anything, lieutenant? no, sir. i've tried every major transmitting station on deneva. none of them have acknowledged my contact signal. try gsk-783, subspace frequency 3. sir, that's a call sign for a private transmitter. i'm very well aware of that, lieutenant. try it. yes, sir. evaluation, mr. spock. as i speculated, captain, the overall pattern of mass insanity destroying civilizations follows an almost straight line through this section of the galaxy. over here the beta portilin system-- the ancient civilizations. archaeologists have given us information

lavinius 5 was swept by mass insanity, then pheta signi 12. the last was ingriam b, two years ago. and next in line-- deneva. bones, what's your theory about the cause of all this? there is no medical or scientific cause for what happened on those planets, jim. but it follows a definite pattern-- a systematic progression from planet to planet. captain, we're picking up a ship on our sensors, he'll burn up. plot an interception course, mr. sulu, warp factor 8. lieutenant uhura, try to contact that ship. aye, aye, sir. ship is a one-man vessel of denevan configuration, captain. he does not seem to be out of control. his course is straight for the sun. scotty, tractor beams? out of range, sir.

denevan ship, this is the "u.s.s. enterprise." can you reverse your course? acknowledge. [static] captain, we'll get too close to the sun. keep closing. denevan ship, reverse your course. do you hear me? reverse your course! [static] outer hull temperature now 480 degrees and rising. he's too close, captain. so are we. hull temperature 1,000 degrees and rising. the sun's gravimetric pull increasing. denevan pilot: i did it! it's finally gone! i'm free!

he burned up, captain. reverse course. 180 degrees about. aye, sir. all clear, captain. hull temperature falling, gravimetric pull approaching tolerance level. very well. reduce to subwarp speed. take us to deneva. aye, aye, sir. that denevan ship headed deliberately into the sun. why? there's one possibility. the mass insanity may have reached this planet, too. captain, i'm having difficulty on that transmitter call to deneva. keep trying. yes, sir. jim, your brother sam, his family,

kirk: space-- the final frontier. these are the voyages of the starship "enterprise." its 5-year mission-- to explore strange new worlds... to seek out new life and new civilizations...

kirk: captain's log-- stardate 3287.2. the mass insanity we have tracked across this section of the galaxy seems to have already touched deneva. that planet, colonized over a century ago, is one of the most beautiful in the galaxy. planet development is normal, captain. originally colonized as a freighting line base in this area. aye. they make regular trips from here

argo out. i've made the run a couple of times myself as an engineering advisor. no federation contacts for over a year. captain. i've made contact with your private transmitter, sir. put it on audio. woman: please hurry. help us. i don't have much time. they'll know. please! please help us-- aurelan, this is jim on the "enterprise." repeat your message. contact broken, sir. re-establish. i'm sorry, sir. i'm not interested in your excuses, lieutenant. re-establish contact with that transmitter. i'm afraid that's impossible at the moment, captain. they stopped broadcasting immediately. they do not acknowledge my contact signal. keep trying to raise them. yes, sir. jim, did you know who that woman was?

my brother sam lives on deneva. he's a research biologist. that woman... sounded like his wife aurelan. set your phasers on stun. we're going to beam directly into the capital city. alert status. mr. spock. lieutenant uhura has had no further response to our signals. sensors report the expected number of humans on the planet surface. however, they are strangely quiet. very little activity. i'll want a complete transcript of everything that happens down there, yeoman. yes, sir. let's go.

there are almost a million inhabitants of deneva. there's more than 100,000 in this city alone. where is everyone? they're here, captain. in the buildings. strangely quiescent. my brother's lab is over there. they signaled us once. there should be someone there.

[shouting] captain, several people approaching. go back! get away! we don't want to hurt you! go back! get out of here. go on, get away! go away! get out of here! we don't want to hurt you. stand by to fire. fire. did you hear what they said, mr. spock? indeed. they seemed most concerned for our safety. they tried to brain us with these clubs. check them out, bones. their attitude was inconsistent with their actions. to say the least. there's something wrong, jim. their nervous systems-- unconscious like this, there should be just routine autonomic activity, but i'm getting a very high reading. as though, even in their unconscious state, they're being violently stimulated.

fan out. follow me. aah! security. aah! they're here! they're here! please! keep them away! [sobbing] they're here! they're here! bones. [sobbing subsides] aurelan, you're safe now. is this your brother, jim? ohh.

it is my brother. was my brother. i'm sorry, jim. the boy's unconscious, but he's still alive. peter. i better get the boy and the mother back to the ship, jim. i can't do much for them down here. get ready to beam up. calling "enterprise." prepare to beam up party of 4. captain, i understand how you must-- yes. yes, mr. spock. you heard my sister-in-law

notice the ventilator, captain. apparently they were trying to keep something outside from getting in. obviously they were not entirely successful. it doesn't make sense. there are no harmful life forms reported. our sensors didn't pick up anything that didn't belong here. that is correct. i am at a loss to understand it. ready to beam up, captain. i'd like you to be onboard when your sister-in-law regains consciousness. take charge of the landing party, mr. spock. i want some answers to all this. [ boomer ] just what you'd expect from tommie copper -- another game-changing innovation. their proprietary copper znergy fabric technology now in cotton. cotton! and only tommie copper can do it. [ male announcer ] discover the benefits of copper cotton underwear for men at tommiecopper.com.

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can she talk? yes. [moaning] aurelan. aurelan. it's jim. jim? sam, he's-- he's dead. but your son's still alive. you've got to help us. you are here. it is you, jim. yes, i'm here.

they came... 8 months ago. who? things. horrible things! visitors brought them in their vessel from another planet. egrabie. what kind of things? not the ship's crew's fault. aurelan... it's important that you tell us what kinds of things? not their fault. [sobbing loudly]

it's as if she's fighting to get the answers out, as though something is exerting pain to stop her. they use it to control us. they're spreading, jim. they need us to be their arms and legs. they're forcing us to build ships for them. don't let them! don't let them go any further!

my brother's son? i'll do everything i can, jim, to save him. report. the streets are extraordinarily quiet, captain. we've seen no other denevans, and the ones we stunned earlier

you've seen some kind of creature? any alien form? none, sir. just that noise we heard. a peculiar buzzing sound. we were about to investigate it. all right. let's go find out what it is. set your phasers on force 3, to kill. we're looking for some kind of creature, and we already know it will kill. [buzzing] [squeak] [buzzing continues] [squeak]

form a ring. fire! incredible. not only should it have been destroyed by our phasers, it does not even register on my tricorder. captain, it doesn't even look real. it is not life as we know or understand it. yet it is obviously alive, it exists. and it can bear up under full phaser power. captain, i suggest we risk taking it aboard. it's too close in here. it may be a trap.

spock! spock! it's gone. can you stand?

kirk: captain's log supplemental. whatever the creatures are, they have apparently taken over all the inhabitants of deneva. meanwhile, ship's surgeon dr. mccoy is examining a strange puncture wound left by one of the creatures on mr. spock's back. nurse. that's the second time he's come out of it. either he's fighting us, or something inside of him is fighting us. doctor, the readings have never looked like that before, not even on mr. spock. let's prepare to close.

doctor, that's not all you're going to do. miss chapel. doctor, there is more of it in him, entwined all through his body. miss chapel, if you cannot assist me as required, call another nurse in here. but do one or the other now. how is he? to be very frank, jim, can do anything for spock or your nephew. they're pieces of some form of living tissue. i removed one from spock's spinal cord, the other from your sister-in-law's body. they're both the same. the boy's far too weak to touch. besides, removal of the tissue wouldn't stop the pain anyhow, as far as i can tell. did you operate on spock in time? no. i just removed these for examination. his body's full of these tentacles,

my nephew? the same. evidently, when the creature attacks, it leaves a stinger much like a bee or wasp, leaving one of these in the victim's body. it takes over the victim very rapidly, and the entwining is far, far too involved for conventional surgery to remove. recommendations? i'm sorry, jim. the lab, the science departments... we're all stumped. no! no! mr. spock. no, i won't. mr. spock--oh! bridge, this is sick bay.

he's delirious and possibly dangerous. all decks, security alert. locate and restrain mr. spock. he may be dangerous. use phasers on stun if necessary. must take ship-- down! i must... take it down. get him back to the sick bay.

the k-3 indicator registers the level of pain. now watch it as i turn it on. that's what he's been going through. i've never seen anything like it. no wonder the poor devils go mad. dr. mccoy. captain. spock. these restraints will no longer be necessary. nor will your sedatives, doctor. i'll be able to return to duty.

when i tried to take control of the ship. i simply did not understand. what is there to understand, mr. spock? i am a vulcan, doctor. pain is a thing of the mind. the mind can be controlled. you're only half vulcan. what about the human half? it is proving to be an inconvenience, but it is manageable. e creature, with all of its thousands of parts, even now is pressuring me. it wants this ship, but i am resisting. can he control it the way he says, bones? who knows, jim? i know the amount of pain the creature can inflict upon him, but whether he can control it hour to hour...

let me help. i need you, spock... but we can't take any chances. we'll keep you... confined for a while longer. if you can maintain control, we'll see. uhh... my nephew. if he regains consciousness, will he go through that? yes. help them. i don't care what it takes or costs. you've got to help them. jim, aren't you forgetting something? there are over a million colonists on that planet down there just as much your responsibility.

i am a vulcan. i am a vulcan.