01x06 - Come Not Between the Dragons

[bunniefuu]

Sir. Thank you.

Scotty. Any news on the Lexington?

Aye. Her crew's been rescued. But they had to scuttle the ship.

Eight. Eight starships left.

Studying an accretion disc can be a dangerous business.

Got caught in the plasma jet.

Well, at least there were no casualties.

Aye, there were!

The Lexington.

Notify all adjacent civilizations to avoid that system.

Palmer: Aye, sir.

All right middle shift... that'll be all. You're officially relieved.

Good evening, Mr. Scott.

So then he says, "It is unlikely THAT can be fixed with standard procedure."

Well, good night.

Oh! Eliza...?

Where do you think you're going?

We're headed to the rec room. Join us!

My bed's calling me.

(Laughter)

My vodka martini's calling me.

That's a powerful call to resist. We'll take a rain check?

Yeah, sure.

Have a good night.

Night.

Chekov: Steady as she goes, sir.

Working double shifts are we now, Mr. Chekov?

Sounds like somebody really wants some stripes.

Report.

Hull breach, captain.

Forward deck four.

Hull breach?

A meteoroid, captain.

Traveling at near-light speed.

That's impossible!

Secure the section.

Notify damage control teams.

Report on any casualties.

What happened?

Meteroid impact... deck four!

The navigational deflector should have caught this, sir...!

Mr. DeSalle! Some answers, please?

Scott here. Glad I came down!

My engineers on deck four report a breach over two meters wide.

But they can't find it.

Find what?

Whatever made the blasted hole! There's nothing there!

Captain! Reading additional damage on an internal bulkhead.

Deck four?

Yes, sir.

Aft wall, section three.

Captain, now deck five is reporting a rupture.

In the ceiling, sir!

Signal all decks: We've been boarded.

Uhura: All decks! Intruder alert! Repeat... we have an intruder on board!

Repeat... all decks! Intruder alert! We have an intruder on board!

(Rumbling sounds)

(Clicking sounds)

(Heavy fearful panting)

Space.

The final frontier.

These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

Its continuing 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, stardate 6257.4 Something or someone has pierced our primary hull... and is making its way through the Enterprise.

Captain. Whatever IT is has damaged a sufficient... number of conduits to compromise our power grid.

Confirmed.

Engines are offline.

Taylor: [whispering] Taylor to Bridge.

Bridge... please answer!

Ensign. What is it?

Captain.

The intruder's in my cabin!

On our way.

Sir! I believe I could assist...

Yes, sir.

Hello?

Cad, hold this position. Dickerson, on point.

I'm sorry, sir.

What was it? What did you see?

It was enormous. It was like...

Stone.

I... I threw that at it and it ran away.

Listen, you better get to sickbay.

Let Dr. McCoy give you a once over.

No, sir. I'm fine.

Really, I'm just a bit scared.

Right, of course.

Please find it.

Captain. In the corridor.

Spock?

Readings have disappeared, sir.

Fascinating.

What are you?

Can you understand me?

Kirk to transporter room.

Wilson here, sir.

Chief...

How are you with intra-ship beaming?

I'm a bit of an expert.

Good. The intruder is at my location.

Lock onto it and beam it out of here.

Captain, there's no reading for me to lock onto.

The alien must be generating some sort of sensor shroud.

Sir?

Playing a hunch.

No!

Ensign. You're supposed to be off-duty right now.

Sorry, captain. I couldn't sleep.

Our visitor leaves a strong impression.

Yes, it does.

Bones?

It's a rock.

We think the creature can hide from our scans. Sometimes.

I've been able to detect several hearts b*ating at different rates.

No lungs. Very high salt levels... and that's it.

There's just not enough data.

I am perplexed by its biology as well.

The exoskeleton is quite formidable.

Complex living polymer chains interwoven with infrangible metals and minerals.

I am not able to calculate how it propels itself at... such high velocities, although obviously it does.

Nor am I able determine how it survives the vacuum of space, but…

But obviously it does.

It could be a species of nomadic extremophile.

Extremophile?

We have previously encountered cosmozoa.

Space-faring organisms that need no atmosphere to survive.

Gentlemen. We know it's here. The question now is "why."

With Lt. Uhura's assistance, I have attempted to tune the ship's... universal translators to compensate for the creature's unusual vocalizations.

Sir?

You're the first human it encountered.

It's all right.

I'm sorry if I hurt you.

What are you called?

Do you have a name?

Usdi.

Here. Usdi.

Ask it why it broke into the ship.

Usdi, why'd you come here?

Me. To. Hurt.

Now what?

Spock, keep at it. Whatever it is, it's trying to communicate with us.

Or it's trying to thr*aten us.

Mr. Sulu?

Not another intruder, sir.

More like a controlled shockwave. Directed at the Enterprise.

That was stronger than the last one.

It's a two-component wave, sir.

One penetrates, one reflects back.

Echolocation. It's a form of echolocation, captain!

Someone is searching for something.

Lieutenant. Can you calculate the origin of the pulses?

Aye, sir. I should be able to plot the source.

Captain, another shockwave approaching.

This one's different. Significantly stronger!

Manuevering thrusters. Hard to starboard.

It's too fast, sir!

More power to the forward shields.

You disobedient little...!

Mr. Spock?

Your w*apon.

Sir?

I'm in charge!

You'll respect me!

Stop it! Please stop! You're hurting him!

See what you made me do?!

Commader Spock, report.

Spock, answer me!

Is anyone else feeling... unusual?

I feel... suspicion, sir.

Almost... paranoia.

Yes. Yes!

Fear.

Resentment.

(Intercom whistles)

Sickbay to bridge. Captain, you better get down here.

What happened?

He's got broken ribs. A ruptured spleen.

Least, I think it was his spleen.

I have no time for levity, doctor!

Neither do I!

Whatever those waves did to us it's affecting Spock a dozen times more.

The mesiofrontal cortex suppresses emotions in Vulcans.

His is working so hard, I'm afraid it's gonna burn up!

Captain...

Lock me up.

I must be isolated.

Spock...

McCoy is trying to figure out...

No!

I am very dangerous.

Far away... An agenda...

The rage you're experiencing... We're ALL feeling it.

The energy waves are somehow...

But with me... it reaches deeper.

A part I share with no one. More than my human half.

It is awakening a primitive, savage side... of my Vulcan mind.

It is a darkness I cannot control.

Sulu: Bridge to Captain Kirk!

What?

Another energy wave approaching, captain.

Readings are off the scale.

Set forward shields to maximum.

Impact in 6 seconds!

You must stop me.

By any means necessary!

I cannot control what I will do.

Usdi dares to hide?!

Security to sickbay!

Spock!

Captain?

Put him in the brig.

Jim!

You can't lock him up.

He asked for it!

It's my ship. I decide the punishment for insubordination.

Punishment? Jim, he's not himself!

And neither are you!

Put him in sickbay. Double the restraints.

And the next time... whether it's Spock or that pathetic creature, or the ship's surgeon…

I decide. Is that clear?

Very clear. Sir!

Ow!

You can't analyze a triaxilated signal like that!

I'm sorry.

If you aren't capable of following instructions... you don't belong in that uniform.

You know... you should get that looked at.

Ya think?!

Smith: Pathetic.

Where's that... thing?

Well?

Sir, we've located the source of the waves.

It's a ship about 10,000 km...

A ship?!

Listen to me.

The only thing that matters... the ONLY thing... is to find that delinquent little brat!

Get him off my bridge!

I don't wanna see his face. You're confined to quarters!

Kirk: Ship-wide.

Palmer: Sir?

Ship-wide!

Gladly!

All hands, this is the captain.

In case any of you are confused about your duties, let me spell it out for you.

There's an intruder aboard my ship.

And finding him is the singular priority above all else.

He is undisciplined.

Disobedient.

All personnel are ordered to locate and apprehend this intruder.

He thinks he's smarter than us.

He's defying us!

He needs to be taught a lesson.

Use all available force necessary.

It's McKennah!

I didn't know who else to call.

I think he knows these waves.

He seems to be... He's more afraid each time one hits us.

Are you okay?

You look like you've been in a fight.

Oh... Yeah...

And I started it.

He must have done something to deserve this!

No! It's okay. It's okay.

Whatever these pulses are... it's making it impossible to think clearly!

It's getting harder to manage the anger.

Maybe anger management's the wrong path.

We can't stop the emotion. Why even try?

We've gotta target the action centers!

But how?

Alpha-wave inducers!

They're used for psychological trauma. McCoy has a supply!

We can't just march in there and take them.

Leave McCoy to me.

Dammit, doctor!

What makes you think you can barge into my sickbay like you own...

Sarah. I need the mobile alpha-wave inducers.

ALL of them.

Mr. Scott?

What do you think you're doing?

My orders were to search the ship for that creature!

Dunnah tell me how to do my job!

You want the engines fixed, or no?

The engines are expendable!

Is that so? Let me show you what's expendable!

(Phaser fire)

(Imitating scott) You're goin' to tha brig!

I thought Nyota could be of help speaking with the alien.

Usdi. His name's Usdi.

I tried fine-tuning the translator... but he's not saying anything.

I think he's running from that ship.

So he came here seeking sanctuary?

Maybe we can give it to him!

Engineering! The waves dissipate as they go through the Enterprise.

If we take the alien to...

Er... "Usdi"... to the aft section then the enemy vessel should have a harder time locating him.

But even if we get him there...

We have to clear the engine room.

I'll have to make some adjustments. Tie into my linguistic matrix.

How're we gonna get him all the way to engineering?

I guess I better make friends with the transporter chief.

Have you seen that creature?

(Bosun whistle)

Scott: Emergency! We have a warp core coolant leak.

All personnel evacuate engineering deck!

Mr. Scott is in the brig!

Meet me in the transporter room in 5 minutes.

Repeat: Coolant leak!

All engineering personnel evacuate immediately!

Scott's voice: Repeat: Coolant leak!

All engineering personnel evacuate immediately!

I'm glad you're on our side.

Dickerson, seal the doors.

Sir!

Hey. It's okay.

Well, look what we have here.

Step away from the console, chief.

Belay that order.

I said "step away from the console"!

Sir, I don't...

Barbara... It's me.

Put the phaser down.

He is gonna get what he deserves!

Why?

WHY?

Let me give you one of these...

Okay?

Trust me.

(Intercom whistle)

Kirk to Smith. I wanna know when the transporter room's secure!

Smith! Is the transporter room secure?!

It's secure now.

It's okay. I'm here.

I understand, Usdi.

I understand.

How is he?

All right for now. What's the plan?

There!

No!

Captain...!

Chekov: Bridge to Captain Kirk.

Bridge to Captain Kirk!

Go ahead bridge.

Sir, the enemy vessel is closing fast!

But it's not a ship.

Pipe it down here.

Captain's log, supplemental.

The Enterprise is face-to-face with a being who... has been flooding the ship with energy waves.

And Usdi... our stowaway... would appear to be a member of its species.

Spock?

Captain.

What do we know about it?

Definitely the same type of organism as our visitor.

Obviously, proportionally much larger.

Like an adult to a child.

Shields at 80%.

Based on what we have experienced, captain... it is reasonable to assume that the creature is quite angry and wants Usdi returned.

Welcome back, Mr. Scott. We need engines online.

Captain. My behavior earlier…

I'll fire you later. Get to work.

Lieutenant, open a channel.

Patch in the translator upgrades.

Aye, sir.

Alien entity.

This is Captain James T. Kirk of the United Starship Enterprise.

Discontinue your att*ck on our ship immediately.

No reply on any frequency, sir.

Captain!

Forward shields at 50%! Phasers are out!

Navigation's offline!

We cannot run.

The logical decision is to release Usdi into the creature's custody.

Uhura: Captain. We can't!

The structure...

The region on its back... seems to be generating the waves.

A logical assumption, captain.

Load photon torpedo tubes. Target that region.

Torpedoes armed and ready.

Fire!

Usdi. Protect.

No. You're safe here.

Me. Must. Protect.

No. Please don't go out there!

Please. Please don't go.

Direct hit.

The alien's bio-signs are fluctuating.

We appear to have injured it.

Hostile is accelerating. It's on an intercept course, captain!

That beast is gonna ram us!

Reload torpedoes.

Captain. The parent life-form will likely not survive another torpedo impact.

Do we know it IS his parent?

It is.

It's his father.

Where's Usdi?

Captain!

Usdi has positioned himself directly between the Enterprise... and his father.

The creature has stopped.

Go to yellow alert.

Open a channel.

Unknown entity.

Surely you must know you nearly d*ed here today.

We all did.

You filled me... you filled all of us... with your anger.

And for some reason, that anger was directed at your child.

He was scared. He was hiding.

And yet he still protected you.

Sulu: Captain.

They're moving off.

Uhura: Where are they going?

He saved his father's life today.

Only time will tell if that will make a difference.

Captain.

I believe I owe you a profound apology.

Well, there's a lot of that going around right now.

I think everyone on this ship owes someone an apology.

I forgive you.

And I'm sorry for sh**ting you.

I forgive you.

But, it was the logical decision given the circumstances.

I must also confess to being perhaps a bit... frustrated... with the inability to control my actions.

Well... that wasn't your fault, Spock.

McCoy will be sending me the bill for the wall in sickbay, I'm sure.

He should be sending it to me.

Something else, captain?

Speaking of "frustrating"...

Sir?

I've gotten so used to being able to persuade with words... getting others to see things in a new and different way... give a rousing speech.

And it was frustrating... not to be able to do the same thing with Usdi's father.

Did you genuinely expect you could convince him to change... a deeply ingrained behavior simply with your words?

Well, now that you put it that way...

I don't know what I expected.

But I didn't expect silence.

I wonder...

What would it take to change someone like that?

In my conversations with Dr. McKennah... we have discussed the many differences between people.

The multitude of paths that everyone walks through life...

Some easy, some difficult.

And a re-occurring observation has been this: One is much more able to lead another down an unfamiliar path... when one has already been down that path oneself.

(Intercom whistle)

Chekov: Bridge to Mr. Spock.

Spock here.

Sir, I've been conducting scans and I think I've found something.

Transfer it to this computer.

Chekov: Aye, sir.

Captain. You might like to see this.

Smith: I just wanted to tell you both... I'm sorry.

I just apologized to Dr. McCoy myself.

It's okay. It wasn't you.

It's not hard for rage to take control of good people.

How about that drink we promised ourselves, huh?

I'll catch up with you girls.

At ease, ensign.

We've analyzed the aliens' ion trail.

Seems they're in a comet cloud not far from here.

Spock. Are you ready?

Spock: We're within range of the comet cloud now, captain.

Very good.

Lieutenant, open a channel.

Patch in the ship's translators to this comm.

Uhura: Aye, sir.

I wasn't able to reach him.

Perhaps you can.

I don't know what your name is.

Mine's Eliza.

When your son came to us...

I knew he chose me for a reason.

But I didn't know why.

Now I know. Your son loves you very, very much.

Just like I loved my father.

I know in my heart that you're not a monster.

But every time you lash out in anger at your son, you become less the father he loves... and more the monster he fears.

Please. Please find a way to heal yourself.

Because my father never did.

Father: Heal.

Heal.

Love.

Change. For Usdi.

Father: Change. For Usdi.

Maybe... change begins when someone reaches you.

I'd say you reached him.

I hope so.

For Usdi.