"Passing outer planet, Zeon." "We want the inner one, Ekos." "Plot a standard orbit, Mr. Chekov, and take us in." "Aye, sir." "Lieutenant Uhura, try to raise John Gill on Starfleet communications." " Aye, aye, sir." " Starfleet's been trying for six months." "If he's still alive, isn't it unlikely that he'd receive us now?" "I don't know, Bones." "We're here to find out what's happened because I don't know." "I never met John Gill, but I studied Earth history from the text he prepared." "I knew him very well." "He was my instructor at the Academy." "What impressed me most was his treatment of Earth history as causes and motivations rather than dates and events." "Captain, no response on any Starfleet channel." "Spacecraft approaching from inner planet." " From Ekos?" " Yes, but it must be a Zeon ship." "The Zeons do have a crude interplanetary capability." "Reaction-powered." "A small rocket." "It is on an intercept course." "That would mean it has sophisticated detection devices, which neither Zeon nor Ekos should have." " Have you raised anyone, Lieutenant?" " Nothing, sir." "Captain, it is an unmanned probe which seems to be carrying a warhead." "Stand by phasers." " Phasers ready." " Range, Mr. Chekov?" "Two thousand kilometres." "Closing fast." "Fire." "Fascinating." "A thermonuclear warhead." "That's generations ahead of where these people should be technically." " How did they manage that?" " Maybe they had help." "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." "Plot a maximum orbit." "Take us out of range of their detection devices." "Most interesting." "We were attacked by a thermonuclear missile from a planet which should have no such weapon." " Orbit computed and locked in, sir." " Execute." "Captain, no response from John Gill on any channel." "He must be dead." "And what's going on down there on Ekos?" "According to our records, the Ekosians are a primitive, warlike people in a state of anarchy." "The other planet, Zeon, has a relatively high technology, and its people are peaceful." "We've run into a far more serious problem than the disappearance of John Gill." "Spock, you and I will beam down." "Bones, one precaution." "Prepare a subcutaneous transponder in the event we can't use our communicators." "Insert the transponder, doctor." "Make one low pass to communication range in three hours." "If we fail to make contact at the appointed time, take our coordinates from the transponder and beam us aboard no matter what our condition may be." "Aye, sir." "Whatever your condition." " You ready?" " Ready, captain." "Energize." "The Ekosians are humanoid, so there's apt to be a similarity in architecture." "Interesting." "Hide!" "They're right behind me!" "Hide!" "Hide!" "Zeon pig." "On your feet, pig." "Captain, the Non-lnterference Directive." "Hold." "Hands above your head, Zeon." "Higher." "Keep your hands in the air so you don't touch anything Ekosian." "You swine have defiled us for the last time." "But that's now ended." "Move." "Unbelievable." " Do you recognise those uniforms?" " Mid-20th century Earth." "The nation-state called Nazi Germany." "Attention." "Attention." "Attention." "An announcement from Führer Headquarters." "Today, the Führer has ordered our glorious capital to be made Zeon-free." "Starting at dawn, our heroic troops began flushing out the Zeon monsters who've been poisoning our planet." "How could this have happened?" "The chances of another planet developing a culture like Nazi Germany, using the forms, the symbols, the uniforms of 20th century Earth, are so fantastically slim." "Virtually impossible, captain." "Yet the evidence is quite clear." "The Führer's headquarters reports repulsing an attack by Zeon spacecraft." "Our missiles utterly destroyed the enemy." "You look quite well for a man who's been utterly destroyed, Mr. Spock." "At this patriotic demonstration," "Deputy Führer Melakon presented the Iron Cross, second class, to Daras, hero of the Fatherland." "Everywhere preparations go forward toward the final decision:" "Death to Zeon." "Long live the Fatherland." "Long live the Führer." " That's John Gill." "The Führer?" " Fascinating." "You." "Zeons." "What kind of monsters are the Zeons sending against us?" "You're right." "He's not one of us." " What do you mean, us?" " Look at him." "Spock, take his uniform." "You propose we pass ourselves off as Nazis, captain?" "If John Gill is the Führer, it would seem the logical approach." "That's very well taken, captain." "That helmet covers a multitude of sins." "Lieutenant." "What have we here?" " A Zeon?" " Yes." "Obviously he's not one of us." "I captured him." "Is that not the correct procedure with enemies of the Fatherland?" "With all Zeon pigs, lieutenant." " Take charge of him." " With pleasure." "Today we have a surprise planned for you, Zeon." "Your uniform, captain." "Yes, it's a shame yours isn't as attractive as mine." " Gestapo, I believe." " Quite correct." "You should make a very convincing Nazi." "Lieutenant." "Have you forgotten how to salute?" "Your papers." "Your orders, lieutenant." "He wants to see your orders in the jacket." "The lieutenant's a little dazed." "He captured several Zeons single-handed." "One of the pigs struck him before he dropped." "I promise you, that pig will never get up again." "Good work, lieutenant." " Hail the Führer." " Hail to the Führer." "This is a day to remember, major." "Lieutenant." "Better see a doctor." "You don't look well." "Your colour." " Yes, I shall tend to it, major." " Lieutenant." "Your helmet, remove it." "We have urgent business with the Führer." "Lieutenant, remove your helmet." "Enough." "Do you wish to speak now?" "Tell me your orders!" "You were sent here to kill our Führer." "Confess!" "Do you want some more persuasion?" "You're making this a one-sided conversation, major." "Do not joke with me, Zeon pig." "Who is this alien?" "Things might go easier for you if you tell me about him." "Let me speak to your Führer." "I'll tell him everything he wants to know." "You'll be glad to talk to me before I'm through with you." "Major." "Chairman Eneg." "Your Excellency, I am honoured." "I have been interrogating these two spies captured in..." "I've had a full report." "You are not from Zeon." "Obviously." "Where do you come from?" "I'll explain when I see the Führer." "What is your business with the Führer?" "I'll discuss that only with him." "Pig!" "You're speaking to the chairman of the party." "That's enough, major." "What were the weapons found on you?" "What design?" "Our famous S.S. Laboratories have been unable to discover how the weapons work." "Excellency, give me a few minutes with them." " I promise you I'll have them..." " You had a few minutes without result." "The trouble with you S.S. Is that you don't realise that punishment becomes ineffective after a certain point." "Men become insensitive." "Yes, Excellency." "Lock them up." "Let their pain argue with them." "Then I will question them." "Excellency, the standing order is to interrogate and execute." "The interrogation is finished, therefore..." "Finished?" "What have you learned?" "Hold them for an hour." " Excellency, the order..." " That is my order, major." "I suggest you do not disobey it." "Yes, Excellency." "All right, pigs." "I shall keep my eye on the clock." "When the hour is up, you will die most unpleasantly, I promise you." "Lock them up." "John Gill was the kindest gentlest man I ever knew." "For him to be a Nazi is impossible." "Why did they take you?" "You're not a Zeon." "And he certainly is not one." "Why do the Nazis treat you as enemies?" "Why do the Nazis hate Zeons?" "Why?" "Because without us to hate, there would be nothing to hold them together." "So the party has built us into a threat," " a disease to be wiped out." " Is Zeon a threat to them?" "Where did you come from?" "Our warlike period ended dozens of generations ago." "We came here, we thought we were civilising the Ekosians." "It would seem the assumption was premature." "Were they like this when you first came here?" "Warlike, yes." "But not vicious." "That started when the Nazi movement began." "It was only a few years ago." "That would coincide with the time of John Gill's arrival." "When they've destroyed us here, they will attack our planet." "They'll use the technology we gave them." "The danger is that taking life is so repugnant to our people" "I'm afraid we'll go down without a struggle." "But after what I saw in the street today, I think I could kill." " Do you know the plan of this building?" " Why?" "If we can get to the S.S. Weapons Laboratory, get our weapons back, we might be able to stop the slaughter of the Zeons." "Why should you be interested in saving Zeons?" "We must get our communicators and contact the ship." "I must point out, captain, the flaw in the plan is this locked door and the guard beyond it." "To the logical mind, the outlook is somewhat gloomy." " The transponders." " Yes." "And a way to shed some light on the gloom, Mr. Spock." "Of course." "The rubindium crystals in the transponders." "Are you trying to kill yourselves?" "I know it's there." "McCoy put it in." "You have the figures computed, Mr. Spock?" "Yes." "It will be necessary to hold the crystals rigidly at a specific distance which I believe should be 27.2 millimetres." "27.2 millimetres would be approximately there." " That is, of course, a crude estimation." " Of course." "What is it you're making there, some kind of radio?" "No, not a radio." "The power from that light is very low." "Yes, to reach that light, I shall require some sort of platform." "I would be honoured, Mr. Spock." "Now, the rubindium crystals should find enough power here to achieve a necessary stimulus." "As I recall from the history of physics the ancient lasers were able to achieve the necessary excitation even using crude natural crystals." "Mr. Spock, the guard did a very professional job on my back." " I would appreciate it if you'd hurry." " Yes, of course, captain." "You realise that the aim will, of course, be very crude." "I don't care if you hit the broad side of a barn." "Just hurry, please." "Captain, why should I aim at such a structure?" "Never mind, Spock." "Just get on with the job." "Oh, my goodness." "Beautiful." "Spock, Spock." "Beautiful." "Over there." "I'll create a commotion." "Help!" "Help!" "I'll talk!" "I'll talk!" "I can't stand it anymore!" "I'll talk!" "Guard!" "Guard!" "I'll talk!" "Guard." "I'll talk." "I'll talk." "The pain." "Take me with you." "Give me a chance to fight them." "Captain, I remind you, we did not intend to fight." "Take me with you or you'll never find the laboratory." "Take him with us, Mr. Spock." "He's got a point." "He's our guide." " Which is the laboratory door?" " At the end of the hall." "All right, Zeon pigs, move." "Zeon pig." "They do nothing right." "Don't worry, they're on their way to the laboratory for experimental work." "They'll pay." "Move!" "Move, move!" "Cover the door." "Here they are, the communicators." "Disassembled." " Can you get one to work?" " Possibly." "Who are you people?" "The phasers?" " I do not see them." " Where do you come from?" ""Alien pistols have been sent to Gestapo Command Headquarters."" "Well, that takes care of the phasers." "You Zeons, for peaceful people, are pretty thorough." "Yes." "With this uniform, we can steal a car, get out of the capital." "We came to get John Gill." "Captain, without phasers, and until we're able to communicate with the ship, it is illogical to assume that we can hold out against the entire military force of this planet." "All right, Mr. Spock, you made your point." "Get into the uniform and hide those ears again." "Hunting's good." "We've caught so many Zeons, we've got to dump them outside." "Who's with you?" "Davod, it's all right." "They helped me escape from the prison." " I owe them my life." " Isak, what is all this?" "Abrom." "Abrom, thank God you're well." "This is my brother." "They were in the prison, beaten as I was, Abrom." " Why were you in that prison?" " I was trying to see the Führer." " The Führer?" " If I can see him, there may be a way of stopping this insanity." "Abrom, I owe them my life." "Isak Uletta is dead." "Shot down in the streets." "She would have been my wife." "She lived for five hours while they walked past her and spat on her." "Our own people were unable to help her." "Now you ask me to help strangers." "If we adopt the ways of the Nazis we're as bad as the Nazis." "Captain I suggest the most profitable use of our time would be to reassemble our communicators." "May I work undisturbed somewhere?" "This way." "Now, using parts from both, I've completed one communicator." "I do not know if the circuits are correct, captain." "There is no way to test it, except in actual use." "The Enterprise won't be within range for another hour." "Over there against the wall, all of you." "The girl on the viewscreen." "The one receiving the medal." " Daras." " Quiet." "Hands in the air, Zeon swine." "So you're the three who escaped from the Chancellery Detention Centre." "What was your plan?" "Speak." "It's the last chance you'll get." " I must see the Führer." "It's urgent." " Urgent?" "I'll bet it is." "I alone am responsible for what happens here." "Do you know what we do to responsible Zeons?" "Now we finish the job." "Where do you stop, you Nazis?" "After you've killed the last of us, what do you do?" "Turn the guns against yourselves?" "No, don't shoot, please." "No, wait." "No more." "You've proved they're on our side." "Now, please forgive us." "But we had to be absolutely certain." "Yes, if we had taken you into our confidence, we could have betrayed all our people, if you had been Nazi spies." "All right, leave us." "The Gestapo methods are frighteningly efficient." "Now, we must be very careful in order to survive here." "We of the underground don't know who our leaders are." "That way, if we break under pressure, we can only betray a handful of our people." "This young lady is a Nazi, a hero of the Fatherland." "We saw her being decorated." "I'm an Ekosian, fighting the terrible thing that's happened to my people." "The decoration was for betraying my own father to the party." "It was my father's idea." "You see, he used to be very close to the Führer, and then he saw the changes and where they were leading." "He turned against the party." "They imprisoned him." " Melakon sentenced him to death." " Melakon?" "The Deputy Führer." "He's taken over." "My father denounced me, making it appear as though I had betrayed him." "He gave me a weapon to continue the fight with." "But how could this have seemed right to John Gill?" " Who?" " John Gill, your Führer." " He's one of our people." " And what is your people?" "I'm Captain James Kirk of the United Spaceship Enterprise." "This is my first officer, Mr. Spock." "John Gill, your Führer, was sent here by the Federation as a cultural observer." "You mean that the Führer is an alien?" " That is correct." "I grew up to admire him." "Later, to hate and despise everything he stands for." "But I always thought he was one of us." "Now to hear that he's an alien sent to destroy us..." "That was not his mission, ever." "He was sent here to observe, not to interfere." "Something went wrong." "And that's why we're here." "To find out and to correct." " We must see him." " It's impossible." "Even if this were another time, it still would be impossible." "He sees no one." "No one but Melakon." " He's under maximum security." " Maximum security." "Is he so afraid?" "There are many of us, both Ekosians and younger Zeons who would gladly risk our lives to kill him." "I don't understand what's going on here." "This goes against every principle that John Gill ever believed in." "Our only chance is to see him, and quickly." "He makes his speech tonight from the Chancellery." "All the top party officials will be there." "Will you be there?" "Of course." "As a symbol of the proper attitude toward the Fatherland." "As an honoured member of the party, she could get us past the guards." "Only the topmost trusted officials will be allowed in." "The country will watch from the viewscreens." "No one knows for sure, but I'm afraid it'll be a formal declaration of war against Zeon." "Their Final Solution." " You must get us in there." " It would be suicide." "It's a risk living at all, the way things are going." "If the captain believes he has a chance, I'm willing to commit suicide with him." "You?" "A Zeon?" "You expect to get into the Chancellery?" "It's even more my fight than yours." " Lights." " You, what is your business here?" "Get me some lights on her." "It's Party Secretary Daras." "The Führer's Special Documentary Corps." " Smile, corporal." " Excuse me." "Captain, I'm beginning to understand why you Earthmen enjoy gambling." "No matter how carefully one computes the odds of success, there is still a certain exhilaration in the risk." "Very good, Spock." "We may make a human of you yet." "I hope not." "Let's go." "Lights." "Thank you." " Where does the Führer enter?" " He doesn't." "They watch him on the big screen." "There, at the end of the room." "He broadcasts from the booth for security." "They've got the booth curtained off." "Bring that light to the side of her face." "Where's the entrance to the broadcast booth?" "There, at the end of the corridor." "You're not going to try to get into the broadcast booth." "We're gonna try." "Sir, is this light a little higher, better here?" "Good." "If we can distract the guard long enough, I can get a machine gun." "It's a small booth." "I can shoot through the door." "We're here to get John Gill, and alive, not for your personal satisfaction." "Is that clear?" "Let's try down there." " Lights, please." " Yes, sir." "Gentlemen, this is for the record of the Führer's Final Solution speech." "We're documenting the men responsible for..." "Smile, gentlemen." "There'll be more coverage later." "Thank you." "Let's get a moving shot down the hall." "What have we accomplished?" "You should have let me shoot him." "Captain, it was John Gill." "But he never moved, never once looked up." "Yes." "That may be part of the plan, the semi-divine detachment." "Or a deep psychosis." "It may be simpler than that." "He may be drugged." "We need McCoy." "Is there a place, a room we can be alone for a few minutes?" " I'm going to send for help." " Send for?" "It takes too long to explain." "Any place will do." "The cloak room?" "It may not have the range it had." " In fact, it may not work at all." " Think positively, Spock." "Spock to Enterprise." "Spock to Enterprise." "Come in, Enterprise." "Enterprise." "Lieutenant Uhura." " Captain here." "Put McCoy on." " Yes, sir." "Captain, we're not reading you well." "You're nine points into the low frequency band." "We're having difficulty." "Patch historical computer into uniform section." "I want McCoy outfitted as a Gestapo doctor," "Nazi Germany, old Earth date 1944." "Make him a colonel." "Yes, sir." "Search the building." "What have you got, Jim?" "We found John Gill." "At least we've seen him." "He may be drugged, hypnotised or psychotic." "You'll have to make a determination." "Hurry with that uniform." " What is it?" " Isak just heard two security men." "They picked up your broadcast and pinpointed it within this building." " They're starting to search." " If there's gonna be a delay in transporting the doctor, I suggest we cancel our..." "Kirk to Enterprise." "What's happening up there?" "Dr. McCoy is having difficulty with that uniform, sir." "Well, send him down naked if you have to." "Kirk out." "It's true." "I only half believed what you said." "Stupid computer made a mistake in the measurements." "The right boot's too tight." "There is a logical way to proceed, doctor." "You point your toe, apply equal pressure to either side of the boot, and push." "We have no time for emotionalism." "This is Dr. McCoy, our chief medical officer." "Daras, secretary to the National Socialist Party." "How do you do?" "What in blazes is this?" "Chairman Eneg." "The colonel is drunk." "He's had a little too much to drink." "I see." "Yes, he thought he would embarrass the Führer." "Yes, a doctor should have more pride." "You were right to conceal him." "There's a spy in this building with a secret transmitter." "We're conducting a search." " Hail the Führer." " Hail the Führer." "Well, captain, I do not understand how he failed to recognise us." "Nor do I." "But luck is something you also fail to recognise, Mr. Spock." "True." "I shall reconsider." "The Führer's speech." "Let's go." "Hail the Führer!" "Hail the Führer!" "Hail the Führer!" "Hail the Führer!" "Ekosians  the job ahead is difficult." "It requires courage and dedication." "It requires faith." "The Zeon colony has existed for nearly half a century." "Watch his mouth." "If we fulfill our own greatness  that will all be ended." " Working together..." " Captain," " the speech follows no logical pattern." " Random sentences strung together." "He looks drugged, Jim." "Almost in a cataleptic state." " To reach our goal." "And we will reach that goal." "I'd like to have to have a close look at him." "Every action we take must be decisive." "Every thought directed toward a goal." "This planet can become a paradise, if we are willing to pay the price." "As each cell in the body works with discipline and harmony for the good of the entire being..." "Gentlemen, I want a picture of you two with the hero of the Fatherland listening to the stirring Führer's speech." "Place that light over here, please." "Get this light around here." "Smile, gentlemen, smile." "Turn around, smile and now..." " Locked." " Keys." "Hail, Führer!" " Hail Führer!" " Hail the Führer!" "Hail the Führer!" "The Führer has given us our orders." "And we pledge him our lives in this sacred task." "Death to Zeon." "Death to Zeon!" "Death to Zeon!" "Death to Zeon!" "Death to Zeon!" " Definitely drugged." "Almost comatose." " What drug?" "I can't identify it without a medi-comp." "Without knowing, an antidote would be dangerous." "Is there anything you can do?" "I can give him a general stimulant, but it would be risky." "Take the risk." "But despite our best efforts, they remain like a cancer eating away at our state." "There's no reaction." "Whatever you gave him isn't working." "Bones, increase the dosage." "I'm working in the dark." "I could kill him." "If they find us here, we'll all be killed." "Ten minutes ago, on our Führer's orders, our troops began their historic mission." "In the cities, the eliminations have started." "Within an hour, the Zeon blight will forever be removed from Ekos." "It's begun." "It's finally begun." "Hail the Führer!" "Hail the Führer!" " The stimulant's working." " I now announce..." "He's reaching a level of consciousness." "It's almost like he's in a light sleep." "That's as much as I dare do." "Our entire solar system will forever be rid of the disease that was Zeon." "Spock, try to get through to him with the mind probe." "If you can't," "Bones, you'll have to use a stronger stimulant no matter what it does." "Our space fleet is on its way toward Zeon with both manned and unmanned weapons." "This is the time of destiny." " Hail victory!" " Hail victory!" "Hail victory!" "Hail victory!" "There's one chance left." "If you'd use the weapons you have, you could destroy the fleet." "That would mean the death of thousands of Ekosian spacemen." "I know." "Many of my friends are aboard that ship." " And many of the underground." " Yes, but against those thousands are millions upon millions of innocent Zeon lives." "We've got to choose the lesser of two evils." "We could save Zeon." " But what about Ekos?" " Captain." "I've created a condition in which Gill cannot initiate speech or any other action, but he can reply to questions." "Well done, Spock." "They've kept what's left of him as a figurehead." "Quite correct." "For the last few years, the real power has been Melakon." "Gill." "Gill, why did you abandon your mission?" "Why did you interfere with this culture?" "Planet fragmented divided." "Took lesson from Earth history." "But why Nazi Germany?" "You studied history." "You knew what the Nazis were." "Most efficient state Earth ever knew." "Quite true, captain." "That tiny country, beaten, bankrupt, defeated, rose in a few years to stand only one step away from global domination." "But it was brutal, perverted." "It had to be destroyed at a terrible cost." "Why that example?" "Perhaps Gill felt that such a state, run benignly, could accomplish its efficiency without sadism." "Why, Gill?" "Why?" "Worked." "At first, it worked." "Then Melakon began takeover, used..." "Gave me the drug." "Gill." "Gill." "Gill, can you hear me?" "You've got to tell those people what happened." "You're the only one who can prevent the slaughter." "Gill." "He's still alive, but the drug they use is too strong." "If I give him another shot..." " Bones, give him another shot." " I don't dare!" "Guards." "We've run out of time, Bones." "Wait." "Aim it at Spock." "Spock, take off the helmet." "For the second time in one day, Daras is a hero to the Fatherland." "She captured a Zeon spy that was attempting to assassinate the Führer." "Guards." "Yes, let us make an example of this traitor, once and for all." "We'll make a present of him to Melakon." "Chairman Eneg, this spy must be taken to Melakon." "Pass them on my responsibility." "Eneg is one of us." "Stick close to Spock." "Stall for time." "And hope." " What is this?" " A spy, Excellency." "A rare prize." "The Deputy Führer can see this is no ordinary Zeon." "Not a Zeon." "Definitely not." "Professor Gill." "Can you hear me?" "You've got to speak." "You've got to speak." "This is our last chance." "Gill." "The Deputy Führer is an authority on the genetics of racial purity." "How would you classify this one?" "Very difficult." "Note the sinister eyes and the malformed ears." "Definitely an inferior race." "Professor." "Professor, you've got to talk." "You've gotta tell them what happened." "You've got to come out of it." "Come on, professor, come on." "Come on." "Note the low forehead, denoting stupidity." "The dull look of a trapped animal." "You may take him now for interrogation." "But I want the body saved for the Cultural Museum." "He'll make an interesting display." "People..." "People  of Ekos." "Go to the booth." "See to the Führer at once." "He's ill." "Turn off that camera." "Hear me." "I suggest we leave and let our Führer rest." "We were betrayed by a self-seeking adventurer  who has led us all to the very brink of disaster." "I order the immediate recall of the space fleet." "This attack must stop." "All units are to return to base." "To Zeon, I promise this was not an aggression of the Ekosian people only one evil man." "Melakon is a traitor to his own people  and to all that we stand for." "To the Zeon people  I promise reparation." "Wait, soldier." "There's been enough killing." "Now we'll start to live the way the Führer meant us to live." "I was wrong." "The Non-lnterference Directive is the only way." "We must stop the slaughter." "You did that, professor." "You told them in time." "Even historians fail to learn from history." "They repeat the same mistakes." "Let the killing end." "Let..." "Is he dead, captain?" "Dead." "For so long, I've prayed for this." " Now I'm sorry." " So was he." " You've given us all a new chance." " Thank you." "But go now." "We must do the rest." "Eneg and I will go on the air, offer a new way for our people for all our people both Zeons and Ekosians." "It is time to stop the bloodshed, to bury our dead." "Well, Mr. Spock, I think the planet is in good hands." "Indeed, captain." "With the union of two cultures, this system would make a fine addition to the Federation." " Kirk to Enterprise." " Enterprise here, captain." "Beam us aboard." "Captain, I never will understand humans." "How could a man as brilliant, a mind as logical as John Gill's have made such a fatal error?" "He drew the wrong conclusion from history." "The problem with the Nazis wasn't simply that their leaders were evil, psychotic men." "They were." "But the main problem, I think, was the leader principle." "What he's saying, Spock, is that a man who holds that much power, even with the best intentions, just can't resist the urge to play God." "Thank you, doctor." "I was able to gather the meaning." "It also proves another Earth saying:" "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." "Darn clever these Earthmen, wouldn't you say?" "Yes." "Earthmen like Ramses, Alexander, Caesar," "Napoleon, Hitler, Lee Kuan." "Your whole Earth history is made up of men seeking absolute power." " Now, Spock, you obviously don't..." " Obviously, doctor, you fail to accept..." "Gentlemen, we've just been through one civil war." "Let's not start another." "Mr. Chekov, take us out of orbit." "Warp factor 2, and hurry."