Star Trek The Original Series
Episode: Court Martial
Season 1, Episode 20

Captain's Log, Stardate 2947.3.
We have been through a severe ion storm.
One crewman is dead.
The ship's damage is considerable.
I've ordered a non scheduled layover
on Starbase 11 for repairs.
A full report of damages was made
to the commanding officer of Starbase 11-- Commodore Stone.
Maintenance, Section 18.
The section is working on the Intrepid.
Reschedule. The Enterprise is on Priority 1 .
That makes three times you've read it, Jim.
Is there an error?
No.
But the death of the crewman...
Regulations, Captain.
And the extract from your ship's computer log
confirming this sworn deposition?
Kirk to Enterprise.
[Uhura] Bridge here.
Where's Mr. Spock with that computer log extract?
He should have been there 10 minutes ago, sir.
Kirk out.
It's a great pity. The service can't afford
to lose men like Lieutenant Commander Finney.
I agree.
I waited until the last possible moment.
We were on red alert, the storm got worse.
I had to jettison the pod.
What took so long, Mr. Spock?
Captain,
I believe I--
I'll take that.
Jame.
There you are.
I just wanted one more look at you-- the man who killed my father.
- That's not so. He was my friend. - Your friend?
You hated him all your life!
That's why you killed him, you murderer!
You murderer! You murderer!
Jame--
Mr. Spock,
would you please--
Miss Finney, come with me, please.
Captain Kirk,
you say you jettisoned the pod after the red alert?
You have my sworn deposition.
Then, Captain, I must presume
you've committed willful perjury.
This extract from your computer log says you jettisoned the pod
before going to red alert.
Consider yourself confined to the base.
Official inquiry will determine
whether a general court-martial is in order.
Space-- the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.
Its five-year mission--
to explores trange new worlds...
to seek out new life and new civilizations...
to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Captain's Log, Stardate 2948.5.
Starship Enterprise remains in orbit around Starbase 11.
Full repair is in progress.
I've been ordered to standbyon Starbase 11
until the inquirinto the death of Lieutenant Commander Finney
can be conducted.
I'm confident of the outcome.
Timothy, I haven't seen you
since the Vulcanian expedition.
Well, I see our graduating class from the academy
is well represented.
Argan, Heller.
How you doing, Mike?
I'll get by,Jim.
I understand you're laying over for repairs.
Big job?
Couple of days.
You moving out then?
- In a hurry to see me go? - I just wondered how long it'd take
to get a new records officer.
You can talk plainer than that.
I can,
but I think the point's been made.
Ben was a friend of ours.
Jim, let's--
Go on. Finish.
Ben was a friend of yours, and--
Jim.
Go on.
I'm waiting to hear the rest.
Why don't you tell us?
What would be the point?
You've already made up your minds.
Excuse me, Bones.
If you have any doubt,
that was indeed Captain James Kirk of the Enterprise.
Yes, I know. Are you a friend of his?
In these trying times, one of the few.
Dr. Leonard McCoy. And you?
Areel Shaw. And I'm a friend, too--
an old one.
All of my old friends look like doctors.
All of his look like you.
Well, you might as well join me for a drink.
With this inquiry coming up,
he's going to need all the friends he can get.
[Click]
Recording inquir.
Matter-- Captain Kirk, James T.
Subject-- circumstances of death,
Lieutenant Commander Finney, Benjamin.
This inquiry to determine whether a general court-martial
should be convened against Captain Kirk
on charges of perjury and culpable negligence.
Ready.
Let us begin with your relationship
with Commander Finney.
You knew him for a long time, didn't you?
Yes. He was an instructor at the academy
when I was a midshipman.
But that didn't stand in the way of our beginning a close friendship.
His daughter Jame, who was here last night, was named after me.
It's common knowledge that something happened to your friendship.
It's no secret.
We were assigned to the same ship some years later.
I relieved him on watch once
and found a circuit open to the atomic matter piles that should've been closed.
Another five minutes,
it could have blown up the ship.
Ship nomenclature-- specify.
United Starship Republic, number 1371 .
Continue.
I closed the switch
and logged the incident.
He drew a reprimand
and was sent to the bottom of the promotion list.
And he blamed you for that?
Yes.
He'd been at the academy
for an unusually long time as an instructor.
As a result, he was late
in being assigned to a starship.
The delay, he felt, looked bad on his record.
My action, he believed, made things worse.
Comment--
service record of Lieutenant Commander Finney
to be appended this inquiry.
Noted.
Now, let's get into the specifics of the storm, Captain.
Weather scan indicated an ion storm dead ahead.
I sent Finney into the pod.
Why Finney?
His name was at the top of the duty roster.
- If he blamed you-- - He may have blamed me
that he never rose to command a ship, but I don't assign jobs
on the basis of who blames me.
It was Finney's turn, and I assigned him.
He had just checked in with me from the pod
when we hit the leading edge of the storm.
Not too bad at first.
I signaled a yellow alert.
Then we began encountering pressure,
variant stress, force 7, the works.
I finally signaled a red alert.
Finney knew he had a matter of seconds.
I gave him those seconds and more.
But...
apparently it wasn't enough.
Then why, Captain, does the computer log from your ship,
made automatically at the time,
indicate that you were still on yellow alert when you jettisoned
and not on red?
I don't know.
- There's been a mistake. - It would seem so.
Could the computer be wrong?
Mr. Spock is running a survey right now,
but the odds are next to impossible.
Stop recording.
Now, look,Jim.
Not one man in a million
could do what you and I have done-- command a starship.
A hundred decisions a day,
hundreds of lives staked on you making every one of them right.
You're played out,Jim.
- Exhausted. - Is that the way you see it?
That's the way my report'll read ifyou cooperate.
Physical breakdown, possibly even mental collapse?
- Possibly. - I'd be admitting that a man died--
Admit nothing. Say nothing.
Let me bury the matter here and now.
No starship captain has ever stood trial before,
and I don't want you to be the first.
But if what you suspect is true, then I should be punished.
I'm thinking of the service. I won't have it smeared.
By what, Commodore Stone?
All right. By an evident perjurer who's either covering his bad judgment,
his cowardice, or--
That's as far as you go, sir.
I'm telling you I was there on the bridge.
I know what happened. I know what I did.
It's in the transcript,
and computer transcripts don't lie.
I'm telling you, Captain,
either you accept a permanent ground assignment,
or the whole disciplinary weight of Starfleet command
is gonna light right on your neck.
So that's the way we do it now? Sweep it under the rug, and me along with it?
Not on your life. I intend to fight.
Then you draw a general court.
Draw it? I demand it. And right now, Commodore Stone. Right now.
Captain's Log, Stardate 2948.9.
The officers who will comprise my court-martial board
are proceeding to Starbase 11.
Meanwhile, repairs on the Enterprise are almost complete.
Areel.
Dr. McCoy said you were here.
I should have felt it in the air like static electricity.
Flattery will get you everywhere.
It's been--
How long has it been?
Fouryears, seven months, and an odd number of days--
not that I'm counting.
You look marvelous. You haven't changed a bit.
But things have changed foryou, haven't they?
Oh, you've heard about that, have you?
I'm a lawyer in thejudge advocate's office, remember?
I remember.
Let's forget it.
We have a lot of lost time to make up for.
You're taking it very lightly.
- The confidence of an innocent man. - Are you?
Mm-hmm.
That's not what the rumors indicate.
Look,
Let's not talk shop.
Jim, this could ruin you. Will you take some advice?
I never could talkyou into anything.
All right. Fire away.
The prosecution will build its case
on the basis of Kirk versus the computer.
Now, if your attorney tries to defend on that basis,
you won't have a chance.
- Well, what other choice is there? - That's up to your attorney,
and that's why he's got to be a good one.
You, perhaps?
No. I--
I'm busy.
Well,
a girl with your ability should be able to handle two cases at once.
Jim, be serious.
You're not an ordinary human.
You're a Starship captain,
and you've stepped into scandal.
If there's any way they can do it,
they'll slap you down hard and permanently
for the good of the service.
You still haven't made any recommendation.
Samuel T. Cogley, attorney-at-law.
If anyone can save you, he can.
He'll be paying you a visit.
Jim, I've got to go.
Areel.
You still haven't told me how you know so much
about what the prosecution's going to do.
Because,Jim Kirk, my dear old love,
I am the prosecution,
and I have to do my very best to have you slapped down hard,
broken out of the service...
in disgrace.
You Kirk?
Yes.
What is all this?
I figure we'll be spending some time together, so I moved in.
I hope I'm not crowding you.
What's the matter? Don't you like books?
Oh, I like them fine, but a computer takes less space.
[Scoffs] A computer, huh?
I got one of these in my office.
Contains all the precedents,
a synthesis of all the great legal decisions written throughout time.
- I never use it. - Why not?
I've got my own system.
Books, young man, books. Thousands of them.
Iftime wasn't so important, I'd show you something-- my library.
Thousands of books.
- What would be the point? - This is where the law is,
not in that homogenized, pasteurized, synthesized--
Do you want to know the law,
the ancient concepts in their own language,
Learn the intent of the men who wrote them,
from Moses to the tribunal of Alpha 3?
Books.
You have to be either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper
or Samuel T. Cogley, attorney-at-law.
Right on both counts.
- Need a lawyer? - I'm afraid so.
This court is now in session.
I've appointed as members of this court
Space Command Representative Lindstrom,
Starship Captain Krasnovsky,
and Chondra.
Captain Kirk,
I direct your attention to the fact
that you have a right to ask for substitute officers
if you feel that any of these named
harbor any prejudiced attitudes to your case.
I have no objections, sir.
Do you consent to the service Lieutenant Shaw
as prosecuting officer
and to myself as president of the court?
I do, sir.
All right, clerk.
Charge-- culpable negligence.
Specification-- in that on Stardate 2945.7,
by such negligence,
Captain Kirk,James T.,
did cause loss of life--
to wit, the life of Records Officer
Lieutenant Commander Finney, Benjamin.
To all recorded charges and specifications,
what is the plea?
Not guilty.
Proceed, Lieutenant.
I call Mr. Spock.
Spock, serial number S-179-276-SP.
Service rank-- Lieutenant Commander.
Position-- first officer, science officer.
Current assignment-- U.S.S. Enterprise.
Commendations-- Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor.
Awards of valor--
twice decorated by Starfleet command.
Mr. Spock, as a first officer, you know
a great deal about computers, don't you?
I know all about them.
It is possible for a computer to malfunction, is it not?
- Affirmative. - Do you know of any malfunction
which has caused an inaccuracy in the Enterprise computer?
Negative.
That answer is based on your mechanical survey
of the Enterprise computer
ordered by the defendant prior to this trial, is it not?
- Affirmative. - Now the stardate--
But the computer is inaccurate, never the less.
Why do you say that?
It reports that the jettison button
was pressed before the red alert.
In other words, it reports that Captain Kirk
was reacting to an extreme emergency
that did not then exist.
- And that is impossible. - Is it?
Were you watching him the exact moment he pressed the jettison button?
No. I was occupied. The ship was already on yellow alert.
Then how can you dispute the finding of the log?
I do not dispute it.
I merely state that it is wrong.
Oh? On what do you base that statement?
I know the captain. He is in--
Please instruct the witness not to speculate.
Lieutenant, I am half Vulcanian.
Vulcanians do not speculate.
I speak from pure logic.
If I let go of a hammer
on a planet that has a positive gravity,
I need not see it fall to know that it has, in fact, fallen.
- I do not see what that has to-- - Gentlemen,
human beings have characteristics
just as inanimate objects do.
It is impossible for Captain Kirk
to act out of panic or malice.
- It is not his nature. - In your opinion.
Yes. In my opinion.
Thank you.
- Your witness, Mr. Cogley. - No questions.
You may step down.
I now call the personnel officer for the Enterprise.
Service rank-- ensign.
Position-- personnel officer.
Current assignment-- U.S.S. Enterprise.
In the course of your duties as personnel officer of the Enterprise,
you would be familiar with the service records of all aboard?
Yes, ma'am.
With reference to Records Officer Finney,
was there in his service record
a reported disciplinary action for failure to close a circuit?
Yes, ma'am.
Was the charge in that instance based upon a log entry
by the officer who relieved him?
- Yes, ma'am. - And who was that officer?
Ensign James T. Kirk.
Louder, please, for the court.
Ensign James T. Kirk.
Now the Captain Kirk who sits in this court room?
- Yes, ma'am. - Thank you.
Do you wish to cross-examine?
No questions.
You may step down.
I now call Dr. McCoy to the stand.
Service rank-- lieutenant commander.
Position-- ship's surgeon.
Current assignment-- U.S.S. Enterprise.
Commendations-- Legion of Honor.
Awards of valor-- decorated by Starfleet surgeons.
Doctor, you are, on the record, an expert in psychology,
especially space psychology-- patterns which develop
in the close quarters of a ship
during long voyages in deep space.
I know something about it.
You havejust heard the testimony of your own personnel officer,
that it was an action of the then Ensign Kirk
which placed an unerasable blot
on the record of the then Lieutenant Finney.
Psychologically, Doctor, is it possible
that Lieutenant Finney blamed Kirk for the incident?
It's possible.
He could have hated Kirk down through the years,
blamed him for being passed over for promotion,
blamed him for never being given a command of his own, correct?
He could have.
Now, let us hypothesize, Doctor.
Is it normal for a person to return affection for hatred?
- No. - Do we not tend to, at first,
resent and then actively dislike the person who hates us?
Wait a minute. I don't quite follow you.
Hypothetically.
Would not Captain Smith begin to hate
Lieutenant Commander Jones
once he learned that Lieutenant Commander Jones
hated and detested him?
Well, yes, I suppose it could happen.
Then I askyou,
is it not possible that Captain Kirk became aware
of Lieutenant Commander Finney's hatred toward him
and perhaps, even involuntarily,
began to reciprocate?
Not Captain Kirk.
Any normal human, Doctor. Is it possible?
But he's not that kind of a man.
Is it theoretically possible, Doctor?
Yes.
It's possible.
Thank you.
- Your witness, Mr. Cogley. - No questions.
You may step down.
Mr. Cogley.
You've listened to testimony from three witnesses.
In neither instance have you availed yourself
of your right to cross-examine.
Have you abrogated that right?
Well, sir, truth is, I've been holding back
till we get this preliminary business out of the way.
I'd like to call Captain Kirk to the stand.
James T. Kirk, serial number SC-937-0176-CEC.
Service rank-- captain.
Position-- Starship command.
Current assignment-- U.S.S. Enterprise.
Commendations-- Palm Leaf Of Axinar Peace Mission,
Grand Kite Order of Tactics,
Class of Excellence,
Frenterus Ribbon of Commendation,
- Classes first and second-- - May it please the court.
Court recognizes counsel for the prosecution.
The prosecution concedes the inestimable record of Captain Kirk.
Mr. Cogley?
I wouldn't want to slow the wheels of progress.
But then on the other hand,
I wouldn't want those wheels to run over my client
in their unbridled haste.
Continue.
Awards of valor--
medal of honor,
silverpalm with cluster,
Starfleet citation for conspicuous gallantry,
- Carragite Order of Heroism-- - Stop!
I think that's enough.
I wouldn't want to slow things up too much.
Thank you.
Now, Captain,
despite what these machines indicate,
was there indeed a red alert
before you jettisoned the pod?
Yes, sir, there was.
Please tell us about it.
Firstly, I am at a loss to explain the errors
in the extract from the computer log.
We were in an ion storm.
Everyone here in this court knows the dangers involved.
I was in command.
The decisions were mine, no one else's.
Charges of malice have been raised.
There was no malice.
Lieutenant Commander Finney was a member of my crew,
and that's exactly the way he was treated.
It has been suggested that I panicked on the bridge
and jettisoned the ion pod prematurely.
That is not so.
You've heard some of the details of my record.
This was not my first crisis.
It was one of many.
During it, I did what my experience and training
required me to do.
I took the proper steps in the proper order.
I did exactly what had to be done
exactly when it should have been done.
You did the right thing,
but would you do it again?
Given the same circumstances...
I would do the same thing without hesitation...
because the steps I took
in the order I took them
were absolutely necessary if I were to save my ship.
And nothing...
is more important than my ship.
Your witness, Miss Shaw.
The prosecution does not wish to dishonor this man,
but facts are facts.
I must invite the attention of the court
and Captain Kirk to this visual extract
from the Enterprise computer log.
Playback.
What you are about to see
is precisely what took place
on the Enterprise bridge
during the ion storm.
Meteorology reports ion storm upcoming, Captain.
We'll need somebody in the pod for readings.
Mr. Finneyis top of duty roster, Captain.
Post him.
Attention, Commander Finney,
report topod for reading on ion slates.
[Finney] Message Received.
Officer posted, Captain.
Standby on alert status, Mr. Spock.
Acknowledged.
Approaching ion storm, sir.
Warp factor 1, Mr. Hanson.
Warp 1, sir.
Reverse.
Stop.
Go forward with magnification on the panel.
Freeze that.
Captain Kirk is now signaling a yellow alert.
Go forward, normal view.
Call from the pod, sir.
Tie in.
Finney here, Captain.
Ion readings in progress.
Make it fast, Ben. I may have to go to red alert.
Affirmative.
- Holdy our course, Mr. Hanson. - Aye, aye, sir.
Natural vibrations, force 2, Captain.
- Force 3. - Engineering, then ionpod.
Aye, aye, sir.
- Engineering. - One-thirdmore thrust.
- Working. - [Finney]ionpod.
Standby to get out of there, Ben.
Aye, aye, sir.
Force 5, sir.
Steady as she goes, Mr. Hanson.
Freeze that!
If the court will notice,
the log plainly shows
the defendant's finger pressing the jettison button.
The condition signal reads yellow alert.
Not red alert, but simply yellow alert.
When the pod containing Lieutenant Commander Finney
was jettisoned,
the emergency did not as yet exist.
But that's not the way it happened.
Captain's Log, Stardate 2949.9.
The evidence presented by the visual playback
to my general court-martial was damning.
I suspect even my attorney has begun to doubt me.
- Computers don't lie. - Are you suggesting that I did?
I'm suggesting that maybe you did have a lapse.
It was possible, you know, with the strain you were under.
There's still time to change our plea. I could get you off.
Two days ago, I would've staked anything on my judgment.
You did. Your professional career.
I spent my whole life training for decisionsjust like that one.
My whole life.
Is it possible that when the moment came, l--
No. I know what I did.
You can pull out if you want to.
There's no place to go, except back to court and hear the verdict.
[Communicator Beeps]
Kirk here.
Captain, I've run a complete megalyte survey on the computer.
I'll tell you what you found. Nothing, right?
You sound bitter, Captain.
Not bitter enough to forget to thank you for your efforts.
Further instructions?
No. It's not all bad, Mr. Spock.
Who knows. You may be able to beat your next captain at chess. Kirk out.
Chess.
Jame.
This is Lieutenant Commander Finney's daughter.
Mr. Cogley, we've got to stop this.
Make him take a ground assignment.
I realize it wasn't his fault. I won't make any trouble.
- Make him change his plea. - It's too late for that,Jame.
But I'm glad you don't blame me anymore for what happened.
I was just so upset that night. I'm sorry.
- Don't say any more. - But I have to.
I never realized how close you and Dad had been
until I read through some papers he wrote,
Ietters to Mother and me.
I don't know how I ever could've thought that you--
Mr. Cogley,
ruining Jim won't change what's happened.
That's very commendable, Miss Finney, but most unusual.
After all, Captain Kirk is accused
of causing your father's death,
and the evidence would indicate his guilt.
- I was just thinking of Jim. - I know, and I thank you.
I have to go and change. You ready?
No, but I may be getting ready.
Bishop, half level right.
- Well, I had to see it to believe it. - Explain.
They're about to lop off the captain's professional head, and you're
- playing chess with the computer. - That is true.
Mr. Spock, you're the most cold-blooded man I've ever known.
Why, thank you, Doctor.
I'vejust won my fourth game.
- That's impossible. - Observe for yourself.
Rook to king's pawn 4.
Bishop half level right.
Now, this is the computer's move.
And now mine.
Checkmate.
Mechanically, the computer's flawless.
Therefore, logically, its report
of the captain's guilt is infallible.
I could not accept that, however.
So you tested the program bank.
Exactly.
I programmed it myself for chess some months ago.
The best I should've been able to attain was a draw.
Well, why are you just sitting there?
Transporter room, stand by. We're beaming down.
Court is now in session.
The board will entertain motions
before delivering its verdict.
Counsel for the prosecution?
Sir, the prosecution rests.
Counsel for the defense?
Sir--
- The defense rests. - [Door Opens]
Mr. Cogley.
Mr. Cogley!
Sir, some new evidence has just been brought to my attention.
- I'd like to ask the court-- - Objection!
Counsel for the defense has rested his case.
- Of what nature is this evidence? - I can't tell you, I have to show you.
Mr. Cogley is well-known for his theatrics.
Is saving an innocent man's career a theatric?
Counsels will direct their remarks to the bench.
I'd be delighted to, sir,
now that I've got something human to talk about.
Rights, sir, human rights--
the Bible, the Code of Hammurabi
and of Justinian, Magna Carta,
the Constitution of the United States,
fundamental declarations of the Martian colonies,
the statutes of Alpha 3--
Gentlemen, these documents all speak of rights.
Rights of the accused to a trial by his peers,
to be represented by counsel,
the rights of cross-examination, but most importantly,
the right to be confronted
by the witnesses against him--
a right to which my client has been denied.
Your Honor, that is ridiculous. We produced the witnesses in court.
My learned opponent had the opportunity
- to see them, cross-examine them-- - All but one!
The most devastating witness against my client
is not a human being.
It's a machine,
an information system.
The computer log of the Enterprise.
I ask this court adjourn and reconvene aboard that vessel.
- I protest, Your Honor. - And I repeat,
I speak of rights.
A machine has none.
A man must.
My client has the right to face his accuser,
and if you do not grant him that right,
you have brought us down to the level of the machine.
Indeed, you have elevated that machine above us.
I ask that my motion be granted,
and more than that, gentlemen,
in the name of humanity,
fading in the shadow of the machine,
I demand it.
I demand it!
Captain's Log, Stardate 2950. 1.
After due consideration,
the general court-martial has reconvened
on board the Enterprise.
How many games of chess did you win
from the computer, Mr. Spock?
Five in all.
- May that be considered unusual? - Affirmative.
Why?
I personally programmed the computer for chess months ago.
I gave the machine an understanding of the game
equal to my own.
The computer cannot make an error.
Assuming that I do not either,
the best that could normally be hoped for
would be stalemate after stalemate,
and yet I beat the machine five times.
Someone, either accidentally or deliberately,
adjusted the programming
and, the refore, the memory banks of that computer.
Could that have had an effect
on the visual playback we saw?
Object!
The witness would be making a conclusion.
- Sustained. - Hypothetically, Mr. Spock,
hypothetically, Miss Shaw,
if what you suggest had been done,
it would be beyond the capabilities of most men.
- Is that true? - Affirmative.
What man aboard ship would it not be beyond?
The captain, myself,
and the records officer.
Mm-hmm. And at the moment,
you have no records officer.
Affirmative.
Until he was lost,
our records officer was Lieutenant Commander Finney.
Captain Kirk,
will you tell the steps you took
to find Mr. Finney after the storm?
I instituted a Phase 1 search.
Describe a Phase 1 search.
It's a painstaking, thorough attempt
in and around the ship
to find a man who's unable to respond.
It presupposes, does it not,
that a man wishes to be found?
I beg your pardon?
If you start a search for a man,
you assume, don't you, that he wants to be found?
Yes.
On a ship of this size,
could a man evade such a search?
Possibly.
Gentlemen, I submit to you
that Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney is not dead.
Mr. Cogley,
we are waiting for proof of your extraordinary statement.
You shall have it,
but first I need the court's cooperation
in conducting an experiment.
Captain Kirk.
Gentlemen, for this experiment,
it'll be necessary for all personnel,
except for the court and the command crew, to leave the ship.
I am ordering all others to report to the transporter room.
- Including myself, sir. - This court is not adjourned.
I have an errand ashore of vital importance to this court.
- I will return. - Very well.
Thank you, sir.
Captain, are you maintaining an engine crew aboard?
Our impulse engines have been shut down. We'll maintain orbit by momentum.
When the orbit decays?
We hope to be finished long before that.
Ready, Mr. Spock?
Affirmative, Captain.
Gentlemen, this computer
has an auditory sensor.
It can, in effect, hear sounds.
By installing a booster,
we can increase that capability
on the order of 1 to the 4th power.
The computer should bring us every sound
occurring on the ship.
All personnel have left the ship as ordered, sir.
Dr. McCoy?
All right, Mr. Spock.
[Loud Beating]
Turn it down a little.
[Volume Decreases]
Gentlemen, that sound is caused by the heartbeats
of all the people on board the ship.
Dr. McCoy will use this white sound device
to mask out each person's heartbeat
so that it will be eliminated from the sounds we're hearing.
First, the captain.
Mr. Spock.
And lastly, myself.
That's all of us,
except for crewman in the transporter room.
Mr. Spock, eliminate his heartbeat.
[Heartbeat Continues]
That accounts for everyone.
[Single Heart Beats]
Finney.
Localize that.
"B" Deck.
In or near Engineering.
Seal off "B" Deck, sections 18-Y through 23-D.
Acknowledged.
[Beep]
So Finney is alive.
It would seem so.
Commodore, this is my problem.
I'd appreciate it if no one left the bridge.
Sam Cogley had gone a shore
to bring Jame Finney on board.
We felt Jame's presence
would make Finney easierto handle
in the event Finney really were alive.
Ben.
[Kirk] Ben Finney.
Mr. Spock, encountering variants.
- Compensate. - What is happening?
The orbit's beginning to decay.
Ben, where are you?
Hello, Captain!
Nothing to say, Captain?
I'm glad you're alive.
You mean you're relieved
because you think your career
is saved.
Well,you're wrong.
Ben!
Ben, it's not too late.
We can help you.
Like you helped me all along, kept me down,
robbed me of my own command?
I'm a good officer.
As good as you.
I've watched you for years.
The great Captain Kirk.
They told you to do it to me.
You all conspired against me.
You ruined me,
but you won't do it anymore.
Uhh.
Put the phaser down, Ben.
Oh, I wouldn't kill you, Captain.
Your own death would mean too little to you,
But your ship--
What about my ship?
It's dead.
I've killed it.
I tapped out your primary energy circuits.
Mr. Spock, what's our orbit status?
Decaying, Captain.
Variants at second level
depreciating unusually fast.
You're out of power.
I know this ship, too.
The Enterprise should've been mine.
You kept me from it.
Ben.
Why kill innocent people?
Innocent?
Ha ha ha!
Officers and gentlemen,
captains all,
except for Finney and his one mistake
a long time ago,
but they don't forget.
I logged the mistake, Ben. Blame me.
But they are to blame.
All of them.
I was a good officer.
I really was.
I loved the service more than any man ever dared.
Mr. Spock, we're running out of time.
Gentlemen, if you'll hurry to the transporter room--
Mr. Spock, the court hasn't reached a verdict.
We will hear this witness out.
Very well, sir.
It's not too late.
You can be helped,
but if you kill those people--
Why shouldn't I?
They killed me, didn't they?
It's a fair trade.
Is Jame included in that deal?
What do you mean?
She's on board by now.
Yes. She's on board.
Why did you do that?
Why did you bring her here?
I'll kill you!
Beaten and sobbing,
Finney told me where he had sabotaged
the prime energy circuits.
The damage he'd caused was considerable,
but not irreparable.
With luck, I could effect repairs
before our orbit decayed completely.
Power returning, Mr. Spock.
Up 14 points and rising.
Activate port impulse engines.
One-third power.
One-third power.
Variants fading.
Orbit stabilizing.
All secure, sir.
Unless the prosecution has an objection,
I rule this court to be dismissed.
Absolutely no objection, sir.
How long will it be before I see you again?
At the risk of sounding like a mystic,
that depends on the stars.
Sam Cogley asked me to give you something.
It's not a first edition, just a book.
Sam says that makes it special.
I didn't get to thank him.
He's busy on a case.
He's defending Ben Finney.
He says he'll win.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised.
Do you think it would cause a complete breakdown
of discipline
if a lowly lieutenant kissed a Starship captain
on the bridge of his ship?
Let's try.
See? No change.
Discipline goes on.
And so must the Enterprise.
Goodbye,Jim.
Goodbye, Areel.
Better luck next time.
I had pretty good luck this time.
I lost, didn't l?
She's a very good lawyer.
Obviously.
Indeed she is.