The Enterprise ventures further into space than any other starship.
Its mission is to retrieve the log recorder from the SS Valiant, which disappeared off near the
galactic barrier.
Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are playing chess in the
Mess Hall, when they receive a message from the Bridge. They are approaching a log recorder
instead of the SS Valiant. Kelso asks Kirk if he wants to beam the object onboard, and Kirk
orders him to do so.
Kirk and Spock head for the Transporter Room, where
Engineer Montgomery Scott prepares to beam the log recorder aboard. Kirk gives the command and
the recorder is beamed aboard. Kirk soon has the records transmitted to the Bridge for
inspection by Spock. He then puts the ship in General Quarters Alert and heads for the Bridge
with Spock.
------
Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock enter a Turbolift and head for the
Bridge. Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell catches them just in time. In the Turbolift, Gary asks Spock
how Kirk was with his chess skills. Spock answers that Kirk played most illogically. They arrive
at the Bridge and Spock immediately goes over to his Science Station and begins going over the
records of the SS Valiant.
Mr. Spock reports that the record tapes are all
badly damaged and that it is impossible to make a possible guess as to what happened to the SS
Valiant. Soon he makes out that the captain ordered his ship to self-destruct and requested
information on ESP, extra-sensory-perception. Kirk asks Dr. Denher what she knows of
extra-sensory-perception, and she reports that she has high-rated ESP readings herself. She
then elaborates that is probable for individuals to sense into the future.
With rest of the tapes badly damaged, Kirk decides
to venture further into the galaxy's edge. When they engage warp one, they find an energy
barrier blocking their attempts. Sensors are scrambled and soon when they hit the barrier, all
hell breaks loose, as systems around the Bridge explode and burn out. Soon, two crewmembers on
the Bridge are struck by an energy beam. Kirk orders the ship back out and into space, but they
have lost warp control. When they leave the barrier, Kirk goes to his old friend Gary Mitchell,
who's eyes are marble-white, the after effect of the energy discharge.
------
Kirk soon makes a log entry and informs that the warp engines are
out, and that what seemed like days to reach the nearest starbase, will now take years to reach
under impulse power. He now has a more pressing matter to deal with, such as that of Gary
Mitchell, who appears to be all right, but is now a completely different person.
Kirk gives Gary a visit in Sickbay, and asks him
how he is. Gary has never felt any better, and soon Gary asks the captain when he can be back
on duty. Kirk tells his friend that he needs to be kept under careful observation all the time.
When Kirk leaves, Gary warns Kirk that he better be nice to him, in a voice quite commanding
and this alerts the captain that he's becoming something other than human. After Kirk leaves,
Gary begins to read the whole library of books.
On the Bridge, Kirk and Spock monitor Gary's
condition via a monitor. They are aware of Gary's increasing intelligence. Kirk asks Spock to
keep a twenty-four hour watch on Gary.
On the Bridge, a worried Mr. Spock looks up records
of Gary's and Elizabeth's ESP records, and that there is a connection. Nine other victims also
had high levels of ESPer readings and Kirk soon worries about what Gary is becoming, even
though Dr. Denher is feeling differently. Nevertheless, Kirk feels it is his duty to protect
the ship from danger at all costs.
In Sickbay, Dr. Piper gives Gary a clean bill of
health and states that he is in perfect condition. After Piper leaves, Dr. Denher studies
Gary's growing ability. He shows her that he has the ability to control objects at his very
thought and demonstrates it by terminating his life-support system. He is momentarily dead, but
reawakens and tells the doctor he is reinvograted. Not trusting his abilities, Dr. Denher asks
Gary to recite a book which she covers up with her body, and line for line, he recites a
paragraph of the book. Just then, Kelso enters to see how Gary is doing. Gary asks for the
progress on the ship's repair, and Kelso answers that it is going slowly. Then, Gary informs a
bewildered Kelso to take a look at the starboard impulse circuitry, which has been fused. Kelso
thinks that he is lying, but Gary is serious and doesn't take Kelso's joke seriously. Kelso
departs scared.
In the Briefing Room, Kelso informs Kirk of Gary's
progressing telepathic ability, as he lays out the circuitry that Gary described exactly as
flawed. Dr. Denher soon joins the group to discuss the future of Gary Mitchell's career.
Everyone in the room agrees that Mitchell is becoming more than a threat to the crew onboard,
as he can push buttons and control the ship at his thoughts. But Denher reminds everyone that
he is still a human-being, an incredible human-being, one with power and strength that no one
should dare oppose. Wherein there lies the problem. Kirk decides that he will try and stop Gary
after they repair the ship and dismisses his crew.
After the crew leaves, Spock remains behind to give
the captain his logical option. One, he can maroon Gary Mitchell on Delta Vega, a planet
several light-years from their journey and which contains the materials they need to repair the
ship, or two, kill Gary Mitchell while he still can. Neither option appeals to Kirk, but Spock
warns that if the captain does not act fast, he may also suffer the same consequence as the
captain of the Valiant did.
------
Kirk soon decides to set course for Delta Vega, a desolate and
barren planet and decides the only logical option is to maroon Gary Mitchell. Kirk prepares to
beam down to the surface with Gary, but he strikes Kirk and Spock with electrical discharges.
Dr. Piper is able to seduce him with a hypospray, however, but he may regain consciousness at
any time.
They quickly take Gary to the Transporter Room, but
just as they step on the Transporter Pad, he regains consciousness, and exclaims that they are
nothing more than an insect to be squashed. Dr. Piper once again gives Gary a stimulants. They
beam down without a hitch.
On the surface, Kirk puts Gary inside a makeshift
Brig. He is then informed by Kelso, that the warp-engines can be reinitialized using the
equipment from the planet's surface. He orders Kelso to get to work and transport the equipment
to the ship. He then orders Kelso to rig one of the console's to explode, giving it a
thirty-second delay upon deactivation to kill Gary Mitchell.
In the Brig, Captain Kirk tries to reason with the
fast-developing Gary Mitchell, but he won't budge. Gary knows that he is more powerful than the
rest of them and that he won't be afraid to use that power if he has to.
On the Enterprise, Scotty has successfully
reinitialized the warp-engines and that they are ready to leave orbit. He also informs a
bewildered Kirk that he has sent down a phaser-rifle as ordered and they are ready to depart.
Upon hearing this, Kirk is about to object, but Mr. Spock comes to him with a phaser-rifle in
hand. Kelso then instructs Kirk that he has rigged the planet to self-destruct upon activation.
Gary soon knows what he must do in order to
survive. He kills Kelso by strangling him with a cord in the repair shop of the planet. When
Kirk, Spock and Denher comes to take Gary away, Gary strikes them with an electrical discharge
knocking both of them out. He then brings down the forcefield and lures Denher in. He shows her
to the mirror and then her eyes change to that of Gary's. She is also becoming a God.
------
When the doctor regains consciousness, he goes to the unconscious
form of Kirk and Spock. Kirk regains consciousness and the doctor gives him a pill to heal him.
When the doctor tries to give a pill to Spock, Kirk orders the doctor to beam him and himself to
the ship, while Kirk will himself, go after Gary. He then takes Spock's phaser-rifle.
Dr. Denher and Gary soon wonders off to the valley,
with Dr. Denher enjoying her gift of being a god with Gary. She wonders how anyone could
survive on a desolate place such as this, and Gary informs her that they will make it
hospitable to their needs as he creates a virtual haven with water and garden, with the flick
of his hand. He then notices that Kirk is arriving to finish him off, to which he quips, "He's
a foolish man." He then orders Denher to go to Kirk to try and reason with him.
At a clearance, Kirk comes face-to-face with the
God-like Denher. Denher explains that she too is like Gary, but it only took time for the
transformation to occur. Kirk then tries to reason with Denher, saying that Gary's absolute
power will corrupt him and her. She says that power can be good in some situations and will not
accept Kirk's offing. Kirk then tries to psychologically get past the doctor, saying that human
frailities are a part of what makes them human. The doctor warns Kirk to beam back up, but Kirk
protests and soon Gary is coming.
Gary says that the captain is a fool, for trying to
attack what he doesn't understand. He then informs the captain that he should die at his feet,
and tortures him. He then creates a burial site for the captain, but misspells the captain's
name with James R. Kirk. When the doctor sees that the captain is hurting, she uses her powers
against Gary, and soon the two have an omnipotent power fight. The two soon are weak from their
fight and their eyes return to normal. Dr. Denher urges Kirk to fight Gary while he has the
chance.
Soon, Kirk and Gary engage in a fistfight, knocking
each other to the ground. Kirk gives up his momentary success, when he fails to hit Gary on the
head with a rock, returning him to his God-like state. They continue to fight until Gary loses
his footing and falls inside his own made burial site. Kirk seizes the opportunity and grabs
his phaser-rifle and blasts toward a cliff, making the rocks fall into the grave, blocking Gary
forever. He then goes to Denher, but it is too late. Her fire-fight with Gary has drained her
and she dies. Kirk soon orders the Enterprise to beam him up.
On board the Bridge, Kirk makes a record, stating
that both Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Denher died in the line of duty. Spock agrees with the
captain's sentiments, and Kirk declares that there may be hope for Spock after
all.
