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Synopsis:
Some years before this second
pilot, the S.S. Valiant had encountered a unknown energy barrier
at the rim of the galaxy. Something had then made its captain
destroy his ship.
The U.S.S. Enterprise finds
the Valiant's disaster record-marker, which reveals that just
prior to its destruction the crew had been searching library tapes
for any information on psionics.
The U.S.S. Enterprise
arrives at the edge of the galaxy and the same force affects the
ship's drives that must have affected those of the Valiant. Kirk
notices a strong personality change in his good friend, Lieutenant
Gary Mitchell, whose latent psionic abilities are heightened by
the force field. Soon Mitchell has gained enormous extrasensory
powers, displaying many talents which include moving objects with
his mind and controlling his own heart rate. To a smaller degree,
Dr. Elizabeth Dehner is also affected by the force field's
power and the two are drawn together by their common powers.
As Mitchell's powers grow,
he becomes more dangerous. Spock believes that when the Valiant
experienced the same phenomena, it destroyed itself to prevent the
power from taking over the galaxy. Gary Mitchell confirms his
fears when he informs them that he is becoming a god who will rule
the humans. Spock feels that Mitchell's death is the only
solution, but Kirk is unable to kill his old friend. Instead, he
exiles him to an uninhabited planet. However, once on the planet's
surface, Mitchell kills his guard and escapes, taking Dr. Dehner
with him. Kirk follows with a phaser rifle and Mitchell attempts
to kill Kirk with his psionic powers.
Witnessing this display,
Dr. Dehner realizes how inhuman and dangerous Mitchell has become
and tries to help Kirk defeat him. Without remorse, Mitchell kills
Elizabeth Dehner. Before he can refocus his psi powers, Kirk
creates a rockslide that entombs Mitchell, killing him.
Afterwards, Spock admits to
Kirk that for the first time in his life, he felt something akin
to human emotion. |
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