captain. what is it, webb? a blip, sir. just came on the screen. d it? aircraft of some sort. by the size of it and the speed, it's not one of ours, sir. it doesn't even read like anything i've ever seen. what was the approach? none, sir. it was just there, like it fell out of the sky or something. current position? directly over the omaha installation, sir. holding there. watch the scope, webb. air defense will want to send somebody up to get a closer look. i think we have a real ufo on our hands.

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kirk: captain's log-- stardate 3113.2.

began to drag us toward it. it required all warp power in reverse to pull us away from the star. but, like snapping a rubber band, the breakaway sent us plunging through space, out of control, to stop here... wherever we are. mr. spock. except for secondary systems, everything is out, sir. we're on impulse power only. auxiliaries. n momentarily. are you all right, lieutenant? if mr. scott is still with us. this is the captain. damage control parties on all decks, check in. all departments, tie-in with the record computer. report casualties

kirk out. lieutenant uhura, contact starfleet control. i want them alerted to the position of that black star that's in the area of starbase 9. yes, sir. captain. casualty reports indicate only minor injuries. engineering reports warp engines non-operational. mr. scott overrode the automatic helm setting and is holding us in orbit on impulse power. orbit where, mr. spock? earth, captain. we were on a general course in this direction in by the star. apparently, the breakaway threw us on in the same direction. screen on. we are too low in the atmosphere to retain this orbit, captain. engineering reports we have sufficient impulse power to achieve escape velocity. give us some altitude, mr. sulu. yes, sir. helm answering. she's sluggish, sir. captain,

i'm getting something on another frequency, but it's not starfleet. put it on audio. man: this is the 5:30 news summary. cape kennedy--the first manned moon shot is scheduled for wednesday, 6 a.m., eastern standard time. all three astronauts who are to make this historic-- manned moon shot? that was in the late 1960s. apparently, captain, so are we. what? the whiplash propelled us into a time warp, captain. backward. exact chronometer readings in a few moments. captain, i'm getting ground to air transmission. spock: verified. scanners report some type of craft approaching from below us--

we're tracking both you and the ufo. i have him on my screen. following. mr. sulu, can you gain altitude faster? i want to outdistance him. picking up, sir. she's just slow in responding. blackjack, this is bluejay 4, ufo is picking up speed and climbing. i'm going in closer. visual contact. i can see it now. whatever this thing is, it's big. two cylindrical projections on top, one below. purpose undetermined. we have two flights scrambled and on the way. they should rendezvous in your sector in two minutes. it won't be here.

and attempt to force him to land. we want it brought down or at least disabled until the other planes arrive. bluejay 4: acknowledged. closing on target. positive identification, captain. aircraft is an interceptor, equipped with missiles and possibly armed with nuclear warheads. if he hits us with one, he might damage us severely, perhaps beyond our capacity to repair under current circumstances. scotty, activate tractor beam. lock on to that aircraft and hold it out there. ain, this type of aircraft might be too fragile to take our tractor beam. scotty: tractor beam on, sir. we have the target. aircraft is breaking up, captain. transporter room. can you lock on to the cockpit of that aircraft? scanning area, sir. try and beam that pilot aboard.

welcome aboard the "enterprise." you speak english. that's right. you can step off the transporter, uh-- captain john christopher, united states air force. serial number 4857932. relax, captain. you're among friends. i'm captain james t. kirk. what's going on here? where am i?

you people-- who are you? all in good time, captain. meanwhile... let me apologize for bringing you aboard this ship so abruptly. but it couldn't be helped. i didn't know that your craft couldn't stand up to our tractor beam. don't give me any doubletalk. just tell me who you are. we'll tell you what we decide to tell you in a few moments. in the meantime, relax. you're our guest. i have a feeling you'll find it interesting. [intercom whistles] bridge to captain kirk. kirk here. what is it, mr. spock? the aircraft has completely broken up, captain. shall we turn off the tractor beam? affirmative. we have the pilot aboard. i'll be right up. kirk out.

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urts, feel better. good morning, captain. good morning. captain? a woman? a crewman. bridge. must have taken quite a lot to build a ship like this. there are only 12 like it in the fleet. i see. did the navy-- we're a combined service, captain. our authority is the united earth space probe agency. united earth? this is very difficult to explain. we're from your future. a time warp placed us here. it was an accident. you seem to have a lot of them.

i can't deny the fact that you are here, with this ship. i never have believed in little green men. neither have i. captain christopher, this is my first officer, lieutenant commander spock. captain. feel free to look around, captain. don't touch anything. but i think you'll find it interesting. interesting is a word and a half for it, captain. we've achieved a stable orbit out of earth's atmosphere. our deflectors are operative, enough to prevent our being picked up again as a ufo. and mr. scott wishes to speak to you about the engines. very well, mr. spock-- anything else on your mind?

what about him? we cannot return him to earth, captain. he already knows too much about us and is learning more. i do not specifically refer to captain christopher, but suppose an unscrupulous man were to gain certain knowledge of man's future? such a man could manipulate key industries, stocks, and even nations. and, in so doing, change what must be. and if it is changed, captain, you and i, and all that we know, might not even exist. your logic can be most... annoying. that flight suit must be uncomfortable. why don't you have the quartermaster

yes, sir. computer on. record. computer: recording. [doorbell buzzes] come. captain's log-- supplemental. but can be made operational and re-energized. computer: computed and recorded, dear. computer, you will not address me in that manner. compute. computed, dear. mr. spock, i ordered this computer and its interlinking systems repaired. i have investigated it, captain.

and a minimum of three weeks at a starbase. i wouldn't mind so much if only it didn't get so... affectionate. it also has an unfortunate tendency to giggle. [christopher chuckles] i take it that a lady computer is not routine. we'd put it into signet 14 for general repair and maintenance. signet 14 is a planet dominated by women. they seemed to feel the ship's computer system lacked a personality. they gave it one. male, of course. ha ha! well, you people certainly have interesting problems. i'd love to stay around to see how your girlfriend works out, but-- i'm afraid you'll have to. we can't send you back. can't? well, spock here told me that your transporter can beam down an object, even from an orbit this high. it's not the transporter. it's you. you know what the future looks like.

well, then my disappearance would change something, too. i have run a computer check on all historical tapes. they show no record of any relevant contribution by john christopher. look, captain, i don't buy all of your time-accident story. now, the experts can figure out who you are, what you are. it's my duty to report what i've seen. well, what would you do? i'd...report, if i could. we can't take the risk. i don't want to know about risks. i have a wife, two children. what about them? i'm sorry. scotty on intercom: engine room to captain kirk. kirk here. what is it, scotty? progress report, sir. everything's jerry-rigged, but we're coming along with the repairs.

but what, scotty? well, sir, as i say, the, uh, the engines are being repaired, but we've no place to go in this time. if you-- if--if you see what i mean? sir? yes, scotty, carry on. too bad, captain. maybe i can't go home, but neither can you.

kirk: captain's log stardate 3113.7. our engines are being repaired, but we are still locked in time. and we have aboard a passenger whom we do not want, and we cannot return. computer: recommendation for his disposition, dear. maintenance note-- my recording computer has a serious malfunction. recommend it either be corrected... or scrapped. compute. [hesitantly] computed. spock on intercom: bridge to captain kirk. kirk, here. have some new information regarding captain christopher. important i see you both immediately. yes, mr. spock. report to my quarters. i'll contact captain christopher. yes, sir. bridge out. captain christopher... captain christopher?

security team here, sir. all-decks alert. captain christopher is not in his assigned quarters. he may be trying to escape the ship. i want a man outside the transporter room immediately. i'm heading there myself. all right! nice and easy. now i'm going to step into that thing, and you're going to transport me back to earth. well, jim, with the exception of a slight bruise or two, our captain is as healthy as a proverbial horse. he'll be coming out of it in a minute or two. he tried to escape. i know how he feels,

jim, what if we can't go back? what can we do? sit up here and wait for our supplies to run out, our power to die? it has to eventually, and we certainly can't go back to earth. it would be worse than the captain being returned. there are 430 of us. now, that means 430 chances of altering the future. yes. but we're not in that position yet. well, i'm glad to hear it. back to where we belong, then he won't belong. we're roughly about the same age. but in our society, he'd be useless. archaic. but maybe he could be retrained, reeducated. now you're sounding like spock. well, if you're gonna get nasty, i'm gonna leave. could he be retrained to forget his family? his children?

are you all right? yeah. i see physical training is required in your service, too. hmm. crude methods, but effective. what does he mean by that? it was just a joke, captain. you said you had some additional information, mr. spock? i made an error in my computations. oh? this could be an historic occasion. i find that we must return captain christopher to earth after all. why? you said i made no relative contribution. poor choice of words on my part. i neglected, in my initial run-through, to correlate the possible contributions by offspring. i find, after running a cross-check on that factor, that your son, colonel sean jeffrey christopher, headed, or will head, the first successful earth-saturn probe, which is a rather significant-- wait a minute. i don't have a son.

the doctor is correct. unless we return captain christopher to earth, there will be no colonel sean jeffrey christopher to go to saturn. well, that's it, isn't it? we'll have to find some way of-- a boy. i'm going to have a son. acknowledging that we must return captain christopher, there are several problems, prime of which is the explanation of his return. we tracked his plane wreckage down after our tractor beam crushed it. it crashed in an open section of southern nebraska. that means those search parties will be crawling all over that wreckage. and captain christopher himself complicated the matter. when i made visual contact,

air defense command will be processing that film fast and adc control was probably recording my radio transmissions. if i remember my history, these things were being dismissed as weather balloons, sun dogs, explainable things, at least publicly. captain, our tractor beam caught and crushed an air force plane. it'll be impossible to explain this as anything other than a genuine ufo. possibly alien... definitely destructive. what about our problem, mr. spock? any ideas on how to get us back to our own time? a theory... a reverse application of what happened to us. logically, it could work. also, logically, there are a hundred variables,

we're going to have to go back and get those reports and photos. if the captain feels duty bound to report what he saw, there won't be any evidence to back him up. that makes me out to be either a liar or a fool. perhaps. not at all. you'll simply be one of the thousands who thought he saw a ufo. captain, i know that base. i was stationed there a year ago. i'd like to-- no, captain. thank you. but if anything should go wrong, you might get hurt. we couldn't risk that. neither could you or your son. well, i'd like to help. i could sketch a layout of the place for you, show you where the record section

primitive computer. i've seen them demonstrated in museums. me, too. if this one's like those, it'll make the devil's own noise if you start it. i don't intend to start it. how long have they been down there now? 15 minutes, 28 seconds. well, shouldn't they be coming up? is more time-consuming than a direct approach. in our case a-- shouldn't you be working on your time warp calculations, mr. spock? i am. hold it.

now...one at a time-- hand me those belts. and the bag. it's been too long. jim should have at least signaled by now. open communicator channel. [beep beep] what was that? what was what? that noise. i didn't hear anything. that noise. it's coming from one of these things. [beep beep] [beep beep] [whirring]