INT. ENTERPRISE/TRANSPORTER ROOM
Having arrived at the transporter room, Pike stands behind the transporter controls. Standing beside the captain, eyes and hands ready at the controls, is MAJ. MONTGOMERY SCOTT, a lean man with short black hair and a missing middle finger on his right hand.
SCOTT: They’re energizin’, captain.
A tube of blue energy forms within the transporter; Capt. Kirk’s form quickly materializes within it.
SCOTT: (cont’d) Here he comes.
Once the process is complete, the transporter shuts down, leaving Kirk standing there on the pad.
KIRK: Permission to come aboard, Captain?
CAPT. PIKE: Granted, Captain.
Approaching Kirk as the younger man steps down from the transporter pad, Pike offers his hand in greeting. Accepting the hand, Kirk gives it a firm shake.
KIRK: It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, sir.
CAPT. PIKE: No need for formalities, Jim. Call me Chris. (looks over at Scott) There’s a gentleman over here you should get to know ….
Pike directs Kirk over to the major. The two shake hands.
SCOTT: Maj. Montgomery Scott, sir, chief engineer. Call me Scotty.
KIRK: (smiles) We have quite a lot in common, Mr. Scott. I was assistant engineer on the Farragut; that should make our working together that much easier.
SCOTT: (perturbed) Er … that it should, sir.
With the greetings out of the way, Pike begins the tour of the ship. Once the two captains have left the transporter room, Maj. Scott frowns.
SCOTT: Och! That’s all Ah need – some wet-behind-the-ears rookie tellin’ me muh job!
INT. ENTERPRISE/CARGO BAY
Standing on a walkway, Pike and Kirk look down at the ground level of the cargo bay. Below them, S’Pock and a Saurian – Sergeant Aennik – work together arranging cargo.
CAPT. PIKE: You’ll want to meet my first officer, Maj. S’Pock. That’s him down there.
KIRK: The Saurian?
CAPT. PIKE: (laughs) No, the Vulcan.
KIRK: (surprised) He’s Vulcan? (squints)
CAPT. PIKE: Not a full Vulcan. He’s Human on his mother’s side.
KIRK: Must be some woman who’d settle down with a green-blooded Vulcan male. (beat) I thought your first officer was a Human woman – Col. Robbins?
CAPT. PIKE: (smiles wistfully) Eureice Robbins was my number one. She was promoted and assigned her own command two years ago.
KIRK: Oh.
Down below, S’Pock and Aennik continue their duties.
S’POCK: (cont’d) Store those drugs in the stasis field. The machine parts aren’t perishable.
PO. AENNIK: I have already had that done, sir. (checks her PADD) The resulting rearrangement saves 112.4 cubic millimetres.
Having come down from the walkway, Kirk and Pike approach S’Pock and Aennik.
S’POCK: Excellent work, Sergeant. You – (takes notice of the two new arrivals) Yes, Captain?
CAPT. PIKE: Sorry to interrupt, Mr. S’Pock, but I wanted you to meet the man who’ll be taking over the centre seat. This is Capt. Kirk.
S’POCK: (to Kirk) Greetings, Captain. Your record is quite impressive.
KIRK: Thank you, Mr. S’Pock. You know, I was first officer on the El Dorado, so we have a lot in –
As this conversation is occurring, the cable of a mechanical winch holding a cargo container aloft – weakened and overstretched – begins to snap. Sgt. Aennik immediately takes notice of the cable and the impending danger.
SGT. AENNIK: (alarmed) Look out!
Leaping forward, the Saurian pushes Kirk, Pike, and S’Pock out of the way as the cable completely gives way and sends the container crashing to the deck. Unfortunately for Aennik, she isn’t able to clear herself from the path of the descending container in time; it slams down on her lower body with crushing force, pulverizing everything from the hips down.
Aennik isn’t killed by the impact, but she is severely injured. The other three officers move in and crouch down around her as she begins to squirm and moan in complete agony.
CAPT. PIKE: (activates his comcorder) Pike to sick bay! Piper, it’s an emergency!
PIPER: (O.S.) On my way, Captain!
KIRK: (anxious) She’s in agony! Isn’t there anything we can do?
S’POCK: I am attempting that now, Captain.
Reaching out with his left hand, the calm and collected half-Vulcan gently lays it upon her head.
S’POCK: Aennik, your thoughts are my thoughts. We feel no pain ….
INT. ENTERPRISE/SICK BAY
Sometime later, Sgt. Aennik lies in a bed. Emergency surgery has already been performed on her broken body, and she is stable and in a state of comfortable, drug-induced unconsciousness. Standing a ways from her bed are Kirk, Pike, and DOCTOR MARK PIPER. A potbellied man with brown hair turned mostly gray, Piper is a man in late middle age who has all the appearance of a person who is carrying the entire weight of the galaxy on his shoulders.
CAPT. PIKE: How is she, Doctor?
PIPER: She’ll pull through, but her legs and hips were crushed. She may walk again, after reconstructive surgery … but that will take a long time. (glances back at Aennik) I don’t want to say this, but the fact of the matter is her career as a Starfleet officer is over. (angry) Good God, why did I agree to this assignment? I was planning my retirement! All the suffering I’ve had to face over the years – I was glad to finally leave it all behind! (turns back to the others) Why did I let Command place me here?!
CAPT. PIKE: She would have died without you, Doctor – don’t forget that.
PIPER: (sighs) I realize that, Captain. (beat) I’m just tired.
CAPT. PIKE: Kirk and I are going to my cabin for a drink. Care to join us?
PIPER: Not now, thanks. I think I’ll retire to my quarters for a nap.
INT. ENTERPRISE/PIKE’S CABIN
Entering his quarters, Capt. Pike gestures for Kirk to take a seat. As the younger captain does so, Pike goes to his desk; opening a drawer, he pulls out two short glasses and one long wine bottle.
KIRK: Piper strikes me as a good man. What’s eating him?
CAPT. PIKE: (pulls the cork from the bottle) Two months ago, my chief medical officer – Philip Boyce – died while on an away mission. Mark Piper, being the only qualified doctor available to us at the time, was assigned to the Enterprise on short notice; he was getting ready for retirement and doesn’t want to be here.
KIRK: Surely he can retire now that your tenure’s at an end?
CAPT. PIKE: That was supposed to be the plan, but there was a mix-up in the paperwork somewhere down the line; the doctor’s been assigned to a full five years of active duty aboard ship. (beat) He’s made appeals, and Starfleet Command’s promised to resolve the matter as soon as possible, but you know how bureaucrats are – they love to leave their wheels spinning in the mud.
Tilting the wine bottle, Pike pours some of its dark burgundy contents into the pair of glasses. Re-corking the bottle, he picks the two glasses up and saunters over to Kirk, handing one of them to the captain.
KIRK: (takes a sip) Wow! What is this?! It’s incredible!
CAPT. PIKE: Château Picard, vintage 1226.
KIRK: (takes another sip) You know, I have an old friend who’s a doctor – Leonard McCoy. I would have recommended him for CMO, but he’s currently stationed on Starbase 94, around Betelgeuse; even at warp 6, it’d take him about a year to get out here.
CAPT. PIKE: (takes a seat) Maybe you should go ahead and make that recommendation. Piper’s situation should be resolved in a year; it’d be nice to have a qualified medical officer you know you can trust on hand to take his place.
KIRK: Perhaps you’re right. I’ll have to think about it. (beat) Chris, if you don’t mind my asking … how can you give all this up? (gestures toward the ship around them) How can you step down and take a desk job as “fleet captain”? A command like this is everything I’ve ever wanted. How --?
CAPT. PIKE: Jim, I’m alike Piper in many ways. We’ve both been out here too long, seen too much, and missed out on so much more. (beat) When I first received command of the Enterprise, I felt like the gods themselves had come down from the heavens and blessed me with the greatest gift any man or woman could ever receive. After those first several months passed and stretched into years, that initial enthusiasm waned; the gift became more of a curse and my command of the Enterprise became a marriage – a hard, demanding marriage with diminishing returns. (beat) I want out of this marriage, Jim. I want to get away from her and get solid ground under my feet again. I want to settle down with a beautiful woman and create a beautiful family before it’s too late for me to do either.
A moment of silence passes between the two men.
KIRK: (raises his glass) A toast, then, Chris. May we both find whatever it is we’re looking for.
CAPT. PIKE: Amen.
They clink glasses.