Post by magicmuggle01 on Dec 24, 2018 10:42:11 GMT
Scott is suspected of killing several women while on shore leave on Argelius II. However, a more sinister force may provide a connection between this murder and many previous around the galaxy, including a rampage on ancient Earth.
Summary
Montgomery Scott is on medical leave on Argelius II, accompanied by Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy, following a serious head injury caused by a female crewmember's error. McCoy believes that the sexually permissive Argelian culture will cure Scott's "total resentment towards women." On the planet, they are gathered together in a cafe, watching the seductive dance of an Argelian woman, resembling belly dance or Middle Eastern dances of Earth. McCoy states that this is a completely hedonistic society. Scott especially is intrigued by the dancer. After she is done with her performance, she sits down with them at their table. Scott suggests they go for a walk in the fog and she joyfully agrees. Kirk and McCoy are glad they were able to help Scott recuperate in this manner. Having set Scott up properly, Kirk suggests they go to another place across town where the women are apparently equally permissive. McCoy enthusiastically agrees. When Kirk and McCoy enter the densely fogged alley, they hear a woman's scream and soon find out that it is the female dancer who left with Scott. She has been stabbed a dozen times and is dead. Nearby, they find Scott leaning against the wall, moaning in agony, with a knife covered in blood in his hand.
Act One
"Captain's log, stardate 3614.9. Planet Argelius II. While on therapeutic shore leave, Mr. Scott has fallen under suspicion of having brutally murdered an Argelian woman. The chief city administrator, a Mr. Hengist, has taken charge of the investigation, but has learned little of value."
Hengist, who is not a native Argelian, but from Rigel IV, confesses himself "speechless" about the incident, because Argelius is the last place in the galaxy that one would associate with violent crime.
Hengist begins interrogating Scott, who doesn't seem to recall at all what has happened to him or the woman. All he remembers is that they were walking in the fog, that he was up ahead, trying to lead the way and then suddenly heard her scream and recalls nothing after that. Kirk presses the issue, insisting that Scott remember what happened, but McCoy holds him back, asking him to be a little more considerate, especially because of the recent trauma Scott suffered. Kirk, however, states that he is facing a dilemma as a diplomat. This crime happened under Argelian jurisdiction and if the Argelians want to arrest Scott, try him, and even convict and sentence him, Kirk must go along with it.
Hengist points out that Scott's fingerprints are all over the murder weapon. Kirk replies that there were other people in the cafe and that several of them left just before Scott and the girl did. Hengist says that they are actually looking for those people and trying to question them. Kirk asks what the law in this case is, and the Prefect Jaris, who just entered the room with his wife Sybo, states that the law of Argelius is love.
Jaris says that they are capable of learning the truth in such matters through the Argelian empathic contact, a sort of seance. He invites Kirk and his men to his home where, with the aid of his wife who can initiate such an empathic bond, they can learn the truth. Despite the objections of Hengist, they decide to proceed as proposed by the Prefect. In the meantime, the USS Enterprise beams down Lieutenant Karen Tracy, who is asked to perform a 24-hour memory check of Scott with a psycho-tricorder.
McCoy and Kirk discuss the situation. McCoy says that under normal circumstances Scott wouldn't have done such a thing and suspects that maybe it was some form of hysterical amnesia; repressed memory of an event too terrible to recall.
The Prefect's wife, after having prepared herself for the ceremony, returns. She asks for the murder weapon, as she can get psychic impressions from inanimate objects. At this point, they discover the knife is missing, and they hear a loud scream from the other room. Kirk and McCoy find Lieutenant Tracy lying dead, having been stabbed over and over again, while, once again, Scott lies unconscious with the bloody knife in his hands.
Act Two
When Scott regains consciousness, he is disoriented and doesn't remember what happened. Kirk explains that Lieutenant Tracy is dead. Scott says that all he remembers is her taking the readings and then nothing else after that. He cries that he really cannot remember anything. Hengist returns with two men who were at the cafe at the night of the first murder. Tark, a musician who played for Kara's dance at the cafe, was her father; they'd put on shows together since Kara was a child. The second, Morla, was her fiancé. The father accuses Morla of behaving disgracefully and says he was extremely jealous. Morla reluctantly admits it. When he saw her going to the spacemen's table he couldn't stand to watch it, so he angrily left and went home. Kirk points out that jealousy has often been a motive for murder. The Prefect agrees, stating that this is why the emotion is so strongly disapproved of on Argelius. Morla protests that he did not kill anyone. Kirk is agitated and impatient, pressing the issue more and more, trying to prove Scott's innocence, but Hengist reminds him that in both cases, it was Scott who was found over the bodies with the murder weapon.
When Sybo signals that she is ready, they begin the ceremony. Kirk wants Jaris to have the room sealed so that no one can leave or enter. Scott is not happy about this, asking if his neck is going to have to depend on "some spooky mumbo jumbo". Kirk receives a message from Spock through his communicator who informs him that while interesting, the technique of the Argelian empathic contact is truly not sound enough to risk a man's life. He suggests beaming Scott back to the ship and use computers to find out the truth. Kirk says that these people have their own customs and laws and that while they are there, they are subject to them. He emphasizes that importance of resolving this matter according to Argelian law.
They gather around the ceremonial altar of truth with a flame burning at its center. Sybo closes her eyes, saying that there is something terrible there, filled with anger, hatred, and fear. She moans that there is monstrous, terrible evil there, hater of all that lives, hater of women, a hunger that is strong and never dies. It has been called Beratis, Kesla, Redjac. While she keeps chanting and repeating these words, the lights suddenly go off and another terrible scream is heard.
When the lights come back again, Scott is standing behind Sybo, who falls over, revealing a knife stabbed in her back. Scott's hands are bloody and he looks petrified. He cannot answer questions; his mind is completely blank. McCoy doesn't care what the circumstances indicate, he knows that Scott is not the killer. Kirk reminds him that Scott recently had a head injury (caused by a woman) just before their arrival to Argelius, and wonders if that could be a factor. Scott insists he did not kill the women; Hengist points out that by his own admission, Scott doesn't remember what he did. Kirk says that on the Enterprise they have a reliable method for recording Scott's conscious and subconscious mind. Jaris agrees to go to the ship, stating that whoever is guilty will face the ancient penalty for murder, which was death by slow torture.
Act Three
"Captain's log, stardate 3615.4. With Mr. Scott in a technical state of arrest, we have beamed aboard the Enterprise to continue the investigation."
On the Enterprise, Kirk explains the procedure and they begin. Scott is asked a series of test and identifying questions. The computer confirms the accuracy of Scott's testimony about not remembering what happened. Scott points out that he didn't black out when Sybo was killed: they were holding hands and when the lights went off, the circle was broken and he heard the lady scream. He went towards her but remembers that something was in his way – something cold emitting a "stinking draft", according to Scott. The computer again confirms the veracity of Scott's testimony. Hengist keeps pointing out to the fact that Scott was standing behind Sybo, with bloody hands. Kirk proceeds to ask Scott about having killed Kara and Tracy, and in both cases Scott says that he doesn't remember. Again, the computer confirms the veracity in Scott's testimony. Hengist is still not convinced, so Kirk suggests that after they are done taking the testimony here, they will run a psychotricorder analysis of Scott's memory to have a complete record. Hengist is still not satisfied with this answer, but Jaris decides to give this a fair chance.
After the computer also verifies Morla's innocence and the accuracy of his statements, Kirk wonders to Spock if they are going about this the wrong way. Sybo, after all, did sense something evil down there. They go through her words again, trying to remember what exactly she said. They run the names and words Sybo mentioned through the computer which identifies Redjac as Red Jack – "Jack the Ripper" – mass murderer of women on Earth. Everyone is taken aback because Jack the Ripper lived hundreds of years ago and couldn't possibly have survived all these centuries. They conclude that if it is impossible for it to be Human, it has to be something else. Bones points out that this entity, whatever it is, not only feeds on death, but also fear. Spock notes that deriving sustenance from emotion is not unknown in the galaxy, such as the Drella of Alpha Carinae V – and fear is one of the strongest and most potent of the emotions. Perhaps, he says, there are more women victims than men because "women are more easily and more deeply terrified, generating more sheer horror than the male of the species."
Hengist loses patience, stating that all this has gone far enough, unwilling to let the prime suspect get away so they can chase ghosts. Spock asks the computer if an entity with such discussed limits could exist within this Galaxy. The computer says that such an entity could in fact exist in both corporeal and incorporeal form. Spock points out that "Jack the Ripper" was never identified on Earth. He suggests the possibility of a hypnotic screen which blinds all but the victim to the presence of the killer.
After much debate, investigation and speculation, they conclude the true murderer to be a malicious incorporeal entity that feeds on fear. It once took the form of "Jack the Ripper" on 19th century Earth and then traveled from planet to planet, assuming humanoid bodies to murder women and to feed on their fear. None of those murders were ever solved. The other two names Sybo mentioned before she died are identified as Kesla, a mass murderer on Deneb II who was never caught, and Beratis of Rigel IV – the murders on Rigel IV having occurred just a solar year ago. Finally, the reason for Hengist's opposition to this line of inquiry is revealed – he is the current host of the murdering entity. According to Spock, an entity which feeds on fear and terror would find a perfect hunting ground on Argelius – a planet without violence, where the inhabitants are as peaceful as sheep and the entity a hungry wolf in that fold.
The entity is forced out of Hengist's body, but it moves into the Enterprise's computer systems and threatens to slowly murder the crew and disable vital systems.
Act Four
Knowing that the entity feeds on fear and terror, Kirk asks the crew through the ship's intercom to remain calm. Dr. McCoy gives everyone (except Kirk and Spock, who "will take their chances") a tranquilizer to deprive the entity of the fear on which it feeds. Spock forces the entity out of the computer by ordering it to compute, at top priority, pi to the last digit – a task it can never complete. They succeed in getting the being out of the computer, but it then briefly possesses Jaris before managing to reanimate Hengist's body and threatening to kill Yeoman Tankris. The attempt fails, as the tranquilized yeoman finds the situation more amusing than terrifying, and Kirk manages to save her from Hengist before Spock gives him a dose of tranquilizer. Kirk orders Hengist, and with him the entity, beamed into space "at maximum dispersion", spreading it into billions of harmless atoms floating forever in open space.
Relieved they have vanquished the creature, Kirk then amusingly looks at the rest of his crew, who are still happy from the tranquilizer; and comments to Spock how, for five to six hours, they have the "happiest crew" in space.
Memorable quotes
"Now, no one has to tell an old Aberdeen pub crawler how to applaud, captain!"
- Scott, after Kirk tells him that the Argelians use the table lights to applaud
"Captain, you mean my neck's gonna have to depend on some spooky mumbo-jumbo?"
- Scott, before Sybo's ceremony
"In the strict scientific sense, doctor, we all feed on death. Even vegetarians."
- Spock, as McCoy mentions that Redjac feeds on death
"She's dead, Jim – just like the other one."
"Stabbed over and over again."
- McCoy and Kirk, finding Lieutenant Karen Tracy's body near Scott
"The entity would be as a hungry wolf in that fold."
- Spock, comparing the peaceful Argelians to a flock of sheep and Hengist to a wolf
"I've got some stuff that would tranquilize an active volcano."
- McCoy, describing to Kirk what sedatives he has
"This is the first time I've heard a malfunction threaten us."
- Sulu, as Redjac takes over the Enterprise computer systems
"Whoever he is, he sure talks gloomy!"
- Sulu, after receiving the sedative
"Above all: don't be afraid."
"With an armful of this stuff… I wouldn't be afraid of a supernova!"
- Kirk and a sedated Sulu
"Computer, this is a class A compulsory directive. Compute to the last digit, the value of pi."
- Spock, as he outsmarts Redjac
"You didn't have to shove me, Mr. Spock. I'd have gotten round to it."
- Transporter Chief Kyle, after Spock transported Redjac into space
"You seem very…happy about the whole thing…"
"Well, why not? For a while there, I didn't know whether I was innocent or guilty!"
- Kirk and Scott - still high off the tranquilizer - after Redjac is defeated
"Well Mister Spock, for the next five or six hours, we're going to have the happiest crew in space. Of course, we won't get much work done."
- Kirk, commenting on the impact of the sedative
Summary
Montgomery Scott is on medical leave on Argelius II, accompanied by Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy, following a serious head injury caused by a female crewmember's error. McCoy believes that the sexually permissive Argelian culture will cure Scott's "total resentment towards women." On the planet, they are gathered together in a cafe, watching the seductive dance of an Argelian woman, resembling belly dance or Middle Eastern dances of Earth. McCoy states that this is a completely hedonistic society. Scott especially is intrigued by the dancer. After she is done with her performance, she sits down with them at their table. Scott suggests they go for a walk in the fog and she joyfully agrees. Kirk and McCoy are glad they were able to help Scott recuperate in this manner. Having set Scott up properly, Kirk suggests they go to another place across town where the women are apparently equally permissive. McCoy enthusiastically agrees. When Kirk and McCoy enter the densely fogged alley, they hear a woman's scream and soon find out that it is the female dancer who left with Scott. She has been stabbed a dozen times and is dead. Nearby, they find Scott leaning against the wall, moaning in agony, with a knife covered in blood in his hand.
Act One
"Captain's log, stardate 3614.9. Planet Argelius II. While on therapeutic shore leave, Mr. Scott has fallen under suspicion of having brutally murdered an Argelian woman. The chief city administrator, a Mr. Hengist, has taken charge of the investigation, but has learned little of value."
Hengist, who is not a native Argelian, but from Rigel IV, confesses himself "speechless" about the incident, because Argelius is the last place in the galaxy that one would associate with violent crime.
Hengist begins interrogating Scott, who doesn't seem to recall at all what has happened to him or the woman. All he remembers is that they were walking in the fog, that he was up ahead, trying to lead the way and then suddenly heard her scream and recalls nothing after that. Kirk presses the issue, insisting that Scott remember what happened, but McCoy holds him back, asking him to be a little more considerate, especially because of the recent trauma Scott suffered. Kirk, however, states that he is facing a dilemma as a diplomat. This crime happened under Argelian jurisdiction and if the Argelians want to arrest Scott, try him, and even convict and sentence him, Kirk must go along with it.
Hengist points out that Scott's fingerprints are all over the murder weapon. Kirk replies that there were other people in the cafe and that several of them left just before Scott and the girl did. Hengist says that they are actually looking for those people and trying to question them. Kirk asks what the law in this case is, and the Prefect Jaris, who just entered the room with his wife Sybo, states that the law of Argelius is love.
Jaris says that they are capable of learning the truth in such matters through the Argelian empathic contact, a sort of seance. He invites Kirk and his men to his home where, with the aid of his wife who can initiate such an empathic bond, they can learn the truth. Despite the objections of Hengist, they decide to proceed as proposed by the Prefect. In the meantime, the USS Enterprise beams down Lieutenant Karen Tracy, who is asked to perform a 24-hour memory check of Scott with a psycho-tricorder.
McCoy and Kirk discuss the situation. McCoy says that under normal circumstances Scott wouldn't have done such a thing and suspects that maybe it was some form of hysterical amnesia; repressed memory of an event too terrible to recall.
The Prefect's wife, after having prepared herself for the ceremony, returns. She asks for the murder weapon, as she can get psychic impressions from inanimate objects. At this point, they discover the knife is missing, and they hear a loud scream from the other room. Kirk and McCoy find Lieutenant Tracy lying dead, having been stabbed over and over again, while, once again, Scott lies unconscious with the bloody knife in his hands.
Act Two
When Scott regains consciousness, he is disoriented and doesn't remember what happened. Kirk explains that Lieutenant Tracy is dead. Scott says that all he remembers is her taking the readings and then nothing else after that. He cries that he really cannot remember anything. Hengist returns with two men who were at the cafe at the night of the first murder. Tark, a musician who played for Kara's dance at the cafe, was her father; they'd put on shows together since Kara was a child. The second, Morla, was her fiancé. The father accuses Morla of behaving disgracefully and says he was extremely jealous. Morla reluctantly admits it. When he saw her going to the spacemen's table he couldn't stand to watch it, so he angrily left and went home. Kirk points out that jealousy has often been a motive for murder. The Prefect agrees, stating that this is why the emotion is so strongly disapproved of on Argelius. Morla protests that he did not kill anyone. Kirk is agitated and impatient, pressing the issue more and more, trying to prove Scott's innocence, but Hengist reminds him that in both cases, it was Scott who was found over the bodies with the murder weapon.
When Sybo signals that she is ready, they begin the ceremony. Kirk wants Jaris to have the room sealed so that no one can leave or enter. Scott is not happy about this, asking if his neck is going to have to depend on "some spooky mumbo jumbo". Kirk receives a message from Spock through his communicator who informs him that while interesting, the technique of the Argelian empathic contact is truly not sound enough to risk a man's life. He suggests beaming Scott back to the ship and use computers to find out the truth. Kirk says that these people have their own customs and laws and that while they are there, they are subject to them. He emphasizes that importance of resolving this matter according to Argelian law.
They gather around the ceremonial altar of truth with a flame burning at its center. Sybo closes her eyes, saying that there is something terrible there, filled with anger, hatred, and fear. She moans that there is monstrous, terrible evil there, hater of all that lives, hater of women, a hunger that is strong and never dies. It has been called Beratis, Kesla, Redjac. While she keeps chanting and repeating these words, the lights suddenly go off and another terrible scream is heard.
When the lights come back again, Scott is standing behind Sybo, who falls over, revealing a knife stabbed in her back. Scott's hands are bloody and he looks petrified. He cannot answer questions; his mind is completely blank. McCoy doesn't care what the circumstances indicate, he knows that Scott is not the killer. Kirk reminds him that Scott recently had a head injury (caused by a woman) just before their arrival to Argelius, and wonders if that could be a factor. Scott insists he did not kill the women; Hengist points out that by his own admission, Scott doesn't remember what he did. Kirk says that on the Enterprise they have a reliable method for recording Scott's conscious and subconscious mind. Jaris agrees to go to the ship, stating that whoever is guilty will face the ancient penalty for murder, which was death by slow torture.
Act Three
"Captain's log, stardate 3615.4. With Mr. Scott in a technical state of arrest, we have beamed aboard the Enterprise to continue the investigation."
On the Enterprise, Kirk explains the procedure and they begin. Scott is asked a series of test and identifying questions. The computer confirms the accuracy of Scott's testimony about not remembering what happened. Scott points out that he didn't black out when Sybo was killed: they were holding hands and when the lights went off, the circle was broken and he heard the lady scream. He went towards her but remembers that something was in his way – something cold emitting a "stinking draft", according to Scott. The computer again confirms the veracity of Scott's testimony. Hengist keeps pointing out to the fact that Scott was standing behind Sybo, with bloody hands. Kirk proceeds to ask Scott about having killed Kara and Tracy, and in both cases Scott says that he doesn't remember. Again, the computer confirms the veracity in Scott's testimony. Hengist is still not convinced, so Kirk suggests that after they are done taking the testimony here, they will run a psychotricorder analysis of Scott's memory to have a complete record. Hengist is still not satisfied with this answer, but Jaris decides to give this a fair chance.
After the computer also verifies Morla's innocence and the accuracy of his statements, Kirk wonders to Spock if they are going about this the wrong way. Sybo, after all, did sense something evil down there. They go through her words again, trying to remember what exactly she said. They run the names and words Sybo mentioned through the computer which identifies Redjac as Red Jack – "Jack the Ripper" – mass murderer of women on Earth. Everyone is taken aback because Jack the Ripper lived hundreds of years ago and couldn't possibly have survived all these centuries. They conclude that if it is impossible for it to be Human, it has to be something else. Bones points out that this entity, whatever it is, not only feeds on death, but also fear. Spock notes that deriving sustenance from emotion is not unknown in the galaxy, such as the Drella of Alpha Carinae V – and fear is one of the strongest and most potent of the emotions. Perhaps, he says, there are more women victims than men because "women are more easily and more deeply terrified, generating more sheer horror than the male of the species."
Hengist loses patience, stating that all this has gone far enough, unwilling to let the prime suspect get away so they can chase ghosts. Spock asks the computer if an entity with such discussed limits could exist within this Galaxy. The computer says that such an entity could in fact exist in both corporeal and incorporeal form. Spock points out that "Jack the Ripper" was never identified on Earth. He suggests the possibility of a hypnotic screen which blinds all but the victim to the presence of the killer.
After much debate, investigation and speculation, they conclude the true murderer to be a malicious incorporeal entity that feeds on fear. It once took the form of "Jack the Ripper" on 19th century Earth and then traveled from planet to planet, assuming humanoid bodies to murder women and to feed on their fear. None of those murders were ever solved. The other two names Sybo mentioned before she died are identified as Kesla, a mass murderer on Deneb II who was never caught, and Beratis of Rigel IV – the murders on Rigel IV having occurred just a solar year ago. Finally, the reason for Hengist's opposition to this line of inquiry is revealed – he is the current host of the murdering entity. According to Spock, an entity which feeds on fear and terror would find a perfect hunting ground on Argelius – a planet without violence, where the inhabitants are as peaceful as sheep and the entity a hungry wolf in that fold.
The entity is forced out of Hengist's body, but it moves into the Enterprise's computer systems and threatens to slowly murder the crew and disable vital systems.
Act Four
Knowing that the entity feeds on fear and terror, Kirk asks the crew through the ship's intercom to remain calm. Dr. McCoy gives everyone (except Kirk and Spock, who "will take their chances") a tranquilizer to deprive the entity of the fear on which it feeds. Spock forces the entity out of the computer by ordering it to compute, at top priority, pi to the last digit – a task it can never complete. They succeed in getting the being out of the computer, but it then briefly possesses Jaris before managing to reanimate Hengist's body and threatening to kill Yeoman Tankris. The attempt fails, as the tranquilized yeoman finds the situation more amusing than terrifying, and Kirk manages to save her from Hengist before Spock gives him a dose of tranquilizer. Kirk orders Hengist, and with him the entity, beamed into space "at maximum dispersion", spreading it into billions of harmless atoms floating forever in open space.
Relieved they have vanquished the creature, Kirk then amusingly looks at the rest of his crew, who are still happy from the tranquilizer; and comments to Spock how, for five to six hours, they have the "happiest crew" in space.
Memorable quotes
"Now, no one has to tell an old Aberdeen pub crawler how to applaud, captain!"
- Scott, after Kirk tells him that the Argelians use the table lights to applaud
"Captain, you mean my neck's gonna have to depend on some spooky mumbo-jumbo?"
- Scott, before Sybo's ceremony
"In the strict scientific sense, doctor, we all feed on death. Even vegetarians."
- Spock, as McCoy mentions that Redjac feeds on death
"She's dead, Jim – just like the other one."
"Stabbed over and over again."
- McCoy and Kirk, finding Lieutenant Karen Tracy's body near Scott
"The entity would be as a hungry wolf in that fold."
- Spock, comparing the peaceful Argelians to a flock of sheep and Hengist to a wolf
"I've got some stuff that would tranquilize an active volcano."
- McCoy, describing to Kirk what sedatives he has
"This is the first time I've heard a malfunction threaten us."
- Sulu, as Redjac takes over the Enterprise computer systems
"Whoever he is, he sure talks gloomy!"
- Sulu, after receiving the sedative
"Above all: don't be afraid."
"With an armful of this stuff… I wouldn't be afraid of a supernova!"
- Kirk and a sedated Sulu
"Computer, this is a class A compulsory directive. Compute to the last digit, the value of pi."
- Spock, as he outsmarts Redjac
"You didn't have to shove me, Mr. Spock. I'd have gotten round to it."
- Transporter Chief Kyle, after Spock transported Redjac into space
"You seem very…happy about the whole thing…"
"Well, why not? For a while there, I didn't know whether I was innocent or guilty!"
- Kirk and Scott - still high off the tranquilizer - after Redjac is defeated
"Well Mister Spock, for the next five or six hours, we're going to have the happiest crew in space. Of course, we won't get much work done."
- Kirk, commenting on the impact of the sedative
