one degree to overlap. stand by to photograph. now. [sighs] three days of this now, sir. other ships must have made star maps of some of this. negative, lieutenant. we are the first to reach this far. [beeping] it's moving toward us. no visual contact yet.

it's coming at light speed. collision course. evasive maneuvers, mr. sulu. object changing direction, too, sir. keeps coming at us. i'm getting no signal from it, sir. still cocoision course. deflectors aren't stopping it. sound alarm. it's slowing down, mr. spock. countermand alarm. all engines full stop. visual contact. ahead slow.

it's blocking the way! quite unnecessary to raise your voice, mr. bailey. all engines stop. bridge to all decks-- condition alert. all decks-- condition alert. captain kirk to the bridge. space... the final frontier. these are the voyages of the starship enterprise. its five-year mission

and ne w civilizations...

kirk: captain's log, stardate 1512.2. on our third day of star mapping, an unexplained cubical object blblked our vessel's path. on the bridge, mr. spock immediately ordered general alert. my location--sick bay. quarterly physical check. oh! whew! just a few seconds more. [muttering] [groaning] that's a boy. keep it up. work off a little sweat, do you good. killin' me. [groaning]

stop. oh! ah. winded? you'd be the last one i'd tell. kirk here. what's going on? have a look at this, captain. whatever it is, it's blocking our way. when we move, it moves as well. a vessel of some kind? negative. more some type of device. i'll be right up. you could see the alarm lights flashing from there, mccoy. why didn't you tell me? finally finished a physical on you, didn't i? uttle conductor? if i jumped every time a lighghcame on around here, i'd end up talking to myself. man on p.a.: all decks alert.

all decks alert. bridge. captain to bridge. spock: spock here. any changes? negative. whatever it is, it seems to want to just hold us here. any indication of danger from it? negative. captain out. all decks have reported green, mr. bailey. yes, sir. and d en the captain arrives, he'll expect a full report on-- the cube's range and position. i'll have it by then. raising my voice back there doesn't mean i wasascared or couldn't do my job. it means i happen to have a human thing called an adrenaline gland. hmm. it does sound most inconvenient, however.

very funny. you try to cross brains with spock, he'll cut you to pieces every time. captain to bridge. spock here. any signs of life? negative. have you tried all hahaing frequencies? affirmative. no answer from the cube. have the department heads meet me on the bridge. already standing by. [beeping] reporting, sir. sensors show it is solid, but its composition is unknown to us. lieutenant uhura? hailing frequencies still open, sir.

navigation. distance from us-- 1,593 meters, position constant. each of its edges measures 107 m mers. mass, a little under 11,000 metric tons. scotty. mode of power? beats me what makes it go. i'll buy speculation. i'd sell it if i had any. that's a solid cube. hohosomething like that can sense us coming, block us, move when we move, it beats me. rt. life sciences. same report. sir, we going to just let it hold us here? we've got phaser weapons. i vote we blast it. i'll keep that in mind, mr. bailey, when this becomes a democracy. captain's log, stardate 1513.8.

origin and purpose of the cube still unknown. we've been here, held motionless, for 18 hours. anything further, gentlemen? i believe it adds up to either one of two possibilities. first, a space buoy of some kind. flypaper. and you don't recommend sticking around. it's time for action, gentlemen. mr. bailey-- bridge to phaser gun crew-- countermand. i'm sorry, sir. i thought-- are you explaining, mr. bailey? i haven't requested an explanation. now, as i was about to say, navigator, plot us a spiral course away from the cube. yes, sir. we'll try pulling away from it. yes, sir. helmsman to engine room,

all decks alert. we're going to try pulling away. course plotttt and laid in, sir. engage, mr. sulu, quarter speed. .25, sir. still blocking us, sir. let's see if it'll give way. ahead, half speed.

all stop, full position. it's still coming toward us. range 190 meters. radiation increasing. power astern, half speed. half speed. radiation nearing the tolerance level. still coming. gaining on us. engines astern, full speed.

range--125 meters now. helm, give us warp speed. warp one, sir. radiation at the tolerancnclevel. warp two, sir. speed is now warp three. entering lethal zone. range--51 meters and still closing, sir. phaser crew stand ready. phaser crew reports ready, sir. growing. we can take only a few more seconds of this.

mr. bailey, lock phasers! phasers locked on target, sir. at point-blank range ananclosing.

captain's lolo stardate 1514.0. the cube has been destroyed. ship's damage--minor. but my next decision--major.

nothing, captain. no contacts, no objects in any direction. care to speculate on what we'll find if we go on ahead? speculate? no. logically, we'll discover the intelligence which sent out the cube. intelligence different from ours or superior? probably both. and if you're asking the logical decision to make-- no, i'm not. has it occurred to you that there's a certain...inefficiency in constantly questioning me on things you've already made up your mind about? it gives me ememional security. navigator, set a course ahead.

engage. warp one, sir. mr. bailey-- phaser crews were sluggish. you were slow in locking them into your directional beam. helmsman, engineering decks could have been faster, too. program a series of simulated attacks and evasion maneuvers. keep repeating the exercise until we're proficient, gentlemen. yes, sir. yes, sir. your timing is lousy, jim. your men are tired. captain's quarters. aren't you the one that always says a little suffering is good for the soul? i never say that. this is the bridge. prepare for simulated attack. i'm especially worried about bailey. navigagar's position's rough enough for a seasoned man. i think he'll cut it. oh? how so sure? because you spotted something you liked in him, something familiar, like y yrself, say about, oh, 11 years ago? on the double, deck five! give me a green light. why, doctor, you've been reading your textbooks again? to know that you could've promoted him too fast.

battle stations. phaser crews, come on, let's get with it. phaser station two, where's your green light? what's next? "they're not machines, jim"? well, they're not. they've been through-- dr. mccoy, i've heard you say mech that man is ultimately superior anical device. no, i never say that, either. i could've sworn i heard you say that. [communicator signal] kirk here. let's try for 100, mr. spock. agreed. what are you going to do wiwi that 6% when they give it to you, jim?

[door opens] excuse me, sir. it's past time you had something to eat, sir. what the devil is this? green leaves? it's dietary salad, sir. dr. mccoy ordered your diet card changed. i thought you knew. your weight was up a couple of pounds. remember? will you stop hovering over me, yeoman? well, i'll change it if you don't like it, sir. r the doctor, too. no, no. no, i never eat until the crew eats. thank you, yeoman. you're welcome, sir. [bailey] this is the bridge. all decks prepare to better reaction time on second simulated attack. when i get my hands on the headquarters genius that assigned me a female yeoman-- what's the matter, jim, don't you trust yourself? battle stations. engineering decks alert... i've already got a female to worry about.

sulu: countermand that. all decks to battle stations. this is not a drill. repeat--this is not a drill. kirk here. spock: we're picking up an object, sir. much larger, coming toward us.

strong contact. not visual yet. distant spectrograph. metallic, similar to cube. much greater energy reading.

half speed. prepare for evasive action. reducing to warp two, sir. tractor beam, captain. something's grabbed us--hard. engines overloading, sir. all engines stop. all engines stopped, sir. phasererrews stand ready. bridge to phaser crews, stand ready. forward phaser, will comply. all weapons at operational ready. fascinating. what's its mass, mr. spock?

must be a mile in diameter. 5,000 meters away and it still fills the screen. reduce image. let me see all of it. magnification 2.5, sir. magnification 18.5, sir. ship to ship. hailing frequencies open, sir. this is the united earth ship enterprise.

what is it, mr. bailey? a message... coming over my navigation beam. pick it up. switching, sir. ...and trespassed into our star systems. this is balok, flagship fesarius of the first federation. your vessel, obviously the product of a primitive and savage civilization, ving ignored a warning buoy and having then destroyed it, ntion is not peaceful. wewere now considering the disposition of your ship and the life aboard. ship to ship. hailing frequencies open, sir. this is the captain of the enterprise speaking. the warning nature of your space buoy was unknown to us. our vessel was blockeded and when we attempted to disengage--

everywhere-- our electrical systems, our enennes-- no further communication will be accepted. if there is the slightest hostile move, your vessel will be destroyed immediately. they're shutting off some of our systems, captain. brilliant. extremely sophisticated in their methods. does the recorder marker have this on its tapeses enough to warn other earth ships. mr. bailey, dispatch recorder marker. mr. bailey. uh, recorder marker dispatched, sir. marker on course.

you have been examined. your ship must be destroyed. we make assumption you have a deity or deities or some such beliefs which comfort you. we therefore grantntou 10 earth time periods known as minutes totoake preparations. locate where that voice is coming from. balok's message-- it w w heard all over the ship.

have encountered alien life forms. you know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves and irrational fear of the unknown, but there's no such thing as the unknown. only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. in most cases, we have found that intelligence cacable of a civilization is capable of understanding peaceful gestures. surely a life form advanced enough for space travel all decks, stand by. captain out. ship to ship. hailing frequencies open, sir. this is the captain of the u.s.s. enterprise. we came seeking friendship. but we have no wish to trespass. return to demonstrate our good will, the way it came. we--

lay in a course ahead, mr. bailey. what? a course? plotted and laid in, sir. engage, warp factor one. warp factor-- there's no response. switch to impulse. all engine systems show dead. and weapon systems. switching to screen. i believe i can get something visual. you are wasting time and effort. there is no escape.

i was curious to see how they appeared. yes, of course you were. i don't understand this. spock's wasting time. everybody else just sitting around. somebody's got to do something. easy, bailey. what do theywant fr? s to do! they want us to lose our heads. we've only got eight minutes left. 7 minutes and 45 seconds. he's doing a countdown! practically end of watch. are you all out of your minds? end of watch? it's the end of everything. what are you, robots? wound-up toy soldiers? don't you know when you're dying? watch and regulations and orders-- what do they mean? bailey, you're relieved!

let's go. ship to ship. hailing frequencies open, sir. this is the captain of the enterprise speaking. it is the custom of earth people whenever possible. we destroyed your space buoy as a simple act of self-preservation. when we attempted to move away from it, it emitted radiation harmful to our species. if you've examined our ship and its tapes, you know this to be true. [electronic humming]