Day of the Dove (episode).

An extremely powerful non-corporeal being brings the Enterprise and a Klingon ship in direct conflict with one another.



Summary



The Enterprise in orbit of Beta XII-A.

Responding to a distress call from Beta XII-A, a landing party from the USS Enterprise beams down to the planet. The team consists of Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy, Ensign Chekov, and Lieutenant Johnson, a security officer. They find no evidence of a colony nor any indication that one was attacked. Dr. McCoy reminds Kirk that whoever sent the distress call claimed they were under attack by an unidentified starship. From the bridge of the orbiting Enterprise, Spock hails the captain and reports that a Klingon battle cruiser is approaching. Although Kirk authorizes the Vulcan to defend the Starfleet ship, Lieutenant Sulu determines that the Klingon vessel is totally disabled, but the Enterprise never fired upon it. A team of Klingons beams to the planet and approaches the Starfleet officers. Commander Kang, the leader of the team, believes that Kirk is responsible for the damage to his ship and for killing four hundred members of his crew. He smacks Kirk in the face with his disruptor, knocking Kirk to the ground. As a result, the Klingon claims the Enterprise as his own and takes the Enterprise crew as prisoners of the Klingons. Both men are unaware of a strange anomaly nearby.

Act One



Kirk signals Spock.

Kang tells Kirk that the Klingons have honored a peace treaty "to the letter" with the Federation for the past three years, and that Kirk appears to have tested a new weapon against his ship, killing his crew. Kirk rebuts that the Federation colony on the planet was destroyed. But Kang scoffs at this, saying there is no evidence of bodies or ruins. Kirk says this is because it was a new Klingon weapon that leaves no traces, and that the Federation does not conduct sneak attacks.

Kang threatens to torture one of the Starfleet prisoners, but has difficulty deciding which officer will suffer – until Chekov angrily cries out that the Klingons killed his brother, Piotr Chekov, on a Federation research outpost on Archanis IV. One of the Klingons uses an agonizer to inflict pain on the Russian. After much debating with Kang, Kirk authorizes Spock to beam the Klingon and Starfleet officers aboard the Enterprise; however, while giving the order Kirk also presses a distress key on his communicator, causing an amber light to blink on the command chair. Seeing the signal, Spock orders that the landing party be beamed into the ship's transporter room, but he also has the Klingons suspended in the pattern buffer and they are arrested by Enterprise security when they are rematerialized.

As the Klingon battle cruiser is emitting an excessive amount of harmful radiation, Kirk intends to destroy the alien craft. Klingon survivors are beamed aboard, including Mara – Kang's wife and science officer. Mara fears that she will be tortured for their scientific and military information, but Kirk assures her and her husband that the Klingons will not be harmed. The captain orders Lieutenant Johnson to secure the Klingon prisoners in the crew lounge and to program the food synthesizer for Klingon cuisine. Spock explains that when the Enterprise received the distress call, the Klingons were too far away to have been the attackers. McCoy argues that they know the Klingons did attack, and that the log tapes will prove the innocence of the Enterprise.

The Enterprise is unable to contact Starfleet Command, as all subspace frequencies are being blocked. The Enterprise destroys the Klingon craft with its forward phasers in orbit of the planet, but communication with Starfleet is still unobtainable.

In the crew lounge, Kang plans Kirk's death, vowing to hang Kirk's head on a wall in his quarters. Mara fears that the Starfleet crew will overpower the Klingons, while another Klingon officer eagerly advises Kang that they should strike quickly. Kang tells the officer to be patient and opines that the Starfleet crew will make a mistake soon and they will seize upon it.

Meanwhile, the crew loses control of the Enterprise and several malfunctions result in the ship pursuing a new course out of the the galaxy. Scott explains that controls have gone crazy, and engines have gone to warp 9 by themselves. Nearly four hundred crewmen are trapped by emergency bulkheads on the vessel's lower decks. Assuming that the Klingons are responsible, Kirk questions Kang in the crew lounge. Kang denies any responsibility. Kirk tells Kang that before he puts him in the brig, there is something he "owes him" and punches Kang for having struck him earlier on Beta XII-A. Suddenly, several inanimate objects in the room, including a three-dimensional chess set, transform into swords. Kirk orders his men to draw phasers, which also mysteriously transform into swords.

Act Two

The Starfleet officers and the Klingons fight, using these primitive weapons of their ancestors. Two more security officers join the battle against the Klingons and Johnson is injured in the fight. The crew members luckily escape in a turbolift that takes Johnson and the other security personnel to sickbay. With the Klingons free to roam the ship, Kirk stays in the turbolift and heads to the bridge. There, he informs the senior staff of the situation. The captain contacts Scott in engineering and tells him that he must free the trapped crewmen at all costs so they may help to fight the Klingons. The engineer reports that he has been unable to regain control of the ship's velocity and is amazed that the vessel has not yet self-destructed.

Spock deduces that the Klingons could not have caused the swords to appear, as the instantaneous transmutation of matter that caused their creation is beyond the capabilities of Klingon technology. Furthermore, if the Klingons had this power, they would have created more effective weapons than just swords and only for themselves, reasons Spock.

When Kirk orders Sulu to take control of engineering and the Auxiliary Control Center, Chekov insists that he join the helmsman. Despite Kirk giving him a direct order to return to his post, Chekov explains that he must avenge the murder of his brother and dives into the turbolift aft of the bridge. With a puzzled expression, Sulu tells Kirk that Chekov is an only child and never had any such brother.

In sickbay, McCoy grows furious with the Klingons, calling them "filthy butchers" as he treats an injured crew member with a numanol capsule. A group of Klingons enters the Auxiliary Control Center and accesses the Enterprise's specifications. When Mara notifies Kang that there are as many Starfleet officers as there are Klingons aboard the ship, Kang decides to make an attempt at commandeering the vessel and plans to take control of engineering first.

In the armory, Scott uses a communicator to contact the bridge and reports to Kirk that the phaser torches have proven useless against the metal bulkheads that have trapped the crewmen, as something has happened to the metal. The armory itself now contains only antique weaponry. Scott marvels at the beauty of a claymore sword, and refuses Kirk's orders to return to engineering. Scott and the Starfleet personnel in engineering are attacked by Klingon soldiers, who drive them out, and seize control of the engine room.

On the bridge, Spock detects a single alien life force – the strange anomaly from Beta XII-A. Spock consults the ship's computer, which reveals that the entity is composed of pure energy, has intelligence and is acting toward an unknown purpose.

Kirk believes that the alien force is responsible for Chekov's imaginary brother, the missing colony, the distress call that the Enterprise had supposedly received and the creation of the antique weapons aboard the ship. He proposes to form a truce with Kang, but Spock reminds the captain that the Klingons are infamous for refusing to agree to a truce once blood is drawn. When McCoy enters the bridge, he is overly outraged by the fact that the senior officers are considering a truce with the fiendish Klingons, who would force them into "slave labor, death planets, experiments" Spock informs the doctor of the alien's presence and Kirk adds that the alien is their real enemy, but McCoy believes that they must obliterate the Klingons in what he calls a "fight to the death."



In engineering, Kang hails the
bridge and threatens Kirk.

After the doctor angrily exits the room, Kang hails the bridge. The Klingon notifies Kirk that his soldiers have captured the engineering section of the ship. Kang is now in control of the Enterprise's power and life support systems. The Klingon warns Kirk that he will "die of suffocation in the icy cold of space." The bridge lights darken.

Act Three

As the Enterprise rushes through space at warp factor nine, Kirk uses a tricorder to record a log entry.

"The Enterprise is heading out of our galaxy, controlled by a mysterious alien somewhere aboard the ship. Engineering has been taken over by Klingons who have cut off life support systems."
With Kirk's authorization, Sulu leaves to protect the life support circuits and auxiliary power in emergency manual control. Scott enters, irrationally desperate to fight the Klingons. Influenced by the alien entity, the engineer trades insults with Spock. Kirk stops Spock moments before the Vulcan can assault Scott with his fist, but begins to insult the science officer himself. The captain gradually realizes that he and his two officers are being manipulated by the entity. He wonders why the alien seems to be staging a war between his crew and the Klingons. Spock notes the importance of finding the entity, determining its motives, and stopping it from causing any further hostilities.

From a Jefferies tube, Sulu reports that systems should be functioning but are not responding. Suddenly, power and life support are restored but the helmsman claims he was not responsible for the restoration.

Aware of the sudden change, Mara notifies Kang that sensors are holding steady. She reports that she is neither able to cause them to falter nor deviate from the ship's course for a new heading to the Klingon Empire. Kang angrily ponders the nature of the power that supports his men in battle but stops them from achieving victory. Under Kang's orders, Mara leaves engineering with another Klingon officer and heads to the ship's main life support couplings on deck 6.

As the alien continues to creep through the Enterprise, Spock detects the entity using the ship's newly reactivated sensors. He and Kirk exit the bridge and take a turbolift toward the engineering section, where the anomaly is hiding.



Mara.

Meanwhile, Chekov unknowingly follows the alien through a corridor. When he hears a door open and close behind him, Chekov hides in an alcove. He attacks Mara and the Klingon officer accompanying her as they pass by. After the officer falls to the deck unconscious, Chekov attempts to rape Mara but is stopped by Kirk when he arrives with Spock. Kirk slaps the Russian several times, but Spock reminds him that Chekov was not in control of himself. Nevertheless, the Russian's body slumps to the ground. Although Kirk tries to explain the situation to Mara and pleads for a temporary truce, she does not respond. Spock takes her away securely while Kirk follows close behind, carrying Chekov in his arms.

In sickbay, McCoy scans Chekov's brainwaves and determines that the Russian was suffering from paranoid mania. The doctor also tells Kirk that several officers, including Johnson, have suffered serious injuries that are healing at a miraculously accelerated rate. Spock deduces that the alien wants the officers to stay alive. As he and the doctor discuss the entity, Johnson regains consciousness unobserved. The lieutenant watches as Kirk, Spock and Mara leave in search of the alien.

Soon, Kirk and his two companions discover the anomaly. Lieutenant Johnson suddenly appears behind Kirk and reports that he is ready for duty. The captain instructs Johnson to return to sickbay, but the lieutenant insanely shouts that he has orders to kill the Klingons. He attacks Kirk with a sword, though he loses consciousness again when Spock employs the Vulcan nerve pinch from behind him.

Kirk and Spock observe that the alien's life energy momentarily increased during Johnson's emotional outburst. This leads the officers to suspect that the entity thrives on the hateful emotions of others. To combat the alien, Kirk and Spock agree that they must join forces with the Klingons and eliminate all hateful emotions from the ship. The captain uses an intercom to contact Kang, but Mara rushes forward and warns the Klingon commander that Kirk has set a trap.

As Kang's mind is being affected by the entity, he refuses to answer any further hails. Scott contacts Kirk from the bridge, informing the captain that the ship's dilithium crystals are deteriorating and will be completely depleted in twelve minutes. With the crew's losing their minds to the alien seemingly inevitable, and with the ship drifting powerless in space, Kirk asks Mara if she now believes that the entity exists.

Act Four

"Captain's log, stardate… Armageddon. We must find a way to defeat the alien force of hate that has taken over the Enterprise, stop the war now, or spend eternity in futile, bloody violence."

Holding Mara's arm, Kirk accompanies Spock out of a turbolift and onto the bridge. The ship's dilithium crystals are still being drained and, according to Spock, will be totally depleted in less than ten minutes. Scott and the science officer recommend using Mara to force Kang into agreeing to a truce. Kirk contacts Kang and carries out the suggestion, threatening the Klingon commander that Mara will be killed in five seconds if he does not reply. But Kang simply accepts that his wife is a victim of war. After closing the communications channel to Kang, Kirk assures Mara that the Federation does not kill its prisoners – she has been listening to propaganda and fables.

Mara realizes that the alien entity actually exists. Scott tells her that the Klingons are also under alien power and that a truce would save both the Klingons and Humans aboard the Enterprise. However, Mara insists that her people must continue to hunt and fight in order to survive. When Kirk tells her that mutual trust and assistance can also help a civilization endure, Mara agrees to help the captain and take him to Kang.

With less than nine minutes before the ship loses power, Kirk decides to use intra-ship beaming to transport through the Klingon defenses and reach Kang. The process is extremely dangerous but the captain chooses to take the risk. Kirk and Mara dematerialize from the ship's transporter room into engineering.



"Good spirits" finally drive the
alien entity off.

Against Mara's objections, Kirk and Kang fight each other. Outside engineering, a team of Starfleet security officers led by Spock and McCoy battle several Klingons. The senior officers leave the confrontation and enter engineering. They watch as Kirk surrenders and finally manages to persuade Kang that they are all being controlled by an alien. Eventually, the Klingon commander purposefully drops his sword. He and Kirk use the ship-wide intercom to direct their respective troops to cease hostilities. When the officers comply, the entity is weakened by the abrupt termination of violence.

Calling the alien a "dead duck", Kirk urges the anomaly to leave the ship. Kang tells the entity that Klingons need no urging to hate Humans and also yells at it to leave the Enterprise. At Spock's suggestion that "good spirits" may help to combat the entity, Kirk shares a hearty laugh with McCoy and Kang, and the alien eventually departs the Enterprise into open space.

Memorable quotes.

"Go to the devil."
"We have no devil, Kirk. But we understand the habits of yours."

Kirk and Kang, after Kang claims Kirk's crew as his prisoners

"You killed my brother!"
"And you volunteer to join him. That is loyalty."

- Chekov and Kang, before Kang tortures him

"Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man."

- Kang's Officer, quoting a Klingon proverb to Mara

"Most interesting. The bulk of your crew trapped? Your ship racing from this galaxy at wild speeds? Delightful."

- Kang, to Kirk

"There are rules, even in war. You don't keep hacking at a man after he's down!"

- McCoy, after treating Johnson

"Keep your Vulcan hands off me! Just keep away! Your feelings might be hurt, you green-blooded half-breed!"
"May I say that I have not thoroughly enjoyed serving with Humans. I find their illogic and foolish emotions a constant irritant."
"Then transfer out, freak!"

- Scott and Spock, before they grapple with one another

"Has a war been staged for us? Complete with weapons and ideology and patriotic drum beating?"

- Kirk to Spock, on their Klingon battle

"You're not Human, but you're very beautiful. Very beautiful."

- Chekov, before he tries to rape Mara

"I, too, felt a brief surge of racial bigotry. Most distasteful."

- Spock, to McCoy

"The Federation doesn't kill or mistreat its prisoners. You've been listening to propaganda … fables."

- Kirk to Mara, after Kang calls his bluff

"We have always fought. We must. We are hunters, captain, tracking and taking what we need."

- Mara, on the Klingon way of life

"Those who hate and fight must stop themselves, doctor. Otherwise, it is not stopped."

- Spock, during Kirk and Kang's swordfight

"Klingons kill for their own purposes."

- Kang, tossing away his sword

"Out! We need no urging to hate Humans. But for the present, only a fool fights in a burning house."

- Kang to the entity, quoting a Klingon proverb