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ORIGINAL SERIES DATABANK
The Undiscovered Country
Premiered: Dec 6, 1991
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Screenplay: Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flinn
Story: Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal
The Cast:
James T. Kirk:
William Shatner
Spock: Leonard
Nimoy
Leonard McCoy:
Deforest Kelley
Chekov: Walter
Koenig
Sulu: George Takei
Uhura: Nichelle
Nichols
Valeris: Kim
Cattrall
Sarek: Mark Lenard
Gorkon: David
Warner
General Chang:
Christopher Plummer
Federation President:
Kurtwood Smith
Klingon Ambassador:
John Schuck
Admiral Cartwright:
Brock Peters
Azetbur: Rosana
DeSoto
Martia: Iman
A colossal
explosion on the Klingon moon Praxis sends intense shock waves through
space, which are encountered by the USS Excelsior in its third year of
duty under Captain Sulu. The Excelsior is damaged by the leading edge
of the energy burst, but regains her balance. When offered assistance,
the Klingons tell Sulu to mind his own business and stay out of their
territory.
Later, on Earth, the
command crew of the Enterprise is invited to a top priority,
high-security briefing at Starfleet Headquarters, where it is revealed
that one of the Klingons' main sources of power, located on Praxis,
released radiation that will eat away the Klingon home world's ozone
layer in roughly fifty years, and the Klingons, whose economy is
devoted entirely to military development, are unable to combat the
deterioration of their planet without aid. Spock, acting as an
ambassador, has opened the door for discussions with Chancellor Gorkon
of the Klingon High Council, and has taken the liberty of volunteering
Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise - both of which are three months
away from mandatory retirement as Starfleet prepares to decommission
the ship itself - for the duty of escorting Gorkon and his party to
the first Federation-Klingon peace talks.
Over dinner on the
Enterprise, the Klingons and the Starfleet officers seem to be unable
to avoid eventually insulting or offending each other, and General
Chang seems more interested in Kirk's reputation as a warrior than in
peace. The Klingons return to their ship, and shortly afterward,
torpedoes from the Enterprise's direction cripple Gorkon's ship, and
two figures in Federation space suits beam aboard and kill the
Chancellor and many of the Klingon crew. Still unsure of what has
happened - Scotty finds that none of the Enterprise's torpedoes have
been fired - Kirk surrenders when Chang threatens to fire on the
Enterprise point-blank. Kirk and McCoy beam over, where McCoy tries to
save the dying Gorkon, but with Federation medicine's limited
knowledge of Klingon anatomy, McCoy cannot prevent Gorkon's death.
Kirk and McCoy are arrested and given a trial where Chang's unusual
evidence - including entries from Kirk's personal log stating his
distrust of Klingons since they killed his son -insinuates that Kirk
was behind the assassination. Kirk and McCoy are sentenced to work for
the rest of their lives in the dilithium mines on Rura Penthe.
At Spock's command, the
Enterprise conveniently develops a malfunction that prevents them from
receiving Starfleet's order to return home while the crew searches for
the equipment used by the two Starfleet officers who assassinated
Gorkon. A few leads appear, but then are revealed to be false alarms -
someone is deliberately trying to lead the investigation off track.
In the meantime, Kirk and McCoy fight for their lives on Rura Penthe but
are helped by exotic fellow prisoner Martia, who warns Kirk that even
in the penal colony, there is a price on his head. Martia helps them
escape, hoping that Kirk, who she says is the most attractive prisoner
to appear in a long time, will repay her somehow. During their escape,
Martia is revealed to be a shape shifter, and perhaps not even a true
female. Kirk realizes that the escape has been too easy and that
Martia is the one out for he and McCoy. Martia changes into a copy of
Kirk, but when the prison guards catch up, Kirk tricks them into
shooting Martia instead. Bluffing their way past Klingon border
guards, the Enterprise crew beams Kirk and McCoy up just before the
two would have been executed.
After returning to the
Enterprise, Kirk and the others discover two dead crewmen - the
assassins - and realize that there is one more conspirator. Kirk
suggests laying a trap by announcing to the crew that the dead crewmen
are alive and in sick bay awaiting the court reporter, which would
lure the culprit to sick bay to kill the two crewmen before they could
talk. The ploy works, and the conspirator is Lt. Valeris, Spock's
trusted student. Spock forces a mind-meld with Valeris to find out who
the main conspirators are, and discovers that Klingons and a member of
the Federation top brass are already cooperating peacefully - to
ensure that peace is destroyed by the assassination of the President
of the Federation. Kirk contacts Captain Sulu, and their two ships
head for Khitomer to save the President and reveal the conspirators,
but time - and Chang's prototype Bird of Prey that can fire while
cloaked (the real source of the attack on Gorkon's ship) - are against
their efforts to save the negotiations.