[Transporter room]

KIRK; It's too bad Gideon isn't cleared for general visitation, Mister Spock. According to the physio-cultural reports submitted to the Federation, it's a virtual paradise.
SPOCK: I shall be interested in hearing your description, Captain.
KIRK: You won't have long to wait.
SPOCK: Lieutenant Uhura.
UHURA: Yes, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Do we have final clearance from Gideon?

[Bridge]

UHURA: Yes, Mister Spock. They have provided us with the co-ordinates for beam down.

[Transporter room]

SPOCK: May I have them, please?
UHURA [OC]: Eight seven five.
SPOCK: Eight seven five.
UHURA [OC]: Zero two zero.
SPOCK: Zero two zero.
UHURA [OC]: Zero seven nine.
SPOCK: Zero seven nine.
KIRK: Let's go, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Energising.
(Kirk dematerialises, then re-appears - in an empty transporter room.)
KIRK: Mister Spock? (goes to intercom) Mister Spock. I have not yet transported down. Why did you leave your post before confirming transport? Mister Spock? Spock?

[Bridge]

(Completely deserted)
KIRK: Engineering?

[Engineering]

KIRK [OC]: Mister Scott? Scotty!

[Bridge]

KIRK: Lieutenant Uhura, report immediately. All bridge personnel, report immediately.

[Corridor]

KIRK [OC]: Kirk to crew. Is anyone aboard?

[Bridge]

KIRK: Sickbay? Doctor McCoy?

[Sickbay]

KIRK: Bones? Bones, answer me.

[Bridge]

KIRK: Bones. Still orbiting Gideon.

[Corridor]

KIRK [OC]: I am alone on the Enterprise. I have searched every area of the ship and still cannot find a trace of the crew, or an indication of how its disappearance was managed. The one thing that is obvious is that I suffered a memory lapse, during which time I bruised my arm. It is causing me some irritation.

[Bridge]

UHURA: Gideon is contacting us, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Put it on the screen.
UHURA: Aye, sir.
(Five men sitting behind a slightly curved table. The central one speaks.)
HODIN [on viewscreen]: Captain Kirk, this is Ambassador Hodin. The council is still awaiting your arrival.
SPOCK: This is Mister Spock, Ambassador Hodin. Captain Kirk was transported down minutes ago.
HODIN [on viewscreen]: That's impossible.
SPOCK: I transported him myself.
HODIN [on viewscreen]: He never arrived.
SPOCK: He was beamed directly to your council chambers. Please verify your co-ordinates.
HODIN [on viewscreen]: Eight seven five, zero two zero, zero seven nine.
CHEKOV: Co-ordinates confirmed.
HODIN [on viewscreen]: We gave you the exact co-ordinates which should have brought Captain Kirk directly to this very room.
SPOCK: I am not questioning that, sir.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: If he is not here, that is your own responsibility, Mister Spock, and that of your staff.

[Bridge]

SPOCK: I do not deny that, sir. I am not attempting to blame your personnel.
HODIN [OC]: We are glad to hear that. We shall enter it into the records of this most unfortunate event.
SPOCK: Your Excellency, even with intricate machinery as delicately balanced as ours, there is still a margin for error which must be dealt with.

[Council chamber]

SPOCK [OC]: It is possible that Captain Kirk materialised on some other part of Gideon.
HODIN: Let us hope it was on dry land.

[Bridge]

(McCoy enters)
SPOCK: Your Excellency. May I cut right to the heart of the matter? I request permission to beam down to conduct a search for our captain.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: Permission denied.

[Bridge]

HODIN [OC]: Your Federation must be aware

[Council chamber]

HODIN: Of our jealous tradition of isolation from all contaminating contacts

[Bridge]

HODIN [OC]: With the violent nature of planets of other star systems.
SPOCK: Your Excellency, the wars between opposing star systems no longer prevail in our galaxy. If you will grant permission
HODIN [on viewscreen]: Of course, we shall institute a thorough search. In the meantime, Mister Spock, I suggest that you look to your machinery.
(Transmission ends)
SPOCK: We must acknowledge once and for all that the purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis.
MCCOY: Well, what are we waiting for, Mister Spock? We're not diplomats.
SPOCK: We are representatives of the Federation, Doctor.
MCCOY: That doesn't mean we have behave like children and listen to some fool lecture by a diplomat!
SPOCK: Unfortunately, diplomacy is the only channel available to us at the moment. The planet is shielded from our sensors, therefore we cannot scan it. Therefore we are unable to select co-ordinates. They must be provided by Gideon.
CHEKOV: We should never have agreed to such restrictions.
SPOCK: We did not, Mister Chekov. The Federation did. Lieutenant Uhura.
UHURA: Yes, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Contact Starfleet immediately. Explain our problem. Request permission to use every means at our disposal to press the search for Captain Kirk.
UHURA: At once, sir.
CHEKOV: Are there any other possibilities?
SPOCK: There are endless, Mister Chekov.
MCCOY: Well, where do we start, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: Institute a sensor scan three hundred and sixty degrees, one degree at a time.
MCCOY: You mean you're going to scan space for him?
SULU: But, sir, that could take years.
SPOCK: Then the sooner you begin, the better.
SULU: Aye, sir.

[Corridor]

(Kirk is checking each room when he sees a young woman walking backwards from a junction, arms outstretched as she almost dances.)
KIRK: Who are you?
ODONA: Odona. Yes, my name is Odona. Why did you bring me here?
KIRK: What are you doing on my ship?
ODONA: Is this entire ship yours?
KIRK: Not my personal property, but I'm the captain.
ODONA: And you have it all to yourself?
KIRK: It seems, at the moment, we have it all to ourselves.
(He grabs her arm.)
ODONA: You're hurting me, Captain
KIRK: Kirk. I'm sorry. James Kirk. And I didn't bring you here.
ODONA: If you didn't bring me
KIRK: That's right. Who has brought you here?
ODONA: I don't know.
KIRK: You? What happened before you came here? Try to remember. It's important.
ODONA: It seems I was standing in a, yes. I was standing in a large auditorium crowded with people. Thousands pressed in against me. I could hardly breathe. I was fighting for oxygen, screaming to get out.
KIRK: Don't be afraid.
ODONA: I'm not, but you are troubled.
KIRK: I seem to be the only one of my crew left on board the Enterprise. Four hundred and thirty, and I, apparently, am the only one left.
ODONA: I'm sorry. I wish I could help.
KIRK: Maybe you can. Tell me the rest. You were fighting for oxygen, screaming to get out of there.
ODONA: And then I, suddenly I was here on this, on your ship. And there was all this space. And the freedom. I just wanted to float. And then there you were.
KIRK: How long have you been aboard the Enterprise?
ODONA: I don't know. Not long. Is it important?
KIRK: It might be. Come with me.

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Lieutenant Uhura, has Starfleet honoured our request with a reply?
UHURA: There has been no response as yet, sir.
SPOCK: Did you advise them the captain's life is at stake?
UHURA: Yes, sir. They insist that the matter must be referred to the Federation.
SPOCK: What department?
UHURA: Bureau of Planetary Treaties.
SPOCK: Contact them directly.
UHURA: I did, Mister Spock. They insist that we must go through Starfleet channels.
SULU: With the captain lost, sir, that's the best they could come up with?
SPOCK: Diplomats and bureaucrats may function differently, but they achieve exactly the same results.

[Empty Bridge]

(Kirk checks the ship's chronometer on the helm/navigation console- it reads 9h 28m 29s)
KIRK: Nine minutes of my life has been lost.
ODONA: I don't understand.
KIRK: Between the time I tried to beam down to Gideon and the time I found myself here alone, nine minutes have disappeared just like that. Now what happened during those minutes?
ODONA: What is Gideon?
KIRK: That's your home. The planet that you come from.
ODONA: Is it?
KIRK: It must be.
ODONA: Gideon? I don't know any Gideon.
KIRK: That's impossible. We were in synchronous orbit over the capital city of Gideon. I tried to beam down, something happened, and you were beamed aboard from Gideon.
ODONA: I do not think so.
(Kirk switches on the viewscreen, but instead of the deep orange planet, it shows a moving starfield.)
KIRK: We're no longer over Gideon.
ODONA: Where are we?
KIRK: I don't know. I'm not familiar with that quadrant. Odona, you must realise that we're not here by accident. Some force, some intelligence has arranged this for a purpose.
ODONA: Captain, before I said I wasn't afraid. Now I am.

[Bridge]

UHURA: The ambassador will speak, sir. They're requesting visual communication.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: Good news. Very good news indeed, Mister Spock. Your captain is definitely not on Gideon. As you requested, we made a most thorough search, and you will be relieved to know that you may now investigate all the other possibilities and forget about Gideon.
SPOCK [on screen]: But that is not what we requested.
HODIN: You requested a most thorough search. It is in the record. And we have used every means at our disposal to accommodate you.
SPOCK [on screen]: Your record on the subject is not precise, Your Excellency.
HODIN: Surely, Mister Spock, you do not intend, I hope, to create a dispute between the Federation and Gideon?
SPOCK [on screen]: Your Excellency, a dispute is the farthest thing from our minds, and there's no need to check your records. I merely suggest that the language of our statement may not have been understood exactly as intended.
HODIN: Mister Spock, you're an officer of a spaceship. In your profession, you use many instruments, tools and weapons to achieve your objectives.

[Bridge]

SPOCK: True, Your Excellency.
HODIN [OC]: However, the only tool diplomacy has is language.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: It is of the utmost importance that the meaning be crystal clear.

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Your Excellency, I am basically a scientist. Clarity of formulation is essential in my profession also.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: I'm glad to hear it. Perhaps you could then make greater effort to choose your words more precisely.

[Bridge]

MCCOY: Are you going to let him get away with that?
SCOTT: No matter what you say, Mister Spock, he'll twist your meaning.
UHURA: Yes, he's infuriating, sir. How can you stand it?
MCCOY: We do not leave without being absolutely sure ourselves that everything has been done.

[Council chamber]

MCCOY [OC]: Now certainly you understand our feelings about that.
HODIN: Mister Spock! Mister Spock!

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Yes, Your Excellency.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: Are you still there?

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Yes, Your Excellency.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: There was considerable interference with your transmission. A lot of noise drowned out

[bridge]

HODIN [OC]: What was said. Would you repeat, please?
SPOCK: I apologise for the noise, your Excellency. To summarise, I request permission to transport down to Gideon.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: Forgive me, Mister Spock. No criticism of your equipment was intended. But it has sent your captain on some strange journey, a safe one we all still hope.

[Bridge]

HODIN [OC]: But it could create for us serious incidents with your Federation, and now you propose to

[Council chamber]

HODIN: Repeat this disaster with another officer? This would be madness.

[Bridge]

SCOTT: I'll not take that, Mister Spock. That transporter was in perfect condition. I guarantee that myself. Transport me down right this minute, and I'll prove to those gentlemen.
SPOCK: Mister Scott, you'll go to the transporter room and await my orders.
SCOTT: Aye, Mister Spock.
(Scott leaves, muttering)
HODIN [OC]: I could not quite make that out, Mister Spock.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: Would you be so good as to repeat what you said?

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Yes, Your Excellency. The ship's engineer was explaining that the malfunction, which did exist, has now been repaired. We would appreciate an opportunity to test the equipment. I, therefore, request permission

[Council chamber]

SPOCK [OC]: To beam down to your council chamber.
HODIN: But, Mister Spock, you

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Your Excellency, grant this one request.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: You are a very persistent fellow, Mister Spock. Very well, then, You shall test the skill of your very excitable

[Bridge]

HODIN [OC]: Repairman.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: There is one proviso. We cannot risk further incidents. You will therefore transport a member of my staff to your ship. Let us first see if that works.

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Thank you, Your Excellency. Your proposal is accepted. Mister Scott.
SCOTT [OC]: Scott here.
SPOCK: Prepare to beam aboard a representative of the Gideon council.
SCOTT: Aye, aye, sir.

[Council chamber]

HODIN: My assistant will provide you with the proper, what is the word?
SPOCK [OC]: Co-ordinates.
HODIN: Thank you. Proceed, Krodak.
KRODAK: (standing) Eight seven five.
SCOTT [OC]: Eight seven five.
KRODAK: Zero two zero.

[Bridge]

SCOTT [OC]: Zero two zero.

[Transporter room]

KRODAK [OC]: Seven zero nine.
SCOTT: Seven zero nine. Energising.
(Krodak disappears from the bridge viewscreen and appears in the transporter room)
SCOTT: Mister Spock, the gentleman from Gideon is here.

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Your Excellency, your assistant has arrived safely, and I am now ready to transport down to Gideon.
HODIN [on viewscreen]: Now, now, not so fast, Mister Spock. That is quite a different matter. We agreed to allow one representative on our soil, your captain.
SPOCK: Sir, our captain is still missing, and I now demand that I be allowed to transport to Gideon as we agreed.
HODIN [on viewscreen]: Forgive me, Mister Spock, but I overstepped my authority when I made that agreement. However, your request will be taken up at the next full session of Gideon's council.
(Transmission ends)
SPOCK: Mister Scott, beam down the gentleman from Gideon.
SCOTT; Yes, Mister Spock. I'm sending him straight to the same co-ordinates.
MCCOY: Just when I was beginning to think you might find a whole new career as a diplomat, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Do not give up hope. Lieutenant Uhura, contact Starfleet Command. Demand an immediate reply to our request for permission to beam down to Gideon.
UHURA: Yes, Mister Spock. Enterprise to Starfleet Command. Enterprise to Starfleet Command.

[Empty Bridge]

KIRK: Enterprise to Starfleet Command. Enterprise to Starfleet Command. Captain Kirk here. Red priority. Red priority.
ODONA: Isn't it in working order?
KIRK: It seems to be.
ODONA: Then someone should have heard you.
KIRK: Captain Kirk here. Please answer red priority. Please answer red priority. Well, if someone is listening, they're not answering.
ODONA: Why should they do that?
KIRK: They wouldn't.
(Kirk goes to the engineering station and swaps a couple of tapes over.)
ODONA: What did you do?
KIRK: Took the ship out of warp speed.
ODONA: Out of what?
KIRK: Space terminology. We're no longer moving faster than the speed of light. I've trimmed down to sublight speed until we find out where we are.
ODONA: It feels the same.
KIRK: Of course it does. Maybe it is the same.
ODONA: Well, has the ship slowed down?
KIRK: (referring to viewscreen) If you believe that, we have.
ODONA: Oh, please! Don't tell me the sky is out of order now. It's so quiet. So peaceful.
KIRK: It isn't really, you know.
ODONA: And it's beautiful.
KIRK: Yes. Yes, it is. Very, very beautiful.
ODONA: And we're alone. Can you make it last a long, long time?
KIRK: How long would you like it to last?
ODONA: Forever.
KIRK: Well, let's see. Power, that's no problem, it regenerates. And food. We have enough to feed a crew of four hundred and thirty for five years. So that should last us
ODONA: Forever. All my life I've dreamed of being alone.
KIRK: Most people are afraid of being alone.
ODONA: Where I come from, people dream of it.
KIRK: Why? Why are the people of Gideon like that?
ODONA: Gideon? I told you, I don't know where I come from, what my planet is.
KIRK: It might be Gideon.
ODONA: Does it matter so much?
KIRK: Yes. It might help me pinpoint our location.
ODONA: And then you might find your crew. Being here with you, I forgot there must be others. I envy you your sense of loyalty. I want to ease your feeling of dread, your fear that all your crew no longer exists.
KIRK: I've got to contact whoever is manipulating us. There must be a way. Odona. Odona, can you remember why your people dream of being alone?
ODONA: Because they never can be.
KIRK: Why? What makes it so impossible to be alone?
ODONA: Because there are so many of us. So many. There is no place, no street, no house, no garden, no beach, no mountain that is not filled with people. Each one of us would kill in order to find a place alone to himself. They would willingly die for it, if they could.
KIRK: Who sent you here?
ODONA: No one commands Odona. I was not sent here.
KIRK: You've come to kill. Odona, have you come to die?
ODONA: I don't know. I don't care. I only know I'm here. I only know I'm happy.
(They kiss, and dozens of faces appear on the viewscreen. They watch as Kirk leads Odona away.)

[Corridor]

KIRK: Now, all I have to do is find a medical kit, and I can completely cure this. (his arm)
ODONA: Cure?
KIRK: Yes, the irritation would be gone.
ODONA: What will happen if you do not find one? Will you become sick and die?
KIRK: No. Over something as simple as this? No, it'll cure itself eventually, but. Do you know, uh I don't even remember how this happened. Do you hear that?
ODONA: Yes, it sounds like an engine.
KIRK: No, the ship's engines don't make that kind of sound.
ODONA: But there is something wrong with the equipment. Could that be it?
KIRK: I know every sound that this ship might make. That's coming from outside.
ODONA: A storm might
KIRK: A storm might, but you wouldn't be able to hear it. Come on.

[Observation deck]

KIRK: This is a viewing port. We'll be able to see outside. If there's a storm, we'll be able to see it.
(Kirk presses a button, but the steel shutter does not raise)
KIRK: If it works.
(uses a manual override, and the shutters slide open to reveal faces which are then replaced by a starfield.)
ODONA: People. The faces of people. And then the stars. What's happening? What's out there? The sound is gone.
KIRK: It was like the heartbeat of all those people, and thousands upon thousands more pressing against the ship.
ODONA: But you said we were moving through space.
KIRK: Yes, I said that.
ODONA: Then the people can't be out there.
KIRK: Yes, they can.
ODONA: Please don't frighten me.
KIRK: It could be a mirage. They could exist in our minds.
ODONA: You mean that we're going mad.
KIRK: Or some power is creating the illusion in our minds that we are somewhere near your planet. But why?
ODONA: I don't know. I don't know.
KIRK: I think I have an idea. So that we won't keep trying to find out where we are, that we'll be content to stay here.
ODONA: Oh, be content!
KIRK: Be content? Be content? Not until I find out what happened to my crew. Are they dead?
ODONA: I don't know.
KIRK: Did you kill them so you could have the ship to yourself?
ODONA: Captain.

[Council chamber]

ODONA [on screen]: Captain, something's happening to me. I never felt like this before.
KIRK [on screen]: I've never felt like this before either.
ODONA [on screen]: Is this the way one looks when one is developing a sickness?
KIRK [on screen]: There's no sickness on your planet, remember?
ODONA [on screen]: Now there will be. There will be sickness. There will be death.
(She passes out in his arms. The council members file out. Outside the window, a mass of people struggle to move towards their destination.)

[Corridor]

KIRK: Hodin.
HODIN: Yes, Captain Kirk. Our experiment has passed the first stage.
KIRK: Let me in there. I can help her.
HODIN: We have no need of any of your medicines.
KIRK: But she's ill.
HODIN: And we're grateful to you for her illness. You have done well, my daughter.
(Kirk hands Odona over to Hodin)
HODIN: Guard the captain well. We shall need him for a long time.

[Bridge]

ADMIRAL [on viewscreen]: I sympathize deeply, but Starfleet cannot override Federation directives in this matter.
SPOCK: Admiral, the crew will not understand it.
ADMIRAL [on viewscreen]: Has your crew suddenly become interested in provoking a war? That is not Starfleet's mission.
SPOCK: We wish only to save the life of the captain.
ADMIRAL [on viewscreen]: You have not proved your case to the Federation, or to Starfleet, for that matter.
SPOCK: I am positive that I can do so to your satisfaction, Admiral. I have been convinced, since my first exchange with the ambassador, that the captain has been taken prisoner.
ADMIRAL [on viewscreen]: Granted as fact, Mister Spock. 
SPOCK: I now know where the captain is being held, if he is being held at the same place to which we transported him.
ADMIRAL [on viewscreen]: They would not dare harm him in the Gideon council chamber.
SPOCK: Sir, the captain is not being held in the Gideon council chamber. He is being held nearby.
ADMIRAL [on viewscreen]: You have answered what and where. I'm waiting for your explanation of why.
SPOCK: Since the planet is shielded from our sensors, we cannot establish that without on the spot investigation.
ADMIRAL [on viewscreen]: Do you have evidence the captain's life is threatened? Permission denied.
SPOCK: Admiral, I wish to state for the record that your decision is completely arbitrary.
ADMIRAL [on viewscreen]: So noted.

[Captain's quarters]

ODONA: Will it last long?
HODIN: That depends on the strength of the one infected. You have great strength.
ODONA: How will you know when I am to die?
HODIN: Your body temperature will be very great. You will see us, but you will not know who we are.
ODONA: I must see him before then, Father.
HODIN: Rest. Now lie still. Do you feel great pain?
ODONA: Yes, in my arms and thighs.
HODIN: What is it like to feel pain?
ODONA: It is like, like when you see the people have no hope for happiness, Father. You feel great despair, and your heart is heavy because you know you can do nothing. Pain is like that.
HODIN: Your courage gives me great pride.

[Corridor]

KIRK: Let me see her.
HODIN: Not yet.
KIRK: You don't know what she may have.
HODIN: But we do. She has Vegan choriomeningitis.
KIRK: It's very rare, and always fatal if not treated within twenty four hours. I know, it almost killed me.
HODIN: Yes. Our prime minister learned about you during our negotiations. That's why we brought you here. Your blood provided the micro-organisms which infected her.
KIRK: That's how my arm got hurt.
HODIN: Yes. As Odona told you, we have no need for medical practitioners here. Our apologies. We were unforgivably awkward to have hurt you.
(Kirk has a fight with his two guards, and loses.)
KIRK: You're mad.
HODIN: No. We are desperate.

[Bridge]

MCCOY: I don't understand how Starfleet can deny permission to beam down to search for the captain.
SPOCK: They did not ask for our understanding, Doctor.
SCOTT: I don't see how they expect us to sit here and wait for the captain to reappear.
SPOCK: Unfortunately, I must violate a direct order from Starfleet.
MCCOY: That's the best possible decision you could make, Spock. I'm with you.
SPOCK: I do not make it lightly, Doctor. However, Command knows that Ambassador Hodin has not been totally honest with us. Lieutenant Uhura, repeat original Gideon co-ordinates for beam down.
UHURA: Eight seven five, zero two zero, zero seven nine.
SPOCK: Mister Scott, the co-ordinates given you?
SCOTT: Eight seven five, zero two zero, seven zero nine.
MCCOY: Co-ordinates don't match.
SPOCK: Precisely. I shall beam down at once. Mister Scott, you have the conn.
MCCOY: I'll pick up my medical tricorder and meet you in the transporter room.
SPOCK: Negative, Doctor. I cannot accept the responsibility for ordering a fellow officer to violate a Starfleet directive. I can make such a decision only for myself.
MCCOY: I'm not asking you to make the decision for me.
SPOCK: The situation forces me to do so, Doctor.
MCCOY: In that case, it's the worst possible decision you can make, Spock.
SPOCK: This will not take long.
(Spock leaves)
SCOTT: Isn't that just about what Captain Kirk said before he left?

[Fake Transporter room]

SPOCK: (into intercom) Captain Kirk. Spock here. Captain Kirk?
(He goes out into the corridor, scanning with his tricorder.)

[Council chamber]

KIRK: Your report to the Federation was a tissue of lies. You described environmental, physical, cultural conditions that would make Gideon a paradise.
HODIN: And so it was! A long, long time ago what we described was true! The atmosphere on Gideon has always been germ-free. And the people flourished in their physical and spiritual perfection. Eventually, even the life span increased. Death became almost unknown to us. It occurred only when the body could no longer regenerate itself, and that happens now only to the very old.
KIRK: Those are conditions most people would envy.
HODIN: But Gideon did not find it enviable. The birth rate continued to rise, and the population grew, until now Gideon is encased in a living mass who can find no rest, no peace, no joy.
KIRK: Then why haven't you introduced any of the new techniques to sterilise men and women?
HODIN: Every organ renews itself. It would be impossible.
KIRK: Then let your people learn about the devices to safely prevent conception. The Federation will provide anything you need.
HODIN: But you see, the people of Gideon have always believed that life is sacred. That the love of life is the greatest gift. That is the one unshakable truth of Gideon. And this overwhelming love of life has developed our regenerative capacity and our great longevity.
KIRK: And the great misery which you now face.
HODIN: That is bitterly true, Captain. Nevertheless, we cannot deny the truth which shaped our evolution. We are incapable of destroying or interfering with the creation of that which we love so deeply. Life, in every form, from foetus to developed being. It is against our tradition, against our very nature. We simply could not do it.
KIRK: Yet you can kill a young girl.
HODIN: We're trying to re-adjust the life cycle of an entire civilisation.
KIRK: You're killing your own daughter. How can you do that?
HODIN: My daughter hoped to make you feel the agony of Gideon. But it was impossible. No stranger could realize the horror that life can be here. I will not beg for your understanding of my personal grief, nor will I parade it for you to gain your co-operation. My love for my daughter is too deep for display. My pride in her runs even deeper. My daughter freely chose to do what she is doing, as the people of Gideon are free to choose.
KIRK: The virus you need is very rare. Who will provide it?
HODIN: You will stay. Your blood will provide it.
KIRK: No sir, not me. You have many methods available. I've mentioned only a few. I do not offer my life for this purpose. I have many plans, and I have hopes other than death for Odona.
HODIN: My daughter pleaded with you to stay.
KIRK: What was said and what happened between us was for us alone.
HODIN: She hoped you would love her and wish to stay.
KIRK: So that was your plan. That I would fall so under her spell that I would give up my freedom and become a willing sacrifice.
HODIN: Stay with us. We're desperate.
KRODAK: Odona's fever is rising. She's calling the name of James Kirk.
HODIN: You see, you cannot leave us now. Go to her.

[Empty Bridge]

SPOCK: An exact duplicate of the Enterprise. But completely inoperative. (into communicator) Spock to Enterprise. Spock to Enterprise.
SCOTT [OC]: Scott here, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: I am speaking to you from the bridge of the Enterprise.

[Bridge]

SCOTT: You're where?
SPOCK [OC]: On the bridge of the Enterprise, Mister Scott.
SCOTT: Those were the co-ordinates you insisted on.

[Empty Bridge]

SPOCK: And they were correct. I'm on board an exact duplicate of the Enterprise.

[Bridge]

MCCOY: An exact duplicate of the Enterprise? Is it in orbit, Mister Spock?

[Empty Bridge]

SPOCK: In orbit, Doctor. In a manner of speaking, Gideon is in orbit and the ship is on Gideon.

[Bridge]

MCCOY: Well, that's a beginning, but what about the captain?

[Empty Bridge]

SPOCK: I'm sure he's on board somewhere. I'm picking up life readings. Spock out.

Ship's log, stardate 5423.8. First Officer Spock reporting. Obviously the Gideon's have transported Captain Kirk onto this replica of the Enterprise to so confuse his mind as to make him susceptible to some extraordinary experiment. It is my intention to locate the captain and warn him before the experiment reaches its conclusion, which logic indicates means the end of the captain's life as he knows it.

[Captain's quarters]

KIRK: If you don't allow me to bring Doctor McCoy down here, it'll soon be too late to do anything for her.
HODIN: We have told you, it is her wish and mine that there be no interference with the natural progress of the virus.
KIRK: Her death is unnecessary. Even if she lives, her blood will provide the same serum you need as mine would.
HODIN: No, her death at so young an age will let the people know for certain that our lifecycle can be changed. It's the symbol that'll bring forth the dedicated young volunteers. The serum in their new blood will change Gideon, and it will once more be the paradise it was.
ODONA: I'm glad that you are here. Is the time short?
KIRK: Very short.
ODONA: And I asked you to make our journey last forever. Oh. It began here.
KIRK: And it can continue. If only you'll allow me, I can cure you.
ODONA: I'm not afraid of what will happen, but it's just that now I wish with all my heart to stay with you forever.
(She passes out)
(Outside in the corridor, Spock sneaks up on the two guards outside the 'Captain's quarters'. He neck pinches one, and throws the other along the corridor. Then he enters the room.)
SPOCK: Your Excellency. Captain, you're looking well. Evidently Starfleet's analysis was correct.
KIRK: Mister Spock, we have a patient for Doctor McCoy. Have Scotty beam us up.
SPOCK: Spock to Enterprise. Spock to Enterprise.

[Bridge]

SCOTT: Scott here.
SPOCK [OC]: Three to beam up, Mister Scott.

[Captain's quarters]

SCOTT [OC]: Same co-ordinates?
SPOCK: Negative. Lock in on my communicator signal. Your Excellency, please do not interfere. I already have one serious problem to resolve with upper echelons.
(Spock, Kirk and Odona are beamed away.)

[Sickbay]

MCCOY: Well, that was close, but you made it.
ODONA: I am cured?
MCCOY: Right. Just like the captain.
(McCoy leaves)
ODONA: Instead of smiling at me, you should be shouting in anger.
KIRK: Why, because you're well again?
ODONA: No. Because I pretended to be (pause) How can you bear to look at me after the way I deceived you?
KIRK: At least you owe me the privilege of letting me look at you.
ODONA: You are a gentleman, Captain Kirk.
KIRK: Thank you, ma'am.
ODONA: You are no longer needed on Gideon. I can take your place there.
KIRK: Is that what you want to do?
ODONA: That is what I must do. I am needed there now.
KIRK: You're needed everywhere, Odona.

[Corridor]

ODONA: It is not like our ship.
KIRK: Oh, yes, it is. It's exactly the same. Only this one works.
ODONA: It goes to many other planets?
KIRK: Yes, it goes to the whole galaxy. With another difference. This one is crowded.
ODONA: It seems crowded to you?
KIRK: It does now.
(Crewmen pass by behind them)
ODONA: Are you going to stay on the ship?
KIRK: Yes, Odona, I have to.
ODONA: As crowded as my planet is, I could wish for it to hold one more person.
KIRK: (into intercom) Kirk to transporter control. One to beam down to the planet Gideon.
ODONA: I will miss you, Captain James Kirk.