[ PIKE’S OFFICE ]

Pike rests, then rises and paces a little in his office, sits down, enters a code in his communicator, and then rises again.

BOYCE

[from the bridge]

[0:11] Boyce here—

PIKE

[speaking]

Doctor, drop by my cabin, will you?

Enter Boyce, carrying a thermos and a small medical pack. Pike and Boyce exchange nods and Pike looks away, tired. When he looks back, he notices she’s opening the bag.

[0:30] What’s that? I didn’t say there was anything wrong with me.

BOYCE

[0:35] I understand we picked up a distress signal.

PIKE

[0:40] That’s right…but it’s 18 years old. It seems to me the condition of our own crew takes precedent. I’ll need to log the ship’s doctor’s opinion too.

 BOYCE

[0:52] I concur with yours, definitely.

PIKE

[a little surprised]

[0:58] Well good…I’m glad you do, because we’re going to stop first at the Vega colony and replace —

[noticing that she is pouring a drink]

[1:11] What the hell are you putting in there? Ice?

BOYCE

[1:17] Who wants a warm martini?

 PIKE

[1:25] What makes you think I need one?

BOYCE

[1:30] I think you’ll tell your bartender what you won’t tell your doctor. For example: what’s on your mind—?

PIKE

[rising from his desk and paces]

[1:48] Seven crewmen dead, thirty injured…

BOYCE

[2:01] And there’s some way you could have prevented it?

PIKE

[2:05] I led them to an ambush.

[2:10] The roads were all deserted

I sensed a Kalar trap…

That intuition was all I had

[2:22] But I pressed on anyway.

Dismissed my instincts.

I don’t know why.

BOYCE

[2:33] You set standards for yourself that no one could meet! It’s exhausting you.

PIKE

[2:44] You bet it is! I’m tired of deciding whose lives are at stake. I’ve had it, Kate.

BOYCE

[2:58] ’Had it’ to the point of taking my advice? A rest leave?

PIKE

[3:06] To the point of…resigning…?

BOYCE

[3:11] Resign? And do what?

PIKE

[3:15] Who knows? Return to Montana…my parents’ ranch?
[3:30] Did you know they had three thousand head of cattle there?

BOYCE

[3:36] Chris, you’re at a pinnacle of life—a Starfleet captain.
[3:49] Do you think you can throw that away? Pick up where you left off in a life that no longer exists?
[4:02] Do you know that it might not even have existed then?
[4:09] The mind has a way of choosing whatever memories it needs.

PIKE

[4:22] Okay doctor. Fine. Maybe I’ll run a club in the Orion colonies—

BOYCE

[4:34] You, a shill for Orion Jaguar-women?

PIKE

[4:42] Kate, it’s not a fantasy. There’s more to the universe than this nightmare…

BOYCE

[4:54] “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space…?”

PIKE

[laughs]

[5:08] “…were it not that I have bad dreams.”

 

[5:14] I used to take my horse up a ridge at dusk, at the top I could survey the whole valley…
[5:27] The wandering herds, surrounded by mountains. I would never have left, except…

BOYCE

[5:42] Except what?

PIKE

[5:46] Vivian…we were planning to marry. One afternoon, on her family’s farm. Some bad fuel cells exploded.
[6:07] She was gone in an instant. A heat so great it took everything.
[6:24] Nothing remains.

BOYCE  

[6:30] I’m sorry.

PIKE

[6:34] I cannot erase that day. If I had made other choices that morning…she might have…

 

SPOCK’S VOICE ON INTERCOM

[6:54] Captain? Lieutenant Spock here.

PIKE

[7:01] What is it, Spock?

SPOCK’S VOICE ON INTERCOM

[7:03] We’ve received a follow-up message, sir. There were survivors on Talos IV—eleven of them.
[7:16] The message reads “…Gravity and oxygen within limits…Food and water obtainable…But unless…”
[7:34] That’s where it fades out, sir.

PIKE

[calmly]

[7:42] All right, then. I’m convinced. Inform the crew.
[7:49] Set a course for Talos IV.

TOR

[standing]

[8:08] Computer, end program!

The courtroom suddenly illuminates. The holovision darkens.

[8:14] I congratulate you on your resourcefulness in assembling this—what is it? Your reënacted memories? [8:26] This hearing is not a theater.

SPOCK

[to Pike]

[8:31] Captain, can you confirm to the court that this is not a simulation?
[8:40] That we are seeing the actual events of thirteen years ago?

[8:52] Pike’s brain displays affirmation.

[9:01] Commodore, for reasons you will soon understand, these images are as accurate as perception itself.

TOR

[9:12] Captain Kirk, if I may. Spock has hijacked the Enterprise and he's abducted a Starfleet Captain —
[9:30] Evidence must be explainable. This proceeding has gone far enough.

KIRK

[9:39] Commodore, we need to hear this story if it establishes Spock’s motive. I vote to continue.

TOR

[9:50] And I vote we do not! Captain Pike, it’s up to you. Do you wish to continue this charade?

[10:02] Pike’s brain displays affirmation.

KIRK

[10:14] We’re decided then.

TOR

[after a pause]

[10:16] Yes. But Pike has rarely endured such duress. I’m not convinced he is fully present.

 

KIRK

[10:37] Very well, let him rest. We’ll adjourn and reconvene at 0800.

[addressing the intercom]

[10:46] Scotty? Any progress?

SCOTTY

[10:53] No Captain. There's one factor we just can't seem to get around —

KIRK

[10:58] Keep trying. I’ll be at the bridge in an hour.

Pike’s brain image disconnects and its screen reveals data about the course for Talos IV. Lights shift to Tor’s and Kirk’s proximity to one another. Spock exits with guards and others as Kirk and Tor prepare to adjourn.