" Look at those pine trees." " And that lake." "I swear that's honeysuckle I smell." "I swear that's a little orange blossom thrown in." "It's unbelievable." "Growth exactly like that of Earth on a planet half a galaxy away." "What are the odds of such duplication?" "Astronomical, captain." "The relative size, age and composition of this planet makes it highly improbable that it would evolve similarly to Earth in any way." "What in blazes is that?" " Analysis, Spock?" " An alien metal of some kind." "An alloy resistant to probe." "Readings can't even measure its age accurately." "These incised symbols are fascinating, evidently some form of writing." " Any theories about what it is?" " Negative, captain, but structures of this complexity require extremely sophisticated building apparatus, the kind usually found in cultures surpassing or equalling our own." "Meadows and no meteor craters." "The whole place is an enigma, biologically and culturally." "What's the nearest concentration of life forms, Mr. Spock?" "Bearing 117, mark 4." "And how much time did you say we have to investigate?" "If we are to divert the asteroid which is on a collision course with this planet, we must warp out of orbit within 30 minutes." "Every second we delay arriving at the deflection point compounds the problem, perhaps past solution." "You did say 30 minutes." "Yes, sir." "Then let's go." "Let's find out what life forms are blessed by this environment." "They look like..." "I'd swear they're American Indians." "They are, doctor." "A mixture of Navajo, Mohican and Delaware, I believe." "All among the more advanced and peaceful tribes." "It's like discovering Atlantis." "Or Shangri-la." "Mr. Spock, is it possible there's a more evolved civilisation somewhere else on this planet?" "One capable of building that obelisk or developing a deflector system?" "Highly improbable, captain." "Sensor probes indicate only one type of life form here." "Shouldn't we contact them, Jim?" "Tell them?" "Tell them what?" "An asteroid's coming to smash their world into atoms?" "Too primitive to grasp the concept of space flight, doctor." "Our appearance here would only serve to confuse and frighten them." "We've got a job to do." "Let's get back to the Enterprise." " What's the matter, Jim?" " What?" "Oh, nothing." "It's just so peaceful." "Uncomplicated." "No problems, no command decisions." "Just living." "Typical human reaction to an idyllic natural setting." "Back in the 20th century, we referred to it as the Tahiti Syndrome." "It's particularly common to overpressured leader types, like starship captains." "Tahiti Syndrome." "Let's go take care of that asteroid." "But first I want another look at that obelisk." " Doctor?" " Yes?" "I suggest that any further research on your part be delayed until after we have diverted the asteroid." " Kirk to Enterprise." " Yes, sir." "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 civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before." "Captain's log, stardate 4842.6." "First Officer Spock commanding." "Numerous search parties and repeated sensor probes of the area have failed to locate Captain Kirk." " Spock to Enterprise." " Enterprise." "Come in, Mr. Spock." "Prepare to beam us up, Mr. Scott." "We're warping out of orbit." "Leaving?" "You can't be serious, Spock." "Doctor, that asteroid is almost as large as your Earth's moon." "Far enough away, the angle necessary to divert it enough to avoid destruction is minute." "But as the asteroid approaches this planet, the angle becomes so great that even the power of a starship..." "The devil with an asteroid!" "It won't get here for two months, Spock." "If we arrive at the deflection point in time, it may not get here at all." "In the meantime, what about Jim?" "Once the asteroid has been diverted, we'll return here and resume the search." "That may be hours from now." "He may be injured or dying." "Doctor." "Assume this is the planet we're on." "This is the approaching asteroid." "It we don't get to that deflection point in time, it will become physically impossible to divert this asteroid." "In that case, everyone on this planet will die, including the captain." "Can a few more minutes matter, Spock?" "In the time it has taken me to explain the problem, the asteroid has moved from here to here." "The longer we delay, the less the likelihood of being able to divert it." "Beam us up, Mr. Scott." "Where am I?" "What place is this?" "What are these?" "I feel I should know." "They're familiar, and yet unfamiliar." "How did I get here?" "Who am I?" "Try to remember." "Wait." "Who are you?" "We are your people." "We've been waiting for you to come to us." "Captain's log, stardate 4843.6." "First Officer Spock commanding." "We've been en route to the asteroid for several hours." "Our delay on the planet's surface has made it imperative that we proceed at maximum warp speed for a period which exceeds the recommended safety margin." "I can't give you warp 9 much longer, Mr. Spock." "These engines are beginning to show signs of stress." "Stress or not, we cannot reduce speed." "I do not intend to miss that deflection point." "All right." "But we're moving further into the danger range all the time." "Every..." "Objection noted, Mr. Scott." "Carry on." "Miramanee has said that you appeared to her and to her handmaiden from the walls of the temple, just as our legend foretells." "We do not doubt the words of our priestess, but these are troubled times and we must be sure." "I'll answer anything I can, but as I told you, many things are strange to me." "He knows nothing about danger." "How can he save us?" "It is against custom to interrupt a tribal elder at council, even for the medicine chief." "Elder, words will not save us when the skies darken." "We must be certain." "I say he must prove he is a god." "Our skies have darkened three times since the harvest, the last time worst of all." "Our legend predicts such danger and promises that the Wise Ones who planted us here will send a god to save us, one who can rouse the temple spirit and make the sky grow quiet." "Can you do this?" "I came from the temple, as Miramanee said, and it was a beginning for me." "Here." "But I came from the sky too." "Only, I can't remember." "I can't remember." "Salish, a terrible thing has happened." "The boy was attending the fishnets and he became entangled in them and sank to the bottom of the river." "Lumo brought him up quickly, but he doesn't move." "There is no sound in the body." "There is no light in the eyes." " He will move no more." " Wait a moment." "Wait." " He'll be all right now." " My people are grateful." "It's a simple technique." "Goes way back..." "Way back..." "Only a god can breathe life into the dead." "Do you still question?" "Give him the medicine badge." "Deflection point minus seven." "Full power, Mr. Scott." "The relays will reject the overload, Mr. Spock." "Then bypass the relays, go to manual control." " Do that, we'll burn out the engines." " I want full power, Mr. Scott." "Aye, sir." "All right, you lovelies, hold together." "Full power, Mr. Spock." " Magnification factor 12, Mr. Sulu." " Aye, sir." "Deflection point minus four." "All engines stop." "Hold position here." "All engines stopped, sir." " Prepare to activate deflectors." " Aye, sir." "Power dropping, sir." "Engineering, maintain full power." "Full power." "Dilithium crystal circuit is failing, sir." "We have to replace it." " Not now." " Zero." "Deflection point." "Now, sir." "Activate deflectors." "Power dropping, sir." "Degree of deflection, Mr. Sulu." "Not enough, Mr. Spock." "It's only 0.0013 degrees." "Recircuit power to engines." " Max speed, heading 37, mark 010." " Aye, sir." "That will put us directly in the asteroid's path." "Correct, Mr. Chekov." "I intend to retreat in front of that asteroid until we can employ all power on phaser beams." " What for?" " To destroy it." "A narrow beam concentrated on a single spot will split that mass." "It might also cripple the ship, and we would be crushed by the asteroid." "Incorrect." "We'll still be able to get out of its path by use of impulse power." "Jim won't be able to get out of its path." "That, doctor, is another calculated risk we must take." "Miramanee." "What are you doing?" "I must see to the needs of the god, as is my duty." "You should be working on our ritual cloak." "There will be no ritual between us now, Salish." "What do you mean?" "We cannot go against tradition." "It is because of tradition that I cannot marry you." "But you are promised to me." "That was before he came." "Tribal priestess and medicine chief are always joined." "He is medicine chief now." "Salish, choose another." "Any maiden would be honoured to join with you." "I wish no other." "You have no choice." "Miramanee, if you could choose," "would you choose me?" "Perhaps you would like to bathe now." "Miramanee, tell me about the Wise Ones." "Tell?" "But a god knows everything." "Not this one." "Tell me." "The Wise Ones brought us here from far away." "They chose a medicine chief to keep the secret of the temple and to use it when the sky darkens." "Secrets of the temple." "There are no lacings." "How is this thing removed?" "The secrets were passed on from father to son?" "Yes." "How does this open?" "Well, why doesn't Salish use it?" "Why are the people in danger?" "His father did not wish to share his power too soon." "He died before he told Salish the secret." "Our people rejoice, and wish to honour your name." "But I did not know what you wished to be called." "What may I tell them?" "Ki..." "Kir..." "K..." "Kirok?" " Have we displeased you?" " No, no." "Everything is fine." "Then it must be ourselves, the way we live." "Perhaps we have not improved as quickly as the Wise Ones wish." "Your land is rich, your people happy." "Who could be displeased with that?" "But there is something." "Tell us." "We will change it." "I can't tell you anything." "All I can tell you is that I'm happy and peaceful here." "I'm not sure, but I think I've never felt that way before." "Why are they so sure I can help them?" "Well, you came from the stone metal." " And did you not bring life to the child?" " Yes, but I..." "I need time to remember." "Here, there is much time." "For everything." " Coordinates, Mr. Chekov." " Tau 8.7, Beta 0.041." "That is our target." "The asteroid's weakest point." "Almost dead centre, sir." "Lock all phasers on that mark." "Maximum intensity, narrow beam." "I want to split that fissure wide open." "You sound like you're cutting a diamond." " Very astute, doctor." " All phasers locked, sir." "We'll fire in sequence and continue firing as long as Mr. Scott can maintain power." " Standing by, sir." " Fire phasers." "Phaser 1 firing." "That Vulcan won't be satisfied till these panels are a puddle of lead." "Phaser 2 firing." "Main relay's out again, Mr. Scott." "Phaser 4 firing." " All phasers fired, sir." " Rig for simultaneous firing, Mr. Sulu." "Commence simultaneous bombardment." "My bairns." "My poor bairns." "The ritual cloak is finished." "If it pleases you, I would like to name the Joining day." "The Joining day?" "I'm the daughter of the chief." "Tribal law betroths me to our leader." "If there is another, I will step aside." "No, Miramanee, there is no one else in my mind or my heart." "God's wish is above tribal law." "Name the Joining day." "The sooner our happiness together begins, the longer it will last." " Tomorrow." " Tomorrow." "And don't ask for any more warp 9 speeds, Mr. Spock." "Our star drive is completely burned out." "The only thing we have left is impulse power." " Estimated repair time." " Hanging here in space?" "Forever." "The only thing that will fix these poor darlings is the nearest repair base." "I've already surmised that." "Thank you, Mr. Scott." "Well, Spock, you took your calculated risk in your calculated Vulcan way and you lost." "You lost for us, you lost for that planet and you lost for Jim." "I accept the responsibility, doctor." "And my responsibility is the health of this crew." "You've been driving yourself too hard and I want you to get some rest." "Mr. Chekov, resume heading 883, mark 41." "Back to that planet without warp speed?" "Lt'll take months, Spock." "Exactly 59.223 days, doctor." "And that asteroid will be four hours behind us all the way." "Well, then, what's the use?" "We might not be able to save the captain even if he still is alive." "We might not be able to save anything, including this ship." "You haven't heard a word I've said." "All you've been doing is staring at that blasted obelisk." "Another calculated Vulcan risk, doctor." "This Joining means the end of darkness." "It's a time for joy for all my people." "You will wait until I walk the holy path to the earth lodge first, to give me time to tell the priestess that you follow and that the Joining will take place." "I have found paradise." "Surely no man has ever attained such happiness." "Get out of my way, Salish." "Even though you be a god, Kirok, I cannot permit this Joining." " Nobody's asking for your permission." " Then you must strike me dead." "I have no intention of striking you dead." "You bleed." "You bleed, Kirok." "Behold a god who bleeds." "Behold a god who bleeds." "Kill me." "Kill me, Kirok." "For I will not rest until I prove to my people that you are no god." "I thought you were reporting to Sickbay." "There isn't time, doctor, I must decipher those obelisk symbols." "They're a highly advanced form of cipher writing." "You've been trying to do that ever since we started back to that planet." " Fifty-eight days." " I'm aware of that, doctor." "I'm also aware that when we arrive at the planet we'll have barely four hours to effect rescue." "I believe those symbols are the key." "Well, you won't read them by killing yourself." "You've hardly eaten or slept for weeks." "Now, if you don't let up, you're gonna collapse." "I am not hungry, doctor." "And under stress, we Vulcans can do without sleep for weeks." "Well, your Vulcan metabolism is so low it can hardly be measured and as for the pressure, that green ice water you call blood..." "My physical condition is not important, doctor." "That obelisk is." "Well, my diagnosis is exhaustion brought on from overwork and guilt." "You're blaming yourself for crippling this ship, just as we blamed you." "Well, we were wrong." "So were you." "You made a command decision." "Jim would have done the same." "My prescription is rest." "Now, do I have to call the security guards to enforce it?" "Miramanee?" "Come here." "Miramanee?" "Each time your arms hold me is as joyous as the first." "I'm happy." "I'm so happy." "If it weren't for the dreams, my mind would be completely at peace." "I thought you no longer had the dreams, that you no longer saw the strange lodge which moves through the sky." "They've come back." "They were gone for a while, but they've come back." "And I see faces too." "Very dim." "I feel I should know them." "I feel my place is with them." "Not here." "I don't deserve this happiness." "I have a gift for you." "A gift?" "What?" "It may make you happy." "Wait." "These last few weeks, my love for Miramanee grows stronger with each passing day." "However, the dreams return every night." "Fragments of memories." "I can almost get hold of them." "And then..." "I bear your child." "You." "A canal." "And with it, we'll bring the water from the lake right to the lodge." "And we can expand the system and irrigate the fields and double the food supply." "And with the power of the lamp..." " Lamp?" " Lamp." " Which turns night into day, we can cook twice as much food and, as you taught us, pre..." " Preserve." " Preserve." " Preserve." "Famine." " For times of famine." "That is why you made the lamp, Kirok." "So that I would never know when it was night and I'd be forever cooking." "Oh, no." "No, no, no." "That's not why I made the lamp at all, to keep you forever cooking." "It's only the wind and the thunder." "I act like a stupid child." "I have nothing to fear." "You are here." " It is time." " Time?" "To go to the temple." "People will be waiting." " Why?" " To save them." "But it's only the wind." "The wind can't harm them." "The wind is only the beginning." "Soon, the sky will darken." "The lake will go wild and the earth will tremble." "Only you can save us." "But I can't do anything about the wind or the sky." "If we do not go now, it will be too late." "You must go inside the temple and make the blue flame come out." "I don't know how to get inside the temple." "But you are a god." "Kirok!" "Kirok!" "Why are you not at the temple, Kirok?" "Soon, the ground will begin to tremble." "The people need your help." "We'll go to the caves." "It will be safe there." "The caves?" "Surely a legend can do more than that for his people." "When the ground trembles, the caves are not safe, Kirok." "If you do not rouse the temple spirit, we will all die." "There is nothing you cannot do, my husband." "Well, what do you wait for, god?" "Your robes?" "Take care of Miramanee." "I am Kirok!" "I have come!" "I am Kirok!" " I prescribed sleep." " You prescribed rest, doctor." "The symbols on the obelisk are not words, they are musical notes." "Musical notes?" "You mean, it's nothing but a song?" "In a way, yes." "Other cultures, among them certain Vulcan offshoots, use musical notes as words." "The tones correspond roughly to an alphabet." "Were you able to make any sense of the symbols?" "Yes, the obelisk is a marker, just as I thought." "It was left by a super race known as the Preservers." "They passed through the galaxy rescuing primitive cultures which were in danger of extinction and seeding them, so to speak, where they could live and grow." "I've always wondered why there were so many humanoids scattered through the galaxy." "So have I. Apparently, the Preservers account for a number of them." "That's probably how the planet has survived all these centuries." "The Preservers put an asteroid deflector on the planet." "Which has now become defective and is failing to operate." "And we have to find that deflector and put it back into working order." " Otherwise..." " Precisely, doctor." "There's the false one!" "Die!" "Die!" "No!" "No!" "Don't hurt him!" " Miramanee!" " Don't hurt him!" " Go back!" " He's false!" " I belong to him." " Then go." "Go die with your false god." " You'll be killed!" " Traitor!" "Kill him!" "Die as we all do!" "Die, impostor!" " You lied to us!" " Kill him!" "You're not a god!" "I need Nurse Chapel." " Spock to Enterprise." " Come in, Mr. Spock." "We've located the captain." "Beam down Nurse Chapel with an emergency surgical kit." "My wife." "Is she all right?" " Wife?" " Hallucinations?" "Jim." "Miramanee." "Miramanee." "The nurse has given you something to ease the pain." "Why were you being stoned?" "Kirok could not get back into the temple." "Naturally, since he did not come from there." "I saw him come..." " Does he recognise us?" " His brain is unimpaired." "Everything else is functioning normally except his memory." " Can you help him?" " It would take time." "Time, Dr. McCoy, is the one thing we do not have in abundance." " Spock here." " Tracking report, sir." "Sixty-five minutes to end of safety margin." "Report noted." "Doctor, is he strong enough for the Vulcan mind-fusion?" "We have no choice." "I am Spock." "You are James Kirk." "Our minds are moving closer." "Closer, closer, closer, James Kirk." "Closer." "No." " James Kirk." " Miramanee!" "No." "Miramanee." "Our minds are one." " I am Kirok." " Kirok." "I am Kirok." "I am Ki... I..." "I'm Kirok!" " I am..." " Spock!" " What is it?" " His mind." "He's an extremely dynamic individual." "It worked." "Captain, were you inside this structure?" "Yes." "What's inside is loaded with scientific equipment." "This obelisk is one huge deflector mechanism." "It is imperative that we get inside immediately." "Captain, we do not have much time." "McCoy." "I don't know how to get inside." "If we are not able to gain entry and activate the deflector mechanism within the next 50 minutes, this entire planet will be destroyed." "The key must be in these symbols." "We've gotta decipher them." "I already have to some extent, captain." "They are musical notes." "You mean, entry can be gained by playing certain notes on a musical instrument?" "That would be one method." "Another would be a series of tonal qualities spoken in their proper sequence." "Give me your communicator." "Tonal control." "Consonants and vowels." "I must have hit it accidentally when I contacted the ship." "If you can remember your exact words, captain..." " Kirk to Enterprise." " Aye, captain." "Scotty, if the deflector isn't activated within 20 minutes, get out of orbit." "Get the Enterprise out of the danger zone." "The landing party is expendable." "The Enterprise isn't." "Kirk out." "Miramanee." "Bones, stay with her." "Do what you can." "It is similar to deflector panels I've seen, captain, but far more complicated." "Careful." "I must have hit something accidentally." "A beam caught me and that's when I stopped remembering." "Probably a memory beam." "You must have activated it out of sequence." "More symbols." "Can you read them?" "I do have an excellent eye for musical notes, captain." "They would seem to indicate that this series of relays, activated in..." "Spock, just press the right button." " How is she?" " She had bad internal injuries, Jim." "Will she live?" "No." "Kirok." "It is true." "You are safe." "And so are your people, Miramanee." "I knew you would save them, my chief." "When I am better, it will be as it was, will it not?" "If that's what you want." "We will live long and happy lives." "I will bear you many strong sons." "I'll love you always." "And I'll love you, Miramanee." "Always." "Each kiss is as the first."