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Kirk	Captain's Log. Star date 5784.2. We are responding to desperate distress calls from an unknown planet. My science officer Mr. Spock is unable to account for this, since he reported no signs of life on the planet. It is rich in kironide deposits-- a very rare and long-lasting source of great power.
Alexander	Are you from the spaceship Enterprise?
Kirk	That's right.
Alexander	Alexander, at your service. I sing, I dance, I play all variety of games, and I'm a good loser, a very good loser. Please, sir, try to bear that in mind. Now, would you please accompany me?
Kirk	Who are the inhabitants of this planet?
Alexander	Oh, Platonians. I'm sure you've never heard of us. Our native star is Sahndara. Millennia ago, just before it went nova, we managed to escape. Our leader liked Plato's ideas-- Plato, Platonius. See? In fact, our present philosopher-king, Parmen, sometimes calls us Plato's children, although we sometimes think of ourselves more as Plato's stepchildren. Excuse me. Uh, someone's waiting for you.
Philana	Welcome to our republic. Who among you is the physician?
McCoy	I am. What's the problem?
Philana	My spouse. His leg. Come this way.
McCoy	Well, what happened to that leg?
Parmen	I suppose I scratched it.
McCoy	I don't understand. This should have been attended to immediately.
Parmen	Sheer ignorance. Is there anything you can do?
McCoy	Well, we're certainly going to try. The infection is massive. Let me give you a hypo to ease the pain.
Parmen	Where?
McCoy	In the arm.
Alexander	Philana, they came to help. They deserve better than to die-- Argh!
Philana	Alexander, you talk too much.
Kirk	Space-- the final frontier. These are the voyages of the star ship 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.
Kirk	Captain's Log. Star date 5784.3. Dr. McCoy is endeavouring to treat the leader of a strange group of people. When their planet novaed, millennia ago, they transported themselves to Earth in the time of Socrates and Plato. After the death of the Greek civilization they idolized, they came to this planet and created for themselves a utopia patterned after it.
Parmen	What is it? What is your prognosis, Doctor?
McCoy	I'll let you know when I have the results. And from now on, it would be better if I handled the instruments without your help.
Kirk	Bones, I can't understand why a simple cut like that could become so serious.
McCoy	Neither do I, but it has. How do I knock out an infection when the tricorder doesn't recognize Platonian bacteria? All I can do, and this is going to take time, is to try to match his bugs with a known strain and hope.
Alexander	Your pan is in jeopardy.
Eraclitus	Mm-hmm. It isn't now. I win.
Dioniyde	Well played, Eraclitus.
Eraclitus	I thank you, Dionyd.
Kirk	This psychokinetic power of yours, how long have you had it?
Philana	Two and a half-- Ever since our arrival here on Platonius.
Spock	How is the power transmitted?
Philana	Brain waves.
Spock	Do these waves cease while you are asleep?
Philana	No, not if they're embedded in the unconscious.
McCoy	What about medicine? Why no doctors?
Philana	We haven't had any pressing need for the medical arts. You see, while still on Sahndara, we instituted a mass eugenics program. We are the result. Pared down to a population of 38, we're perfect for our utopia. We're bred for contemplation and self-reliance... and longevity. How old would you say I am? Don't be afraid. I'm not vain.
Spock	35.
Philana	That old? I stopped aging at 30. Well, anyway, you're off by 2,000 years. I'm 2,300 years old. We were married very young. I was only 117, and he was 128. So you see, we scarcely have to move anymore, let alone work.
Kirk	That's why you have no resistance?
Philana	That's right. A break in the skin can be fatal.
Spock	Fascinating. I believe we're experiencing the psychokinetic manifestations of Parmen's delirium.
Scott	Scott to Captain Kirk.
Kirk	Kirk to Enterprise.
Scott	Captain, we're in the midst of a storm. No discernible cause. I've never seen anything like it. There's 10-scale turbulence right now. Emergency gyros and stabilizers at maximum. If this keeps up, Captain, we can't last!
Kirk	Engines at full speed. Get her out of orbit. and into space.
Scott	I've tried that, sir. She's locked tight.
Kirk	Well, then there's nothing you can do but batten down and weather.
Scott	Right, Captain.
Kirk	Parmen's mind is not-- Watch it!  Not only throwing around furniture, he's tearing up the Enterprise as well. Bones, knock him out fast.
Alexander	Help! Save me!
Kirk	Alexander-- Stand behind me.
Alexander	No use.! His mind will find me anyhow. Oh! Don't save him. Let him die. The others will kill each other trying to take his place.
Kirk	Hurry up with that shot!
Philana	Now, Doctor!
Alexander	Uh... I can't breathe. I'm choking.
Kirk	Bones! Shake him. Break his concentration. Kirk to Enterprise.
Scott	Scott on the Enterprise. It's all right, Captain. The turbulence has abated.
Kirk	Good, I think you'll find the orbit broken as well. Assess damage and repair whatever is necessary.
Scott	Aye, Captain.
Philana	I don't know how I can ever thank you, not only for Platonius, but for myself.
Kirk	No thanks is necessary.
Philana	Alexander, show our guests to the south wing.
Kirk	Oh, thank you, we must return to the ship.
McCoy	I think I'd better wait until the fever breaks.
Kirk	Well...in that case, we'll stay.
Alexander	Anything you want, Just ask me. Anything.
Kirk	Thank you, Alexander.
Alexander	You saved my life. I think I should tell you that--
Kirk	Tell me what?
Alexander	Well, just that I never knew any people like you existed.
Kirk	Where is everyone?
Alexander	They're all in chambers... meditating.
Kirk	Alexander... are there other Platonians like you?
Alexander	What do you mean, like me?
Kirk	Who don't have the psychokinetic ability.
Alexander	I thought you were talking about my size... because they make fun of me for my size. But, um, to answer your question, I'm the only one without it. I was brought here as the court buffoon. That's why I'm everybody's slave and I have to be ten places at once, and I never do anything right.
Spock	How does one obtain the power?
Alexander	As far as I know it just comes to you sometime after you're born. They say I'm a throwback, and I am, and so are you. I'm Sorry. I shouldn't have said that.
Kirk	Don't worry about it. We're happy without it.
Alexander	You know, I believe you are. Listen, where you come from, are there a lot of people without the power and my size?
Kirk	Alexander, where I come from, size, shape, or colour makes no difference, and nobody has the power.
Alexander	Nobody? Uh, s-somebody wants me.
Spock	Captain, it will be very gratifying to leave here.
Kirk	That might not be easy should Parmen die.
Spock	But, even if he shouldn't.
Kirk	Yes. This utopia of theirs is one of the best-kept secret in the galaxy. Screening themselves from our sensors, and locking us into orbit-- all this adds up to a pattern.
McCoy	Jim, my concoction actually worked. The fever's broken. And what recuperative powers. The infection's begun to drain already.
Spock	Dr. McCoy, you may yet cure the common cold.
Kirk	If ever there was a time to get out of here, it is now. Kirk to Enterprise. Scotty, come in.
Scott	Scott here, sir.
Kirk	Prepare to beam us up.
Scott	I'm afraid I can't do that, sir. Everything's frozen.
Kirk	The turbulence hit you that hard?
Scott	It's not the turbulence, sir. Damage to the ship is minimal.
Kirk	What caused it?
Scott	I don't know, sir, and those are the facts.
Kirk	Did you get up into space?
Scott	No, sir. The orbit's locked tighter than ever, and subspace communication with Starfleet, it's completely severed.
Kirk	All right, Scotty. I'll handle it down here. Stand by.
Alexander	"Great Pan sounds his horn"
	"Marking time to the rhyme"
	"With his hoof with his hoof"
	"Forward, forward in our plan"
	"We proceed as we began"
	Brekekekekx... brekekekekx... koooax.
Kirk	Your Excellency.
Parmen	Parmen will do. Philosopher kings have no need of titles.
Kirk	I'd like to know why the ship's instrumentation and weaponry is frozen... and why the Enterprise is locked in orbit.
Parmen	Captain, please. You are mistaken, I assure you.
Kirk	Parmen, I've talked to the engineer aboard the ship. We've showed our good faith. Now you show yours. I want this ship released immediately.
Parmen	The amenities, Captain. Allow me to remind you that I am the head of this principality. Guests do not come barging in here, making demands and issuing orders.
Kirk	Guests? You don't know the meaning of the word. Guests aren't treated like common prisoners.
Parmen	Do not take that tone with me.
Kirk	Kirk to Enterprise. Acknowledge. Acknowledge. Enterprise, come in. Enterpri-- I can't raise them.
Spock	Obviously Parmen does not wish any contact made with the Enterprise.
McCoy	He may still need the ship's medical stores. Why prevent contact?
Spock	To shut out any knowledge of his brutal treatment of a Starfleet captain.
Kirk	No, Mr. Spock. One thing for certain-- Parmen isn't concerned with my dignity or safety.
Spock	Agreed, Captain. And Parmen wouldn't have treated you so brutally if he had any intention of releasing you or the Enterprise.
Kirk	Where are you going?
McCoy	I don't know. I don't want to go, but I can't help myself.
Philana	Gentle spacemen, we are eternally in your debt. We've some trifles for you. Please accept them as tokens of our gratitude. They stem from the very source of our inspiration. To our noble captain, the shield carried by Pericles, as a symbol of gallant leadership. To our silent and cerebral Mr. Spock, this kithara to pluck music, to soothe his ever-active brow. And lastly, to the physician Dr. McCoy, who saved Platonius and my spouse, this ancient collection of Greek cures, penned by Hippocrates himself.
Kirk	Has the Enterprise been released yet?
Parmen	Captain, wait. I know what you're thinking. My humble apologies. You were badly used. In my own defense, allow me to say that my illness was more profoundly disturbing that I myself realized. I'm sure that you, too, have been out of sorts and have been driven to fits of temper and rage. Unlike you, however, what I think and feel, whether for good or ill, is instantly translated into reality. So please, find it in your heart to forgive me.
Kirk	Certainly. Has the Enterprise been released yet?
Parmen	It will be shortly.
Kirk	Then good day. Thank you for the presents.
Parmen	Not at all. But there is one final request. After my nearly fatal infection, it has become obvious to us all, that we cannot afford to be without a skilled physician. Therefore we should like you, Dr. McCoy, to remain.
McCoy	I'm very sorry, but that's impossible.
Parmen	Your duties will be extraordinarily light. You'll be free to read, meditate, conduct research, whatever you like. You'll want for nothing.
McCoy	The answer is no.
Parmen	We'd like to keep it cordial, but we are determined to have you stay, Doctor.
Kirk	Dr. McCoy saved your life.
Parmen	I am losing patience, Captain.
Kirk	And you consider yourself a disciple of Plato?
Parmen	We manage to live in peace and harmony.
Spock	Whose harmony, yours? Plato wanted truth and beauty and above all justice.
Parmen	My dear Mr. Spock, I admit that circumstances have forced us to make a few adaptations of Plato, but ours is the most democratic society conceivable. Anyone can, at any moment, be or do anything he wishes, even to becoming ruler of Platonius if his mind is strong enough.
Kirk	And if his mind isn't strong enough, he gets torn apart like Alexander.
Parmen	Come now. We aren't children. In your culture, justice is the will of the stronger. It is forced upon people by means of weapons and fleets of spaceships. Our justice is the will of the stronger mind, and I, for one, consider it a vast improvement.
Kirk	We don't use our weapons for the kind of brutality you practice.
Parmen	Farewell, Captain.
Kirk	Come on, Doctor. McCoy.
McCoy	I can't move, Jim. They're going to keep me here no matter what. Leave, please.
Kirk	No. You're the doctor. They don't want to force you. They need your good will.
Parmen	Captain, go while you still can.
Kirk	We're not leaving until McCoy is released.
Parmen	This isn't the Enterprise. You are not in command, captain.
Philana	Why discuss it? Get rid of them.
Parmen	No, my dear. That might offend the good doctor. You wish to stay? By all means. You can help us celebrate our anniversary. In the process, I hope we can persuade you to join our tiny republic.
McCoy	You won't persuade me.
Parmen	I think we will.
Kirk	"I'm Tweedledee He's Tweedledum"
Spock	"Two spacemen marching to a drum"
Kirk+Spock	"We slither among the mimsey toves"
	"And gyre among the borogoves"
Kirk	You're not staying, McCoy. No matter what he tries to--
Kirk	"Being your slave, what should I do but tend"
	"upon the hours and times of your desire?"
	"I have no precious time at all to spend,"
	"nor services to do, till you--"
McCoy	Stop it! Don't do this to him, Parmen!
Kirk	McCoy... no matter what he makes me... say or do... the answer is...no.
McCoy	No, Parmen! Stop it!
Parmen	Well, Doctor?
McCoy	I have my orders.
Parmen	As you wish, Doctor.
Kirk	Uhh... Is this... your utopia, your grand vision of the future? You don't even...
Parmen	We've had enough or your moralizing.
McCoy	And we've had enough of yours. I'll never get me to stay here.
Parmen	You'll be happy to stay. It takes time, Doctor, but you'll be happy to stay.
McCoy	He's a Vulcan. You can't force emotion out of him.
Philana	You must be joking, Doctor.
McCoy	It can destroy him.
Parmen	We can't let him die laughing, can we?
McCoy	I beg you.
Kirk	Spock... Spock... Don't... let them... break you. Hold on. Don't--
Alexander	Parmen... they saved your life. I'm ashamed to be a Platonian. Ashamed! Aah!
Parmen	How can you let this go on?
Kirk	Can you do anything for him?
McCoy	There is no medicine that can help him. He'll have to come through this himself.
Spock	I trust they did not injure you too much, Captain.
Kirk	My muscles are sore, that's all.
Spock	The humiliation must have been most difficult for you to bear. I can understand.
McCoy	The release of emotions, Mr. Spock, is what keeps us healthy, emotionally healthy, that is.
Spock	That may be, Doctor, however I have noted that the healthy release of emotion is frequently very unhealthy for those closest to you.
Kirk	Which just goes to prove that there's no such thing as a perfect solution.
Spock	So it would seem. Captain.
Kirk	Yes, Spock.
Spock	Do you still feel anger toward Parmen?
Kirk	Great anger.
Spock	And you, Doctor?
McCoy	Yes, Spock. And hatred.
Spock	Then you must release it, gentlemen, as I must master mine. I might have seriously injured you, Captain, even killed you. They have evoked such great hatred in me. I cannot allow it to go further. I must... master it. I must... control.
McCoy	Jim. This is senseless. I've thought it over. I'm staying.
Kirk	You can't.
McCoy	Parmen has promised me you'll be safe.
Kirk	Promised? Parmen? He'd let us beam up to the Enterprise, and plunge the ship back into the atmosphere.
McCoy	Why? Why trick me?
Kirk	Because, if he killed us outright in front of you, you'd retaliate. You're a doctor. You have the means. Bones, I know you're trying to do the right thing, but if any one of us escapes, Parmen knows Starfleet would never let this planet go unpunished. Sacrifice yourself by agreeing to stay, and you sign our death warrant.
Alexander	He's right. I should have warned you. They were treating you the same way they treat me, just like me only you fight them. All the time, I thought it was me, my mind that couldn't move a pebble. They even told I was lucky they bothered keep me around, and I believed them. The arms and legs of everybody's whim. Look down. Don't meet their eyes. Smile. Smile. Those great people... they were gods to me. But you showed me what they really are. Now I know. Don't you see? It's not me or my size. It's them! It's them! It's them!
Kirk	Put it down.
Alexander	No. This is the best thing for them.
Kirk	Put it down. Do what I say.
Alexander	I'm going to cut their... I'm going to cut them. Parmen first. They'll all get infected. Only this time, whatever they say, don't save them. Let them die.
Kirk	Give it to me!
Alexander	Please let me give them a taste of what they gave me. Please! They're going to kill you anyhow. You know that.
Kirk	In that case, what's the point in you dying, too?
Alexander	Th-That's the first time anybody ever thought of my life before his own. I should have told you when you first came here that they were going to kill you. Because I knew, but I was afraid. I was afraid.
Kirk	That's all right. It's all right, Alexander. Listen, we haven't given up, and there may be something you can do to help.
Alexander	Anything I can do, you just tell me.
Kirk	All right, did the Platonians always have this power?
Alexander	No. Not until we came to this planet.
Spock	Alexander, it is possible for you to recall how long after you arrived here that that power began to develop?
Alexander	How could I forget that? It was 6 months and 14 days after we got here that they started pushing me around.
Spock	And would you know, how many months' supplies you brought with you?
Alexander	Well, four, I think. Uh, three.
Spock	That's close enough, Alexander. Fascinating. Their power developed two or three months after they started eating the native foods.
Alexander	That's right.
Spock	Then it's logical to assume that there is a connection between the psychokinetic power and the eating of the native foods.
McCoy	Then why wouldn't Alexander have the same power as the others?
Spock	Perhaps his system cannot absorb the crucial element.
Kirk	Bones, I think it'd  be a good idea if you took a reading of Alexander's blood.
Alexander	Uh, not that I'm afraid or anything, but will it hurt much?
McCoy	You won't even know it happened.
Kirk	You still have a tricorder reading of Parmen's blood, don't you?
McCoy	Of course. Parmen possesses the highest order of psychokinetic ability, and Alexander the lowest in the same environmental conditions.
Spock	The probabilities are that Alexander was born with some biochemical deficiency relative to Platonius.
McCoy	I'll run both their blood samples for a full comparative tricorder test in the tricorder.
Kirk	And if our theory works out, we've got a weapon.
McCoy	One significant difference between Parmen's blood and Alexander's is a concentration of kironide broken down by a pituitary hormone.
Kirk	Kironide. A high-energy source. That could be it.
Spock	The pituitary hormones confirm the hypothesis. They also regulate body growth.
Alexander	Oh. You mean, the same thing that kept me from having the power made me a dwarf?
Spock	Yes. It's also obvious why Parmen kept this little utopia secret. Anyone coming here and remaining long enough would acquire the power.
Kirk	Exactly. McCoy... there must be a quick way of building up a concentration of kironide in our blood.
McCoy	It will take some doing, but it is possible.
Kirk	What are we waiting for? What is it, Bones?
McCoy	Even if the kironide reaches the desired effect, it still may not help us get out of here..
Kirk	Yes. There are 38 of them.
Spock	The point is well taken, however the psychokinetic power is not additive. If it were, considering the Platonians' hostile propensities two or three of them would have combined forces centuries ago and deposed Parmen.
Alexander	He's right. Do you know, Parmen says each has his own separate power frequency, because when they've tried to combine their powers, and use them together, it never worked.
McCoy	I'm ready.
Kirk	Let's not any waste time. Give us double the concentration in Parmen's blood.
Spock	The time factor concerns me. It may take days or even weeks before there's enough build up from the kironide to be of any benefit to us.
Kirk	Yes. What about Alexander?
McCoy	Since the kironide's broken down and injected directly into his bloodstream, it should work on him as well as us-- better in fact, because he's acclimated.
Alexander	Oh, no. Not after what they've done to me.
Kirk	Why not? You could conceivably take Parmen's place and run the whole planet.
Alexander	You think that's what I want? Become one of them, become my own enemy? Just lie around like a big blop of nothing and have things done for me? I want to move for myself. If I'm going to laugh or cry, I want do it fo myself. You can keep your precious power. All I ask is one thing. If you do make it out of here, take me with you. Just drop me anyplace they never heard of kironide or Platonius.
Kirk	Alexander-- Nurse. Lieutenant Uhura. I guess we weren't sufficiently entertaining.
Chapelová	Are we ever glad to see you.
Uhura	We were forced in the transporter and beamed down. It was like becoming someone's puppet.
Chaplová	I thought I was sleepwalking. I couldn't stop myself. Captain, what is it? What's going on?
Kirk	Spock, do you feel any effect of the kironide shot?
Spock	I have experienced a slight flush, Captain.
Kirk	So did l. Let's try a simple test. Concentrate on raising this plate of fruit. Nothing.
Parmen	Fellow academicians, 2,500 years ago, a band of hearty vagabonds arrived on this barren, rough-hewn planet. There was a desperate hardship of backbreaking toil. And then a divine providence graced our genius and our dedication with the power of powers. And through it, our every need instantly materialized. We thereupon determined to form a utopian brotherhood. This night is indeed a festive occasion, for tonight, we welcome into that brotherhood its first new member.
Kirk	Not yet, Parmen. You have to convince the doctor first.
McCoy	They'll never do it, Jim.
Parmen	Doctor, please. You have destroyed the festive mood of the ladies. We must recapture it at once. I know. What would be better than a serenade from the laughing spaceman?
Spock	"Take care, young ladies, and value your wine"
	"Be watchful of young men in their velvet prime"
	"Deeply they'll swallow from your finest kegs"
	"Then swiftly be gone"
	"Leaving bitter dregs"
	"Ahh-ah-ah-ah"
	"Bitter dregs"
	"With smiling words and tender touch"
	"Man offers little and asks for so much"
	"He loves in the breathless excitement of night"
	"Then leaves with your treasure"
	"n cold morning light"
	"Ahh ahh"
	"In cold morning light"
Parmen	And now let the revels begin.
Dioniyde	Oh, how faithless and fickle.
Eraclitus	Make up your minds.
Chapelová	I'm so ashamed. Please make them stop.
Spock	We have tried.
Chapelová	Please! Please make them stop.
Spock	I haven't the power. I'm deeply sorry. We failed you.
Chapelová	For so long I've wanted to be close to you. Now all I want to crawl away and die.
Dioniyde	Careful, Mr. Spock. Too much love is dangerous.
Eraclitus	Remember-- Cupid's arrow kills Vulcans.
Uhura	I'm so frightened, Captain. I'm so very frightened.
Kirk	That's the way they want you to feel. It makes them think that they're alive.
Uhura	I know it... but I wish I could stop trembling.
Kirk	Try not to think of them. Try.
Uhura	I'm thinking. I'm thinking of all the times on the Enterprise when I was scared to death... and I would see you so busy at your commands. And I would hear your voice from all the parts of the ship... and my fears would fade. And now they are making me tremble. But I'm not afraid. I am not afraid.
Philana	Parmen, let's get on with it.
Parmen	You are so impatient, my wife. Observe the doctor and learn. He's quite content to wait for the piece de resistance.
Kirk	You're half dead, all of you! You've been dead for centuries. We may disappear tomorrow, but at least we're living now, and you can't stand that, can you? You're half crazy because there's nothing inside. Nothing. And you have to torture us to convince yourselves you're superior.
McCoy	Stop it, Parmen! Stop it! I'll do whatever you want me to do. I'll stay and serve you, but stop it!
Philana	Parmen.
Parmen	Alexander again. He likes to play with knives. Very well. We shall indulge him. Who did that?
Kirk	I did.
Eraclitus	Impossible!
Spock	Quite possible... and logical.
Dionyide	What is this?
Philana	What's going on?
Kirk	Platonians, listen to me. The next one of you that tries any trick will get hurt. Not only do we have your psychokinetic abilities, but at twice your power level.
Parmen	Not twice mine! Captain, no! Captain... I beg of you! I'll do anything you say. I do not wish to die. Captain... do you hear me?
Alexander	Don't stop me. Let me finish him off.
Kirk	Do you want to be like him?
Alexander	Parmen, listen to me. I could have had your power, but I didn't want it. I could have had your place right now, but the sight of you and your academicians sickens me. Despite your brains, you're the most contemptible things that ever lived in this universe.
Parmen	Captain... you knew that I intended to destroy both you and the Enterprise, yet you spared me.
Kirk	To us, killing is murder, even for revenge. But there will be other star ships.
Parmen	There's no need for concern. They'll be safe. Of late, I have begun to think that we've become bizarre and unproductive. We're existing merely to nourish our own power. It's time for some fresh air. We shall welcome your interstellar visits.
Kirk	I don't believe you.
Spock	That would be highly uncharacteristic. We must expect, Parmen, that the moment we leave here, your fear would be gone and you would again be as sadistic and as arrogant as your 2,500 years have made you.
Kirk	Just remember, we can recreate that power in a matter of hours, so don't try anything.
Parmen	Understood, Captain. And you're right. None of us can be trusted. Uncontrolled, power will turn even saints into savages, and we can all be counted upon to live down to our lowest impulses.
Kirk	You're very good at making speeches, Parmen. Just make sure that this one sinks in. Now, move aside. Alexander. Kirk to Enterprise. Mr. Scott, prepare to beam us up. I have a little surprise for you. I'm bringing a visitor aboard.

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