captain.
Fire all banks.
All banks fired, sir.
Sulu--
[Static]
Sulu, our communications are being interfered with.
[Shell Falls]
Now get this straight.
You do anything you think necessary
to protect the ship--
Leave orbit, maximum warp, anything. Clear?
Clear, Captain, but you--
Never mind about me. Protect my ship.
Yes, sir.
Photon torpedoes negative, Captain.
I'm warping out of orbit.
Good. Contact me when you can. Kirk out.
[Shell Falls]
[Explosion]
- How is he, Doctor? - He'll be dead in halfan hour...
if we don't get him some decent care.
[Tricorder Sounds]
They're moving. I've got to get to the captain.
[Shell Falls]
Locked on to the enemy, Captain.
They're moving toward the high ground.
They've locked on to my tricorder.
[Explosion]
Very ingenious. They fed back my impulses...
and built up an overload.
We'll see how ingenious they are.
Here. Give me a hand with this grenade launcher.
- Lang! - Any word from the Enterprise?
Sulu's taken her out oforbit.
They got Lang, sir.
Did you see them?
No, sir.
An evaluation, Mr. Kelowitz.
Where do you think they are?
If I were them, I'd go to the high ground on the right.
I'd make it 1,200 yards,
azimuth 87.
It's pretty close for one of these little jewels, Captain.
It'll be a lot closer to them. Stand clear.
[Communicator Beeps]
Kirk here.
Captain, the alien's withdrawing.
She'sat extreme range, but our sensors indicate...
she just activated her transporters.
Lock on to the alien, Mr. Sulu. I don't want to lose her.
Aye, aye, sir.
Our screens are down. We can beam you up now, sir.
I want a search party of 30 medical personnel...
beamed down immediately to search for survivors.
Notify the transporter room. Lock onto us. We're beaming up.
Aye, aye, sir.
Captain's log, supplement.
We have beamed back to the Enterprise...
and immediately set out inpursuit of the alien vessel.
Appear she aded toward a largely unexplored section of the galaxy.
Can you tell me what happened?
Scanners reported a ship approaching.
We get them now and then. They're all welcome to use our facilities.
- You know that. - Yes, I know.
They came in space-normal speed,
using our regular approach route, but...
they knocked out our phaser batteries with their first salvo.
From then on we were helpless.
We weren't expecting anything! Why should we?
We didn't have anything anyone would want.
Easy. Easy.
They poured it on like...
like phasers, only worse, whatever they were using.
I--I tried to signal them. We called up.
Tried to surrender. We had women and children.
I told them that! I begged them!
They wouldn't listen.
They didn't let up for a moment.
Lieutenant, the Enterprise received two messages,
ostensibly from Cestus III.
One for the Enterprise to go there,
and the other for myself and my tactical crew...
to beam down to the surface.
They hit us a full day before you got there, Captain.
No messages came from us, Captain.
Why did they do it?
Why?
Why did they do it?
There has to be a reason.
There has to be a reason!
It was a trap--
Getting the Enterprise to come to Cestus III,
getting us and our whole crew to come ashore.
Very clever. As to the reason--
The reason is crystal clear.
The Enterprise is the only protection...
in this section of the Federation.
Destroy the Enterprise, and everything is wide open.
You allude to invasion, Captain, yet positive proof--
I have all the proof I need on Cestus III.
Not necessarily. Several possible explanations--
How can you explain a massacre like that?
No, Mr. Spock, the threat is clear and immediate.
Invasion.
Very well, then.
If that's the case,
you must make certain that the alien vessel...
never reaches its home base.
I intend to. If we can keep them in the dark...
as to our strength,
they'll never dare move against us.
- Captain to helms man. - Sulu here, sir.
- Is the alien still making warp 5? - Affirmative, sir.
- Initiate warp 6. - Affirmative, sir.
Overtake. Phaser banks...
Iock on to the enemy vessel.
Stand by for firing orders.
[Siren]
All hands, this is the captain.
We are going into battle.
All hands, battle stations.
Red alert.
I repeat, red alert.
This is no drill.
This is no drill.
Captain's log, Stardate 3046.2.
We are in hot pursuit...
of the alien vessel which destroyed the Earth outpost on Cestus III.
- Mr. Depaul. - Yes, sir.
Position.
22.3 parsecs beyond latest chart limits, sir.
All scanners lock into computer banks.
I want a complete record of this.
Mr. Spock, what do we have on this general area?
Virtually nothing, Captain.
No records of any explorations.
There are rumors of certain strange signals on subspace channels.
However, none has ever been recorded.
Anything on intelligent life forms?
Nothing specific, Captain. Unscientific rumors only.
More like... space legends.
Mr. Sulu, status, alien vessel.
They must be aware we're after them, sir.
They've gone to warp 6 also.
Warp factor 7.
Aye, aye, sir.
Something the matter, Mr. Spock?
A sustained warp 7 speed will be dangerous, Captain.
Thank you, Mr. Spock.
-I mean to catch them. -We'll either catch them or blow up.
They may be faster than we are.
They'll have to prove it.
Yes, Mr. Spock?
-You mean to destroy the alien ship. -Of course.
I thought perhaps the hot pursuit alone might be sufficient.
Destruction may be unnecessary.
Colony Cestus III has been obliterated, Mr. Spock.
The destruction of the alien vessel...
will not help that colony,Jim.
If the aliens go unpunished,
they'll be back,
attacking other Federation installations.
I merely suggested that a regard for sentient--
There's no time for that.
It's a matter of policy.
Out here, we're the only policemen around.
And a crime has been committed.
Do I make myself clear?
Very clear, Captain.
I'm delighted, Mr. Spock.
Report, Mr. Sulu.
Alien ship maintaining interval, Captain.
Now at warp 7.
Warp factor 8.
Aye, aye, sir.
Captain to phaser banks.
All components at battle ready.
All banks primed.
Aft phaser to Bridge.
Alert status. All weaponsat operational ready.
Captain.
Yes, Mr. Sulu.
Closing on target, sir.
Good. Mr. Depaul.
- Yes, sir. - Our position.
2279 pl, sir.
Uncharted solar system at 2466 pm.
Is it on the alien's course?
No, sir.
He's headed away from it.
Captain, sensors report we're being scanned.
By the alien ship?
No, sir. It's from that solar system ahead.
Any interference, resistance?
No, sir, Just scanning beams.
It's on an unusual wave length.
Mr. Spock?
It would appear someone is curious about us.
Mr. Sulu.
Is the alien still heading away from that solar system?
Yes, sir. We're closing, sir.
Lieutenant Uhura, anything further on those scanning beams?
There's no hostility, sir.
They're not tractors or weapons ofany sort,
Just increasing in intensity.
Steady.
Regular.
It's growing stronger, sir.
Captain!
Yes, what is it?
The alien... it's slowing down.
Warp 5...4...2.
It's going sublight, sir.
Sir?
It's stopped dead in space.
He may be turning to fight.
No, sir.
They're just dead out there.
Are you sure?
Yes, sir.
Unmoving.
Then we've got him! Go to red alert.
Prepare to fire phaser banks. Sensors lock on.
Mr. Sulu, continue closing. Mr. Spock--
Lock phasers into computer. Computers will control attack.
Computer lock ready, Captain. All systems standing by.
Range is 1810...
1760...
Range is 1700...
1640...
Range is 1590...
1550 and closing, sir.
[Crash]
Warp 6... Warp 5...
4... Warp 3...
Warp 1 .
Sublight, Captain.
We're stopped, Captain.
It's impossible, but...
It's impossible.
Warp 8? Have you lost your mind?
Same as the alien, Captain.
- Mr. Scott, report. - We're dead, Captain.
Locked up. Frozen tight.
All propulsion systems read zero.
Life systems?
They're all normal, sir--
Atmosphere, heat, light, no variance.
Phaser banks. Report.
We're all in operative here, Captain.
No power at all.
No faulty circuits I can find.
Just no power.
Damage Control, report.
All systems report normal, Captain. No ascertainable damage.
Then what is it?
I don't know, sir, but whatever it is, we cannot move.
We're being held in place, Captain,
apparently from that solar system.
This far out? That's impossible.
We are being held.
Tractor beam?
No, sir, an unidentifiable power.
[Male Voice] We are the Metrons.
You are one of two crafts...
which have come into our space on a mission of violence.
This is not permissible. Yet we have analyzed you and have learned...
that your violent tendencies are inherent.
So be it. We will control them.
We will resolve your conflict...
in the way most suited to your limited mentalities.
Captain James Kirk.
This is Kirk.
We have prepared a planet with a suitable atmosphere.
You will be taken there...
as will the Captain of the Gorn ship which you have been pursuing.
There you will settle your dispute.
I... don't understand.
You will be provided with a recording-translating device,
in hopes that a chronicle ofthis contest...
will serve to dissuade others of your kind...
from entering our system--
but you will not be permitted to communicate with your ship.
You will each be totally alone.
What makes you think you can interfere--
It is you who are interfering.
We are simply putting a stop to it.
The place we have prepared foryou...
contains sufficient elements for either ofyou...
to construct weapons lethal enough to destroy the other,
which seems to be your intention.
The winner ofthe contest will be permitted...
to go his way unharmed.
The loser, along with his ship,
shall be destroyed in the interests of peace.
The contest will be one of ingenuity against ingenuity,
brute strength against brute strength.
The results will be final.
-Just a min-- - There will be no discussion.
It is done.
Aah!
He's gone.
[Roaring, Hissing]
The Enterprise is dead in space,
stopped cold during her pursuit
of an alien raider by mysterious forces,
and I have been somehow whisked off the bridge
and placed on the surface of an asteroid,
facing the captain of the alien ship.
Weaponless,
I face the creature the Metrons calleda Gorn--
Large, reptilian.
Like most humans,
I seem to have an instinctive revulsion to reptiles.
I must fight to remember that this is
an intelligent, highly advanced individual--
the captain ofa starship, like myself,
undoubtedly a dangerously clever opponent.
[Hissing]
[Growling]
[Hissing]
[Growling]
[Growling]
[Hissing]
You tried overload?
Aye, sir. It does no good.
How about bypassing the transformer banks--
feed the impulse engines directly?
I tried that, sir--
Nothing.
Lieutenant Uhura, have sensors learned anything...
about the nature ofthe force which holds us here?
No, sir. They report they emanate from that solar system ahead.
No indication of its composition--
gravimetric, magnetic, electronic?
Nothing, sir.
This is Captain James Kirk
of the Starship Enterprise.
Who ever finds this...
please get it to Star fleet Command.
I'm engaged in personal combat...
with a creature apparently called a Gorn.
He's immensely strong.
Already he has with stood attacks from me...
that would have killed a human being.
Fortunately, though strong, he is not agile.
The agility, and I hope the cleverness, is mine.
The Metrons, the creatures that sent us both here,
said that the surface of the planet...
provides the raw material...
to construct... weapons.
There's very little here-- scrub brush, rocks,
an abundance of mineral deposits--
but no weapons in the conventional sense.
Still, I need to find one.
Bare-handed...
against the Gorn...
I have no chance.
Leave channel one open, Lieutenant, just in case.
Aye, aye, sir.
What are you going to do, Mr. Spock?
I'm going to wait, Doctor.
There is little else I can do.
What about the captain?
If I could help him, I would.
I cannot.
Now, you're the one that's always talking about logic.
What about some logic now?
Where's the captain, Mr. Spock?
He's out there, Doctor--
out there somewhere...
in 1,000 cubic parsecs ofspace,
and there's absolutely nothing we can do to help him.
[Growling, Chuckling]
A large deposit of diamonds on the surface--
perhaps the hardest substance known in the universe,
beautifully crystallized and pointed,
but too small to be useful as a weapon.
An incredible fortune in stones...
yet I would trade them all for a hand phaser,
or a good solid club.
Yet the Metrons said there would be weapons...
if I could find them.
Where?
- [Gorn Growling] - What kind?
[Growling, Hissing]
[Growling]
[Gorn Growling]
[Hissing]
[Growling]
[Hissing]
This is the U.S.S. Enterprise calling the Metrons.
Our channels are open. Come in, please.
We urgently desire a conference.
Please answer.
This may be my last entry.
I am almost exhausted.
Unless I find the weapon the Metron mentioned...
I have very little time left.
Native sulfur, diamonds.
This place is a mineralogist's dream.
Yet...
there is something... about sulfur.
Something very old. Something--
[Growling]
If only I could remember.
The ship, our engines, our weapons...
it'sjust inconceivable that we are immobilized.
But it has happened, Doctor.
We are the Metrons.
Your captain is losing his battle.
We would suggest you make...
whatever memorial arrangements, if any,
which are customary in your culture.
We believe you have very little time left.
We appeal to you in the name of civilization.
Put a stop to this.
Your violent intent and actions...
demonstrate that you are not civilized.
However, we are not without compassion.
It is possible you may have feelings toward your captain.
So that you will be able to prepare yourself,
we will allow you to see and hear...
what is now transpiring.
[Hissing]
If there were only some way we could contact him.
Yes, indeed, Doctor, if only there were.
Notice the substance encrusting that rock.
Yes.
Unless I'm mistaken,
it's potassium nitrate.
So?
Perhaps nothing, Doctor.
Perhaps everything.
Earthling!
Captain!
Who is this, the Metron?
This is your opponent, Earthling.
I have heard every word you have said.
All right. What do you want?
I'm weary of the chase.
Wait for me.
I shall be merciful and quick.
Like you were at Cestus III?
You were intruding!
You established an outpost in our space.
You butchered helpless human beings--
We destroyed invaders,
as I shall destroy you!
Can that be true?
Was Cestus III an intrusion on their space?
It may well be possible, Doctor.
We know very little about that section of the galaxy.
Then we could be in the wrong.
Perhaps.
That is something best decided by diplomats.
The Gorn simply might have been trying to protect themselves.
Yes.
[Gorn Snarls]
[Hissing]
Fascinating.
Good.
Good.
He knows, Doctor.
He has reasoned it out.
[Gorn Snarls]
Yes.
Yes.
What is it, Spock?
An invention, Doctor.
First potassium nitrate,
and now if he can find some sulfur...
and a charcoal deposit or ordinary coal...
What's he doing?
Diamonds-- the hardest known substance.
Impelled by sufficient force,
they would make formidable projectiles.
What force?
Recall your basic chemistry, Doctor.
Gunpowder.
Captain, let us be reasonable.
You have lost!
Admit it to yourself!
Stop running!
Coal.
[Hissing]
Can he do it?
If he has the time, Doctor.
If he has the time.
[Hissing]
[Growling]
No.
No, I won't kill you.
Maybe you thought you were...
protecting yourself...
when you attacked the outpost.
No, I won't kill him!
Do you hear?
You'll have to get your entertainment someplace else!
You're a Metron?
Does my appearance surprise you, Captain?
You seem more like a boy.
I am approximately 1,500 of your Earth years old.
You surprise me, Captain.
How?
By sparing your helpless enemy--
who surely would have destroyed you--
you demonstrated the advanced trait of mercy,
something we hardly expected.
We feel there may be hope for your kind.
Therefore you will not be destroyed.
It would not be... civilized.
What happened to the Gorn?
I sent him back to his ship.
If you like, I shall destroy him for you.
No. That won't be necessary.
We can talk...
maybe...
reach an agreement.
Very good, Captain.
There is hope for you.
Perhaps in several thousand years,
your people and mine...
shall meet to reach an agreement.
You are still halfsavage,
but there is hope.
We will contact you when we are ready.
[Uhura] Captain!
Are you all right?
I don't know.
I don't know.
All right, everybody. Back to your posts.
Let's get out of here.
Captain.
Mr. Sulu.
It's impossible, but...
there's Sirius over there when it should be here.
And Canopus...
and Arcanis.
We're--
All of a sudden, we're clear across the galaxy,
500 parsecs from where we are-- I mean, were.
I mean--
Don't try and figure it out, Mr. Sulu.
Just plot a course for us back to Cestus III.
Aye, aye, sir.
After you touched off your primitive cannon, Captain,
we lost the picture the Metron was sending us.
- You saw what happened down there? - Most of it.
I would be interested in knowing what finally happened.
We're a most promising species, Mr. Spock...
as predators go. Did you know that?
I've frequently had my doubts.
I don't.
Not anymore.
And maybe in a thousand years or so,
we'll be able to prove it.
Never mind, Mr. Spock.
It doesn't make much sense to me either.
Take us back to where we're supposed to be, Mr. Sulu.
Warp factor 1 .
Warp factor 1 .
A thousand years, Captain?
Well, that gives us a little time.
