[Engineering]

SCOTT: You're the sanest, the smartest, the nicest woman that has ever come aboard this ship.
MIRA: Anything else?
SCOTT: Anything else, I'll keep to myself for the moment.
KIRK [OC]: When a man of Scotty's years falls in love, the loneliness of his life is suddenly revealed to him. His whole heart once throbbed only to the ship's engines. He could talk only to the ship. Now he can see nothing but the woman.

[Bridge]

CHEKOV: I didn't think Mister Scott would go for the brainy type.
SULU: I don't think he's even noticed she has a brain.
KIRK: Mister Scott. Mister Scott?
SCOTT: (turning from Mira) Hmm?
KIRK: As soon as we're within viewing range of Memory Alpha, you and Lieutenant Romaine will go to the emergency manual monitor. You'll prepare for direct transfer of equipment.
SCOTT: Aye, Captain.
MIRA: We're ready, sir.
KIRK: Lieutenant, may I offer my congratulations on what will be your first assignment for the Federation?
KIRK: Yes. Good luck, Lieutenant.
MIRA: Thank you.
SULU: Captain, I'm picking up a high intensity reading.
KIRK: Is that Memory Alpha?
SULU: No, sir.
(There's a bright thing in the middle of the viewscreen.) An engineer touches Scott's arm to attract his attention.)
SCOTT: Excuse me.
KIRK: Magnification eight. What is that?
SPOCK: Indications are a storm, Captain, although I've never seen one of such great intensity or strange confirmation.
KIRK: Readings?
SPOCK: All sensor readings are at maximum calibration.
SULU: Captain, it's approaching at warp factor two point six and accelerating.
KIRK: Check that. No natural phenomena can move faster than the speed of light.
SPOCK: It is definitely doing so, Captain. Therefore it cannot be a phenomenon of nature.
KIRK: Deflectors on. Condition yellow.
UHURA: Condition yellow, sir.
SULU: Shields activated, Captain.
(The bright thing 'invades' the ship with sparkles. Only Mira does not shield her eyes from it. Then the sparkles withdraw.)
KIRK: Mister Sulu, get us the devil out of here! Full scan on the disturbance that penetrated the Bridge. Lieutenant, all decks, damage report.
(Mira gently falls to the floor.)
SCOTT: Mira!
KIRK: Doctor McCoy to the Bridge. Emergency. Emergency.
SCOTT: Mira! Mira! (her eyes and mouth are open) What's that you're saying'?
(McCoy enters)
MCCOY: Was she hurt by the fall or the action of the disturbance?
KIRK: I don't know. Did you notice, Scotty?
SCOTT: Well, after the disturbance was over, she just collapsed. How's she doing, Doctor?
MCCOY: Well, I think she's coming around now.
SCOTT: Easy, now. Easy. You had quite a fall.
MIRA: I'm, I'm fine.
MCCOY: You let me be the judge of that. Do you feel like walking to Sickbay?
MIRA: I'm fine, Doctor. Really, I am. Is everybody else all right?
SCOTT: Aye, they are. Now you just do what Doctor McCoy ordered.
MIRA: Why? I feel
KIRK: Get to Sickbay, Lieutenant. That's an order.
MIRA: Yes, sir.
SCOTT: Captain, would it be all right if I went along to Sickbay?
KIRK: No, Mister Scott. Stay at your post for the moment.
SCOTT: But Captain
KIRK: Lieutenant Uhura. Damage report.
UHURA: Yes, sir. All stations are operative, sir.
KIRK: Mister Spock?
SPOCK: Some equipment was temporarily out of order. My sensors were inoperative.
KIRK: Any damage to the warp engines?
SPOCK: None, Captain.
KIRK: Good. From the action of that storm, we'll need all the speed we can get.
SPOCK: Captain, it was not a storm.
UHURA: Captain. During the disturbance, Memory Alpha was hailing. I wanted to respond, but I couldn't make my hand move.
CHEKOV: Captain. It was not hands that were paralysed. It was eyes. I could not force my eyes to look down and set a new course.
SULU: No, it was speech that was affected. I couldn't utter a sound.
KIRK: Mister Spock, explanation.
SPOCK: Only of the result, not of the cause. In each case, a different area of the brain was affected. Our voluntary nerve functions were under some form of pressure.
KIRK: Or attack.
SPOCK: Attack might be a more precise formulation, Captain.
KIRK: And Lieutenant Romaine seems most susceptible.

[Sickbay]

MCCOY: Are the readings corresponding, Nurse?
CHAPEL: Everything appears normal, Doctor.
MCCOY: Thank you.
(Scott enters)
MIRA: What's that you're doing, Nurse?
CHAPEL: Recording your responses in this computer.
MIRA: But why? I haven't had a single response worth noting.
CHAPEL: Lieutenant, please.
MIRA: Well, have l?
MCCOY: Lieutenant, there are four hundred and thirty people aboard this ship. You're the only one that passed out, and I want to know why.
MIRA: I want to know why too. You're the doctor, you tell me. This is a new experience for me.
MCCOY: This whole thing is a new experience for all of us.
MIRA: All of you are accustomed to new experiences. It's part of your work. I'm not.
SCOTT: She might have something there, Doctor McCoy. This is her first deep space trip, and you know that affects people.
MCCOY: Well, if we can get on with this, Scotty, we might make that determination. Now then, tell me. What did you feel before you passed out?
MIRA: Nothing.
MCCOY: Nothing?
MIRA: Absolutely nothing.
MCCOY: Lieutenant
MIRA: Doctor, there is nothing more I can tell you.
MCCOY: Lieutenant, you're being completely unco-operative!
MIRA: Are you putting that into my record? It's not true.
MCCOY: I'll put the facts into your record, if I can get them.
SCOTT: Come on now, Mira. We must help the doctor. Tell us what happened.
MCCOY: Perhaps you can explain to her that any career she hopes for in Starfleet requires discipline and co-operation.
SCOTT: I'm sure that's what the lieutenant wants. She just didn't understand. Did you now, lass?
(McCoy leaves)
CHAPEL: With a bedside manner like that, Scotty, you're in the wrong business.
(Chapel leaves)
MIRA: When the record of this is forwarded, I'll be sent back, won't I.
SCOTT: Oh, you will not! That's ridiculous. This getting used to space travel, that takes some doing. And not everybody takes to it.
MIRA: Did you?
SCOTT: Well, me, that's different. I was practically born to it.
MIRA: I want to continue.
SCOTT: You will. You passed your Starfleet preliminary examinations. And this is just getting used to what you might call your space legs.
MIRA: I hope that's all it is.

[Bridge]

SULU: Captain, I've plotted the storm's path.
KIRK: Main screen projection.
SULU: On its present course, it will hit Memory Alpha planetoid as it did us.
KIRK: Lieutenant, try and warn Memory Alpha of the proximity of that phenomena. Give me an ETA for its possible impact.
CHEKOV: I cannot, sir. It has the ability to change speed.
UHURA: Sir, I'm unable to establish contact with the planetoid. I'm hailing on all frequencies. No response.
SPOCK: It is of little consequence, Captain. Memory Alpha has no protective shields.
KIRK: No shields?
SPOCK: None, Captain. When the library complex was assembled, shielding was considered inappropriate to its totally academic purpose. Since the information on the Memory planet is available to everyone, special protection was deemed unnecessary.
KIRK: Wonderful. I hope the storm is aware of that rationale.
CHEKOV: Completing approach to planetoid.
SULU: It is already over Memory Alpha, Captain! Its speed is incredible. It's hitting the planetoid.
KIRK: Are we within orbit range, Mister Chekov?
CHEKOV: Making final approach.
KIRK: Lieutenant, try and warn them of
UHURA: I'm sorry, sir. I can't break through this interference.
KIRK: Mister Spock, how many people are on Memory Alpha?
SPOCK: It varies with the number of scholars, researchers, and scientists from the various Federation planets who are using the computer complex.
CHEKOV: Captain, we are within orbit range.
KIRK: Lock into orbit.
CHEKOV: Aye, sir.
SULU: It is leaving Memory Alpha, Captain.
SPOCK: Sensors give no readings of generated energy from Memory Alpha, Captain.
KIRK: Any life readings?
SPOCK: None.
KIRK: Let's find out what's going on down there. Kirk to Engineering. Mister Scott, report. Kirk to Engineering. Mister Scott. Where the devil is he? Scotty, report to the Bridge. Report to the Bridge. Have the transporter room stand by. I'm taking a landing party down.
UHURA: Aye, aye, sir.
SCOTT [OC]: Scott here.
KIRK: Scotty, where've you been? Where are you?
SCOTT: In the Sickbay.
KIRK: Are you sick?

[Sickbay]

SCOTT: Och, no. I was just checking on the lass. She's going to be fine now. There's nothing wrong with her.

[Bridge]

KIRK: Well, I'm relieved to hear your prognosis, Mister Scott. Is the doctor there with you, or will I find him in Engineering?

[Sickbay]

MCCOY: McCoy here, Jim.
KIRK [OC]: Doctor, how's the girl?
MCCOY: I think she's in good shape.
KIRK [OC]: Well, Mister Scott seems to agree with you. The two of you meet me in the transporter room on the double.
(McCoy and Scott leave, then we see in Mira's eye the sparkles and an image of a dead alien presumably on Memory Alpha)

Captain's log, supplemental, stardate 5725.6. The storm has cleared Memory Alpha. It is heading away at incredible speed. We have been unable to make contact with the planetoid. Its silence is ominous. We are beaming down to investigate.

[Memory Alpha]

MCCOY: Somehow, I find transporting into the darkness unnerving.
KIRK: Scotty, can you get us some more light?
SCOTT: I'm afraid this light'll have to do, Captain. The generator is inoperative.
KIRK: Damage report, Spock.
SPOCK: A disaster for the galaxy, Captain. The central brain is damaged. The memory core is burned out. The loss to the galaxy may be irretrievable.
SCOTT: Captain!
(They go into the next area and find the body we saw in Mira's eye, along with others.)
SPOCK: A very faint life reading in the immediate vicinity, Captain.
KIRK: Locate him and keep him alive. We need more information about this enemy.
(McCoy finds her on the floor around a corner)
MCCOY: Over here, Captain!
KIRK: Bones, can you do something?
MCCOY: Not a thing, Jim. (the woman's mouth is moving) The same garbled sounds Lieutenant Romaine made when she fainted after the storm.
KIRK: Are you sure?
MCCOY: Absolutely sure.
KIRK: Kirk to Enterprise.
SULU [OC]: Sulu here.
KIRK: Beam down Lieutenant Romaine immediately.
SULU [OC]: Yes, sir.
(The woman's face turns different vivid colours.)
KIRK: Spock, have you seen anything like that before?
SPOCK: Negative.
KIRK: Bones?
MCCOY: She's dead.
KIRK: What did she die of?
MCCOY: Severe brain haemorrhaging due to distortion of all neural systems, dissolution of autonomic nervous system. All basic personality factors, Captain.
SPOCK: The attack was thorough.
KIRK: What did the others die of?
MCCOY: Each had a different centre of brain destroyed, cause unknown.
KIRK: A different centre of the brain, you say?
MCCOY: Yes, Captain. I can be more detailed when we return to the ship and use the ship's computers.
(Mira beams in)
SCOTT: Mira! The captain has some questions.
MIRA: Yes, Captain.
KIRK: Lieutenant, when you were unconscious, you were speaking.
MIRA: What did I say?
KIRK: I don't know. The words were unfamiliar to me.
MIRA: What did it sound like?
KIRK: They sounded exactly like the last words spoken by the technician.
MIRA: What technician?
MCCOY: We found one person in there just barely alive. The rest were dead, and we
(Mira runs to see)
KIRK: Lieutenant. Lieutenant.
MIRA: We must get back to the ship!
KIRK: Why? Tell me why.
MIRA: That storm, it's returning.
KIRK: How do you know?
MIRA: I know. You'll be killed if we stay.
SPOCK: Lieutenant, I assure you that unexplained phenomenon was headed away from the planet. It is probably seeking other victims.
MIRA: I tell you t will kill us.

[Bridge]

SULU: Enterprise to Captain Kirk.

[Memory Alpha]

KIRK: Kirk here.
SULU [OC]: Bridge, sir. The storm has reappeared on the long range scanner and is closing fast.
KIRK: What's its course?
SULU [OC]: Coming back in this direction.
KIRK: Beam us up.

[Transporter room]

(The four men materialise on the pads.)
KIRK: Mister Sulu, this is the captain. Get the Enterprise out of here.
SCOTT: Wait, Captain. We've lost Mira.
KIRK: Delay that order, Mister Sulu!
SCOTT: Stabilise her!
KYLE: Something's interfering with the transporter signal. I have her co-ordinates, but she's suspended in transit.
SCOTT: Let me.
(Finally Mira arrives, feeling dizzy)
KIRK: All right, Mister Sulu, get us out of here. Mister Scott, check emergency manual monitor for transporter control.

[Bridge]

SULU: Captain, it's changing course.
KIRK: Plot the new course, Mister Chekov.
CHEKOV: Present course is one two six mark twenty.
KIRK: Plot it.
Present course will bring it across our starboard side, sir.
KIRK: Mister Spock, you made a statement that phenomenon is not a storm. Explain.
SPOCK: No known conditions in space would support that type of natural phenomenon.
KIRK: What is it?
SPOCK: I'm having difficulty with the ship's sensors. They seem to be under selective attack by the phenomenon as the unfortunate occupants of Memory Alpha were.
KIRK: Then deductive reasoning will have to be substituted.
SPOCK: Ship's sensors are operating at the moment. Perhaps the elusive creature will now reveal something about itself.

[Engineering]

MIRA: I saw those men dead, in their exact positions!
SCOTT: Listen to me. I've told you what strange tricks a space trip can play on your mind. Now, that's all it is.
MIRA: No, Scotty.
SCOTT: Have you ever had visions of the future events before this?
MIRA: Never.
SCOTT: Well, if you ask me, nobody ever has. That seeing to the future, it's pure bunk. You know that, don't you? 
MIRA: I've always believed it.
SCOTT: And you were perfectly right.
MIRA: Then what is it, Scotty? What's frightening me? Ever since that storm hit, I've, I've had such strange thoughts, such feelings of terror.
SCOTT: Space. Space, that's all it is.
MIRA: Then I don't have to report it?
SCOTT: Well, if you want to spend the rest of the trip in Sickbay. But what good would that do? Doctor McCoy can no more cure it than he can a cold.

[Bridge]

SULU: Captain, it's heading straight for us.
KIRK: Activate shields.
SULU: Shields activated.
KIRK: Mister Chekov, change course to one four three mark three.
CHEKOV: One four three mark three.
KIRK: Storm's course, Mister Sulu?
SULU: One four three mark three.
KIRK: Take evasive action.
SULU: Evasive action.
KIRK: Hard starboard, two one seven mark five.
SULU: Two one seven mark five. Still with us, sir.
KIRK: Hard port, one one seven mark two.
SULU: One one seven mark two. Still with us, sir!
KIRK: Is it closing?
SPOCK: Negative, Captain. Maintaining its distance. However, it is matching each manoeuvre we execute, and I am receiving increasing magnitude of energy.
KIRK: Your analysis, Spock. What is it?
SPOCK: Not what is it, Captain. What are they? There are ten distinct life units within it, all powerfully alive and vital.
KIRK: Who are they? Where are they from?
SPOCK: Impossible to determine without programming for computer analysis.
KIRK: It's clear we can't outrun them. Can we shield against them?
SPOCK: I do not believe the Enterprise shields would prove an effective defence.
KIRK: There must be some defence we can use.
SPOCK: Captain, we are dealing with a community of life units. Their attack is in the form of brain waves directed against the brain, which is most compatible.
KIRK: Maybe we can avoid another attack. Lieutenant Uhura, open all channels. Tie in the universal translator. Mister Spock says it's alive. Maybe I can talk to it.
UHURA: All channels open. Translator tied in.
KIRK: This is Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise. We wish you no harm. Physical contact between us is fatal to our life forms. Please, do not come any closer to our ship.
SPOCK: Perhaps it did not understand.
SULU: Captain, change in velocity recorded. They are passing our starboard side and manoeuvreing in front of us. Switching to forward scanner. Captain, change in velocity recorded. It has accelerated its approach.

[Engineering]

MIRA: Help, Scotty!
SCOTT: What?
MIRA: Hold me. It's happening again. No!
SCOTT: Mira.

[Bridge]

KIRK: Perhaps it understands another kind of language. Condition Red Alert. Prepare for phaser firing.

[Engineering]

SCOTT: Mira.
MIRA: No, Scotty. No! No.
(Scott holds her close.

[Bridge]

KIRK: Lock in phaser tracking controls.
Locked in, sir.
KIRK: Adjust phasers to fire across its course. Do not hit it.
SULU: Locked in, sir.
KIRK: Fire. Reaction, Mister Sulu?
SULU: None, sir. They're still approaching us.
KIRK: Apparently a shot across the bow is insufficiently convincing. Prepare to lock phasers into the heart of the community.
SULU: Locked in, sir.
KIRK: Fire.

[Engineering]

(Mira falls to the floor, clutching her stomach in pain)
MIRA: Scotty!
SCOTT: Mira! Mira.

[Bridge]

SULU: The phasers seem to have stopped their approach. They're holding position.
KIRK: Lock in for another blast.
SULU: Locked in, sir.
SCOTT [OC]: Captain! Captain, the phaser shots, they're killing Mira!
KIRK: Killing Lieutenant Romaine?

[Engineering]

SCOTT: Aye. When you fired the phasers, they stunned her and she crumpled.

[Bridge]

SCOTT [OC]: Another shot and you'll kill her!
KIRK: Get her to Sickbay at once.
SULU: Ready for firing, Captain.
KIRK: Cancel that order. Another attack on that alien life form will kill Lieutenant Romaine.
SPOCK: It appears so.
KIRK: If she is to survive, we can't attack.
SPOCK: Not directly.
KIRK: Can the computer supply a defence based on the data you've been accumulating?
SPOCK: Negative, Captain. I have not been able to gather sufficient data for that. Captain, there is only one possible defence. If we can find an environment which is deadly to the alien form.
KIRK: And yet isolate the girl from its deadly effects. Captain Kirk to Doctor McCoy.
MCCOY [OC]: Yes, Captain.
KIRK: Is the girl well enough to be questioned?
MCCOY [OC]: I can have her ready in a few minutes.
KIRK: Have the Lieutenant and Mister Scott in the briefing room as quickly as possible. Bring all available biographical material with you. Kirk out. Mister Spock, come with me.

[Briefing room]

MCCOY: Go easy on her, Jim. She's in a pretty bad state.
KIRK: I'll try.
(Scott and Mira enter)
KIRK: Lieutenant Romaine.
MIRA: I didn't mean to be unco-operative, Doctor.
MCCOY: Of course you didn't. I told the Captain.
KIRK: We must get to understand what is happening.
MIRA: I'll tell you everything I know.
KIRK: Ship's investigative procedures are sometimes confusing to a new crewman. Don't let us upset you.
MIRA: I trust all of you implicitly. I want to help.
KIRK: This investigation has been prompted by two events. First is the time you passed out on the Bridge, and the second is when we fired our main phasers into that force that is attacking us and seriously injured you.
MIRA: You mustn't worry about hurting me.
KIRK: Now this is how we'll proceed. Mister Spock has all the information available to us about our attackers. Doctor McCoy has access to Starfleet's exhaustive files on you. A comparison of the two may turn up some improbable connection which may protect you and ourselves. All right, gentlemen? Doctor McCoy, will you proceed?
MCCOY: Romaine, Mira. Lieutenant. Place of birth, Martian Colony Number Three. Parents, Lydia Romaine, deceased. Jacques Romaine, chief engineer, Starfleet, retired.
KIRK: Mister Spock, are you prepared with the background history of the attackers?
SPOCK: I am, Captain. I have fed all obtainable data to the main computer. It should be ready to supply whatever conclusions are possible.
KIRK: Thank you. Mister Sulu, what is the status of our friends?
SULU [on monitor]: Status unchanged. They're still with us and keeping the same distance.
KIRK: Continue evasive manoeuvres. Keep me informed. Kirk out. Doctor, do you have a medical record of Lieutenant Romaine available?
MCCOY: Yes, Captain.
KIRK: I'd like a few items from her psychological profile checked. Any history of psychosomatic illness?
MCCOY: Occasional and teenage routine incidents.
KIRK: Any evidence of involuntary or unconscious telepathic abilities?
MCCOY: None.
KIRK: Any pathological or unusual empathic responses?
MCCOY: No, Captain, not empathic. However, an extremely flexible and pliant response to new learning situations is highly marked.
KIRK: Go ahead, Doctor.
MCCOY: After our phasers hit that thing, I gave Lieutenant Romaine a standard Steinman analysis. The results might be interesting.
KIRK: Go ahead.
MCCOY: The comparison of our Steinman with Starfleet records shows that Lieutenant Romaine's fingerprints, voice analysis, all external factors remain exactly the same as before. However, according to two hyperencephalograms, her brain wave pattern has been altered.
KIRK: That's impossible!
MCCOY: That's what I was taught. But the BCP is just as consistent as fingerprints.
KIRK: Let's see it.
(A jagged graph comes up on the monitor. Spock raises an eyebrow)
SPOCK: Doctor McCoy, according to your records, Lieutenant Romaine showed no abnormal telepathic powers.
MCCOY: That's right, Spock. But exceptional pliancy was indicated. That might be a factor.
SPOCK: And you are sure that this is the correct slide?
MCCOY: Yes, Mister Spock. That is tape deck D, brain circuitry pattern of Lieutenant Mira Romaine.
SPOCK: Gentlemen, it also happens to be tape H, the impulse tracking obtained from the alien life units.
MCCOY: Nurse Chapel followed this every step of the way. There can be no error.
KIRK: Check it, Spock.
(Spock puts his computer disc in, and the two patterns overlap and match exactly.)
SPOCK: As I said, Captain, this is the tracking obtained during the last shielded run. Computer, run a detailed comparison brain circuitry patterns, tape D and tape H.
COMPUTER: Comparison tape D's brain circuitry patterns of Lieutenant Mira Romaine and tape H, brain circuitry patterns of alien life unit, identical. Identical.
SPOCK: Fascinating.
MCCOY: There has been no error.
SPOCK: Doctor McCoy is correct, Captain. There is an identity of minds taking place between the alien beings and the mind of Lieutenant Romaine. Their thoughts are becoming hers.

[Bridge]

SULU: Bridge to Captain Kirk.

[Briefing room]

SULU [OC]: The alien is no longer maintaining its distance.
KIRK: Continue evasive action. Keep me informed. Kirk out.
SCOTT: Mira has tried to tell me all along that she was seeing things in advance.
KIRK: Why didn't you report it?
SCOTT: You don't report space sickness. That's all I thought it was.
KIRK: What did she see?
SCOTT: The first attack on the ship, the attack on Memory Alpha and the time we nearly lost her.
KIRK: Those were all acts carried out by our attacker.
SCOTT: And? And?
KIRK: Yes, Scotty? What else?
SCOTT: I thought for a moment there was something else, but I guess I was wrong.
KIRK: Was he wrong, Lieutenant?
MIRA: Yes, there was one other time.
KIRK: What did you see?
MIRA: I saw Scotty.
KIRK: Where?
MIRA: I don't know.
KIRK: What was he doing?
MIRA: He was dying. Now I understand what's been happening. I've been seeing through another mind. I've been flooded with thoughts not my own that control me. Oh, Scotty, Scotty! I'd rather die than hurt you. I'd rather die.
SCOTT@ All right, now. What's all this talk of dying? They've called the turn on us three out of four times. Now, that's a better average than anybody deserves. It's our turn now. We'll fight them. So let's not hear anything more about dying.
KIRK: Kirk here.
SULU [OC]: Sulu, Captain. All evasion tactics carried out as ordered.
KIRK: What success did you have?
SULU [OC]: It's been useless, Captain.
SPOCK: At their present force, they will get through the shields this time, Captain.
KIRK: Warp eight, Mister Sulu.
SULU [OC]: Yes, sir.
KIRK: They'll be here very soon. They may destroy you and us as they did Memory Alpha. You are especially susceptible to their will. But we have one chance to survive. Don't resist. Let them begin to function through you. If we can control that moment, we have a chance. Will you try?
MIRA: Tell me what to do.
KIRK: Captain Kirk to medical lab.
CREWMAN [OC]: Medical lab here, sir.
KIRK: Prepare the antigrav test units. Let's go.

[Bridge]

SULU: Attention. All personnel, attention. Alien force has penetrated the ship.

[Corridor]

SULU [OC]: Take defensive action. Attention, all personnel. The alien being has penetrated the ship. Take defensive action.
SECURITY [OC]: General quarters. Security condition three. Intruder alert. Repeat. General quarters. Security condition three. Intruder alert.

[Medical lab]

KIRK: As soon as she has entered the gravity chamber, secure all ports.
(The pretty lights enter the room)
MIRA: Don't touch me, Scotty! Stay away.
(Then enter Mira. She changes colour and makes the strange noise)
SCOTT: We've lost her to them.
KIRK: Stay where you are.
MCCOY: She could kill us all in this state.
SPOCK: She will, unless we are able to complete what the captain has planned.
SCOTT: Stay with us, Mira. Please stay.
MIRA: I'm trying. I want to be with you. They are too strong.
KIRK: Don't lose yourself to them. Hold on.
MIRA: I am Mira Romaine. I will be who I choose to be. I will. Stay away, Scotty! They are with me. They will kill you.
SCOTT: You won't let them.
ZETAR: (through Mira) She cannot stop us. You cannot prevent it.
SCOTT: Mira. Mira! Captain.
KIRK: That's not Mira talking.
SPOCK: Captain, we must deal with them directly, now, while she still retains partial identity. We can speak to them. They will answer using her voice.
KIRK: I'm Captain James Kirk of the spaceship Enterprise. Do you understand?
ZETAR: Yes, we understand you. We have searched for a millennium for one through whom we can see and speak and hear and live out our lives.
KIRK: Who are you?
ZETAR: We are from Zetar.
SPOCK: That is one of the planets where all humanoid life was destroyed.
KIRK: You can't be from Zetar. All life was destroyed there long ago.
ZETAR: Yes, all corporeal life was destroyed.
KIRK: Then what are you?
ZETAR: The desires, the hopes, the mind and the will of the last hundred of Zetar. The force of our life could not be wiped out.
KIRK: All things die.
ZETAR: At the proper time. Our planet was dying. We were determined to live on. At the peak of our plans to go, a sudden final disaster struck us down. But the force of our lives survived. At last we have found someone through whom we can live it out.
KIRK: The body of the one you inhabit has its own life to lead.
ZETAR: She will accept ours.
KIRK: She will not. She is fighting for her own identity.
ZETAR: Her mind will accept our thoughts. Our lives will be fulfilled.
KIRK: Will she learn the way people on Memory Alpha learned?
ZETAR: We did not wish to kill.
KIRK: But you did kill!
ZETAR: No. Resisting us killed those people. We did not kill them.
KIRK: The price of your survival is too high.
ZETAR: We only want the girl.
KIRK: You can't have her. You're entitled to your own life, but not another's.
MIRA: Life was given to me. It is mine. I want to live it out. I will
MCCOY: The girl's life reading is becoming a match to the Zetarians. She's losing.
ZETAR: Do not fight us.
SPOCK: They will not accept their own deaths.
KIRK: They'll be forced to accept it.
ZETAR: You will all die.
SPOCK: Captain, if we cannot complete the plan, they will carry out their threat.
KIRK: We must get her into the pressure chamber.
MCCOY: Jim, you realize the pressure needed to kill the Zetars might kill the girl too.
SCOTT: Mira will not kill me.
(Scott picks her up and gets her into the chamber before being thrown across the room)
SCOTT: I told you she wouldn't kill me.
KIRK: Secure the chamber. Neutralise gravity.
MCCOY: The Zetars are growing stronger.
SPOCK: The weightless state has become their natural condition.
KIRK: Pressurise the unit. Bring pressure to two atmospheres and then increase one atmosphere per second. Continue increasing pressure. Pressure, Spock. Pressure.
MCCOY: The pressure is dangerously high, Captain. It may damage her.
KIRK: Continue, Spock.
(The lights leave Mira)
KIRK: Pressure!
(The lights fizzle away)
MCCOY: We've done it, Jim. They're gone.
SCOTT: (intercom) It's all right, Mira. They're gone. They're gone!
(She looks at him and smiles)
MCCOY: Reduce the pressure very, very gradually, Spock.
SPOCK: We may tax Mister Scott's patience, Doctor.
MCCOY: Lie perfectly still, Lieutenant. Try not to move at all. Take deep, regular breaths. Now, don't hold it. Continue to breathe deeply. In, out. In, out. That's it. Now, you'll be in there another twenty minutes, so why don't you just try to relax?
SCOTT: Now we have all the time in the world.

[McCoy's office]

KIRK: Bones, are you able to judge the long range effects on Lieutenant Romaine?
MCCOY: When the personality of a human is involved, exact predictions are hazardous.
SPOCK: Particularly where humans are involved, Doctor.
MCCOY: However, despite Starfleet judgment of the pliancy of the Lieutenant, she put up a valiant struggle to retain her identity, and I find that encouraging.
SPOCK: Doctor McCoy is correct, Captain. While the truth was difficult to accept, when it was revealed, the girl reacted well. I would say her struggle in this experience would strengthen her entire ego structure.
KIRK: Would either of you credit Scotty's steadfast belief in her as a factor?
SPOCK: You mean, love as motivation? Humans do claim a great deal for that particular emotion. I suppose it is possible. However
MCCOY: There are no howevers about it, Mister Spock. It was a factor, and it will be a factor in the girl's recovery.
KIRK: Do I take it both of you agree that Lieutenant Romaine need not return to Starbase for further treatment?
MCCOY: Well, I should think work would be a better therapy.
SPOCK: Logical.
KIRK: Captain Kirk to Mister Scott.
SCOTT [OC]: Scott here, sir.
KIRK: Mister Scott, how's Lieutenant Romaine?
SCOTT [OC]: Beautiful, Captain.
KIRK: Yes, Mister Scott. Do I take it you say that she is fit for duty?
SCOTT [OC]: Positively, Captain.
KIRK: Thank you. Kirk to Bridge.
SULU [OC]: Sulu, Captain.
KIRK: Mister Sulu, set course for Memory Alpha. Lieutenant Romaine has a lot of work to do there.
SULU [OC]: Yes, sir.
KIRK: Well, this is an Enterprise first. Doctor McCoy, Mister Spock and Engineer Scott find themselves in complete agreement. Can I stand the strain?