(On stage, a velvet-clad arm raises a bloody knife, then plunges it again into his sleeping victim. The audience are rapt.)
KIRK: Interesting. An Arcturian Macbeth.
LEIGHTON: (a man with an eyepatch) Watch him. Watch Macbeth.
LENORE: (as Lady M) Is he dead? Speak. Is King Duncan dead?
KARIDIAN: Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hands.
LEIGHTON: That voice. He's back. That man on the stage. I'm certain of it. That's Kodos the Executioner.
KARIDIAN: Pluck out mine eyes!

Captain's log, star date 2817.6. Starship Enterprise diverted from scheduled course. Purpose, to confirm discover by Doctor Thomas Leighton of an extraordinary new synthetic food which would totally end the threat of famine on Cygnia Minor, a nearby Earth colony.

[Leighton's home]

KIRK: You mean to tell me you've called me three light years off my course just to accuse an actor of being Kodos?
LEIGHTON: He is Kodos. I'm sure of it.
KIRK: You said you discovered a new food concentrate. What am I supposed to put in my log, that you lied? That you diverted a starship with false information? You're not only in trouble, you've put me in trouble, too.
LEIGHTON: I did it to trap Kodos!
KIRK: Kodos is dead.
LEIGHTON: Is he? Is anyone sure? A body burned beyond recognition?
KIRK: Tom, the authorities closed the book on that case years ago.
LEIGHTON: Then let's reopen it. Jim, four thousand people were butchered.
KIRK: Martha, you tell him.
MARTHA: I can't tell him anything, Jim. He's been like this since the company of actors arrived.
KIRK: Kodos is dead. I'm satisfied of that.
LEIGHTON: Well, I'm not. I remember him. That voice. The bloody thing he did.
(He turns his head to reveal it's not just an eyepatch, but a covering over half his face)
LEIGHTON: Jim, Jim, I need your help. There were only eight or nine of us who actually saw Kodos. I was one, you were another. If he's to be exposed,
KIRK: He's dead.
LEIGHTON: Then it will be a ghost Martha and I receive in our home tonight. I invited the entire company to a cocktail party. I have to be sure.
KIRK: And I have to get back to my ship and figure out how I'm going to enter all this in my log. Tom. Martha.

[Briefing room]

COMPUTER: Library computer.
KIRK: History files. Subject, former Governor Kodos of Tarsus Four, also known as Kodos the Executioner. After that, background on actor Anton Karidian.
COMPUTER: Working. Kodos the Executioner, summary. Governor of Tarsus Four twenty Earth years ago. Invoked martial law. Slaughtered fifty percent of population Earth colony, that planet. Burned body found when Earth forces arrived. No positive identification. Case closed. Detailed information follows. On stardate 2794.7,
KIRK: Stop. Information on Anton Karidian.
COMPUTER: Director and star of travelling company of actors sponsored by galactic cultural exchange project, touring official installations last nine years. Has daughter, Lenore, nineteen years old,
KIRK: Stop. Give comparative identification between actor Karidian and Governor Kodos.
COMPUTER: No identification records available on actor Anton Karidian.
KIRK: Give information on actor Karidian prior to Kodos' death.
COMPUTER: No information available, Anton Karidian, prior to twenty years ago
KIRK: Photograph Kodos. (an image of a red-haired man with a beard comes on the monitor) Photograph Karidian. (the grey-haired man with a small moustache) Now photograph both.
(Door opens)
KIRK: Mister Spock. You know Doctor Leighton, don't you? Would you say he's given to fantasy?
SPOCK: A good empirical research scientist. Steady, reputable, occasionally brilliant.
KIRK: With a very long memory.
SPOCK: I have no information on that, Captain. We are ready to leave orbit.
KIRK: We'll delay departure for a time. I'm beaming back down to the planet.

[Leighton's home]

(The cocktail party is in full swing in the main room, and Martha is bringing another tray of drinks for her guests.)
KIRK: Where's Tom?
MARTHA: He went to town. He called. He's on his way back.
(The lovely young blonde Lenore Karidian enters, and Kirk beams)
KIRK: The others are on the patio.
LENORE: I take it you're the welcoming committee. (referring to his glass) Is that for me?
KIRK: Why not? I saw your performance today. May I extend my appreciation?
LENORE: My father will be delighted, Mister. Mister?
KIRK: Captain James Kirk, Starship Enterprise.
LENORE: We are honoured.
KIRK: I had hoped to meet your father, here, tonight, personally.
LENORE: I'm sorry, Captain Kirk. He has a rigid rule about that. He never sees anyone personally, and he never attends parties.
KIRK: An actor turning away his admirers? Very unusual.
LENORE: Karidian is a most unusual man. You saw Macbeth. That was my father.
KIRK: Then I'll talk to Lady Macbeth.
(They sit)
LENORE: So. Captain of the Enterprise. Interesting.
KIRK: So, Lady Macbeth. Interesting. What's your next move?
LENORE: We play two performances at Benecia, if the AstraI Queen can get us there.
KIRK: She's a good ship. (takes a glass from a passing tray) Thank you. You were very impressive as Lady Macbeth.
LENORE: Thank you. And as Lenore Karidian?
KIRK: Very impressive. Lenore. I'd like to see you again.
LENORE: You mean professionally?
KIRK: Not necessarily.
LENORE: I think I'd like that. Unfortunately, we must keep a schedule.
KIRK: You don't have a schedule now, do you?
LENORE: You mean leave? But I've only just arrived.
KIRK; So have I.
LENORE: And you hate to overstay a welcome.
KIRK: Exactly.
LENORE: Why not?
KIRK: Good. I'll make our apologies to our hostess. I'll meet you outside.

[Countryside]

(Meandering between rocks and scrubby trees, arm in arm)
KIRK; Tired of walking?
LENORE: No. Just thinking.
KIRK: About what?
LENORE: At the party, you were such a brash young man.
KIRK; And now?
LENORE: Now somehow different. Not a ship's Captain with all those people to be strong and confident in front of. You know, you're really very dear, aren't you? In some ways, very lonely.
(But just as their lips are about to meet, Kirk spots a body among the rocks and goes to investigate)
KIRK: It's Tom Leighton. He's dead.

[Leighton's home]

(Tom's body is laid out on the couch, and Martha covers it)
MARTHA: At least he has peace now. He never really had that before. Oh, why was Tom killed if what he suspected wasn't true?
KIRK: I don't know. I'll try and find out.
MARTHA: Oh, Jim. How I'll miss him. (bursts into tears and leaves)
KIRK: Kirk to Enterprise.
UHURA [OC]: Bridge here, Captain.
KIRK: Put me through to Captain Jon Daily of the AstraI Queen on orbit station, and put it on scramble.
UHURA [OC]: Captain Daily's on, sir.
KIRK; Jon? Jim Kirk.
DAILY [OC]: Hi, Jim.
KIRK: Can you do me a favour?
DAILY [OC]: I owe you a dozen. Just ask.
KIRK: Don't make your pick-up here.
DAILY [OC]: You mean strand all those actors?
KIRK: I'll pick them up. And if there's any trouble, it'll be my responsibility.
DAILY [OC]: Will do. Anything else?
KIRK: Just keep this between the two of us and accept my thanks. Over and out. Kirk to Enterprise.
UHURA [OC]: Bridge here, Captain.
KIRK: Transporter room, ready to beam up.

[Bridge]

SPOCK: Ready to resume course, Captain.
KIRK: I think we're due for a pick-up.
SPOCK: What kind? Personnel? Cargo?
UHURA: Captain? A Miss Karidian has been transported aboard ship. She requests permission to see you.
KIRK: Tell her to come up to the Bridge, Lieutenant.

[Transporter room]

UHURA [OC]: Escort Miss Karidian to the Bridge.

[Bridge]

SPOCK: How did you know this lady was coming aboard?
KIRK: I'm the Captain.
LENORE: Captain Kirk, I didn't think we'd be meeting again so soon.
KIRK: You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you I arranged it.
LENORE: No, but it's a delightful thought. Captain, I'm afraid we need your help. We've been stranded. It seems that our transportation has cancelled out on us.
KIRK: Can't you make other arrangements?
LENORE: Yes, but not in time. You see, our schedule is like a chain. One break and it all collapses.
KIRK: It'd be a shame if that happened.
LENORE: If ever we needed a Good Samaritan.
KIRK: Well.
LENORE: I appeal to you.
(Spock's eyebrow hits the ceiling)
KIRK: The regulations are very clear about taking on passengers.
LENORE: I'll make a bargain with you, Captain.
KIRK: What have you got to trade?
LENORE: Special performance for the crew in exchange for a lift.
KIRK: You make it sound very interesting. The crew has been on patrol for a long time. They could use a break in the monotony.
LENORE: Then you'll do it?
KIRK: You've got me backed into a corner. The men would never forgive me if I deprived them of your performance, and your presence.
LENORE: Thank you, Captain. I'm eternally grateful. I'll get the company ready. This means so much to them.
KIRK: Mister Spock, prepare to leave orbit as soon as the Karidian company is aboard the ship.
(Lenore and her escort enter the turbolift)
SPOCK: May I inquire as to our course, Captain?
KIRK: Benecia Colony.
SPOCK: Benecia Colony is eight light years off our course.
KIRK: If my memory needs refreshing, Mister Spock, I'll ask you for it. In the meantime, follow my orders.

Captain's log, stardate 2818.9. There are many questions in my mind, too many, perhaps, about the actor Karidian and his daughter. For personal reasons, I'm almost afraid to learn the answers.

[Bridge]

KIRK: Mister Spock, ETA the Benecia Colony.
SPOCK: We'll arrive stardate 2825.3, Captain, approximately fifteen hundred Benecia time.
(Kirk goes over to Spock's station and throws a few switches)
COMPUTER: Library computer.
KIRK: Data on question submitted to personnel files.
COMPUTER: Data being received. Kodos file of all survivors. There are nine actual eye witnesses who can identify Kodos.
KIRK: Stop. Give list.
COMPUTER: Kirk, J., presently Enterprise Captain, Leighton, T., Moulton, E., Riley, K., Eames, D.,
KIRK: Stop. Is that star service Lieutenant Kevin Riley?
COMPUTER: Affirmative. Riley, Kevin. Presently assigned U.S.S. Enterprise communications section.
KIRK: Stop. Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Captain.
KIRK: Lieutenant Kevin Riley in communications, I wish to have him transferred down to the engineering decks.
SPOCK: He came up from engineering, Captain.
KIRK: I'm sending him back.
SPOCK: Any explanation? He's a fine young officer. He's bound to consider this transfer a disciplinary action.
KIRK: I don't wish to discuss it, Mister Spock. Please follow my orders.

[Sickbay]

MCCOY: Mister Spock, the man on top walks a lonely street. The chain of command is often a noose.
SPOCK: Spare me your philosophical metaphors, Doctor. The Captain is acting strangely. I'm asking if you've noticed.
MCCOY: Negative. Did you know this is the first time in a week I've had time for a drop of the true? Would you care for a drink, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: My father's race was spared the dubious benefits of alcohol.
MCCOY: Now I know why they were conquered. What are you so worried about, anyway? I find Jim generally knows what he's doing.
KIRK: It was illogical for him to bring those players aboard.
MCCOY: Illogical? Did you get a look at that Juliet? That's a pretty exciting creature. Of course your, personal chemistry would prevent you from seeing that. Did it ever occur to you that he simply might like the girl?
SPOCK: It occurred. I dismissed it.
MCCOY: You would.
SPOCK: Did you know that he suddenly transferred Lieutenant Riley to engineering?
MCCOY: Lots of things go on around here that I don't know, Mister Spock. Now, he's the Captain. He can transfer whoever he pleases. You can look that up in a hundred volumes of space regulations somewhere. All right? Come on, have a drink.
SPOCK: No, thank you.
MCCOY: You're welcome. But I will. And please, Mister Spock, if you won't join me, don't disapprove of me. At least not until you've tried it, huh?

[Observation deck]

(Lenore is getting a personal tour of the ship)
KIRK: This is the observation deck. That's the flight deck down there with the shuttle craft.
LENORE: Interesting.
KIRK: Isn't it?
LENORE: Tell me, Captain Kirk.
KIRK: Anything.
LENORE: Did you order the soft lights especially for the occasion?
KIRK: If I had ordered soft lights, I'd also have arranged for music and flowers. Unfortunately, it isn't so. On the Enterprise, we try to duplicate earth conditions of night and day as closely as possible.
LENORE: Star light, star bright. I wish I may, I wish I might. Do you remember that, Captain?
KIRK: It's very old.
LENORE: Almost as old as the stars themselves. And this ship. All this power, surging and throbbing, yet under control. Are you like that, Captain? All this power at your command, yet the decisions that you have to make
KIRK: Come from a very human source.
LENORE: Are you, Captain? Human?
KIRK: You can count on it.
LENORE: Tell me about the women in your world, Captain.
KIRK: I'd rather talk about you. You must have wanted to perform since you first saw your father act. When was that?
LENORE: In the beginning.
KIRK: Tell me about it.
LENORE: That's not fair. You haven't answered my question about the women.
KIRK: What would you like to know?
LENORE: Has the machine changed them? Made them just people instead of women?
KIRK: Worlds may change, galaxies disintegrate, but a woman always remains a woman.
LENORE: All this and power too. The Caesar of the stars and the Cleopatra to worship him.
(Finally, a passionate embrace)

[Bridge]

(Spock is on duty, and thinking)
COMPUTER: Library computer.
SPOCK: Full personal dossiers on the following names. Doctor Thomas Leighton, Anton Karidian, Lieutenant Kevin Riley, and Captain James T. Kirk.
COMPUTER: Accomplished. Standing by.
SPOCK: Correlate. Check their past histories. Report any item, any past episode or experience they all have in common.
COMPUTER: Affirmative.

[Corridor]

MCCOY: I appreciate whatever concern you may have for the ship's company, Mister Spock,
SPOCK: I will continue, Doctor. According to our library banks, it started on the Earth colony of Tarsus Four, when the food supply was attacked by an exotic fungus and largely destroyed. There were over eight thousand colonists and virtually no food. And that was when Governor Kodos seized full power and declared emergency martial law.
MCCOY: I've heard of it.
SPOCK: You may not have heard it all. Kodos began to separate the colonists. Some would live, be rationed whatever food was left. The remainder would be immediately put to death. Apparently he had his own theories of eugenics.
MCCOY: Unfortunately, he wasn't the first.
SPOCK: Perhaps not. But he was certainly among the most ruthless, to decide arbitrarily who would survive and who would not, using his own personal standards, and then to implement his decision without mercy. Children watching their parents die. Whole families destroyed. Over four thousand people. They died quickly, without pain, but they died. Relief arrived, but too late to prevent the executions. And Kodos? There never was a positive identification of his body.
MCCOY: What has Karidian to do with it?
SPOCK: His history begins almost to the day where Kodos disappeared.
MCCOY: You think Jim suspects he's Kodos?
SPOCK: He'd better. There were nine eye witnesses who survived the massacre, who'd actually seen Kodos with their own eyes. Jim Kirk was one of them. With the exception of Riley and Captain Kirk, every other eye witness is dead. And my library computer shows that wherever they were, on Earth, on a colony, or aboard ship, the Karidian Company of Players was somewhere near when they died.
MCCOY: It's unbelievable.

[Engineering]

(There's just one officer on duty, and he hasn't touched the meal lying on a plate nearby)
RILEY: Hey. Rec room. Somebody.

[Rec room]

RILEY [OC]: Talk to me.
MATSON: Larry Matson here. Is that you, Riley?

[Engineering]

MATSON [OC]: What's up?
RILEY: Not me. I am down. In the engineering room.
MATSON [OC]: You've been a bad boy.
RILEY: Maybe so. Whatever I've done, they're sure keeping it a secret from me.

[Rec room]

RILEY [OC]: Hey. Is that Uhura playing? Let me talk to her.
MATSON: I think his heart is sore.
UHURA: What can I do for you, Riley?

[Engineering]

RILEY: A song. Make it a love song. Just something to reassure me I'm not the only living thing left in the universe, huh?

[Rec room]

UHURA: Well, you're not, and I'll prove it to you.
(sings) The skies are green and glowing

[Engineering]

UHURA [OC]: Where my heart is
Where my heart is
Where the scented lunar flower is growing
Somewhere beyond the stars
Beyond Antares.
(As Riley listens, we see a shadow moving)

[Rec room]

UHURA: I'll be back, though it takes forever
Forever is just a day
Forever is just another journey

{Engineering]

UHURA [OC]: Tomorrow a stop along the way
(Something gets squirted into Riley's milk)
UHURA [OC]: Then let the years go fading

[Rec room]

UHURA: Where my heart is

[Engineering]

(Riley reaches for his tray) 
UHURA [OC]: Where my heart is
Where my love eternal is waiting'
Somewhere beyond the stars
Beyond Antares.
(He drinks)

[Rec room]

UHURA: How'd you like that, Riley?

[Engineering]

(But Riley is sweating and choking)
RILEY: Help me, please.
(He collapses)

[Sickbay]

SPOCK: You've got to pull him through.
MCCOY: I'm not sure I can.
SPOCK: If he dies, the only one who'll be able to identify Kodos is the Captain. And he'll be the next target.

Captain's log, stardate 2819.1. Ship's officer Riley's condition worsening. Doctor McCoy making lab analysis to determine cause and antidote. Entire crew deeply concerned.

[McCoy's office]

MCCOY: As of this date, lab report indicates presence of appreciable amount of tetralubisol, a highly volatile lubricant in use aboard ship.
SPOCK: Someone tried to poison him.
MCCOY: Tetralubisol us a milky substance. Someone could have gotten careless, made a mistake.
SPOCK: I don't believe that and neither do you. I want the Captain to see that report.
MCCOY: When I've finished logging it.
SPOCK: Now.

[Captain's quarters]

KIRK: Come.
MCCOY: My report on Lieutenant Riley.
KIRK: Will he make it?
MCCOY: He's got a good chance.
SPOCK: Can we predict the same for you, Captain?
KIRK: All right, Mister Spock. Let's have it.
SPOCK: Lieutenant Riley was a witness. So were you.
KIRK: All right.
SPOCK: Someone tried to kill him.
MCCOY: Could have been an accident.
SPOCK: You should be told the difference between empiricism and stubbornness, Doctor. I checked with the library computer, just as you did. I got the same information.
KIRK: Aren't you getting a little out of line, Mister Spock? My personal business,
SPOCK: Is my personal business when it might interfere with the smooth operation of this ship.
KIRK: You think that happened?
SPOCK: It could happen.
KIRK: I don't like anyone meddling in my private affairs. Not even my second in command.
MCCOY: Jim, Spock's simply trying,
KIRK: I know what he's doing, and I don't like it.
MCCOY: It's his job, and you know it.
KIRK: And you also know that nothing is proven.
SPOCK: Even in this corner of the galaxy, Captain, two plus two equals four. Almost certainly an attempt will be made to kill you. Why do you invite death?
KIRK: I'm not. I'm interested in justice.
MCCOY: Are you? Are you sure it's not vengeance?
KIRK: No, I'm not sure. I wish I was. I've done things I've never done before. I've placed my command in jeopardy. From here on I've got to determine whether or not Karidian is Kodos.
SPOCK: He is.
KIRK: You sound certain. I wish I could be. Before I accuse a man of that, I've got to be. I saw him once, twenty years ago. Men change. Memory changes. Look at him now, he's an actor. He can change his appearance. No. Logic is not enough. I've got to feel my way, make absolutely sure.
MCCOY: What if you decide he is Kodos? What then? Do you play God, carry his head through the corridors in triumph? That won't bring back the dead, Jim.
KIRK: No, but they may rest easier.
(A scene break, during which McCoy apparently leaves)
SPOCK: Logic, Captain. Doctor Leighton was murdered while the Karidian Company was on Planet Q. Now an attempt has been made against Riley while the company is on board the Enterprise.
KIRK: Doc isn't sure it was a murder attempt. Besides, I have an idea may prove
SPOCK: Shh. Listen. Do you hear it? That low hum.
KIRK: A phaser.
SPOCK: On overload. (starts searching)
KIRK: This is the Captain. There's a phaser on overload in my quarters. If it blows, it'll take out the entire deck. Evacuate all personnel in this quadrant. Double Red Alert. (now starts searching himself) You get out of here.
SPOCK: You can't stay.
KIRK: Go on. Block off this section. Hurry. I'll find it.

[Corridor]

SPOCK: Evacuate this section. Seal it off. Clear section C4 and C5.
(In Kirk's quarters the noise gets louder, and finally he sees the phaser silhouetted against the Red Alert light high in a bulkhead. He gets it, dashes into the corridor and drops it into a convenient pressure waste disposal unit directly opposite. Spock returns in time for the bang that throws them against the opposite wall)

[Karidian's quarters]

KIRK: (barging in without knocking) We're overdue for our talk, aren't we?
KARIDIAN: I hoped you would have respected my privacy, Captain.
KIRK: A moment ago, we narrowly averted an explosion which would have destroyed several decks of this ship. Before that, someone tried to poison one of my crewmen.
KARIDIAN: I am sorry to hear that.
KIRK: I'm sure you are. Are you Kodos? I asked you a question.
KARIDIAN: Do you believe that I am?
KIRK: I do.
KARIDIAN: Then I am Kodos, if it pleases you to believe so. I am an actor. I play many parts.
KIRK: You're an actor now. What were you twenty years ago?
KARIDIAN: Younger, Captain. Much younger.
KIRK: So was I. But I remember. Let's see if you do. Read this into that communicator on the wall. It will be recorded and compared to a piece of Kodos' voice film we have in our files. The test is virtually infallible. It will tell us whether you're Karidian, or Kodos the Executioner. (switches on comm.) Ready for voice test. Disguising your voice will make no difference.
KARIDIAN: (reading) The revolution is successful, but survival depends on drastic measures. Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society. (stops looking at the paper) Your lives means slow death to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered. Signed, Kodos, governor of Tarsus Four.
KIRK: I remember the words. I wrote them down. You said them like you knew them. You hardly glanced at the paper.
KARIDIAN: I learn my parts very quickly.
KIRK: Are you sure? Are you sure you didn't act this role out in front of a captive audience whom you blasted out of existence without mercy?
KARIDIAN: I find your use of the word mercy strangely inappropriate, Captain. Here you stand, the perfect symbol of our technical society. Mechanised, electronicised, and not very human. You've done away with humanity, the striving of man to achieve greatness through his own resources.
KIRK: We've armed man with tools. The striving for greatness continues. But Kodos
KARIDIAN: Kodos, whoever he was
KIRK: Or is.
KARIDIAN: Or is. Kodos made a decision of life and death. Some had to die that others might live. You're a man of decision, Captain. You ought to understand that.
KIRK: All I understand is that four thousand people were needlessly butchered.
KARIDIAN: In order to save four thousand others. And if the supply ships hadn't come earlier than expected, this Kodos of yours might have gone down in history as a great hero.
KIRK: But he didn't. And history has made its judgment.
KARIDIAN: If you're so sure that I'm Kodos, why not kill me now? Let bloody vengeance take its final course! And see what difference it makes to this universe of yours.
KIRK: Those beautiful words, well acted, change nothing.
KARIDIAN: I suppose not. They're merely tools, like this ship of yours.
KIRK: There are no previous records to Anton Karidian prior to twenty years ago.
KARIDIAN: Blood thins. The body fails. One is finally grateful for a failing memory. I no longer treasure life, not even my own. I am tired! And the past is a blank. Did you get everything you, wanted, Captain Kirk?
KIRK: If I had gotten everything I wanted, you might not walk out of this room alive.
LENORE: Captain Kirk.
(She enters from the next room)
LENORE: (to Karidian) You'd better rest now. There's a stain of cruelty on your shining armour, Captain. You could have spared him, and me. You talked of using tools. I was a tool, wasn't l? A tool to use against my father.
KIRK: In the beginning perhaps. But later, I wanted it to be more than that.
LENORE: Later. Everything's always later. Later. Latest. Too late. Too late, Captain. You are like your ship, powerful, and not human. There is no mercy in you.
KIRK: If he is Kodos, then I've shown him more mercy than he deserves. And if he isn't, then we'll let you off at Benecia, and no harm done.
LENORE: Captain Kirk. Who are you to say what harm was done?
KIRK: Who do I have to be?

[Sickbay]

(Kevin is pacing up and down in the background, overhearing what is being dictated)
MCCOY: Medical log. Lieutenant Riley's sufficiently recovered to be discharged, but the Captain's ordered him restricted to Sickbay to prevent contact with the passenger who calls himself Karidian and who's suspected of being Kodos the Executioner and of murdering the Lieutenant's family.

Captain's log, stardate 2819.8. Suspect under surveillance. Strategic areas under double guard. Performance of the Karidian Players taking place as scheduled.

[Ship's Theatre]  

LENORE: (on stage) Tonight, the Karidian Players present Hamlet, another in a series of living plays presented in space, dedicated to the tradition of classic theatre. Hamlet is a violent play about violent times when life was cheap and ambition was God.

[Kirk's quarters]

(Two pieces of paper are lined up on his desk)
SPOCK: I believe we have a match, Captain.
KIRK: But not an exact match, Mister Spock. We're dealing with a man's life. No machine can make that decision.

[Sickbay]

MCCOY: In the long history of medicine, no doctor has ever caught the first few minutes of a play. Riley, don't forget to
(but he's not there)
MCCOY: Riley? Captain Kirk, McCoy here.
KIRK [OC]: Yes, Doctor.
MCCOY: Riley's gone. I was recording my log about Karidian and Kodos. If he overheard

[Kirk's quarters]

KIRK: You've made your point, Doctor.
SECURITY [OC]: Captain? Security, H deck, The weapons locker has been broken into. One phaser is missing.
KIRK: This is the Captain. Security two alert. Find and restrain Lieutenant Kevin Riley. He's armed and possibly headed towards the ship's theatre.

[Ship's Theatre]

(The Ghost summons Hamlet)
HAMLET: Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak, I'll go no further.
KARIDIAN Mark me.
HAMLET: I will.
(Kirk comes creeping around backstage)
KARIDIAN: My hour is almost come, when I to sulphurous and tormenting fires must render up myself.
HAMLET: Speak. I am bound to hear.
KARIDIAN: So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear. I am thy father's spirit, doomed for a certain term to walk the night,
(Kirk spots Kevin with the phaser)
KIRK: Riley, get back to the Sickbay.
RILEY: He murdered my father, and my mother.
KIRK: You could be wrong. Don't throw away your life on a mistake.
RILEY: I'm not wrong.
KARIDIAN: But that I am forbid to tell the secrets of my prison house,
RILEY: I know that voice, that face, I know it. I saw it. He murdered them.
KARIDIAN: Thy soul, freeze thy young blood.
KIRK: It's an order. Give me the weapon.
(Takes it from Riley)
KIRK: Now get back to Sickbay. Go on.
(Riley leaves, and there is polite applause at the end of the scene on stage. Karidian comes backstage.)
LENORE: It's going beautifully. What is it? What's wrong?
KARIDIAN: There was a voice out of the past haunting me, torturing me. There was another part I once played long ago. I never told you about it. Now that same curtain rises again. The time has come.
LENORE: No, Father. The time will never come. Tonight, after my performance, the last two who can harm you will be gone.
KARIDIAN: What are you saying?
LENORE: There were nine. Now there are only two, and they will be gone as soon as I. Don't look at me like that.
KARIDIAN: What have you done?
LENORE: What had to be done. They had to be silenced.
KARIDIAN: All of them? All seven? More blood on my hands?
LENORE: No Father, not anymore. I'm strong, Father. It's nothing.
STAGEHAND [OC]: Second act, three minutes.
LENORE: We'll be ready. Don't you see? All the ghosts are dead. I've buried them. There's no more blood on your hands.
KARIDIAN: Oh, my child, my child. You've left me nothing! You were the one thing in my life untouched by what I'd done.
LENORE: But you're safe now, Father. I've saved you. Now, no one can touch you. Not even Captain Kirk. See Caesar come? He's awed by your greatness, your shining brightness. Bright as a blade before it is stained with blood.
KIRK: Bright as a blade. Come with me, both of you.
LENORE: Of course. After the play.
KIRK: The play is over. It's been over for twenty years.
KARIDIAN: I was a soldier in a cause. There were things to be done, terrible things.
LENORE: Stop it, Father! You have nothing to justify.
KARIDIAN: Murder, flight, suicide, madness. I never wanted the blood on my hands ever to stain you.
LENORE: I did it for you. I've saved you.
KIRK: By killing seven innocent men.
LENORE: They weren't innocent! They were dangerous! I would have killed a world to save him!
STAGEHAND [OC]: Curtain going up, one minute.
(Kirk takes Karidian's arm)
LENORE: The play, Captain. He must go on. This is the great Karidian.
KIRK: Guard.
LENORE: You cannot deny him his last performance!
(She grabs the security guard's phaser and runs out onto the stage)
KARIDIAN: Lenore, don't!
KIRK: You'll never get off the ship.
LENORE: It will become a floating tomb, drifting through space with the soul of the great Karidian giving performances at every star he touches. (Kirk moves towards her) I know how to use this, Captain.
KARIDIAN: No.
LENORE: Caesar, beware the ides of March.
KARIDIAN: No, child! Don't!
(As she squeezes the trigger, her father steps in front of Kirk, and takes the shot himself. Lenore screams at what she has done. and Kirk takes the phaser from her as she kneels over Karidian's body)
LENORE: Father. Father! O, proud, death! What feast is toward in thine eternal cell, that thou, such a prince at a shot so bloodily hast struck? The curtain, the curtain rises. It rises. There's no time to sleep. The play. The play. The play's the thing, wherein we'll catch the conscience of the king.

[Bridge]

MCCOY: Medical report. (hands it over) She'll receive the best of care, Jim. She remembers nothing. She even thinks her father's still alive giving performances before cheering crowds. You really cared for her, didn't you?
SPOCK: Ready to leave Benecia orbit, Captain.
KIRK: Stand by, Mister Leslie. All channels cleared, Uhura?
UHURA: All channels clear, sir.
KIRK: Whenever you're ready, Mister Leslie.
LESLIE: Leaving orbit, sir.
MCCOY: You're not going to answer my question, are you?
KIRK: Ahead warp factor one, Mister Leslie.
MCCOY: That's an answer.