Star Trek (1966–1969): Season 2, Episode 9 - Metamorphosis - full transcript

We have reached projected point
three. Adjust to course 201, mark 15.

Thank you, Mr Spock.

Jim?

- How is she?
- No change.

- Small thanks to the Starfleet.
- Now, really, Commissioner...

l should've received
the proper inoculations.

Sakuro's disease is extremely rare.

The chances of anyone contracting it
are billions to one.

l was sent to Epsilon Canaris lll
to prevent a war, Doctor.

l've been forced to leave
before my job was done.

Once we reach the Enterprise,



we'll have you back in time
for you to prevent that war.

When do we rendezvous
with your ship?

ln exactly four hours,
21 minutes, Commissioner.

Captain, will you check
your automatic scanner, please?

- l've never seen anything like that.
- Nor have l.

Heading directly toward us
at warp speed.

Staying with us. Sensor readings.

Like a cloud of hydrogen,
but with a strong electrical impulse.

We've got it.

- Helm does not answer, Captain.
- Neither do the pods.

Building overload.

- Cut all power relays.
- Cut, Captain.

- Captain, what's happening?
- You know as much as we do.

Whatever that thing is, it's yanked us
off course from the Enterprise.



Now on course 98, mark 12, heading
toward Gamma Canaris region.

We've got to get Miss Hedford
to the Enterprise. Her condition.

- There's nothing l can do.
- l insist you make your rendezvous.

We'll do what we can, when we can.
At the moment, we're helpless.

You might as well sit back
and enjoy the ride.

Space - the final frontier.

These are the voyages
of the starship Enterprise.

lts five-year mission,
to explore strange new worlds,

to seek out new life
and new civilisations,

to boldly go
where no man has gone before.

Enterprise, this is the Galileo.
Come in.

Enterprise, this is the Galileo.
Come in, please.

lt's no good.
We're not transmitting. Bones?

Oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere,
some krypton, argon, neon.

Temperature 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Practically identical to Earth.

Gravity is similar to Earth,
most unusual for its size.

The body seems to be iron and nickel.

Like a small planetoid, l should say.

Possibly a remnant of a planet
break-up. Suitable for human life.

We get out. lssue phasers.

Bones, maintain full alert.
Commissioner, stay inside.

- Just how long do l stay inside?
- That's a very good question.

l wish l could answer it.
Let's go.

Take a look around, Bones.

Most unusual.

Unlikely.

ln fact, Captain,
l would say quite impossible.

Nothing wrong and nothing works.
There must be a reason.

Let's look a little further.

Jim, l just took a tricorder sweep.

l got the same readings as Spock
when we were pulled off course.

- The ionised cloud.
- Only it reads on the surface with us.

lt's in that direction
and it doesn't read solid.

lt's more unstable, tenuous,
like a collection of gases.

Hello!

Hello!

- Fascinating.
- Bones, get a reading on that.

Hello!

Are you real?

- l'm not imagining you, am l?
- We're real enough.

You speak English. Earth people?

- From the Federation.
- The F...

lt doesn't matter. l'm Cochrane.
l've been marooned here.

lf you only knew
how good it is to see you.

And a woman. A beautiful one at that.

l'm Captain James T Kirk,
commanding the starship Enterprise.

- This is my first officer Mr Spock.
- You're a Vulcan?

- Correct.
- Chief Surgeon Leonard McCoy.

Excuse me. Assistant Federation
Commissioner Hedford.

Ma'am.

You're food to a starving man.

All of you.

Hey, that's a nice ship.

Simple and clean.
Been trying to get her to go again?

Forget it. lt won't work.

He's human, Jim.
Everything checks out perfectly.

Mr Cochrane.

We were forced off our course

and taken here by some force
we couldn't identify.

Which seems to be
on the surface of this body.

- l wouldn't know anything about that.
- We'll be unable to repair the ship?

There's some sort of dampening field.
Power systems don't work.

You don't mind if we continue to try?

Go right ahead.
You've got plenty of time.

What about you, Cochrane?
How did you get here?

Marooned, l told you.

We'll have lots of time to learn
about each other.

l have a small place over that way.
l can even offer you a hot bath.

How perceptive of you
to notice l needed one.

l'd like more than just a statement
that you were marooned here.

- lt's a long way off the beaten path.
- That's why l'm so glad to see you.

l'll tell you everything
you want to know, but not here.

- Your ship is sure a beauty.
- Yes, she is.

The principles may be new to you.

Mr Spock.

Why don't you explain our methods
of propulsion to Mr Cochrane?

Talks a lot, but doesn't say much.

- And something else.
- What's that?

He looks familiar.

Familiar?

- Now that you mention it, he does.
- l can't quite place him, but...

What about Miss Hedford?

No temperature yet, but we've got
to get under way soon, Jim.

l guarantee you, it will develop.
What are we gonna do?

Take Cochrane up on his offer.

You built this, Mr Cochrane?

l had tools left over from my crash.

Not Earth, but it's liveable.
l grow vegetables in the field.

Come on in.

All the comforts of home indeed,
Mr Cochrane.

- Where'd you get the antiques?
- You mean my instruments?

l imagine things have changed
since l crashed.

Not that much.

Must you keep it so hot in here?

Temperature's a constant 72. Let me
get you something cool to drink.

Do you feel hot?

l feel infuriated, deeply put upon
and absolutely outraged.

lt was quite a hike here.
You're tired. Just take it easy.

l'll rest later, Doctor.

- Temperature, Captain. First sign.
- We're running out of time.

Captain, Doctor.

- What was that?
- Sometimes the light plays tricks.

You'd be surprised what l've imagined
l've seen here sometimes.

We imagined nothing.
There was an entity out there.

l suspect it was the same entity
which brought us here. Please explain.

- There's nothing to explain.
- Thank you.

l have a low tolerance level
where my people are concerned.

We find you out here, where no human
has any business being.

l'm not just requesting an explanation.
l'm demanding one.

All right.

lt was the Companion.
That's what l call it.

l didn't crash here. l was brought here
in my disabled ship.

l was almost dead.
The Companion saved my life.

- You were injured?
- l was dying, Mr Spock.

- What was the matter?
- l was an old man.

You were what?

The Companion rejuvenated me,

made me young again, like l am now.

l prefer to reserve judgement
on that part of your story, sir.

Would you please explain
what this Companion of yours is?

l don't know what it is.

lt exists, it lives
and l can communicate with it.

- That's a pretty far out story.
- Mr Cochrane...

- Do you have a first name?
- Zefram.

Zefram Cochrane...

of Alpha Centauri,
the discoverer of the space warp?

- That's right, Captain.
- But that's impossible.

Zefram Cochrane died 150 years ago.

The name of Zefram Cochrane
is revered throughout the galaxy.

- Planets were named after him.
- lsn't your story improbable?

l was 87 when l came here.

You say this Companion found you
and rejuvenated you?

What were you doing in space at 87?

l was tired, Captain.
l wanted to die in space.

His body was never found.

- You're looking at it, Mr Spock.
- lf so, you wear your age very well.

- How do you feel?
- Terrible. How should l feel?

- You're running a temperature.
- Doctor, please just leave me alone.

lt's the heat.

All right. Try to relax.

Jim, it's started, the fever.
lt's over 100 and it's climbing.

- How long do we have?
- A matter of hours.

You say you were brought here 150
years ago? You don't look over 35.

l haven't aged.
The Companion sees to that.

These instruments
date from the time indicated.

- From your ship?
- l cannibalised it.

The food, water, gardens,
the Companion gives me.

lt creates it out of the native elements.

You say you can communicate with it.

Perhaps you can find out
what we're doing here.

- l already know.
- You wouldn't mind telling us?

- You won't like it.
- l already don't like it.

- You're here to keep me company.
- You brought us here?

No, the Companion did.
l told it l'd die of loneliness.

l thought it would release me.
lnstead, it brought you here.

No! No!

No!

That is disgusting!

We're not animals!

No...

No... Oh, no.

lt's inhuman! No!

Spock, run additional tricorder
readings. Learn anything you can.

- Find a weapon against this thing.
- Do you intend to destroy it?

l intend to do whatever's necessary
to get us off this planet

and Commissioner Hedford
to the hospital.

lf the Companion's in the way,
we push it out of the way. Clear?

- Quite clear, Captain.
- Very well. You have your orders.

Mr Cochrane, if you left here,
what would happen to you?

- l'd begin to age again.
- Do you want to leave here?

Believe me, Captain, immortality
consists largely of boredom.

What's it like out there in the galaxy?

We're on 1,000 planets
and spreading out.

We cross fantastic distances
and everything's alive.

We estimate there are millions
of planets with intelligent life.

We haven't begun to map them.
lnteresting?

How would you like to go to sleep
and wake up in a new world?

lt's out there waiting for you.
We'll need your help to get away.

You've got it.

You think this Companion
can do anything.

l said it was very powerful.

- Could it cure her?
- l don't know.

- How do you communicate with it?
- lt's on a non-verbal level.

We've got to try. We're helpless.
See if it can do something.

- How do you do it?
- l sort of clear my mind and it comes.

Bones, what do you make of that?

Almost a...symbiosis of some kind,
a sort of joining.

Exactly what l think.

Not exactly like a pet owner speaking
to a beloved animal, would you say?

- No, it's more than that.
- Agreed.

More like...love.

Are you all right?

Yes. lt er...kind of drains me a little,
but l'm all right.

Well?

- lt can't help Miss Hedford.
- Then she'll die.

lf there's anything l could do to help,
l would, and l will,

but we can expect nothing
from the Companion.

Spock!

- Are you all right?
- Yes. Quite all right, Doctor.

A most fascinating thing happened.

Apparently, the Companion
imparted to me a rather quaint,

old-fashioned electric shock
of respectable voltage.

- lt attacked you?
- Evidently.

Unquestionably, a large part
of its substance is simple electricity.

Oh, yes.

l'm not a scientist or a physicist,
but am l correct in assuming

that anything that generates electricity
can be shorted out?

Quite correct, Doctor.

Put this in the proximity
of the Companion

and it will scramble every
electrical impulse it can produce.

lt cannot fail.

lt troubles you, Cochrane?

The Companion saved my life.
lt's taken care of me all these years.

We've been very close
in a way that's hard to explain.

- l suppose l have affection for it.
- lt's keeping you prisoner.

- l don't want it killed.
- We may simply render it powerless.

But you don't know. You could kill it.
l won't stand for that.

We're getting out of here.

l'll do anything l have to
to save our lives.

l suppose you're right.

We understand how you feel,
but it has to be done.

All right. You want me to contact it?

Please. Outside.

What was it they used to call it?
The Judas goat?

There is some risk. We do not know
the extent of its powers.

Nor it ours.

Now.

Stop it! You're killing them!

Stop it, please! Stop it!

You're choking them!

Let them go. You're choking them!

Stop it!

- You all right, Jim?
- Yeah, all right.

Cochrane got it off of us, but l don't
know whether he did us a favour.

- What kind of talk is that?
- How do you fight that?

l've got a ship up there,
four lives down here,

one of them dying because of me.

- lt isn't your fault.
- l'm in command. lt makes it my fault.

How do you fight a thing like that?

Maybe you're a soldier so often
you forget you're also a diplomat.

Why not try a carrot
instead of a stick?

- Spock.
- Yes, Captain?

The universal translator
on the shuttlecraft. We can try that.

lt is for use
with more congruent life-forms.

Adjusting the translator
will give you something to do.

- lt is possible.
- Get it here and get to work.

That thing is still out there.
Better go that way.

- Any change?
- Yes, for the worse.

Ship's log, stardate 3219.8.

Lieutenant Commander Scott
recording.

A shuttlecraft bearing the captain,
the first officer,

Chief Surgeon McCoy
and Assistant Commissioner Hedford

is now overdue for rendezvous.
We are attempting to backtrack it.

Mr Scott.

We're coming up on the co-ordinates

- of the last position of the shuttlecraft.
- Thank you, Lieutenant.

Bearing 310, mark 35 just cleared.
No antimatter residue.

All scanners, spherical sweep.
Range, maximum.

They'll have to pick it up.

lf the shuttlecraft powered away,
but if it were towed?

There'd still be traces
of residual matter.

Bearing 210, mark 40.

Strong particle concentration.
We're on it.

- Lay on course. Maintain scanning.
- Course laid in, sir.

Particle density decreasing.

Gone, sir. No readings.

Steady as she goes, Mr Sulu.

What do you think it means?

The shuttlecraft was on schedule
until near rendezvous.

Then something happened.

l'd feel better
if it were more definite.

lt didn't wreck. There was no debris.

There's no trace of expelled internal
atmosphere, no residual radioactivity.

Ah, it's...

Something took over.
Tractor beams maybe.

They dragged it away
on the heading we're on.

lf there are no further traces,
how are we going to follow them?

We stay on this course,
see what comes up.

lt's a big galaxy, Mr Scott.

Aye.

What's the theory behind this device?

There are universal concepts
common to all intelligent life.

This device compares the frequency
of brainwave patterns,

selects those concepts it recognises
and then provides the grammar.

Then it translates its findings
into English.

lt speaks?

With the approximation
of whatever is on the sending end.

Not 100% efficient, but nothing is.
Ready, Mr Spock?

Quite ready, Captain.

Mr Cochrane, call the Companion.

Companion.

- We wish to talk to you.
- How can we communicate?

My thoughts, you are hearing them?

This is interesting.

- Feminine, no doubt about it.
- Yes.

The matter of gender
could change the entire situation.

- Then it is not a zookeeper.
- No?

A lover.

Companion.

lt is wrong to keep us here
against our will.

A man needs the company
of his own kind

or he will cease to exist.

He felt it to me.

One of us will cease to exist

if we don't care for her.

The man needs others of his species.

That is why you are here.

The man must continue.

Companion, try to understand.

lt is the nature of our species to be
free, as it is your nature to stay here.

We will cease to exist in captivity.

Your bodies have stopped
their peculiar degeneration.

There will be nothing to harm you.

You will continue
and the man will continue.

This is necessary.

This is a marvellous opportunity
to add to our knowledge.

- Ask it about its nature.
- This isn't a classroom.

- lt could tell us so much.
- This isn't the time.

Companion,
what you offer us is not continuation.

lt is non-existence.
We will cease to exist.

Even the man will cease to exist.

Your impulses are illogical.

This communication is useless.

The man must continue.

Therefore, you will continue.

lt is necessary.

Captain, why did you build that
translator with a feminine voice?

- We didn't.
- But l heard...

Male and female are constants.

- The Companion is female.
- l don't understand.

You don't?
A blind man could see it with a cane.

You're not a pet,
a specimen kept in a cage.

- You're a lover.
- l'm a what?

Her attitude toward you is different
than when she contacts us.

Her appearance is soft, gentle.
Her voice is melodic, pleasing.

l do not totally understand the
emotion, but it obviously exists.

The Companion loves you.

Do you know what you're saying?

l've let something alien crawl
around inside me, into my mind.

- lt kept you alive.
- lt fed on me. lt's disgusting.

There's nothing disgusting about it.
lt's just another life-form.

- You're as bad as it is.
- Your reaction is most illogical.

Your relationship with the Companion
has for 150 years

been emotionally satisfying, eminently
practical and totally harmless.

- lt may indeed have been beneficial.
- ls this what the future holds?

Men who have no notion
of decency or morality?

Maybe l'm 150 years out of style,

but l'm not going to be fodder
for any inhuman monster.

Fascinating.
A totally parochial attitude.

Doctor.

Doctor.

- Right here, Miss Hedford.
- l heard him.

He was loved

and he resents it.

- You just rest.
- No...

l don't want to die.

l've been good at my job,

but...l've never been loved. Never.

What kind of life is that?

Not to be loved,

never to have shown love?

And he runs away from love.

Ship's log, stardate 3220.3.

Lieutenant Commander Scott
reporting.

We are continuing our search.

Approaching what seems to be
an asteroid belt, sir.

Scanners report 7,000 bodies of sizes
running from types "A" to "N".

Atmosphere count?

Approximately 34% of the bodies
of atmospherian types "H" to "M".

All right, then.
We'll do it the hard way.

All sensors
set for life-form registration.

There are thousands they could be on,
if they're on any of them at all.

That's right, Lieutenant. Thousands.
And we'll look them over one by one.

Companion, do you love the man?

l...do not...understand.

ls he important to you,
more important than anything?

ls he...as though
he were a part of you?

He is part of me.

The man must continue.

He will not continue.
He will cease to exist.

By your feeling for him, you're
condemning him to an existence

he will find unbearable.
He will cease to exist.

He does not age.
He remains forever.

You speak of his body.
l speak of his spirit.

Companion, inside the shelter,
a female of our species is dying.

She will not continue.

That is what will happen to the man
unless you release all of us.

l...do not understand.

Our species can only survive

if we have obstacles to overcome.

You...take away all obstacles.

Without them to strengthen us,
we will weaken and die.

You regard the man only as a toy.

- You amuse yourself with him.
- You are wrong.

The man is the centre of all things.
l care for him.

But you can't really love him.

You haven't the slightest knowledge
of love, the total union of two people.

You are the Companion. He is the
man. You are two different things.

You can't join.

You can't...love.

You may keep him here forever,

but you will always be separate,
apart from him.

lf l were human,

there can be...love?

- What did you hope to gain by that?
- Convince her it was hopeless.

Love sometimes
expresses itself in sacrifice.

l thought maybe if she loved him,
she'd let him go.

But she or it is inhuman, Captain.

You cannot expect her to react
like a human.

- l tried.
- lt's useless, l know.

Zefram Cochrane.

Bones?

l don't understand it.
She's not sick at all.

We understand.

- lt's her.
- What?

lt's the Companion.

- Bones?
- She's perfectly healthy.

Heart like a hammer, respiration
normal, blood pressure normal.

This is medically impossible.

- We are here.
- We?

Both of us.

Those you knew as the Commissioner
and the Companion.

- We are both here.
- Companion?

You do not have the power
to create life.

- That is for the Maker of all things.
- Commissioner Hedford was dying.

That part of us
was too weak to hold on.

ln a moment, there
would have been no continuing.

Now we're together.

Then you are both here,
in the one body?

We are one.

Zefram, we frighten you.
We've never frightened you before.

Loneliness.

This is loneliness.

What a bitter thing.
Oh, Zefram, it's so sad.

How do you bear it, this loneliness?

Spock, check out the shuttlecraft.
Engine, communications, everything.

That will not be necessary.

Your vehicle will operate as before,
so will the communications device.

You're letting us go?

We could do nothing now to stop you.

You said we would not know love.

Now we are human.
We'll know the change of the days.

We will know death.

But to touch the hand of man,
nothing is as important.

You're very beautiful.

Part of me understands,
part does not.

- But it pleases me.
- l could explain many things.

Let me walk, Zefram.
Let me feel the earth against my feet.

Let me feel the warmth of the sun
on my face.

You beside me.
Let me feel these things.

Go ahead, Cochrane.
We have a few things to do.

Mr Scott, it's the captain.

Put him on.
Lock on to his co-ordinates.

- Captain, are you all right?
- Can you get a fix on us?

- The helm is computing your position.
- Course 224, mark 12.

- ETA 57 minutes.
- We'll be there in 57 minutes, sir.

l'll continue transmitting.

Assume standard orbit
when you arrive. We'll transport up.

- What happened, Captain?
- lnteresting story, Scotty.

l can't tell you now because l don't
know how it's going to end.

Kirk out.

Everything will be
an eye-opener to you.

There's a thousand planets out there,
a thousand races.

l'll show everything to you,
soon as l learn my way around.

Maybe l can make up a little
for everything you've done for me.

- l can't go with you, Zefram.
- Of course you can.

You have to.

My life emanates from this place.

lf l should leave it, l'll cease to exist.

l must return, as you must consume
matter to maintain your life.

You gave up everything to be human?

But even if you stay here,
you'll eventually die.

The joy of this hour. l am pleased.

l can't just fly away
and leave you here.

You must be free.

You saved my life, took care of me.

You loved me. l never understood.

l do now.

We're locked in, Captain.
Shuttlecraft bay standing by.

Stand by, Scotty.

The Enterprise is waiting,
Mr Cochrane.

l can't take her away from here.

lf l leave her, she'll die of loneliness.

l owe everything to her.

l can't leave her. l love her.
ls that surprising?

Not coming from a human being.
You are, after all, essentially irrational.

Think it over, Mr Cochrane.

There's a whole galaxy out there
waiting to honour you.

l have honours enough.

But you will age, both of you.
There will be no immortality.

You'll both grow old here
and finally die.

That's been happening to men
and women for a long time.

lt's one of the pleasanter things
about being human,

as long as you grow old together.

Are you sure?

There's plenty of water here,
the climate's good for growing things.

l might even plant a fig tree.
A man's entitled to that, isn't he?

lt isn't gratitude, Captain.
Now that l see her,

touch her,
l know that l love her.

We'll have a lot of years together.
They'll be happy ones.

All the best.

Captain, don't tell them about me.

Not a word, Mr Cochrane.

Jim, what about that war
on Epsilon Canaris lll?

l'm sure the Federation can find
another woman who'll stop that war.