Post by magicmuggle01 on Jan 28, 2019 11:15:39 GMT
The Enterprise crew take shore leave on a planet where their imaginations become reality.
Summary
"You need sleep, captain."
The crew of the USS Enterprise has been through a grueling three months. Captain Kirk is tired and has a sore back while sitting in his command chair on the bridge. Yeoman Barrows attempts to alleviate his condition, but Kirk, mistaking her for Spock, responds positively to her ministrations. Upon realizing the identity of his "massage therapist", he becomes embarrassed, prompting her to cease. After Barrows suggests he take a rest and also with some prompting from Spock, Kirk reluctantly agrees. He leaves the bridge and hands command over to Spock. Just before leaving, he has Lieutenant Uhura have Dr. Leonard McCoy's communications channeled to his quarters, so he can hear the doctor's report on the planet below. Meanwhile, on the planet the Enterprise is orbiting, McCoy and Sulu are part of a landing party sent there to investigate it.
"Just what the doctor ordered.
Right, doctor?"
McCoy finds the planet's lush green surface to be similar to "something out of Alice in Wonderland." When Sulu leaves the doctor to go investigate the planet's various cell structures, McCoy then sees… a giant white rabbit and, following it, a little girl with blonde hair and an English accent asking if he's seen a rabbit. McCoy yells for Sulu, who is busy cataloging the planet's flora. The helmsman asks the doctor what is wrong but McCoy stares ahead at the hedge where the girl and the rabbit disappeared into, speechless and in disbelief.
"Oh! My paws and whiskers, I'll be late!"
Act One
"Captain's log, stardate 3025… uh, .3. We are orbiting an uninhabited planet in the Omicron Delta region. A planet remarkably like Earth or how we remember Earth to be. Park-like, beautiful, green. Flowers, trees, green lawn… quiet and restful. Almost too good to be true."
In Kirk's quarters, Yeoman Barrows notes on her PADD that she does not see the captain's name on any of the scheduled shore parties. Kirk replies that while he may be tired, he is not falling apart and does not require shore leave. He dismisses her and Spock arrives. Kirk notes to his first officer that they are beaming down the crew located at the Enterprise's starboard section first. Kirk asks Spock which party he will be joining but the Vulcan says he will not, as on his homeworld, "to rest is to rest; to cease using energy" and sees no point in expending energy rather than storing it. McCoy contacts the Enterprise through his communicator and Uhura has him patched into Kirk's quarters. The doctor tells Kirk that the Enterprise's scanners and detectors have somehow malfunctioned or he must report himself unfit for duty. When Kirk asks for an explanation, McCoy tells the captain of his sight of a large rabbit with waistcoat and pocket watch. The captain is humored by McCoy's tale, and asks if the rabbit was followed by a little blonde girl, which McCoy confirms. Kirk supposes that the doctor is trying to lure him down to the planet under the guise of a mystery.
Spock tells Kirk that he has picked up a medical log from Dr. McCoy on an Enterprise crewman. The crewman is showing signs of stress and fatigue and his reaction time is down nine to twelve percent. The officer is also becoming irritable and quarrelsome, and refuses to rest and relax. The captain, concerned about the safety of his ship, demands that this crewman go ashore on his orders and asks Spock for the officer's name. "James Kirk", he tells the captain. The Vulcan tells his chagrined commanding officer to enjoy himself, as the planet is "very much like your Earth. Scouts have detected no animals, artifacts, or force fields of any kind. Only peace, sunshine, and good air. You'll have no problems." Meanwhile, on the planet, a revolver is revealed under a rock.
A .38 police special found under
a rock
Lieutenant Rodriguez is conducting a scan with his tricorder while Crewman Martine observes a leaf on a tree. Rodriguez is eager to get their reports done before the captain asks for it, though Martine cannot understand why Rodriguez wants to do work instead of enjoying the loveliness of the planet. Just then, Kirk and Barrows materialize near them. Kirk tells them to finish up their scans and to go enjoy themselves. He and Barrows walk around, enjoying how lovely and restful the planet appears to be when they find McCoy. McCoy shows them rabbit tracks, indisputable evidence that he "saw what I saw." Kirk, suspicious about this evidence, contacts the Enterprise and orders Uhura to cancel all shore leave for the crew until further notice. Kirk will not beam any of his crew down until the situation is proven harmless. Just then, Kirk, McCoy, and Barrows hear what sounds like gunshots. Kirk draws his phaser from his holster and runs towards the source of the loud sound with McCoy and Barrows running just behind him.
They find Lieutenant Sulu firing a pistol. Kirk asks his helmsman just what he thinks he is doing. Sulu excitedly tells Kirk that he found an old .38 police special, a pistol he has always wanted in his collection of old Earth firearms. Kirk confiscates the pistol from Sulu, figuring the planet has made him "trigger happy." Barrows notes more footprints from McCoy's rabbit nearby. Kirk recalls that the ship's sensors could find no animal life, which McCoy confirms, noting their instruments couldn't have been that off. Kirk orders Barrows and Sulu to investigate the tracks while he and McCoy head back to the glade. When the officers separate, McCoy and Kirk do not realize they are being scanned by a strange metal antenna-like device.
Kirk tells his chief medical officer that this is turning out to be a "very unusual shore leave." McCoy jokingly tells the captain it could be worse; Kirk could have saw the rabbit instead of him. When Kirk suggests McCoy is developing a persecution complex because of this incident, McCoy admits that he is feeling like he is being picked on. At this, Kirk recalls being the victim of multiple practical jokes from a cadet at the Academy named Finnegan. Kirk recalls being quite grim during his years at the Academy, something which delighted Finnegan, an upperclassman, to no end. Kirk remembers Finnegan as someone who would leave "a bowl of cold soup in your bed or a bucket of water propped on a half-opened door. You never know where he'd strike next." Kirk sees more tracks in front of them, as well as a girl's footprints. Kirk has McCoy follow the rabbit and he decides to backtrack the girl.
Kirk follows the tracks and to his great surprise, finds his old Academy nemesis Finnegan, appear seemingly out of nowhere. Kirk is in disbelief that Finnegan, appearing as he did at the Academy, fifteen years prior, is there. "You never know when I'm going to strike, huh Jim? How's this?!" Finnegan punches Kirk in the face and the captain clenches his jaw in pain. Finnegan taunts him on, telling him to lay one on him, as it is what Kirk has always wanted. Kirk smiles at this and begins to wrestle with Finnegan when he hears Yeoman Barrows screaming in the distance. He leaves Finnegan to find Barrows with McCoy running beside him.
Ruth and Kirk, "reunited"
They find Barrows sobbing and her Starfleet uniform is torn and tattered. After getting herself together, Barrows says that her attacker wore a cloak and had a dagger with jewels on it. McCoy says that it sounds like it was Don Juan. Barrows recalls that she was thinking just before she was attacked that all a girl needs is Don Juan, during her daydream about the storybook-like setting of the planet. Kirk asks where Sulu is and Barrows says that he went chasing after her attacker. Kirk has McCoy stay with Barrows and goes after him. Kirk is observed again by the metal tracking device while looking for Sulu. Kirk runs across the planet's rocky terrain looking for his helmsman when he comes across some flowers and he is reminded about someone or something. Just then, a beautiful woman in a dress comes toward him. "Ruth?… Ruth!", Kirk says. The woman tells him that she is, indeed, who he thinks she is. She kisses him on the cheek.
Act Two
"Captain's log, stardate 3025.8. Investigation of this increasingly unusual planet continues and we are seeing things the cannot possibly exist. Yet they are undeniably real."
While sitting with Ruth, Kirk tries to contact McCoy on his communicator but cannot reach him. He is distracted by Ruth's presence and wonders how it can possibly be her and how she has not appeared to age, since the last time he saw her was fifteen years prior. "It doesn't matter. None of that matters", she says. Kirk's communicator beeps; it is McCoy. The doctor asks if he has found Sulu but Kirk says he has not, in halting responses, intoxicated by Ruth's presence and beauty. In a mellow, distracted voice, Kirk tells his medical officer that he is sure Sulu is all right, and McCoy asks if he is all right. Kirk says he is and disables the communication. Lieutenant Rodriguez's channel comes in and he reports to the captain that he saw a whole flock of birds flying, when the sensors say that there is definitely no lifeforms on the planet and their surveys could not have been that wrong. Kirk is awakened from his daze by this and has Rodriguez rendezvous with the search parties at the glade. Kirk reluctantly leaves Ruth. "Do what you have to do… and I'll be waiting", she says before disappearing.
Spock calls from the Enterprise. He has detected an energy field on the surface of the planet – one that is draining the Enterprise's power and interfering with communications. The patterns are consistent with industrial activity, the first officer suggests, perhaps subterranean. Kirk asks to be kept posted, tells Spock they will continue their investigation down on the planet, and ends the communication. He continues his search for Sulu.
Meanwhile, McCoy and Barrows are walking together through the foliage. She is feeling better from her earlier ordeal but would not want to be alone here. She thinks that a girl in a place like this should be dressed like a fairy tale princess with a tall hat with a veil. McCoy tells her she would then have whole armies of Don Juans to fight off – and (flirtatiously) himself, as well. The look into each other's eyes and hold hands. Just then, Barrows spots the princess dress she just fantasized about, to the surprise of McCoy. Encouraged by the doctor, she begins to change into the dress behind a bush – and tells the good doctor not to peek. Just then, McCoy is contacted by Rodriguez but his channel begins to degrade into static. Meanwhile, Rodriguez and Martine are holding tightly onto each other and leaning into a tree as a very dangerous thing has appeared near them: a tiger. Rodriguez slowly moves his communicator to his mouth to contact McCoy for help but cannot reach him. They stand frozen in fear.
Meanwhile, Kirk orders his science officer to come up with an answer for everything that has happened, citing McCoy's Alice in Wonderland vision, Sulu's gun, Rodriguez' birds… and the two people that captain just saw. Kirk discounts Spock's suggestion that they are merely hallucinations, as Kirk still feels the impact of Finnegan's fist into his jaw. Spock notes that there must be a logical explanation for all of this. Kirk's communicator signal is weak, despite being on maximum gain. Spock asks if he should send down a contingent of security officers but Kirk says that the landing party is armed with phasers and is currently in no real danger… yet. Kirk then looks up and sees the birds Rodriguez saw.
Sulu and Kirk find each other
Elsewhere, Sulu is suddenly under attack by a samurai warrior. He aims his phaser and fires at the samurai but it emits no beam. He tries again but it still does not fire. He dodges the samurai's sword and runs away. While frantically trying to get away from the samurai, Sulu runs into Kirk, breathlessly warning the captain about the samurai behind him, although no samurai appears. Kirk and Sulu note that their communicators and phasers are inoperative and the captain suggests they make their way back to the glade. Just then, Sulu notes a beam down nearby – someone is trying to materialize from the Enterprise's bridge to the planet surface, but something is obstructing it. It is revealed to be Spock. After fully materializing, Spock remarks that he will be the last to be beamed down; the transporter is now also inoperative. Notwithstanding Kirk's order that nobody else beam down, Spock concluded that with communication out, it was necessary for him to discuss his findings with the captain. The planetary field soaks up energy at the source. They are stranded on the planet… until they can ultimately figure out what is going on. A tiger makes its way near to them and Kirk orders Sulu and Spock to spread out to find the source of the energy.
"Look. Someone beaming down
from the bridge."
Kirk had instructed the landing party (through Rodriguez) to rendezvous at the beam-down point at the glade; there, McCoy encounters a black knight. Convinced it cannot harm him, as it is not real, he stands his ground – and takes a lance right through the chest. Barrows screams and Kirk shoots the knight with the .38 police special gun (since his phaser did not work), knocking the knight off his horse. Kirk and Spock run to McCoy. They look at each other grim faced, finding their friend dead.
Act Three
"Captain's log, supplemental. All contact with the Enterprise has been lost. We're trapped here. Our ship's surgeon, my personal friend, is dead. We're certain now that whatever we're facing is terribly real."
The landing party are stunned by McCoy's death, Barrows in particular, sobbing and hysterical, and blaming herself. Kirk brings her to her feet and tells her he needs every crewman "alert and thinking" so they can be prepared for anything. She does her best to calm down and remain focused. Meanwhile, Sulu calls for Kirk to come over to the body of the black knight. His face… is clearly unreal. Spock performs an analysis with Sulu's tricorder and finds that the knight is definitely a mechanical construct and it has the same basic cell structure as the plants, trees, and grass on the planet.
Elsewhere, Rodriguez and Martine spot an Japanese aircraft flying through the air, to Rodriguez' amazement. Martine asks if it can hurt them but Rodriguez assures her it can't… so long as it doesn't perform a strafing run on them. Unfortunately, no sooner said than done; the aircraft gets closer, and closer… and closer. Rodriguez realizes that his words were prophetic, and tells Martine to run and the ground is hit as they flee from rapid machine gun fire. Rodriguez makes it to safety but Martine falls unconscious, apparently hit.
Just as Kirk, Sulu, Spock, and Barrows are distracted by the Japanese aircraft flying through the air, McCoy's body disappears, along with the black knight shortly thereafter. Spock then comes to the conclusion that these artifacts can be just as real as they are deadly. Just as the Vulcan asks Kirk what was he thinking at the time, Finnegan reappears. Kirk goes after him personally wanting to find out what has been happening to his people. Kirk chases after Finnegan and orders Spock to join with Sulu and find McCoy's body. After a long run to intercept Finnegan, Kirk is jumped by him and they get into a fight. "I've got the edge. I'm still twenty years old. Look at you! Heh, you're an old man!", Finnegan says. Kirk attacks him, punching him a few times until he falls on his back. When Kirk now has the best of Finnegan, the former cadet fakes a back injury, and Kirk tries to help him up. Finnegan then flips Kirk over, knocking the captain out. "Sleep, sweet Jimmy boy. Sleep as long as you like. Sleep forever, Jim baby. Forever and ever", Finnegan laughs while Kirk lies unconscious, his uniform ripped.
Act Four
When Kirk awakens, he's no closer to the answers he wants, although Finnegan's comment – "I'm bein' exactly what'ya expect me t'be, Jimmie-boy" might be a clue.
"After all these years – I did enjoy it."
But beating the tar out of Finnegan one last time makes up for a lot of past miseries at the Academy, a fact that Spock finds enlightening after finding Kirk. He and Kirk realize the truth: all of the artifacts are representations of someone's wish fulfillment fantasy. Outrunning the tiger and making it past the samurai, they gather the landing party at the glade. Kirk instructs them to remain at attention, and not to think of anything.
"Most illogical."
An elderly man appears; this caretaker confirms the guess: his people constructed this planet as a playground. Anything one can think of can be manufactured – and none of it is permanent. Sulu wonders how a race can be so advanced as the caretaker's people are and yet still have the need to play. To Kirk, it makes perfect sense: "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." When Kirk mentions the death of his friend, McCoy reappears, alive and well, and as a bonus has a chorus girl from a cabaret on Rigel II he once visited on each arm. Barrows promptly reclaims McCoy, and the chorus girls find other members of the crew, such as Sulu and Spock, to sidle up to. The caretaker offers the use of the Shore Leave Planet to the crew while cautioning them to take care what they summon. He will not comment on his species or their home planet, saying enigmatically that he believes the Enterprise crew are not yet ready to understand his people. Kirk plans to beam down shore parties for the best shore leave they've ever had. He prepares to have himself beamed back to the ship… and then Ruth reappears, changing his mind.
Memorable quotes
"SULU!"
- McCoy, believing he's going insane after seeing the white rabbit and Alice
"On my planet, to rest is to rest. To cease using energy. To me, it is quite illogical to run up and down on green grass using energy instead of saving it."
- Spock to Kirk, declining shore leave
"All a girl needs is Don Juan."
- Barrows, explaining her encounter
"No animals, no people… no worries. Just what the doctor ordered."
- Sulu, to McCoy while on the Shore Leave planet
"Don't peek."
"My dear girl, I am a doctor. When I peek, it's in the line of duty."
- Barrows and McCoy, as she changes clothes
"All we know for certain is that they act exactly like the real thing. Just as pleasant. Or just as deadly."
- Spock, to Kirk
"Take Sulu, find McCoy's body. This man is my problem!"
- Kirk, to Spock when Finnegan runs away
"You stupid underclassman! I've got the edge! I'm still twenty years old. Look at you! You're an old man!"
- Finnegan to Kirk, during their fight
"I never answer questions from plebes, Jimmy boy."
"I'm not a plebe!"
- Finnegan and Kirk
"The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play."
- Kirk
Summary
"You need sleep, captain."
The crew of the USS Enterprise has been through a grueling three months. Captain Kirk is tired and has a sore back while sitting in his command chair on the bridge. Yeoman Barrows attempts to alleviate his condition, but Kirk, mistaking her for Spock, responds positively to her ministrations. Upon realizing the identity of his "massage therapist", he becomes embarrassed, prompting her to cease. After Barrows suggests he take a rest and also with some prompting from Spock, Kirk reluctantly agrees. He leaves the bridge and hands command over to Spock. Just before leaving, he has Lieutenant Uhura have Dr. Leonard McCoy's communications channeled to his quarters, so he can hear the doctor's report on the planet below. Meanwhile, on the planet the Enterprise is orbiting, McCoy and Sulu are part of a landing party sent there to investigate it.
"Just what the doctor ordered.
Right, doctor?"
McCoy finds the planet's lush green surface to be similar to "something out of Alice in Wonderland." When Sulu leaves the doctor to go investigate the planet's various cell structures, McCoy then sees… a giant white rabbit and, following it, a little girl with blonde hair and an English accent asking if he's seen a rabbit. McCoy yells for Sulu, who is busy cataloging the planet's flora. The helmsman asks the doctor what is wrong but McCoy stares ahead at the hedge where the girl and the rabbit disappeared into, speechless and in disbelief.
"Oh! My paws and whiskers, I'll be late!"
Act One
"Captain's log, stardate 3025… uh, .3. We are orbiting an uninhabited planet in the Omicron Delta region. A planet remarkably like Earth or how we remember Earth to be. Park-like, beautiful, green. Flowers, trees, green lawn… quiet and restful. Almost too good to be true."
In Kirk's quarters, Yeoman Barrows notes on her PADD that she does not see the captain's name on any of the scheduled shore parties. Kirk replies that while he may be tired, he is not falling apart and does not require shore leave. He dismisses her and Spock arrives. Kirk notes to his first officer that they are beaming down the crew located at the Enterprise's starboard section first. Kirk asks Spock which party he will be joining but the Vulcan says he will not, as on his homeworld, "to rest is to rest; to cease using energy" and sees no point in expending energy rather than storing it. McCoy contacts the Enterprise through his communicator and Uhura has him patched into Kirk's quarters. The doctor tells Kirk that the Enterprise's scanners and detectors have somehow malfunctioned or he must report himself unfit for duty. When Kirk asks for an explanation, McCoy tells the captain of his sight of a large rabbit with waistcoat and pocket watch. The captain is humored by McCoy's tale, and asks if the rabbit was followed by a little blonde girl, which McCoy confirms. Kirk supposes that the doctor is trying to lure him down to the planet under the guise of a mystery.
Spock tells Kirk that he has picked up a medical log from Dr. McCoy on an Enterprise crewman. The crewman is showing signs of stress and fatigue and his reaction time is down nine to twelve percent. The officer is also becoming irritable and quarrelsome, and refuses to rest and relax. The captain, concerned about the safety of his ship, demands that this crewman go ashore on his orders and asks Spock for the officer's name. "James Kirk", he tells the captain. The Vulcan tells his chagrined commanding officer to enjoy himself, as the planet is "very much like your Earth. Scouts have detected no animals, artifacts, or force fields of any kind. Only peace, sunshine, and good air. You'll have no problems." Meanwhile, on the planet, a revolver is revealed under a rock.
A .38 police special found under
a rock
Lieutenant Rodriguez is conducting a scan with his tricorder while Crewman Martine observes a leaf on a tree. Rodriguez is eager to get their reports done before the captain asks for it, though Martine cannot understand why Rodriguez wants to do work instead of enjoying the loveliness of the planet. Just then, Kirk and Barrows materialize near them. Kirk tells them to finish up their scans and to go enjoy themselves. He and Barrows walk around, enjoying how lovely and restful the planet appears to be when they find McCoy. McCoy shows them rabbit tracks, indisputable evidence that he "saw what I saw." Kirk, suspicious about this evidence, contacts the Enterprise and orders Uhura to cancel all shore leave for the crew until further notice. Kirk will not beam any of his crew down until the situation is proven harmless. Just then, Kirk, McCoy, and Barrows hear what sounds like gunshots. Kirk draws his phaser from his holster and runs towards the source of the loud sound with McCoy and Barrows running just behind him.
They find Lieutenant Sulu firing a pistol. Kirk asks his helmsman just what he thinks he is doing. Sulu excitedly tells Kirk that he found an old .38 police special, a pistol he has always wanted in his collection of old Earth firearms. Kirk confiscates the pistol from Sulu, figuring the planet has made him "trigger happy." Barrows notes more footprints from McCoy's rabbit nearby. Kirk recalls that the ship's sensors could find no animal life, which McCoy confirms, noting their instruments couldn't have been that off. Kirk orders Barrows and Sulu to investigate the tracks while he and McCoy head back to the glade. When the officers separate, McCoy and Kirk do not realize they are being scanned by a strange metal antenna-like device.
Kirk tells his chief medical officer that this is turning out to be a "very unusual shore leave." McCoy jokingly tells the captain it could be worse; Kirk could have saw the rabbit instead of him. When Kirk suggests McCoy is developing a persecution complex because of this incident, McCoy admits that he is feeling like he is being picked on. At this, Kirk recalls being the victim of multiple practical jokes from a cadet at the Academy named Finnegan. Kirk recalls being quite grim during his years at the Academy, something which delighted Finnegan, an upperclassman, to no end. Kirk remembers Finnegan as someone who would leave "a bowl of cold soup in your bed or a bucket of water propped on a half-opened door. You never know where he'd strike next." Kirk sees more tracks in front of them, as well as a girl's footprints. Kirk has McCoy follow the rabbit and he decides to backtrack the girl.
Kirk follows the tracks and to his great surprise, finds his old Academy nemesis Finnegan, appear seemingly out of nowhere. Kirk is in disbelief that Finnegan, appearing as he did at the Academy, fifteen years prior, is there. "You never know when I'm going to strike, huh Jim? How's this?!" Finnegan punches Kirk in the face and the captain clenches his jaw in pain. Finnegan taunts him on, telling him to lay one on him, as it is what Kirk has always wanted. Kirk smiles at this and begins to wrestle with Finnegan when he hears Yeoman Barrows screaming in the distance. He leaves Finnegan to find Barrows with McCoy running beside him.
Ruth and Kirk, "reunited"
They find Barrows sobbing and her Starfleet uniform is torn and tattered. After getting herself together, Barrows says that her attacker wore a cloak and had a dagger with jewels on it. McCoy says that it sounds like it was Don Juan. Barrows recalls that she was thinking just before she was attacked that all a girl needs is Don Juan, during her daydream about the storybook-like setting of the planet. Kirk asks where Sulu is and Barrows says that he went chasing after her attacker. Kirk has McCoy stay with Barrows and goes after him. Kirk is observed again by the metal tracking device while looking for Sulu. Kirk runs across the planet's rocky terrain looking for his helmsman when he comes across some flowers and he is reminded about someone or something. Just then, a beautiful woman in a dress comes toward him. "Ruth?… Ruth!", Kirk says. The woman tells him that she is, indeed, who he thinks she is. She kisses him on the cheek.
Act Two
"Captain's log, stardate 3025.8. Investigation of this increasingly unusual planet continues and we are seeing things the cannot possibly exist. Yet they are undeniably real."
While sitting with Ruth, Kirk tries to contact McCoy on his communicator but cannot reach him. He is distracted by Ruth's presence and wonders how it can possibly be her and how she has not appeared to age, since the last time he saw her was fifteen years prior. "It doesn't matter. None of that matters", she says. Kirk's communicator beeps; it is McCoy. The doctor asks if he has found Sulu but Kirk says he has not, in halting responses, intoxicated by Ruth's presence and beauty. In a mellow, distracted voice, Kirk tells his medical officer that he is sure Sulu is all right, and McCoy asks if he is all right. Kirk says he is and disables the communication. Lieutenant Rodriguez's channel comes in and he reports to the captain that he saw a whole flock of birds flying, when the sensors say that there is definitely no lifeforms on the planet and their surveys could not have been that wrong. Kirk is awakened from his daze by this and has Rodriguez rendezvous with the search parties at the glade. Kirk reluctantly leaves Ruth. "Do what you have to do… and I'll be waiting", she says before disappearing.
Spock calls from the Enterprise. He has detected an energy field on the surface of the planet – one that is draining the Enterprise's power and interfering with communications. The patterns are consistent with industrial activity, the first officer suggests, perhaps subterranean. Kirk asks to be kept posted, tells Spock they will continue their investigation down on the planet, and ends the communication. He continues his search for Sulu.
Meanwhile, McCoy and Barrows are walking together through the foliage. She is feeling better from her earlier ordeal but would not want to be alone here. She thinks that a girl in a place like this should be dressed like a fairy tale princess with a tall hat with a veil. McCoy tells her she would then have whole armies of Don Juans to fight off – and (flirtatiously) himself, as well. The look into each other's eyes and hold hands. Just then, Barrows spots the princess dress she just fantasized about, to the surprise of McCoy. Encouraged by the doctor, she begins to change into the dress behind a bush – and tells the good doctor not to peek. Just then, McCoy is contacted by Rodriguez but his channel begins to degrade into static. Meanwhile, Rodriguez and Martine are holding tightly onto each other and leaning into a tree as a very dangerous thing has appeared near them: a tiger. Rodriguez slowly moves his communicator to his mouth to contact McCoy for help but cannot reach him. They stand frozen in fear.
Meanwhile, Kirk orders his science officer to come up with an answer for everything that has happened, citing McCoy's Alice in Wonderland vision, Sulu's gun, Rodriguez' birds… and the two people that captain just saw. Kirk discounts Spock's suggestion that they are merely hallucinations, as Kirk still feels the impact of Finnegan's fist into his jaw. Spock notes that there must be a logical explanation for all of this. Kirk's communicator signal is weak, despite being on maximum gain. Spock asks if he should send down a contingent of security officers but Kirk says that the landing party is armed with phasers and is currently in no real danger… yet. Kirk then looks up and sees the birds Rodriguez saw.
Sulu and Kirk find each other
Elsewhere, Sulu is suddenly under attack by a samurai warrior. He aims his phaser and fires at the samurai but it emits no beam. He tries again but it still does not fire. He dodges the samurai's sword and runs away. While frantically trying to get away from the samurai, Sulu runs into Kirk, breathlessly warning the captain about the samurai behind him, although no samurai appears. Kirk and Sulu note that their communicators and phasers are inoperative and the captain suggests they make their way back to the glade. Just then, Sulu notes a beam down nearby – someone is trying to materialize from the Enterprise's bridge to the planet surface, but something is obstructing it. It is revealed to be Spock. After fully materializing, Spock remarks that he will be the last to be beamed down; the transporter is now also inoperative. Notwithstanding Kirk's order that nobody else beam down, Spock concluded that with communication out, it was necessary for him to discuss his findings with the captain. The planetary field soaks up energy at the source. They are stranded on the planet… until they can ultimately figure out what is going on. A tiger makes its way near to them and Kirk orders Sulu and Spock to spread out to find the source of the energy.
"Look. Someone beaming down
from the bridge."
Kirk had instructed the landing party (through Rodriguez) to rendezvous at the beam-down point at the glade; there, McCoy encounters a black knight. Convinced it cannot harm him, as it is not real, he stands his ground – and takes a lance right through the chest. Barrows screams and Kirk shoots the knight with the .38 police special gun (since his phaser did not work), knocking the knight off his horse. Kirk and Spock run to McCoy. They look at each other grim faced, finding their friend dead.
Act Three
"Captain's log, supplemental. All contact with the Enterprise has been lost. We're trapped here. Our ship's surgeon, my personal friend, is dead. We're certain now that whatever we're facing is terribly real."
The landing party are stunned by McCoy's death, Barrows in particular, sobbing and hysterical, and blaming herself. Kirk brings her to her feet and tells her he needs every crewman "alert and thinking" so they can be prepared for anything. She does her best to calm down and remain focused. Meanwhile, Sulu calls for Kirk to come over to the body of the black knight. His face… is clearly unreal. Spock performs an analysis with Sulu's tricorder and finds that the knight is definitely a mechanical construct and it has the same basic cell structure as the plants, trees, and grass on the planet.
Elsewhere, Rodriguez and Martine spot an Japanese aircraft flying through the air, to Rodriguez' amazement. Martine asks if it can hurt them but Rodriguez assures her it can't… so long as it doesn't perform a strafing run on them. Unfortunately, no sooner said than done; the aircraft gets closer, and closer… and closer. Rodriguez realizes that his words were prophetic, and tells Martine to run and the ground is hit as they flee from rapid machine gun fire. Rodriguez makes it to safety but Martine falls unconscious, apparently hit.
Just as Kirk, Sulu, Spock, and Barrows are distracted by the Japanese aircraft flying through the air, McCoy's body disappears, along with the black knight shortly thereafter. Spock then comes to the conclusion that these artifacts can be just as real as they are deadly. Just as the Vulcan asks Kirk what was he thinking at the time, Finnegan reappears. Kirk goes after him personally wanting to find out what has been happening to his people. Kirk chases after Finnegan and orders Spock to join with Sulu and find McCoy's body. After a long run to intercept Finnegan, Kirk is jumped by him and they get into a fight. "I've got the edge. I'm still twenty years old. Look at you! Heh, you're an old man!", Finnegan says. Kirk attacks him, punching him a few times until he falls on his back. When Kirk now has the best of Finnegan, the former cadet fakes a back injury, and Kirk tries to help him up. Finnegan then flips Kirk over, knocking the captain out. "Sleep, sweet Jimmy boy. Sleep as long as you like. Sleep forever, Jim baby. Forever and ever", Finnegan laughs while Kirk lies unconscious, his uniform ripped.
Act Four
When Kirk awakens, he's no closer to the answers he wants, although Finnegan's comment – "I'm bein' exactly what'ya expect me t'be, Jimmie-boy" might be a clue.
"After all these years – I did enjoy it."
But beating the tar out of Finnegan one last time makes up for a lot of past miseries at the Academy, a fact that Spock finds enlightening after finding Kirk. He and Kirk realize the truth: all of the artifacts are representations of someone's wish fulfillment fantasy. Outrunning the tiger and making it past the samurai, they gather the landing party at the glade. Kirk instructs them to remain at attention, and not to think of anything.
"Most illogical."
An elderly man appears; this caretaker confirms the guess: his people constructed this planet as a playground. Anything one can think of can be manufactured – and none of it is permanent. Sulu wonders how a race can be so advanced as the caretaker's people are and yet still have the need to play. To Kirk, it makes perfect sense: "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." When Kirk mentions the death of his friend, McCoy reappears, alive and well, and as a bonus has a chorus girl from a cabaret on Rigel II he once visited on each arm. Barrows promptly reclaims McCoy, and the chorus girls find other members of the crew, such as Sulu and Spock, to sidle up to. The caretaker offers the use of the Shore Leave Planet to the crew while cautioning them to take care what they summon. He will not comment on his species or their home planet, saying enigmatically that he believes the Enterprise crew are not yet ready to understand his people. Kirk plans to beam down shore parties for the best shore leave they've ever had. He prepares to have himself beamed back to the ship… and then Ruth reappears, changing his mind.
Memorable quotes
"SULU!"
- McCoy, believing he's going insane after seeing the white rabbit and Alice
"On my planet, to rest is to rest. To cease using energy. To me, it is quite illogical to run up and down on green grass using energy instead of saving it."
- Spock to Kirk, declining shore leave
"All a girl needs is Don Juan."
- Barrows, explaining her encounter
"No animals, no people… no worries. Just what the doctor ordered."
- Sulu, to McCoy while on the Shore Leave planet
"Don't peek."
"My dear girl, I am a doctor. When I peek, it's in the line of duty."
- Barrows and McCoy, as she changes clothes
"All we know for certain is that they act exactly like the real thing. Just as pleasant. Or just as deadly."
- Spock, to Kirk
"Take Sulu, find McCoy's body. This man is my problem!"
- Kirk, to Spock when Finnegan runs away
"You stupid underclassman! I've got the edge! I'm still twenty years old. Look at you! You're an old man!"
- Finnegan to Kirk, during their fight
"I never answer questions from plebes, Jimmy boy."
"I'm not a plebe!"
- Finnegan and Kirk
"The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play."
- Kirk
