the ceremony will be carried on all viewing screens, sir. there's a call for you from the bridge. kirk here. [spock] still no answer from earth outpost number 2, captain, d now number 3 has gone silent. maintain course to outpost 4. keep me informed.

since the days of the first wooden vessels, that of uniting two people in the bonds of matrimony, and so we are gathered here today with you, angela martine, and you, robert tomlinson, in the sight of your fellows in accordance with our laws and our many beliefs-- [ship's whistle] alert! alert! all decks--alert! alert! alert! captain to the bridge. kirk here. [spock] earth outpost 4 reports they're under attack--

full ahead. all decks-- condition red. all decks-- condition red. all decks--condition red. space... the final frontier. these are the voyages of the starship enterprise. its five-year mission-- to seek out new life and new civilizations,

captain's log, stardate 1709.2. patrolling outposts guarding the neutral zone between planets romulus and remus and the rest of the galaxy, received emergency call from outpost 4. the u.s.s. enterprise is moving to investigate

then message terminates. verified, captain. our speed is now maximum, sir. position--8 minutes from outpost 4 at this velocity, sir. scotty... i've already talked to my engine room, sir. we'll get more speed out of her. did outpost 4 give anything at all on the attacking vessel, lieutenant? no identification, sir. there can't be much doubt who's attacking, sir. mr. spock, put this star sector on our screen.

signal this to all decks, lieutenant. standing by, sir. this is the captain speaking. in our next action, by any man aboard. listen carefully. science officer. referring to the map on your screens, you will note beyond the moving position of our vessel tructed on asteroids , they monitor the neutral zone established by treaty after the earth-romulan conflict of over a century ago. as you may recall from your histories, this conflict was fought, by our standards today, with primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives, nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication.

has ever seen the other. earth believes the romulans to be warlike, cruel, treacherous, and only the romulans know what they think of earth. the treaty, set by sub-space radio, establisheddthis neutral zone, entry into which by either side would constitute an act of war. the treaty has been unbroken since that time. captain. what you do o t know and must now be told is that my command orders on this subject are precise and inviolable. no act, no provocation will be considered sufficient reason to violate the zone. we may defend ourselves, but, if necessary to avoid interspace war, both these outposts and this vessel will be considered expendable. captain out.

so if we intercept romulans now-- after a whole century, what will a romulan ship look like, mr. stiles? i doubt if they'll radio and identify themselves. you'll know, sir. they're painted like a giant bird of prey. i had no idea that history was your specialty. in the family history. space service then, two commanders, several junior officers-- all lost in that war, sir. their war, mr. stiles. not yours. don't forget i i yes, sir. outpost 2 coming into sensor range, captain. outpost 2 was the first to go silent, lieutenant? yes, captain. then outpostst an hour later. sweeping the area of outpost 2. sensor r rding indefinite. double-checking outpost 3. i read dust and debris. both earth outposts gone

open a channel to our nearest command base. quarter-hour reports on our position and status. yes, sir. call battle stations, mr. sulu. battle stations. all hands to battle stations. battle stations. knowledge. all decks acknowledge, sir. alalstations show green. energize main phasers, mr. stiles. all weapons to full power. all weapons to full power. phaser control room. energize. acknowledge. phaser control acknowledging. all weaponon energizing to full.

battle or phaser weapons notwithstanding. well, meanwhile, temporarily at least, i am still your superior officer. so get with it, mister. helm weapons show ready. starboard and midship weapons show ready. acknowledged. all weapons batteries ready. outpost 4 now 5 minutes away, sir. and it's showing on my sensors, captain. at least it's still there. sir, regaining contact with outpostst. switching to speakers. do you read me, enterprise? this is commander hansen. kirk here. w wre minutes away, hansen. what's your status? outposts 2, 3, and 8 are gone. unknown weapon. completely destroyed, even though we were e erted. had our deflector shield on maximum. hit by enormous power. first attack blew our deflector shield. if they hit t again with our deflector shield gone...

confirm what hit you, hansen. what vessel? identity? space vessel, only glimpse of. can you locate the intruder for us? negative. it seems to have disappeared somehow. i have you on my screen now. switching to visual. tie us in. tied in, sir. enterprise, can you see it? my command post here. wewee a mile deep on an asteroid. almost solid iron. and even through our deflectors, it did this. can you see? affirmative. your visual. what do you have on the intruder?

only a glimpse of it. then they fired something at us-- some form of high-energy plasma. fantastic power. then the whole vessel disappeared, but it's out there somewhere. our sensors show that much. enterprise, something coming on our viewing screen-- coming at us fast. lock us on to your screen. switching. can you see it, enterprise? can you see her? it's becoming visible in the center of my screen. do you have phaser capacity? we're still out of range. negative. phasers gone. weapons crew dead. make challenge. warn that shsh off.

outpost 4... disintegrated, captain. disappeared. interesting how they became visible for just a aoment. when they opened fire. perhaps necessary when they use their weapons. i have a blip on the motion sensor, captain. could be the intruder. go to full magnification. screen is on full mag, sir. i don't see anything. can't understand it.

but the power cost is enormous. they may have solved that problem. continuing to challenge, sir. still no response. discontinue. contact remaining outposts. have them signal us any sightitis or sensor readings in their area. blip has changed its heading, captain. and in a very leisurely maneuver. they may not be aware of us. their invisibility screen may work both ways. with that kind of power consumption, they may not be able to see us. his heading is now 111... mark 14-- the exact heading a romulan vessel would take, jim, toward the neutral zone... and home. parallel course. yo don't you mean interception course, sir? u and mru

move. if he has sensors, i want him to think that we're a reflection, an echo. under no circumstances are yoyoto cross into the neutral zone without my direct orders. acknowledged, sir. cancel battle stations. all decks-- standby alert. cancel battle stations, sir. captain. may i respectfully remind the captain what has happened? the romulans have crossed the neutral zone, attacked our outposts, killed our men. mr. stiles-- add to that the fact that it was a sneak attack. negative, sir. i'm pointing out that we could have romulan spies aboard this ship. i agree, sir. respectfully recommend all decks maintain security alert. very well. all decks-- security alert. security alert, sir.

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that mr. spock could probably translate it for you, sir. i assume you're complimenting mr. spock on his ability to decodede i'm not sure, sir. well, here's one thing you can be sure of, mister-- leave any bigotry in your quarters. there's no room for it on the bridge. do i make myself clear? you do, sir. transmission has been cut off. i made a tape of it, sir. very well. [transmission playing] something visual ahead, captain,

he's changing course, sir. stay with him, helm. turning, sir. we grow visible. attend the cloaking system. it consumes much power, commander, with no enemy to concern us. that earth outpost called to an earth vessel. now it follows us. which neither retreats nor grows near, which turns as we turnrn from a reflection. perhaps so, but my judgment prevails. cloaking system on, sir. it is good we approach the neutral zone.

i know they are following. if an earth ship, why does he not attack? first study the enemy, seek weakness. if i were their commander, that is what i would do. my commander sent for decius. you've broron the rule of silence. only in code, commander, to inform our praetor of this glorioususission. your carelessness might have ended this glorious mission. you're reduced two steps in rank. return to post. take care, commander. he has friends,

and power is danger. danger and i are old companions. we've seen a hundred campaigns together, and still i do not understand you. i think you do. no need to tell you what happens the moment we reaea home with proof of the earthmen's weakness, and we will have proof. the earth commander will f follow. he must. and when he attacks, we will destroy him. our gift to the homeland-- another war. if we are the strong, is this not the signal for war? must it always be so? how many comrades have we lost in this way? our portion, commander... is obedience. obedience... duty. death and more death. soon even enough for the praetor's taste. centurion... i find myself wishing for destruction

worry not. like you, i am too well-trained in my duty to permit it. continue evasive maneuvers. now back to the first course. they're turning, sir. we're staying with them. steady on 111 mark 14. back on their original course, captain, toward the neutral zone. what's our position, navigator? we'll enter the neutral zone in less than an hour, sir, assuming, of course, that we don't turn back. [scott] we now have aboard

bring it to the briefing room. n? from the outpost protottive shield-- cast rodinium. this is the hardest substance known to our science. lab theorizes an enveloping energy pla forcing an implosion. comments? obviously, their weaponry is superior to ours, and they h he a practical invisibility screen. you're discussing tactics. do you realize what this really comes down to? millions and millions of lives hanging on what this vessel does next. or on what this vessel fails to do, doctor. yes. well, gentlemen, the question still remains.

mpulse. meaning we can outrun them? to be used in chasing them or retreating...sir? go ahead, mr. stiles. i called this session for opinions. we have to attack immediately. explain. they're still on our side of the neutral zone. there would be no doubt that they broke the treaty. attack without a visible target? how do we aim our phasers? aim with sensors. not accurate, but if we blanket them-m- hope for a lucky shot before they zero in on us? and if w wdon't? once back, they'll report we saw their weapons and ran. that they destroyed us? these are romulans! you run away from them, and you guarantee war. they'll be back-- not just one ship, but with everything they've got. you know that, mr. science officer. you're the expert in these people, but you've always left out that one point. why? i'm very interested in why.

i agree. attack. ting we fight to prevent a fight? based on what? memories of a war over a c ctury ago? on theories about a people we've never even met face to face? we know what they look like. yes. indeed we do, mr. stiles. and if the romulans are an offshsht of my vulcan blood-- and i think this likely-- then attack becomes even more imperative. war is never imperative, mr. spock. it is for them, doctor. ke earth, had its aggressive colonizing period, savage even by earth standards. if the romulans retain this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show. do you want a galactic war on your conscience? captain to bridge. this is uhura, captain. what's our position? course unchanged, sir. esesmating treaty boundary in 21 minutes. are you continuing to broadcast tactical reports? affirmative, captain.

to our first message. thank you, lieutenant. check our course ahead, mr. spock. a comet, magnitude 7, dead ahead, and the intruder changing course toward it. comet icarus-4. composition? quite ordinary. an ionized mass, a trail of frozen vapor particles. and when an object passes throughght, even an invisible object... it leaves a visible trail. ah! lemen. prepare to attack. all hands--battle stations. [alert blaring] i hope we won't need your services, bones. amen to that.

s? all stations manned, captain. phaser weapons energizeze set for proximity blast. intruder now bearing directly for comet's tail. plot his exact point of entry, mr. stiles. computed. on the board, sir. the moment he e gins entering the comet's tail, he becomes visible. we'll swing around the other side and catch him at that moment. acknowledged, captain. he's maintaining that bearing, captain.

how pleasing to the eye it is. behold a marvel in the darkness. you spokeeof entrapment. its many particles will obscure their seseing device, centurion. we enter it, commander. once fully obscured, at last the screen is clear, commander. clear? our reflectiti no longer follows us. escape maneuver one! quickly!