INT. ENTERPRISE/CORRIDOR OUTSIDE SICKBAY
Kirk is standing outside sickbay, anxiously awaiting news on Mitchell’s condition. The sickbay door slides open and Dr. Piper walks out, his expression stoic.
KIRK: Doctor, how is he?
PIPER: I managed to stop the internal bleeding and heal the most grievous damage, but it was a serious injury ….
KIRK: (grabs Piper by the shoulders) Give it to me straight, Doctor.
PIPER: His condition’s been stabilized, but I can’t say with any certainty that it’ll improve. (beat) Only time will tell.
Swallowing audibly, Kirk releases his grip on the doctor.
KIRK: Can I see him?
PIPER: Yes.
INT. ENTERPRISE/SICKBAY
Entering the sickbay, Kirk walks over to Mitchell’s biobed. The major, lying prone atop the bed with a sheet pulled up to his bandaged torso, looks peaceful in his unconsciousness.
Placing one hand on Mitchell’s shoulder and the other across his own face, the captain begins to weep silently.
INT. ENTERPRISE/BRIEFING ROOM
Kirk, S’Pock, Scotty, and Ruan are seated at a long conference table when Capt. Quloob and Yn. Rand enter the briefing room.
KIRK: (rises from his chair and approaches the Tellarite) Capt. Quloob.
CAPT. QULOOB: Capt. Kirk. (shakes Kirk’s hand) If only we could have met under more agreeable circumstances. I hear Maj. Mitchell is in recovery?
KIRK: (nods) He’s still is sickbay. Maj. S’Pock will be handling his responsibilities as first officer until he’s ready to resume active duty.
CAPT. QULOOB: (motions to Rand) Have you met my yeoman, Janice Rand?
KIRK: (glances at Rand) Briefly.
After Kirk and Rand shake hands, the yeoman and two captains take a seat at the table.
CAPT. QULOOB: May I ask how the situation aboard the starbase is being handled?
KIRK: We’ve sent in drones to contain the remaining Klingons and locate any surviving members of your crew ….
CAPT. QULOOB: Are there any? Any survivors, I mean?
KIRK: I’m sorry.
Quloob nods solemnly. This news only confirms what he already suspected.
CAPT. QULOOB: Capt. Kirk, you’re probably wondering what inspired the Klingon Empire to attack us – a small, inconsequential starbase out in the middle of nowhere.
CAPT. KIRK: The thought had occurred to me.
CAPT. QULOOB: (reaches into his jacket) I have a good reason to believe they attacked us because of this.
The Tellarite pulls out a small microtape and hands it to S’Pock. Taking the microtape, S’Pock inserts it into a reader; a projection of the nearby galaxy is automatically displayed from the holographic projector built in the centre of the table.
CAPT. QULOOB: Three years ago, Federation scouts came across a previously undiscovered G-class planet while charting new routes. This planet – P2G-0091 – turned out to be quite extraordinary.
The hologram shifts focus to reveal P2G-0091 in full detail. Rocky and barren, the world is tinted pink by its atmosphere.
CAPT. QULOOB: (cont’d) 85% of its lithosphere consists of nithium crystal deposits. The atmosphere itself is rich with dinithium gases.
SCOTT: (amazed) Ye could build a trillion warp drives over with that much nithium!
S’POCK: Quite fascinating. If that information got out, it could cause a –
KIRK: (interrupts) Gold rush, S’Pock?
S’POCK: (cont’d) I was thinking war, Captain.
CAPT. QULOOB: Well, gentlemen, I think that highly sensitive data has gotten out.
KIRK: (to Quloob) This planet – are you certain it doesn’t lie within Klingon jurisdiction?
CAPT. QULOOB: Absolutely certain. A Klingon presence was never detected on the planet. The world is nowhere to be found on the registry of local Klingon territories. (beat) Captain, there’re over three-hundred colonists living on P2G-0091; they don’t have any means to defend themselves. If you don’t set course for the planet right away, the Klingons will certainly do to them what they did here to us.
Leaning back in his chair, Kirk sighs.
KIRK: How far away is P2G-0091 from here?
CAPT. QULOOB: Approximately 2 light-years.
S’POCK: And the attack on the starbase was staged six days ago?
CAPT. QULOOB: About that.
SCOTT: (to Kirk) Captain, those D7 cruisers canna travel any faster than warp 5.
KIRK: It’d take them about six days to reach P2G-0091. Travelling at warp 8, we could get there within a day.
S’POCK: They do have a six-day advance on us, Captain.
KIRK: Yes. All the more reason to move immediately. (rises from his chair) Dismissed.