This is com station Epsilon 9 calling USS Columbia.
Come in, Columbia. Respond, please.
This is Scout Columbia, Epsilon 9. Could you boost your transmission?
This is Epsilon 9, Columbia.
Am boosting output. How read you this?
Fine, fine. Thank you, Epsilon 9. Receiving your transmission.
Scout Columbia, NCC-621...
to rendezvous with Scout Revere, NCC-595...
on stardate 7411.4.
Further orders will be relayed at that time.
Signed Commodore Prober to Starfleet.
- End of transmission. - Received. Thank you.
Our sensor drone is intercepting this on Quad L-14.
That's within Klingon boundaries. Who are they fighting?
Unknown, sir.
I have an exterior visual.
We've plotted a course on that cloud, Commander.
It will pass into Federation space fairly close to us.
Heading?
Sir, it's on a precise heading for Earth.
Commander Sonak.
You received your appointment as Enterprise science officer?
Based, I am told, on your recommendation, Admiral. Thank you.
Then why aren't you aboard?
Captain Decker requested I complete final science briefing here before...
- Here? - We leave on our mission.
At Starfleet?
The Enterprise is in final preparation to leave dock.
Which will require 20 more hours at minimum...
Twelve.
I'm on my way to a meeting with Admiral Nogura...
which will not last more than three minutes.
Report to me on the Enterprise in one hour.
Report to you, sir?
It is my intention to be on that ship following that meeting.
Report to me in one hour.
- Admiral! - Mr. Scott.
Those departure orders... 12 hours. Starfleet cannot be serious.
Why aren't the Enterprise transporters operating, Mr. Scott?
A wee problem, sir. Just temporary.
Admiral, we have just finished 18 months...
redesigning and refitting the Enterprise.
How in hell do they expect me to have her ready in 12 hours?
Take me over, please.
She needs more work, sir. A shakedown!
Mr. Scott, an alien object of unbelievable destructive power...
is less than three days away from this planet.
The only starship in interception range is the Enterprise.
Ready or not, she launches in 12 hours.
The crew haven't had near enough transition time...
with all the new equipment.
And the engines... They're not even tested at warp power.
And an untried captain.
Two-and-a-half years as chief of Starfleet Operations...
may have made me a little stale, but I...
wouldn't exactly consider myself untried.
- They gave her back to me, Scotty. - Gave her back, sir?
I doubt it was that easy with Nogura.
You're right.
Well, any man who could manage such a feat...
I would not dare disappoint.
She'll launch on time, sir, and she'll be ready.
- Thank you, Mr. Scott. - Aye, sir.
Cargo bay to launch crew.
A travel pod is now available at dock 6.
- Permission to come aboard, sir. - Granted, sir.
Welcome aboard, Admiral.
Commander Scott, you're needed in Engineering immediately.
Sir, you'll excuse me.
Flight deck, prepare for an incoming shuttlecraft.
If you'll follow me, I'll show you...
I think I can find my way, Ensign.
Aye, sir.
Bridge.
What's the problem?
I thought you people had that circuit patched in an hour ago.
We did. We had to disconnect it.
All right. Take out...
It's going to take us longer that way. We're trying to save time.
I'm still waiting for a check on the line. What's holding it up?
As soon as somebody can get to it.
What's the next program?
I'll get somebody down there as soon as I can, Cleary.
My people are all tied up now.
Captain! Starfleet just signaled your transfer of command orders.
- Captain. - I appreciate the welcome.
I wish the circumstances were less critical.
Epsilon 9 is monitoring the intruder. Keep a channel open to them.
Aye, sir.
- Where's Captain Decker? - He's in Engineering, sir.
He... He doesn't know.
- Mr. Chekov. - Aye, sir.
Assemble the crew on the recreation deck at 0400 hours.
I want to show them what we're facing.
He wanted her back. He got her.
And Captain Decker?
He's been with this ship every minute of her refitting.
Ensign, the possibilities of our returning from this mission...
in one piece may have just doubled.
Check Cleary on number six.
- Need your cooler status. - Stand by.
Space matrix restoration coils. Dilithium crystals.
I knew it. The transporter sensor was not activated.
Air equalization. Automatic off.
Faulty module.
Cleary, put a new backup sensor into the unit.
Aye, sir.
Admiral Kirk! Well, we're getting a top brass send-off.
Don't worry, she'll launch on schedule...
if we have to tow her out with our bare hands, right, Scotty?
Aye. That we will, sir.
- Let's talk. - Sure.
Let me know when that backup's ready.
All due respect, I hope this isn't some kind of Starfleet pep talk.
- I'm really too busy. - I'm taking over the center seat.
You're what?
I'm replacing you as captain of the Enterprise.
You'll stay on as executive officer.
Temporary grade reduction to commander.
You personally are assuming command?
Yeah.
- May I ask why? - My experience.
Five years out there dealing with unknowns like this.
My familiarity with the Enterprise and its crew.
Admiral, this is an almost totally new Enterprise.
You don't know her a tenth as well as I do.
That's why you're staying aboard.
I'm sorry, Will.
No, Admiral, I don't think you're sorry.
Not one damn bit.
I remember when you recommended me for this command.
You told me how envious you were and how much you hoped...
you'd find a way to get a starship command again.
Well, sir, it looks like you found a way.
Report to the bridge, Commander, immediately.
Aye, sir.
Transporter room! Come in! Urgent!
Redline on the transporter, Mr. Scott!
Transporter, do not engage!
- It's too late. They're beaming now. - Do not...
Do you read me, Starfleet? Override it! Pull them back!
Unable to retrieve their pattern, Enterprise.
Give it to me.
Starfleet, boost your matter gain. We need more signal.
More signal!
- We're losing their pattern! - Oh, no, they're forming.
Starfleet, do you have them?
Enterprise, what we got back didn't live long, fortunately.
Starfleet, Kirk.
Please express my condolences to their families.
Commander Sonak's can be reached through the Vulcan embassy.
There was nothing you could have done, Rand.
It wasn't your fault.
Yeoman, turboshaft 8?
Back that way, sir.
We have to replace Commander Sonak.
I'd still like a Vulcan there, if possible.
None available, Captain.
In fact, there's no one who's fully rated on this design.
You are, Mr. Decker.
I'm afraid you're going to have to double as science officer.
That's all we know about it...
except that it is now 53.4 hours away from Earth.
Enterprise is the only Federation starship that stands in its way.
Our orders are to intercept...
investigate and take whatever action is necessary...
and possible.
Bridge to Captain. Priority signal from Epsilon 9.
- Put it on viewer. - On viewer, sir.
Enterprise, the cloud is definitely a power field of some kind.
Measures... My God... over two AU's in diameter.
Must be something incredible inside there generating it.
We're transmitting linguacode friendship messages...
on all frequencies.
No response.
I have a null reading at the center of the cloud.
Definitely something inside there, but scans are being reflected back.
- Some kind of power surge. - Receiving an odd pattern now.
Enterprise, they could be mistaking our scans as a hostile act.
They seem to be reacting to our scans, sir.
Deflectors, emergency full!
- We are under attack. - External view.
Viewer off.
Prelaunch countdown will commence in 40 minutes.
Transporter system fully repaired and functioning normally, sir.
Dock signals clear, Captain.
Reply we are holding position, awaiting final crew replacements.
Aye, sir.
Transporter personnel reports...
the navigator, Lieutenant Ilia...
She's already aboard and en route to the bridge, sir.
She's Deltan, Captain.
Lieutenant Ilia reporting for duty, sir.
Welcome aboard, Lieutenant.
- Hello, Ilia. - Decker.
I was stationed on the lieutenant's home planet some years ago.
Commander Decker?
Yes, our exec and science officer.
Captain Kirk has the utmost confidence in me.
And in you, too, Lieutenant.
My oath of celibacy is on record, Captain.
- May I assume my duties? - By all means.
Starfleet reports our last six crew members are ready to beam up...
but one of them is refusing to step into the transporter.
Oh? I'll see to it that he beams up.
Transporter room.
- Yeoman? - Yes, sir?
- What was the problem down there? - He insisted we go first, sir.
Said something about first seeing how it scrambled our molecules.
Has a familiar ring, doesn't it?
Starfleet, this is Captain Kirk.
Beam that officer up now.
Well, for a man who swore he'd never return to Starfleet...
Just a moment, Captain, sir. I'll explain what happened.
Your revered Admiral Nogura invoked a little-known...
seldom-used reserve activation clause.
In simpler language, Captain, they drafted me!
They didn't.
This was your idea. This was your idea, wasn't it?
Bones, there's a thing out there.
Why is any object we don't understand always called a thing?
Headed this way. I need you.
Damn it, Bones, I need you.
Badly!
Permission to come aboard.
Permission granted, sir.
Well, Jim, I hear Chapel's an MD now.
Well, I'm going to need a top nurse...
not a doctor who will argue every little diagnosis with me.
And they probably redesigned the whole sick bay too!
I know engineers. They love to change things.
Dock control reports ready, sir.
- Helm ready, sir. - Orbital departure on plot, sir.
Yard command signaling clear, sir.
- Maneuvering thrusters, Mr. Sulu. - Maneuvering thrusters, sir.
Hold station.
Thrusters at station-keeping, sir.
Thrusters ahead, Mr. Sulu.
Take us out.
Intermix set, Bridge. Impulse power at your discretion.
Impulse power, Mr. Sulu.
Ahead warp.5.
Departure angle on viewer.
Departure angle.
- Viewer ahead. - Viewer ahead.
Captain's Log. ? Stardate 7412.6...
1.8 hours from launch.
In order to intercept the intruder at the earliest possible time...
we must now risk engaging warp drive while still within the solar system.
Captain, assuming we have full warp capability...
accelerating to warp 7 on leaving the solar system...
will bring us to IP with the intruder in 20.1 hours.
Well, Bones, do the new medical facilities meet with your approval?
They do not. It's like working in a damn computer center.
- Programming ready? - Set for standard warp entry.
But I still recommend further simulation study.
Mr. Decker, every minute brings that object closer to Earth.
Engineering, stand by for warp drive.
Captain, we need further warp simulation on the flow sensors.
Engineer, we need warp speed now!
Jim, you're pushing.
Your people know their jobs.
That's it, sir. I can't do any better.
Aye, lad.
It's borderline on the simulator. I cannot guarantee she'll hold up.
Warp drive, Mr. Scott.
- Ahead warp 1, Mr. Sulu. - Accelerating to warp 1, sir.
Warp.7,.8.
Warp 1, sir.
Mr. Decker...
Wormhole. Get us back on impulse power. Full reverse.
Negative helm control, Captain. Going reverse on impulse power.
Subspace frequencies jammed, sir!
Wormhole effect!
Negative control from inertial lag will continue 22.5 seconds...
before forward velocity slows to sublight speed.
Unidentified small object has been pulled into the wormhole with us.
- Directly ahead. - Force fields up full.
Put object on viewer.
- Go manual override on helm. - No manual response, sir.
Navigational deflectors coming up, sir.
Wormhole distortion has overloaded the main power systems.
Navigational deflectors inoperative, Captain.
Directional control also inoperative.
Time to impact?
Twenty seconds.
Mr. Chekov, stand by on phasers.
No!
Belay that phaser order!
Arm photon torpedoes!
Photon torpedoes...
armed!
Object is an asteroid.
Reading mass.7.
Targeting...
asteroid!
Impact in ten seconds.
Impact in eight seconds.
- Fire torpedoes! - Six!
Torpedoes away!
Five!
Helm control restored, sir.
- Position report, Navigator. - Computing new intersection course.
Communications are normal, sir.
Negative damage reported, Captain.
No casualties reported, Doctor.
Wrong, Mr. Chekov. There are casualties.
My wits, as in "frightened out of," Captain, sir.
We were at warp.8. Engineer, report your status there.
In just a second, Exec. We're picking up the pieces down here.
Mr. Scott, we need warp drive as soon as possible.
The engine imbalance created the wormhole in the first place.
It'll happen again if we don't correct it.
That object is less than two days away from Earth.
We need to intercept while it still is out there.
Lay in a heading to conform with our initial IP with the intruder.
Mr. Sulu, you have the conn. Mr. Decker.
- I'd like to see you in my quarters. - Mind if I tag along, Captain?
Level 5.
All right, explanation. Why was my phaser order countermanded?
The Enterprise redesign increases phaser power...
by channeling it through the main engines.
When they went into antimatter imbalance...
the phasers were automatically cut off.
Then you acted properly, of course.
Thank you, sir.
I'm sorry if I embarrassed you.
- You saved the ship. - I'm aware of that, sir.
Stop competing with me, Decker.
- Permission to speak freely, sir? - Granted.
Sir, you haven't logged a single star hour in two-and-a-half years.
That, plus your unfamiliarity with the ship's redesign...
in my opinion, sir, seriously jeopardizes this mission.
I trust you will...
nursemaid me through these difficulties?
Yes, sir, I'll do that.
Then I won't keep you from your duties any longer, Commander.
- Yes, Doctor? - Aye, sir.
He may be right, Jim.
- Was it difficult? - No more than I expected.
About as difficult as seeing you again.
- I'm sorry. - That you left Delta IV?
Or that you didn't even say good-bye?
If I had seen you again...
would you have been able to say it?
No.
Make your point, Doctor.
The point, Captain, is that it's you who is competing.
You rammed getting this command down Starfleet's throat.
You've used this emergency to get the Enterprise back.
And I intend to keep her, is that what you're saying?
Yes.
It's an obsession.
An obsession that can blind you...
to far more immediate and critical responsibilities.
Your reaction to Decker is an example, Jim.
- Bridge to Captain. - Viewer on.
Signal from a Federation registered long-range shuttle, sir.
She wishes to come alongside and lock on.
For what purpose?
My security scan shows it has a grade-one priority, Captain.
Nonbelligerency confirmed.
I suspect it is a courier of some kind.
Very well, Mr. Chekov. See to it.
Viewer off.
Your opinion has been noted. Anything further?
That depends on you.
Security scan. ? one boarder. Identity. ?Starfleet, inactive.
- Permission to come aboard, sir. - Granted, sir.
Granted.
Why... Why, it's Mister...
Spock!
Spock.
Commander, if I may?
If... Oh.
I've been monitoring your communications with Starfleet.
I'm aware of your engine design difficulties.
I offer my services as science officer...
with all due respect, Commander.
- If our exec has no objections. - Of course not.
I'm well aware of Mr. Spock's qualifications.
Mr. Chekov, log Mr. Spock's Starfleet commission reactivated.
List him as science officer. Both effective immediately.
Mr. Spock.
Well, so help me, I'm actually pleased to see you.
It's how we all feel, Mr. Spock.
Captain, with your permission...
I will now discuss these fuel equations with the engineer.
Mr. Spock.
Welcome aboard.
Captain's Log. ? Stardate 7413.4.
Thanks to Mr. Spock's timely arrival and assistance...
we have the engines rebalanced into full warp capacity.
Repair time. ? less than three hours.
Which means we will now be able to intercept intruder...
while still more than a day from Earth.
Warp.8.
.9.
Warp 2, sir.
Warp 3.
Warp 4.
Warp 5.
Warp 6.
Warp 7.
Science Officer Spock, reporting as ordered, Captain.
Please, sit down.
Spock, you haven't changed a bit.
You're just as warm and sociable as ever.
Nor have you, Doctor...
as your continued predilection for irrelevancy demonstrates.
Gentlemen.
At last report, you were on Vulcan...
apparently to stay.
Yes, you were undergoing the "Kolanear" discipline.
Sit down.
If you are referring to the Kolinahr, Doctor, you are correct.
Well, however it's pronounced, Mr. Spock, it's the Vulcan ritual...
that's supposed to purge all remaining emotions.
The Kolinahr is also a discipline you broke to join us.
Will you, please, sit down?
On Vulcan I began sensing a consciousness...
from a source more powerful than I have ever encountered.
Thought patterns of exactingly perfect order.
I believe they emanate from the intruder.
I believe it may hold my answers.
Isn't it lucky for you that we just happened to be heading your way?
Bones!
We need him.
I need him.
Then my presence is to our mutual advantage.
Any thought patterns you might sense...
whether they appear to affect you personally or not...
I expect immediately reported.
Of course, Captain.
- Is there anything else? - No.
Jim?
If this superintelligence...
is as important to him as he says it is, how do we know...
That he wouldn't put his own interests ahead of the ship's?
I could never believe that.
How do we know about any of us?
Bridge to Officers'Lounge. Captain Kirk.
Revised estimate on cloud visual contact. ?3.7 minutes.
On my way.
Order new backup settings there.
Present status.
Give us a priority, Commander.
Bridge Communication to Flight Conn. Check your subspace alignment.
Standard light, Engineer.
- Full mag on viewer. - Full mag, sir.
Linguacode?
Continuing friendship messages on all frequencies, sir.
All decks and divisions confirmed. Status red.
Captain, we are being scanned.
Do not return scan, Mr. Spock.
It could be misinterpreted as hostility.
Intruder scans emanating from the exact center of the cloud.
Energy of a type...
never before encountered.
There's no response to friendship messages, sir.
- Shall I go to battle stations? - Negative.
We'll take no provocative action.
Recommend defensive posture, Captain. Screens and shields.
No, Mr. Decker, that could also be misinterpreted as hostile.
Cloud composition, Mr. Spock?
- Twelfth-power energy field. - Twelfth-power?
We've seen what their weapons can do. Shouldn't we take every precaution?
- Mr. Decker... - Captain.
I suspect there's an object at the heart of that cloud.
I will not provoke an attack. If that order isn't clear enough...
Captain, as your exec it's my duty...
to point out alternatives.
Yes, it is.
I stand corrected.
Five minutes to cloud boundary.
Navigator, lay in a conic section flight path to the cloud center.
Bring us parallel to whatever we find in there.
Mr. Sulu, tactical plot on viewer.
Tactical on viewer, sir.
That measures 12th-power energy?
Thousands of starships couldn't generate that much...
Mr. Spock?
Spock, tell me.
I sense...
puzzlement.
We have been contacted.
Why have we not replied?
Contacted?
How?
Force fields up full. Deflectors, now.
Force fields and deflectors up full, Captain.
Analysis, Mr. Spock.
Alien weapon is a form of plasma energy, Captain.
Exact composition unknown.
Guidance system unknown.
All decks, brace for impact.
Engineering, status report.
Systems overloading, Captain.
Medic.
Medics are coming.
Engineering to Bridge.
Cannot hold full power on force fields.
Deflector power is down 70 percent.
Divert auxiliary power to deflectors.
Oh, good. Christine, it's Chekov.
Medic.
I can stop his pain.
Thank you.
Captain.
The intruder has been attempting to communicate.
Frequency: More than one million megahertz...
and at such a high rate of speed...
their entire message lasts only a millisecond.
I am now programming our computer...
to transmit linguacode at their frequency and rate of speed.
Commander.
Spock!
Here it comes.
Engineering, what's happening to our force field?
Our shields cannot handle another attack.
Mr. Spock.
Spock.
Fifteen seconds.
Spock, transmit now.
Ten seconds.
Transmitting.
It would seem our friendship messages...
have been received and understood, Mr. Spock.
I would say that was a logical assumption, Captain.
One minute, 30 seconds to cloud boundary.
Captain...
we are obviously confronted by a highly advanced mentality.
Yet they cannot understand...
who we are or what we want.
And yet it would seem that they understood our message.
They broke off the attack.
They may have attacked only as a warning to us, Captain...
to keep away.
That would presuppose a feeling...
Commander.
Compassion.
I sense no emotion.
Only pure logic.
Mr. Sulu, hold present position.
Holding present position, sir.
Tactical plot on viewer.
Course projection on tactical, sir.
Opinion, Mr. Spock.
Recommend we proceed, Captain.
- Mr. Decker? - I advise caution, Captain.
We can't withstand another attack.
That thing is 20 hours away from Earth.
- We know nothing about it as yet. - Precisely the point, Captain.
We don't know what it'll do.
Moving into that cloud at this time...
is an unwarranted gamble.
How do you define "unwarranted"?
You asked my opinion, sir.
Viewer. Standard ahead.
Navigator, maintain course.
Helmsman...
steady as she goes.
No vessel could generate a power field of this magnitude.
Spock.
Instruments fluctuating, Captain.
Patterns unrecognizable.
Transmit image of alien to Starfleet.
Advise we are attempting further communication.