Post by magicmuggle01 on Dec 29, 2018 12:25:25 GMT
Suffering from an accidental overdose of cordrazine, Doctor Leonard McCoy goes back to 1930s Earth and saves a woman's life, unwittingly changing the course of time and erasing the Enterprise and the Federation from history.
Summary
Sulu is revived by two drops of
cordrazine
In orbit around an unexplored planet, the USS Enterprise is on red alert as it passes through violent time distortions surrounding the planet. As the ship plots its orbit, Montgomery Scott warns that the control circuits are threatening to overload. No sooner does Captain Kirk acknowledge the report, the helm console on the bridge explodes and Lieutenant Sulu is injured. Scott takes the helm as Doctor McCoy is called to the bridge for emergency first aid. Scott questions if the ship should break orbit, but Spock advises against it – the ship is literally passing through ripples in time and it is of great scientific importance that they remain and investigate. Kirk agrees and orders Uhura to broadcast to Starfleet Command his past week's log entries, detailing the unusual readings on the instruments that has diverted the Enterprise to this planet. McCoy arrives and diagnoses Sulu with a heart flutter. He prepares a hypo of cordrazine, warned by Kirk that it is "tricky stuff." Fortunately, the two drops administered by McCoy successfully revives Sulu.
McCoy, suffering from a
cordrazine overdose
Scott reports that the Enterprise is nearly clear of the time ripples, which Spock confirms, with one heavy displacement directly ahead. The Enterprise shudders violently as it collides with it, causing Dr. McCoy to slip on the helm console and inject the loaded hypospray into his abdomen, emptying its contents into his bloodstream. Kirk and Spock rush to his aid, but McCoy darts up in a panic. Raving and screaming about "killers" and "assassins", McCoy breaks free from the concerned bridge crew and flees the bridge via the turbolift. Kirk orders a security alert.
Act One
"Captain's log, supplemental entry. Two drops of cordrazine can save a man's life. A hundred times that amount has just accidentally been pumped into Dr. McCoy's body. In his strange and wild frenzy, he has fled the ship's bridge. All connecting decks have been placed on alert. We have no way of knowing if the madness is permanent or temporary or what direction it will drive McCoy."
Dr. McCoy evades the security teams and enters the transporter room where he attacks the transporter chief Lieutenant Kyle from behind, steals his phaser and energizes the transporter.
On the bridge, Kirk has returned from sickbay, where the ship's medical department in uncertain of what McCoy's condition will do to him. Spock, having consulted the library computer, discovers that patients exposed to such a level of cordrazine would fail to recognize acquaintances and become hysterically convinced they were in mortal danger, becoming extremely dangerous to himself or anyone else nearby. Suddenly, the transporter room calls the bridge and informs Kirk that McCoy has beamed down to the planet, with the transporter at the time being focused on the center of the time disruptions on the surface. Kirk orders a landing party to be set up to retrieve Dr. McCoy.
"I am the Guardian of Forever."
Kirk, Spock, Scott, Uhura, Galloway, and a security officer transport down and discover a ruined city with an unusual looking portal in the midst. As Uhura and Scott's teams search for Dr. McCoy, Kirk and Spock investigate the object. Spock reports that it is indeed the center of all the time disruptions, although he cannot explain how it is possible. The object, though it appears inert, is in fact generating powerful enough waves of displacement that the Enterprise could detect it millions of miles away. Kirk asks what it is and a loud, booming voice intones from the object "A question! Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question." The object identifies itself as the Guardian of Forever, explaining that is both machine and being, while also being neither. Spock deduces that the Guardian is a time portal – a gateway to other times and dimensions, which the Guardian confirms is correct and activates its portal, offering Kirk and Spock a gateway into Earth's past.
Suddenly, McCoy cries out – he has been cornered by the search parties. Still madly convinced they are killers and assassins, he tries to escape, but is subdued by a Vulcan nerve pinch, courtesy of Spock. Kirk ponders if they could use the Guardian of Forever to take McCoy backwards a day in time to make certain that his accident never happens. However, the portal's speed is moving fairly quickly, jumping from century to century. Spock suddenly realizes that his tricorder is capable of recording images at the same speed and activates it, just as McCoy regains consciousness. As the landing party is transfixed on the Guardian and the images it is showing, McCoy hears the Guardian explain that this portal will allow people to go anywhere in time. With the landing party momentarily distracted, McCoy jumps up and runs towards the portal until it is too late to stop him. The doctor jumps through it and the portal shuts down. When Kirk wonders where he went, the voice of the Guardian explains "He has passed into… what was…"
Uhura suddenly discovers that she's completely lost contact with the Enterprise. Scott finds nothing wrong with the communicators, but the Guardian further explains that "Your vessel, your beginning, all that you knew is gone." Kirk makes the horrible realization that McCoy has somehow changed history, stranding the landing party on the planet with no past and no future. Uhura tells Kirk she's frightened, but, Kirk is equally as disturbed.
"Earth's not there… at least, not the Earth we know. We're totally alone."
Act Two
The Guardian's planet
"Captain's log, no stardate. For us, time does not exist. McCoy, back somewhere in the past, has effected a change in the course of time. All Earth history has been changed. There is no starship Enterprise. We have only one chance – we have asked the Guardian to show us Earth's history again, Spock and I will go back into time ourselves and attempt to set right whatever it was that McCoy changed."
The tricorder scans Spock took just as McCoy left reveal that he jumped back to the early 20th century and can approximate when they should jump through the portal, putting them possibly a month or a week prior to McCoy's arrival. Kirk wonders how they will return to the their own time, but the Guardian tells him that if he is successful in mending the timeline, they will all be returned, as if none of them had gone. Scott and Uhura are skeptical about their chances, but Spock logically states that there is no alternative. Kirk, however, out of concern for his officers, tells each of the landing party to jump through the portal if they feel like they've waited long enough for he and Spock to return, allowing them to live in Earth's past rather than be stranded on the Guardian's planet should they fail to find the time date McCoy jumped to. Scott and Uhura bid them good luck as Kirk and Spock simultaneously jump through the portal, backwards through time.
"We seem to be costumed a little
out of step with the time."
They arrive in New York City, circa 1930. Kirk recognizes the period from old photographs, which Spock clarifies that an economic upheaval had occurred at this point in time. As passersby scrutinize Kirk and Spock's unusual appearance, they make for a back alley to get out of sight. Kirk notices some contemporary clothes on a fire escape and elects to steal them, as their Starfleet uniforms are not suited for the time period. However, they are approached by a police officer, caught red-handed. As Kirk awkwardly tries to explain Spock's Vulcan ears, the policeman prepares to arrest them. However, Spock disables him with a nerve pinch and they escape to the basement of what they soon learn is the 21st Street Mission.
Kirk and Spock find jobs at the
21st Street Mission
After changing clothes, Spock laments that locked in his tricorder are the images of how McCoy will change history. Unfortunately, he would need to tie it into the Enterprise computer to access the information. Kirk wonders if he could build a computer aid using contemporary materials, but, Spock is dubious as to its success. As their voices carry, they are accosted by the proprietor of the mission, Edith Keeler. Kirk apologizes for their intrusion and tells her the truth as to why they came down there – that they had stolen their clothes because they had no money and were being chased by a policeman. Believing them to be victims of the poor economy, Edith offers them jobs at the mission doing chores at fifteen cents an hour for ten hours a day. Kirk and Spock agree and set to cleaning up the basement.
Hours later, they are eating their complimentary dinner of soup and bread with the other poverty-stricken citizens, when Keeler takes the stage and gives a motivational speech about how she believes the days ahead are worth living for, theorizing that one day soon, man will be able to harness the power of the atom, which could ultimately propel them into outer space, where they will be able to find ways to feed the hungry millions of the world, to cure their diseases, and give mankind hope and a common future. Kirk is impressed with her foresight into the future, while Spock believes it to be merely intuition. Afterwards, Keeler compliments Kirk on his and Spock's work in the basement and offers them further work and sets them up with a "flop" (an apartment) in the building where she lives.
Goodnight sweetheart
Several days later, Spock is hard at work attempting to build the computer aid to access the information in his tricorder, but he laments the speed at which the work is progressing as the technology of the 20th century is barely adequate for his needs. The next day, Spock observes a man using tools for finely detailed work and steals them from the mission's toolbox using his sensitive Vulcan ears to break the combination. Keeler quickly discovers the theft and is very upset that Spock did it, but Kirk is able to convince her that Spock meant no ill will, and would return the tools when he was finished. Edith agrees, as she has become fascinated by Kirk, and asks him to walk her home. The two become close as Keeler questions where Kirk comes from and how he sees the world the same way that she does. As they walk away, Spock looks concerned.
"The President and Edith Keeler
conferred for some time today…"
After a few more days, Spock is finally able to access the information in the tricorder, where he discovers Edith Keeler's 1930 obituary – her death the result of a traffic accident. As Kirk enters, he attempts to replay it for him, but another image appears – a newspaper article from 1936, detailing a meeting Keeler has with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Unfortunately, the strain on the computer aid overloads it, requiring extensive repair work before it can be used again. Kirk believes within six years, Keeler will become nationally famous, but Spock tells Kirk their caretaker will die this year. Spock tells Kirk of Keeler's 1930 obituary, and that Edith Keeler is the focal point in time that both they and Dr. McCoy will be drawn to. Kirk ponders what the correct course of history is, if she lives or dies and what role McCoy, especially in his cordrazine-induced condition will play in it – does he kill her or prevent her from being killed?
Spock asks Kirk the most pressing question of all: Suppose they discover to set history right, Edith Keeler must die? Kirk cannot answer and he wrestles with his growing affection for her and the role she will ultimately play in history.
Act Three
"Don't run! I won't kill you!!"
In a back alley elsewhere in the city, Dr. McCoy arrives, screaming out to the "assassins" and the "murderers", garnering the attention of a homeless man, awestruck with fear. He runs, but McCoy pursues him, promising he won't kill him. He eventually catches up to him, but, McCoy soon wonders where he is. The constellations in the sky lead him to believe that he's on Earth, but, even in his manic state, he believes it's some kind of trick. He begins sobbing hysterically at how hospitals in the past needed to use needles and sutures to attend to people and loses consciousness. The derelict picks McCoy's pocket and takes his phaser. Unfortunately, as he examines it, he activates the overload circuit and disintegrates himself.
The next morning, McCoy looks in terrible shape. As he staggers around the streets, still suffering the effects of his cordrazine overdose, he discovers the 21st Street Mission. He goes inside, where Edith is serving coffee. She notices his condition and offers to help, but he says he must not be found, so she takes him to a cot in the back room where he won't be disturbed. As they depart, Spock takes over for her pouring the coffee, missing McCoy by only a few seconds. Shortly thereafter, Spock is able to repair the computer aid and accesses the tricorder again.
"All this because McCoy came
back…"
According to the scans taken from the time vortex, Spock is convinced that McCoy prevented Edith Keeler's death in a traffic accident as she was meant to in the "correct" timeline. She later went on to found a pacifist movement whose influence on President Roosevelt delayed the United States' entry into World War II. As the peace negotiations dragged on, Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany had time to complete their heavy water experiments, allowing them to develop the atomic bomb first, with which Germany conquered the world. Spock tells Kirk they must stop McCoy. Kirk wonders when she has to die, but, Spock informs him that while they can extrapolate general events, they cannot pinpoint exact movements at exact time. Kirk, his heart already breaking, tells Spock that he believes he is in love with Edith Keeler. Spock grimly reminds Kirk: "Edith Keeler must die."
Act Four
McCoy regains consciousness, almost fully recovered now, with Keeler at his bedside. While it appears to him that he's back on Earth around 1920 or '25, Keeler asks him if he would care to try for 30. McCoy introduces himself to her, and declares that he is the chief medical officer aboard the USS Enterprise. Keeler, believing him to be speaking of a naval vessel, tells him that he's hardly wearing a navy uniform and dismisses his claim as part of his condition. Noting the peculiar way he speaks of present-day (for her) Earth, she asks McCoy if she would like to meet her friend who seems to talk the same way, but McCoy is not interested. "I'm a surgeon, not a psychiatrist," he states.
Later, at their apartment building, Kirk approaches Keeler on the staircase. As she goes to meet him, she stumbles. Kirk, reflexively, catches her before she can fall. Spock witnesses this and after Kirk and Keeler part for the moment, Spock reminds him that she might have died had Kirk not caught her. Kirk, his voice vacant, dismisses it by saying "It's not yet time. McCoy's not here." Spock, however, logically states that they are not certain of their facts and cannot know for sure when the right time will come. He reminds Kirk that if he saves her life, "Millions will die who did not die before."
In the evening hours, McCoy is now fully restored to health thanks to Keeler's ministrations. As he drinks a cup of coffee, he offers to help out around the mission to thank her for saving his life. Keeler tells him they can discuss it later as she has to leave, her gentleman caller is taking her to see a Clark Gable movie. Dr. McCoy doesn't know who Clark Gable is, but he knows what a movie is, which she finds very strange and bids him good night.
Spock exits the mission as Kirk and Keeler do. As they cross the street, hand in hand, Keeler mentions the idea of seeing the Clark Gable movie. Kirk questions who's she's talking about and Keeler makes an offhand comment about how Dr. McCoy had the same reaction. Kirk, immediately, jumps to attention and asks her if she's talking about Leonard McCoy. She confirms that she is and Kirk tells her to wait on the sidewalk for him as he calls out to Spock. They dash back to the mission as Dr. McCoy exits from it. The three embrace in relief at finally being reunited.
Kirk's great loss.
Keeler, watching from the other side of the street, begins to cross to see what is going on as a large truck turns the nearby corner and speeds down the street. Kirk notices her approaching and the oncoming truck and tries to warn her, but Spock yells out: "No, Jim!" Dr. McCoy, oblivious to what the ramifications are, begins to run out to help her, but Kirk holds him back as the truck slams on its brakes and strikes Edith. She is killed instantly.
Kirk, his eyes clenched in grief, cannot bear to look as passersby scurry into the street and surround Edith Keeler's lifeless body. McCoy, shocked and outraged, turns to Kirk and says: "You deliberately stopped me, Jim! I could have saved her! Do you know what you just did?" Kirk shoves McCoy aside as Spock somberly replies: "He knows, Doctor… he knows." In Kirk, not even the knowledge that history has been returned to normal can heal the open wound in his heart over the death of the woman he loved.
Returning to the Enterprise
Back in the 23rd century, Spock and Kirk, once again in their Starfleet uniforms, emerge from the time portal. Scott, incredulous, asks them what happened as from his perspective they had only left a moment ago. From within the time vortex, Dr. McCoy also emerges from the time portal. Spock answers: "We were successful." The voice of the Guardian of Forever booms as it declares "Time has resumed its shape. All is as it was before. Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway." Uhura is now able contact the Enterprise, where the crew is wondering if the landing party wants to beam back up.
Even with the wondrous invitation from the Guardian to travel to other times and other places, Kirk's somber and despondent tone speaks volumes as he addresses his crew.
"Let's get the hell out of here."
Memorable quotes
"Killers! Assassins! I won't let you! I'll kill you first! I won't let you! You won't get me! Murderers! Killers!"
- McCoy, after an accidental injection of cordrazine
"A question. Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."
- Guardian of Forever, to Kirk
"Are you machine or being?"
"I am both and neither. I am my own beginning. My own ending."
- Kirk and the Guardian of Forever
"Captain, I've lost contact with the ship. I was talking to them. Suddenly, it went dead. No static; just nothing."
"Kirk to Enterprise. Scotty."
"Nothing wrong with the communicator, sir."
"Your vessel, your beginning. All that you knew is gone."
- Uhura, Kirk, Scott, and Guardian of Forever, after McCoy changes the timeline
"My friend is obviously Chinese. I see you've noticed the ears. They're actually easy to explain… He caught his head in a mechanical… rice picker."
- Kirk to the police officer, explaining Spock's alien appearance
"A lie is a very poor way to say hello."
- Keeler, meeting Kirk and Spock
"One day soon, man is going to be able to harness incredible energies – maybe even the atom; energies that could ultimately hurl us to other worlds in some sort of spaceship. And the men that reach out into space will be able to find ways to feed the hungry millions of the world and to cure their diseases. They will be able to find a way to give each man hope and a common future… and those are the days worth living for."
- Keeler, on her vision of man's future
"We have a flop."
"We have a what, Captain?"
"A place to sleep."
"One might have said so in the first place."
- Kirk and Spock
"I am endeavoring, Ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins."
- Spock, as Keeler sees his work on the tricorder
"Where would you estimate we belong, Miss Keeler?"
"You? At his side, as if you've always been there and always will."
- Spock and Keeler
"Couldn't you build some kind of computer aid here?"
"In this zinc-plated vacuum-tubed culture?"
"Yes, well, it would pose an extremely complex problem in logic, Mister Spock. Excuse me. I sometimes expect too much of you."
- Kirk and Spock
"Captain. Even when he doesn't say it, he does."
- Keeler, on Spock
"Let me help. A hundred years or so from now, I believe, a famous novelist will write a classic using that theme. He'll recommend those three words even over I love you."
- Kirk, to Keeler
"Captain, suppose we discover that in order to set things straight again, Edith Keeler must die? "
- Spock, about Keeler and history
"Assassins! Murderers! Murderers! Assassins! You! What planet is this? No! Don't run! I won't kill you! It's they who do the killing! Don't run! I won't kill you!"
- McCoy, startling a homeless man upon his arrival in the 20th century
"Peace was the way."
"She was right. But at the wrong time."
- Kirk and Spock, on Keeler's peace movement
"Spock… I believe… I'm in love with Edith Keeler."
"Jim, Edith Keeler must die."
- Kirk and Spock
"I have a friend that talks about Earth the same way that you do. Would you like to meet him?"
"I'm a surgeon, not a psychiatrist."
- Keeler and McCoy
"Save her – do as your heart tells you to do – and millions will die who did not die before."
- Spock, to Kirk
"You deliberately stopped me, Jim! I could have saved her! Do you know what you just did?"
"He knows, Doctor… He knows."
- McCoy (to Kirk) and Spock, on Keeler's death
"Time has resumed its shape. All is as it was before. Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."
- Guardian of Forever, after Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return
"Captain, the Enterprise is up there. They're asking if we want to beam up."
"Let's get the hell out of here."
- Uhura and Kirk, before beaming back to the Enterprise
Summary
Sulu is revived by two drops of
cordrazine
In orbit around an unexplored planet, the USS Enterprise is on red alert as it passes through violent time distortions surrounding the planet. As the ship plots its orbit, Montgomery Scott warns that the control circuits are threatening to overload. No sooner does Captain Kirk acknowledge the report, the helm console on the bridge explodes and Lieutenant Sulu is injured. Scott takes the helm as Doctor McCoy is called to the bridge for emergency first aid. Scott questions if the ship should break orbit, but Spock advises against it – the ship is literally passing through ripples in time and it is of great scientific importance that they remain and investigate. Kirk agrees and orders Uhura to broadcast to Starfleet Command his past week's log entries, detailing the unusual readings on the instruments that has diverted the Enterprise to this planet. McCoy arrives and diagnoses Sulu with a heart flutter. He prepares a hypo of cordrazine, warned by Kirk that it is "tricky stuff." Fortunately, the two drops administered by McCoy successfully revives Sulu.
McCoy, suffering from a
cordrazine overdose
Scott reports that the Enterprise is nearly clear of the time ripples, which Spock confirms, with one heavy displacement directly ahead. The Enterprise shudders violently as it collides with it, causing Dr. McCoy to slip on the helm console and inject the loaded hypospray into his abdomen, emptying its contents into his bloodstream. Kirk and Spock rush to his aid, but McCoy darts up in a panic. Raving and screaming about "killers" and "assassins", McCoy breaks free from the concerned bridge crew and flees the bridge via the turbolift. Kirk orders a security alert.
Act One
"Captain's log, supplemental entry. Two drops of cordrazine can save a man's life. A hundred times that amount has just accidentally been pumped into Dr. McCoy's body. In his strange and wild frenzy, he has fled the ship's bridge. All connecting decks have been placed on alert. We have no way of knowing if the madness is permanent or temporary or what direction it will drive McCoy."
Dr. McCoy evades the security teams and enters the transporter room where he attacks the transporter chief Lieutenant Kyle from behind, steals his phaser and energizes the transporter.
On the bridge, Kirk has returned from sickbay, where the ship's medical department in uncertain of what McCoy's condition will do to him. Spock, having consulted the library computer, discovers that patients exposed to such a level of cordrazine would fail to recognize acquaintances and become hysterically convinced they were in mortal danger, becoming extremely dangerous to himself or anyone else nearby. Suddenly, the transporter room calls the bridge and informs Kirk that McCoy has beamed down to the planet, with the transporter at the time being focused on the center of the time disruptions on the surface. Kirk orders a landing party to be set up to retrieve Dr. McCoy.
"I am the Guardian of Forever."
Kirk, Spock, Scott, Uhura, Galloway, and a security officer transport down and discover a ruined city with an unusual looking portal in the midst. As Uhura and Scott's teams search for Dr. McCoy, Kirk and Spock investigate the object. Spock reports that it is indeed the center of all the time disruptions, although he cannot explain how it is possible. The object, though it appears inert, is in fact generating powerful enough waves of displacement that the Enterprise could detect it millions of miles away. Kirk asks what it is and a loud, booming voice intones from the object "A question! Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question." The object identifies itself as the Guardian of Forever, explaining that is both machine and being, while also being neither. Spock deduces that the Guardian is a time portal – a gateway to other times and dimensions, which the Guardian confirms is correct and activates its portal, offering Kirk and Spock a gateway into Earth's past.
Suddenly, McCoy cries out – he has been cornered by the search parties. Still madly convinced they are killers and assassins, he tries to escape, but is subdued by a Vulcan nerve pinch, courtesy of Spock. Kirk ponders if they could use the Guardian of Forever to take McCoy backwards a day in time to make certain that his accident never happens. However, the portal's speed is moving fairly quickly, jumping from century to century. Spock suddenly realizes that his tricorder is capable of recording images at the same speed and activates it, just as McCoy regains consciousness. As the landing party is transfixed on the Guardian and the images it is showing, McCoy hears the Guardian explain that this portal will allow people to go anywhere in time. With the landing party momentarily distracted, McCoy jumps up and runs towards the portal until it is too late to stop him. The doctor jumps through it and the portal shuts down. When Kirk wonders where he went, the voice of the Guardian explains "He has passed into… what was…"
Uhura suddenly discovers that she's completely lost contact with the Enterprise. Scott finds nothing wrong with the communicators, but the Guardian further explains that "Your vessel, your beginning, all that you knew is gone." Kirk makes the horrible realization that McCoy has somehow changed history, stranding the landing party on the planet with no past and no future. Uhura tells Kirk she's frightened, but, Kirk is equally as disturbed.
"Earth's not there… at least, not the Earth we know. We're totally alone."
Act Two
The Guardian's planet
"Captain's log, no stardate. For us, time does not exist. McCoy, back somewhere in the past, has effected a change in the course of time. All Earth history has been changed. There is no starship Enterprise. We have only one chance – we have asked the Guardian to show us Earth's history again, Spock and I will go back into time ourselves and attempt to set right whatever it was that McCoy changed."
The tricorder scans Spock took just as McCoy left reveal that he jumped back to the early 20th century and can approximate when they should jump through the portal, putting them possibly a month or a week prior to McCoy's arrival. Kirk wonders how they will return to the their own time, but the Guardian tells him that if he is successful in mending the timeline, they will all be returned, as if none of them had gone. Scott and Uhura are skeptical about their chances, but Spock logically states that there is no alternative. Kirk, however, out of concern for his officers, tells each of the landing party to jump through the portal if they feel like they've waited long enough for he and Spock to return, allowing them to live in Earth's past rather than be stranded on the Guardian's planet should they fail to find the time date McCoy jumped to. Scott and Uhura bid them good luck as Kirk and Spock simultaneously jump through the portal, backwards through time.
"We seem to be costumed a little
out of step with the time."
They arrive in New York City, circa 1930. Kirk recognizes the period from old photographs, which Spock clarifies that an economic upheaval had occurred at this point in time. As passersby scrutinize Kirk and Spock's unusual appearance, they make for a back alley to get out of sight. Kirk notices some contemporary clothes on a fire escape and elects to steal them, as their Starfleet uniforms are not suited for the time period. However, they are approached by a police officer, caught red-handed. As Kirk awkwardly tries to explain Spock's Vulcan ears, the policeman prepares to arrest them. However, Spock disables him with a nerve pinch and they escape to the basement of what they soon learn is the 21st Street Mission.
Kirk and Spock find jobs at the
21st Street Mission
After changing clothes, Spock laments that locked in his tricorder are the images of how McCoy will change history. Unfortunately, he would need to tie it into the Enterprise computer to access the information. Kirk wonders if he could build a computer aid using contemporary materials, but, Spock is dubious as to its success. As their voices carry, they are accosted by the proprietor of the mission, Edith Keeler. Kirk apologizes for their intrusion and tells her the truth as to why they came down there – that they had stolen their clothes because they had no money and were being chased by a policeman. Believing them to be victims of the poor economy, Edith offers them jobs at the mission doing chores at fifteen cents an hour for ten hours a day. Kirk and Spock agree and set to cleaning up the basement.
Hours later, they are eating their complimentary dinner of soup and bread with the other poverty-stricken citizens, when Keeler takes the stage and gives a motivational speech about how she believes the days ahead are worth living for, theorizing that one day soon, man will be able to harness the power of the atom, which could ultimately propel them into outer space, where they will be able to find ways to feed the hungry millions of the world, to cure their diseases, and give mankind hope and a common future. Kirk is impressed with her foresight into the future, while Spock believes it to be merely intuition. Afterwards, Keeler compliments Kirk on his and Spock's work in the basement and offers them further work and sets them up with a "flop" (an apartment) in the building where she lives.
Goodnight sweetheart
Several days later, Spock is hard at work attempting to build the computer aid to access the information in his tricorder, but he laments the speed at which the work is progressing as the technology of the 20th century is barely adequate for his needs. The next day, Spock observes a man using tools for finely detailed work and steals them from the mission's toolbox using his sensitive Vulcan ears to break the combination. Keeler quickly discovers the theft and is very upset that Spock did it, but Kirk is able to convince her that Spock meant no ill will, and would return the tools when he was finished. Edith agrees, as she has become fascinated by Kirk, and asks him to walk her home. The two become close as Keeler questions where Kirk comes from and how he sees the world the same way that she does. As they walk away, Spock looks concerned.
"The President and Edith Keeler
conferred for some time today…"
After a few more days, Spock is finally able to access the information in the tricorder, where he discovers Edith Keeler's 1930 obituary – her death the result of a traffic accident. As Kirk enters, he attempts to replay it for him, but another image appears – a newspaper article from 1936, detailing a meeting Keeler has with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Unfortunately, the strain on the computer aid overloads it, requiring extensive repair work before it can be used again. Kirk believes within six years, Keeler will become nationally famous, but Spock tells Kirk their caretaker will die this year. Spock tells Kirk of Keeler's 1930 obituary, and that Edith Keeler is the focal point in time that both they and Dr. McCoy will be drawn to. Kirk ponders what the correct course of history is, if she lives or dies and what role McCoy, especially in his cordrazine-induced condition will play in it – does he kill her or prevent her from being killed?
Spock asks Kirk the most pressing question of all: Suppose they discover to set history right, Edith Keeler must die? Kirk cannot answer and he wrestles with his growing affection for her and the role she will ultimately play in history.
Act Three
"Don't run! I won't kill you!!"
In a back alley elsewhere in the city, Dr. McCoy arrives, screaming out to the "assassins" and the "murderers", garnering the attention of a homeless man, awestruck with fear. He runs, but McCoy pursues him, promising he won't kill him. He eventually catches up to him, but, McCoy soon wonders where he is. The constellations in the sky lead him to believe that he's on Earth, but, even in his manic state, he believes it's some kind of trick. He begins sobbing hysterically at how hospitals in the past needed to use needles and sutures to attend to people and loses consciousness. The derelict picks McCoy's pocket and takes his phaser. Unfortunately, as he examines it, he activates the overload circuit and disintegrates himself.
The next morning, McCoy looks in terrible shape. As he staggers around the streets, still suffering the effects of his cordrazine overdose, he discovers the 21st Street Mission. He goes inside, where Edith is serving coffee. She notices his condition and offers to help, but he says he must not be found, so she takes him to a cot in the back room where he won't be disturbed. As they depart, Spock takes over for her pouring the coffee, missing McCoy by only a few seconds. Shortly thereafter, Spock is able to repair the computer aid and accesses the tricorder again.
"All this because McCoy came
back…"
According to the scans taken from the time vortex, Spock is convinced that McCoy prevented Edith Keeler's death in a traffic accident as she was meant to in the "correct" timeline. She later went on to found a pacifist movement whose influence on President Roosevelt delayed the United States' entry into World War II. As the peace negotiations dragged on, Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany had time to complete their heavy water experiments, allowing them to develop the atomic bomb first, with which Germany conquered the world. Spock tells Kirk they must stop McCoy. Kirk wonders when she has to die, but, Spock informs him that while they can extrapolate general events, they cannot pinpoint exact movements at exact time. Kirk, his heart already breaking, tells Spock that he believes he is in love with Edith Keeler. Spock grimly reminds Kirk: "Edith Keeler must die."
Act Four
McCoy regains consciousness, almost fully recovered now, with Keeler at his bedside. While it appears to him that he's back on Earth around 1920 or '25, Keeler asks him if he would care to try for 30. McCoy introduces himself to her, and declares that he is the chief medical officer aboard the USS Enterprise. Keeler, believing him to be speaking of a naval vessel, tells him that he's hardly wearing a navy uniform and dismisses his claim as part of his condition. Noting the peculiar way he speaks of present-day (for her) Earth, she asks McCoy if she would like to meet her friend who seems to talk the same way, but McCoy is not interested. "I'm a surgeon, not a psychiatrist," he states.
Later, at their apartment building, Kirk approaches Keeler on the staircase. As she goes to meet him, she stumbles. Kirk, reflexively, catches her before she can fall. Spock witnesses this and after Kirk and Keeler part for the moment, Spock reminds him that she might have died had Kirk not caught her. Kirk, his voice vacant, dismisses it by saying "It's not yet time. McCoy's not here." Spock, however, logically states that they are not certain of their facts and cannot know for sure when the right time will come. He reminds Kirk that if he saves her life, "Millions will die who did not die before."
In the evening hours, McCoy is now fully restored to health thanks to Keeler's ministrations. As he drinks a cup of coffee, he offers to help out around the mission to thank her for saving his life. Keeler tells him they can discuss it later as she has to leave, her gentleman caller is taking her to see a Clark Gable movie. Dr. McCoy doesn't know who Clark Gable is, but he knows what a movie is, which she finds very strange and bids him good night.
Spock exits the mission as Kirk and Keeler do. As they cross the street, hand in hand, Keeler mentions the idea of seeing the Clark Gable movie. Kirk questions who's she's talking about and Keeler makes an offhand comment about how Dr. McCoy had the same reaction. Kirk, immediately, jumps to attention and asks her if she's talking about Leonard McCoy. She confirms that she is and Kirk tells her to wait on the sidewalk for him as he calls out to Spock. They dash back to the mission as Dr. McCoy exits from it. The three embrace in relief at finally being reunited.
Kirk's great loss.
Keeler, watching from the other side of the street, begins to cross to see what is going on as a large truck turns the nearby corner and speeds down the street. Kirk notices her approaching and the oncoming truck and tries to warn her, but Spock yells out: "No, Jim!" Dr. McCoy, oblivious to what the ramifications are, begins to run out to help her, but Kirk holds him back as the truck slams on its brakes and strikes Edith. She is killed instantly.
Kirk, his eyes clenched in grief, cannot bear to look as passersby scurry into the street and surround Edith Keeler's lifeless body. McCoy, shocked and outraged, turns to Kirk and says: "You deliberately stopped me, Jim! I could have saved her! Do you know what you just did?" Kirk shoves McCoy aside as Spock somberly replies: "He knows, Doctor… he knows." In Kirk, not even the knowledge that history has been returned to normal can heal the open wound in his heart over the death of the woman he loved.
Returning to the Enterprise
Back in the 23rd century, Spock and Kirk, once again in their Starfleet uniforms, emerge from the time portal. Scott, incredulous, asks them what happened as from his perspective they had only left a moment ago. From within the time vortex, Dr. McCoy also emerges from the time portal. Spock answers: "We were successful." The voice of the Guardian of Forever booms as it declares "Time has resumed its shape. All is as it was before. Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway." Uhura is now able contact the Enterprise, where the crew is wondering if the landing party wants to beam back up.
Even with the wondrous invitation from the Guardian to travel to other times and other places, Kirk's somber and despondent tone speaks volumes as he addresses his crew.
"Let's get the hell out of here."
Memorable quotes
"Killers! Assassins! I won't let you! I'll kill you first! I won't let you! You won't get me! Murderers! Killers!"
- McCoy, after an accidental injection of cordrazine
"A question. Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."
- Guardian of Forever, to Kirk
"Are you machine or being?"
"I am both and neither. I am my own beginning. My own ending."
- Kirk and the Guardian of Forever
"Captain, I've lost contact with the ship. I was talking to them. Suddenly, it went dead. No static; just nothing."
"Kirk to Enterprise. Scotty."
"Nothing wrong with the communicator, sir."
"Your vessel, your beginning. All that you knew is gone."
- Uhura, Kirk, Scott, and Guardian of Forever, after McCoy changes the timeline
"My friend is obviously Chinese. I see you've noticed the ears. They're actually easy to explain… He caught his head in a mechanical… rice picker."
- Kirk to the police officer, explaining Spock's alien appearance
"A lie is a very poor way to say hello."
- Keeler, meeting Kirk and Spock
"One day soon, man is going to be able to harness incredible energies – maybe even the atom; energies that could ultimately hurl us to other worlds in some sort of spaceship. And the men that reach out into space will be able to find ways to feed the hungry millions of the world and to cure their diseases. They will be able to find a way to give each man hope and a common future… and those are the days worth living for."
- Keeler, on her vision of man's future
"We have a flop."
"We have a what, Captain?"
"A place to sleep."
"One might have said so in the first place."
- Kirk and Spock
"I am endeavoring, Ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins."
- Spock, as Keeler sees his work on the tricorder
"Where would you estimate we belong, Miss Keeler?"
"You? At his side, as if you've always been there and always will."
- Spock and Keeler
"Couldn't you build some kind of computer aid here?"
"In this zinc-plated vacuum-tubed culture?"
"Yes, well, it would pose an extremely complex problem in logic, Mister Spock. Excuse me. I sometimes expect too much of you."
- Kirk and Spock
"Captain. Even when he doesn't say it, he does."
- Keeler, on Spock
"Let me help. A hundred years or so from now, I believe, a famous novelist will write a classic using that theme. He'll recommend those three words even over I love you."
- Kirk, to Keeler
"Captain, suppose we discover that in order to set things straight again, Edith Keeler must die? "
- Spock, about Keeler and history
"Assassins! Murderers! Murderers! Assassins! You! What planet is this? No! Don't run! I won't kill you! It's they who do the killing! Don't run! I won't kill you!"
- McCoy, startling a homeless man upon his arrival in the 20th century
"Peace was the way."
"She was right. But at the wrong time."
- Kirk and Spock, on Keeler's peace movement
"Spock… I believe… I'm in love with Edith Keeler."
"Jim, Edith Keeler must die."
- Kirk and Spock
"I have a friend that talks about Earth the same way that you do. Would you like to meet him?"
"I'm a surgeon, not a psychiatrist."
- Keeler and McCoy
"Save her – do as your heart tells you to do – and millions will die who did not die before."
- Spock, to Kirk
"You deliberately stopped me, Jim! I could have saved her! Do you know what you just did?"
"He knows, Doctor… He knows."
- McCoy (to Kirk) and Spock, on Keeler's death
"Time has resumed its shape. All is as it was before. Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."
- Guardian of Forever, after Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return
"Captain, the Enterprise is up there. They're asking if we want to beam up."
"Let's get the hell out of here."
- Uhura and Kirk, before beaming back to the Enterprise
