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Synopsis:
Thirteen years before James T.
Kirk takes command of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Captain Christopher
Pike and his starship crew receive a distress signal from the
planet Talos IV and beam down to investigate. Tracking the beacon,
the landing party discovers crash survivors from a missing
scientific expedition; among the survivors is a beautiful human
female, Vina. Pike is concerned for the woman's safety, yet allows
himself to become distracted by her beauty and is subsequently
captured by the Talosians who live beneath the planet's surface.
The distress signal and expedition survivors, except for Vina, are
revealed to be but illusions created by the Talosians to lure the
Enterprise and Pike to the planet.
The Talosians are a strong
race, yet after decades of illusory indulgence, they have
physically atrophied and need sturdy beings to rebuild and
repopulate their barren planet. In Pike, with Vina, the Talosians
hope they have finally found the one being who can serve as their
breeding stock for a healthier and even more powerful race.
The Talosians use their
power of illusion to interest Pike in Vina, presenting her in
various disguises: a Rigellian princess in distress, a green Orion
animal woman, and a loving, compassionate companion. When Pike
resists, the Talosians lure Pike's female first officer and yeoman
from the Enterprise to offer further temptation. By then, however,
Pike has discovered that primitive human emotions neutralize the Talosians' ability to read minds, and he eventually escapes to the
surface of the planet along with his fellow prisoners.
The Talosians confront Pike
and the three prisoners before they can beam up, but the captain
refuses to negotiate, threatening to kill himself and the others
rather than submit to the Talosians' demands. Frightened at losing
their only source of repopulation, the Talosians inspect the U.S.S.
Enterprise's
records and discover that the human race is far too independent to
be of adequate service to them.
Faced with no other choice,
the Talosians release the humans. After the first officer and
yeoman beam up, Pike remains behind with Vina, urging her to leave
with him. Despite her growing attraction to the captain, Vina is
unable to leave the planet. It is revealed that an expedition had
indeed crash landed on Talos IV. Vina, the only survivor, was
greatly injured and disfigured. With the aid of the Talosians'
illusions, however, she is able to appear beautiful and feel
healthy.
The Talosians pledge to
continue to provide Vina with the appearance of health and beauty
while allowing her to roam the planet free of intervention.
Realizing that she will be in good hands after all, Pike returns
to the U.S.S. Enterprise. The Talosians, in an act of good will,
send the captain an image of Vina on the starship's viewscreen.
Not only is she beautiful again, aided by the Talosians' illusory
powers, but by her side is another illusion that of the handsome
Christopher Pike. |
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