TOS Recap: Where No Man Has Gone Before, part 2 of 4

ACT TWO

A shot of the Enterprise as she slowly crosses the screen from left to
right. Kirk's voiceover says, "Captain's Log, stardate thirteen twelve
point nine. Ship's condition: heading back on impulse power only.
Main engine burned out. The ship's space warp ability, gone." Shot of
the bridge as various crewmembers try to repair various consoles.
"Earth bases which were only days away are now years in the distance."
Kirk approaches the helm/navigation console, where Alden and Kelso are
doing repairs to the navigation controls. Kelso makes an unheard
comment while shaking his head. "Our overriding question now is, what
destroyed the Valiant?" As Kirk makes his way over to Spock's library
computer station, we see Yeoman Smith standing next to the captain's
chair. "They lived through the barrier just as we have. What happened
to them after that?" Spock is looking up at the viewscreen above his
station.

A shot of Spock's viewscreen, showing Dr. Dehner's medical record:

PERSONNEL MEDICAL RECORD - STARSHIP ENTERPRISE
Name: (last) DEHNER, P.H.D. (first) ELIZABETH
Present Address: (street) 1489 (city) DELMAN (state) NEWSTATE
Permanent Address: SAME
Birthplace: DELMAN Father's Birthplace (not visible)
Lineage: (blank) Mother's Birthplace (not visible)
Date of birth: 1089.5 Age: 21
Height: 5' 3" Weight: 116
Name: SAME
Father: DEHNER, GERALD

Interesting that her date of birth is given as a stardate, but no way
is Dr. Dehner 21 years old. Also, note that her height and weight are
given in English rather than metric terms. Next shot:

ESP RATING
ESPER RATING: D89. APERCEPTION QUOTIENT: 20/100.
DUKE - HEIDELBURG QUOTIENT: 256.
GENERAL KNOWLDEGE QUOTIENT: 654895-109.
ESPER RATING and quotients are better than average in all cate-
gories. Subject officer's history indicates an esper orientation
pattern since childhood, evidenced in superiority at "guessing games",
reading cards et cetera. Esper-orientation and abilities are evident
through both the maternal and paternal bloodlines, but in only one
case does the indicated tendency toward ESP go back more than three
generations.
Subject officer has been aware of the high ESP rating since
secondary school days and it is, in part, the basis for interest and
vocational training as a psychiatrist. Participation in tests and
studies of other esper-oriented beings are the subject of a thesis
now being published by this officer in association with the College
of Medical Science of the Tri-Planetary Academy and was, in fact,
the reason for this officer's posting to the Aldebaron Colony.
It must be stressed this officer's interest in esperperception
has been in relationship and pursuit to vocation as a psychiatrist.

All the underlining in the body of this report, btw, was done by hand.
Also, it occurs to me that this report must have been written either by
Dehner's superior at the Aldebaran Colony, or by Doctor Piper after her
transfer to the Enterprise. Next shot:

PERSONNEL MEDICAL RECORD - STARSHIP ENTERPRISE
Name: (last) MITCHELL, COMDR. (first) GARY
Present Address: (street) 8149 (city) ELDMAN (state) NEWSTATE
Permanent Address: SAME
Birthplace: ELDMAN Father's Birthplace (not visible)
Lineage: (blank) Mother's Birthplace (not visible)
Date of birth: 1087.7 Age: 23
Height: 5' 9" Weight: 167
Name: SAME

Again, no way is Mitchell only 23 years old. And his rank is given as
full Commander, not simply Lt. Commander. Next shot:

ESP RATING
ESPER RATING: D91. APERCEPTION QUOTIENT: 20/104.
DUKE - HEIDELBURG QUOTIENT: 281.
GENERAL KNOWLDEGE QUOTIENT: 679532-112.
ESPER RATING and quotients are well above average in all cate-
gories and exceptionally high in some. On planet Deneb IV, subject
officer showed a marked ability in sensing the telepathic communica-
tion used by the inhabitants of that planet. In at least three cases
(see notations on rear of report), subject officer carried on long
telepathic communication with selected Deneb IV natives and scored
60 percent or higher on comprehension.
History on subject officer from childhood shows a consistent
pattern of esper orientation, dating back to a better than average
ability at the usual childhood "guessing games", some grade school
interest and ability in elementary magicians' tricks, et cetera.
There is also a strong tendency through the maternal bloodline toward
esper-oriented abilities, dating back through at least six generations
to both males and females who dabbled in metaphysical studies and, in
at least one case, a female ancestor who was intersted in spiritual
readings.

As you can see, even better than Dehner. And some cool backstory on
Mitchell's visit to the planet Deneb IV, and on that planet's
telepathic natives. Which begs the question of why Mr. Spock, with his
own marked Vulcan telepathic abilities, remained unaffected by the
Galactic Barrier. Guess it doesn't work on Vulcans the same way as
humans. The real reason, of course, is that it wasn't until the
episode "Dagger of the Mind" that we found out that Spock was
telepathic.

Cut back to Kirk and Spock on the bridge. Dr. Dehner emerges from the
turbolift and says, "Autopsy reports, Captain." Handing Kirk a
computer tape, she continues, "Each case showed damage to the body's
neural circuit. An area of the brain was burned out."

"And you?" Kirk asks her. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yes. Mitchell too, except for his eyes. We're trying to find a
reason for that now, and why out of our whole crew only certain people
were affected."

"I think we've found that answer, doctor," Spock interjects.

"You mentioned that tests show that you have a high degree of
extra-sensory perception," Kirk reminds her. "So do the records of the
others. Gary Mitchell has the highest esper rating of all."

"If you're suggeting there's anything dangerous --" Dehner begins.

"Before the Valiant was destroyed," Spock interrupts, "its captain was
desperately searching for ESP information on his crew."

Dehner objects, "Espers are simply people with flashes of insight."

"Are there not also those who seem to see through solid objects?" Spock
responds. "Cause fires to start spontaneously?"

"There's nothing about it that could possibly make a person dangerous,"
Dehner insists.

"Dr. Dehner is speaking of normal ESP power," Spock points out.

"Perhaps you know of another kind?" Dehner snarks. Well, as it
happens, doctor, Spock does indeed know of another kind, but we won't
find out about that until later.

"Do we know for sure, doctor, that there isn't another kind?" Kirk
asks. Rather unfairly, IMHO. Of course we don't know that there isn't
another kind. In fact, it's a common logical fallacy to assert the
existence of some phenomenon by claiming that its existence has never
been disproved. I'm surprised that Kirk's logical first officer
doesn't point that out.

Is that a look of contempt on Dehner's face? It jolly well ought to
be.

*************************

Close-up of a bio-monitor screen. We can see the words RESPIRATION and
PULSE above circles that light up intermittently. A low beep keeps
time with the pulse circle.

We cut to a wider shot of the bio-monitor screen, then pan down to Gary
Mitchell resting on a bio-bed in sickbay. He's wearing a sleeveless
blue jumpsuit that has an olive-branches-and-caduceus logo on the left
breast. In his left hand is a small black control box with some silver
buttons. His right hand is holding a monitor screen mounted on a
jointed arm. The jointed arm, btw, has a niche in it that holds
several computer tapes. We can see lines of text on the monitor
screen. Mitchell eventually drops the control box on the bed and
switches off the monitor. Picking up the control box again, he
stretches, yawns, and turns over onto his side.

The door opens and Kirk enters. "Hello, Jim," says Mitchell without
turning to see who it is. Finally, he turns to look at Kirk and says,
"Hey, you look worried."

Kirk smiles and says, "I've been worried about you ever since that
night on Deneb IV."

Mitchell laughs and says, "Yeah, she was nova, that one." Ah, this
would be one of the telepathic natives of Deneb IV, would it? Hmmmmmm.
"Not nearly as many aftereffects this time." Aftereffects? Double
hmmmmmm. (Wikipedia notes that Deneb is a blue giant star in the
constellation Cygnus, spectral class A2 Ia, and that estimates of its
distance from Earth vary from 1600 to 3200 light years.) "Except for
the eyes," Mitchell adds. "They kind of stare back at me when I'm
shaving."

Approaching him, Kirk asks, "Do you . . . feel . . . any different?"

"In a way, I feel better than I've ever felt before in my life.
Actually seems to have done me some good."

"How?" Kirk wonders.

"Well, I'm getting a chance to read some of that longhair stuff you
like," says Mitchell as he hands Kirk some computer cassettes. He
laughs and puts his hands behind his head as he reminisces. "Hey, man,
I remember you back at the academy. A stack of books with legs. The
first thing I ever heard from an upperclassman was, 'Watch out for Lt.
Kirk. In his class you either think, or sink'."

Kirk laughs along with Mitchell and says, "I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"If I hadn't aimed that little blonde lab technician at you --"

"You what?" says a surprised Kirk. "You planned that?"

"Well, you wanted me to think, didn't you?" Mitchell chuckles. "I
outlined her whole campaign for her."

"I almost married her!" says an outraged Kirk. And of course, the
inevitable thought that occurs at this point is, are they talking about
Carol Marcus? That would be spooky.

Still smiling, Mitchell says, "Better be good to me. I'm getting even
better ideas here." He turns the monitor to face Kirk.

Kirk switches it back on and reads it, then says with a grin, "You?
Spinoza?"

"Once you get into him, though, he's rather simple," says Mitchell.
"Childish, almost. I don't agree with him at all." Among other
things, Spinoza was a strict determinist who argued that free will was
an illusion. Naturally, this is not an idea Mitchell is going to have
much sympathy for.

"Go on," says Kirk.

Mitchell smiles again and says, "Hey, I'm trying to tell you I feel
fine. When do I go back on duty?"

"I'm going to ask Dr. Dehner to keep you under observation for a
while," says Kirk.

Mitchell is not pleased to hear this. "With almost a hundred women on
board, you can do better than that, friend Captain."

Grinning again, Kirk says, "Consider it a challenge." Is this Kirk's
way of getting back at Mitchell for pulling that lab technician stunt?
Could be.

"That doesn't sound very friendly," Mitchell remarks. As Kirk turns to
go, Mitchell adds, in a loud voice echoing with reverb, "Didn't I say
you'd better --"

Kirk turns back around, shocked. Mitchell finishes in his normal
voice, " . . . be good to me?"

An uneasy Kirk leaves. Mitchell returns to the monitor. He clicks
through the pages about once each second, then faster and faster.

**********************

On the bridge, the pages from Mitchell's monitor also appear on the
screen above Spock's station, flicking by faster and faster. As Kirk
joins him, Spock says, "He's reading faster now than just a few moments
ago. Is that Gary Mitchell? The one you used to know?"

Another shot of the screen, now showing Mitchell in sickbay clicking
through pages.

Kirk orders, "Put a twenty-four hour watch on sickbay. Fullest
possible range of examinations and tests." Spock nods and goes off to
see that it's done. Kirk continues watching Mitchell. On the screen,
Mitchell turns and looks back at Kirk.

*************************

Sickbay. Another shot of the biobed monitor. Piper pushes a button on
the monitor a couple of times, then remarks, "Perfect. Perfect. I've
never had a patient like you, Gary. Even the healthiest are generally
off on some readings." Holding a little black bag to his side, Piper
turns and exits sickbay, leaving Dehner alone with Mitchell. She's
leaning against the wall next to the exit.

"I know you don't particularly like me, Mr. Mitchell," she says, "but
since I am assigned to you, can we make the best of it?"

"I've got nothing against you, doctor," Mitchell says with a smile.

"Or against a 'walking freezer unit'?"

Nodding rather sheepishly for a mental superman, Mitchell says, "Well,
yeah. Sorry about that." Enjoy that apology, doctor. Mitchell isn't
going to be handing them out for much longer.

Smiling, Dehner approaches Mitchell, saying, "Women professionals do
tend to overcompensate. Now let's talk about you. How do you feel?"

As he sits up, Mitchell says, "You know, everybody, everybody seems
worried that I don't have some kind of a fever or something." Turning
to look up at the biobed monitor, he adds, "Maybe if I could just
change these dials . . . "

The readings immediately all shoot up, and the pulse beep sounds like a
set of maracas.

Dehner is appalled, but Mitchell just has a "hmmmm" look on his face.
"Now back to normal, I think," he says, and the readings do indeed go
back to normal.

"How did you do that?" asks Dehner.

Looking troubled for the first time, Mitchell says, "I'm not sure." He
perks up as he says, "I just thought of making it happen, and it does."
With a chuckle, he adds, "Hey, uh, hey watch this, doc." The
biomonitor readings all plunge to zero, and Mitchell collapses
unconscious onto the bed. (This occurs at the 18:27 mark, for those of
you keeping track.)

A flabbergasted Dehner looks up at the biomonitor, then down at
Mitchell, then up at the biomonitor again, then down at Mitchell again.
She takes his hand and says, "Stop it! Stop it!" She leans over to
listen for his heart. Then she looks up at his face, at which point
Mitchell's eyes open. (The time is 18:43. Mitchell has been "dead"
for sixteen seconds.) As he smiles at her, she says, "You were dead
for almost twenty-two seconds. There were no readings at all."

Mitchell brings his hand up to brush against Dehner's face before
touching his own. Taking her hand and laughing a nervous laugh, he
says, "You know, doc, there've been other things, too. Like going
halfway through the ship's library in hardly a day. Yeah." Stroking
her hand, he mutters, "Oh, what's happening to me?"

"Do you remember everything you read that quickly?"

Mitchell nods. "Yeah."

"On any tape?"

Nodding again, Mitchell repeats, "Sure, yeah."

Dehner picks up one of the cassetts, shows it to him, and says, "Try
this one." She slots it into the reader and says, "Page three
eighty-seven."

Mitchell recites, "My love has wings/slender feathered things/with
grace in upswept curve/and tapered tip."

As Dehner looks over from the monitor, Mitchell notes, " 'Nightingale
Woman', written by Tarbolde on the Canopus planet back in nineteen
ninety-six." (Wikipedia notes that Canopus is a yellow supergiant star
in the constellation Carina, spectral type F0 Ib, 310 light years from
Earth.) "It's funny you picked that one, doctor," he adds.

"Why?" asks Dehner as she switches off the monitor.

Mitchell grabs her by the arm and brings her face close to his.
"That's one of the most passionate love sonnets in the past couple of
centuries." Staring into her eyes, he says, "How do you feel, doctor?"

Dehner makes no attempt to pull away from Mitchell, simply responding
with a dazed, "What?"

"How do you feel?"

"I just fell," Dehner says, referring to her episode on the bridge.
"Nothing happened."

"Are you sure?" Mitchell whispers. "Are you sure?"

Whether Dehner is sure that nothing happened to her will never be
known, because at this point the door opens and Kelso walks in,
stopping short when he sees that his pal Gary is in the middle of
another one of his conquests. Discreetly clearing his throat, Kelso
says, "Uh, I was on my coffee break. I thought I'd, uh, check up on .
.. . "

As Dehner slowly straightens up, Mitchell gives Kelso an enthusiastic,
"Yeah, that's okay, Lee, come on in. Don't let the light in my eyes
bother you, pal. It's all for our, uh, our good looking lady doctor,
here."

"Yeah, sure," says Kelso, plainly still uneasy.

"So, uh, so how go the repairs?"

"Well, the main engines are gone unless we can find some way to
re-energize them."

"You better check the starboard impulse packs," Mitchell warns him.
"Those points have about decayed to lead."

"Oh, yeah, sure, Mitch." That Gary, always with the funny remarks.

"I'm not joking, Lee!" Mitchell warns with an edge in his voice. "You
activate those packs and you'll blow the whole impulse deck!"

Now Kelso is really freaked. "I'll, uh, I'll get on it right away. I
just wanted to stop by and make sure you were okay. See you later."
Kelso makes a quick exit.

"He's a fool," Mitchell says angrily as he leans back in bed. "A fool.
He'd seen those points and he hadn't noticed their condition."

Dehner is staring at him. "How do you know?"

Mitchell is clearly torn between awe and fear. "The image of what he'd
seen was still in his mind."

**************************

The briefing room. A close up of some gizmo lying on the table. We
open out into a wide shot of the room as Kelso picks it up and says,
"Well, it didn't make any sense that he'd know, but naturally I checked
out the circuit anyway." Kirk and Spock are seated at one end of the
table. Clockwise from Spock are Kelso on the left side of the table
and Sulu, Scott and Piper at the other end. Carrying the gizmo over to
Kirk, Kelso continues, "I don't know how, but he was right. This point
is burned out exactly the way he described it." You know, if you think
about it, this is so straightforward it almost isn't technobabble.
"Decayed almost to lead" means radioactive decay. The points on the
power packs are made up of some transuranic element, and passing
through the Galactic Barrier caused the rate of radioactive decay to
speed up until the points were practically all lead. This prevents the
energy stored in the rest of the power pack from passing through to the
ship's systems. I'm not quite sure how this would cause the power
packs to blow up if they were used, but that's a minor quibble compared
to how much sense the rest of the explanation makes.

Anyway, as Kirk takes the gizmo from Kelso, Dehner enters and sits on
the right side of the table, between Piper and Kirk, saying, "Sorry I'm
late. I became so interested in observing Gary -- Mr. Mitchell -- "

"Our subject is not Gary Mitchell," Spock says. "Our concern, rather,
is what he is mutating into."

Dehner doesn't like the sound of that. "I know those from your planet
aren't supposed to have feelings like we do, Mr. Spock, but to talk
that way about a man you've served next to for years is worse than even
--"

"That's enough, doctor," Kirk interrupts her.

But Elizabeth Dehner, P.H.D. is intent on speaking her mind. "I don't
think so," she tells Kirk. "I understand you least of all. Gary told
me that you've been friends since he joined the service, that you asked
for him aboard your first command." It would later be established that
at this point, Kirk had only recently been given command of the
Enterprise, though Spock had been serving on her for over ten years.
However, Samuel A. Peeples couldn't know that, so he implies here that
Kirk and Mitchell have been aboard, and serving with Spock, for several
years.

"It is my duty, whether pleasant or unpleasant," Kirk informs her, "to
listen to the reports, observations, even speculations, on any subject
that might affect the safety of this vessel. And it's my Science
Officer's duty to see that I'm provided with it. Go ahead, Mr. Spock."

Spock asks Dehner, "Have you noted evidence of unusual powers?"

Dehner pauses while she tries to put Mitchell's strange abilities in an
unthreatening light. "He can control . . . certain autonomic
reflexes." Like making his heart stop beating, and then starting it up
again. "He reads very fast, retains more than most of us might
consider usual." Like, everything.

Kirk drops his bombshell: "Mr. Scott, would you repeat what you just
told us?"

"About an hour ago," says Scott, "the bridge controls started goin'
crazy. Levers shiftin' by themselves, buttons bein' pushed, instrument
readings changin'."

"And on my monitor screen," Spock adds, "I could see Mitchell smiling
each time it happened, as if this ship and crew were almost a toy for
his amusement."

Kirk leans forward and peers at Dehner. "Are they right, doctor? Has
he shown abilities of such magnitude?" In other words, have you been
bullshitting me about how powerful Mitchell is?

"I saw some such indications," Dehner weasels.

"And you didn't think it worth mentioning?"

"No one's been hurt, have they?" Dehner insists. In fact, Mitchell
probably just saved a bunch of guys down in engineering. I'd say he's
definitely ahead on points. You'd think they'd cut him some slack.
"Don't you understand?" she continues. "A mutated superior man could
be a wonderful thing, the forerunner of a new and better kind of human
being!" Looks like Mitchell was right on the bridge about Dehner's
desire to "improve the breed".

Of course, if Kirk wanted to, he could cite the Eugenics Wars for an
example of the downside of having a new and better kind of human being
around. But that, like Spock's telepathic abilities, is a bit of canon
that hasn't been canonized yet. In any event, Dehner's outburst leaves
everybody in the briefing room looking at her like she's just lost her
mind (which is kind of ironic, actually). Eventually, Kirk says, "Mr.
Sulu."

The blue-tunicked Asian astrophysicist responds by speaking his second
line of the episode: "If you want the mathematics of this, Mitchell's
ability is increasing geometrically. That is like having a penny,
doubling it every day. In a month, you'll be a millionaire."

"In less time than that," Spock notes, "he will have attained powers we
can't understand and can't cope with. Soon, we'll be not only useless
to him, but actually an annoyance."

Kirk stands up: meeting over. "There'll be no discussion of this with
the crew. Thank you."

As the briefing participants gather up their computer cassettes and
head out, Spock pauses, then turns to speak with Kirk. "We'll never
reach an Earth base with him aboard, Jim." Note that the Federation
itself isn't canon yet. Enterprise is an Earth ship, visiting Earth
bases and Earth colonies like the Aldebaran colony in between visits to
alien worlds like Deneb IV. "You heard the mathematics of it," Spock
continues. "In another month, he'll have as much in common with us as
we'd have with a ship full of white mice."

Kirk, who hasn't bothered to turn around and actually face Spock, says,
"What I need are recommendations, Spock, not vague warnings."

"Recommendation one: there's a planet a few light-days away from here,
Delta Vega. It has a lithium cracking station. We may be able to
adapt some of its power packs to our engines." A light-day is a little
over sixteen billion miles, over four times the distance from Pluto to
the sun. "A few light-days" is uncharacteristically imprecise of
Spock, but presumably means that Delta Vega is about fifty billion
miles away. Which begs the question of just what a lithium cracking
station is doing way out here on the edge of the galaxy, when the
Enterprise is only the second Earth ship to make it this far out in the
last 200 years. And what about that name, Delta Vega? Vega is a mere
26.5 light-years from Earth, just about as far from the edge of the
galaxy as Earth itself. Maybe the station was set up by an automated
mining ship sent out by the Vega colony (mentioned in the first pilot
as Pike's original destination before he diverted course for Talos IV).
Presumably, warp-capable automated freighters stop by every so often
to load up some cracked lithium and haul it back to the Vega colony,
where it can be processed and repackaged and sold to everybody in
Earth's sphere of influence who needs some cracked lithium.

Anyway, Kirk responds, "And if we can't, we'll be trapped in orbit
there. We haven't enough power to blast back out."

"It is the only possible way to get Mitchell off this ship," Spock
points out. He doesn't point out that a much easier way to get him off
the ship is to just transport him into space.

"If you mean strand Mitchell there, I won't do it!" Kirk barks. This,
at last, is enough to get him to turn his head and establish a brief
eye contact with Spock. Turning back, he adds, "The station is fully
automated. There's not a soul on the whole planet. Even the ore ships
call only once every twenty years." Wow, just how long has this place
been in operation? And Earth is only now sending a starship out to
have a look? The Vega colony has really got a leg up on Earth.

"Then you have one other choice," Spock states. "Kill Mitchell while
you still can." Did I mention that the transporter can just beam him
off the ship anytime you give the order? This, presumably, is Spock's
recommendation number two.

Kirk turns and walks back to the table, still not looking at Spock.
"Get out of here," he mutters.

"It is your only other choice," Spock insists. "Assuming you make it
while you still have time."

"Will you try for one moment to feel?" says Kirk. "At least act like
you've got a heart. We're talking about Gary."

"The captain of the Valiant probably felt the same way," Spock says.
"And he waited too long to make his decision. I think we've both
guessed that." Still, it wasn't a total loss. As revealed in
Friedman's The Valiant, about 70 members of the Valiant's crew escaped
from the ship before it was destroyed, and settled on a class-M planet
on the far side of the Galactic Barrier.

Finally, Kirk makes his decision. "Set course for Delta Vega," he
orders Spock, then sits at the table while Spock leaves the briefing
room.

Musical sting. Fade to black.

.