Template:Realworld
A survey of Argus X brings the Enterprise crew in confrontation with a vampiric cloud that killed a crew Kirk was on years ago, captained by the father of an ensign currently assigned to the ship.
On Stardate 3619.2, CaptainJames Kirk, First Officer
Spock, Ensign Rizzo and a team of security guards carried
out a survey of Argus X, a planet rich in tritanium, a
material 20 times harder than diamond. When Captain Kirk noticed a
sweet odor, he ordered Rizzo and the security guards to perform a
sweep of the perimeter of the landing site, with special instructions
to scan for dikironium and fire on any gaseous clouds they might
encounter. He notified Chief Engineer Scott, standing by on the
ship, that he was conducting an investigation of the area, in spite of
the fact that the USS Yorktown was expecting to rendezvous
with them in eight hours' time.
Rizzo and the security team reported in when they encountered an
odd cloud, and were ordered to fire on it immediately. Contact was
then lost with the team. When Kirk and Spock investigated, they found
two of the security team dead, and Rizzo badly injured. Every red
bloodcorpuscle had been drained from their bodies.
Act One
Captain’s log, stardate 3619.2. With the mysterious death of two crewmen, all personnel on the planet have been evacuated back to the ship.
Rizzo was quickly returned to the ship for treatment. Chief
Medical Officer McCoy reported that Rizzo remained
unconscious for some time, following massive blood transfusions.
His autopsy of the deceased crewmen revealed that all red blood cells
had been drained from their bodies, without any marks, cuts or
incisions of any kind. Captain Kirk suggested that McCoy examine the
record of the USS Farragut, which listed casualties 11 years
earlier from identical causes.
At this point, Captain Kirk made the decision to investigate the
officers' deaths further, in spite of the fact that the
Enterprise was scheduled to pick up highly perishable medical supplies from the Yorktown, supplies that were badly needed on the planet Theta VII.
Kirk questions Rizzo about the Vampire Cloud.
He further requested that McCoy revive Ensign
Rizzo for questioning. Although half-conscious, and, in McCoy's
medical opinion, unreliable, Rizzo reported that he remembered a
sickly sweet odor and that he felt an intelligence when attacked.
Kirk then left sickbay, requesting McCoy's medical report as soon as possible.
Kirk met with Spock on the bridge, where Lieutenant Uhura
reported an urgent message from Starfleet that was ignored by
the Captain. Because scans for dikironium were negative, Spock
hypothesized that the creature might be able to change its molecular
structure.
Kirk received a report that Ensign Rizzo had died. Ensign
Garrovick, the new security officer, expressed interest in
pursuing the creature that killed Rizzo, as he was close to the
late Ensign, having graduated from the academy with him.
Kirk, Garrovick and a party of four armed security officers beamed
down to the planet to investigate the phenomenon that killed Rizzo.
They split into two parties of three, one led by Kirk, the other by
Garrovick. Kirk gave orders that the cloud was to be shot on sight.
Garrovick's party encountered the cloud. While it was approaching
them, the cloud appeared to hover briefly; Garrovick hesitated before
firing. By the time he shot, the cloud was moving. He missed the
cloud entirely, and it attacked and rendered unconscious the two
crewmen that were accompanying him.
Act Two
Captain's log, stardate 3619.6. One of the men in critical condition, the other is dead. And I ... I am now even more convinced that this is not only an intelligent creature, but the same which decimated the crew of the USS Farragut eleven years ago in another part of the galaxy. Both Spock and McCoy are doubtful of this, and I sense they also doubt my decision to stay and fight the thing. Why am I keeping the ship here?
When the landing party returned to the ship, one of the men was in
critical condition, and the other was dead. Kirk became convinced
that not only was the creature intelligent, but it was also the same
creature which attacked and decimated the crew of the Farragut11
years previously.
Kirk, Spock and McCoy met with Garrovick to hear his report. He
detailed his experiences, including his hesitation before firing. As
punishment, Captain Kirk relieved him of all duties and confined him
to quarters. He then directed Spock and McCoy to make any
observations in official reports.
At this point, Chief Engineer Scott reported that the ship would
be ready to leave orbit in half an hour. Kirk instructed him that
they would not be leaving orbit, whereupon Scott reminded Kirk of the
urgent nature of their mission to Theta VII. Kirk dressed Scott down,
complaining that he was "tired of my senior officers conspiring
against me". When pressed, he admitted that he should not have used
the word "conspire". He also severely admonished acting science
officer Chekov to continue running scans until the gaseous
creature was found.
At this point, Spock consulted Doctor McCoy on what he observed to be
a persistent, single minded fixation on the creature on the part of
Captain Kirk. Spock informed McCoy that 11 years earlier, Kirk, under
the command of Captain Garrovick on the Farragut, had encountered
a similar situation. Captain Garrovick was the father of the Ensign of the same name.
Act Three
Personal log, stardate 3620.7. Have I the right to jeopardize my crew, my ship for a feeling I can't even put into words? No man achieves Starfleet command without relying on intuition, but have I made a rational decision? Am I letting the horrors of the past distort my judgment of the present?
Shortly thereafter, Doctor McCoy met with Captain Kirk to discuss his
recent actions. McCoy reminded him that, as a young man, he had
hesitated before firing on the creature, causing him to miss it.
Shortly thereafter, it had killed 200 crewmen, including Captain
Garrovick. McCoy suggested that Kirk's guilt was causing him to
become obsessed, and that he was preparing a medical log entry on
Kirk's emotional condition. Such a log requires a witness of command
grade, so Spock joined the conversation.
McCoy and Spock consider Lt. Kirk's response to the Vampire Cloud.
As per regulations, Spock and McCoy inquired about his recent command
decisions. Kirk defended his position by stating that he had sensed
that the creature was intelligent, and that he felt it was the same
one that attacked them on Argus X. Since this indicated the
creature was dangerous and capable of space travel, Kirk had decided
to pursue it. At this point, McCoy decided to withhold his judgment
on Kirk's emotional state.
Scanners detected the cloud was heading into space, so Kirk ordered
the Enterprise to follow it. The cloud's speed surpassed Warp 8; if
the ship traveled at that speed for a prolonged period, it would
damage the engines. After a brief hesitation, Kirk decided to abandon
pursuit.
As he could not leave his cabin, Head Nurse Chapel
brought Garrovick his dinner. She found him consumed with guilt over
his inability to fire at the creature in time. She claimed that McCoy
had threatened to feed him intravenously if he did not eat; unknown to
him, this was a ruse. When she left, Garrovick threw the cover to his
plate across the room, causing his ventilation control to jam. A red
alert was then called, and Garrovick left his room and reported to the
bridge in violation of orders.
The red alert was called due to the fact that the creature had decided
to turn toward the ship. With Garrovick watching, the Captain ordered
phasers to fire on it; however, the phaser attack was ineffectual, as
was a barrage of photon torpedoes. The creature then entered the ship
through an impulse engine vent that had been left open for repair. It
entered the ship's ventilation system, killing two crewmen in the
process. The ship only had two hours of remaining air supply.
Act Four
Ship senior officers Kirk, Spock and McCoy met to discuss the
situation. Although McCoy felt that the situation was a result of
Kirk's obsession, it was felt by all that the question of obsession
was now an academic one, as the creature had attacked. Further, Spock
felt that this attack indicated that the creature was, in fact,
intelligent. The consensus of the meeting was that radioactive waste
should be flushed into the ventilation system to drive out the
creature. Spock also reminded Kirk that as phasers were ineffective,
there was no basis for his self-recrimination due to his actions on
the Farragut.
Later, Spock went to visit Ensign Garrovick in his stateroom. He
informed him that his hesitation was natural, at which point they were
interrupted by the sickly smell of the cloud creature, which was
coming through the vent. Spock ejected Garrovick from his cabin,
sealed the door, and attempted to reverse the vent, which was jammed.
From outside Garrovick's cabin, Kirk ordered that the pressure inside
be reversed. This was effective, and Spock was soon freed; due to his
copper-based blood, he was not affected by the creature. Kirk entered
the cabin, and was about to report a strange sensation to Spock, when
he was interrupted by Scott, who reported that the creature was moving
out of the ship the way it came.
Kirk met with Garrovick, informing him that as phasers were ineffectual
against the creature, he could report for duty.
Sensors indicated that the cloud was moving off at high warp speed.
Kirk, however, felt that the creature had communicated its intention
to go home in Garrovick's cabin; course was therefore set for the planet
Tycho IV, where the Farragut had encountered the creature 11 years
earlier. McCoy logged his objections to the trip, as the medical
supplies being brought by the Yorktown were urgent. However, he was
overruled by Kirk, particularly in light of the fact that the evidence
indicated the creature was going home to reproduce.
It was agreed that antimatter would be used to destroy the
creature, in spite of the fact that a matter/antimatter blast would
rip away half the planet's atmosphere, and that transporters might not
function in such an environment. It was further agreed to use
hemoplasm to attract the creature. Spock suggested that he go
down to the planet's surface, because he was resistant to the
creature. However, Kirk overruled him, and transported down with
Ensign Garrovick.
Kirk and Garrovick transported to the surface of the planet with the
hemoplasm and one ounce of antimatter, which had the explosive force
of more than 10,000 cobalt bombs. While the antimatter was being
primed, the creature took the hemoplasm. As a result, Captain Kirk
decided that he would use himself as bait. He ordered Garrovick back
to the ship; at this point, Garrovick attempted to overpower Kirk and
force him to return to the ship, but he was unable to do so. Both men
stayed on the planet and attracted the creature, detonating the bomb
just as it approached them.
On the Enterprise, Spock had some difficulty transporting them aboard.
First, they tried to reset the transporter; then, they cross-circuited
to "A"; finally, it was necessary to cross-circuit to "B", which
enabled them to beam the landing party aboard. Garrovick
joined Kirk to hear some tall tales of his father's adventures.
Memorable Quotes
"Crazy way to travel, spreading a man's molecules across the Universe!"
- Dr. McCoy
"Captain ... thank heaven!"
"Mr. Scott, there was no deity involved. It was my cross-circuiting to "B" that recovered them."
"Well, then, thank pitchforks and pointed ears!"
- Scott, Spock, and McCoy
"Don't push our friendship past the point where I have to take official action –"
"I'm not, Jim! This is professional! I am preparing a medical log entry on my estimation of the emotional status of the ship's captain."
- Kirk and McCoy
"Do I take it... that one or either of you think me unfit or incapacitated?"
"Correctly expressed, as recommended by the manual."
- Kirk and Spock as formal questioning begins
"I need your advice."
"Then I need a drink."
- Spock and McCoy
Background Information
Cast
Eddie Paskey (Lt. Leslie) is killed by the vampire cloud in this episode, but reappears in later scenes (and the very next episode "The Immunity Syndrome") very much alive. According to Paskey, a scene in which a miracle potion saved his life was cut from the show. Leslie appears post mortem, in a red shirt, walking by McCoy in a corridor. Later, in a yellow shirt, he walks by McCoy's office door when Nurse Chapel enters.
Jerry Ayres, whose character is killed by the vampire cloud, played the red-shirted Ensign O'Herlihy in "Arena", another character who was killed. He had his hair dyed lighter in this appearance, to lessen the resemblance.
McCoy's medical tunic clearly sports an engineering badge.
In addition to the two mentioned above, three additional crewmembers are killed during this episode, bringing the death count to five.
Spock again is saved in this episode because his blood is based on copper, not iron. On our own planet, octopi have copper-based blood, haemocyanin, which makes their blood appear blue.
Not unique to this episode are the shock waves that hit the ship after the anti-matter explosion. Shock waves from any type of conventional explosion don't travel in a vacuum. Later series state that any shock waves experienced in vacuum are subspace phenomena, as yet unexplained to modern science. In this episode, however, if the antimatter explosion has the force of "10,000 cobalt bombs", it is conceivable that a considerable portion of the planet's atmosphere is being hurled into space, and the ship is forced to go through it in order to maintain a transporter lock.
In the debriefing scene, Garrovick says that the creature was 10 to 60 cubic meters, but then says he was 20 yards away, thus using two different systems of measurement.
In the teaser, Kirk instructs the security guards to set their phasers to "disruptor-B". Although phasers can be adjusted to "disrupt," this is apparently a unique force setting.
During their struggle on the surface of Tycho IV, Kirk throws Ensign Garrovick into a massive fake boulder which moves perceptibly from the impact.
At the very beginning of the episode, Kirk hits the surface of a massive rock which is supposed to be twenty times harder than diamond. The noise of that hit, however, blatantly sounds as though he had hit a hollow wooden box.
In the remastered version the planet got a new anti-matter crater at the end of the episode. File:ObsessionCraterEffect.jpg
